The figure beneath the fragment did not move.
Neither did Arin.
For several long seconds, silence filled the chamber beneath the mountain while golden energy flowed endlessly through the cracks across the floor around them. The pressure radiating from the fragment above distorted the air itself, causing faint ripples to spread through the darkness like reality struggling to remain stable near Vijaya's presence.
Everyone behind Arin instinctively tensed.
Riven slowly lowered his voice.
"…please tell me that's not another monster."
The figure finally spoke before Arin could answer.
"You have already fought enough monsters."
The voice echoed unnaturally through the chamber. Calm. Ancient. Neither hostile nor welcoming. It carried no emotion and yet somehow sounded unbearably heavy at the same time.
The figure slowly stepped forward afterward, revealing more clearly beneath the golden light spreading through the chamber. The black robes covering its body looked impossibly old, worn by centuries yet untouched by decay. Symbols glowed faintly across the fabric while the stone spear resting in its hand radiated the same pressure as the labyrinth itself.
But what unsettled Arin most—
was the face.
Not because he recognized it.
Because he didn't.
The figure's appearance felt strangely incomplete somehow. Like looking at someone who existed partially outside reality itself. The features shifted subtly every few seconds, never fully remaining the same. Sometimes the figure looked old. Sometimes young. Sometimes almost human. Sometimes something else entirely.
And yet the golden eyes never changed.
They remained fixed directly on Arin.
"You carry his soul."
The figure's voice echoed softly again.
Not a question.
Arin stepped forward slightly afterward.
"…who are you."
Silence followed briefly.
Then—
"The last witness."
The answer explained absolutely nothing.
Riven immediately frowned.
"That somehow made it more confusing."
The figure ignored him completely.
Its gaze remained fixed only on Arin while the chamber itself slowly illuminated brighter around them.
"You stand before the fragment of Vijaya."
Another pause.
"The undefeated weapon."
Golden energy surged faintly around the floating fragment afterward.
"And like every life before you…"
The figure slowly lifted one hand toward Arin.
"…you seek completion."
The words settled heavily inside the chamber.
Arin's expression darkened slightly afterward.
Because the figure was right.
He was seeking completion.
Not merely of the weapon.
Of himself.
Fragments of his soul remained scattered across the cycle itself, though he still didn't fully understand that truth yet. Deep down, however, part of him already felt incomplete every time Vijaya reacted to him. Like the weapon recognized something missing inside him even before he did.
The figure stepped closer toward the center of the chamber afterward.
"But strength alone shall never claim Vijaya."
The labyrinth around them pulsed faintly in response.
"The first guardian tested your compassion."
Arin glanced briefly backward toward the path they came from. The corrupted beast. The suffering hidden beneath its violence.
He understood now.
If he had simply killed it without understanding the trial…
the maze probably would have rejected him entirely.
The figure continued quietly.
"But this fragment…"
Its glowing eyes narrowed slightly.
"…tests something else."
The chamber suddenly changed.
The moment those words left the figure's mouth, golden light erupted across the floor beneath Arin's feet. Symbols spread outward violently while reality itself distorted around him like shattered reflections moving across water.
Liora immediately stepped forward.
"Arin—!"
But the world disappeared before she reached him.
Everything vanished into light.
Then silence.
When Arin opened his eyes again—
he stood alone.
The chamber beneath the mountain was gone completely.
Instead, endless darkness surrounded him in every direction while fragments of golden light drifted through the emptiness like falling stars. There was no floor. No ceiling. No sense of distance or time.
Only silence remained.
Then slowly—
voices emerged.
Familiar voices.
"…you failed again."
Arin froze instantly.
Aditya stood several meters away within the darkness.
No—
not exactly.
It looked like Aditya.
The same exhausted eyes near the end of his first life. The same expression carrying unbearable regret beneath forced calmness. Blood covered portions of his clothing while burn marks spread across his arms from creating the sun that destroyed the organization.
The memory hurt instantly.
Aditya looked toward him quietly afterward.
"You couldn't save her."
Pain twisted through Arin's chest immediately.
Because despite everything—
that regret never disappeared.
Another figure emerged from the darkness beside Aditya afterward.
Karna.
Standing beneath golden sunlight while blood covered his armor during Kurukshetra's final moments.
The same fate-bound expression.
The same exhaustion hidden beneath pride.
And then another figure appeared.
Mira.
Standing silently between them.
Not smiling.
Just watching him sadly.
Arin's breathing became uneven instantly.
"…this isn't real."
The darkness answered him.
"No."
The voice belonged to the witness.
"But your pain is."
The empty world around him shifted slightly afterward while more figures slowly emerged from the darkness itself.
Vrushali.
Supriya.
Fragments of lives he barely remembered fully.
And every single one looked at him the same way.
Not accusing.
Worse.
Sorrowful.
The witness's voice echoed again from nowhere and everywhere simultaneously.
"Why do you seek Vijaya again."
Arin clenched his fists immediately.
"To stop the cycle."
"Wrong."
The answer came instantly.
The darkness trembled softly afterward.
"You seek it because you cannot let go."
The words struck deeper than expected.
Arin's expression darkened.
"…that's not true."
The witness spoke again.
"You carry every death."
Another pause.
"Every failure."
The darkness shifted violently now while countless memories appeared around him simultaneously.
Kurukshetra burning beneath divine weapons.
Aditya collapsing beside Mira's corpse.
Endless lifetimes ending in blood and loss.
"You continue searching for completion because you believe one perfect ending will justify every previous tragedy."
