Chapter 45: The Tyrant Within
The ritual circle was still.
Above Andrew, the stars twisted unnaturally, forming constellations that blinked and realigned like eyes in the sky. The runes beneath his feet glowed with pale blue fire as the Trial began—not a test of strength, but of identity.
Mihai stood just beyond the circle, silent.
The Starbound guardian—the silver-eyed woman—whispered a final warning:
"You will not face illusions. You will face the truth."
And then, the world shattered.
- The First Reflection -
The sky turned crimson.
Andrew opened his eyes… and found himself standing in a throne room made of obsidian and veins of glowing shadow. At the far end of the room, seated upon a jagged throne of broken blades, was a man who wore his face.
But his eyes were soulless. His armor was gilded in the screams of the fallen. He radiated command and cruelty like a second skin.
"Ah," the reflection said with a smirk. "So this is the newest shell."
Andrew raised Ashren.
"I'm not you."
The reflection stood, slowly descending the stairs.
"No. But I am what you could be. What you once were. And what you may need to be again."
- The Debate of Blades -
Steel rang in the starless air as the two Andrews clashed.
Shadow met shadow.
Ashren screamed in conflict, recognizing both masters—yet loyal only to one.
"You think you can fight this war with hope?" the reflection sneered, parrying with ease. "You think mercy will save a world like this?"
"No," Andrew growled. "But cruelty won't rebuild it either."
The darker Andrew slammed his blade into the ground. The room shook with ancient energy, as ghostly armies of shadow soldiers marched through the walls, kneeling before him.
"I built peace. With power. With fear."
Andrew slashed through a specter and stepped forward.
"You didn't build peace. You buried resistance."
- The Breaking Point -
Wounded, exhausted, Andrew dropped to one knee. The reflection stood over him, blade pointed at his heart.
"Give up this lie of heroism. Return to what you were. Together, we could unite the continents again. Crush the gods. Burn the chains of fate. All you must do... is accept me."
Andrew looked up, panting.
And smiled.
"No."
Ashren pulsed—not in darkness… but in clarity.
A silver sheen overtook the shadow for a moment, and Andrew surged upward, his blade shining with something new. Something that was his own.
He struck forward.
And shattered the reflection into a thousand fragments of memory.
- Awakening -
He gasped.
Back in the circle. The stars had stopped moving.
The woman with silver eyes stepped forward, eyes widened in surprise.
"You resisted the shadow... but didn't kill it. You fractured it."
Andrew stood, breathing hard.
"He's still in me. But I choose who I become."
Mihai exhaled quietly. The first test was passed.
But not the last.
- In the Distant Dark... -
Kaelreth stood over a summoning circle now glowing with black and red energy.
Behind him knelt six figures—his generals, half-flesh, half-shadow.
And in the deepest part of the summoning fire…
A god's heart began to beat.
"He's growing stronger," Kaelreth said softly. "But so are we."