The flame-warped arena twisted again as the echoes charged.
Kazuki leapt back just in time to dodge a radiant arc of golden mana from Arrogant Kazuki, whose polished armor practically gleamed with self-importance.
"You're embarrassing," the echo sneered. "Falling over, stuttering spells, relying on a slime to do your work? You disgrace the mantle of Hero."
"Wow," Kazuki muttered, side-stepping. "I annoy even myself."
Aurelis had already engaged Dark Aurelis, steel flashing against obsidian blade. The clang of mana-infused steel rang like thunder. Their footwork was mirrored—identical, yet emotionally worlds apart.
"You act strong," Dark Aurelis growled, "but you keep hesitating. You care. That will get you killed."
"No," Aurelis snapped back, blocking with a flourish. "That's what makes me strong."
Meanwhile, Broken Kazuki lurched forward, whispering words to invisible ghosts. "They're gone because you laughed. Because you played the fool…"
Kazuki backed away, unnerved.
"Dude. I get it, okay? I've had nightmares like you. But I'm still here."
"And I'm not," the broken echo murmured.
Then came the worst one: Hollow Kazuki, surrounded by perfect, lifeless versions of his companions. Their smiles were wrong. Smile the slime had no glimmer. The wolf stared blankly. The eagle sat still like a stuffed trophy. The cobra hissed without venom.
"No more surprises. No more pain," Hollow Kazuki intoned. "If everything is predictable, no one gets hurt."
"But if nothing surprises you… then what's the point?" Kazuki shouted, heart pounding.
He barely dodged a perfect spellstrike aimed at his chest. Hollow Kazuki moved like a machine, without hesitation or flair. It was terrifying.
"Too clean," Kazuki muttered. "Too sharp. Too… not me."
Suddenly, a blazing whip of dark mana wrapped around his arm—Broken Kazuki had seized him. At the same time, Arrogant Kazuki closed in, sword poised.
"This is how you die," they both said in perfect, bone-chilling unison.
"Smile!" Kazuki yelled. "Now would be a good time to break literally everything!"
From nowhere, a cheerful blorp echoed. The floor wobbled. The arena cracked.
Smile popped out of Kazuki's cloak like a jack-in-the-box, vibrating with pure rule-breaking glee.
Then—without warning—Smile split into dozens of smaller slimes and charged each echo companion with chaotic glee.
Hollow Kazuki faltered. "That's… not in the simulation."
"Exactly," Kazuki grinned. "I don't do simulations."
With a sudden burst of speed—likely unintentional—Kazuki tripped, rolled, and accidentally tackled Arrogant Kazuki into Broken Kazuki. They fused into one burning silhouette—flames erupting and reshaping into a flickering memory that exploded into cinders.
Only Hollow Kazuki remained.
Aurelis landed beside Kazuki, sword at the ready. "One left."
Hollow Kazuki raised a hand—but the fake companions around him froze. One by one, they turned and looked at him, hollow gazes suddenly uncertain.
Smile—real Smile—had jumped onto Hollow Kazuki's shoulder and was poking him in the cheek repeatedly.
Hollow Kazuki's arm trembled.
"This wasn't… supposed to happen…"
Kazuki stepped forward. "Life isn't neat. It isn't controllable. It's awkward and weird and sometimes hilarious. But that's what makes it worth it."
With a crack, Hollow Kazuki split down the middle—dissolving into floating memories, which drifted like petals across the arena. The trial flame dimmed, then shimmered with approval.
"Trial passed."
The ground beneath them rumbled—and from the center of the arena rose a grand, glowing ember orb. It pulsed with warmth and resonance.
Aurelis blinked. "Is that…?"
"Yup," Kazuki grinned. "The Ember Core."
But just as he reached toward it, the world flickered—like a signal being jammed.
Kazuki paused. "Uh. That's new."
From the edges of the dreamflame world, a second realm bled through—cold, glitched, unnatural.
"Smile?" Kazuki said.
The slime was frozen.
The wolf howled.
The eagle flared its wings.
And the cobra hissed… not in warning, but in recognition.
Because something was watching.
A foreign presence that wasn't part of the Flame Whispers.
Kazuki turned. "Who…?"
A rift opened. And a figure stepped out.
Not a memory. Not an echo.
A man in silver-white armor.
Grinning like a villain.
"Yo, Kazuki. Long time no see."
Kazuki's eyes widened. "…Aurelis, that's my rival, isn't it?"
Aurelis nodded grimly. "That's Daigo. The actual chosen hero."