Chapter 231: One Hand Is Enough

Darius stared at Raiden like he had grown a second head.

"Come again??"

"You heard me." Raiden rolled his neck lazily, his bones cracking with a satisfying pop as he walked forward. "One hand. I’ll even put the other one in my pocket so it feels fair for you."

A few of the Battle Masters behind Darius started laughing, not because they found it funny, but because they assumed this was the part where the outsider got humiliated for his arrogance.

Darius, however, did not laugh. His jaw tightened, and the wind around him started curling tighter, like the suppressed volcano that was about to erupt.

"You do understand," Darius said slowly, "that I am a Platinum-Tier Battle Master with hundreds of Terra Beasts standing right behind me, correct?? And that you are currently facing an army."

"Yeah, I got that memo." Raiden nodded. "I’m just saying the math doesn’t really change anything for me. You could bring your grandma too if you want. I’ll still only need one hand. Hell, I feel like she would give me more of a challenge than you ever will."

{Ding!! Shameless Exp +25. Congratulations, host! You are now becoming more Shameless than ever before. New Title Unlocked: The Unbothered.}

Raiden’s eye twitched.

’Oi, system, stop giving me achievements for talking trash. This is necessary to do it in a fight.’

{Host, statistically, seventy-three per cent of your combat dialogue this week has qualified as unnecessary provocation. Just like your existence.}

’I swear I will delete you one day.’

{Understood, host. Would you like me to delete myself from existence and unbind with you?? Note that this action will result in your deletion from this world as well.}

’....Moth***ckin** asbjdahsdeoaksd!!!! You were much better when you couldn’t speak.’

{Why, thank you for the compliment, host.}

While Raiden argued internally with a voice only he could hear, Darius had already decided that talking further was pointless. He raised his hand, and the metallic rhinoceros behind him let out a low, grinding roar that shook loose dirt from the surrounding trees.

"Fine." Darius’s smile returned, colder this time. "One hand. Let’s see how long that lasts."

Boom!!

The rhinoceros charged.

It moved faster than something its size had any right to move, its metal-plated hooves tearing furrows into the earth as the wind drill on its horn spun into a blur. Behind it, two more Platinum beasts broke off from the main group, an eagle diving from above and the stone crocodile crawling low along the ground like it wanted to bite Raiden’s legs off before he even noticed.

Theodore’s head snapped around.

"Raiden, that’s three Platinum beasts at once, don’t be reckless—"

"Relax." Raiden held up the one hand he had promised to use, palm open, completely casual. "I said one hand. I didn’t say I’d stand still."

The rhinoceros reached him first.

Raiden kept a strict eye on it before he sidestepped at the last moment.

The drill horn tore past his shoulder close enough to ruffle his hair, embedding itself three feet deep into the ground where he had been standing a second earlier.

Before the rhino could pull its horn free, Raiden’s open palm started shimmering with a blood-red glow as Rose lifted her tail and he slammed into the side of its skull.

The sound that followed was less like a punch and more like someone had dropped a boulder onto a drum.

Bang!!

The rhinoceros’s entire body lifted off the ground sideways, crashed through two trees, and came to a stop only when it hit a small hill hard enough to leave a crater shaped like a very confused rhinoceros.

Boom!!

Silence.

Even the eagle diving from above seemed to hesitate mid-flight, as if its instincts were screaming at it to reconsider this whole plan.

"...Huh." Raiden looked at his hand like it had betrayed him a little. "I think I held back too much. My bad."

"Your bad?!" Theodore’s voice cracked. "You just sent a Platinum-Tier Terra Beast flying with one slap, and you’re apologising for holding back?!"

"Well, I did promise one hand." Raiden shrugged. "Wouldn’t want to break my word. That’s just bad manners."

Darius’s expression had a look of genuine alarm on his face as he saw the Platinum Beast being flattened, though he tried very hard not to show it.

The eagle, having received a signal, dove the rest of the way down with its talons extended, wind gathering around its wings in sharp blades aiming to shred anything beneath it.

