He stepped forward, passing through the curtain of the waterfall—strangely, not a single drop dampened his body. As if in this place, the physical form was not the core of the trial; it was the soul, clear enough to be worth testing.
Beyond it, a vast circular chamber opened up. Perhaps seventy meters across, yet the silence made it feel boundless.
The air changed. Heavier. Denser—each breath carrying with it specks of dust that seemed to have waited for centuries to be inhaled.
The silence here was not mere quiet. It had shape. It had weight. It had age.
Like a mute inheritance, storing something never spoken aloud: 'memories… resentment… judgment… or a presence waiting to be judged.'
Kael stood at the threshold of the chamber. His gaze swept slowly, taking in every detail.
The ceiling arched high above, formed of ashen stone, half-collapsed and veiled in ancient roots that stretched down through the cracks. From somewhere unseen, faint light seeped in from above, falling in thin, dust-laden shafts that brushed the floor like the fingers of time.
At the center, a massive circle was engraved into the floor—like the petals of a colossal flower in full bloom. From its core, carved lines spread outward, forming the same symbol as the glyphs in the corridor before—only here, far more intricate. More… alive.
At the nine and three o'clock positions, curtains of water fell from the ceiling, each cascading over a stone knight standing directly beneath. The water split at the crowns of their heads, flowing to either side, creating the illusion of truth and falsehood being divided apart.
The knights were frozen by time, history rendered silent. Their swords were raised high—a stone-bound oath to uphold the law, and a warning that any judgment passed within this chamber was absolute.
"This room…" Kael whispered, his voice nearly swallowed by the echo.
He lowered his head slightly, breathing in the oppressive air pressing against his chest.
"This isn't just a hidden chamber. It's… a vault. Or… an altar. An interstitial space—between something that has already died, and something not yet worthy of being born."
Then his gaze lifted.
From the twelve o'clock position, another veil of water descended, guarded by two stone angels. They stood on either side—tall, graceful, and yet terrifying.
Their entire forms were wrapped in stone robes, faces hidden beneath long hoods. Their wings were folded tightly, as if unwilling to fly. Or… restraining freedom itself.
Both extended their hands forward in a gesture of prayer. In the right palm of one statue, a blinding white light glowed softly—warm, yet untouchable. In the left hand of the other, a dense black radiance pulsed faintly, like embers from a dead star—cold, yet calling to any soul bold enough to behold it.
Kael advanced slowly, as though every step bound him more deeply to the chamber. His eyes did not blink, tracing every detail before him.
"I… don't understand…" he murmured, his breath thin, nearly consumed by the silence.
Anyone would be unsettled by a place long dead, yet still pulsing within the flow of time—as if it refused to be truly forgotten.
"Two lights in their hands?" His stare sharpened as he continued forward, stopping at the exact center of the engraved circle. "What do they mean?"
Those lights were not mere illumination—they throbbed, like living runes responding to his presence.
The closer he drew, the more both radiances began to rotate, forming spiraling glyphs in the air. Their motion was slow, yet each turn carried a sensation… like the heartbeat of an ancient machine, forced to remain alive.
"White and black… a truth that pierces, standing beside a darkness that devours all?" he whispered, his eyes closing for a brief moment.
A cold thought slid through his mind.
Don't tell me… this place exists only to make me choose.
He shook his head slightly. "No… this isn't simply light and dark."
His breath left him in a short, sharp exhale. "Two paths… and neither of them reveals its true intent."
He closed his eyes again—longer this time, trying to listen. Not to sound, but to vibration. A silent form of communication creeping through the air, through the stone, through unseen pulses.
This isn't about right or wrong.
It's about something far deeper… something I can't even comprehend yet, he thought.
Then another realization struck him.
And also…
He turned sharply.
The massive stone gate he had passed through earlier was now slowly closing.
GRUUUUHHHHHNNNKKHHH—
Ancient stone shifted, each grinding scrape stirring the air with a low, heavy note, like a mountain changing its own position. From the narrowing gap, dust fell in a thin rain. Small pebbles bounced across the floor—trrt… trrt…—tiny sounds nearly swallowed by the rumble.
DUUUGGHHHMM!
The final impact slammed into the floor, its vibration crawling straight into the bone. The heavy echo ricocheted across the dome before sinking deep into the chamber… like a colossal mouth swallowing Kael's voice and sealing it inside.
"As I thought…" he whispered, his tone calm, yet cold. "I'm locked in."
He lowered his head slightly, the light in his eyes dimming. "Now I understand how they felt… those who suffered, who wanted nothing more than to escape this place."
Moments later, Kael frowned, weighing the situation in silence.
"This area… isn't sealed by a mechanism alone," he murmured. "It's sealed by a decision too, isn't it?"
In an instant, his expression shifted. Not fear. Not unease. Instead, a thin smile crept across his face.
"Not bad… I like your style."
He lifted his chin, his gaze reflecting a resolve that could not be broken.
"After all, I've always liked stories with multiple choices… and challenges."
Even as the pressure of the chamber pierced into his very core—the faint vibrations in the air gnawing at his awareness, trying to bind him within an illusion—Kael stood tall. Unshaken.
He knew this was no ordinary trial. Not a simple riddle or a straightforward question. This was a summons—a silent tribunal in a space devoid of mercy, where sinners were judged by unseen hellfire.
"So that's how it is," he said. "This is far beyond the word 'trial.'"
His lips curved into a smile that was anything but ordinary—the smile of someone who had stared death in the face, and dared it to blink first.
"A trial of choice… life or death. Or something in between."
Rather than yielding to the pressure, Kael stepped forward. "Well then," he said aloud, "if you want to know which way I'll walk… let's begin this game."
