The world had narrowed to one sound.
Wood snapping.
Stone groaning.
A structure screaming as it collapsed.
Riven could feel it in his bones before he even reached it the vibration of something too heavy for the world to hold any longer.
The building was falling.
Not slowly.
Not gently.
It was giving up.
And beneath it
Voices.
Cries.
Children.
Riven ran.
Each step was a punishment.
His left knee buckled halfway through the sprint, forcing him to stagger before catching himself on instinct alone.
Pain flared through his ribs.
His vision pulsed black at the edges, red at the center.
Blood Moonlight painted everything in unstable shades.
But he didn't stop.
Not even when Rigor's presence surged behind him again.
Not even when the instinct to turn and fight screamed louder than reason.
Because this was different.
This wasn't a warrior.
This wasn't a rival.
This was gravity.
And gravity did not care about pride.
The building tilted further.
A deep, thunderous crack echoed through the district as a support column finally gave way.
Riven saw it clearly now.
The lower level.
Collapsed walls.
A narrow corridor of escape that was rapidly disappearing.
And children.
Running.
Too slow.
Too small.
Too close.
Riven reached the base of the structure just as the first massive slab began to fall.
Time slowed.
Not literally.
But in the way fear stretches moments into eternity.
Riven dropped Moonfang.
Dropped Nightrend.
Both blades struck the ground with a metallic cry.
Then he moved.
He caught the falling section.
His hands slammed into stone the size of a carriage.
The impact drove him halfway into the ground instantly.
A crater formed beneath his feet.
His knees hit the earth second.
The sound that followed was not loud.
It was deep.
Like the world itself flinching.
Riven's entire body locked.
Muscles screamed.
Bones protested.
His spine bent under pressure that should have killed him instantly.
The building didn't stop falling.
It only slowed.
Barely.
"…Move…" Riven choked out through clenched teeth.
Behind the collapsing slab, children froze.
One of them no older than six stared at him.
Eyes wide.
Terrified.
Hopeful.
That expression hit harder than any blade.
Riven forced his head up.
"RUN!" he roared.
The children didn't hesitate after that.
They moved.
Fast.
Scrambling through debris, slipping, crying, but moving.
Riven held the structure above them.
Every second added weight.
Every breath felt like glass in his lungs.
Something in his right arm snapped.
He felt it.
Not pain first.
Just failure.
Then pain followed immediately after.
His legs sank deeper into the ground.
Stone fractured beneath him.
The earth itself was giving way.
And still
He held.
From the distance, Rigor watched.
He had stopped chasing.
For once.
He stood on a broken street, observing the scene like an experiment.
"Interesting," he murmured.
Riven didn't hear him.
Or didn't care.
His entire world was above him.
And falling.
More beams cracked.
The structure shifted violently.
Riven's body jolted as the weight increased again.
His left eye finally closed fully swollen beyond function.
Breathing became shallow.
His ribs felt like broken cages holding something barely alive.
Still
He did not let go.
"Almost… there…" he gasped.
Another crack.
A massive section began to shear off from the upper floors.
It was going to collapse completely.
If it fell
Everything underneath would be erased.
Riven's arms trembled violently.
His grip slipped slightly.
Blood ran down his forearms.
He could feel himself fading.
Then
A voice cut through the chaos.
Not Rigor.
Not Nyxara.
Not Eryx.
A child.
"Sir…!"
Riven's eyes flickered downward.
The last of them were still inside the danger zone.
Frozen.
Too close.
Too late.
Riven inhaled sharply.
His body screamed in protest as he adjusted his stance.
He shifted one arm slightly higher.
Tried to redistribute the weight.
It didn't help.
It only made the pressure worse.
His knees sank deeper into the ground.
The earth cracked outward in spiderweb patterns.
"…GET OUT!" he roared again.
This time, the remaining children moved.
They ran.
Finally.
Riven exhaled.
Just for a second.
Relief.
Then
Impact.
A sudden, brutal force slammed into his side.
Rigor.
A fist buried itself into Riven's ribs.
CRACK.
The sound was sharp enough to silence everything else.
Riven's body lifted off the ground slightly.
The building shifted violently above him.
His arms almost gave out.
But instinct forced him back down.
Back under the weight.
He let out a broken sound half cough, half scream.
Rigor leaned in close.
"You're going to kill yourself," he said calmly.
Riven's teeth clenched.
"…Then it dies standing."
Rigor paused.
Then smiled.
"That's what I wanted to hear."
Another strike.
This time to the shoulder.
Riven's body twisted under the impact.
His balance broke.
For a fraction of a second
The building dropped.
A few inches.
That was enough.
Riven roared.
Not words.
Just raw force.
His arms surged upward again, forcing the structure back into position.
The ground beneath him exploded outward.
Dust filled the air.
His vision blurred completely now.
But he held.
Somehow.
Still held.
Rigor stepped back slightly, watching him struggle against impossible weight.
"You're insane," he said softly.
Riven didn't respond.
He couldn't.
He was too busy not dying.
Seconds passed.
Then
The last child escaped the collapse zone.
A faint sound reached Riven's ears.
Footsteps fading.
Safety.
Riven's breath shuddered.
"…Good…" he whispered.
Then
His strength finally gave out.
Not all at once.
Slowly.
Like a system collapsing layer by layer.
His knees began to sink.
The building above him pressed down harder.
Riven's arms trembled violently.
His spine bent further.
Blood dripped from his mouth onto the cracked earth below.
Rigor tilted his head.
"You're done now."
Riven's eyes flickered upward.
Barely open.
Barely seeing.
"…Not yet…"
A pause.
Then
He forced one last breath into his lungs.
And held.
The structure stabilized just slightly.
Not because it was safe.
But because Riven refused to let it fall.
Rigor watched him for a long moment.
Then turned away.
"Finish your heroics," he said quietly.
"I'll be waiting."
And just like that
He walked back toward the battlefield.
Leaving Riven alone.
Holding the impossible.
The building groaned.
The weight pressed down.
Riven's bones screamed.
His vision faded further.
But he did not let go.
Not even when his hands began to bleed.
Not even when his knees cracked deeper into the earth.
Not even when darkness crept into the edges of his mind.
He stayed there.
Holding.
Breathing.
Breaking.
But refusing to fall.
Above him
The structure continued to collapse in slow motion.
And below him
A boy who should have died long ago.
Kept the world from crushing those who couldn't fight back.