Rivera, a notorious assassin that has no scruples and is willing to do whatever his contractor wants, assuming they can pay his price. Originally wanted by the authorities of both Carnet and Mancea, now a lapdog to the Carnet Emperor. The man before Kayn had many high priority targets under his belt and was even the one who killed the phoenix whose body eventually became the Garments of the Shadow Phoenix.
Charlotte didn't like to talk about her past, but once while she was studying Kayn's core, she offhandedly mentioned her friend and Kayn eventually asked how she died. During a large-scale battle with Lich King Mitas several thousand years ago, Zillah the Shadow Phoenix was caught off guard after a short distance Shadow Walk spell and stabbed through the back of the throat by Rivera.
Charlotte noticed too late, and by the time she arrived, Rivera had already beheaded her for the second time. A Shadow Phoenix was only able to revive once, not that Rivera knew that, but when he noticed that she had started reverting to her original form instead of a humanoid one, he knew she was dead. He escaped with her phoenix heart, which powered a phoenix's massive regenerative abilities, just as Charlotte arrived at the scene.
Charlotte never forgave herself for being late to her friend's plight. Shadow Phoenix's were never known for direct confrontation and relied heavily on hit and run tactics. Zillah was relying on Charlotte if she got caught, but Charlotte was already keeping others safe with her barriers and fighting her own opponent. She had a hard enough time keeping track of Zillah as she moved across the battlefield, but she still blamed herself for not getting there in time regardless.
Kayn stared at Rivera who was floating at his own height in the air, a smug yet bored look adorning his face. Rivera was a dark elf, probably a few hundred thousand years old by this point and just like Charlotte has traveled all across Talgonoth.
Kayn finally opened his mouth to respond to Rivera who was thinking that he was controlled, "You know, those two trash 6th stagers Harmon and Nord thought that they could control me too. They learned that they couldn't the hard way. Actually, scratch that, it was quite easy to kill those two fools."
"You think to put me off balance by telling me of the deaths of the elders of my little society? Do you know who I am? I'm the Rivera. No matter how strong you are, I don't believe I can't kill you." Rivera responded with a chuckle.
"Rivera...?" It was only now that Kayn heard his name that he had an inkling of who he truly was. "Did you happen to kill a Shadow Phoenix some thousands of years ago?"
"Huh? You know about that one? That was one of my first contracts as a 6th stage. One of my proudest moments too! Who would have thought that a bottom feeder 6th stage could kill off a near peak phoenix! The glory I claimed from that kill still follows me to this day!" Rivera delightedly claimed the kill.
"My friend Charlotte has been looking for you for a long time you know. I bet your corpse will be a fine payment for keeping my little sister safe. Not to mention, it seems that the phoenix you killed still resents you. My armor is yearning for your blood." Kayn said as retrieved two of the throwing knives at his chest. He held one in reverse grip and the other normally, he intended to use these to kill this man.
"Your armor? Charlotte? Oooooh she must be that big titty healer bitch who was crying and wailing after she arrived at the scene. You know she chased me so long that even I thought I wouldn't get away. Fortunately, the battle started to turn in the undead's favor when she left so she had to give up and return to the forefront. Ahh thank you for reminding me of a good time! Hahaha!" Rivera's crazed laughter echoed out, but Kayn had one more question before he killed him.
"What about the phoenix heart you stole? I hear they are quite valuable, did you keep it for yourself or sell it?" Kayn inquired.
"Ah, that was part of the contract, so I had to give it away unfortunately. However, I was paid quite handsomely, so I won't complain. Any more questions or can I kill you now?" Rivera asked as he withdrew two long daggers and held them similarly to how Kayn was holding the throwing knives.
Not another word later, Kayn changed his mind and threw the daggers at Rivera at top speed, however, the veteran assassin merely deflected them off into the distance, not caring if they killed his underlings in the process. Kayn continued drawing and throwing the knives until his bandolier was completely empty and every knife was now stuck into a building or the earth.
Rivera, noticing that Kayn had stopped his attacks, moved at incredible speeds as he approached Kayn, but he felt something was off and began to slash his daggers all around his body. Kayn was surprised that Rivera had noticed his Mana Threads closing in as no one else had before, but who was Rivera? He was a man who had been at the top of the assassination craft for years now.
He was probably close enough to ascending that he could taste it on his tongue. That or he was ready to ascend, but hadn't pushed through that last little bit yet because his soul wasn't ready.
