The city was dying.
Buildings burned beneath the crimson glow of the Blood Moon.
Smoke choked the sky.
Collapsed streets stretched for miles.
Everywhere, there was destruction.
Everywhere, there was war.
And at the center of it all...
Two monsters continued fighting.
Riven staggered backward.
His breathing had become ragged.
Uneven.
Painful.
Every breath felt like swallowing broken glass.
His left eye had swollen nearly shut.
His ribs were shattered.
His right knee barely functioned.
Blood poured from dozens of wounds.
His body had long since moved beyond exhaustion.
Beyond fatigue.
Beyond reason.
Only stubbornness remained.
Only willpower.
Only survival.
Across from him stood Rigor.
The Beast of the Second.
The giant warrior was covered in blood as well.
His armor hung in pieces.
Deep wounds covered his body.
Several claws were broken.
One eye had partially swollen.
Yet somehow...
He still looked unstoppable.
Both warriors stared at each other.
Neither speaking.
Neither retreating.
The Blood Moon watched silently overhead.
Then Rigor laughed.
A low, exhausted laugh.
"Look at us."
Blood dripped from his chin.
"We've destroyed half a city."
Riven didn't answer.
He simply tightened his grip on Moonfang and Nightrend.
Rigor's smile widened.
"Good."
Then they charged again.
BOOM!
The impact shattered what remained of the street beneath them.
Shockwaves blasted through nearby structures.
Windows exploded.
Walls cracked.
Entire rooftops collapsed.
Claw met blade.
Blade met fang.
Blood met blood.
Rigor slammed his forehead into Riven's face.
CRACK.
Riven's nose broke instantly.
Riven answered by driving both blades into Rigor's side.
Blood erupted.
Rigor grabbed him.
Threw him.
Riven crashed through three separate buildings.
Stone exploded around him.
Dust filled the air.
Before he could recover
Rigor was already there.
A massive clawed fist slammed into his stomach.
The impact launched him through another wall.
His vision blurred.
Dark spots appeared.
His body was failing.
But he still stood.
Again.
And again.
And again.
The city became their battlefield.
Every street.
Every rooftop.
Every shattered structure.
Neither warrior gave ground.
Neither surrendered.
Yet slowly...
Very slowly...
The difference began to appear.
Rigor wasn't getting stronger.
Riven was getting weaker.
His broken body had finally reached its limit.
A slash across his chest.
Another across his shoulder.
A crushing blow against his ribs.
Every injury accumulated.
Every wound remained.
His movements slowed.
Only slightly.
But Rigor noticed.
Rigor always noticed.
The Beast smiled.
"There you are."
Riven growled.
"You've been running on instinct for hours."
Rigor stepped forward.
"Your body can't keep up anymore."
Riven attacked.
Too slow.
Rigor dodged.
A punch.
CRACK.
Another rib shattered.
Riven stumbled.
Another punch.
CRACK.
His jaw snapped sideways.
Blood sprayed.
The world spun.
Still he fought.
Still he refused to fall.
But eventually...
Even legends have limits.
Riven lunged.
His leg gave out.
For the first time in the entire battle...
He missed.
The opening was tiny.
Almost invisible.
For anyone else...
It wouldn't have mattered.
For Rigor...
It was enough.
The Beast moved instantly.
His claws drove forward.
Straight through Riven's chest.
Silence.
Everything stopped.
Riven froze.
His eyes widened.
Blood spilled from his mouth.
Rigor's claws had pierced his heart.
Completely.
The world seemed to pause.
The Blood Moon hung motionless.
The wind stopped.
Even the fire seemed quieter.
Riven looked down.
Saw the claws protruding from his chest.
Saw the blood.
Saw his life ending.
And for the first time...
He couldn't move.
His core pulsed weakly.
Once.
Twice.
Then
Nothing.
Rigor lifted him from the ground.
Like a trophy.
Like a defeated beast.
Riven's blades slipped from his fingers.
