The true path hasn't revealed itself.
The thought pressed into Kiyoshi's mind, unbidden, not his own. His Ketsuryūgan flickered, burning faintly as if resonating with the whisper.
He clenched his fist, forcing his breath steady. Not now. Control it.
Daiki groaned as he pushed himself off the ground. "If that thing was just a guard dog, I'm not sticking around for whatever it was guarding."
Rei scanned the walls, her eyes narrowing. "Look closer. The markings didn't fade. They're… guiding somewhere."
She was right. The glowing lines etched into the stone floor had shifted, weaving into a narrow trail that stretched beyond the broken pedestal. Dust drifted aside as if the path itself was beckoning them forward.
Kiyoshi felt the relic's pulse quicken in his chest. He almost stepped toward it before Rei caught his wrist.
"You're too drawn to it," she said quietly. "Don't let it use you."
His eyes met hers. For a moment, the weight in her voice steadied him. "…I'll be careful."
The three of them advanced cautiously. Each step down the newly revealed corridor deepened the air's pressure, as though the mountain itself was holding its breath.
At the end of the passage lay another chamber, smaller but more pristine—untouched by time. In the center floated a fragment of crystal, suspended in chakra light, humming with restrained power.
Daiki whistled under his breath. "This better not come with another stone monster."
But this wasn't like the guardian. Kiyoshi could feel it—this was the relic's heart. The pulse inside him synchronized with the crystal, beating in perfect rhythm. His vision blurred; for an instant, he stood not in the chamber but in a vision of blood-red skies and broken chains.
A voice slithered through his mind.
Child of Chinoike… you have reached the threshold. Claim me, and ascend.
Kiyoshi staggered, clutching his head. Rei grabbed his shoulder. "Kiyoshi! What is it?!"
He could barely form words. "It's… calling me."
The crystal pulsed violently, sending a shockwave through the chamber. The floor split, crimson chakra surging upward.
From the shadows, something stirred again—different from the guardian. A shape formed from the crystal's leaking energy, eyes gleaming with the same crimson as his own.
This time, it wasn't a beast.
It was a mirror.
A figure stepped forward—his own reflection, cloaked in crimson light, eyes burning with the Ketsuryūgan.
Rei and Daiki froze.
"…What the hell is that?" Daiki whispered.
Kiyoshi's breath caught in his throat. His double smirked, voice dripping with malice.
"I am what you could become… if you surrender."
The chamber trembled. The true trial had only begun.