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The Divine King of the Cold Star spoke the last part with a steady tone that left little room for argument from the other two Heavenly Kings.
"Hah! Fine, fine," the Ten Thousand Poison Master sighed, shaking his head. "I wish it could’ve been someone better but... well! We’re dead, beggars can’t be choosers, right?" The acceptance came with a short grumble, yet he did not walk away from the agreement.
"Exactly," the Asura Blood Sea Emperor said. "Besides... I think you’re the only one complaining, old friend. Riven reminds me a lot about how I used to be when I was younger, always struggling, always fighting and moving forward. When there were times where the Void, where The End of All Things became so strong they chased after us, where we had to fight together... I suppose he’s going through the same once more." He finished the comparison without expecting an immediate reply and simply waited for the others to stand.
The Divine King of the Cold Star and the other two, the Ten Thousand Poison Master and the Asura Blood Sea Emperor stood up together, looking down at Riven with proud smiles.
The three of them remained side by side while the Dreamscape around them stayed still. It almost felt like time stopped entirely.
"Would you accept us as your masters, Riven?" asked Divine King of the Cold Star.
"We are nowhere near as strong as we once used to be but... I like to believe we can still help you."
The offer came without any extra conditions attached, only the simple request for an answer.
Riven felt overwhelmed, and nodded, very thankful of their great kindness despite the current situation and everything else.
He had not expected the three of them to stay and teach him after the long explanations, thinking they’d just leave after this.
But it seemed that wasn’t the case at all!
"Yes, thank you so much," Riven nodded. "I won’t disappoint you." The words left his mouth before he fully considered what the next step might involve.
The Ten Thousand Poison Master smiled and nodded, crackling his knuckles. "That’s good because I am about to break every single bone out of your body now. Stage 3 begins with complete body restructuration. Poison Bones and Poison Bone Marrow shall overwrite and purify you from all the nastiness that’s accumulated inside of you from eating so much crap! Get ready!" He finished the warning with a short laugh and gave Riven no time to prepare.
"?!"
Riven suddenly opened his eyes wide, feeling his skin twisting and his bones breaking, the change started in his arms and legs and moved inward without any pause.
"Ugh?!"
He tried to make no sound, quickly opening a portal to the side, while Elisa still slept soundly, he fell into the Spirit Dungeon Realm into a vast, empty grassland, the portal closed behind him the moment he landed, leaving the bedroom undisturbed.
"Nnnggh?! Aaaaaaaaaaagggh!"
As this happened, he screamed in pain.
His entire body structure felt like it was shattering like a twig and rapidly rearranging agonizingly before his very eyes.
Each snap forced another wave of pain through him and made standing upright impossible.
His bones snapped, his flesh turned and opened, and black fog emerged from every single one of his pores, spreading behind him and destroying and melting any life behind him.
The fog moved outward in a widening circle and left only bare ground where grass had been a moment before.
Entire groups of animals and spirit beasts ran away as Riven groaned.
They scattered in every direction and did not stop until they reached the far edge of the field.
Slowly, all of this waste and darkness gathered, forming a swamp of miasma and poisons, where giant spectral poison beasts surged, roaring.
The swamp continued to expand while the spectral shapes pulled themselves free from the surface.
"?!"
While still undergoing the restructuration process, they attacked Riven without even hesitating.
The first of them reached him before he could even lift an arm to block.
Riven clicked his tongue and conjured his Spell in response.
The formation appeared the moment he finished the command and left no gap for the beasts to close in.
FLUOSH!
A garden of giant black swords emerged around him, which all flew towards every direction.
At the same time, a ring of ghostly swords spun behind him, his Mana Nature, raining down and further destroying his foes.
The two sets of blades moved on separate paths and covered the open ground around him in overlapping attacks.
The giant Abyssal Blades were considerably stronger, however, cleaving apart the Poisonous Spectral Beasts with ease.
The ghostly blades dug into their bodies and exploded, but dealt minimal damage in comparison, showcasing the massive difference in power.
Each explosion still forced the nearest beasts to stagger, yet the cuts from the Abyssal Blades ended most of them in a single slash.
But that wasn’t all, these powerful beings exuded the aura of A Rank Monsters, so they were a tough nut to crack by themselves.
A few of the larger ones shrugged off the first wave of blades and kept coming even after losing limbs.
Riven’s Spiritual Energy surged, summoning Spirit Clones that fought for him, and then his Shadow Appeared, along with his three other Spirits, Noir, the White Fox he called Shiro, and Ignias’ Spiritual Avatar, with her real body on her way here.
The clones spread out in a loose circle while the three spirits took positions closer to him.
"Riven! What’s going on?!" Ignias asked.
"Ugh...! Monsters came out of my body... please help me defeat them!" he said, clenching his teeth and sitting cross-legged. "I must consolidate all five hundred poisons within me before I suffer a backlash, that damn old man is not holding back on me at all!"He kept his eyes closed after the last sentence and focused on the process still tearing through his bones and marrow.
"Old man?" Ignias didn’t understand but nodded. "Fine! Let’s fight then!" She moved forward without waiting for more details and already prepared her next attack.
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