Chapter 180

Of Sendai's elite, only Yuta and Ryu are left. For four hundred years Ryu has chased an appetite nothing will quiet, and though fighting holds little meaning for Yuta, he agrees to give his foe what he wants. The two pour out their cursed energy in a deafening trade that pulls Ryu ever closer to the dessert he has dreamed of.

A directed beam is all Yuta can manage, and only while Rika stands fully manifested; even maxed out, his blast lands a touch under Ryu's, so his plan is to stack energy quickly and fire ahead of his rival's peak. Ryu's gaze, though, brims with four centuries of want and begs for a true contest, and that look dissolves Yuta's hesitation into a single all-out swing. The beams meet and Yuta's is swiftly swallowed up. Seemingly struck, both he and Rika startle Ryu when their energy climbs again and Yuta requests another exchange. Rika fires alone as Yuta hurls himself forward on the blast's momentum, yet Ryu catches the beam barehanded, bragging that nothing Yuta does is beyond him.

Sure that a foe who spent so much on a domain cannot heal fast, Ryu sets up a kill shot, missing that Yuta's technique has already recharged. Yuta bends space with Uro's ability to throw the Granite Blast skyward, and the stunned Ryu works out that copying is in play, guessing Rika's earlier bite of Uro's arm met the requirement. Yuta then drives Uro's Thin Ice Breaker clean into Ryu's chest, and a crushing punch from Rika opens a gushing wound on his head.

Once five minutes pass from the moment Yuta slipped on the ring, his bond with Rika ends. Ryu pounces, striking Rika at full power, more than her manifested form can absorb, and she hits her limit and fades, leaving Yuta to carry on alone. Delighted the bout still has more in it, Ryu names this trade the dessert he has yearned for. Yuta seizes him in both hands and drives their combined weight downward hard enough to fracture the ground, locking them both in place before declaring the match finished; while Ryu eyes the crack, his own Granite Blast from before crashes back onto him. Yuta had redirected it with Uro's technique at the very moment Rika landed her hit. Beaten yet pleased by so high a level of combat, Ryu offers his thanks, his appetite at last sated. Akutami's comment jokes that, given a chance to meet his younger self, he would order the kid to get in shape.