Snow vanished.
The mountains disappeared.
Owain's arms—warm and protective a moment ago—slipped away like smoke.
Kanah fell.
Not physically.
But into darkness.
A bottomless drop that tore sound from the world.
She screamed—
—but no sound left her lips.
The First King's voice echoed from everywhere and nowhere:
"Begin the Trial of Truth."
Kanah tried to cling to something—anything—but her hands found only cold air.
Her heart hammered.
Her lungs seized.
Her vision spun—
—and then the darkness shattered.
She hit concrete.
Hard.
Her knees scraped.
Her palms burned.
Cold rain soaked her hair and shirt.
Kanah gasped sharply, chest tightening.
"No… no, please… not this…"
She looked up.
City lights.
Neon signs.
A wet street reflecting orange streetlamps.
Cars.
Distant chatter.
The smell of smoke and exhaust.
Her world.
Her old world.
Kanah staggered to her feet as the rain poured down.
"I don't want this—let me out—LET ME OUT—"
But her voice vanished into the storm.
The First King answered:
"You must relive it to rewrite it."
Kanah clutched her head, shaking.
"Stop—STOP—please—I don't want to remember—"
But the world didn't care.
Her past kept moving.
A thud echoed from behind her.
Footsteps.
Heavy.
Fast.
Predatory.
Kanah spun around—
—and saw him.
The man in the alley.
The one she'd tried to forget.
The one who had ended her life.
He stepped from the shadows, umbrella in one hand, something glinting in the other.
Her pulse spiked violently.
Her knees went weak.
"No… no, please—please don't—"
But this wasn't a dream.
It wasn't symbolic.
It was real.
Her last day.
Her last breath.
Her death.
Meanwhile, in the Beastworld
Owain slammed his body against the invisible barrier.
"LET ME THROUGH!"
No response.
He punched it again, then again—blood splattering from his knuckles.
Gerrin struggled to stand, leaning heavily on his staff.
"She's reliving it," he whispered.
"The moment she died."
Yllas grit his teeth, agony twisting his expression.
"That's cruel. Even for the First King."
Helion stared into the empty space where Kanah had vanished.
"Why force her to relive that trauma?"
Gerrin swallowed.
"Because the way she died determines why she was chosen."
Owain froze.
"What?"
Gerrin turned toward him, voice shaking.
"The First King doesn't choose heirs at random. The way she died… it must connect to her bloodline."
Owain slammed his fist against the barrier.
"LET HER GO!"
The First King's voice boomed:
"Witness, but do not interfere."
A window of white light appeared in front of them—
Showing Kanah's memory.
Owain's chest tightened painfully.
"Kanah…"
Back in the Memory
Rain drenched through Kanah's thin jacket.
Her breath came out in sharp gasps.
The man from the alley smirked.
"Well, well. Look who wandered off alone."
Kanah backed away.
"Leave me alone. Please—I don't have anything—"
She knew this scene.
She'd lived it.
She'd died in it.
She was shaking so hard she could barely stand.
Her heart pounded painfully inside her chest.
"I don't want to see this—please—I can't do this again—"
The First King answered:
"Truth demands witness."
The man lunged.
Kanah screamed and sprinted down the wet street.
Her feet splashed through puddles.
Her lungs burned.
Her vision blurred from tears and rain.
She ran.
And ran.
And ran.
"Help!"
Her voice cracked.
"Somebody please—help me—!"
But the street was empty.
Just like that night.
Her chest tightened with old fear, thick and suffocating.
"No—please—I remember all of this—I don't want—"
Her foot slipped.
She crashed into a wall.
Pain stabbed her elbow.
The man caught up instantly.
He grabbed her by the hair and slammed her head back.
Stars exploded behind her eyes.
"Found you."
Kanah screamed, kicking wildly.
"LET GO—PLEASE—LET ME GO—"
He pinned her to the ground.
Rain poured harder.
Her breath came in strangled sobs.
"No—no—no—"
She clawed at his arm.
He pressed something cold and metallic to her side.
She knew the shape.
The weight.
The knife.
Her stomach twisted violently.
"Owain," she whimpered, tears streaming down her face.
"Owain, please—I don't want to die again—"
Owain Watches Her Die
Owain slammed his body again into the barrier, losing all reason.
"STOP IT—LET HER OUT—LET HER OUT RIGHT NOW—"
Blood dripped from his torn knuckles.
He didn't care.
He didn't feel it.
All he saw was Kanah—
Terrified.
Trapped.
Screaming.
"OWAIN!" she screamed through the illusion, through the past, through the memory.
His vision blurred red.
"I'm here—I'm HERE—KANAH—!!"
But he couldn't reach her.
Helion's face twisted.
Yllas clutched his wound tighter, barely breathing.
Gerrin's hands shook violently around his staff.
"No…" Owain whispered.
"No no no—please—don't make her relive it—don't—"
The First King spoke:
"This is truth."