Kayn clicked his tongue as he recalled the throwing knives and drew them all once more, tossing them just into the air by his side with a Mana Thread threaded through the eyehole of each. He enhanced the Mana Threads with more mana to ensure their durability this time and began fighting Rivera with his version of Flying Daggers.
"HAHAHAHA NOW THIS IS MORE LIKE IT!" Rivera laughed as he deflected dagger and thread alike, weaving through the air like a ghost, gradually closing in on Kayn.
"Is this all you're made of Jester?!? Show me more!"
From just the opening of this battle, it was evident to Kayn that this was going to be his toughest opponent since reaching the power level he was at, but that didn't mean he needed to pull out all of the stops just yet.
Kayn protracted his wings from his back and began to shoot lightning bolts off with them as he prepared to use an ability that he only gained access to recently, one connected to his origins as a dragon that he couldn't use until his body evolved. He could finally activate his Dragon Eyes.
He wasn't skilled at using them and couldn't maintain it for long, but if used properly, would provide an opportune moment for him to strike his opponent down.
Kayn continued to attack with the Flying Daggers as other spells shot from his wings while his hands were controlling the Mana Threads and daggers. He rotated through element after element, even shooting a cannon of lava at Rivera, but the man would always deflect or avoid his attacks.
It was clear to Kayn that Rivera was a close-range melee fighter as he had only been trying to close the distance so far and hadn't yet launched an attack at Kayn, but his ability to close that distance was truly terrifying. The only reason Kayn wasn't afraid of this man was because he had ways to end this fight instantly, he only wanted the battle experience that this veteran had to offer.
"So, the rumors were true! You can use all of the elements! Fascinating! But if this is all you can do aside from those big flashy moves you use to destroy cities, you won't defeat me!" Rivera boasted as he continued hacking and slashing, getting closer and closer to Kayn with every movement.
The fight eventually became a melee brawl with Kayn wielding two of the throwing knives and supplementing with his wings when needed. Rivera was smiling like a madman as he rained attacks filled with the dark element down on Kayn, but little did he know that the smile of Jester was an accurate representation of the owner's face as well.
Kayn too was enjoying this battle as he was gaining and integrating this experience at a tremendous rate. He was able to use the insights and knowledge of the gods that he had been slowly incorporating into himself at a quicker level through high level combat.
The other assassins present knew that they shouldn't interfere in a battle between their leader and someone else, but they also knew that if somehow their leader lost, they would all die. The elders, all at the 6th stage, charged into the fight themselves, forcing Kayn to fend off attacks from multiple directions at once now.
Rivera was angry, but he didn't say anything. In fact, he had noticed that as this fight went on, the monster in front of him was getting better and better at evading his attacks at the last moment and targeting only his vitals. He didn't want to admit it, but he was worried about winning this fight by himself if it continued on like this.
Now though, the eight remaining elders of his assassination society had joined the fight. None of them were true head-on fighters and preferred to strike their targets before retreating, but it wasn't like they couldn't fight.
Kayn, who was now fending off attacks from every direction, laughed out loud and began to fight back with even more fervor. He had withdrawn the other knives again and was controlling them to attack the other 6th stage opponents while he was focused on Rivera.
Kayn was in true battle maniac mode and enjoying every bit of this fight as he hadn't struggled this much in a long time now. His guilt and anger over killing so many people were fading into the background as he focused on the assassins all around him. But unfortunately, this couldn't last forever. He needed to continue bringing down the barriers until he found that bastard emperor.
"Sorry boys, but playtime is over." Kayn said as he pulled his hood back just before crossing his arms in front of each other. Rivera thought that he was going to defend from his straight down attack with just his arms and smiled as he would finally gain the upper hand once Jester's arms were cut off.
Just as Rivera's long daggers were about to make contact with Jester's arms, he saw the draconic eyes peaking over the edge of the crossed forearms in front of him, and his movements faltered. His movements didn't halt for long, no more than a second, but that was long enough for the battle to come to a close.
Kayn had used the vambracers teleport skill to move a short distance, just behind Rivera, who he then skewered with his wings, lifting him above his head.
*Cough* "Not...yet..." Rivera coughed up a mouthful of blood, but before he could try to remove himself from the wing bones that were impaling him, his body was torn asunder and his blood rained down on the individual who performed the deed.
Kayn felt an odd sense of elation from Garments of the Shadow Phoenix as the blood of Rivera rained down on him. Kayn quickly stashed Rivera's two halves into the Void Loop before turning to the remaining members of the Black Hand Society.
He was no longer going to waste time and hold back. Thus, a true monster drenched in blood descended upon the Black Hand Society, wiping it from the face of Talgonoth shortly thereafter.