Aiden exhaled slowly, his golden eyes locked onto the final gate.
The Eleventh Trial had tried to force him into a predetermined fate. It had offered him paths laid out before him—godhood, eternal wandering, or the unknown.
But he had rejected them all.
I don't follow paths.
I create them.
And now, only one obstacle remained.
The Twelfth Gate stood before him, unlike anything he had seen so far.
It was not made of stone, crystal, or divine light.
It was pure darkness.
A swirling, living void—a gate that led into nothingness.
Aiden narrowed his eyes.
No trial has been easy, but this… this feels different.
A voice rumbled from the abyss.
"You have climbed higher than any before you."
"You have defied fate, conquered yourself, and chosen your own destiny."
"But one question remains."
The dark gate pulsed.
"Are you strong enough to stand at the top?"
Aiden smirked.
"Let's find out."
He stepped forward.
And the moment his foot touched the threshold—
—𝘞𝘏𝘖𝘖𝘖𝘖𝘔—!
