Chapter 166: Against Genesis’ Psionic Spirit Avatar

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"Y-You...!" With one eye half-open, he gazed into the being before him. "Impossible...! G-Genesis?!"

Riven groaned in agony, clenching his teeth hard enough to crack them. He constantly saw the vivid, unbearable memories of Elisa being torn to shreds by the Void Abominations that poured from the Gates summoned by the Cosmic Monarch. He watched himself being unable to do anything as he too was dragged into an eternal abyss. He coughed blood everywhere. His eyes began bleeding as his soul trembled with pure fury. His heart beat faster and faster. His Titan Power, unifying both the Heart and the Physique, started to awaken as everything else was momentarily shut down.

Her appearance. Her posture. And her immense, almighty power over the mind. She was a monster that, no matter who confronted her, instantly had their minds wiped clean and left them in a permanent vegetative state... It was truly her. A fragment of her very soul seemed to exist within every single one of her cells!

"You... are... not... from this... time... who... are you...?"

"!!!"

As she continuously probed his mind and read through his deepest memories, Genesis began to unravel the truth that Riven was not from this present time.

"Hah...! I’d like to know something though...! How are you even here?! These cells... do they all contain you?!"

"From flesh comes the mind, from the mind comes the spirit, from the spirit comes the soul..." Genesis continued to speak, her way of talking improving with each successive word. "From the soul... comes belief... from belief... miracles... from miracles... life... from life... flesh."

"!!!"

A perfect circle.

Suddenly the flesh that had been squirming beneath her trembled and flew toward her spiritual form, attempting to fuse with her and reform into yet another new body.

But Riven... could not allow that to happen.

Enough was enough.

He had not expected her to be so intelligent, but then again, as a parasitizing being capable of consuming minds themselves, she had access to all the knowledge she desired.

"I won’t let you...! Revive!"

Riven, against all odds, fought back with everything he had left.

A shadow appeared behind him — his Shadow Self. It barely managed to push through the psychic pressure, merging with his human form after he forced himself back into his original appearance.

"Main body, don’t give up!"

His white skin gained shadow-like black tattoos. His eyes gleamed a fierce red. Yet it was still not enough.

That was why...

"AWROOOOO!"

Noir transformed into a pure mass of living darkness and merged into Riven’s body, using him as a temporary vessel. Black fur appeared across several areas of Riven’s form, turning him into a half-werewolf hybrid.

"Noir...!"

Riven continued resisting the crushing psychic powers. He forced himself to stand and move forward step by step. Genesis’s Avatar began to flinch. The remaining flesh was no longer responding properly to her will. It was simply too damaged and too weak after taking so much punishment.

But above all, it was him.

"You...! You... possess my flesh... you consumed me...! And yet... I cannot... control... you...!"

Then—

"Riven!"

Label’s hand landed firmly on Riven’s shoulder. She poured every last drop of her remaining psychic power into him. His aura erupted violently. His hair flew upward into the air, blazing with multicolored rainbow fire.

"Now, push... together!"

Both of them unleashed their combined psychic and spiritual power at once. They fired a single concentrated beam of pure energy that contained the very essence of their souls.

TRUUUM!

"Uuggh?!"

The Avatar of Genesis flinched hard, staggered, and then fell to her knees. Her entire body rapidly began to disintegrate.

As something constructed purely from spirit energy and psychic power, she was incredibly unstable. With enough focused force...

"..."

She continued to disintegrate without resistance.

As she faded, she did not scream in pain or show any sign of fear. She simply glared in cold, absolute silence.

Despite her human-like appearance and the way she spoke, this thing was no human being. It was a monstrous alien lifeform through and through.

She narrowed her eyes for a final moment and then disappeared completely into particles of light.

Crack, crack...!

The crystallized spiritual core that the monster had regenerated for herself shattered once more.

CRAAASH!

A massive explosion followed. Countless colors spilled in every direction, warping both space and even time itself.

BOOOOMMM!!!

The entire Domain in which they found themselves began to collapse, falling apart into broken pieces at the same time as the void of the Noosphere attempted to consume them.

"Uwaaaaggghhh!" Label fell through the air. "Rivennnn! Riven, wake up!!!"

Riven had fallen unconscious during the final push. She held onto him tightly while Noir used his shadows to drag them both toward a crack in space that led back to the spiritual realm outside.

"Awroooo!"

He howled in effort but suddenly saw a giant cloud of pure darkness approaching at high speed. Countless twisted faces and grasping hands emerged from the cloud as it descended toward them.

"W-What?!"

Label panicked as the shadow hands stretched out to grab them. Noir moved even faster. He sprinted across the destroyed floating islands, leaping from one crumbling piece to another with desperate speed.

"OOOOOHHHHH!"

The massive nightmarish specter continued its relentless chase. Noir, Label, and the unconscious Riven drew closer and closer to the exit.

However, the aberration opened its enormous jaws and began to absorb everything around it, creating a powerful suction force that pushed them backward and prevented them from reaching the exit in time.

"D-Damn it!"

As Label cried out in frustration, a figure suddenly emerged from the exit.

"Label! Hang in there! Grab this!"

It was Kagehisa. He threw a long rope through the exit, which was quickly caught by Noir’s jaws and then by Label’s free hand.

"PUSH!!!"

Kagehisa and his three retainers roared together as they pulled the rope with all their strength. The monstrosity’s suction force was massive, yet...

The combined resolve of the four ninjas proved stronger. Label, Noir, and finally the unconscious Riven were pulled out of the Noosphere just before it could fully consume them.

"GRYYAARRRR!"

The aberration made of dark thoughts, traumas, and nightmares attempted to use the open exit to attack them. The gateway rapidly closed, however. A giant black claw of pure darkness managed to emerge and was sliced cleanly in place as the gate sealed shut.

"Haaa...!" Kagehisa coughed heavily. "Damn it, what the hell was that?!"

"Huh?! It’s still moving!!!" Goki screamed in alarm.

The giant black claw, formed of swirling dark clouds, began to rapidly rush toward them. It moved like a massive spider with a long, whipping tail trailing behind it.

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