The twisted forest stood still, as if even the air was afraid to move.
Zian struggled to her feet, her breath shallow, eyes glowing faintly gold. Behind her, Mira and Leon looked on, wide-eyed. The once-divine monster before them bled silver light from severed limbs, staggering and convulsing — still alive, but barely.
Kaen walked forward slowly, almost lazily. His shadow stretched unnaturally, crawling along the forest floor like it was alive. The beast turned its many heads toward him — and stopped moving.
It whimpered.
It remembered.
"You know me," Kaen said quietly, his tone devoid of mockery now. "You should. You were forged to serve gods. And I…" he spread his arms wide, "...was the one they feared before they even rose."
The beast fell to its knees.
The ground cracked beneath the weight of its submission. It didn't roar again. It didn't fight. It simply… surrendered.
Zian stared, heart pounding. "What… are you?"
Kaen turned, giving her the same amused smile he always wore. But this time, there was something deeper in it. Something ancient.
> "You already know."
The shadows surged upward like a tidal wave — elegant, silent — and wrapped around the monster's broken form. No scream came. No final roar. Just silence… as the creature was unmade.
Kaen stood in the void it left behind.
---
✦ Blood Gate: Cleared ✦
A chime echoed through the sky. The crimson light dimmed. The blood-mist evaporated into sparkling motes. Beneath their feet, the broken terrain reassembled.
Mira collapsed to her knees. Leon let out a long breath. "That… was not a normal trial."
The portal to the academy shimmered open behind them.
Kaen walked back toward the team, hands in his pockets. Zian met his gaze.
"You held back," she said.
He tilted his head. "Did I?"
She took a step closer, barely a breath between them. "You're not human."
Kaen's grin returned, sharp as ever.
"Neither are you."
---
✦ Back at the Academy ✦
Professor Drayven stood in front of the Blood Gate control panel, watching the data spiral into nonsense.
"These readings…" he muttered. "This can't be right."
Behind him, a black ooze slithered into the base of his neck, rejoining him.
Kaen's voice echoed faintly in his mind:
> "Good puppet. You helped her awaken. Your job's not done yet."
Drayven blinked — and smiled.