Chapter 294: Riven VS The Ultimate Magnus Opus Of Magitechnology

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Seeing how the machine was preparing its next move, Vladimir charged in from the flank. His claws surged with a mix of draconic flames and crimson energy as he combined the power of his dragon blood with his werewolf abilities. He leaped high, his kobold dragon-arm transforming into a massive scaled gauntlet that glowed with heat, and brought it down hard on the barrier with everything he had.

CRAAAASH!

"Hmm? Hahah, don’t be ridiculous. Try harder, boy. You’re also a little interesting, so give me a good show!" Willheim laughed with clear enjoyment in his voice.

FLUOSH!

The hexagonal plates of the barrier flexed under the impact. They absorbed the full kinetic force of the strike and then redirected it outward in a sudden concussive pulse that hit like a solid wall.

"What?!"

BOOOM!

Vladimir was blasted straight up into the ceiling. The force cratered the thick metal above him and shattered the surrounding walls as he crashed through dozens of tons of pure steel plating. Debris rained down around the lab while the shockwave rattled every remaining structure.

"U-Uugh!"

Before he could even drop back down, the left drill of the Aetherion speared upward. Its phase-vibrations screamed as the weapon warped through space for a brief moment. Vladimir screamed in alarm and scrambled to run, twisting his body mid-air just in time. "FUCKER!" he roared as his claws raked along the length of the drill and sheared off a spray of molten alloy. The vibration field still grazed his side, flaying a perfect spiral of flesh from his body and tearing deep into the muscle underneath.

"Gah—damn it!"

While that was happening, Riven was already moving again without hesitation.

"Abyssal Shift."

He activated the skill and sank into the shadows of the ruined laboratory floor. A second later he erupted directly beneath the Aetherion with both arms swollen from the combined strength of his titan and dragon powers.

He drove upward in a double uppercut laced with the full force of Abyssal Guillotine Garden. Hundreds of phantom blades materialized around him in a rising storm and unleashed dozens of rapid slashing attacks against the thick metal of the monstrous machine.

SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!

The machine’s optical slit flashed in immediate response to the sudden assault. Out of nowhere a new force took hold.

TRUUUM!

"Woah?!"

"What!"

Localized gravity inverted without warning.

Riven’s own upward momentum flipped into a crushing downward force. He slammed into the floor so hard that his body embedded itself waist-deep in the crumpled plating. The right drill of the Aetherion descended like a guillotine aimed straight at his head while Vladimir crashed face-first into the ground far across the room, still struggling to recover from his own injuries.

"HAHAHAHA! YOU WILL NEED MORE THAN THAT!" Willheim laughed, his voice booming across the battlefield as sparks flew from his spinning drill. "Come on now, boy! Show me what you’ve got!"

"I’ll show you what I’ve got!" Riven roared back, blood still dripping from the earlier clash. "I’ll show you fucking everything alright!"

Riven roared again and stacked every transformation he had into his body at the same time. His size increased rapidly, climbing back toward ten meters as Alien Immortal cells, Titan Physique, and the dragon bloodline fused together into a living titan. His appearance, however, was unlike anything Willheim had seen before. It was not a chimeric mismatch or an ugly aberration of mismatched parts.

Everything combined perfectly. Each trait was assigned cleanly to a certain area of his body. His form did not come from stacking things senselessly. He took the best of everything he had absorbed and shaped it into a much more complete appearance that left the scientist staring for a moment, clearly impressed.

Beyond that, beautiful black wings sprouted from Riven’s back. They did not seem to come from any gene he had mutated or any skill he had gained. These wings appeared to rise from deep within the very DNA of Genesis itself.

"Ahhh, you’re almost like... him."

"Him?" Riven thought, but he did not waste time asking. He used the chance given by Willheim’s momentary loss of concentration as the older man stared at his "perfected form." Riven caught the spinning drill between both palms.

The drill’s vibrations chewed hard through his biological armor, spraying black blood and glowing ichor across the ground. Riven’s regenerative ability kicked in immediately. Flesh knitted itself back together even as it was shredded, thanks to his massive vitality and the stacked bonuses from dozens of skills, genes, and talents.

He channeled the power of Divine Axe Art once more, unleashing Blade Energy from Fenrir’s Fang. He held the weapon with a third arm that had sprouted from his back — an arm formed from one of his black-feathered wings.

He unleashed Divine Cleave three consecutive times, the searing white energy cutting through the black metal of the drill. Finally he broke through, following up with a rising, ascending cleaving attack from Spirit Axe Ascension. Right after that came a horizontal slash of pure, blinding white blade energy — Horizon Cross!

SLAASH! SLAASH! SLAASH! SLAASH!

RUMBLE!

BOOOOOMMMM!!!

A massive explosion tore through the chamber and blew apart everything in its path. Shattered metal plates and sparking wires flew outward as the huge machine staggered under the force. Several of its armored sections broke free and crashed to the floor in heavy pieces. The Aetherion’s frame groaned, servos grinding as it tried to stay upright.

Behind the chaos, Vladimir charged again. His body had swollen into a larger, more monstrous shape, muscles layered with black fur and hardened scales. He slammed into the robot from behind with full force.

CRAAASH!

The impact rocked the machine. Vladimir took a barrage of missiles and concentrated beam attacks head-on. The projectiles punched clean holes through his torso and shoulders, spraying dark blood across the ground, yet he kept pushing. His claws dug into the robot’s back plating and he heaved, sending the entire construct tumbling forward into the pool of boiling mana below.

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