Midterm Trials at Argent Academy weren't just exams.
They were divine.
Each student stood before the Soul Crucible—an artifact blessed by all twelve gods. It read your essence and showed your fate.
When it was Liss's turn… the Crucible didn't glow.
It cracked.
Then shattered.
"Impossible," the headmistress gasped.
"Even demons register. Even ghosts. But she—"
From the broken shards, a new light bloomed.
Black, violet, and silver.
The Crucible tried to project her fate—
But the vision it showed was blank.
No future.
No past.
Just… her.
And behind her?
Ling Kushi.
"She's his jailer," the headmistress whispered.
"She's the cage made flesh."
Liss looked back over her shoulder.
Her friends were watching.
Naia, arms blazing with fire, ready to burn the world for her.
Korrin, already muttering a protection charm.
Elyse, hands trembling.
And Thessaly—eyes locked with hers.
Liss smiled.
"Guess I failed."
And the ground split beneath her.