Chapter 222: Intense Battle! Rapidly Evolving And Adapting

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The Kobold King let out an agonizing scream that shook the entire chamber as Vladimir reached its thick neck and swung his claw deep into an existing wound, attempting to tear the flesh apart with raw force. The beast growled furiously in response, opening its sharp jaws wide and unleashing a point-blank flame breath that engulfed Vladimir completely. The blast sent him pummeling backward across the ground while a following explosion of dragon fire burned across his body and forced him to skid through the water and debris.

The giant coughed heavily, blood and smoke pouring from its mouth, as it began to make its way toward the fallen Vladimir. Its twin axes overflowed with raging dragon fire, and the creature carried them however it could despite its many injuries. However, the scattered shadow fragments that Riven had been reduced to began to rapidly assemble themselves back together. Piece by piece the darkness pulled inward until it fully materialized into Riven once again, his form solid and ready for battle.

Psionic Force surged from him to an even greater degree than before. He mixed it carefully with ghostly mana and then layered spiritual arts on top, combining everything into a singular, razor-sharp sword. He swung the blade with the refined precision of Netherworld King Swordsmanship and immediately followed through with Abyssal Assault, stacking the techniques for maximum destructive power.

The Kobold King, still laughing at Vladimir’s temporary agony, was completely unable to detect Riven’s presence in time. Riven appeared behind the beast and furiously swung his sword against its exposed back, tearing through thick scale, dense flesh, and even bone without mercy and without the slightest delay. Blood sprayed in heavy arcs across the chamber with every strike.

SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!

"G-GRRRRCK! GRAAAAHHH!"

The Kobold King screamed in pure agony as it crashed down onto one knee. A powerful kick to its face sent the massive creature tumbling into the water below with a heavy splash. The beast growled deeply and quickly emerged from the flooded ground in an explosion of flames, charging at Riven with renewed fury. It threw its second axe with deadly accuracy, only for Riven to avoid the spinning weapon by vanishing into shadow and reappearing directly behind the creature once more.

"?!"

"You’re one tough son of a bitch, aren’t you?!" Riven snarled.

His Mana Aura transformed in an instant into hundreds of poisonous, ghostly serpents that coiled tightly around the Kobold King’s entire body. The spectral snakes forced their way into the monster’s open jaws and began to poison, melt, and burn its interior organs while forcing blood to pour from every orifice in thick streams.

"GRYYYAAAAGUUUHHHH!"

As it screamed in utter, mind-breaking pain, the Kobold King clenched its remaining teeth and lunged forward. It grabbed Riven with both massive hands and smashed him hard into the floor. Its claws blazed with intense fire as it began to tear into him with the clear intention of ending the fight for good.

"RAAAHHHH!"

However, a mighty roar suddenly echoed from behind the Kobold King. Before the reptilian beast could even turn to respond, Vladimir blurred past it at incredible speed and delivered a devastating kick to the side of its head. The impact smashed the creature’s chin into the ground with bone-shattering force and completely destroyed its lower mandibles.

CRAAASH!

Riven freed himself from the burning grip, reformed his body as best he could, and quickly conjured several "evolved swords" that expanded outward through his aura, creating a pseudo-domain once again.

"Shadow Sword Ghostly Garden!"

The spell activated instantly and swallowed the Kobold King within an endless sea of blooming spectral swords. The blades pierced and stabbed the monster from every conceivable angle. Its existing wounds became its greatest weakness, as the remaining scales could no longer protect every part of its massive body.

Vladimir followed up without hesitation by swinging both claws into the monster’s ruined jaws and tearing them open even further. Blood pooled across the ground in growing lakes as the creature continued to agonize. In a final burst of rage it punched Vladimir with its massive arms, smashing him onto the floor and raining down blow after blow until the werewolf’s face looked completely disfigured.

"RAAAHHH!"

"GRAAARR!"

Both monstrous fighters roared back at one another and began to slash and tear at each other’s faces in a display of pure strength and wild, animalistic cruelty. While they struggled, Riven rapidly concentrated on his power and evolved the Domain even further, impaling more and more poisonous swords all across the Kobold King’s body.

Each spectral sword was simultaneously reinforced by Abyssal Assault, causing them to dance around the creature in a deadly storm that cut deeper and deeper into its flesh. Blood continued to pour out in rivers and was eagerly drained by Vladimir, who began to recover rapidly through the skill Bloody Feast. The powerful ability allowed him to feast on a foe’s blood in order to regain lost vitality and strength.

"YOU’RE GOING DOWN, YOU DAMN LIZARD FUCKER!"

Vladimir spun in midair with explosive force, freed himself from the beast’s remaining grip, and kicked its face hard enough to snap its head backward. He then dug both sets of claws deep into the Kobold King’s eyes, popping them both in a spray of fluid and making the beast scream in fresh agony. The creature stumbled backward, grabbing at its ruined head in pure horror.

Riven blurred past Vladimir without wasting a second. He conjured two high-speed spinning swords and sent them flying straight toward the Kobold King’s newly exposed, bleeding eye sockets.

Its bones remained the greatest obstacle to taking the monster down completely. They were immensely tough and heavy, almost like some kind of divine metal, all thanks to the dense dragon bloodline flowing through its body.

Thus Riven settled on a new strategy: pierce the brain directly with his swords through the now-open eye sockets.

However...

"GRAAAAHHHHHH!"

Even with its jaws half-destroyed, both eyes missing, one arm broken, and its body covered in hundreds of bleeding wounds, the Kobold King released its Dragon Fear Skill and combined it with Draconic Pressure. An immense surge of invisible magical force exploded outward and struck both Riven and Vladimir with crushing weight.

The pressure sent them crashing hard into the opposite walls of the chamber. Both fighters groaned in pain as an invisible force worth thousands of tons began to rapidly crush and flatten their bodies without mercy.

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