The world had become colorless.
Time slowed, not by will but by force. Riven staggered back, steam rising from his skin. His heart thundered like war drums, but the second heartbeat—the alien one—was louder. Stronger. Each pulse made the world pulse with it.
Across the clearing, the crimson-robed Ascender stepped forward.
"You should've died like the others," he said, voice smooth, reverent. "But you're still breathing. That means it chose you."
Riven's vision warped again.
A chain sprouted from the Ascender's chest—pulsing, ancient, wrong. Black and red coils twisted through the air like living snakes, each link etched with runes that hissed when seen. And there were more. Chains connecting corpses to him, looping into the ground, stretching into the sky.
The man was feeding on their deaths.
"Wh-What are you…?" Riven gasped, dropping to a knee as his body burned from the inside.
The Ascender tilted his head. "You see them, don't you? The chains. That's rare."
He extended a hand. "Come, boy. Surrender the Fragment. It doesn't belong in the hands of a gutter rat."
"Kill him."
The voice again.
"He sees too much. Rip his chain out. Devour it."
Riven doubled over, veins glowing crimson beneath his skin. Clawed symbols spiraled over his arms. His dagger shattered in his grip, unable to withstand the energy coursing through him.
His reflection shimmered in a puddle beside a corpse.
Not human.
Eyes of ink. Horns of fractured bone. Wings like tattered banners made of chain and flame, phasing in and out of reality.
Riven screamed as the world bent.
[System Notification – ???] You have partially awakened the Asura Fragment.Core Trait Unlocked: [Eye That Devours]→ You now perceive the Chains of Origin.→ Warning: Your soul is unstable.→ Ascension pending… Host integrity: 12%.
Riven rose—not entirely himself anymore.
"Stay back," he warned, voice deeper, layered with something… older.
The Ascender smiled. "Or what? You'll burn yourself alive?"
Riven didn't answer. He moved.
Faster than thought. One moment standing—next, behind the man, chain wrapped around his throat.
It wasn't a weapon. It was an extension of Riven's will.
The Ascender coughed, surprise flashing across his face.
Riven snarled. "Let's see what happens when your chain snaps."
He pulled.
Chains screamed.
And reality cracked.
End of Chapter 2.