Chapter 351: An Intense Battle Like No Other! Just Who Are You?!

Riven’s eyes gleamed as his fusion with his shadow intensified. Blood, Poison, and Ice combined around him, spreading into a massive domain that swallowed everything in its path.

The meteors falling from above were immediately frozen solid, their blazing surfaces turning pale before they shattered into countless fragments.

Riven did not slow down. He leaped from meteor to meteor, using each frozen mass as a foothold while rushing toward the soldier.

The distance between them vanished in moments. As he reached his opponent, he twisted his body in midair and swung down his polearm with both hands.

He channeled his Divine Axe Arts through the weapon, giving the Talent a quick glance before unleashing its power against the soldier.

—–

[Divine Axe Art – SSS Rank]

Your talent with Axes has ascended to a near-divine level, one that cultivators might reach only after thousands of years of training and battle. This enlightenment grants you instant mastery over any Axe you hold, allowing you to draw out its maximum power regardless of its form, size, or origin.

You can innately awaken the Axe Spirit Soul within any Axe or Heavy Weapon held in your hands, then unleash devastating attacks capable of piercing the Defense, Soul, and Spirit of your foes. If the armor they wear is weaker than this Talent’s Rank, it will shatter upon receiving a direct strike.

You can unleash Divine Cleave, Spirit Axe Ascension, and Horizon Cross to cut through anything, dealing long-ranged physical damage by combining Blade Energy with the Axe. Damage dealt with Axes or Heavy Weapons increases by 5000%, while the weight and striking force of any Axe or Heavy Weapon increase tenfold.

Synergy: Heavy Weapon Mastery + Divine Axe Art = World-Shaking Calamity Axe – Atlas.

—–

The power of his Axe Spirit Soul manifested alongside immense quantities of Spiritual Energy and Mana.

Both forces surged through the polearm and condensed around Cagliostro, who gasped as the power entered her body.

Holy light spread across her metallic body, responding to Riven’s technique as though it had been waiting for his command.

“Riven, why didn’t you tell me you knew such techniques? With this…!” she cried, struggling to contain the energy gathering within her.

As she spoke, an immense ax made of blinding holy light emerged from her body. Its radiance expanded until it illuminated the frozen debris around them and everything else within the Noosphere.

FLAAASH!

The weapon swung vertically, splitting the remaining meteors apart, then horizontally, sending a brilliant wave of power toward the soldier.

At the same time, Riven unleashed Divine Cleave, followed by Spirit Axe Ascension. The two techniques merged with Cagliostro’s holy weapon, their strength building with every strike.

Then, without giving the soldier a chance to recover, he drew the polearm back and unleashed the final technique: Horizon Cross.

“Oh?!”

SLAAASH! SLAAASH! SLAAASH!

BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOOOOMMM!!!

RUMBLE!

The soldier was sent crashing down. His skin-tight body armor shattered into pieces, and deep, bleeding gashes opened across his body. Even then, he twisted in midair and tried to regain control, but Riven’s attack had already done its damage.

His regeneration failed to respond, while the flow of ki and mana through his body came to a sudden halt. His inner meridians had been torn apart, and his Dantian was pulverized in the process!

CRAAASH!

He crashed into the floating island and formed a massive crater, sending broken stone flying in every direction. Riven was about to descend after him when he noticed dozens of monstrosities from the Noosphere sneaking into their battle.

“EEEEOOOOGGHHH!”

“GRYYAAHAHAHAHAHA!”

“HUHUHUH! GUHUHU!”

Giant clouds composed of dreams, nightmares, thoughts, and negative energy surged toward them, their shifting forms roaring as countless distorted faces appeared and vanished across their bodies.

“Tsk, begone!”

Riven roared as he descended. With a wide swing of his blade, he cleaved the monstrosities apart and destroyed their crystallized cores before they could surround him. Their bodies scattered into fragments of dark mist, but he did not slow down. His eyes remained fixed on the soldier below.

The soldier slowly stood up inside the crater, blood running down his ruined armor. He flapped his single black wing and forced himself into the air, gripping his remaining sword with both hands as he clashed against Riven once more.

CLAAASH!

RUMBLE!

A shockwave of psychic power and spiritual energy surged across the floating island. The ground split beneath them as space bent around their blades. Vladimir, who was fighting a swarm of Memetic Creatures nearby, was quickly sucked into the distortion before he could escape. The world around the three warriors shattered like glass, and they suddenly found themselves back inside the dungeon after a violent dimensional rupture.

All three fell hard against the dungeon floor but Riven and the soldier quickly stood back up and charged each other. Riven swung his blade upward, then brought it down with enough force to crack the stone beneath his feet.

He followed with rapid horizontal and vertical slashes, unleashing dozens of cross-shaped attacks at once. At the same time, he combined his elemental magic with every strike, freezing the floor and walls as sharp icicle spears formed in every direction and shot toward his foe.

A garden of ghostly swords and abyssal blades then emerged from the shadows, flying in from the left and right to close off every path of escape. The soldier smiled despite his wounds, leaped over the incoming barrage, and raised his remaining sword high above his head.

Then, he swung it down and unleashed a gigantic wave of psychic power.

CLAAASH!

RUMBLE!

BOOOOOMMMM!!!

“Uuuugghhhh?!”

Riven groaned as he held back the beam and endured the massive explosion around him. His boots scraped across the cracked floor while the force pushed him backward, but he refused to fall.

The hands of his shadow stretched forward and compressed the raging energy between their palms. Riven clenched his teeth, forced the unstable power into a smaller sphere, and added a divine ki bead into the mix.

Light and darkness churned together as the sphere trembled, threatening to burst before he could finish the technique.

“How about… you take some of this?!”

“?!”

Immortal Ki Arts – Divine Buddha Palm.

Riven used only his Ki and Mana to reflect his foe’s attack completely. At the same time, he swung his empty palm forward, charging it with Axe Spirit Energy and the power of Divine Axe Art.

The energies overlapped around his arm, forming the shape of a colossal golden palm covered in sharp, axe-like edges. It tore through the psychic wave and continued toward the soldier without losing any of its force.

CRAAAASH!

RUMBLE!

“Uuggh?!”

The soldier screamed as his body began to burn away and rapidly disintegrate. Pieces of scorched armor and flesh scattered from him, only for new muscles and tentacles to surge out of the wounds.

—–

Today I managed to squeeze out 6 chapters, enjoy!