Varkas' leg was still pressed against Rio's ribs, but it felt like he was touching the side of a mountain when it was just Rio's body.
"W-What are you?" Varkas stammered.
He began to sweat profusely.
"You're an F-Rank! You're just a meat-shield! I've broken your bones a hundred times in the arena! Why won't you fall?!"
Varkas pulled his leg back and began to strike again.
He felt like a cornered animal as he threw punches simultaneously.
Left, right, a heavy obsidian-coated hook, hitting Rio's chest, jaw, and stomach. Thud. Thud. Thud. Rio didn't block or flinch.
As the hit continued for a while, Rio began to feel pain all of a sudden.
Is the system failing? He thought and was about to shove the thought when the system ding.
[System Logic: Structural Damage Detected.]
[Action: Multiplying Bone Density x1,000.]
[Result: Durability Overload. Skeleton reinforced to Diamond-Grade.]
The cracking sound vanished. Rio's ribs became harder than the stone Varkas was using to hit them.
It was like Varkas was punching a wall of solid tungsten. With every strike Varkas threw, Rio felt his Wrath Reservoir filling up.
He was a black hole, sucking in every ounce of energy and storing it
"But for real, is that all you have, Varkas?" Rio asked.
His voice was calm, but it made an annoying vibration in Varkas's ear.
"You used to call me 'The Sandbag.' You said I was built to take hits. Well... you were right. I've taken ten years' worth of hits from people like you. And now, it's time for you to pay back."
Varkas screamed, a high-pitched sound of pure terror.
He gathered all his mana into his right leg for one last, desperate kick aimed at Rio's temple.
Rio moved like a flicker, a blur of speed that the human eye couldn't track.
He reached out and caught Varkas's leg mid-air.
The impact of the catch created a shockwave that blew the trash bags in the alleyway ten feet into the air.
Varkas gasped, his foot trapped in Rio's palm. He tried to pull away from Rio's grip, his stone-skin grinding against Rio's skin, but it was useless. Rio's grip was very tight.
"You like to break things, don't you?" Rio whispered.
He looked up, his eyes already glowing like it would whenever he is about to unleash a wrath.
Rio focused all the energy he had absorbed, the kicks, the punches, the 1,000x calories from breakfast into a single point.
His thumb pressed down on Varkas's ankle bone.
[Action: Energy Release.]
[Gathered Force: 5,000 Newtons.]
[Multiplier Applied: 1,000x.]
[Total Output: 5,000,000 Newtons.]
The sound was not a snap. It was a dull, heavy THUMP, followed by the sound of a thousand glass marbles shattering at once.
The mechanical horror of the 1,000x Return was infinite.
The force turned the entire structure of Varkas's ankle into fine, white dust.
The stone-skin armor shattered like cheap porcelain.
The muscle and bones pulverized by the shockwave traveling through the limb.
Varkas's mouth opened to scream, a sound that would have woken up the entire block.
But Rio was faster. He used his other hand to slap Varkas on the mouth as he pinned him on the brick wall at the same time.
The scream died in Varkas's throat, turning into a wet, muffled gurgle of agony just like how Ellie sounded in the old timeline. This was fun, the wrath he was unleashing right now was nothing like they've seen.
Varkas's eyes were wide. The pain he felt at that point almost drove him crazy.
He looked down at his leg. From his torso to his leg, it was just a limp, empty sleeve of skin filled with powdered bone.
Rio leaned in close, his face inches from Varkas.
He looked bored and like a man who was finally finishing a long, tedious chore.
"Listen carefully," Rio whispered into Varkas's ear. "Go back to your boss. If he can still walk, tell him to mind his business and stay out of my own."
Rio let go of Varkas's mouth as he slumped to the ground, his "Stone-Skin" ability fading away as his mana weakened.
He was just a broken man in expensive gear, sobbing quietly in the mud.
"From now on," Rio said, standing tall as the red light in his eyes disappeared.
"Every debt this city owes me... I'm going to collect it. With interest."
Rio turned away and walked out of the alleyway.
Then at that moment, he felt a strange sensation in his chest, a warmth that wasn't from the System's overflow. He was about to level up.
[Notification: Enemy Defeated (D-Rank Awakened).]
[Experience Multiplied: 1,000x.]
[Level Up! Level 1 —> Level 10.]
[New Skill Unlocked: 'Sovereign's Grip'.]
Rio looked at his hands. They were steady now. The jerky, overflowing energy was gone.
It has been replaced with a newfound strength.
He had just crossed a line he could never go back to.
He left Varkas in the trash, realizing that for the first time in his two lives, he wasn't afraid of anyone.
The city should be wary of him, henceforth.