The mist thickened around Kairo as he ascended the next spiraling path of broken platforms, each step echoing like a war drum across the void. The second bell tower loomed ahead, taller than the first, its obsidian walls etched with glowing sigils and cracks that leaked golden fire. But it wasn't the tower that made his heart race.
It was her.
The hooded girl had vanished into the mist, yet her presence lingered like the shadow of a dream. The way she watched him, calm and unreadable, stirred a thousand questions in his head.
> "Who is she?" he muttered, glancing back. "And why did she feel... familiar?"
He tightened the grip on his temporary blade, still humming with the residual power of the Fifth Fragment. He didn't have the luxury to hesitate.
Not here.
---
As he stepped closer to the second tower, the mist parted—and a new trial awaited.
A colosseum made of shattered marble floated just below the bell. Around it, statues of ancient warriors stood frozen mid-battle, towering and worn, but still radiating divine authority. The air turned heavy. Denser.
He felt it before he saw it.
A presence.
Dark. Ancient. Watching.
The center of the arena erupted in golden flame—and from it rose a figure made entirely of armor and fire. No face. No voice. Just a furnace of rage and judgment. Its chest bore the symbol of the gods.
The voice boomed—not from the creature, but the very air.
> "You've tasted power. But can you defy judgment?"
Kairo raised his blade.
> "Try me."
---
The creature moved like a falling star—blazing and brutal.
Kairo barely dodged the first strike, his feet sliding across marble as sparks rained around him. He countered with a sweeping slash, but the blade skidded across the creature's armor with no effect.
> "Too tough," he grunted.
He dodged again, channeling the Fourth Fragment—Agility. The world tilted. Time stretched.
He leaped into the air and came down with a strike aimed for the neck.
This time, his blade cut deeper.
The creature roared—fire erupting from its wound.
But it wasn't enough.
---
Kairo gritted his teeth and pressed his hand to the hilt.
> "Come on… more."
The Fifth Fragment pulsed again.
A second blade formed—this one darker. Sharper. Crackling with void energy.
He dual-wielded now—one hand light, one hand shadow.
He dove back into the fray.
---
The battle turned chaotic.
Every strike from the creature cracked the arena.
Every counter from Kairo chipped away at its divine armor.
But even as he fought, something gnawed at him.
The girl's eyes. Her calm expression. Her silence.
> Not your enemy…
Why had she said that?
---
The creature lunged forward with a molten spear.
Kairo dodged—and instead of attacking directly, he struck the ground.
A shockwave of energy erupted, destabilizing the platform and sending both him and the beast flying.
He caught himself midair using the Third Fragment—Windshift. He landed hard, but steady, sliding across the ruins. The creature wasn't as lucky—it crashed into a statue and shattered half of its body.
Now.
Kairo threw both blades forward, embedding them into the beast's core.
Then, calling on all five Fragments he'd unlocked, he let the energy surge from within.
Light. Shadow. Wind. Speed. Will.
The creature exploded in a storm of golden embers and fire.
The silence that followed was absolute.
---
The second bell tolled.
Kairo dropped to one knee, breathing hard.
This time, the bell's sound didn't just echo.
It spoke.
> "You are not yet worthy."
A second voice followed.
Softer. Feminine.
> "But you are close."
Kairo looked up—and the girl stood across the colosseum again, untouched by the heat or flames.
Her hood had fallen back now.
She had white hair that shimmered like moonlight and eyes the color of twilight—blue with flecks of silver.
She was young. Maybe his age. But ancient.
Timeless.
> "Who are you?" he asked again.
This time, she answered.
> "A guardian of what comes next."
> "Why are you watching me?"
> "Because the gods fear what you might become."
That froze him.
> "Fear me?"
She stepped forward.
> "They see you as a spark. Small. Flickering. But sparks… start infernos."
She placed her hand on the tower's surface.
It melted into a portal of gold.
> "The final bell awaits, Kairo. And beyond it—the truth."
> "Truth about what?"
> "You. The Fragments. The real reason you were chosen."
He stared at her, stunned.
> "And if I walk through?"
> "You'll never be the same again."
He hesitated.
Then took a breath.
And stepped through the portal.