A fist connected.
A body flew.
Steel shattered.
The ceiling of the bunker groaned under the pressure—then exploded upward as Riku's body smashed through it like a missile. Dust and metal rained down, and before the debris could settle, Akuma launched up after him, leaving a cyclone in his wake.
They burst into open sky.
Riku twisted mid-air, catching himself on a falling steel slab, then pushed off it and launched straight toward Akuma.
They met in the air—fists colliding like meteorites.
The shockwave split the clouds above.
Below, the broken remains of the bunker trembled, a crater forming from the sheer residual force of their clash. Soldiers, beasts, and watchers far away looked up in awe—unable to comprehend what they were seeing.
No essence flared.
No divine power glowed.
But the air itself screamed with the weight of their movements.
Akuma spun, landing a brutal elbow into Riku's ribs, but Riku twisted with it and countered with a knee to the chin. The force flipped Akuma upward—but he flipped again in mid-air and drove a hammerfist toward Riku's chest.
Riku caught the arm.
Roared.
And suplexed him straight down into the mountain-sized slab of bunker debris.
The explosion was deafening.
Akuma rose from the crater, dust and stone rolling off his body, blood on his lip again—but his grin remained.
"You're still standing…" he muttered, wiping it away. "No. You're still rising."
Riku stepped forward from the haze, breathing heavy, knuckles cracked and bleeding—but his gaze never faltered.
"You said I passed him," Riku said through clenched teeth. "Then let me prove it."
Akuma chuckled, stretching his neck. "Good."
He stomped the ground—splitting it.
Then charged.
So did Riku.
No words.
Just motion.
They clashed again—dozens of times in seconds.
Each strike louder than the last.
Shockwaves rippled into the horizon. Entire ridgelines collapsed beneath the pressure. Wind tunnels formed from their speed alone, spiraling through the fractured sky.
A right hook from Akuma.
A parry from Riku.
A knee.
A block.
A counter-kick.
A flurry.
A scream.
Steel met flesh. Will met will.
And still, the battle didn't end.
They fought above the clouds now, each blow tearing the sky open like paper.
Hand to hand.
Blow for blow.
Gods in silence.