Chapter 43
The world did not settle.
Not after the Nihil Daughter unraveled. Not after Nezutsu's hand bore the brand of balance. In fact, the air trembled more now — as if reality itself was nervous.
They camped in the ruins of a sunken observatory, its massive star-lenses cracked like ancient glass bones.
Kaelith stared into the sky through a broken dome.
"You know what this means, don't you?" she murmured.
"That I'm on every god's hit list?"
"No," she said. "That the Trial is waking."
Nezutsu turned toward her. "Trial of Flame and Mind?"
She nodded, slowly. Her tone had changed — no more sarcasm. No teasing smirks. This wasn't something they could laugh off.
"It's older than kingdoms. Older than magic. Before the gods left, they built the Trial to judge anomalies in the world. Beasts that burned too bright. Mages that challenged fate. And now... it's calling you."
"Can we ignore it?"
"Ignore it, and it comes to you."
That night, Nezutsu dreamed again.
But this time, it was not a memory.
In the Dream: The Door of All Ash
He stood in front of a giant obsidian gate floating in the sky, etched with burning runes and pulsing with a heartbeat — not his own.
It opened with a sound like thunder weeping.
Inside, a corridor of flame and whispers.
Words echoed down the halls, spoken in a dozen languages, none of them human.
And one figure stood at the end — tall, hooded, cloaked in layers of scrolls and candlelight.
"Flame-born," it said, "You carry the sin of will. You broke the thread. You must be measured."
Nezutsu raised his hands.
"I didn't ask to be this."
"None ever do."
The figure raised a staff of glass and silence.
"The Trial begins with three paths: Fire, Memory, and Mirror. Choose one. If you fail, the world will correct your existence. If you pass… perhaps you were meant to exist after all."
Back in the Waking World
Nezutsu gasped awake.
His chest burned with three glowing sigils: a flame, an eye, and a shard.
"You saw it, didn't you?" Kaelith whispered.
He nodded. "I have to choose."
"Everyone who enters the Trial chooses. But not everyone comes out… the same."
Just then, the sky shattered.
A huge circular glyph appeared above them, cast in blue fire and humming with ancient chants.
Three floating stone doors formed from light.
And from them, three messengers stepped forward.
Each in human form. Each wearing a mask with one eye.
The center one bowed.
"Ashless Flame," it said. "The Archive has sanctioned your reckoning. You are summoned to the Threefold Trial. Refusal will result in erasure."
Kaelith tried to step forward, but a barrier of echoing light stopped her.
"Only he may pass," the messenger said.
Nezutsu looked at her.
"Then don't wait for me. If I don't come back—"
"You're coming back," Kaelith cut in. "Because you haven't even kissed me yet."
He blinked. "Wait, what?"
"Exactly. That's how I know this story's not over."
And she winked, just as the Trial took him.
The Trial of Fire: Memory Burns
Nezutsu landed in a realm of burning books.
No floor. No ceiling. Just towers of ash and scrolls floating in endless flame.
"What is this?"
"Your first test," a voice said — one that sounded exactly like his own. A second Nezutsu appeared, dressed in white robes and smiling cruelly.
"The Trial of Fire is about intent. Why do you resist the Flame? What are you afraid to become?"
Flame-Nezutsu raised his hand, and a burning mirror formed.
Inside it, Nezutsu saw dozens of versions of himself — some heroes, some tyrants, some gods, some monsters.
"Choose which one you are," the flame-being whispered.
"Or they'll all be chosen for you."
Subplot Twist: The Archive's Betrayal
Meanwhile, back in the physical world…
Kaelith wasn't alone.
The Prism Watchers arrived — robed figures made of threads of light, each carrying memory-lanterns. They offered Kaelith protection.
But the moment she stepped into their circle—
Her memories began to twist.
Images of Nezutsu — rewritten.
Instead of her ally, he became a tyrant in the visions.
Instead of a friend, a curse.
"You lie," she growled. "I know what's real."
The Prism Watchers whispered as one:
"What you know is what we choose to preserve. The Archive is not your friend."
And Kaelith realized...
The Archive — the force that monitored time and stories — wasn't just watching.
It was rewriting.
: The Choice of Fire
Inside the burning mirror, Nezutsu stared at the flickering versions of himself.
They whispered.
They begged.
They offered power.
But instead of choosing one…
He shattered the mirror with a burst of violet-white fire.
"I don't want your paths," he shouted. "I'll make my own."
The fire shook.
The trial hall cracked.
And a fourth path opened — one that was not meant to exist.
A shadowed door bearing a single symbol:
"Δ" — the Delta Glyph — representing Change That Shouldn't Be.
And as he stepped through it...
The masked Judges screamed.
Because Nezutsu wasn't being tested anymore.
He was rewriting the Trial itself.
[TO BE CONTINUED...]