Arin's breathing grew heavier instantly.
Because part of him knew the statement was true.
Not completely.
But enough.
He had spent countless lives chasing an ending where nobody died. An ending where fate finally stopped taking everything from him repeatedly.
And somewhere along the way—
he stopped knowing whether he fought to save the future…
or simply because he could not accept the past.
The darkness around him deepened again.
Then suddenly—
Mira stepped closer.
Not the memory.
Something else.
The version of her from his final moments as Aditya.
The one who died smiling despite knowing he would follow her immediately afterward.
"…you blame yourself too much."
Her voice remained painfully gentle.
Arin looked away immediately.
"…I failed you."
"No."
The answer came instantly.
"You loved me."
Silence followed.
The words hurt more than accusations ever could.
Mira stepped closer afterward.
"And that became your burden."
Another pause.
"But love was never supposed to become chains."
The darkness trembled softly again afterward.
"You keep carrying the dead with you because you fear forgetting them."
Arin slowly looked toward her again.
And suddenly realized something terrifying.
Every life.
Every memory.
Every fragment of pain.
He never let any of it rest.
He carried everything endlessly.
Because deep down—
forgetting felt worse than suffering.
The witness spoke again quietly.
"Then answer."
The darkness around him shifted completely afterward.
Suddenly he stood beneath the sky from his life as Aditya again. The battlefield before the organization's destruction. Mira bleeding beside him while the artificial sun burned overhead.
The exact moment before everything ended.
"You may save her."
Arin froze instantly.
The witness continued calmly.
"Abandon the cycle."
Another pause.
"Remain here."
The illusion around him became almost indistinguishable from reality now. Mira looked alive beside him. The war looked unwon. Time itself seemed paused waiting for his decision.
"You may stay with her forever."
Silence shattered across his mind instantly afterward.
Because for one brief moment—
he wanted to.
More than anything.
No more cycles.
No more loss.
No more endless suffering across lifetimes.
Just her.
Alive.
The temptation hit harder than any battle he had ever faced.
Then Mira looked toward him quietly.
And smiled sadly.
Exactly the same way she smiled before dying.
"…you already know my answer."
Arin closed his eyes slowly afterward.
Pain spread through his chest immediately.
Because yes—
he did know.
Mira would never allow him to abandon the future simply to remain with her memory forever.
That was not love.
That was escape.
And slowly—
Arin finally understood the real trial.
Not strength.
Acceptance.
The darkness around him trembled softly while he exhaled quietly afterward.
"…I can't change what happened."
The illusion remained silent.
"I can remember them."
Another pause.
"But I can't keep living only for the past."
The battlefield around him slowly began fading afterward.
Mira smiled softly one final time.
And this time—
the expression carried peace instead of sorrow.
"That's enough."
Light erupted violently across the darkness immediately afterward.
The illusion shattered completely.
Arin opened his eyes sharply back inside the underground chamber beneath the mountain.
The others immediately rushed toward him.
"Arin!" Liora grabbed his arm instantly. "What happened?!"
He stared forward silently for several seconds before finally realizing only moments passed in reality.
The witness remained standing beneath the fragment exactly where it had before.
But now—
the figure bowed its head slightly.
"The trial is complete."
The massive fragment above the chamber suddenly descended slowly afterward. Golden energy surged violently through the room while symbols illuminated across every wall simultaneously. The fragment floated directly toward Arin before stopping inches away from him.
Then slowly—
it merged with the first fragment he carried.
The reaction shook the entire mountain.
Golden light exploded outward across the chamber while the fragments fused together into something larger. The shape of a bow became more visible now. Ancient black-gold metal connected seamlessly while burning symbols spread across the weapon fragments like flowing fire.
And the moment they combined—
Arin saw them.
Two distant lights appearing inside his mind instantly afterward.
One burned crimson beyond enormous walls and towers.
A kingdom.
Ancient. Hidden.
The second light felt stranger.
Farther away.
Not connected to any memory he recognized.
Darkness surrounded it completely.
And yet Vijaya reacted more strongly toward that fragment than the others.
The vision disappeared immediately afterward.
Arin staggered slightly while the others stared at the partially restored weapon in shock.
Riven blinked slowly.
"…okay that definitely got bigger."
Even Kael looked speechless now.
Liora stepped closer toward Arin carefully.
"You saw something."
He nodded slowly.
"Two more fragments."
Silence settled instantly.
"Where?" Darin asked immediately.
Arin looked upward instinctively toward the mountain above them.
"…we need to go outside."
The witness remained silent while the group slowly left the underground chamber afterward. But just before Arin fully turned away, the figure finally spoke one last time.
"Remember this, descendant of the cycle."
Arin stopped.
"The final fragment does not wait at the end."
Another pause.
"It waits at the beginning."
Then the figure vanished entirely into golden light.
The group reached the summit again shortly before dawn.
Cold wind rushed across the mountain while dark clouds slowly parted overhead. Everyone stood silently near the edge of the summit while Arin held the newly combined fragments of Vijaya carefully in his hands.
The weapon pulsed faintly afterward.
Then suddenly—
two beams of golden light erupted from it directly into the horizon.
One pointed westward toward distant lands hidden beyond enormous mountain ranges.
A kingdom.
The other pointed toward somewhere far darker. Farther. A place none of them recognized.
But the moment Arin looked toward that second light—
something inside him trembled violently.
Not memory.
Fear.
And deep down—
he understood one thing immediately.
That place held answers he was not ready to face yet.