His eyes burned. "Toward the light? To sink into darkness? Both? Or… the path beyond all of that—the one that refuses to be either?"
He looked once more at the two angel statues. There was a faint mockery in his eyes, as if belittling a test he did not yet fully understand. Because he knew… there had been a time when he faced trials far worse than this, and still survived.
Kael stretched out both arms—raised slightly, his voice drifting through the air like an open challenge.
"Very well. I'll do it gladly. If you've been waiting for someone… then that someone is me." He lifted his face; the blue light from the floor sharpened in his eyes like a blade.
Then he continued, firm and unwavering. "And I… will not choose blindly. If you intend to trap me? Fine. I'll rise one level above this game. Understand it, or break it. Even if I fail—I will not submit."
He took a step back, his smile widening…
Then—
The world roared.
GRUUUUMMMHHHHHH—
The deep sound rolled up from the earth's belly, shattering the silence like the howl of a giant imprisoned for centuries, forcing floor and air to tremble in a single, suffocating breath.
Dust poured from the ceiling, dancing through the air before settling on his shoulders.
They heard his defiance.
They awakened.
They were furious.
The tremor shook the floor, rebounding through the stone walls—like the earth itself trying to remember an ancient death. Cracks split open at the crowns of the towering statues, crawling downward like old wounds forced open once more.
—KRAAAK!
The sound was like bone snapping in the silence. An instant later, the tops of both statues collapsed, a rain of stone fragments crashing onto the floor like merciless punishment. They did not merely fall—they were erased from history.
—BRUGHH!
Kael jerked as a blast of air and debris hurled him backward. His body hit the dust-covered floor, yet his gaze remained locked… on the two angel statues.
They were still standing.
Still holding the two lights in their palms.
And in that very moment—something utterly unexpected happened.
The two angel statues moved, raising their hands toward the heavens—as if releasing those lights… letting them go, or allowing them to rise as the final form of destruction.
The runes broke free—floating upward, radiating a brilliance that sliced through the darkness. They rose, and kept rising, like newborn stars ignited amid the ruins.
And then—
Two realities that should never have coexisted collided—repelling one another, tearing unseen fractures through the air itself.
From those fissures, a cursed wind seeped out. Thin. Cold. Then it grew stronger, stirring the dust on the floor into a pale mist that drifted and coiled.
The dust did not fall back down—instead, it danced in unnatural circles, as if every grain carried a whisper of death. Forcing anyone caught within to witness that greater will without blinking.
The ancient stone walls groaned low, like the deep inhalation of a colossal being. The floor trembled—not from collapse, but from an invisible pulse spreading outward from the chamber's center.
The vortex of wind accelerated, dragging dust, fine sand, even brief sparks of light torn from cracks in the ground. Hissing and muted roars intertwined, filling every corner of the dome.
The air grew heavy. An unseen pressure crushed against Kael's chest, shortening his breath. And within the pull of that vortex—the two lights climbing toward the sky shone even brighter, as if calling for something… or someone.
Kael's eyes froze.
"Ahh… so this is the answer."
His heart pounded—not from fear, but from sheer astonishment.
"I never imagined those statues could move."
He ground his teeth. "So this is real. They can hear me. That's… unexpected."
"Whatever happens next… I'll face it without fear!"
The world seemed to hold its breath with him—then reassert its dominion. Tremors shook the floor, dust cascaded from the ceiling, and the air filled with a low resonance that struck his chest like an unseen wave.
Kael lowered his head, jaw locked tight. "And those two lights—"
He forced himself upright. His knees felt heavy, but his resolve was heavier still.
And amid the chaos of falling stone… the voice arrived.
Deep. Heavy. Echoing from every direction at once—as though the air itself were speaking, each word piercing straight into Kael's marrow.
A figure emerged, merging with the twisting vortex of wind. A pair of sharp red eyes fixed upon him—a gaze that oppressed him, as if weighing the worth of his existence.
"Defiant one…!"
"Your existence… is still far too insignificant to unseal what has been bound."
"Your presence… is not our will."
"You—"
"—are a being who does not understand the law of sacrifice. And without that law… there is no legacy that can be redeemed."
"What?!" Kael jolted. He hadn't expected any entity to speak to him directly.
The voice—female. But not an ordinary woman's. There was command within it; cold, exalted… and beneath it, something akin to emotion. The kind of emotion long forgotten by ordinary humanity.
"Kael Vieron."
Kael fell silent. Not out of fear, but pure shock—that someone knew his name. A name that should have been buried alongside his past.
She… knows my name?
"There is nothing we do not know. Even if the Twelve Star Wardens erased your history… your existence remains undeniable. You… are an anomaly who should never have set foot in our world."
"By the authority of the Six Paths Imperatrix… I possess the right to judge you—and to pass sentence upon every decision you make."
The tone was absolute, as if the name Kael Vieron had been carved into the walls of reality itself.
So… this is the trial.
Now I understand why that woman—the one who guided me before—sent me here.
To unseal what has been locked away, is it?
At the very least… I hope she isn't one of them.
"You have returned from your slumbering grave, bearing a name long buried by time. But tell me—does your heart still have the strength to hear the truth you once rejected? The suffering you abandoned?"
Kael narrowed his eyes, staring straight into the two golden eyes watching him. His left hand clenched, his feet bracing firmly against the floor. Slowly, he took three steps forward, then spoke:
"What do you mean? I don't understand a single thing you're talking about." His voice was flat, yet heavy. As he walked, he brushed the dust from his clothes.
"Lies will condemn you!"
"Insolence!"
"You stand amid the shadows of your legacy. And you come as an intruder? Or as an heir…? Kael Vieron!"
Kael lifted his face, his gaze now grave and focused. In that moment, he realized—
The being speaking to him didn't merely know who he was…
She might know everything.
***