The battlefield had been a controlled storm—chaotic, but manageable. S-Rank warriors held their lines. Explosions boomed in the distance. Screams were expected. Dust and Essence hung in the air like mist.
And then—
Silence.
One by one, S-Rank Essence Warriors started dropping.
No flashes of battle.
No sounds of struggle.
Just… gone.
A blade through the neck. A hole where the heart used to be. Eyes wide, mouths still open mid-command. Their bodies hit the ground like puppets whose strings had been snipped.
No one even saw the killers.
From one sector of the battlefield, Toru Kurotaki crushed the head of a hulking Essence Beast, panting, sweat and blood dripping down his neck.
Then, he looked over.
Three of his comrades were down. Just like that.
"What the hell…" he muttered, tightening his grip. His Titanblood Essence flared unconsciously. "This wasn't part of the recon intel."
Back in the southern quadrant—
Riku cut through another wave of beasts, his knight shielding his back while a clone darted to the left flank to intercept a winged monster.
He remained unfazed. Calm. He slashed upward, creating a clean vertical arc through a spiked beast's chest, its Essence dispersing into the air like fading embers.
Just as he was about to turn—
"Riku!"
A battered, limping S-Rank Essence Warrior stumbled toward him, blood soaking through his armor.
Riku glanced over, eyes narrowing. "You shouldn't be moving."
The warrior fell to one knee, coughing violently. "Forget me… you need to know…"
Riku approached and knelt beside him, steadying him with one hand.
"What happened?"
The S-Rank warrior looked up, panic etched into his bloodied face.
"They're… they're awake."
Riku's brow twitched.
"The King and Queen… the EX-Rank Royal Beasts—they've awakened."
Everything stopped.
Even the wind seemed to still.
Riku's eyes slowly shifted toward the northern end of the battlefield. A cold pulse rippled through the ground. It was deep—deeper than anything the scouts or intelligence teams had reported.
"Where?"
"North sector… underground… they… they tore out of the Rift core itself…"
The warrior collapsed, unconscious.
Riku rose to his feet, eyes fixed toward the horizon. A cold chill ran up his spine—not fear, just... calculation. His fingers twitched once.
He didn't speak right away.
Then—
"So," he said quietly, brushing blood off his sleeve, "the real fight finally started."
Another explosion rocked the battlefield behind him, but Riku didn't flinch. His clone reformed beside him. His knight stepped forward, shield raised.
From somewhere far ahead, an inhuman roar echoed—not like the others. It was regal. Commanding. The roar of something ancient.
Riku closed his eyes.
"Looks like I'll have to get serious..."
His Divine Avatar aura began to glow brighter.
But not fully.
Not yet.