Arc I: “Apocalypse”
Chapter III: “Armageddon”
Episode VII: “Dystopian Brawl”
“So? What is your choice?” Bowl asked, rising slowly from the castle steps, his hulking frame towering like a monolith.
“It’s obvious.” Rikito stepped forward, fists clenched.
“We aren’t going to join you, brother.”
He turned to glance at Asuka, “Back away from here, Asuka.”
“A-alright,” she said reluctantly as she slowly ascended into the air.
Bowl tilted his head, his jagged smile widening.
“Death, then?”
“No… we won’t be dying here either.”
Rikito’s aura flared violently.
“Because I’m going to defeat you.”
Bowl chuckled, a low, condescending rumble.
“My foolish little brother. You don’t truly think you can measure up to me, do you? It offends me that you’d even entertain the thought.”
“Shut up and fight.”
Rikito crouched into his stance, white and orange sparks crackling at his fingertips.
Bowl cocked his head. “You’re not going to use one of those savage-blooded forms of yours, are you?”
Rikito snarled. “Mock my Kaelithian heritage all you want. You’ll regret it once you see my true power.”
“Oh? Let’s see it then.”
Rikito blurred forward in a flash, his blows striking like cannon fire. Bowl — still standing casually — parried them with one finger.
“Is this the power you were boasting about?”
“Ha!”
Rikito’s aura erupted as he ascended. His hair lifted upward, white-hot light surrounding him.
“Spirit Resonance,” Bowl muttered, smirking. “So, you’re getting serious now?”
Rikito ignored the jab and attacked again, this time forcing Bowl to move from his spot.
“Heh.” Rikito grinned. “You had to dodge that time.”
Bowl’s expression hardened slightly.
“Don’t get ahead of yourself.”
They clashed again — shockwaves shaking the air, each exchange louder than the last. Rikito’s relentless strikes finally earned Bowl’s attention.
“Not bad. But don’t forget — I haven’t even shown you my true form.”
“Hmph. There’s no need. If this is your base form at full strength, then your demon forms won’t be anything I can’t handle.”
“Oh, brother…” Bowl’s voice dripped with mock pity, “Don’t compare me to those half-baked generals you’ve fought. We are cut from different cloth — our parents and I alone carry powers that would blow away your wildest imaginations.”
“Then stop talking and show me.”
“Very well. In that case, I’ll unleash my full yield and show you my power.”
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Bowl’s aura erupted in a hellish blaze — deep reddish-orange light that twisted the air around him. The stone beneath his feet cracked as his power multiplied.
“Demon Form,” he announced.
Rikito smirked. “That’s more like it. Now I can really show you the full extent of my Spirit Resonance!”
They vanished in an instant, reappearing high above the battlefield in a furious exchange of blows. Their movements blurred in the air, too fast for Asuka to follow.
Rikito’s muscles burned as he forced Bowl back.
This is it. My power’s enough to push him!
“Black Lightning!” he roared, his attack engulfing Bowl in a searing storm of darkness and electricity.
Bowl casually raised a glowing hand.
“Queen’s Shield.”
An elegant crystalline barrier materialized around him, dissipating Rikito’s lightning like smoke in the wind.
Rikito’s eyes widened.
“W-what?! What did you just do?”
“You’re not prepared for my arsenal.” Bowl grinned.
“Then I’ll play my next card!” Rikito snapped.
“Jack’s Blade!” Bowl shouted as his arm cut the air, releasing a massive sword-like slash of energy.
Rikito twisted midair, narrowly evading it.
“Ha!”
Two more came, forcing Rikito to Aether-Skip backward.
Bowl unleashed a relentless barrage of slashes, each strike tearing the sky as Rikito scrambled for distance.
“If you can’t handle this,” Bowl mocked, “you’ll never survive my other techniques.”
“Shut up! Dark Lightning Cannon!”
Rikito fired a devastating beam, meeting Bowl’s slashes head-on and clearing the assault.
What!? “Where—?!” Bowl’s eyes darted.
“Black Lightning Dash!”
In an instant, Rikito appeared in front of Bowl faster than light, his body wreathed in black lightning. He unleashed a savage combo, his strikes hammering through Bowl’s guard.
Bowl’s lip bled. He wiped it away with the back of his hand, grinning.
“Impressive… you also seem to have some interesting techniques.”
“Hmph.”
“Then you’ve earned the next level.”
Bowl’s aura exploded again, his hair darkening to a deep, violent purple.
Rikito powered up in response, “So, you’re finally taking me seriously? Good. Spirit Ascension!” His creamy-white aura burned hotter with orange highlights as a thick coat of aether hugged his frame.
They clashed again — their blows now splitting the air like thunderclaps.
“You had another level as well? That explains how Tub and Cette fell so easily.”
Easily? He’s still toying with me.
Rikito gritted his teeth.
“But tell me, Rikito — does it make you feel like less of a failure? Still clinging to those savage-blooded forms instead of embracing your true heritage?”
