Building The First Adventurer Guild In Another World

Chapter 321: Black Moon

The battlefield, once a ruined city, had transformed into a vast expanse of shattered earth. Stone, dust, and debris lay strewn in every direction, the air still vibrating faintly from the recent clashes.

At the center of this chaos stood two figures facing each other without a hint of retreat. Their mere presence weighed heavily on the surroundings, as if the very space struggled to contain them.

Valeria held her blade slightly lowered at her side, breathing steadily. Her crimson hair floated gently in the disturbed air while her sharp gaze remained fixed on Riven. She observed every subtle movement and shift in his stance with calm intensity.

Opposite her stood Riven, sword tilted downward, his posture relaxed yet ready. A faint grin lingered on his face, but there was now a deeper intensity in his eyes, a seriousness that suggested he could no longer afford to hold back.

For several seconds, neither moved; silence enveloped them except for the soft whisper of wind passing through broken stone and settling dust.

Yet even in this stillness, tension mounted quietly until it felt like something was poised to snap at any moment. When it did come, it was sudden: Riven shifted his grip on his sword with an effortless motion into a reverse hold that seemed casual but carried an undeniable weight. His stance lowered slightly as he locked eyes with Valeria, focus sharper than before.

Valeria sensed this change immediately; her gaze narrowed as she adjusted her footing and leaned forward just enough to react instinctively. She knew whatever came next would be unlike their previous exchanges.

Riven exhaled slowly before speaking, his voice calm yet echoing oddly as if it belonged to another realm entirely:

"Black Star... Crescent Sever."

The moment those words escaped him, the air around him warped subtly as if reality itself had been pulled askew. Then he struck; his blade sliced through the air in a slow yet deliberate half-moon arc, simple at first glance but imbued with power.

As he moved, a trail of black starlight followed the edge of his sword, thin initially but growing brighter until it appeared as though night itself had been carved from reality.

Valeria’s eyes widened slightly at this movement and then everything changed.

The ruined battlefield vanished, the broken ground and dusty sky faded away like memories lost to time, replaced by an expansive dark void sprinkled with distant stars flickering softly against endless blackness.

Suspended within this strange space was Riven above her; his form outlined by that same black starlight while behind him loomed a massive dark half-moon glowing faintly as if it emitted its own light, a cold glow washing over everything below.

What unnerved Valeria further was that she found herself inverted beneath him, hanging upside down, as if gravity itself had shifted completely and direction became meaningless for a brief moment; even her mind struggled to grasp what was happening.

But that moment was all Riven needed.

His grin widened as he looked down at her, his sword already in motion again, this time not slow or controlled, but fast. It sliced through the strange space with a single, clean arc that carried a weight far heavier than anything before.

Black starlight trailed behind it, stretching outward in a wide arc that seemed to cut through the very fabric of that dark world.

Valeria’s expression shifted instantly; the calm in her eyes shattered for the first time as she sensed the danger of his attack. Her instincts screamed at her that this was not something she could simply deflect or evade, and without hesitation, she unleashed her power.

A burst of crimson energy erupted from her body, violent and sudden, a massive surge pushing against the dark space around her.

Her aura flared up in an instant, thick and heavy like a tide of blood rising from within, forcing its way into the surrounding void. The red energy clashed against the black starlight, creating a stark contrast that tore through the illusion.

Cracks formed in that strange space as her power fought back against reality. The dark half-moon above flickered slightly as everything began to unravel under pressure.

Then—

BOOOOOOOM!

A tremendous explosion erupted when their forces collided. The dark space shattered like glass; fragments of black starlight broke apart and dissolved into nothingness as reality snapped back into place.

The ruined battlefield returned in an instant, with the ground beneath them cracking further as shockwaves radiated outward, sending dust and debris flying once more.

Valeria was thrown several meters back, her boots dragging across the ground as she struggled to regain her balance with her sword planted firmly beside her.

Breathing heavily for the first time since the fight began, she noticed a visible wound on her body: just below her abdomen, where armor had cracked open to reveal a deep slash cutting into her flesh.

Blood seeped out slowly, staining the already damaged metal, not fatal but enough to show clearly that she hadn’t emerged from that exchange unscathed.

Riven landed lightly nearby, his blade still held in reverse grip. His expression remained calm yet satisfied as he took in Valeria’s injury; a low chuckle escaped his lips as he straightened slightly.

"So you can bleed," he said quietly, not mocking or loud but carrying an air of satisfaction that revealed he had been waiting for this moment to prove even someone like her could be hurt.

Valeria didn’t respond immediately; instead, she glanced briefly at her wound before meeting his gaze again.

Her expression returned to its usual calm demeanor but now held something colder and sharper beneath it. She tightened her grip on her sword as crimson energy flared around her once more, stronger this time and more focused, as if the injury had fueled rather than weakened her resolve.

The air between them shifted again.

Red and black energy surged simultaneously, with Riven’s dark starlight reemerging around his blade in delicate lines. Meanwhile, Valeria’s crimson aura intensified, radiating outward in waves that caused the ground beneath her to crack even more.

The two forces collided before they even moved, creating a visible distortion in the space between them, as if reality itself was being torn apart by their mere presence.

Neither of them took a step back. Neither of them showed any hesitation.