The Judgment of the Shadow

The battlefield lay in ruins, but the air still hummed with the shock of the titanic clash that had taken place.

Before Morvath, Rioshi stood his ground.

His gaze, as cold and distant as ever, reflected neither fear, nor anger, nor even triumph. He only moved when necessary, dodging with surgical precision, counterattacking with a brutal yet controlled force.

But even with the Evolis system, Morvath was formidable—a primordial being born from hatred and darkness. Rioshi knew this. He could not defeat him head-on—not yet.

So, he did what few would dare.

He absorbed the abilities of the enemy soldiers he had defeated: their endurance, their beastly aggression, their resistance to mana. Each of these traits was added to his system, analyzed, categorized, and assimilated.

With this constant adaptation, he began to match Morvath's power.
Each of Morvath's blows was countered.
Every magical attack was deflected, modified, and returned with renewed intensity.

The ground cracked beneath their strength.
The trees exploded into ash.
The sky itself seemed to darken with every strike.

The students, watching from a distance, stared wide-eyed.

"That's him..." whispered one.
"He's superhuman," another said, trembling.

Some were in awe.
Others… envious.

Among them, a few began to feel a strange admiration, even a desire to learn from the one they had once seen as a marginal figure with no future. They understood now... Rioshi was not just a survivor. He was a born hunter, forged in solitude and silence.

A few of the more perceptive ones swore inwardly to train under him, to walk that harsh and solitary path. They wanted to understand what he had endured. And they wanted to become, like him, stronger.

Meanwhile, at the top of Aerith's palace, the high-ranking officials watched the scene through a magical mirror suspended in mid-air. Their faces were grave, focused.

"He understands," one of them said. "He's using the heart of the system."

"Evolis is not merely a power... it's a tool of choice," replied Eltheria. "And this boy… he already knows how to bend fate to his will."

A murmur passed through the council chamber:

"He's not a hero like the others… he's a necessary anomaly."

And as the battle reached its peak, Rioshi, the silent hunter, struck again. An explosion echoed.
Even Morvath, the eternal conqueror, was forced to retreat for the first time in centuries.

Morvath, the Lord of Shadows, weakened, humiliated, pushed back, roared in fury. His already massive, terrifying form began to mutate under the weight of his rage. Black mist poured from his veins, his mana unleashed in overwhelming waves, warping the very sky itself.

"Enough playing, brat! YOU WANT TO SEE TRUE TERROR?!" he bellowed.

He then unleashed one of his most dangerous forms, an ancient aspect born from a pact with the primordial darkness. A monstrous figure with shadowy wings, fangs capable of breaking even magic, and every movement shaking the very fabric of reality around him.

But Rioshi, he was ready.

From the start, he had sensed that Morvath had not yet revealed all of his power.
And deep inside, he had hoped for it.
Because what he sought… was not just victory. It was the thrill of ascension, that moment when every fiber of his being had to adapt or perish.

So, he responded.

The Evolis system screamed in silence.
Unleashed statistics. A resonance with all of his assimilated abilities. Combinations he had never used before.
He would honor him.

And the battle... began.

A duel of titans, where two forces beyond scale were unleashed.
One born of eternal darkness, the other shaped by a bottomless void.
Mountains were shattered. Magic lost its rules. The very sky opened.

Each of Morvath's strikes was a cataclysm.
Each of Rioshi's counterattacks was a cold, calculated response, yet incredibly destructive.

And when, at last, after an inhumanly intense battle, Morvath fell to his knees, his body crumbling into nothingness, he looked up at Rioshi… and smiled.

"You... are only at the beginning... Others will come. Far stronger than I... And you, you… will have to choose who you want to become..."

Rioshi stared at him, his eyes calm, void of emotion. The silence stretched on.

Then, simply:

"Let them come."

And Morvath vanished into the dust… leaving behind a black, burning essence—pure and unstable.

Rioshi extended his hand. The Evolis system activated.

He assimilated 100% of the abilities of Morvath's soldiers.
And… 80% of Morvath's own power.

A wave of energy surged through him, vast, almost too intense… but he withstood it. He adapted. He grew.

But he knew.

This was just a taste.