Owain punched the barrier again.
He screamed until his voice cracked.
But he could not reach her.
The Truth Behind Her Death
The knife pressed against Kanah's ribs.
"It's personal this time," the man hissed.
"You ruined my plans last week."
Kanah froze.
Her breath hitched.
"…what?"
She didn't remember this part.
"You shouldn't have called the cops," he growled.
"You messed with the wrong man."
The memory warped—
deepened—
sharpened.
This wasn't how she remembered it.
"I didn't…" Kanah whispered, horrified.
"I didn't know this—"
"Because you suppressed it," the First King said.
"Your mind wasn't ready."
The man pressed harder, knife cutting through her shirt.
"You're dying today."
Kanah sobbed.
"No… no, please—"
He whispered in her ear:
"Tell your brother I said hi."
Kanah froze.
Her lungs stopped.
Her mind blanked.
"Brother…?"
He smirked.
"You really thought he was innocent? Thought he wasn't in debt? He owed me. You took something from me, and his little sister is the payment."
Kanah's mind shattered.
"No… no, no, NO—my brother—my brother wouldn't—he didn't—no—"
Owain watched the memory twist.
His teeth bared.
His eyes burning with rage.
His entire body trembling.
Yllas closed his eyes in grief.
Helion muttered, "Oh gods…"
Gerrin whispered:
"…that's why the First King chose her."
Owain whipped toward him.
"What!?"
Gerrin swallowed.
"Because she didn't just die…
she died protecting someone else from cruelty."
Owain felt something inside him break.
The First King continued:
"Truth revealed."
Kanah screamed as the knife plunged—
Her vision went white—
And time stopped.
Kanah Confronts the Moment
Everything froze mid-motion.
The man holding the knife.
Rain suspended in air.
Her own body arched in terror.
Kanah looked around—
and felt something inside her shift.
She wasn't trapped anymore.
She wasn't powerless.
She stepped away from her frozen body.
She faced the man.
And she let her rage speak.
"You took everything from me."
The First King's voice surrounded her.
"Speak your truth."
Kanah clenched her fists.
Her voice trembled—
not from fear
but fury.
"You killed me because my brother owed you money."
The First King responded.
"He hid the truth from you."
Kanah breathed hard.
"I was a payment."
"Yes."
Kanah's hands shook.
"But it wasn't just him, was it?"
The First King was silent.
Kanah looked at the knife in the man's frozen hand.
Then at her younger self.
Then whispered:
"My death wasn't an accident."
The memory shook.
The First King's voice darkened.
"Continue."
Kanah's voice cracked.
"You knew I would die.
You let it happen."
The world responded—
White cracks spreading across the memory.
"You let him kill me so you could bring me here."
The First King spoke.
"Correct."
Kanah staggered back.
Her breath stopped.
Owain, watching helplessly, roared with fury.
"YOU WHAT—!? YOU MANIPULATIVE—"
But Kanah wasn't done.
Her voice rose.
"You dragged me from my world—
from my family—
from my LIFE—
just to use me!?"
The First King answered calmly.
"I needed a vessel strong enough to hold three crowns."
Kanah's hands curled into fists.
"You chose me because I died protecting someone who didn't deserve me."
"Yes."
She trembled.
"Say it."
"You died so another might live."
Her eyes burned.
"In my world…
I died forgotten."
The First King spoke gently.
"Not forgotten."
Then, in a deeper, softer tone:
"Chosen."
Kanah's breath hitched.
She sank to her knees.
Tears spilled down her face.
"Why me…?"
The First King answered:
"Because even in death, you fought for life."
The frozen rain shattered.
The illusion crumbled.
The memory glowed white—
And collapsed.
Kanah screamed—
—and the Beastworld snapped back around her.
She collapsed into Owain's arms.
He caught her instantly, holding her as if he'd never let go.
"Kanah—Kanah—look at me—gods—please—look at me—"
She sobbed into his chest, shaking violently.
"I—I died because of him—because of my brother—Owain—he—he let me—"
Owain hugged her tighter.
"I've got you. You're safe. That world can't hurt you anymore. You're safe with me."
She clung to him desperately.
Gerrin wiped tears from his own eyes.
Yllas bowed his head in grief.
Helion looked away, jaw tight.
The First King's voice returned:
"Trial Three complete."
Owain snarled at the sky.
"NO MORE TRIALS."
The First King ignored him.
"Begin Trial Four."
And the ground cracked beneath them—
splitting open.
A roar echoed up from the depths.
An ancient roar.
Gerrin's eyes widened in horror.
"Oh no…"
Kanah froze in Owain's arms.
"What… what is that…?"
Gerrin whispered:
"The First King's beast."
Kanah trembled violently.
"The what—?"
"The monster he created before all the kingdoms existed."
Owain held her tighter.
"That trial was to break your heart."
Gerrin nodded.
"This trial is to break your body."