The storm of pages roared like a thousand banshees on steroids.
Each torn scrap wailed, ink bleeding like black tears, sizzling holes into the already fractured bridge. The Faceless Judge stood at the eye of it all, silent as death, like some final boss just waiting for you to fuck around and find out.
The brand on Aiden's chest pulsed in sync with the chaos. Every beat whispered the same command into his bones:
Devour. Devour. Devour.
His body felt like a damn warzone — lightning and shadow tearing at each other while his organs played dodgeball with his ribcage.
Elias pressed a bloodied hand against his side, his flaming sword somehow still upright. The man looked like shit warmed over, but his eyes? Still burning. "You're barely holding yourself together. You use that thing again, and I don't think you're coming back."
Aiden spat blood onto the stone, wiped his mouth. "Cool story, bro. What choice do I have?"
The cyclone shifted. From its core, something massive clawed its way into existence — a book bound in chains of light. For half a second, it looked majestic, holy, almost merciful.
Then the chains exploded like glass in a blender.
The book cracked open, vomiting pages that twisted together into a nightmare of parchment flesh and ink-stained quills for arms. Its eyes burned with glowing runes, and its mouth—god help them—spewed a chorus of prayers, screams, curses, and broken songs all at once.
Elias whispered the only logical thing: "Holy shit… it's a living scripture."
The Judge finally broke the silence, voice thrumming through the void like bass at a club:
"Face the Written Howl — the echo of forgotten gods. Survive, and the Third Trial ends. Fail… and be erased."
The creature screamed. The bridge cracked. Aiden's skull felt like it was being ripped open and stuffed with unwanted fanfiction. His lightning chains fizzled, breaking apart.
The curse hissed, loud and sweet.
"Let me feed. Let me devour this god-echo. You're too weak alone. Don't be a coward."
Aiden's knees gave. Blood dripped from his nose like a broken faucet. His body screamed nope. His soul screamed nope. Everything screamed nope.
Then Elias, goddamn lunatic Elias, stepped forward. His fire surged into a roaring inferno, sword blazing like a dragon being born. He bellowed:
"Don't think you're the only one who can push past their fucking limits!"
He swung. Flames clashed with the screaming pages. Half shattered instantly, but Elias pushed harder, teeth bared like he was laughing in the face of god itself.
Aiden froze. Elias wasn't mocking anymore. He wasn't smirking. He was fighting like hell, because he had no other option.
Something inside Aiden snapped.
He slapped his chest over the brand. "Fine! Just this once — we fight together, you bastard!"
Black lightning ripped free, shadow fangs chaining the monster's limbs. The beast shrieked, spitting words sharp enough to cut bone, but the curse devoured them like snacks. Elias charged through the gap, fire dragon-sword plunging deep into its parchment chest.
The Page That Screams unleashed its final cry — a sound that cracked reality like glass. Pages tore apart, burning, scattering across the abyss like dying stars.
And then… silence.
The storm vanished. The Judge lowered its arms. The bridge stopped trembling.
Elias collapsed onto one knee, his fire sputtering out. Aiden fell flat on the cracked stone, clutching his chest as the brand dimmed, finally shutting the fuck up.
Something fluttered down.
A single page, glowing faintly. Silent. Alive. Sacred.
The Judge's voice rumbled:
"The God's Page. Claim it, and the Archive opens further. But beware… each page hungers for its wielder's soul."
Aiden's hand shook as he reached. His mind screamed not to. His gut screamed not to. But he grabbed it anyway, because he was Aiden and subtlety had left the chat hours ago.
Lightning flared. The brand pulsed. The Page fused into him.
The broken bridge repaired itself, glowing threads stitching cracks shut. Ahead, a massive door appeared, carved with symbols that warped reality just by existing.
The Third Trial was over.
Elias dragged himself upright, grinning despite blood and exhaustion. "Well," he coughed, "guess you're not completely useless after all."
Aiden glared through the sweat dripping into his eyes. "Fuck you."
The Judge whispered one last time, a voice curling inside Aiden's skull like a knife:
"The Devourer's hunger has only begun."
The door creaked open. Beyond it, shelves upon shelves of glowing tomes stretched into eternity.
The true Archive of Gods awaited.
---
Author's Note:
🔥 Holy hell, that's the Third Trial DONE. Aiden has officially unlocked emo DLC: The Brand + God's Page combo. That's like carrying a nuke in your chest while also babysitting Elias' chaotic ass.
But the real question: Would you trust the God's Page, or yeet it into the abyss? 👀
👉 Throw some power stones if you enjoyed this chapter — it feeds the Archive and keeps the Devourer from eating me IRL.
👉 Drop your wildest theories in the comments. Do you think Elias actually gives a damn about Aiden, or is he just waiting for his moment to stab him in the back?
Until next time: Stay cursed, stay unhinged. ⚡🔥