Chapter 389: Riven Finally Wakes Up

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"I must go. Chatterer, Slob. See you later." Crow decided to leave before Desire were to try doing something crazy.

"Hm! Yeah, bye~!" Chatterer waved with the same smile he always wore, then chuckled at Desire’s reaction.

"Bring me something to eat..." Slob groaned.

Crow left, his body breaking apart into countless crows and black feathers. Desire watched them scatter, then bit her nails angrily. She had barely had time to reach toward him before he was gone.

Her hand closed on empty space as the last feathers drifted out of reach. She lowered it and looked toward Chatterer, who had watched the whole thing. That only made her more annoyed. Crow hadn’t even waited for her to answer his refusal. He had simply left her standing there.

"Tsk, how dare he reject me...? Next time, he won’t get away so easily..." She bit her lip in frustration. "I’ll make him regret brushing me off... fufufu..."

...

"Ah!"

Riven’s eyes snapped open amid the chaos surrounding him. Vladimir, Daniela, and Label ran toward him with relieved expressions. He blinked at them, struggling to understand where he was.

For a moment, he expected to see the demons standing over him again. Then he recognized Daniela’s voice and looked toward her.

They were here! He had actually made it back!

"Riven!" Daniela said.

"You’re awake...!" Label muttered, catching her breath.

"You damn bastard!" Vladimir slapped him across the face, only to feel so much pain in his own hand that his fingers nearly snapped. "Aaaaaggh! What are you even made of?!" He pulled his hand back and shook it, staring at Riven as if the pain were somehow his fault. Riven barely reacted to the slap. He was still trying to make sense of everyone rushing toward him.

"..."

Riven stared into empty space for a moment, confused. His memories and thoughts felt... slightly scrambled, but overall, it seemed he had returned... in one piece. He looked down at his hands and slowly opened his fingers.

His sword wasn’t there, and neither were Crow or Nihil. He could still remember the portal closing, but everything after that was harder to follow. He tried to put the events in order and immediately regretted it.

"Ugh..."

However, a sharp migraine hit him. He began massaging his temples as pain pulsed through his head. He closed his eyes, but that only made the images from the Noosphere return. Nihil’s hand. Crow’s sword. The others closing in. Riven opened his eyes again and focused on the people in front of him instead.

It seemed his mind had worked overtime to cope with everything he had gone through in the Noosphere. Now that he was back, even trying to remember it was exhausting. He wanted to tell them what had happened, but he couldn’t decide where to begin.

"Here, quickly drink these!"

Label gave him an Elixir and a Mind Tonic of the highest quality. She held them out where he could see them, waiting until he reached for the bottles. Daniela stayed close while he took them. Neither of them pressed him for an explanation yet, which was more than he could say for Vladimir.

Riven nodded, unable to speak, and drank both potions before letting himself rest. He had to pause between them to catch his breath. Once he had finished, he lowered his hands and tried to relax his shoulders. Everyone was still watching him, but for the moment, he didn’t have the strength to care.

Meanwhile, the dungeon around them had become completely still, as if frozen in time. The chaos had stopped. Riven looked past the others, waiting for something to move, but nothing did. After everything he had just escaped, he didn’t know whether to be relieved or worried. At least they weren’t being attacked while he tried to recover.

"What the hell happened?" Vladimir asked again. "I’m not asking again, Riven! Tell us, now." He had stopped shaking his hand, though he still held it away from his body. Riven looked at him, then at the others. They all wanted an answer. He understood that, but understanding it didn’t make answering any easier.

"Haaa... Would you let me catch my breath for a single second, Vladimir?" Riven sighed. "What I saw and what I went through... I honestly... ugh... It’s quite hard to process right now..." He tried to keep his eyes on Vladimir as he spoke, but his eyelids kept dropping. There was so much he needed to explain. The demons, the escape, Crow... He drew another breath, hoping he could at least start with something they would understand.

However, Riven ended up falling asleep before he could explain anything, leaving everyone speechless.

But he woke up again not long after, startling them a little.

"Ah... Did I fall asleep? Sorry... it’s been tough for me."

Riven shook his head and sighed.

For a moment, he had forgotten where he was. Then he saw their faces and remembered the core, the dungeon, and everything that had happened inside it. He rubbed his eyes and sat up properly. They were still watching him like he might collapse again, which honestly wasn’t helping him feel any less embarrassed.

However, even though he had only slept for about five minutes, he felt much better and more refreshed.

It seemed his body was strong enough that even these short naps could help him rest his mind and recover.

Still, feeling better didn’t mean he was ready to talk about it. His body had recovered faster than his thoughts could catch up. He could remember what those beings had said perfectly well. That was the problem. He wished some of it had been a dream, but he knew better than that.

"What happened?" Daniela asked.

"We’re worried..." Label said.

"Come on, spit it out already," Vladimir said. "And what even is this dungeon?"

"Hm..." Riven nodded. "Well..."

He went on to explain what he had seen, who he had fought, and what this dungeon actually was, along with what had happened to him there.

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