The two stared at each other. Riven felt a deep hostility radiating from the monster in waves, and it seemed to be smiling somehow, even though its mouth was firmly shut.
Riven gave it a bloody smile. No way he was going down without a fight of some kind. The monster didn't seem to like that because it raised its sword, its rusted edges slamming into Riven's legs and crushing them below the knees.
Riven couldn't shout. The only thing he could do was make a grudging sound as blood sprouted from his chest. Pain made his vision white.
He understood why he didn't die immediately. His passive ability was working, albeit a little, keeping him alive. Undying.
But then another shadow loomed above him, and he saw Kivara staring down at him, her mouth set in a grim line. "I will tear you limb to limb if you do not come back and remove that thing."
And then her sword of darkness came down to cut his head.
Her face hardened as she turned to the monster. It was looking at her in what seemed like surprise. She smiled. "Well now, he's dead. I don't think you only want to kill one of us?"
The monster's answer was a roar. It raised its sword and brought it down swiftly. Kivara cursed and gestured, and a maw opened in front of her, expanding rapidly, flowing like inky darkness.
The maw was shaped like the mouth of a wolf monster, but it was abnormally large.
She used it as her shield as she jumped away, faster than she usually moved. She was using a technique. She blurred forward, a streak of dark. It wasn't even as if she was running—her figure simply slid on the ground with extreme speed.
Meanwhile, the sword cleaved the air and shattered her technique without resistance. The dark maw scattered into nothingness.
The monster turned, but with the technique Kivara was using, she was already far away. It opened its mouth and let out a howl that twisted the air.
Cold winds gathered and blew forward, a surging wave that swept the ground, kicking up a thunderstorm of stone and sand. The storm of sand destroyed anything in its way, from small boulders to big ones, and it was getting closer to Kivara.
Suddenly, she turned and clapped, activating her passive ability. Layers upon layers of illusory dark curtains appeared around her. And directly behind her, something that couldn't be seen clearly reached out and draped her with a black cloak.
The passive ability is called Veil of Void.
It is a defensive ability.
The storm of sand slammed into the illusory dark curtains with Kivara within and simply passed through her as if she were nothing. But the storm wasn't a single attack. It was a rolling wave of lashing debris carrying chunks of stone.
She would be dead if she dropped her passive ability.
But it was not something she could use for long. She reached out and drew her technique in the air. Suddenly, her body slid forward at an incredible speed, and she left the confines of the storm.
Straight into the path of the monster.
By this time, her Veil of Void was gone, and she smiled up at the monster. "We meet again."
The monster bellowed but didn't have time to do anything because the crown atop its head suddenly lifted and fell. The monster whirled to see a naked Riven on the ground, holding a crown too big for his body and limping from where he fell.
The monster was stunned, and before it could react, the crown suddenly leaped from Riven's hand and into the air sideways toward Kivara, who had disappeared from her position.
She was standing at the altar where the crown had been dragged, and she simply placed it atop the skull.
The monster glanced from Riven to Kivara.
The surprise was almost visible on its face.
The plan Riven came up with was the same as last time, just slightly different. He would be the bait and still be the one to take the crown.
Kivara's plan was to get the stone close to the crown. She threw it, and with her inhuman strength and eyes, it easily stuck on the monster's neck. So when it was busy fighting Kivara, Riven came back to life and took the crown.
And it was a success.
The monster wasn't having it and bellowed in anger. It turned toward Kivara, sword raised, but a howl came from the altar. The eyes of the skull came to life with green fire.
Kivara jumped away from the altar, but nothing happened. At least not to them.
The monster froze as if it had been hit by something, and then it collapsed. It was as if the strings holding it were suddenly cut. It fell to the ground, its body shaking as its bones clattered.
They felt no presence from it, but from the body, a green smoke rose up. The energy of the monster crawled to the surface. And it wasn't the only thing, something else glinted from it like the surface of a smooth rock.
Riven let out a relieved breath and, without care, flopped to the dry, hot ground, naked and all. "Ah! I thought I was going to die. What exactly is that monster? It is too powerful. Too strong for us, and well...!!"
Something hit him on the chest, and he yelped. It was a stone, and he turned his glare on Kivara. "What was that for?"
Kivara glared right back. "Three things. One, why are you naked? Cover that skinny body of yours. Secondly, why do you have such an absurd passive ability? Third, why did you let me know you have such an ability?
And the last, go absorb that monster's energy."
"That was four things," Riven pointed out. Then his face turned solemn. "Are you saying you are going to use it against me?"