The city trembled.
Not from the war.
Not from collapsing buildings.
Not from distant battles raging beneath the Blood Moon.
It trembled because Rigor was transforming.
Riven stood amidst the ruins.
Barely.
Blood dripped from his mouth.
His left eye had swollen completely shut.
Several ribs were shattered.
His right arm trembled uncontrollably.
His knee threatened to collapse beneath him.
Every breath felt like broken glass scraping through his lungs.
Yet none of that mattered.
Because the monster standing before him was becoming something far worse.
Bones cracked.
Muscles expanded.
Black-red fur erupted across Rigor's body.
His armor split apart as his frame grew larger.
Broader.
More powerful.
Claws emerged.
Massive.
Razor sharp.
His jaw elongated.
Fangs lengthened.
Red eyes burned beneath the crimson glow of the Blood Moon.
Yet the most terrifying part wasn't the transformation itself.
It was the control.
Rigor wasn't becoming a beast.
He was already a beast.
The transformation merely allowed the world to see it.
When the process ended...
silence fell across the ruined district.
The warrior who stood before Riven was nearly three meters tall.
A living weapon.
A monster forged by the Second Order.
The strongest warrior Riven had ever faced.
The same form that had crushed him during the Fourth Order Trials.
The same nightmare he had spent over a year trying to overcome.
The Beast of the Second.
Rigor slowly flexed his claws.
The motion alone cracked the ground beneath him.
Then he looked at Riven.
And smiled.
"Now."
His voice echoed through the shattered city.
"Let's see if all that growth actually means something."
The next second
BOOM!
The street exploded beneath him.
Riven's instincts screamed.
Moonfang and Nightrend crossed just before impact.
The collision felt like being struck by a mountain.
Pain exploded through both arms.
His feet left the ground.
He crashed through a stone tower.
Then another.
Then another.
Entire buildings collapsed in his wake.
Before he could even stand
Rigor appeared again.
A claw came crashing downward.
Riven rolled desperately.
The attack missed him by inches.
The earth didn't survive.
A trench hundreds of meters long appeared across the city.
Stone erupted skyward.
Buildings split apart.
Riven stared.
One direct hit.
That was all it would take.
One.
Rigor charged again.
The Beast moved impossibly fast for his size.
Another claw.
Another dodge.
Another destroyed structure.
The giant laughed.
"You've gotten slower."
Riven spat blood.
"You're uglier."
That only made Rigor laugh harder.
Then the Beast charged once more.
This time Riven met him.
Moonfang flashed.
Nightrend followed.
Both blades struck.
Both connected.
Blood appeared.
Yet Rigor barely reacted.
A claw slammed into Riven's guard.
The impact shattered the street.
His knees buckled instantly.
A second strike followed.
Then a third.
Then a fourth.
Each one heavier than the last.
Riven felt himself being driven backward.
Meter by meter.
Like a man attempting to stop an avalanche with his bare hands.
It was impossible.
Rigor was stronger.
Far stronger.
The difference remained terrifying.
Everything Riven had gained.
Everything he'd endured.
Everything he'd become.
Still wasn't enough.
Not yet.
Rigor suddenly lunged forward.
His forehead crashed into Riven's.
The headbutt nearly knocked him unconscious.
Blood sprayed.
His vision exploded into stars.
Then came the kick.
Riven crossed both blades.
The impact launched him through multiple buildings.
He tumbled across broken streets before finally crashing into the remains of a marketplace.
For several moments...
he couldn't move.
Couldn't breathe.
Couldn't think.
Only pain existed.
Then heavy footsteps approached.
Rigor emerged from the smoke.
Completely relentless.
Completely unstoppable.
The giant looked disappointed.
"Come on."
Another step.
"You've survived Eryx."
Another.
"You trained beneath Nyxara."
Another.
"You've cheated death more times than most warriors ever will."
Another.
"So where is it?"
Riven slowly looked up.
Blood covering his face.
"What?"
Rigor pointed directly at his chest.
"The monster."
Silence.
The Dark Shadow.
The Last Instinct.
The thing sleeping inside him.
Rigor could feel it.
Riven could too.
Deep within his damaged core.
Something was awake.
Not acting.
Not speaking.
Watching.
Waiting.
Observing.
Rigor lowered himself into another combat stance.
"Good."
His grin widened.
"I want to see it."
Then he attacked.
The city exploded around them.
Their clash shattered an entire plaza.
Shockwaves raced through the district.
Buildings collapsed.
Windows burst.
The earth cracked.
Moonfang slashed.
Rigor blocked.
Nightrend thrust.
Rigor twisted.
A claw tore through Riven's chest.
Blood erupted.
Pain followed.
Riven ignored both.
He attacked again.
And again.
And again.
The battle became savage.
No longer a duel.
No longer a contest.
It became survival.
Steel.
Claws.
Fangs.
Blood.
Everything became a weapon.
Everything became violence.
Rigor caught Riven's arm.
Twisted.
CRACK.
The limb broke instantly.
Riven screamed.
Then drove Moonfang directly into Rigor's shoulder.
For the first time...
the Beast roared.
Real pain.
Real anger.
The giant ripped the blade free and hurled Riven through another structure.
The building collapsed instantly.
Riven barely escaped being buried alive.
His breathing grew heavier.
His movements slower.
His vision darker.
The city felt distant now.
Like a dream.
Like something he was slowly slipping away from.
His core pulsed weakly.
Once.
Twice.
Then dimmed.
Dangerously.
He was reaching his limit.
Rigor noticed.
Predators always noticed.
The Beast began walking toward him.
Slowly.
Confidently.
Like an executioner approaching the condemned.
"You know what your problem is?"
Riven coughed blood.
"No."
"You survive."
Another step.
"You adapt."
Another.
"You get stronger."
Another.
"But eventually..."
Rigor stopped.
Only a few meters away.
"Everyone reaches a wall."
Silence.
Then
His aura erupted.
The Blood Moon itself seemed to tremble.
Ancient power flooded the city.
Wild.
Violent.
Overwhelming.
The Beast of the Second opened his jaws.
And roared.
The city shook.
Buildings collapsed.
The earth split apart.
The sky itself seemed to recoil.
Riven felt the pressure slam into him.
And for the first time since this battle began...
real fear returned.
Because he finally understood.
Rigor hadn't been fighting seriously.
Not completely.
Not until now.
The Beast pointed one claw toward him.
"Let's find yours."
Then he vanished.
Riven barely raised his blades.
The impact arrived.
And the world exploded.