The world stilled when Ragnar stepped forward.
The moon bled silver across the ruined square, broken walls rising like jagged teeth around the battlefield. Every torch flickered in silence, every breath held back as if the night itself waited.
Valerius drew his blade with a slow, deliberate rasp, the steel glinting like the fang of a predator. His armor, etched with the crest of the Purge, reflected the pale firelight. His eyes—cold and sharp as carved ice—locked on Ragnar with a hunger that carried both hatred and awe.
"You," Valerius said, voice low, steady, deadly. "The Devourer of Law. The chaos that the Sect failed to purge. Tell me—do you even understand what you are?"
Ragnar's crimson-black eyes caught the light. Shadows twisted faintly at his feet, moving as though alive, waiting to be unleashed. He didn't raise his weapon yet. His voice was quiet, but it carried through the broken square like the toll of a bell.
"I'm the end of men like you."
The silence snapped.
Valerius lunged first, his speed unreal for a man armored in steel. The ground cracked under his stride, dust exploding upward. His blade came down with the weight of a mountain, cleaving through air that howled like a beast.
Ragnar moved—not away, not back. He stepped forward. The shadow wrapped around his arm, forming a blade of pure void that caught Valerius's strike. The clash split the night, steel screaming against darkness. Sparks flared, not orange but a strange violet, as if reality itself was tearing at the edges.
The shockwave hurled rubble across the square. Dax cursed and ducked behind a broken pillar. Kael stood unmoving, his smile widening as the ground quaked beneath his feet. Selene's silver chains glowed faintly as she gripped the stone wall, her gaze locked on Ragnar—eyes sharp, yet carrying something else beneath them.
Valerius pushed, his blade grinding against the shadow. "You fight like a beast," he hissed. "But beasts don't rule—they burn."
Ragnar's lips curled, almost into a smile. "Then burn with me."
The shadow writhed, growing, thickening. With a surge, Ragnar forced Valerius back. The general skidded across the broken stones, boots dragging furrows into the earth. But before Ragnar could advance, Valerius lifted his free hand. Strange sigils carved themselves into the air, glowing with a pale gold light.
The runes detonated.
Light speared down from the heavens, pure and merciless. It struck Ragnar head-on, swallowing him whole in a storm of brilliance. The square shook. Dust roared outward like a wave, smothering the firelight.
"Ragnar!" Selene's voice broke through, sharp and unguarded.
For a heartbeat, nothing moved. The light died, fading into drifting motes.
And Ragnar still stood.
His cloak was burned, his skin scorched in lines across his chest and arms—but his eyes blazed crimson-black, deeper than before, as if the shadow within had tasted pain and hungered for more.
Valerius's cold expression flickered for the first time. "Impossible…"
Ragnar stepped out of the crater, shadow bleeding from his body like smoke from a furnace. His voice was lower now, almost not human.
"You talk of light and law. But law without mercy is nothing. You think you've purged monsters?" His eyes narrowed. "You made one."
He lunged, faster than before. The shadow blade roared, meeting Valerius's steel again and again. Each strike sent thunder echoing through the ruins, stone shattering beneath their feet. Valerius countered with brutal precision, but Ragnar's fury was a storm—raw, relentless, alive.
Every clash carried more than strength—it carried memory. The hunts, the screams, the nights chained in darkness. Ragnar's fury wasn't just battle. It was the past tearing its way into the present.
And for the first time, Valerius was forced onto the defense.
Dax muttered, "This… this is insane." His usual cockiness faltered. Even Ruin, arms crossed, could not hide the tension in his jaw.
Kael, though—Kael was grinning. His whisper was almost a purr. "Yes… bleed more. Show me."
The duel reached its peak. Ragnar swung with both hands, the shadow blade expanding into a monstrous arc of darkness. Valerius braced, runes flaring across his armor, his steel flashing with desperate light.
The clash split the world.
The ground ruptured, stones exploding upward. The shockwave flung Dax back, tore through the broken square, sent even Selene staggering against the wall.
And when the dust cleared—
Ragnar and Valerius both stood. Blood ran down Ragnar's arm, dark against his burned skin. Valerius's armor was torn, cracks spiderwebbing across the glowing runes. Both men breathed hard, yet neither bowed.
For the first time, Valerius smiled—cold, thin, dangerous. "Good. You are no beast. You're a rival." His blade lifted, burning with fresh sigils. "Then I'll cut you down as one."
Ragnar's shadows swelled higher, twisting into shapes that weren't human. His lips parted, voice no longer steady, but thunderous.
"Then try."
The night trembled. And as both men lunged once more, the battlefield itself seemed to shatter under the weight of their clash.