The battlefield no longer resembled a battlefield.
It had become ruin.
What remained of the Third Order's outer capital district lay broken beneath collapsing skies and fractured earth. Entire streets had been carved into trenches so deep they revealed the skeletal foundations of ancient structures buried beneath generations of rebuilding. Towers leaned at impossible angles, their upper halves severed cleanly as if sliced by invisible gods. Smoke rose in slow spirals, not drifting away but circling, as though even the air had lost the will to escape.
Above it all, the Blood Moon burned.
Not gently.
Not beautifully.
But like an eye that refused to blink.
And at the center of this destruction
something moved.
Not Riven.
Not anymore.
Something else had taken root inside him.
Something older than instinct.
Something that did not hesitate.
Riven's body shot forward like a cannon blast released from the laws of reality itself.
Rigor barely registered the movement.
A blur.
A fracture in space.
Impact came before thought.
BOOOOM.
Rigor's body was launched through three reinforced stone structures in a perfect straight line, each building detonating outward as though struck by an invisible meteor. The first structure collapsed inward, the second exploded sideways, and the third simply ceased to exist as debris was thrown into the air like ash.
Entire squads of soldiers nearby were blown off their feet by the shockwave alone. Some were buried in rubble. Others lost consciousness instantly.
Silence followed for half a heartbeat.
Then
the air screamed again.
Riven arrived.
No technique.
No stance.
No restraint.
Only motion.
A savage forward charge that shattered the ground beneath every step. Stone cracked outward in spiderweb patterns. Dust exploded behind him like a living storm. His presence alone felt wrong like the battlefield itself was being rewritten in real time.
Rigor forced himself upright just in time to raise both arms.
CLASH.
The collision detonated the street between them.
The ground collapsed inward in a perfect circle.
Buildings on both sides cracked from foundation to rooftop, unable to withstand the pressure radiating from the impact.
For the first time in the entire war
Rigor was pushed back.
His boots dragged across broken stone, carving twin trenches through the earth.
His eyes widened slightly.
"…Tch."
He stabilized his stance, forcing his weight forward.
Then
he smiled.
Not fear.
Not hesitation.
Excitement.
"So that's what's hiding inside you…"
Riven didn't answer.
He couldn't.
There was no "reply" forming in him anymore.
Only motion.
Only direction.
Only the next strike.
The Dark Shadow inside him did not speak.
It simply moved again.
The Second Collision
Riven vanished forward.
Rigor met him mid-motion.
BOOM.
Their fists collided this time.
The shockwave flattened an entire block behind Rigor. Stone structures folded inward like paper. The ground beneath them sank several meters as pressure compressed the earth itself.
Rigor slid back but only slightly.
His grin widened.
"Better."
He swung.
Riven blocked.
The impact cracked the street behind Riven like glass under pressure.
Riven countered instantly two claw strikes in a cross pattern.
Rigor twisted through both.
A third strike came immediately.
Rigor ducked.
But the wind pressure alone carved a trench into a nearby wall.
Rigor exhaled slowly.
"…You're adapting."
Riven didn't stop.
Another exchange.
And another.
And another.
The battlefield around them stopped mattering.
Armies fought in the distance, but even they began to hesitate. The war itself felt secondary.
Because something worse had emerged inside it.
A duel that could erase cities by accident.
Rigor Begins to Ascend
Rigor stopped retreating.
For the first time
he pushed forward.
His aura exploded outward in a violent crimson-black bloom.
The ground beneath him cracked outward in a perfect radius.
"Enough."
He moved.
The air distorted.
Riven barely raised his arms before
CRASH.
Rigor's knee drove into him.
Riven was launched backward through a collapsing structure. The building folded inward as he passed through it, debris exploding outward like shrapnel.
Rigor followed instantly.
A blur.
A shadow.
A predator closing distance.
Riven barely stabilized mid-air before Rigor's claw strike came down.
BOOM.
The street beneath Riven exploded.
But Riven was already gone.
Reappeared behind Rigor.
Strike.
Rigor blocked.
But still staggered.
For the first time
a cut formed on his arm.
He looked at it.
Paused.
Then laughed.
"Finally."
The First Blood Exchange
Riven attacked again.
Faster.
Rigor met him head-on.
The battlefield shattered under each collision.
Buildings collapsed.
Ground sank.
