Chapter 159: Riven’s Evolved Weapon Art - Guillotine Cascade

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Ryujin staggered across the rooftop, blood already trickling from his nose as his carefully prepared formations shattered one after another. He was completely unable to understand what Riven was even doing anymore, yet Riven refused to give him any time to figure it out.

Riven launched himself upward with explosive force. Four arms of black-red chimera flesh and a pair of metallic feathered wings propelled him like a living missile. He dual-wielded Fenrir’s Fang and the Netherworld King’s Blade while his remaining two hands formed sharp claws of condensed psychic energy. At the same time the Headless Knight Swords, now possessed by Kagehisa’s spiritual energy, dove into the castle’s interior and began shattering several critical crystals — the cores of various defensive formations and runes.

Then Riven’s weapon technique evolved even further.

Quadruple Abyssal Assault Art — Second Form: Guillotine Cascade.

A raging storm of crossing death-waves carved deep trenches through the living fortress. Wooden flesh and spiritual sinew parted under the relentless assault.

SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!

BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOOM!

"D-Damn it! What do you think you’re doing?!" Ryujin groaned angrily as he smashed his fist into the castle’s rooftop, forcing the structure itself to fight back.

The castle screamed in pure agony and released a massive wave of spiritual pressure that sent both Riven and Kagehisa flying backward. Ryujin seized that momentum and thrust his naginata forward in a series of dozens of powerful attacks. Black petals unfurled around the blade in a swirling vortex of demonic energy.

"TAKE THIS!!!"

Filled with fury, he launched a barrage of piercing attacks that drove both of them down into the ground. Riven quickly recovered from the damage and deliberately tanked the remaining hits to protect Kagehisa.

Kagehisa used the opening perfectly. He blurred away and reappeared behind Ryujin in an attempt to assassinate him by piercing his neck with dual daggers. A giant wooden hand punched him away at the last possible second.

"Ngaaah! Damn thing!"

Kagehisa groaned as one of his ribs cracked, but he immediately recovered and ran across the fortress while firing explosive ninjutsu. Thunder, fire, and cutting winds began to destroy and burn through the living structure.

Riven climbed rapidly through the castle and then leaped upward with his wings, catching Ryujin while Kagehisa continued distracting the giant fortress. He grabbed the old man’s neck tightly — only for his hand to be cut clean off in an instant.

SLASH!

Ryujin’s demonic spear radiated immense power. It was an SSS-Rank item he had somehow acquired — an incredible relic of his family.

"You won’t touch me, you freak!"

Ryujin hissed as his crimson spiritual aura smashed Riven downward. Yet Riven resisted the pressure, stacking multiple skills and energies together and weaving them into a single technique. A massive spectral hand surged from his aura and began wrestling directly against Ryujin’s own spiritual pressure.

"Gaaahaa?!" Ryujin suddenly felt his internal body being battered by invisible attacks. "Y-You bastard...! Are you... a psychic?!"

"Heh," Riven smirked coldly. He finally broke through the spiritual pressure and smashed Ryujin’s face hard into the rooftop. The old man screamed, vomited blood, and rolled across the surface. The living yokai castle barely managed to catch him. Riven immediately descended to finish him off, only for wooden claws to intercept him at the last moment.

"Hahaha! You can’t—"

FLUOSH!

At that exact moment the shadows behind Ryujin flickered. Noir and Label appeared without warning. Ryujin’s eyes widened in pure disbelief as the girl roared at him and released an invisible wave of raw power that nearly made him blank out on the spot.

"Nnngghh!" He resisted with his remaining spiritual aura and thrust his spear forward — only for an empty hole to open inside Noir’s body, teleporting the attack straight back at him. "WHAT?!"

Riven was momentarily shocked. Was that a new technique?

The redirected spear pierced Ryujin’s left shoulder, tearing through flesh and bone and making him scream in agony.

"Ryujin Kazama, I’ll finally have my revenge!" Label roared. She drank a powerful rainbow-colored elixir on the spot. Her aura skyrocketed. Her hair turned momentarily metallic and blazed with rainbow spiritual flames as she rushed toward him and coiled her living hair around his body. "I’LL KILL YOU!"

"Nngaaaahhhhhh!" Ryujin screamed — only for his naginata to move on its own like a ghostly weapon and appear behind Label. A sudden smile spread across his face. He had been feigning the severity of his pain. "Like father, like daughter... a fool until the very end!"

"?!"

Label gasped. Noir tried to teleport the incoming attack away, but wooden roots heavily infused with spiritual energy coiled tightly around him and completely blocked his teleportation.

"LABEL!!!"

Riven shifted through the shadows as the naginata sped toward the girl’s unprotected back...

Would he make it on time?

Could he?!

CLAAASH!

Ryujin laughed triumphantly. Riven managed to catch the naginata at the last possible moment, yet the blade had already pierced through the girl’s back and straight into her heart.

"NO!"

As Riven screamed in horror, Label simply smiled. Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth.

POOF!

She exploded into a cloud of black smoke. At the same time a cluster of explosive kunai fired directly into Ryujin’s face, blowing one of his eyes completely apart.

"NANIIIIIIII?!"

Ryujin was utterly flabbergasted. He had lost an eye in an instant and could only stare as the girl dissolved into smoke.

Just what the hell had just happened?!

Kagehisa smirked from a short distance away. The real Label was safely on his back. He moved his fingers rapidly, creating three more perfect clones of her and sending them after Ryujin. "What’s wrong, Ryujin?! Can’t handle just a little lass?!"

"W-Wha...!" Ryujin was completely perplexed. Label and Kagehisa had somehow combined their powers to create functional clones of the girl. "Damn it!"

As he found himself surrounded by the Label clones, Ryujin saw Riven closing in on him while carrying the very demonic spear he had just stolen.

"Get ready!"

Consumed by pure wrath, the entire group charged him at once.

At the same time his yokai castle was being rapidly dismantled by Kagehisa’s continuous ninjutsu attacks and could no longer protect him properly.

Ryujin... was going to die.

He clenched his teeth, truly believing this was the end.

And yet...

"GRAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!"

A high, keening wail suddenly rattled the bones of everyone present. Their auras flickered and nearly collapsed. Even Ryujin felt as if his head was about to explode. From the courtyard far below, the giant egg pulsed violently.

BA-DUM.

BA-DUM.

BA-DUM!

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