The world exploded.
Riven barely registered the impact.
One moment he was standing.
The next
Rigor's claw crashed into his crossed blades.
The shockwave shattered everything.
The street beneath them disappeared.
Buildings on both sides collapsed.
Windows burst across an entire district.
The force launched Riven through the air like a broken doll.
He crashed through a tower.
Then another.
Then another.
Stone exploded around him.
Dust filled the sky.
The city screamed.
And somewhere inside that chaos...
Riven finally hit the ground.
Hard.
For several seconds he didn't move.
Couldn't.
Every nerve in his body felt like it was on fire.
His vision blurred.
His ears rang.
His lungs refused to cooperate.
He simply lay there amidst the rubble.
Broken.
A shadow appeared overhead.
Rigor.
The Beast of the Second looked down at him.
Not with hatred.
Not with rage.
With disappointment.
"Get up."
Riven coughed blood.
The red liquid splattered across broken stone.
Rigor sighed.
"I said get up."
Slowly...
painfully...
Riven forced himself onto one knee.
His entire body screamed.
One shattered rib scraped against another.
His broken arm hung uselessly at his side.
His damaged knee trembled violently.
Yet somehow...
he stood.
Rigor nodded.
"Better."
Then he attacked again.
The giant warrior moved like a nightmare.
Far too fast for his size.
Far too strong.
Far too experienced.
Riven barely reacted.
A claw slammed into his stomach.
The impact folded him in half.
Air exploded from his lungs.
Before he could recover
A second strike.
A third.
A fourth.
Each one heavier than the last.
Each one driving him farther backward.
The city became a blur.
Rigor wasn't fighting anymore.
He was dismantling him.
Piece by piece.
Bone by bone.
Lesson by lesson.
BOOM.
A punch shattered a wall.
BOOM.
A kick demolished a building.
BOOM.
A claw strike carved a trench through an entire street.
Riven survived.
But survival was becoming harder.
Much harder.
Because Rigor was right.
He had reached a wall.
For months...
Riven had grown stronger.
Every battle.
Every near-death experience.
Every impossible challenge.
He adapted.
Improved.
Overcame.
But now?
The climb had finally become vertical.
And Rigor stood at the top.
Waiting.
The Beast grabbed him by the throat.
Lifted him effortlessly.
Riven struggled.
Kicked.
Tried to free himself.
Nothing worked.
Rigor held him like a child.
"Look around."
Riven frowned.
Rigor turned.
The city came into view.
Destroyed.
Burning.
Broken.
People running.
Families hiding.
Soldiers fighting.
Civilians fleeing.
The consequences of their battle stretched everywhere.
"You wanted to protect them."
Rigor's voice remained calm.
"So why are they still suffering?"
The words hit harder than any punch.
Riven clenched his jaw.
Rigor continued.
"You save one building."
"You save a few children."
"You save a few lives."
A pause.
"But the city still burns."
The giant warrior looked directly into his eyes.
"Because you aren't strong enough."
Then he threw him.
Riven became a missile.
He smashed through a marketplace.
Collapsed an entire block.
Finally skidding to a halt near the remains of a fountain.
Blood pooled beneath him.
His body refused to cooperate.
For several moments...
he simply lay there.
Breathing.
Hurting.
Failing.
And memories began appearing.
His mother.
Tyrella.
Laughing.
Smiling.
Alive.
Then another memory.
Nyss.
"You aren't alone."
Then another.
Eryx.
"Be proud of how far you've come."
Then another.
Lira.
Calling him an idiot.
Astra laughing.
Roran training beside him.
The people he'd fought for.
The people he'd survived for.
The people waiting for him.
The people depending on him.
Riven slowly opened his eyes.
No.
Not yet.
He wasn't done.
Not yet.
He pushed himself upright.
Every movement felt impossible.
Every breath hurt.
Yet somehow...
he stood.
Again.
Across the ruined district...
Rigor watched.
Then slowly smiled.
"Good."
For the first time.
The smile wasn't mocking.
It wasn't cruel.
It was respectful.
Because Rigor understood something most people didn't.
The strongest warriors weren't the ones who won.
They were the ones who kept standing.
Riven raised Moonfang.
Then Nightrend.
The blades trembled in his grip.
But they remained raised.
Rigor lowered himself into another stance.
The Beast's aura surged.
Blood-red energy flooded the city.
Buildings trembled.
The earth cracked.
The Blood Moon illuminated everything.
And suddenly
they both charged.
The collision shook the heavens.
This time Riven didn't retreat.
This time he met the Beast head-on.
Moonfang flashed.
Rigor blocked.
Nightrend struck.
A claw intercepted it.
Steel screamed.
Sparks erupted.
Again.
Again.
Again.
The city became a blur of violence.
Their battle spread across rooftops.
Through shattered streets.
Across collapsing structures.
Every collision generating enough force to destroy entire sections of the city.
For a moment...
Riven actually pushed him back.
One step.
Then two.
Then three.
The Beast's eyes widened slightly.
Interesting.
Riven roared.
Moonfang slashed.
A cut appeared across Rigor's chest.
Blood sprayed.
The first significant wound.
The first true damage.
Rigor looked down.
Touched the injury.
Then laughed.
A genuine laugh.
"You finally did it."
The giant's golden eyes gleamed.
"Now we're fighting."
Then everything changed.
The Beast stopped holding back.
Completely.
His aura exploded.
The city trembled.
The sky darkened.
Even the Blood Moon seemed smaller.
Riven immediately felt it.
The difference.
The true difference.
This wasn't the warrior from before.
This was the monster who had become Caelum Valen's strongest weapon.
The Beast of the Second.
Rigor vanished.
Riven couldn't track him.
Couldn't see him.
Couldn't react.
The claw strike hit.
CRACK.
His shoulder shattered.
The next hit broke his ribs.
The third damaged his knee further.
The fourth nearly took his head.
Riven stumbled.
Blood poured from his wounds.
His vision darkened.
The world tilted.
And for the first time...
fear returned.
Not fear of dying.
Fear of failing.
Because no matter how hard he fought...
No matter how much he endured...
No matter how many times he stood back up...
It wasn't enough.
Rigor stood before him.
Unmoving.
Untouchable.
Unbreakable.
A wall.
The wall.
The obstacle he couldn't overcome.
The limit of his strength.
The limit of his growth.
The limit of Riven Thorn.
The Beast pointed one claw toward him.
"Now do you see it?"
Riven said nothing.
His body barely functioned.
His core pulsed weakly.
Dangerously weakly.
The Beast took another step.
"You've gotten stronger."
Another.
"You've surpassed expectations."
Another.
"You've impressed everyone."
Another.
"But strength alone doesn't create miracles."
Silence.
Then
Rigor stopped directly before him.
The giant warrior looked down at the broken teenager.
And spoke the words that shattered something inside him.
"You still aren't enough."
The city fell silent.
The Blood Moon watched.
And deep inside Riven's core...
something ancient stirred.
Not awake.
Not yet.
But listening.
Waiting.
Watching.
As Riven Thorn stood before the wall he could not overcome.
And for the first time since becoming a werewolf...
he truly wondered if he could win.