"!!!"
Run, hide, or continue fighting. Riley gave the krukux a choice, and it would seem they decided to choose the latter. They continued to shower Riley with their ink bullets; to the point that the previously limestone ground that Riley was standing on was now completely ebony.
Even with all of this, however, Riley was still completely immaculate; not even a single spot of ink painted on his clothes. He hasn't even moved a single inch since he stated his conditions to Jakol — he was just there, standing with only his lips moving as he counted down.
"96… 95…"
"!?"
And all of a sudden, the leader of the krukux team skittered away; not even looking back at his people or giving them a new plan. When Riley glanced at him, the others were sure he was going to follow — but no.
True to his words, Riley just stood there and continued counting. And although none of them could speak, everyone seemed to agree that Jakol just abandoned them. And so, they all just quietly nodded to each other before running in different directions.
They knew that their chance of winning was slim now, and it was every octophoid for himself. They will lose, but they will make sure that individually, they won't be the first krukux to go and shame their family.
And so, not even a minute had passed, and all of the krukux were gone from Riley's sight.
"60 seconds," the smile on Riley's face grew wider and wider with each passing second. Xra, Gracy, Cherbi, and Delivery all joined him in place as soon as there were only 60 seconds left — Gracy and Xra were the only ones who seemed to look forward to the hunt, while Delivery was just yawning and looking at his watch. As for Cherbi, well… it was hard to know what it was thinking since it did not really have a face.
"Heh… I'm gonna make those ugly bitches pay for squirting some shit on me," Gracy cracked her knuckles as her feet very slowly left the ground, causing Riley to stop counting as he looked at her.
"I have been meaning to ask this, Gracy. When did you start learning how to fly?" Riley tilted his head, "This universe's version of you was not able to fly. But perhaps he would have if he just lived your age — sadly, he died with the themarians."
"Why… are you suddenly telling me this?" Gracy could not help but feel slightly uncomfortable as her feet returned to the ground.
"Because I thought Gary has already reached his limit, Gracy," Riley let out a small but very deep sigh, "Perhaps I should not have antagonized him too much — but with the existence of Silvie, I just did not see much point in him. There is also the fact that Aerith did not seem to cherish him enough."
"...I feel depressed all of a sudden, wow," Gracy looked at the other members, only for them to look away except for Cherbi, "I… owe my mother my life — but it is true she has always been absent. She's… just always been Megawoman. And Megawoman… I needed to share with the world. You know, since we're on topic, I've—guys?"
And as Gracy was about to show all of her emotions, she noticed everyone moving away; not even listening to any of her words as they walked in different directions.
"Guys…? Come on," Gracy looked at each of them. But alas, no one stopped, "Where am I even supposed to go?"
"..."
"...Ah, fuck it." And after wallowing in her spot for a few more seconds, Gracy just hopped toward Riley and followed behind him, "What's your deal anyway? You're a sadistic psychopath, right?"
"I am a monster, Gracy," Riley continued to walk; the knives he was holding extending to a sword that soon scraped the ground, creating a hissing noise to continuously scratch in the air, "Monsters are just… monsters."
"Oh, yeah. I believe you, believe me," Gracy smirked, "I see myself as a servant of the shadow too — except I make sure the light prevails, even at the cost of myself fading away. Ack, that's so beautiful, I should write that down."
"Hm," Riley nodded as his eyes scanned the rocky terrain surrounding them, before settling at the wide crevice from the distance, "Do you one of them is hiding down there, Gracy?"
"... " Gracy looked at the trail of ink painted on the ground they had been following since earlier, "Why are you asking me when you already… know?"
"It is more cinematic for those that are watching it, Gracy."
"Wait, is this really being broadcast…?" Gracy looked around as she started fixing her hair and adjusting her breasts, "I don't see any cameras, though. But wait, so just let me get this straight — you're not violent because you're in the spectrum, right? Like, that's just you."
"It is called a spectrum, Gracy — that means there is not only one kind, but many," Riley finally glanced back at Gracy, "My actions are my actions alone and can't be used to represent the others in the spectrum."
