The abyss thundered as flame and lightning clashed.
Aiden's chains of lightning lashed out, smashing against Elias's blazing sword. Sparks burst like miniature suns, flooding the void in blinding flashes. Each impact shook the bridge, cracks spreading like veins across the marble.
Elias laughed. Not nervously, not like someone fighting for their life — but the laugh of a predator toying with his prey. His flaming sword carved an arc through the air, so hot it scorched the oxygen itself.
Aiden ducked, barely — the blade singed his hair and blistered his skin. His counter came desperate, his lightning chains snapping forward like hungry fangs.
Elias twisted with terrifying grace. His free hand caught the chain, fire spiraling around his palm. The lightning shrieked as it burned away.
"You rely too much on instinct," Elias said, tone sharp, steady, merciless. "Raw power without control is just noise."
"Noise this, asshole," Aiden snarled. His jaw ached from how hard he clenched it.
The curse inside him screamed. The runes on his chest glowed like molten steel, threatening to crack his ribs apart. His bones felt like glass, ready to shatter.
He should've stopped.
He didn't.
He let the curse surge.
Violet lightning exploded out of him, crawling across his skin in jagged bursts. The bridge cracked beneath his boots. The void flickered. And then — the Archive whispered. A thousand voices, all snarling over one another.
Devour. Consume. Survive.
For the first time, Elias's smile faltered.
Aiden lunged. His lightning split into a dozen jagged chains, weaving into a cage that collapsed toward Elias like the jaws of a god.
Elias's eyes narrowed. He swung, his sword flaring into a sun. Fire tore through the cage, sparks bursting apart — but one chain slipped through.
It struck his shoulder.
The sizzle was instant. Flesh burned. Smoke curled. His cloak ignited.
Elias hissed — actually staggered a step back. His expression darkened.
"…Interesting," he muttered, low and dangerous. "So you do have teeth."
He raised his sword high. Flames spiraled upward in a cyclone, stretching into the abyss like a burning tower. The heat alone felt like it was peeling skin from bone.
"Then I'll stop holding back."
The bridge convulsed. The abyss shuddered. Far-off shelves of the Library rattled, dust falling like ash.
Aiden's curse howled inside his skull, deafening, demanding.
Consume him. Take his flame. Survive.
His body was breaking. His veins felt like they were splitting open. His vision bled red at the edges.
But he forced the curse higher. Higher still.
He would not fucking lose here. Not to Elias. Not to the Archive. Not to anyone.
Violet lightning surged. Flames howled. The storms collided — fire and thunder tearing reality apart.
And then, just as Elias's blade descended—
A voice split the void.
"STOP."
The word slammed down like a planet crashing into the abyss.
The entire Archive froze. The flames froze mid-air. Aiden's lightning chains locked in place. Both he and Elias were crushed to their knees by the weight pressing down on them.
From below, something colossal rose. A hand — black as ink, made of shadow — clawed onto the bridge. Pages of burning scripture and torn parchment swirled around it, screaming.
Then a figure emerged, towering, faceless, draped in the fabric of the library itself.
The whispers in Aiden's head went dead silent.
This wasn't a beast.
This wasn't part of the test.
This was the fucking Archive itself.
The Third Trial had begun.
---
Author's Note:
🔥 And boom — plot twist! Elias and Aiden were seconds away from blowing each other off the map, and the Archive basically said, "sit the fuck down, both of you." 😂
Who do you think this faceless figure is? A judge? A warden? Or maybe something worse? Drop your guesses, scream in the comments, and don't forget to hit me with those power stones if you're hyped ⚡