The titan's arm fell.
The sky screamed.
A wave of pressure crashed outward, flattening broken pillars and tearing the ground apart as if the battlefield itself were being punished for existing. Kael felt his bones vibrate violently, cracks forming beneath his feet as he slid back several meters before forcing himself to stop.
The young man beside him was pushed back as well, golden light flaring defensively around his body.
"That thing isn't just a guardian," the man said, voice tight. "It's the trial itself."
The titan took another step.
With each movement, fragments of corpses and shattered weapons fell from its body, reforming instantly, endlessly. At its chest, the massive fear crystal pulsed, beating like a heart, radiating despair so thick it made breathing difficult.
Kael stared at it.
Not with fear.
With hunger.
The devil sigil inside him burned violently, no longer content with passive absorption. It wanted that core—not as fuel, but as proof.
Authority resonance detected.
Threshold breached.
Kael felt something loosen inside his soul.
A lock turning.
"Stay back," the young man said suddenly. "That thing feeds on killing intent and fear. If you charge in recklessly—"
"I know," Kael replied calmly.
He stepped forward anyway.
The young man turned sharply. "Are you insane?!"
Kael did not answer.
He raised one hand.
The battlefield responded.
Fear—ancient, layered, accumulated over countless failed trials—surged toward him like a tidal wave. The devil sigil expanded, black lines spreading across Kael's chest, neck, and arms like living tattoos.
The titan paused.
For the first time—
It hesitated.
The young man's eyes widened. "You're… drawing it in?"
Kael's voice was steady. "No."
He clenched his fist.
"I'm claiming it."
The fear crystal at the titan's chest pulsed violently in response, light flickering erratically as if struggling against an invisible command. Cracks spread across its surface.
The titan roared—this time not in rage, but in something closer to panic.
It charged.
The ground shattered as the massive body surged forward, each step tearing trenches into the battlefield. Its arm swung down again, faster than before, carrying enough force to annihilate a mountain.
The young man moved instantly, golden light exploding outward as he leapt into the air.
"Then don't die!" he shouted.
He struck.
A blade of condensed golden authority slashed across the titan's arm, carving deep into its form. The blow did not destroy it—but it slowed the descent, buying Kael a heartbeat.
That was all Kael needed.
He stepped directly into the shadow of the falling arm.
The impact should have crushed him.
Instead—
The arm froze inches above Kael's head.
The battlefield went silent.
Kael's palm was pressed against it.
Blood poured from his nose, ears, mouth—but his eyes burned with absolute focus.
"This fear," Kael said quietly, voice echoing unnaturally, "doesn't belong to you."
The devil sigil flared blindingly.
The fear crystal shattered.
A scream ripped through the battlefield—not from the titan, but from the place itself. The titan's body began to collapse, layers peeling away as the binding fear was torn out violently.
Kael screamed too.
Pain unlike anything before tore through him as fear flooded his soul unchecked—rage, despair, regret, terror from countless erased existences.
His body collapsed to one knee.
The young man rushed forward. "Kael!"
Kael did not hear him.
He was elsewhere.
Within.
A void opened inside his consciousness, and something ancient looked back at him—not the first devil, but an echo of what devils became when they stopped obeying even themselves.
Choice required.
The words did not sound like a system.
They sounded like a verdict.
Devour the fear completely and become unstable.
Or bind it… and limit your growth.
Kael's hands trembled.
Devour it—and he would gain terrifying power immediately, enough to crush his enemies and dominate this trial.
Bind it—and he would survive, controlled, but slower.
The screams inside him intensified.
The young man grabbed Kael's shoulder. "If you lose yourself now, there won't be anything left to fight later!"
Kael laughed weakly.
"You really are a hero," he muttered.
Then—
He made his choice.
Kael slammed his palm against his own chest.
The devil sigil burned searingly as he forcibly compressed the fear, sealing it behind layers of authority rather than consuming it fully. Pain ripped through every nerve in his body as the excess power was locked away.
The titan disintegrated completely.
The battlefield trembled violently—then began to collapse.
Cracks spread through the ground, through the sky, through reality itself.
The trial was ending.
Kael collapsed fully this time, vision darkening.
The last thing he saw before unconsciousness claimed him—
Was the young man standing over him, golden light flickering weakly…
And the faint outline of countless watching eyes opening beyond the collapsing sky.
Eyes that now knew his name.