The sky itself felt heavier.
Riven's claw struck
Rigor blocked
but Riven's second strike slipped through.
Slicing across Rigor's shoulder.
Blood sprayed.
The battlefield froze for a fraction of a second.
Rigor touched the wound.
Slowly.
Then looked at his hand.
Blood.
Real blood.
A smile formed.
Not madness.
Not rage.
Recognition.
"…So you can hurt me."
Riven didn't respond.
But his stance shifted slightly.
Not confidence.
Not fear.
Adjustment.
Rigor tilted his head.
Then sighed.
And something inside him changed.
The Beast of the Second Order Fully Emerges
"Enough warm-up."
His aura detonated.
The sky darkened further.
The Blood Moon flared.
Wind reversed direction.
The ground trembled as Rigor's body began to transform fully.
Bones snapped.
Muscles expanded.
Fur erupted like wildfire across his skin.
His height increased.
His presence multiplied.
The Beast of the Second Order stood fully revealed.
And the battlefield understood something instantly
this was not even his full strength before.
Soldiers from both sides stopped fighting entirely.
Some dropped their weapons.
Some fell to their knees.
Some simply ran.
Because the pressure alone made breathing difficult.
Rigor exhaled.
A deep, heavy sound.
Then he smiled.
"…Now."
He vanished.
The Strike That Should Have Ended It
The attack came instantly.
A full-speed, fully committed lunge.
Rigor's claw condensed all his power into a single point.
It struck Riven's forehead.
Directly.
Perfectly.
The impact created a vacuum of silence.
For half a second
nothing moved.
Then
CRACK.
Not Riven.
Rigor's fist.
Bone shattered instantly.
The force rebounded through his entire arm like a collapsing bridge.
His eyes widened.
"…What…?"
Riven stepped forward.
Grabbed the arm mid-motion.
And pulled.
RIP.
The sound was not loud.
It was absolute.
Rigor's arm tore free from his body.
Blood erupted into the air.
Rigor screamed.
The sound echoed across the ruined capital.
For the first time
he staggered backward in true shock.
Not injury.
Not pain.
Disbelief.
The Collapse Begins
Riven did not stop.
A knee strike crushed Rigor's jaw sideways.
CRACK.
Another strike caved his chest inward.
Rigor tried to recover.
Riven appeared above him again.
Strike.
Rigor blocked
but the impact shattered his forearm.
He dropped to one knee.
Breathing heavily now.
For the first time in the war
Rigor's regeneration failed to keep up.
"…This is… insane…"
Riven moved again.
Elbow.
CRACK.
Rigor's skull fractured.
He staggered sideways.
Vision blurring.
The world no longer aligned correctly.
Sound became distorted.
Movement became uncertain.
Rigor realized something terrifying.
He could not track Riven anymore.
The Chase Through Ruin
Riven struck.
Rigor flew through a building.
Riven followed instantly.
Another strike.
Another collapse.
Another street erased.
Riven was no longer fighting
he was pursuing.
Erasing distance.
Erasing space.
Erasing resistance.
Rigor crashed through a tower.
Then another.
Then another.
His body skipped across destruction like a broken weapon.
But even now
he laughed weakly.
"…You're… not human…"
Riven appeared above him.
Silent.
Final.
Rigor's Final Attempt
Rigor forced his remaining strength into one final transformation spike.
His aura erupted one last time.
The sky trembled.
He lunged.
Full power.
Final strike.
It hit Riven directly.
The air froze.
Then
CRACK.
His fist shattered completely.
Bone exploded outward.
Rigor screamed again.
This time in pure shock.
Riven grabbed him.
Lifted him.
And tore him apart.
One strike after another.
Until the Beast of the Second Order finally collapsed back into his base form.
The End of a Beast
Rigor lay in the ruins.
Barely alive.
Barely conscious.
Blood pooling beneath him.
Riven stood over him.
Silent.
Still.
The Dark Shadow within him had not spoken once.
It simply was.
Rigor coughed.
Weak laugh.
"…So… this is it…"
He tried to move.
Failed.
"…Wonder boy…"
Riven raised his hand.
Black-silver energy gathered around his claws.
The battlefield held its breath.
Rigor looked up one final time.
And smiled faintly.
"…Don't… waste it…"
Riven struck.
And the Beast of the Second Order finally fell.