Chapter 576 576: ...Oh

"You do not have a weapon?"

"I have never truly needed one, Lady Osk."

"Stop calling me lady. I am a warrior—and don't think that just because you do not have a weapon, I will offer you the same courtesy."

"I expect no such thing, Madam Osk."

What was within Riley's expectations, however, was the arena he finds himself in. Osk's tribe seemed to cling to the way of the warrior's life, it truly made sense that they would have some sort of arena to hold their disputes, training, and battles in.

"..." Riley slid his foot on the floor, pushing away the snow and revealing its silver brilliance. The arena seemed to be made of the same material as their cages, the walls were the same—as for the roof, it was just open.

What did serve as a roof, however, were Osk's other tribesmen. Their silhouettes, blocking the hazy winter light as if leaves. All of them were floating in the air, serving as a dome as they watch as Riley and Osk prepare for their duel.

Riley seemed to be done, however, as he just started stretching his limbs from having been in the cage for an entire hour. As for Osk, she was kneeling on the floor; the heat her muscles were releasing, melting the snow beneath her. She was wearing a gauntlet, as well as a metallic shin guard—unlike the rest of the metals Riley have seen so far, however, her armaments were even darker than Osk's skin; almost ebony, but crystal-like as they shine. Aside from that, however, she was still pretty much half-naked.

"..." Osk seemed to be whispering something as she knelt, and remained so after an entire minute. Riley did not mind, however, as it gave him more time to analyze the situation.

He was initially going to escape while they were fighting—he would create a clone and let it fight Osk, while he shrinks himself to escape. But that plan was completely ruined when the other women started covering the arena like a dome. Even if he becomes the size of an ant, this many themarians would still be able to catch him like a wasp.

The only way was to fight. He could immediately use his 'pavoom' move, but that would leave him too weak for a few seconds—enough time for these themarians to turn him into paste a million times.

And so, Riley just focused on his opponent. Although he still could not read and sense their energy, he knew the woman in front of her was strong, she wouldn't be the one on top of this tribe if she wasn't.

But more importantly, this was the first time Riley was fighting a themarian with a weapon. His priority right now was not to get hit.

"..." And finally, after another minute, Osk stood up–-the muscles on her legs, almost creating a sound similar to the metal threads one could find on large ships.

"Were you praying, Madam Osk?"

"To Hildvor," Osk said, deeply breathing out as she tightened her gauntlets.

"Hildvor? There is a themarian god?" Riley tilted his head to the side.

"Theran has truly degraded," Osk's eyebrows started to furrow, "They do not even offer Hildvor's dogma to the next generation anymore. Come then, let me instill in you what it means to be a true themarian!"

Osk then bumped her fists together, creating a blast of wind strong enough to cause even the sky itself to roar.

Riley, on the other hand, just deeply breathed out as he parted his legs together, pointing the edge of his right palm toward Osk, while his other palm rested beside his waist; his eyes, even calmer than his breaths.

He confirmed it now, with just the way Osk carried herself—she is strong. Riley, for some reason, however, seemed to not help but grow a smile on his face.

Darmuid, James, and now Osk.

There was something about killing strong opponents that truly caused a thrilling sensation to crawl through his skin.

Fun.

This is fun.

"What's that creepy smile on your face for?" Osk scoffed as she tightened her muscles, "Come to think of it, are you a half-breed?"

"Yes."

"Hm," Osk smirked, "So that's why you smell different—I have never fought a half-breed before. You and I are going to have fun, Riley Ross."

"That is what I am hoping for, Madam Osk," the smile on Riley's face grew even wider as he too started covering his body with several layers of his telekinetic barrier. Osk was obviously physically stronger than him, but it doesn't mean that he couldn't compete in strength—there are martial arts specifically reserved for that, after all.

And for some reason, Riley could not help himself but want to compete.

"That's a weird fighting stance."

"It is called Judo, Madam Osk. My father taught it to me."

"Oh? Teach it to me if you survive!"

And with that, the snow behind Osk was violently blown away; her feet, leaving a large dent on the floor as she suddenly disappeared.

"..." Riley stopped his breaths and closed off everything around him. Themarians can casually move a thousand times faster than sound, it was impossible to predict where they would be—and so, Riley just built a sort of web around the air using his telekinesis.

Almost like a spider, Riley could feel Osk moving across the thousands of threads he laid down. Osk was moving in a zigzag, almost like a hummingbird as she moved from one thread to the other in an instant.

And soon, she was in front of Riley.

Riley's threads were not limited to just sensing Osk, it could also slow her down even just by a single millisecond… as well as push Riley away to avoid the metal fist that threatened to hit him straight in the chest.

And with this, Riley quickly grabbed Osk's arm, placing it on his shoulder before lifting her up and slamming her straight to the ground—using her own momentum against her.

And then…

…there was darkness.

"...Oh."

Riley blinked a couple of times as he looked around him… only to see an endless horizon of nothing.

"I… died?" Riley could not help but whisper to himself as he sat down in the darkness. It is true that he already knew he wasn't a match against Osk physically, but how did he even die?

"..."

"..."

"Oh…" Riley then breathed out as he held his neck, he remembers it now. As soon as he grabbed Osk's arm, she also grabbed his neck. The last thing he remembered was the sound of a loud snap, whether that was from his neck, or from Osk's back which clearly folded in half when Riley threw her to the hard floor—he would probably never know. Perhaps it was both?

"Are you here, Nothing?" Riley then looked around the darkness, but once again, Nothing did not show itself. And so, Riley just decided to wait until finally, he felt the cold of winter on his skin.

"..." Riley blinked a couple of times as he saw the white sky above him, the themarians that were previously floating in a dome, already gone—no, not exactly. There were now surrounding him.

"Good morning, everyone," Riley casually said as he sat up from the ground. He then turned his eyes toward Osk, who was holding her back and groaning loudly as she groveled on the floor.

"Shh…" Osk gritted her teeth, but as soon as she saw Riley looking at her, she quickly stood up—her face clearly hiding the pain, 

"It's… it's been a while since I was almost sent to Eternal Death," Osk then said as she looked to the side, 

"I…I suppose we both won."