Chapter 208: Ending The Boss Once And For All

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Riven’s Shadow Self warped fluidly through the shadows between every impact, leaving behind a series of afterimages composed of pure shadows, ghostly mana, and residual psionic energy. Those afterimages absorbed the train’s relentless attacks and were destroyed in his place while the real body continued carving deep into the monster without pause. Every few seconds a new Ghostly Blade would form in the air and detonate inside a critical joint or exposed seam, slowing the massive 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 slightly off-guard during a reckless charge.

The explosion tore a large chunk of flesh from his shoulder and sent him flying backward into a thick support pillar hard enough to crack the concrete. He hit the ground with a heavy impact, regenerated the wound in only a few seconds amid a spray of his own blood, and launched himself back into the fray with even greater fury than before.

"What do you think you’re doing?! Stop ignoring me!"

He was furious that the train seemed to be focusing most of its attention on Riven. Vladimir appeared behind the monstrous vehicle again and again, kicking it with full force, slashing through its armor, and tearing deep into its living flesh before leaping away just in time to avoid the grasping tentacles, the beams of concentrated energy from its glowing eyes, and the deadly streams of poison it continuously sprayed.

As the brutal battle dragged on, the train’s outer armor was nearly gone in several places, revealing a nightmarish interior of pulsing organs, tangled rails that served as bones, and a central "heart" — a massive, glowing sphere of compressed toxin and stolen mana that constantly pulsed and released noxious green gases into the air.

Riven’s Shadow Self spotted the opening first, and Vladimir followed the silent signal without hesitation.

"Vladimir! The core!"

"Got it!!!"

The werewolf smiled viciously. He needed no further instruction. He roared with primal force and charged straight up the side of the middle car, completely ignoring the tentacles that shredded the fur and flesh of his back. Riven covered him from the flank, cutting down anything that tried to intercept, and helped create the opening for Vladimir to dive deeper into the exposed body.

At the peak of his leap Vladimir drove both of his massive clawed hands into the glowing heart and ripped outward with every ounce of strength he possessed, finally reaching the massive core and beginning to shatter it with raw power.

CRAAASH!

At the exact same moment Riven’s Shadow Self poured every remaining Ghostly Blade, every last drop of Poisonous, Frost, and Shadow mana into a single concentrated strike.

Abyssal Assault Arts – Ghostly Guillotine Death Domain.

Ten enormous ghostly swords, each larger than any he had formed before and wreathed in freezing poison and soul-rending flame, formed a perfect circular array around the core and drove inward simultaneously with devastating precision.

The monster screamed in pure terror as it saw its imminent doom approaching.

BOOOMMM!!!

A catastrophic detonation of pure toxic energy and ghostly fire erupted outward with such force that it lifted the entire train off its tracks for a brief moment.

Metal and living flesh tore apart in a chain reaction of destruction. The front maw collapsed inward on itself. The thrashing tentacles went limp and began dissolving into foul sludge. The remaining cars buckled and folded as the binding muscle cables that held the whole abomination together burned away piece after piece.

"GYYAAAAAAARRGGHHH!"

The Flesh-Train gave one last death cry that shook thick dust from the tunnel ceiling, then crashed down onto the rails in a steaming heap of twisted steel, ruined meat, and fading green light.

"Ugh...!"

"Fuck."

Silence finally fell over the battlefield, broken only by the steady drip of ichor onto the rails and Vladimir’s heavy, labored breathing as he slowly shrank back toward his humanoid form. He was still heavily bloodied but managed to remain standing for a few seconds before his legs gave out and he fell to his knees, unable to resist the overwhelming exhaustion any longer.

Riven’s Shadow Self stood calmly atop the wreckage. The last of the ghostly blades dissolved into soft particles of spectral light before disappearing completely into the air.

"It’s done," the shadow said, its voice perfectly calm. "Final boss of the Abandoned Subway Line... eliminated."

Vladimir wiped a streak of blood from his mouth and stared at the ruined train for a long moment. Then he gave a short, humorless laugh that still carried a note of reluctant respect.

"Hah... you really are a monster, Riven Claymore."

The Shadow Self turned its gaze toward the deeper darkness beyond the wreckage, where the tunnel continued into unknown territory that neither of them had yet explored.

"You too. Looks like you finally grasped some of the basics of combat. You weren’t as sloppy as usual this time, but you’ve still got a long way to go."

"Says the newbie that just started as a hunter?" Vladimir shot back, still catching his breath. "I’m more surprised how you can fight so well when you’ve lived your entire life as a powerless unawakened."

The truth was that Riven’s skill was a mixture of hard-earned combat experience, years of practiced martial arts, and the continuous stacking of skills and talents that amplified every movement he made.

Riven had attempted many different ways to awaken throughout his life. He had never truly given up on that dream. Among those attempts were long periods of trying to cultivate internal energy and also rigorously learning martial arts from various schools.

He had managed to grasp the basics and could fight decently well for a completely powerless normal human being, but he could never really succeed at cultivation.

Neither spirit energy nor ki ever responded to him, let alone mana. He had even tried consuming expensive awakening drugs he purchased from the Hunter Market in desperation, but those attempts had failed as well.

His talent had been so abysmal, and he had been so thoroughly incompatible with every known system of power, that it truly felt like he was trash among trash — not even capable of reaching the bare minimum of F Rank no matter how hard he tried.

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