The air was still, yet full of movement. An impossible contradiction that pressed against their skin like wind without breath.
The eight of them—Flender, Liu Erlong, Zhao Wuji, Li Wei, Zhu Zhuqing, Ning Rongrong, Xiao Wu, and Meng Yiran—stood upon a glowing stone bridge suspended in endless black. Below was nothingness. Above, drifting lights swirled like stars submerged in water, moving too slow and too deliberate to be natural.
Each footstep rang out with unnatural resonance. Gravity tugged strangely at their limbs, a sensation both of weightless and crushing.
Li Wei led the way, Diendriver drawn and pulsing with azure light. His stance was firm, body tense, but eyes steady. He didn't look back—not to appear strong, but because he knew the others would follow.
Zhu Zhuqing was just behind him, her steps careful, measured. Every few paces she would glance sideways, watching the shadows flicker and curl along the edges of the bridge. She didn't speak. She didn't need to.
"This place…" Ning Rongrong whispered, her voice barely audible above the pulse of the platforms. "It's like it breathes."
"Or it is a dreams," Xiao Wu added. "And we're inside that dream."
Meng Yiran eyes scanned the horizon. "The platforms curve. That path up there—it's spiraling into something. A vortex, maybe."
Zhao Wuji grunted. "Whatever it is, I don't like it."
Flender halted them with a motion. "Stop. Something coming."
The light ahead pulsed once—then twice—then burst outward.
A massive platform unfolded before them, circular, easily a hundred meters wide, rimmed by flickering gold runes. As soon as the group stepped onto it, the bridge behind them dissolved into dust and vanished into the void.
Then came the voice.
It was not human. Ancient, yes. But mechanical. Divine. It echoed through bone and soul, like a god speaking through time.
[Trial One: Threads of the Self.]
[To move forward, you must face the truths you carry. One by one, or fall together. Begin.]
A dome of light expanded from the center of the platform, engulfing them in a cascade of radiant threads. It shimmered, wavered—and then closed.
Darkness.
Li Wei blinked. His body was weightless, but his feet still stood on solid ground. He was alone. The others had vanished.
Then, the illusion took shape.
__________________
A field of mirrors surrounded him. In each reflection stood a different version of himself. Some wore tattered robes. Others, broken armor. One mirror held his face, cold and distant, dressed in the robes of Spirit Hall elite.
"You run from what you are," a voice said behind him.
He turned—and there stood his younger self. The boy with wild eyes and a cracked Diendriver. No rings. No spirit energy. Just hope.
"Do you protect them because you care," the boy asked, "or because it stops you from becoming what you fear?"
"I'm nothing like Spirit Hall and I'm nothing without it," Li Wei replied.
"Yet you are from it. You draw from a weapon designed for control. You summon ghosts of power and wear them like armor. When does that stop being protection, and become domination?"
From the mirrors, Final Form Riders began to step out—Decade Complete, Drive Type Tridoron, Ex-Aid Muteki. Each one stared at him silently.
"You can command gods of destruction. Will you still call yourself a friend to the weak?"
Li Wei grip tightened on the Diendriver. "I fight because I choose to. Every card, every summon—I choose to use them to protect. Not to conquer. Not to control. I will change the Spirit Hall as that the only way forward toward what I want to happen."
He raised the Driver and pressed it against his chest.
[Kamen Ride: Diend! Complete Form!]
Blue light exploded outward, shattering the mirrors, banishing the voices.
"I'm not a weapon," he whispered. "I'm their shield."
_____________________
She stood before a mirror of herself—colder, sharper, dressed in full assassin garb from the Zhu Clan.
"I was stronger without them," the shadow said. "No weakness. No hesitation. You were feared."
"I was alone," Zhu Zhuqing said. "And I hated it."
"Love dulls the blade. Your clan taught you that. If you truly wish to reclaim your bloodline honor, you must sever what weakens you. Return to proper path and accept your fate."
A figure appeared beside the shadow—Li Wei, still and silent. His eyes were hollow.
"Cut the thread," the shadow whispered. "And everything becomes clear again."
Zhu Zhuqing stared, eyes hovering at her hell civet claw. Then, slowly, she lowered it.
"No. I don't want to be sharp if it means I'm alone. I'll find strength without giving up warmth."
Her cloak unfurled like wings, shadows peeling away into light.
__________________
Tang San stood in the distance, walking away.
"Wait!" she cried. "You said you'd protect me!"
He didn't turn.
She ran—but the more she ran, the further he became.
Then a voice—Li Wei voice—called from behind.
"I won't make you chase me."
Xiao Wu froze. Around her, the illusion blurred.
"Tang San… was the first," she whispered. "But I'm not a girl waiting for someone anymore. I'm walking my own path."
She turned. And the road lit up beneath her steps.
___________________
Her father towered before her, surrounded by the elders of the Seven Treasure Clan.
"You are not enough," he said. "Without us, who are you? Without support, what will you ever become?"
"I'm Ning Rongrong," she said. "But I'm also a warrior. A friend. A fighter."
"You cannot lead if you depend on others."
"I don't depend. I believe. That's what makes me strong."
The pagoda in her hands glowed—nine lights flickering like stars. "And they believe in me too."
________________
Tang San stood before her, smirking.
"You'll always be behind. A second-rate rival. A shadow."
"I'm not your rival anymore," she said.
"You couldn't beat me."
"No," she admitted, "but I'm not fighting to beat you anymore. I'm fighting for myself."
The illusion wavered.
She turned away—and walked through it.
_______________
Outside the dome, Flender paced.
"They're in some kind of spiritual lock," he muttered. "I can't sense them clearly."
Liu Erlong crouched beside Zhu Zhuqing body. "They're not in danger physically, but… something's pressing on their minds."
Zhao Wuji stood watch, arms folded. "If anyone breaks the illusion first, it'll be Li Wei. I'd bet on it."
"Not just him," Liu Erlong whispered. "Look at her."
Zhu Zhuqing face was calm. A faint smile touched her lips.
____________________
A surge of blue light cracked the dome—Li Wei aura burst outward, his silhouette rising in Diend Complete Form shape before it dissipate.
"I choose to protect," he said aloud, breath ragged.
Moments later, black energy flared around Zhu Zhuqing—and then dissolved into silver light.
She stepped out, eyes clearer than ever, and went straight to him.
"You know, you help pulled me out in my trial," she whispered.
"No," he said. "You use your own will to walked out on your own. You believe in yourself." He smile looking at her.
Then, one by one, the others emerged—Ning Rongrong holding her pagoda like a torch, Xiao Wu with tears on her cheeks but fire in her eyes, and Meng Yiran standing tall, chin raised.
______________
The platform trembled. The dome collapsed into threads of gold.
The voice returned.
[The first thread is proven. Continue, or fall forever.]
Ahead, the floating bridge reshaped—coiling upward into a spiral bridge, leading into a swirling maelstrom of color and sound.
Li Wei turned to the others. "This place doesn't test our strength. It tests our selves."
"Then let it test us. We're stronger than that," Zhu Zhuqing said, stepping beside him.
Xiao Wu joined with a faint grin. "Guess we're walking into a storm."
Flender looked at them all—and smiled.
______________
As the group began the climb, Zhu Zhuqing hand brushed Li Wei hand.
"I passed," she whispered, "because I remembered who I wanted to walk with."
Li Wei didn't answer. But his hand didn't let go.
Above them, the storm waited.
And they walked toward it—together.