Moonfang fell.
Nightrend followed.
Clang.
Clang.
His pupils disappeared.
White.
Empty.
The strength left his body.
The resistance vanished.
Everything faded.
Darkness consumed him.
And Riven Thorn died.
Far away
Nyss suddenly stopped fighting.
Her sword slipped.
Her eyes widened.
"No..."
She felt it.
The bond.
The resonance.
The familiar presence she'd felt for over a year.
Gone.
Completely gone.
"M-Master?"
Lyra whispered.
Then realization struck.
"No..."
Elsewhere
Marlis froze.
Soren stopped mid-strike.
Roran's face went pale.
Astra turned toward the city.
Lira's smile vanished.
Eryx stopped fighting.
Completely.
Even the battlefield itself seemed to hesitate.
Because everyone felt it.
The Fracture.
The Night Wolf.
The boy who carried the Dark Shadow.
Gone.
His core had vanished.
As if it had never existed.
Even the Alphas felt it.
Nyxara looked toward the ruined city.
Selene's eyes narrowed.
Caelum frowned.
Every powerful werewolf on the battlefield felt the same thing.
An absence.
A hole.
A missing piece.
Silence spread.
For one impossible moment...
The war itself seemed to mourn.
Back within the ruined city
Rigor pulled his claws free.
Riven's body fell.
Lifeless.
Broken.
Empty.
The Beast looked down at him.
Then exhaled slowly.
"...You were strong."
A pause.
"Stronger than I expected."
He turned away.
The battle was over.
The Beast of the Second had won.
He began walking.
One step.
Then another.
Leaving the corpse behind.
And then
Something happened.
The ground trembled.
Rigor stopped.
A strange sensation crawled across his skin.
Not fear.
Something older.
Something wrong.
Behind him
Riven's body moved.
Not much.
Just a twitch.
Then another.
The air suddenly became heavy.
The sky darkened.
The Blood Moon seemed to dim.
Every instinct Rigor possessed screamed.
Run.
For the first time in years...
The Beast felt genuine fear.
Riven's corpse slowly rose.
Head lowered.
Motionless.
Silent.
Then
A pulse erupted.
BOOOOOOOOM!!!
The explosion of aura shook the entire battlefield.
Not the city.
The battlefield.
The war.
The entire region.
Mountains trembled.
Forests bent.
Clouds exploded apart.
The sky itself seemed to split.
Every warrior stopped.
Every Alpha froze.
Every living creature felt it.
The pressure was incomprehensible.
Ancient.
Endless.
Terrifying.
Not rage.
Not bloodlust.
Something far older.
Something that had survived civilizations.
Something that remembered worlds.
Black and silver energy erupted into the heavens.
A colossal pillar of darkness pierced the clouds.
The Blood Moon vanished behind it.
Everyone stared.
Nyxara's eyes widened.
Selene's expression shattered.
Caelum took an involuntary step backward.
Even Eryx froze.
Because they all recognized it.
Not Riven.
The Dark Shadow.
The Last Instinct.
It had awakened.
Fully.
The pressure continued rising.
Higher.
Higher.
Higher.
Until the world itself seemed too small to contain it.
Within the ruined city
Rigor slowly turned around.
And what he saw made his blood run cold.
Riven stood once more.
But Riven was gone.
His white eyes contained no humanity.
No pain.
No fear.
No hesitation.
Only silence.
Black and silver energy flowed endlessly around his body.
The wounds remained.
Yet somehow...
He still stood.
The Dark Shadow looked at Rigor.
And for the first time since the battle began...
The Beast of the Second stopped smiling.
Because deep within his instincts
The predator had suddenly become prey.
And beneath the bleeding moon...
The Last Instinct had finally awakened.
There was no longer Riven Thorn.
No longer the Fracture.
No longer the boy who fought to survive.
Only the Dark Shadow remained.
And the world was about to learn why entire civilizations had feared its name.