The city did not survive their arrival.
Not intact.
Not whole.
Not even close.
It began as a war beyond the battlefield something distant, something structured, something that still had the illusion of order.
But the moment Riven and Rigor crossed into Third Order territory, that illusion shattered.
Stone did not care about politics.
Wood did not care about ranks.
Steel did not care about Orders.
Everything broke the same way under them.
Riven was slammed through a watchtower first.
He didn't see the strike coming.
Only the aftermath.
A blur of motion.
Then impact.
The tower exploded outward in a violent bloom of stone and dust.
Riven crashed through its inner supports, through staircases, through reinforced beams that would have stopped siege weapons.
He hit the ground hard enough to carve a crater into the street.
His body bounced once.
Then stopped.
For a moment, there was only silence.
Dust drifted down like ash.
Then
Riven coughed.
Blood hit the ground.
His left arm twitched.
His ribs screamed.
Something inside his chest felt… misaligned.
He forced himself up anyway.
Because Rigor was already walking through the collapsing tower.
Calm.
Unhurried.
Like destruction was simply part of his path.
"You're still getting up," Rigor said.
His voice carried through the ruined district.
Not loud.
He didn't need to be loud.
"I was starting to think you'd learned your limits."
Riven wiped blood from his mouth.
His vision flickered for a moment.
Double images.
Blurred edges.
He steadied his stance anyway.
"…You talk too much," Riven muttered.
Rigor smiled.
That same smile.
The one Riven remembered from the Fourth Order Trial.
Back then, it had been humiliating.
Now it was infuriating.
Rigor stepped forward.
The ground cracked beneath his weight.
"You've changed," he said.
"But not enough."
He vanished.
Riven barely reacted in time.
CLANG.
Moonfang caught the strike.
The impact shattered the pavement beneath them.
Riven was pushed back ten meters, boots carving deep trenches into stone.
He recovered instantly.
Nightrend followed.
A horizontal slash aimed at Rigor's ribs.
Rigor twisted his body slightly.
The blade missed by a hair.
Then Rigor's elbow came down.
CRACK.
Riven's guard broke.
Pain exploded through his shoulder.
He staggered back.
Rigor pressed forward immediately.
A punch.
Then another.
Then a knee.
Each hit landed like a siege hammer.
Riven blocked what he could.
Dodged what instinct allowed.
But Rigor was not slowing.
Not even slightly.
"You're faster," Rigor admitted casually.
Another strike.
Riven barely ducked.
"But you're still thinking."
A kick sent Riven skidding across rubble.
He crashed through a stone cart and rolled onto his side.
The street around them was already gone.
Buildings leaned dangerously.
Walls had collapsed.
Entire blocks were becoming ruins.
And still
They were only beginning.
Riven forced himself up again.
His breath was heavier now.
His ribs felt wrong.
One side of his vision kept darkening at the edges.
Rigor tilted his head.
"Still standing."
Almost impressed.
"Good."
He rolled his shoulders.
Then
The pressure changed.
Riven felt it immediately.
Rigor stopped holding back.
Not fully.
Not even close to his peak.
But enough.
Enough that the air itself seemed to sink.
Dust lifted from the ground in reverse.
Windows across nearby structures shattered simultaneously.
Even distant soldiers paused.
Because they could feel it.
Something was about to escalate.
Rigor moved.
The ground exploded beneath him.
Riven crossed both blades
Too slow.
The impact sent him flying through the side of a residential building.
Wood, stone, and support beams collapsed inward around him.
Riven hit the far wall hard enough to leave a crater in it.
He slid down slowly.
His breathing was uneven now.
Blood dripped from his forehead.
His left eye struggled to stay open.
Still
He laughed once.
Quiet.
Unsteady.
"…Still the same monster," he muttered.
Outside, Rigor's voice echoed through the broken structure.
"Monster?"
A pause.
Then amusement.
"You say that like it's an insult."
The wall beside Riven exploded outward.
Rigor stepped through the debris.
Dust clinging to his shoulders.
Unbothered.
Always unbothered.
"You remember the trial?" Rigor asked.
Riven didn't answer.
Of course he remembered.
The humiliation.
The helplessness.
The moment he realized strength wasn't just training it was presence.
Rigor walked forward slowly.
"You lasted longer this time."
He tilted his head.
"That's improvement, I suppose."
Riven tightened his grip on Moonfang.
"…I'm not the same kid."
Rigor's grin widened.
"No."
A pause.
"You're worse."
He attacked again.
The building collapsed further.
Entire sections gave way as they fought inside it.
Riven barely blocked the first strike.
The second broke through his guard.
A third slammed him into the ground.
Stone cracked beneath his spine.
Pain shot through his ribs again.
He felt something fracture.
He didn't know what.
He didn't have time to care.
He rolled just in time as Rigor's fist destroyed the floor where his head had been.
Riven countered.
A slash.
Then another.
Then a spin.
Moonfang carved across Rigor's shoulder.
For the first time
Rigor stepped back.
Not much.
Just enough.
He looked down at the cut.
Slowly.
Then smiled wider.
"Oh."
That single sound.
Almost delighted.
Riven's instincts screamed.
Rigor was enjoying this.
Really enjoying it.
The building groaned around them.
Ceiling beams snapped.
The structure was collapsing.
Riven noticed something then.
Through the gaps in the broken walls
People.
Civilians.
Running.
Screaming.
Children.
They were trapped in the lower section of the collapsing district.
And this building
This very building
Was about to fall into them.
Riven's eyes widened slightly.
For a fraction of a second, everything else disappeared.
Rigor saw it.
And laughed.
"You're looking away?"
He moved instantly.
Riven barely reacted.
A fist connected with his ribs.
CRACK.
Pain detonated through his entire body.
Riven was lifted off his feet and thrown through another wall.
He crashed into the open air again
Rolling across broken streets.
He tried to stand.
His knee buckled.
He dropped again.
Breathing became harder.
Vision darker.
The building above the civilians was collapsing faster now.
He could see it.
Even through blurred sight.
Thousands of tons of stone.
Falling.
Riven clenched his teeth.
He tried to move.
His body screamed in protest.
Another step
His knee gave out again.
He froze.
For a moment.
Just a moment.
Then
Riven forced himself upright.
"…No."
He wasn't talking to Rigor.
He wasn't talking to anyone else.
Just himself.
The building groaned louder.
Riven staggered forward.
Another step.
Then another.
Blood dripped from his chin.
Rigor watched from the distance.
Curious now.
Interested.
Riven looked up at the collapsing structure.
At the children trapped beneath it.
His grip tightened on Moonfang and Nightrend.
His legs shook.
His ribs screamed.
His vision blurred almost completely.
But he moved anyway.
Step.
Step.
Step.
And then
Riven broke into a run.
Toward the falling building.
Toward the civilians.
Toward the collapsing weight of an entire structure.
And behind him
Rigor smiled.
"…There you are."
The real fight wasn't over.
It had just changed direction.