Silence fell. No one dared to speak.
The Observer, with his emotionless face and monotone voice, raised his hand toward something that hadn't been there before… a gate.
But it wasn't an ordinary gate.
It looked like a tear in the air itself, as if time had split open. Its edges shifted slowly, like gray smoke curling around nothingness. At its center: a dense darkness, showing no ground, no sky… only a pulsating blackness, like a sick heart.
The Observer said:
"The next trial… you will enter this void. Whoever emerges has either survived themselves—or been rejected by the darkness."
One trainee whispered, "But… we can't see anything! Is there something in there?"
He replied coldly, "There's more than you can imagine… if you're ready to see yourselves like never before."
The trainees exchanged glances. Some began whispering:
"What does he mean?" "A mirror? Just a psychological trick?"
Silence again. Heavy breaths. Confused gazes.
The Observer pointed toward the gray gate once more.
"In this void… no sword will help you. No shield."
Haru whispered, "What exactly is this…?"
Akari stared at the ground. She knew exactly what the Trial of Darkness meant.
Names were called. Trainees entered—and some returned crying, others silent like the dead.
The Observer stood silently on the opposite hill above the academy, gazing at the black dome covering the testing grounds. His face was blank, but his eyes watched the pain.
From afar, he saw students collapsing, trembling, screaming in silence, or falling to their knees as if suffocating inside their own minds. Some endured. Others exhaled their final breath of will.
He whispered to himself:
"…This is the only way."
(Flashback – days earlier, inside the Headmaster's office)
The Observer sat across the desk, while the Headmaster stood by the window, staring into the weary horizon.
Headmaster (softly):
"Are you sure you're ready to bear what will happen? This trial won't just break them… it might destroy them."
Observer (deliberately cold):
"I know. But we have no other choice."
Headmaster (turning to him):
"This isn't an ordinary test. We'll expose their deepest fears… their pasts… their buried emotions. Some won't return the same."
Observer:
"And that's the goal."
Headmaster (angrily, quietly):
"Have you forgotten what happened in the North? Those who lost control… turned into monsters. Humans without identity. Without mercy. They became—"
Observer (cutting him off):
"Ashin."
Silence.
Observer (continuing calmly):
"Anyone who can't control their power… who buries it, underestimates it, or hides it behind emotional walls… when they break, it will consume them. And then… they are reborn. As Ashin."
Headmaster:
"And so you want to force them to face their worst nightmares? Inside a test that strips every mask?"
Observer:
"Yes. If they can't survive the darkness within… they won't survive the darkness outside."
Headmaster (softly):
"We're raising warriors… not victims."
Observer (standing):
"No. We're raising the last survivors of a cursed world."
(Back to the present – the Observer gazes at the dome)
The wind whipped against his long coat, but he didn't blink. He exhaled slowly and said in a voice no one heard:
"Only those who survive themselves… deserve to survive this world."
Then it was the turn of:
"Evan Hazuro."
Evan looked up, deep in thought.
(Flashback – months ago)
Evan and Akari sat by the river, planning their escape from the organization's watchful eye.
Akari:
"If they find out we're from the Kaji clan, we'll be erased. We need a new name."
Evan paused. Then he said,
"Hazuro… my grandmother's name, on my mother's side. She lived in the shadows, loved being forgotten."
Akari:
"Hazuro… no one knows it. We'll make it official. It'll protect us."
(End flashback)
Evan stepped through the gate.
The moment he crossed the threshold, the air changed. Everything was dark. So dark, even his breath felt heavier. Each step he took sliced through the void—yet nothing changed. No walls. No ceiling. Just endless emptiness surrounding him.
Then… a small door appeared. Barely visible in the black.
But it glowed faintly—like a secret calling to him.
He approached. As he pushed it slightly open, light bloomed behind it, revealing a massive mirror shimmering in a strange way. It wasn't just a mirror.
Reflected within were six versions of himself—each one a manifestation of a dark side:
1. Anger: Red eyes, messy hair, a face twisted with rage.
2. Sorrow: Endless tears, clutching burnt photographs.
3. Lust: Twisted smile, half-lidded eyes, whispering disjointed words.
4. Pride: Wearing luxurious robes, laughing condescendingly.
5. Fear: Hiding in shadows, shaking uncontrollably.
6. Regret: Sitting slumped, whispering: "Why? Why didn't you save her?"
They surrounded Evan… and then they began.
Anger:
"When your father hit you, you dreamed of killing him. Remember? You said you'd burn him."
Lust:
"All those nights… looking at Akari, thinking things you're ashamed to say."
Sorrow:
"You left your brother to die alone… ran instead of fighting."
Pride:
"You act like a savior? You're just a shadow pretending to be a hero."
Fear:
"No one loves you… if they knew the truth, they'd run."
Regret:
"You forgot everyone who helped you… just to save yourself."
Evan stepped back, whispering,
"Stop… please stop…"
But they came closer.
Anger struck him. Lust whispered in Akari's voice. Sorrow screamed like a crying child. Fear cowered behind him, shouting, "They'll kill us! They'll kill us!" Regret tore images of his past. Pride laughed like a villain.
They weren't mere reflections. They were nightmares with his face, but burning eyes and twisted smiles.
Each one embodied a part of his shadow.
But then… a seventh version.
Far to the right. Standing still. Face obscured. Features blurred—like it hid something his mind couldn't comprehend. Even the wall behind it warped, as if its presence broke reality.
Evan approached, but with every step, his heart grew heavier, breath thinner.
"Don't come closer…"
"That one… isn't like the others."
A voice inside him—his voice, but older… deeper, ancient—whispered.
The others screamed, fought, clawed at his mind and memory. But he kept staring at the final version. The faceless one. The absent one.
And just as he reached for it—
It vanished.
No trace. As if it had never been there.
Evan collapsed to his knees.
"I… I… Who am I?"
Memories surged:
His mother's face as she was killed.
His father's trembling hand leaving him in the forest.
Akari's scream in a dream: "Don't leave me!"
His friend Leo's voice.
The hateful stares of people in his youth.
He raised his head slowly.
"I forgot who I was… because I wanted to survive."
"I thought power would save me from everything."
"But you… you are all me."
He stood, facing each version:
"I won't run anymore. I won't be ashamed of you… but I won't let you control me."
Anger:
"You'll grow weak without me!"
Evan:
"No… I'll use you. Not the other way around."
Lust:
"I'm a part of you."
Evan:
"But I'll never be your slave."
Fear:
"It'll hurt!"
Evan:
"Let it hurt. I won't hide."
He shouted:
"I am Evan Kaji. This is my body. This is my mind. And I will not hand it
to fear!"
The space trembled. The voices of the shadows faded.
The mirror shattered.
Evan stepped out… drenched in sweat, eyes filled with tears—but standing tall.
The Observer spoke quietly:
"He faced himself… and lived."
-
End of chapter