Raiden didn’t even turn around.

He simply raised the same hand blood coated hand, caught one talon mid-swipe like he was catching a badly thrown ball, and yanked.

The eagle, several times his size, followed the motion of his arm and slammed face-first into the ground beside him.

Bang!!

"Sorry." Raiden patted its head once, almost apologetically. "You’ve got good instincts. Bad luck, though."

Bang!!

Bang!!

Bang!!

Bang!!

Bang!!

He swung the Engle from one side to another, slamming it repeatedly on the ground before letting go, leaving it as a twitching mess on the ground.

The stone crocodile, which had been crawling low the entire time hoping to catch him off guard, finally lunged with its jaws wide open.

Raiden caught the top of its snout with his palm before it could close, holding the entire creature at bay with one arm while it thrashed and clawed uselessly at the dirt.

"You know," Raiden said conversationally, as if he weren’t currently restraining a Platinum-Tier crocodile the size of a truck, "I really thought this would be harder. Kind of disappointing, honestly."

He pushed.

The crocodile skidded backwards across the clearing, flipped once, and landed on its back with all four legs sticking straight up in the air, twitching.

For a long moment, nobody on the enemy side moved.

Aria, who had been watching with wide eyes from behind Woolie, slowly turned to Theodore.

"Little Theo," she whispered, "is this normal???"

"I genuinely don’t know anymore." Theodore’s expression had gone completely blank. "I used to think Terra Beasts were the scary part of this world. Now I just think he’s the scary part of this world and everything else is just decoration."

Rose, who had been busy tying up unconscious Battle Masters in neat rows of blood rope like some kind of horrifying arts and crafts project, paused to look over at Raiden with obvious pride.

"Hiss Hiss~" That’s Rai Rai for you. Together, Rose and Rai Rai are the strongest!!

(๑˃ᴗ˂)ﻭ

"Sha Sha!!" Neva bounced excitedly on Aria’s shoulder, still glowing faintly from her earlier praise. Rai Rai is the strongest!! Nobody can beat him!!

Woolie, still standing guard in front of Aria, watched the entire display with his little chest puffed out even further, though his eyes were burning with something that looked suspiciously like jealousy.

"Woolie Woo..." That should have been me. This Emperor could have done that too.

Darius, meanwhile, had gone very quiet.

He looked at his fallen rhinoceros, his unconscious eagle, and his twitching crocodile, then looked back at Raiden, who was casually cracking his knuckles as he’d just finished a light warm-up rather than defeating three Platinum-Tier Terra Beasts in under ten seconds.

"You..." Darius said slowly, "You are not a normal Gold-Tier Battle Master!! Who exactly are you?! Are you sure you want to meddle in the affairs of Stormwind Family?!!"

"Are you threatening me with this dogshit family??" Raiden grinned. "I never took you guys seriously. Come, if you can make me move a single step from this place, I’ll call you daddy."

Darius’s fists clenched so hard his knuckles turned white as he glared at the young man standing in front of him.

"Fine." His voice dropped, quiet and dangerous. "Since you decided to meddle in our family affairs...it’s your funeral!!"

He reached into his robe and pulled out something that glowed with the same storm-blue light as the crests around them, except this one was larger, more ornate, clearly meant for something bigger than coordinating a few dozen beasts.

"This," Darius said, raising it high, "was given to me personally by the Clan Head. A gift reserved only for the Core Disciples. I never hoped to use it against you!!"

The storm-blue light exploded outward, connecting to every single crest still active on the battlefield at once.

"But to tackle you!! I will use it and let you feel the power and majesty of Stormwind Clan!!!"

The remaining twelve Platinum-Tier Terra Beasts let out a simultaneous roar that shook the ground hard enough to make Aria stumble as their aura doubled instantly!!

Looking at the imposing Terra Beasts moving towards him, Raiden’s smile finally faded.

"Okay." He rolled his shoulders once more, no longer looking quite so relaxed. "This might end up being a problem."