Game Over
(Riven POV – The End of Void)
This was silence.
Not peace.
Not calm.
Silence that should not exist.
Void was quiet.
No whispers.
No commands.
No pressure against my mind.
That was the mistake.
I stood in the center of the white domain.
His domain.
White Riven's domain.
Or so he thought.
The body before me lifted its head.
My face.
My eyes.
Empty.
Void's voice finally echoed—
smooth, confident, arrogant.
"Do you see?"
"Control is complete."
I smiled.
A real one.
The kind I had forgotten how to make.
"Seriously," I said.
"You believed that?"
Silence followed.
Void didn't understand.
Not yet.
White Riven—
the vessel Void occupied—
walked toward me.
Each step heavy.
Claiming.
"This body belongs to me now."
I tilted my head.
"No," I replied calmly.
"It never did."
Void hesitated.
For the first time.
White Riven spoke again—
but the voice…
It was mine.
"I'm bored," he said.
"Finish it already."
That was when Void realized.
Too late.
I stepped forward.
The ground cracked.
The white world trembled.
"Do you know why I let this continue?" I asked.
Void tried to scream.
No sound came.
"Because I didn't want to destroy you."
I raised my hand.
Void's essence shifted—
that will, that darkness.
"I wanted to understand you."
Void finally found his voice.
"You… you tricked me."
I laughed softly.
"No," I said.
"You tricked yourself."
Another step.
No space remained between us.
"You thought you controlled me,"
"because fear was all you had."
I placed my hand on White Riven's chest.
No heartbeat.
"I wasn't afraid."
Void struggled.
The white space fractured.
Black light leaked through the cracks.
"I cannot exist without you!"
The panic was real.
"I know," I whispered.
"That's why I waited."
My hand clenched.
Void's power flowed into me.
This wasn't a battle.
It was acceptance.
Void wasn't erased.
He lost purpose.
"Riven…"
My name—
spoken correctly for the first time.
Too late.
"I was always three steps ahead," I said.
"I just waited for you to notice."
Silence.
Then—
nothing.
The white domain collapsed.
Only I remained.
I breathed.
My hands no longer shook.
Void was gone.
His power remained.
And I understood.
Void never possessed me.
I was simply patient enough to carry him.
From far away, Cory's voice echoed.
I didn't answer.
The game was over.
This time—
the winner was undeniable.
Cory POV
I understood instantly.
Before words.
Before movement.
The moment I met his gaze.
Cold.
Deadly.
Whole.
Not Void.
My knees hit the ground.
Reflex.
"My lord."
Riven watched me.
Silent.
Measuring.
Then—
a slight nod.
Enough.
I had questions.
When?
How?
I didn't ask.
I already knew.
Riven had returned.
And order had begun again.
The First Command
(Cory POV)
Morning light refused to enter the room.
Even light hesitated.
"Cory."
"Yes, my lord."
"Summon the King of the Wild Lands."
A pause.
"The High Elf Council."
Another pause.
"And the High King of the Frost Dwarves."
This wasn't a request.
It was inevitability.
"Shall I give them the reason?"
A faint smile.
"No," Riven said.
"They already feel it."
"We leave."
"Personally?"
"Yes."
I knelt.
"As you command."
At the door, he stopped.
"This journey—
I won't explain who is friend or enemy."
The door opened.
"I will show you."
The world had just been warned.
The Call – Virell Arc Opening
(Cory POV)
Three kings stood in one hall.
That alone was war.
Riven didn't sit.
He waited.
"Why summon us?" the Elf King asked.
"The treaties remain," said the Frost Dwarf.
The Beast King only watched.
"We leave today," Riven said.
"Where?"
"Virell."
"Neutral ground."
"Not anymore."
"Why?"
Riven turned.
"The world doesn't know me."
"That is unacceptable."
The door closed.
Virell would remember this day.