The Devourer's Dominion

The air changed the moment Aetheron stepped through the doorway.

It wasn't just the ruins anymore. The temperature dropped, and the silence stretched, thick and heavy. The space ahead wasn't like the twisting corridors they had fought through. This was different.

A long, narrow bridge stretched forward, disappearing into the shadows. Below it—nothing. No stone, no ground, no indication that anything had ever existed beyond this path.

Just a void.

Aetheron slowed his steps, his Dominion flaring instinctively. The power from the ruins still pulsed inside him, guiding him forward, but something felt off.

Lyara stepped in beside him, crossing her arms. "Why is it always the creepy ones?"

Veyrin didn't say anything, but his hand hovered over his weapon, eyes scanning the darkness.

They walked forward.

The bridge was silent under their steps, the only sound coming from their movements. But as they moved—

The void stirred.

Aetheron stopped. The air was shifting, twisting. Shapes formed at the edges of their vision, flickering, as if they weren't really there.

Then—

A whisper.

Aetheron barely caught it. A low, distant voice, echoing through the emptiness. It wasn't words, not exactly. More like fragments, scattered thoughts pressing against the edges of his mind.

Then another.

And another.

Until the whispers grew into a chorus.

Lyara shivered. "Please tell me I'm not the only one hearing that."

Veyrin's grip on his weapon tightened. "You're not."

Aetheron remained still. The voices weren't attacking. Not yet.

But something was watching.

Then—

A shadow moved.

The Watcher's Trial

It didn't arrive so much as it became.

One moment, there was nothing. The next, a figure stood in their path.

It was tall. Taller than anything they had seen before. A body draped in shifting darkness, featureless except for the vague outline of something resembling a face. It had no eyes, yet it was looking straight at them.

Then—

It spoke.

Not in words. Not in sound.

In pressure.

Aetheron felt it inside his skull, a force pushing against his mind. It wasn't an attack. It was a question.

A demand.

A test.

The bridge beneath them shook.

Veyrin reacted first, drawing his weapon, but Aetheron raised a hand, stopping him. "Wait."

The figure didn't attack.

Not yet.

Instead, it raised an arm, and the void responded.

Shadows burst from the emptiness, twisting into shapes—figures. Not just any figures. People.

Familiar ones.

Aetheron's breath caught as he saw them.

Faces from his past. Some long gone. Some still alive. But all of them—wrong.

Their eyes were hollow. Their expressions empty.

Then they moved.

The Battle of Echoes

The first strike came without warning.

Aetheron barely dodged as a shadowed figure lunged at him, its form twisting mid-attack. He countered, Dominion flaring, but the moment his energy touched it—

It dispersed.

No impact. No resistance. Like hitting smoke.

Lyara cursed, flipping backward as another figure attacked her. "They're not solid!"

Veyrin swung his blade, slicing straight through one, but it reformed instantly, lunging at him again.

Aetheron's mind raced. These weren't normal enemies. They weren't physical.

They were projections.

Memories twisted into weapons.

The Watcher wasn't testing their strength. It was testing their minds.

Aetheron's Dominion pulsed, analyzing. There had to be a core—something controlling them.

Then he saw it.

A thread.

Thin, barely visible, stretching from each shadow back to the Watcher.

Aetheron didn't hesitate.

He moved, dodging between the echoes, weaving through their attacks as he rushed toward the source.

The Watcher remained still.

Waiting.

Aetheron's Dominion surged, and he struck—

But the moment he did—

The world collapsed.

Into the Abyss

Aetheron's vision shattered.

For a moment, there was nothing.

Then—

Aetheron was standing somewhere else.

A ruined battlefield. The air thick with the scent of blood and ash.

And in front of him—

A figure.

Not the Watcher.

Not an enemy.

But himself.

Aetheron stared. His reflection looked back. Same eyes. Same scars.

But different.

The other Aetheron wasn't holding a weapon. His hands were empty, but his presence was crushing. A force that made the very air tremble.

Then—

He moved.

Faster than thought.

Aetheron barely reacted before a fist slammed into his gut, sending him flying.

Pain exploded through his body as he crashed into the ground. Dust and debris scattered around him.

He pushed himself up, gasping. "What—"

The other Aetheron tilted his head. Then he raised his hand—

And the entire battlefield responded.

The sky darkened. The ground trembled. Power surged around him, a force Aetheron had never felt before.

No—

Not never.

This was his power.

Unrestrained. Uncontrolled.

This was what he could become.

And it was going to kill him.

Breaking the Illusion

Aetheron moved.

His Dominion flared as he charged, dodging the oncoming blasts of power. His other self barely reacted, eyes empty, movements effortless.

Aetheron struck—his blade cutting forward—

But his reflection caught it.

With his bare hand.

Aetheron's eyes widened. Then—

His other self crushed the blade in his grip.

The shards disintegrated before they hit the ground.

Then he attacked.

Aetheron barely blocked as a fist slammed into his arm, the force sending him skidding back. His bones screamed.

This wasn't just a test.

This was a warning.

Aetheron's Dominion flared again, but this time, he didn't attack.

He understood.

The test wasn't about winning.

It was about acceptance.

Aetheron exhaled. He let the energy settle, let his thoughts clear. His other self stood still, waiting for him to make the next move.

Aetheron lowered his arms.

And the moment he did—

The reflection vanished.

The battlefield shattered—

And Aetheron was back on the bridge.

The Path Forward

The Watcher was gone.

The shadows had disappeared. The void had returned to silence.

Veyrin and Lyara were standing nearby, looking disoriented.

Lyara blinked. "Okay. That was… something."

Veyrin exhaled. "Did we pass?"

Aetheron looked ahead.

The bridge had changed.

No longer just a path. It was leading somewhere.

Aetheron didn't respond.

He stepped forward—

And the void opened.