Chapter 281: What Sort Of Human Are You?

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From that deep shadow, Riven emerged with sudden force. He had used Abyssal Shift to move between the shadows at the exact same time as he left a Spiritual Clone behind. He had carefully imitated with his own abilities the Ninjutsu that Kagehisa and his retainers could perform, specifically the Replacement Jutsu and Shadow Clone Jutsu, but he employed those techniques smartly by combining them with his personal powers. In the precise moment the frog came to attack him, he had already created a solid clone around his body, and by transferring his real body through Abyssal Shift into the dark shadow that rested beneath the frog, he completely avoided that powerful point-blank attack.

The Crimson Frog King panicked at once, making a strange and almost funny sound as its wide face showed clear disbelief. Riven’s heavily armored arms struck upward from below without mercy, receiving the massive creature with a relentless barrage of clawed punches. Each blow landed with bone-shaking force. The Crimson Frog King screamed in pure agony, vomiting thick streams of blood in every direction, yet it still clenched its powerful mandibles tightly. It raised one large hand and gathered a large quantity of crimson ki once more before firing a deadly blood ki beam directly toward Riven’s face.

The Crimson Frog King fully expected him to evade the beam, so its free hand generated a sharp cutting wave of ki that constantly spiraled through the air, resembling a scarlet disk of pure destruction. It fired that second attack toward the exact direction it guessed Riven would try to move in.

But...

"You thought I was weak enough to constantly avoid your attacks? You’re severely mistaken, friend."

Riven smiled calmly at the massive frog, taking both powerful blows at the same time. Massive explosions erupted all around them as a small tsunami of muddy swamp water surged upward and the swamp below exploded in every direction.

At the same time, deep ripples and spreading cracks appeared beneath the swamp’s surface, all while Riven stayed firmly in place without moving a single inch.

Yet his body was changing.

"G-GEEEHA?!"

The Crimson Frog King screamed in complete disbelief as the thick smoke finally dissipated. It revealed Riven having transformed lightly, gaining tough crimson draconic scales across his skin along with a pair of powerful wings, sharp horns, and a long tail. His overall size grew twice as large while he fused his Immortal Alien Race form with his Titan Physique and his newly acquired dragon bloodline.

"This should be enough to handle those attacks."

His body stood completely unscathed. The powerful ki attacks, which were capable of targeting the delicate flows of internal energy within the bodies of the boss monster’s targets, had all been tanked without any serious issue.

How? How could this even be possible?

The Crimson Frog King could not speak human words, but it was clearly flabbergasted by what it was witnessing. It swallowed hard in disbelief and then forced itself back into a fighting stance once more.

Its thick brows furrowed deeply as it began overflowing with every last drop of its remaining ki, even while it continued to bleed out and die slowly. The creature refused to die easily.

"GEEEKO!"

With rising fury, the Crimson Frog King took a heavy step forward. It channeled and compressed the ki within its palm constantly until the energy reached the tiny size of a pinhead, and then released it outward into a massive sphere of spiraling crimson energy that resembled a raging tornado of pure wind and blood power.

BOOOOOMMMM!!!

Riven once more did not move from his position. The massive sphere of energy struck his entire body with overwhelming force. A few of his tough scales cracked and were pulled free from his skin, and his biological armor cracked apart in a few places, yet aside from a collection of small scratches that stopped bleeding only seconds after the wounds were made...

"G-GAH..."

Riven seemed to be completely fine!

He smiled warmly at the Crimson Frog King... but this was not a smile of sadism or because he simply enjoyed the thrill of battle.

No, Riven was genuinely fascinated by such an incredible lifeform, this amazing and resilient organism that still fought with everything it had.

"You’re really amazing..." he said with honest admiration. "Do you understand my words? Human language? I’d love to recruit you as a familiar or something... we don’t have to fight. I can heal you."

Riven pointed his open hand toward the frog and then grabbed a healing potion from his storage. "Here."

He threw the potion carefully toward the frog. The creature remained wary at first but still caught the bottle with one large hand. It opened the container and sniffed the contents carefully. Its eyes widened in surprise as it drank the potion completely. The large wound on its stomach healed away almost at once, though the deep strain on its muscles had yet to fade. The frog still looked rather tired, even though a large amount of its energy had been restored.

It now had enough stamina to run away if it wished, but... something made it stay in place. It continued glancing at Riven’s immense frame and the calm yet overwhelming power he exuded.

"Sure, I’d gain plenty of power by eating you but..." Riven sighed and looked elsewhere for a moment. "I always wish there could be other ways of communication."

The Crimson Frog King tilted its large head slowly. It clearly felt the sincere intentions for peace coming from the human, even though it did not fully understand the meaning behind those feelings. Why would this powerful man who had come to attack him with such force suddenly want to make peace instead of finishing the fight?

The swamp around them remained quiet for several long seconds as the two beings simply stared at one another, one human and one monstrous frog king, both covered in the remnants of their intense clash, both still standing after everything that had been thrown, trying to understand each other.

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