The shattered remains of the False Bell still smoked across the chamber floor. Shards of broken runes flickered faintly, glowing like dying embers before crumbling into dust. The once-deafening toll was gone, leaving behind a silence that rang just as heavy.
Elara sat slumped against the cracked platform, still gasping for breath. Her wrist glowed steady again—her stolen hours restored—but her body shook from exhaustion.
Across from her, Aelric leaned against the ruined bell, pipe dangling loosely in his good hand. His corrupted arm still twitched, tendrils curling in restless spasms, black veins crawling higher across his neck. But his grin hadn't left.
"We survived," he said, voice low and rough.
Elara looked at him, eyes wet, a weak smile tugging at her lips. "Barely."
"Barely's enough," he replied.
---
Before either of them could speak again, the System's voice rolled through the chamber, cold and final:
> [False Bell destroyed.]
[Ashvale Clocktower Trial completed.]
[Remaining Nights: 2.]
[Next Trial Unlocked: Pendulum's Judgment.]
The air shifted.
A new sound filled the tower—tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.
Slow, deliberate, impossibly loud. Each swing of the sound seemed to tug at their bodies, pulling their skin tight over their bones, making their timers burn faintly against their wrists.
Elara flinched, clutching her arm. "What is that?"
Aelric's grin faltered, just slightly. "The Pendulum. Looks like the game's changing again."
---
The chamber floor cracked apart, shifting into moving bridges of gears and chains. The ruined bell sank slowly into the abyss below, its fragments devoured by the endless machinery.
Above, the ceiling split open, revealing a yawning void filled with swinging pendulums—massive, blade-like constructs made of black metal, each one larger than a house. They swung back and forth in perfect rhythm, cutting through the air with shrieks that tore at the ears.
At the center of the void, suspended in nothing, was a giant pendulum unlike the rest. Its blade wasn't metal—it was made of light, pure white, glowing so bright it hurt to look at. Each swing left afterimages across the void, and each swing sent a shockwave that made the entire tower groan.
Elara's heart raced. "We're supposed to… face that?"
Aelric tilted his head, his grin crawling back. "Looks like it."
---
The System spoke again, its voice sharper than ever:
> [Pendulum's Judgment Initiated.]
[Objective: Endure the Pendulum's swings until equilibrium is reached.]
[Warning: Failure will erase your timer completely.]
Elara's chest tightened. "Erase—? Not shorten?"
"Erase," Aelric echoed. His grin didn't fade, but his eyes darkened. "That means no numbers, no countdown, nothing. Just gone."
Elara's legs trembled. "That's… that's death."
"No," Aelric corrected, voice low. "That's worse. That's hollow."
---
The pendulum of light swung once, its arc tearing through the void.
The sound ripped through them, and Elara screamed. Her vision blurred as her wrist burned. For an instant, her timer disappeared—only to flicker back.
[2 Days: 14 Hours: 13 Minutes]
She gasped, clutching it as if to hold the numbers in place.
"What—what happened?" she cried.
Aelric exhaled slowly, his corrupted veins pulsing. "Judgment. Every swing decides whether you keep your time… or lose it."
His grin sharpened, feral. "Now it makes sense."
---
The platforms shifted again, carrying them higher into the void. The Wardens didn't return this time—there were no enemies, no chains to break, no bells to destroy. Just the pendulums.
Elara clung to Aelric's sleeve as the first giant blade swung toward their platform. The air howled with its passing. She shrieked, dropping flat as the pendulum tore just overhead, close enough that her hair whipped into her face.
When she dared to look again, she saw the timer on her wrist flicker faintly. [2 Days: 14 Hours: 12 Minutes]
A single minute gone.
Aelric laughed softly, low and bitter. "So that's how it is."
---
The next swing came faster.
This time Aelric shoved Elara down and leapt, his corrupted tendrils hooking into the chain above. The pendulum screamed past, and the shockwave nearly tore his arm from its socket. His grin didn't break.
"Don't freeze, Elara!" he shouted down at her. "Move when I move. That's the only way we live through this."
She swallowed hard, nodding through tears. "O-Okay."
Her knees shook as she stood, but when the next blade swung, she moved—rolling with Aelric's shove, just narrowly avoiding the strike.
Her timer flickered again, but steadied.
[2 Days: 14 Hours: 12 Minutes]
Not stolen. Not this time.
---
Minutes bled into an hour. The pendulums never slowed. They swung in chaotic patterns—sometimes fast, sometimes slow, sometimes all at once. The sound of each swing was like a hammer against their skulls.
Elara's arms ached, her lungs burned. She stumbled again and again, each time yanked to safety by Aelric's tendrils. She should have fallen a dozen times, should have been erased already—but every time, he caught her.
Even as his corruption spread, even as his veins blackened further, he never stopped moving.
She finally screamed over the chaos, "Why are you pushing yourself like this? You'll die!"
He snarled back, his grin wide and terrible. "Because if one of us falls, it won't be you!"
---
Another swing tore through, closer than ever.
Elara dove instinctively—but too slow.
The pendulum of light clipped her arm. Agony tore through her body, her timer vanishing completely for one heartbeat. Her breath caught in her throat, cold terror flooding her chest.
Then it flickered back. [2 Days: 13 Hours: 52 Minutes]
She sobbed, clutching her arm. "I… I almost—"
Aelric dropped beside her, grabbing her shoulders hard. His grin was fierce, eyes blazing through the corruption.
"You didn't. You're still here. That's all that matters."
Tears streaked down her face, but she nodded, forcing herself up again.
---
Finally, after what felt like forever, the pendulum of light swung once more—and froze in midair.
The void shuddered. The smaller pendulums slowed, then stopped entirely.
Silence.
The System's voice thundered, final and cold:
> [Pendulum's Judgment completed.]
[Both participants have endured equilibrium.]
[Remaining Nights: 1.]
[Final Trial Unlocked: The Clockmaker's Truth.]
Elara collapsed, shaking with relief, sobbing into her hands. "One night left… only one…"
Aelric stood tall despite the tremors running through his corrupted arm. His grin burned sharp as ever, his eyes fixed on the void ahead.
"Then it's time," he whispered. "We find the one winding these gears."