The nightmare dissolved. Alp let out a long, deflated exhale and sat with what had just happened.
Raphael's inner conviction had reached a degree that was almost beyond reason, a quality deeply tied to the Superbia he'd been born with. Fear alone could never change the outcome of this contract. There was nothing left to exploit.
He voluntarily surrendered his final round. The trial ended. Both consciousnesses surfaced quickly back into the real.
Raphael looked thoughtfully at the black robe on his body. Something had been present in the trial that didn't feel like his own mind, but the trial's details didn't come back with him, he had no way of knowing who or what it had been.