Rikito scowled. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“Oh, you don’t know?” Bowl’s tone sopped with mock pity.
“Our father was a god among Dystopians. And your dear mother? She was a Kaelithian — a savage-blooded fighter who polluted our lineage. Do you think that pure-white aura makes you one of them? No… It just makes you a tainted little mutt, stuck between two worlds.”
Rikito froze, his aura faltering.
“Shut… up.”
“And do you know what the best part is?”
Bowl leaned forward, voice soft and cruel.
“That ‘noble’ God of Utopia you seem to align yourself with? He was the one who butchered her. The last thing your mother saw before dying… was him. This entire time you’ve been chasing after our father— the only thing pushing you forward being your revenge.”
Bowl’s face twisted in a sadistic smile.
“But this whole time you should have been seeking after the God of Utopia… oh, that’s right. He’s already dead.”
Rikito’s breathing grew ragged, his thoughts scattered.
“Now tell me, little brother,” Bowl whispered.
“When you look in the mirror… do you see our father’s strength? Or your mother’s weakness staring back at you?”
Rikito’s vision blurred. His teeth ground together so hard his jaw ached.
He… killed her? That can’t be true…
He roared, his aether flaring violently — an uncontrolled surge in his power was born from desperation.
“Shut up!”
Asuka watched the two of them on the dark sanded island from up in the sky.
Is Rikito alright? I’ve never seen him like this…
Rikito Aether-Skipped, appearing in front of Bowl faster than he’d ever moved.
“Black Lightning Combination!”
He blurred, vanishing from sight, then reappeared behind Bowl — only for Bowl to catch him by the neck mid-attack.
That’s it, now you’re fighting just like a true savage-blood.
“You’re predictable.”
Bowl smirked, charging a dark slash in his free hand.
“Jack’s Blade.”
Rikito’s movements seemed to be fueled by blind rage.
“Not this time.”
Rikito’s body dissolved into pure lightning, stunning Bowl with a violent surge.
“What—?!”
Rikito reappeared behind him, slamming a brutal combo that sent Bowl skyward.
“D-dammit I still can’t move!”
“Let’s finish this,” Rikito muttered as he took a deep breath inward.
Oblivion Break: Cataclysmic Verse…
“Abyss Breaker!”
Rikito roared, firing his strongest attack, the swirling orb of black and violet energy screaming toward Bowl.
Rikito’s grip trembled around the forming orb.
He couldn’t see Bowl anymore — only flashes of his mother’s face, and the image of a faceless god striking her down.
Yes! Rikito thought as he recentered his focus.
That lightning should’ve paralyzed his nerves and meridians. He can’t shield against this. This will land!
The explosion ripped through the sky, shaking the heavens. Streaks of black lightning and violet energy streamed throughout the darkening sky.
Rikito waited, panting. He descended to the ground as he returned to his natural state, running low on aether.
Did I…?
For a moment, there was only silence.
The smoke curled around a still figure, head lowered, limbs tucked in a fetal position.
“Hehehehe…”
Bowl’s silhouette straightened out, brushing dust from his shoulder as if nothing had happened.
He emerged from the smoke, mostly unharmed, his purple aura unshaken.
“You thought that was enough to defeat me? That’s almost cute.”
Rikito’s heart sank.
“Not even Abyss Breaker worked!?” Asuka exasperated while she watched from above the island.
“That’s right,” Bowl said, his grin widening as he landed before Rikito.
“There’s something you should know. My defensive attributes are even greater than Cette’s.”
He cracked his neck.
“So… I hope you’ve got something stronger, little brother. Because this? This is nothing.”
Bowl rolled his shoulders, as if he had finally finished loosening up for the first time in the fight. He wasn’t even close to taking the previous bouts seriously.
Rikito’s arms hung at his sides, heavy like lead.
Every breath burned his chest.
His legs almost gave out… but not from exhaustion — but from the crushing weight of knowing how much of a gap there was between him and his brother.
His strength, his rage, even his mother’s memory — all of it had been meaningless.
“I almost pity you, brother.”
A deviously evil smile crept onto Bowl’s face as he attempted not to burst out into laughter.
“Almost.”
If even that didn’t work, what chance do I have?
As his mother’s face faded from his mind, it was replaced by the cold realization — he wasn’t enough.
He… might never be enough.
[Next Time on Lyte of Utopia]: “The Third Level!?”
[Yield Levels]:
Rikito: 100m
- SR + Suppressed: (1b) (Physical)
- SR: (10b) (Physical)
- SA: 20b
- Black Lightning: x5
- Dark Lightning Cannon: x10
- Black Lightning Dash: x20
- Black Lightning Combination: x50
- Abyss Breaker: x100
Asuka: 5m
Bowl: 1b
- Suppressed (Idle): 105m
- Suppressed (Fighting): 500m
- DFL1: 5b
- DFL2: 10b
- Jack’s Blade: x10
- Queen’s Shield: x100