Chapter 202: Attachment Is A Weakness

BOOM!

An earth shattering sound echoed like a clash of weapons; it resonated as if the very sky were collapsing.

Valeria’s blade had already descended, aimed with surgical precision at Riven’s throat. But just before steel could meet flesh, his hand moved.

It wasn’t fast in the usual sense; it simply appeared along the path of her strike. His fingers, encased in a rune-etched metallic glove, clamped down around her sword with a force that twisted the air and shattered the ground beneath them.

The impact sent ripples outward in concentric waves, a monstrous shock front rolling across the ruined battlefield and beyond, pulverizing distant ridges and sending clouds of dust roaring into the sky like a volcanic eruption.

The earth caved beneath their feet, stone compressing and exploding simultaneously. When the pressure finally stabilized, a crater hundreds of meters wide had formed, its edges jagged and molten.

Valeria’s eyes blazed blood-red, her aura roaring like a contained storm beneath her skin. Yet Riven stood unmoved, relaxed posture with one hand still in his pocket while the other held her blade at bay.

The metallic glove hummed faintly, runes pulsing in response to the pressure from her weapon. For a heartbeat, they stared at each other, two forces colliding at a level where ordinary warriors would have already been erased.

Then they moved no warning, no buildup.

The air detonated. Their figures vanished and reappeared dozens of meters apart in an instant, space torn open by their exchange.

Valeria’s sword swept forward in an arc that didn’t just cut air, it split the land itself. A ravine tore through the battlefield as stone sheared apart as if reality had been sliced open; darkness pooled within it while her killing intent lingered like a living presence.

Riven stepped through her attack rather than away from it, pivoting with impossible ease. His gloved fist snapped forward into her guard, not landing on her body but striking flat against her blade. The collision generated a shockwave violent enough to shatter an entire hill behind her.

Stone disintegrated into debris that screamed through the air like projectiles, each fragment capable of killing lesser warriors outright.

They separated again; distance became meaningless. Valeria shot forward with red light trailing behind her like a comet. Her movements were precise, every step calculated and each swing layered with intent but Riven met her with unwavering composure.

His movements lacked flourish or visible strain; every counter he delivered carried terrifying weight. He blocked, redirected, and retaliated seamlessly, as if this battlefield were merely a controlled environment where she was subject to careful observation.

Steel met rune-forged metal.

The impact cracked the sky.

BOOM!

The collision obliterated the remnants of a nearby mountain. Its peak fractured, crumbled, and then collapsed inward, cascading into dust and shattered stone that fell like ash. Below, the valley split open as its floor buckled under immense pressure, fissures tearing outward in jagged lines that swallowed entire stretches of forest.

They didn’t slow down. Valeria pivoted mid-motion, her sword reversing direction with such speed that her arm became a blur of red light. Riven tilted his head just enough for the blade to skim past his cheek and countered with a palm strike that detonated the air between them.

The blast sent her skidding backward across the ground, her boots carving trenches through stone. Instead of resisting the momentum, she launched herself upward in a spiraling ascent before diving down again like a meteor.

Her blade struck. The ground shattered beneath it. A valley formed in its wake. Riven was already moving, his body flickering between positions as each step tore open the terrain beneath him. He retaliated with a sweeping kick that cracked the earth like glass under a hammer’s blow, sending ripples through the land that uprooted entire sections of forest miles away.

They clashed repeatedly, their combat rhythm escalating into something catastrophic. Each collision unleashed destruction on an incomprehensible scale, mountains reduced to rubble, plains split apart, ancient trees vaporized by stray shockwaves.

The air screamed under the strain of their movements; the atmosphere visibly warped with each exchange. This was no longer merely a battle between warriors, it had become calamity.

And yet… neither had drawn upon their Law.

This was raw and unfiltered combat, experience against instinct. Riven maintained his composure even amidst chaos; his eyes were sharp and movements efficient as he analyzed every shift in Valeria’s stance and fluctuations in her aura.

Valeria burned with fury; her relentless attacks created an almost suffocating presence. Her killing intent radiated so intensely that even the land seemed to recoil from her.

Their figures blurred into streaks of red and silver, vanishing and reappearing across the battlefield as they struck from ground to sky and back again, their clashes echoing like thunder throughout the region.

Entire hills crumbled beneath their blows; during one exchange, Valeria’s downward strike cleaved a mountain cleanly in half, the two halves sliding apart before disintegrating into debris.

Riven chuckled softly, even mid-combat.

Even as her blade screamed toward his chest. This time he caught her strike with both hands; runes on his glove blazed as they absorbed the impact before he twisted to redirect her momentum. Valeria was hurled sideways into towering rock formations that shattered around her like brittle glass.

She emerged instantly, unharmed and her aura surged higher.

For the first time, Riven’s eyes narrowed.

“So,” he said calmly over the chaos, “you’ve adapted faster than I expected.”

Valeria didn’t respond. Instead, she moved.The ground erupted beneath her as she launched forward, appearing directly in front of him with her sword thrust out, aiming to end the fight in one decisive motion.

Riven sidestepped, countering with a strike that landed squarely on her shoulder. The impact sent her skidding across the battlefield, carving a trench through the earth that stretched for hundreds of meters.

Yet she rose instantly, breathing steadily and eyes ablaze. They circled each other now, surrounded by devastation that extended for miles, a wasteland shaped entirely by their clash.

Two 6-Star Grandmaster Knights: one newly ascended and the other seasoned by years of battle. Their mere presence was enough to intimidate ordinary warriors, yet neither showed any signs of yielding.

Riven adjusted his glove slightly, studying her with a hint of satisfaction. “You’re stronger than I expected,” he admitted. “And sharper too. The time you spent away has refined you.”

Valeria tightened her grip around her sword. “Stop talking.”

With that, she surged forward again, the air exploding behind her as she closed the distance between them. Their weapons collided mid-strike, unleashing a shockwave that tore through the landscape and flattened everything in a wide radius, resembling the aftermath of a natural disaster.

Their movements intensified, faster and more violent with each exchange. A punch from Riven reduced a cliffside to dust.

A slash from Valeria carved a canyon so deep its bottom vanished into shadow. The killing intent lingering within that scar made the air vibrate around it, a silent warning that no ordinary warrior would survive approaching it.

They fought without pause or fatigue, their bodies moving at such speeds they became streaks of light; their attacks blurred into an unending storm of impact and destruction. Dust and mana residue darkened the sky above them while lightning flickered amidst their chaotic presence.

Yet Riven smiled even then, as if unfazed by the world trembling beneath them. He stepped back slightly to deflect another strike and regarded her with a calm, almost reflective gaze.

“You’ve come far,” he said quietly. “Farther than anyone expected.”

Valeria lunged again, her blade flashing toward his throat. He blocked effortlessly but then spoke again, his tone softer now, almost conversational.

“You should be praying,” he said gently, “that the little girl you took in… is still alive.”

Those words cut deeper than any blade could have done. Valeria froze; her aura flickered as realization washed over her like ice water. For just an instant, it felt like time stopped, the chaos around them suspended in this moment of understanding.

“…What?” she muttered.

Riven’s smile returned, subtle yet cruel. “You really thought this was just about you? About this fight? About your little rebellion?”

He stepped back casually, hands relaxed at his sides. “Every move has consequences,” he continued softly. “Every attachment… is a weakness.”

Valeria’s breathing quickened, and her heart pounded against her ribs as her mind raced.

“Mina…”

The name slipped from her lips like a desperate plea. In that moment, the fury that had been burning inside her transformed, shifting into something colder, sharper, and infinitely more dangerous. The battlefield seemed to tremble around her.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep