But all his escape routes were blocked by Ryuji. The wind he hastily summoned clearly wasn't enough to stop the attack.
So, he quickly threw out his own punch in response.
But...
Ashura Senku!
Ryuji's figure suddenly appeared behind Goenitz. Goenitz couldn't even see his movement clearly, and in the next instant, his spine was struck heavily by Ryuji's punch.
The violent force instantly tore apart the clothes on Goenitz's back. Black lightning surged into his body, intertwining with his own energy and rendering him completely unable to resist.
The tall priest's body was blasted out like a cannonball, smashing into the floor-to-ceiling glass window. Amid the screams of bystanders and the sound of shattering glass, he was sent flying outside.
But before he could react, Ryuji's figure appeared again in midair. Just as Goenitz barely managed to purge the black lightning from his body, Ryuji's leg swept across his head, sending him spinning as he crashed down toward the open ground below.
Goenitz's large body slammed heavily into the ground and he immediately spat out a mouthful of blood.
His head buzzed violently. The black lightning Ryuji had injected into him continued to rampage inside his body. When he tried to stand up again, he coughed up another mouthful of blood.
And at that very moment, Ryuji also landed, arriving beside the injured Goenitz.
Looking at the blood Goenitz had spat out and sensing the energy within it, Ryuji couldn't help but click his tongue.
Even though Goenitz looked miserable now, a large part of it was because he had misjudged Ryuji's speed and been caught off guard.
Secondly, although Ryuji couldn't yet fight Akuma on completely equal footing, he had already learned Akuma's fighting moves and techniques.
Just like how Akuma had learned his Flying Dragon Heaven Breaker, Ryuji had also learned everything Akuma displayed.
At this level, techniques were no longer bound by form. Learning from each other was natural.
And could Goenitz defeat Akuma?
Against the pre-Ryuji Akuma, Goenitz might have won. But now? Ryuji felt Goenitz facing Akuma would be no different from facing himself.
The only difference was how he would die, against Ryuji, he'd likely be cut apart by a sword; against Akuma, he'd probably be beaten to death with bare fists.
"The bodies of the Heavenly Kings is indeed extraordinary. The amount of energy contained within your body is truly astonishing. But I'm very curious, why can't you fully utilize it?"
Ryuji could sense it clearly. Just a single drop of Goenitz's blood contained enough energy to blow up half a street. Yet the combat power Goenitz displayed was underwhelming.
He was one of the Hakkesshu who had been awakened for over a decade, a member of the Heavenly Kings. How could he be so weak?
"Cough… cough…"
Goenitz tried to speak, but couldn't. His lungs were completely filled with blood. Although this level of injury wasn't fatal to someone of his kind and would heal with time, the problem was that Ryuji wasn't going to give him that time.
"Forget it. Either way, killing you should save me a lot of trouble."
Ryuji didn't know whether he should let Goenitz go, so he decided to leave it to fate.
If he struck Goenitz's head with full power and Goenitz survived, then it meant he was destined to live and fate didn't want him dead.
But considering that the 'fate'/'will' of this world belonged to Orochi and that he would eventually fight Orochi, then he was, by definition, going against the fate anyway.
If he was going against fate, then fate's opinion didn't matter much.
The energy in his hand slowly began to glow with a red fluctuation, as black and crimson lightning intertwined around his fist.
Ryuji walked up to Goenitz, aimed at his head, and swung down with full force.
But at that very moment...
"Stop!"
A young man roared. His fist, wrapped in crimson flames, collided fiercely with another fist engulfed in purple fire, both striking Ryuji's arm at the same time.
The two flames instantly merged and then exploded, producing a force that even made Ryuji slightly surprised.
But the next moment, several crisp cracking sounds of bones breaking came from the fists that had collided with his.
The finger bones of the two young men who had blocked him shattered, and their arms snapped immediately afterward.
Even Goenitz was stunned. Seeing the flames on those two young men, his expression turned momentarily shocked, before twisting into a mocking smile.
But he didn't waste the opportunity Ryuji had inadvertently given him. He immediately activated his escape technique.
A violent storm formed from his power swept across the entire street, instantly engulfing everything in raging winds.
Two screams rang out as the young men with shattered arms were sent flying.
Ryuji quickly turned his gaze back toward Goenitz's direction, only to see his body dissolve into countless wisps of wind, disappearing before his eyes.
"Turning into wind?"
Ryuji focused his perception. He could still sense Goenitz's presence but at that moment, someone else stepped in front of him.
This time, it wasn't a man.
It was a blonde woman with a voluptuous figure. Beside her stood a petite woman dressed like a maid.
And surrounding them were numerous well-dressed bodyguards in suits, who immediately moved in and encircled Ryuji after seeing their employer step forward.
Looking at the two young men lying on the ground, the blonde woman's expression toward Ryuji was clearly displeased, and she couldn't help but speak.
"Don't you think your actions were a bit too ruthless, sir?"
Ryuji was speechless. Although he hadn't really intended to kill Goenitz, he was just itching for a fight and wanted to test things out. But now that so many people were suddenly stepping in to stop him, it was actually getting interesting.
So, he became curious, if he continued chasing Goenitz, just how many more people would show up?
"This has nothing to do with you."
Ryuji brushed aside the bodyguards around him and prepared to leave.
But just as he was about to pass the mistress and her maid, the petite maid suddenly lifted her leg, blocking his path with a swift kick.
Only then did Ryuji turn his attention to her and what he saw was a face that looked just as striking and familiar as Tifa, Mai and the other women.
Marie Rose?!
~~~~~~~~~~
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