Chapter 207: Tearing Through The Monstrous Creature

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Vladimir had to prove himself. He had to fight and continue growing no matter the cost. This was the only way he could ever recover from all the damage that had been done to his pride. With a roar of pure defiance, the impact of his next blow caved in a large section of the monstrous hull. A massive explosion composed of his own explosive, fiery flames aura erupted outward the moment his claws sank deep into the metal-flesh.

"RAAAHHHH!"

His claws moved with brutal precision and pierced the fresh wound even deeper. Then he tore it wider with both hands, shoving his entire upper body inside the opening. Once inside he began ripping apart everything he could reach — thick cables of pulsing muscle, nests of half-formed monsters still writhing in embryonic fluid, and glowing toxin glands that burst under his grip — all of it torn apart with savage, methodical fury.

CLASH! CLASH! CLASH! CLASH!

"GRYYYAAAAEEERRGGGHHH!!!"

The train screamed in pure agony. The entire platform shook violently under the force of its pain.

RUMBLE!

FLUOSH!

"Ungh?! What the...!"

From the open wound a dense wave of concentrated poison gas billowed outward, thick enough to obscure vision completely and burn the lungs with every breath.

"AACK! COUGH, COUGH...! D-Damn it!!!"

Vladimir staggered backward, coughing hard as the corrosive gas ate into his lungs even through his powerful regeneration. The living tentacles seized the perfect moment of weakness. They wrapped tightly around his legs and torso and began slamming him repeatedly into the concrete platform until deep cracks spiderwebbed outward for several meters in every direction.

CRASH!

"Gaahaa?!"

CRASH!

"Ugh!"

CRAAASH!

"F-Fucking bastard!!!"

Riven stared at the brutal scene for only a second, finding it mildly amusing in a dark way, yet he still felt a reluctant sense of responsibility for Vladimir. He quickly moved to help. His Shadow Self dropped from the roof in a silent freefall of pure darkness, landing solidly beside the pinned werewolf.

Poisonous Mana Nature flared outward in a massive purple cloud that clashed head-on with the train’s toxin, neutralizing large portions of the deadly gas on contact. At the same time the serpents hidden within the cloud bit and tore aggressively at the restraining tentacles, forcing them to loosen their grip.

Riven absorbed all the remaining poison into his own mana and cleanly cut through the last tentacle, freeing Vladimir just as the werewolf coughed up blood and was sprayed with yet another wave of poisonous gases from a nearby wound.

"COUGH! COUGH! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

"It’s the antidote. I’ve synthesized it within my Mana Aura. Now fight! Get up!" the Shadow said in a flat, emotionless voice.

"TSK! FINE!!! RAAAAHHHH!"

Vladimir’s answer was a feral, bone-deep snarl. He bit clean through one of the tentacles that was still sneaking toward him, then released all of his concentrated energy into a powerful explosive attack. The blast erupted outward in a perfect sphere of blood-fire that vaporized the rest of the nearby tentacles in an instant.

BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOOM!

As they began to tear through the many thrashing tentacles of the abomination, the two of them pressed the assault together without holding back.

Riven’s Shadow Self started weaving more complex techniques on the fly. Frost Mana layered carefully over Poison Mana, creating a freezing toxic mist that spread across the platform and slowed the train’s regenerative flesh to a crawl.

At the same time he used his Abyssal Assault Arts to further complement his various Mana Natures, learning and refining his control with every single second of this valuable battle.

"Let’s test something!"

Shadow and Ghostly Sword natures fused once again, but this time the resulting domain expanded much larger than before. Dozens of spectral blades began raining from above like a relentless storm, each one seeking out the glowing toxin cores that were now visible through the deep wounds they had already opened in the train’s body.

"SHAAAAAAAAGGHH!"

The Mad Locomotive let out a furious, earth-shaking roar. It smashed Riven’s Shadow Self with its massive tail just as it was being bombarded by the explosive ghostly blades. The creature groaned in pain as most of its outer armor began falling away in large pieces, yet it still desperately attempted to recover and regenerate.

Meanwhile Vladimir went for pure attrition. Every time a tentacle tried to regenerate, he was already there, claws and fangs tearing it apart again without the slightest mercy.

He climbed the side of the train like the true beast he had become, ripping open new breaches wherever he found weak points and flooding the interior with his own blood energy so that anything still living inside burned from within.

However, the monstrous Mad Locomotive continued fighting with increasing desperation, revealing more and more of its aberrant traits.

Its front maw closed tightly, then split open even wider than before, revealing a second, deeper throat lined with spinning rail-spikes that began to rotate at high speed like a massive industrial grinder.

At the same time the middle car unfolded like a grotesque blooming flower of metal and living meat, revealing a battery of organic cannons that immediately began firing continuous streams of explosive poison spikes in every direction.

The entire platform rapidly became a chaotic killing ground of flying shrapnel, toxic explosions, and thrashing limbs that threatened to crush anything that stood still for even a second.

BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOOM!

"Who would’ve thought this damn thing would come equipped with all these weapons! This is getting ridiculous," Riven laughed, genuine excitement in his voice despite the danger.

If he were present here in his real body, that monstrosity would have already been cleaved into pieces. But his Shadow Self still had a long way to go in terms of power and refinement, and this battle worked as excellent training for his own senses and remote control without risking the precious time he wanted to spend with his wife.

"Main body, let’s move!"

"Yeah."

Riven’s Shadow Self warped fluidly through the shadows between impacts, leaving behind multiple afterimages composed of pure shadows, ghostly mana, and residual psionic energy. The train’s attacks destroyed those afterimages while the real Shadow body continued carving deep into the creature’s flesh without pause.

Every few seconds a new Ghostly Blade would form in the air and detonate inside a critical joint or exposed core, slowing the locomotive’s advance by several meters each time.

However, not everything was going smoothly. Vladimir took a direct hit from one of the organic cannons after being caught briefly off-guard during a climb.

BOOOM!

"Gahaa?!"

The force of the explosive poison spike sent him flying backward across the platform, his massive werewolf form skidding through the blood and ichor that already covered the concrete.

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