The chamber trembled as Jalen crumpled under Veyruun's assault. Blood trickled from his mouth, his body hunched and broken. But his eyes remained fierce, unyielding.
"Is this all you have?" Veyruun's voice rumbled, laced with contempt. "A child thrashing against inevitability. A god unworthy of his own power."
Jalen groaned, struggling to push himself upright. His fingers twitched, claws raking against the stone. But his strength was waning, his vision clouded with pain.
"Jalen!" Nathan's voice tore through the silence, raw and desperate. He lunged forward, his hands already glowing with power. "Get away from him!"
"Ultimate Skill – Time's Requiem."
The world ground to a halt. Nathan's eyes flared with desperate fury as he moved through the frozen air, his body a blur of motion. He reached for Jalen, trying to pull him away from Veyruun's onslaught.
But something was wrong. Veyruun's gaze shifted toward Nathan, his eyes narrowing with disdain. The air itself shuddered as the god's staff cleaved through the stillness.
"Foolish boy. You dare manipulate time before me?"
The moment Nathan's hand grazed Jalen's shoulder, everything snapped back into motion. A force like a tidal wave slammed into Nathan, flinging him across the room. He crashed against the far wall, his body slumping to the floor.
"Nathan!" Lucio shouted, eyes wide with horror. His fists clenched, his knuckles wrapped tight and bloodied.
"Okay… enough of this shit," Lucio growled.
Lucio's eyes widened. He dropped to one knee, his fingers twitching toward his rifle. His voice dropped to a whisper. "Silent Night."
The world seemed to darken, the air itself growing heavy and still. Lucio's presence vanished, and his body cloaked in a shadow so absolute that it bent reality itself. He moved like a ghost, his rifle silent, his every movement erased from sight and sound.
But even that wasn't enough.
Veyruun's eyes flickered. His staff swung through the air, striking a point where Lucio had been only a moment before. The force ripped through the shadows, dragging Lucio into visibility and slamming him against the far wall.
"Your silence is broken," Veyruun hissed. "All your tricks mean nothing before true judgment."
Lucio's body sagged against the stone, his breath coming in shallow gasps. His Ultimate Skill had been shattered like glass.
"Shit… I-I'm not done…" Lucio wheezed, but the fire in his eyes was already dimming.
"Enough." Kullen's voice was low, steady. His eyes flared with emerald light, his presence swelling until it seemed to fill the room.
He took a single step forward, his gaze locked on Veyruun.
"Ultimate Skill – Sovereign's Dominion."
He unleashed a surge of mental power, his thoughts threading into Veyruun's consciousness like steel wires. His power, the very force that made him a ruler, drove itself against Veyruun's mind with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer.
But Veyruun's eyes remained unchanged. His gaze bore into Kullen's mind, sifting through his thoughts as if turning the pages of a book.
"So this is your strength? Insight? Knowledge?" Veyruun sneered. "You fail to realize… that your knowledge means nothing here. I thought your trial would've taught you that..."
Kullen's body trembled. His eyes widened as his mental attack splintered, crumbling under the weight of Veyruun's will. He dropped to his knees, gasping for breath.
"Pathetic," Veyruun spat. "All of you."
His staff raised high, Veyruun unleashed a shockwave that sent all three men crashing into the stone walls. They slumped to the floor, bruised and broken.
"You… are unworthy of the powers you wield," Veyruun intoned, his staff gleaming with judgment. "And those who are unworthy… shall be judged."
He thrust his staff forward, and the air itself seemed to twist. Chains of golden energy erupted from the floor, latching onto Nathan, Lucio, and Kullen. They were dragged across the ground, their bodies held firm as the chains lifted them high into the air.
Veyruun's gaze flickered with contempt. "You will watch him fall. And then you shall follow."
The chains forced them into a Jury Stand, a twisted balcony of stone and metal overlooking the chamber. They struggled, but the restraints held firm, their powers nullified by the oppressive weight of Veyruun's will.
Jalen stared at his friends, his mind spiraling with rage and desperation. Veyruun's attention was once again on him, the staff still gleaming with cruel finality.
"Now, let us finish your trial, fledgling."
The world spun as Jalen dragged himself upright, his body aching, his vision tinged with red. His friends' voices were muffled by the roar of his own blood, the pounding of his heart was so loud it drowned out everything else.
"Stop… preaching…" Jalen growled, his words slurred from pain. "When was the last time you found yourself being judged. This... pathetic trial... y-you're just imposing your will onto others." Jalen continued to force himself to his feet. "THAT ISN'T TRUE JUDGMENT!"
Jalen's body trembled. Blood leaked from his mouth, his arms hanging uselessly at his sides. But his eyes… his eyes were burning. Not with desperation. Not even with anger.
But with something deeper. Something feral.
And then it happened.
A pulse.
Deep and rhythmic, like the beating of a war drum. The air around Jalen began to shimmer, vibrating with energy so potent it crackled like lightning.
Jalen's body straightened, his bones realigning with sickening pops that melted into something smoother, more refined. His muscles tightened, reshaping themselves with a strength that felt both alien and intrinsic. Skin that had been bruised and torn mended itself before their eyes, the wounds knitting together with a faint, ethereal glow.
His eyes blazed—not just gold, not just violet, but a swirling fusion of both, their depths hinting at something more. Something ancient and furious.
But it wasn't just his body that changed. His clothes warped and twisted, the fabric unraveling only to weave itself back together into something entirely new.
Gone were the torn and bloodied remnants of his battle-worn outfit. Instead, Jalen's attire had transformed into a dark, fitted coat that flared at the bottom, its edges lined with shimmering gold and violet patterns that seemed to pulse like living veins. The coat's sleeves were wrapped with ethereal threads that moved like wisps of smoke, trailing his movements with a subtle, otherworldly elegance. His pants were reinforced with a metallic sheen, dark and sleek like obsidian, with golden accents tracing down his legs like flowing rivulets.
His gloves were gone—replaced by bands of golden light etched directly into his skin, the patterns spiraling up his arms with precision and purpose. They moved and shifted like clockwork, ticking softly with a rhythm that matched the thunderous beat of his own heart.
Veyruun took a step back, his expression shifting from contempt to surprise. "What… is this? You dare to ascend before me, boy!"
Jalen's grin was sharp, feral, the edges of his teeth gleaming with a faint, ethereal glow. His voice rumbled with a power that resonated through the stone itself.
"You wanted judgment, right? I think it's time that I judge you."
The chamber trembled violently as Jalen's power surged outward, a shockwave of energy so fierce it sent cracks racing through the stone walls. The air itself rippled with his awakening, bending and warping like heat above a flame. Dust and debris cascaded from the ceiling, drawn toward him in spiraling currents before disintegrating into shimmering motes of light.
Chains of golden energy lashed toward him, desperate to bind him before his awakening could be completed. But they shattered before they could even reach him, splintering into glimmering shards that dissolved into the air.
With a roar, he unleashed a blast of raw energy that shook the chamber to its foundation, the air splitting with the force of his defiance.
Veyruun met the blast with his own power, his staff slashing through the air as they collided in a thunderous explosion.
The chamber quaked, and for the first time since their arrival, the god seemed genuinely challenged.
The clash left them both panting, their eyes locked in a savage, unyielding stare.