Stepping through the golden portal was like falling into the sun.
Kairo's body jerked, weightless, surrounded by searing light that didn't burn, but changed him. He couldn't feel his feet or his hands—just the sensation of something unraveling and being rebuilt at the same time.
Then, suddenly—silence.
He landed softly on marble, surrounded by floating pillars and rivers of starlight. The final bell tower stood in the center of it all, suspended in a dome of twilight sky. Stars moved above him, not in constellations—but in patterns that pulsed and twisted like living things.
> "This place… it's not part of the mortal realm," Kairo whispered.
The hooded girl stepped beside him again, her expression unreadable, but her tone calm.
> "Welcome to the Convergence. The place where gods fall... and mortals rise."
---
The ground beneath his feet thrummed with energy, and he felt the Fragments within him react—awakening, aligning, like pieces of a puzzle snapping into place.
> "What is this place really?"
She turned to him, and for the first time, her voice lost its calm.
> "It's where they forged the first Ascenders. Where the gods decided who would rise… and who would be forgotten."
A vision flickered in the air—ancient battles, towers crumbling, people exploding with divine energy. The gods didn't just bless heroes.
They used them.
And when those heroes grew too strong, they were erased.
Kairo felt a chill crawl down his spine.
> "So this… trial… it's just another way to control power."
> "Yes. But you… you're breaking the pattern."
---
The doors of the final bell tower opened without a sound. Inside, a massive flame floated at its center—black and gold, crackling with symbols that shifted every second.
Kairo stepped inside, the flame reflecting in his eyes.
> "What is this flame?"
> "The Source," she replied. "The raw essence of the gods. If you touch it… you'll see everything. Who you really are. Why they fear you. But if you're not ready… it will burn away everything you think you are."
He looked back at her.
> "And if I am ready?"
> "Then you'll become something the gods cannot control."
> "Something they can't kill?"
She didn't answer. She just nodded.
---
Kairo approached the flame slowly, every step echoing louder than the last.
He remembered his old life.
The bullying.
The laughter when he failed his first Awakening.
The pain of always being less than average.
> "They said I was F-rank trash."
> "They were wrong."
He reached out his hand—
And plunged it into the flame.
---
The pain hit instantly.
Not physical. Existential.
His memories tore apart. His name. His thoughts. His dreams. All laid bare.
He saw flashes—
Himself standing in ruins, gods kneeling before him.
Himself holding a blade made of starlight, drenched in divine blood.
A voice roared through him—not his own, not human.
> "YOU ARE THE FRACTURE."
> "YOU WERE NOT CHOSEN. YOU WERE CREATED."
> "TO END US."
---
The flame faded.
Kairo fell to his knees, gasping.
The girl caught him before he hit the ground.
He looked up at her, eyes wide.
> "What… what did I just see?"
> "Truth."
> "I was created… to kill the gods?"
> "You are the last Fracture. The gods broke the cycle long ago by stealing pieces of their own power. But the universe fought back. It created you."
His mind reeled.
> "So… I'm a weapon?"
> "No," she said gently. "You're a choice. The gods fear you because they cannot control you. They don't know what path you'll take."
He stood, the fire still burning faintly in his chest.
His eyes glowed now—silver and gold.
> "Then let them fear me."
---
Suddenly, the tower shook.
A blinding light exploded above—the sky tearing open.
> "They've found you," the girl said. "You must leave now."
> "What about you?"
> "My part ends here. Yours begins there."
She pointed at the rip in the sky. Beyond it—Kairo could see a city under siege, flames rising, monsters pouring in.
> "That's the real world, isn't it?"
> "Yes. And it needs you now more than ever."
---
Kairo turned back one last time.
> "What's your name?"
> "Selari."
> "Will I see you again?"
> "Only if you survive."
With a deep breath, Kairo stepped through the rift—into war, into fate, and into the next phase of ascension.