Chapter 20: The Monstrous Cultist
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After having transformed himself into a giant demonic werewolf by sacrificing both his humanity and his heart, the cultist mercilessly attacked the Tyrant. The Roaming Boss’s immense Vitality could only hold out for so long against someone who now stood equal in raw power against her.
"DIE ALREADY!"
SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!
He furiously slashed at her body with his razor-sharp claws, zigzagging around her massive form at lightning speed until he resembled nothing more than a blur of red and black light. Each strike left deep bleeding gashes across her crystalline hide, sending fragments of glowing crystal scattering across the cave floor.
"GRRRRR...!"
The Tyrant clenched her teeth tightly and hissed in pain. She quickly reinforced her skin with a thick armor of glowing crystals and then unleashed her powerful breath attack in a wide circle around herself.
FLUOSH!
The azure flames still burned his transformed body, but the damage was nowhere near as terrible as it had been before his evolution. Smoke rose from his blackened fur as he laughed through the pain.
"HAHAHAHA! You won’t hurt me so badly now, you damn—"
SLASH!
"...Eh?"
A long blade, infested with thousands of different venoms and forged from pure shadows, suddenly pierced straight through his chest with deadly precision. The cold edge of the weapon sank deep into his newly formed Werewolf Heart.
Blood poured freely from his mouth in that moment as the werewolf began to experience paralysis, agonizing pain, freezing temperatures, overwhelming fear, confusion, and pure madness all at once. The combined effects of the venom overwhelmed his senses completely, making the world spin around him.
"G-Gaaahhhh! W-What did you...?!"
He clenched his teeth and tried desperately to resist the effects of the venom with his newly transformed body. Yet his new Werewolf Heart had been stabbed clean through, and the gaping wound would not stop bleeding no matter how hard he tried to force the flow to stop.
Behind him, Riven had appeared without a sound. He had moved through Abyssal Shift and combined it with Abyssal Fist to create the devastating technique known as Abyssal Assault.
He had also activated Veil of Invisibility at the same time, multiplying the damage of every strike tremendously and allowing him to move like a true phantom of the darkness.
Riven charged forward while throwing dozens of sharp Ice Tomahawks at the werewolf in rapid succession. At the same time he reinforced his own body with a heavy biological armor that covered his limbs and torso, giving him both strength and protection.
He reached the werewolf in an instant and unleashed Abyssal Assault once more. He melded into the shadows temporarily before punching, stabbing, and crushing the creature’s body with fists, blades, and axes in a relentless flurry that left no room for recovery.
CLASH! CLASH! CLASH!
"Nngaaaahhhhhhh!"
The cultist roared in pure agony. He furiously attacked Riven with wild, desperate swings, only for his target to disappear from view again and again. In the next instant the Tyrant’s giant claw appeared above him instead.
"?!"
CRAAASH!
She stomped down without the slightest mercy, flattening him almost like a pancake against the hard stone floor of the cave. The ground cracked and sank beneath the force of her massive foot.
"G-Gaaaaahhh!"
He screamed in rage as he forced himself out of the deep crater her stomp had created. His jaws opened wide with murderous intent, saliva and blood dripping from his fangs.
"DIE!!!"
With pure fury he unleashed a massive breath attack from his jaws. A concentrated beam of pure death energy shot forward and pierced straight through the Tyrant’s chest, leaving a smoking hole in her side.
BOOOM!!!
"Gryyyaaarrrrr!"
The Tyrant screamed in overwhelming pain and collapsed heavily onto the ground while slowly bleeding from the grievous wound that had been torn open in her side. Her massive body shook the entire cavern as she fell.
"No..."
Riven, who had begun to consider simply sparing her after realizing how overprotective she was of her young, felt deeply shaken as the giant fell. As someone who had always loved animals and wildlife, watching such an intelligent specimen that he had even considered sparing out of mercy filled him with cold, rising rage that burned hotter with every second.
"Cough, cough..." the cultist coughed loudly, still groaning in pain as blood dripped steadily from his lips. "Hahaha... Heheh... I killed it...! Now... Riven, you’re nex—"
Before he could take another step, dozens of fists made of pure shadows struck his body from every possible direction at once, hammering him without pause.
"H-Huh...?!"
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