"But… it is true that you can get violent when triggered?"
"..." Riley stopped walking as he looked Gracy in the eyes, "You should be able to answer that question yourself, Gracy."
And with those words, Riley stepped back into the edge of the rocky terrain, before just casually leaning back and letting himself fall into the deep crevice behind him.
"Answer… wait, what does that mean!?" Gracy also leaped down without any hesitation, "I'm not in the spectrum! But… but I'm not saying there's anything wrong with being in it!"
Gracy quickly looked around for any cameras as she fixed her statement, "But I'm not in it!"
And as she landed on the bottom of the canyon, she lost her footing from trying to find the cameras — she tried recovering herself, but made it worse as she found herself lunging straight toward Riley.
"Aack! Riley, help!" Gracy stretched and opened her arms as Riley looked at her. But alas, Riley stepped to the side and let her just slam straight to the wall, completely destroying and shattering it to pieces. Something felt wrong, however. The impact… it was slightly soft.
"Riley, you're supposed to catch a princess if she falls!" Gracy immediately turned to Riley and violently pointed at him.
"I thought you were a savior of justice, Gracy?" Riley tilted his head to the side as he looked at Gracy from head to toe.
"Yes, and!? Can't I be both!? You—" Gracy wanted to say a lot of things, but noticed Riley looking at her with a slightly confused expression on his face. This made her confused as well… until she tasted something… umami on her tongue, "What…"
Gracy started puttering her lips, and as she noticed a weird texture in her mouth, she quickly wiped her lips… only for her to pull a chunk of tentacle from her mouth.
"..." Gracy stared at her blackened hand for a few seconds, before turning to look back at the wall she hit… only to see a big black splotch painted on the cracks, "No…"
"Yes," Riley nodded.
"No…" Gracy then looked down to check on her, only to realize she was completely covered in ink and chunks of different sizes, "...I just lost some of my righ—no, I don't wanna be cancelled! That… that was a joke, everyone!"
"I suppose that is one of them down, Gracy," Riley let out a sigh. And as he did so, the chunks that were stuck on Gracy and scattered everywhere started to be warped away, "I wanted to show everyone how to dissect them since I have made takoyaki before, but I suppose this sort of comedy also holds great value from time to time. Good job, Gracy."
"..." Gracy couldn't even move; afraid that the ink would go into… places, "Oh god, I think it's going into my buttcrack, Riley! Do something! Clean me!"
"I believe it suits you, Gracy," Riley once again looked at Gracy from head to toe, "I can make their blood red if you want to."
"Why would I even want to do that, you fucking psycho!? Just remove them, ew… ew!"
"Hm," Riley completely ignored Gracy as he flew up.
"Wait! Wait for me!"
***
And as Riley and his group were just seemingly having fun, their every move truly was being recorded and broadcasted to the entire universe — with most of the people terrified with what they were witnessing.
"Did… did that humanoid just eat a krukux!?"
Back in the banquet hall of the Champions, most of the octophoids quickly stopped eating as soon as they watched Gracy accidentally squash one of their species. Suffice it to say, a lot of opinions were forming in their large brains when they saw tentacles coming out of Gracy's mouth.
And as they continued to watch, they realized Jakol was completely wrong with his statement — the Strays were not weak at all. The only reason they were last… was because they were having fun terrorizing their enemies.
Right there and then, most of the Normal races started scanning the members of the Higher Race.
So… this was the reason why most of them don't join the Tournament — all the stories are true.
The Higher Races were gods…
…and now they were trapped with them.
And while the Normal Races were starting to panic, the Earth and Theran tables currently had their heads down; specifically Riley's family.
"Most… most of them don't know he's my brother yet, right?" Hannah whispered, "It… it should stay that way. Ack, Riley…"
"Why are you embarrassed?" On the other hand, Queen Adel, who was at another table, had her head held up high, "You should not be ashamed to be related to the Destroyer. Well, you should, but not in that way. And if there is someone that should be ashamed now…
…it should be my daughter."
"Wait… what?"
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