Chapter 54 – Crown vs. Crown: Monarchs Collide!

The wind howled across the broken plains of the Voidscar Expanse.

Ren stood at the edge of a massive crater, the earth fractured by ancient conflict. His cloak fluttered behind him, Void energy rippling through the air.

Aelira and Kael stood beside him, tense. Before them, the land twisted into impossible angles—space itself torn by the presence of something… wrong.

And then—

A ripple.

A shadow peeled from the rift.

And Ryze stepped out.

Cloaked in darkness, obsidian armor etched with runes of dominion, and those eyes—like dying suns. He walked with a calm, terrifying authority, as if every inch of the world already belonged to him.

Ren’s hand gripped the Voidblade. “Ryze.”

Ryze tilted his head. “So the new Monarch stands before me. Smaller than I expected.”

Ren’s aura exploded around him. “And you’re more rotten than history remembers.”

Ryze raised a hand—and the Abyss responded.

Behind him, legions emerged. Not monsters… but former Hunters. Twisted. Changed. Corrupted. Servants of the Fallen Monarch.

Kael swore. “That’s the Vanguard… Nyx’s elite. They should be—”

“Dead?” Ryze smiled. “No. Reborn.”

Ren stepped forward, each footfall pulsing with Void.

“This ends here.”

Ryze’s crown materialized, fragments of starlight and darkness swirling around it.

“You're right,” Ryze said. “One Monarch too many.”

[System Alert: Monarch Duel Initiated.] [Ren Kisaragi vs. Ryze, The Fallen.]

Void clashed with Abyss in a cataclysm of force.

Ren moved first, striking with a whirlwind slash that shattered the air. Ryze blocked it bare-handed—his gauntlet cracking from the impact. The land beneath them crumbled as shockwaves rippled outward.

They fought like titans—Ren’s style fluid, ruthless; Ryze’s ancient and unbreakable.

Then—boom!

Ryze struck the ground, a sigil forming.

“Fall, pretender.”

Darkness surged up like a tidal wave.

Ren stood his ground—channeling the Void Monarch System to its brink.

“Not today.”

Their energies collided—light and dark, past and present, truth and betrayal. A battle not just of power, but of ideals.

Far above, unseen, something watched.

A tear in reality flickered.

And from it, a presence stirred.

[Warning: Third Monarch Signature Detected.]

Next: Chapter 55 – The Lost Monarch Awakens