Silence.
When Vemy opened his eyes, the abyss was gone. No broken stone, no collapsing void, no chains rattling against flame. Just silence… and an endless sea of lightless sky.
The ground beneath his feet was glass-like, reflecting his own image. He saw himself clearly—bloodied, scarred, wings tattered, his Celestine flames flickering weakly. But in the reflection… his eyes weren't his. They were hollow, glowing like the Guardian's.
He staggered back, and the reflection moved differently, smirking with a cruel twist.
"Welcome," it spoke, though its lips didn't move. "To the Thirteenth Ring."
The glass shattered, his reflection stepping out from the shards. It looked exactly like him—same scars, same flames, but twisted. The blue fire was darker, stained with violet edges, and the silver streaks writhed like serpents.
The doppelgänger's wings unfolded, dripping with chains instead of feathers.
Vemy clenched his fists, his aura sparking despite the exhaustion eating at him.
"So this is it, huh? The Ring's true will?"
The other him smirked wider. "No. I'm not the will. I'm the truth. The part of you that wanted this power… the part you buried. You wanted strength, didn't you? To rise above the weak. To burn through everything in your way. That's me."
The doppelgänger's chains lashed out, striking the ground where Vemy had stood a second ago. The force shattered the glass floor, sending cracks racing outward like lightning.
Vemy leapt back, wings flaring, his silver-threaded flames roaring to life.
"I don't care what part of me you think you are. I'm not you."
"Liar," the reflection spat. Its eyes glowed, and suddenly chains shot up from beneath Vemy's feet, wrapping his legs. He struggled, flames burning against them, but they clung like tar, feeding off his own aura.
The reflection's voice echoed all around him, becoming a chorus of whispers.
"Every fight. Every rage. Every moment you swore you'd become stronger—stronger than anyone, no matter the cost. That was me. I am you. And here, in the Thirteenth Ring, you can't deny me."
Vemy roared, tearing his leg free, the Celestine blaze cracking the chains. He lunged forward, fist ignited, and slammed it into his reflection's chest. The impact sent ripples through the air, like a stone striking water.
But the reflection only grinned through the hit, grabbing Vemy's wrist.
"That's it. Struggle harder. The more you fight, the more you prove I'm right."
Chains exploded outward, wrapping around Vemy's torso, arms, and neck, dragging him closer. His reflection leaned in, their faces inches apart, eyes locked.
"You don't escape me. You become me."
Vemy gritted his teeth, his wings flaring violently. His flames surged so fiercely that the chains cracked, silver threads weaving brighter, threatening to burn through everything.
"I'm not your prisoner!" he roared. "I don't need to deny you. I'll overcome you. And I'll make this Ring mine!"
The reflection's smirk faltered for the first time. Its chains trembled, its violet flames flickering.
And then—
The world around them began to quake. The glass floor shattered completely, dropping into an endless void. Both Vemy and his reflection fell, flames blazing, chains rattling, the abyss swallowing them whole.
As he plummeted, Vemy heard the voice again—the true whisper of the Ring, deeper, darker than before, echoing from everywhere and nowhere at once.
"Prove it. Prove you can conquer yourself… or be erased."
The void roared to life, a storm of chains and fire swallowing him as he plunged into the Ring's heart.