Chapter 31: The Second Trial - The Lie of the Past
The black mirror shifted, dissolving the smooth surface. In its place, the Temple manifested a perfect, three-dimensional reconstruction of the most painful moment in their shared history: The Chamber of Revelation, the moment of the first betrayal.
The air was heavy, the shadows deep. The image was hyper-realistic: the past-life version of Rin, confused and trusting, stood exactly where Rin now stood, facing the past-life version of Aiden, his face a mask of terrible, necessary coldness.
The ethereal figures began to speak, repeating the agonizing dialogue of the betrayal, forcing Rin to re-live the terror and the pain of the moment the first Constraint was triggered.
"This trial is meant to break the Tether of Silence," Aiden whispered, his voice tense. "The sheer emotional pressure will force a reaction. If you project the truth now, the tether will kill us both instantly."
"I know the rules, Arbiter," Rin murmured back, his eyes locked on the illusion of his past self's agony. The hatred that had been extinguished by the truth in Chapter 20 threatened to return, a reflex of the soul.
The Edict's voice resonated: "You must now complete the original betrayal, Hunter Aiden. You must speak the words of the unnecessary cruelty—the moment you secured the hate. And you, Hunter Rin, must respond with the unadulterated vengeance that fueled your current life."
Aiden stared at the illusion of Rin's innocent, trusting past self, and the cold, cruel words from his first life began to form on his lips. His body instinctively tensed to commit the crime again, to re-establish the pain.
But Rin, having accepted the burden of the lie in the first trial, reacted violently. He grabbed Aiden's arm, his grip like iron, and pulled him away from the illusion.
"No, Arbiter!" Rin roared, his heart pounding. "You will not commit that crime again!"
He realized the true nature of the trial: it wasn't about re-enacting the words; it was about forcing the emotional truth to bridge the gap. If Aiden spoke the hateful words, Rin would naturally respond with the love he now felt, breaking the constraint.
Rin, desperate, did the only thing he could think of to short-circuit the emotional reflex. He unleashed the power of the Rending Gale, not as a weapon, but as a wall of deafening white noise, a storm of pure kinetic energy that flooded the space around them, drowning out the illusions and the sounds of the past.
The gale didn't destroy the illusion, but it muted the dialogue, turning the scene into a silent, agonizing pantomime.
"We will not be judged by the past!" Rin yelled over the howling wind, his voice raw. "We are judged by the present sacrifice!"
Aiden looked at the sheer desperation in Rin's eyes, realizing Rin was protecting him not from the past-life dialogue, but from the fatal emotional feedback of the present. Rin was shielding him from his own self-destructive honesty.
Aiden nodded, a fraction of a degree—a silent, tactical acknowledgment of Rin's strategy.
The Edict was furious. The illusion sputtered, unable to generate the required emotional response.
"You deny the necessary catharsis!" the Edict boomed. "You cling to the lie of coldness, even when the truth is known! Fail!"
The Temple shuddered violently. A colossal surge of pure, raw despair—the energy of Nyx's counterattack—slammed into the Tether of Silence, attempting to shatter the connection entirely.
Aiden gasped, his eyes rolling back as the Chronos power was violently overloaded. Rin screamed, the pain of the failing tether agonizing. He knew the tether was about to snap, killing them both.