Neal didn’t flinch.
He didn’t run. He didn’t beg. He stood tall.
And he whispered, "You’re not my brother."
The ground beneath them rumbled.
Because in that mont, Neal’s guilt stopped controlling him.
The pain didn’t vanish, but sothing else surged forward and it was rage.
Not wild. Not mindless. But cold, sharp and focused rage.
He clenched his fist, and all the light in the world vanished — for one split second, the battlefield plunged into night.
The illusion froze mid-attack.
And then.
A detonation of color.
Neal’s right fist glowed with prismatic light, every color of dawn condensed into a single point. Red, blue, violet, silver, light itself bent toward him, drawn to him.
"How daring of you to try to sully my mories of my brother?!," Neal growled.
He punched forward.
The world cracked.
A shockwave shattered the sky, peeled the clouds open like paper, and disintegrated everything in front of him.
No scream. No blood.
Just silence.
When light returned, the battlefield was gone.
All of it.
What remained was a single golden pedestal, hovering in an endless void. And on it, a glowing orb.
The system spoke again.
[Trial of Truth: Complete.]
You have resisted the illusion. You have refused to dishonor mory. Guilt transford into purpose.
Reward: Seer of the True Fla
Grants user the passive ability to distinguish truth from illusion, even within divine domains. Nullifies false mories and deceit-based illusions up to Epic Rank.
Unique trait unlock : Light-Origin Trait
Commune with the stars to recieve their blessings.
Neal lowered his fist, shoulders rising and falling.
Disappointnt flashed in his eyes for a mont. He intended to obliterate the trial itself for playing with his mories of his precious little brother but he was too weak for that.
He didn’t smile.
He didn’t cry.
But he rembered.
Every face.
Every promise.
Every loss.
And with a quiet voice, he whispered into the void.
"I’ll never be too late again."
The space beneath his feet glowed and in the next mont he was teleported to a wide expanse of emptiness, white floors made of materials he had never seen or heard before, emitting a very pleasant energy.
He closed his eyes and inhaled the energy.
Then he realised that inhaling this energy gives him XP in bulk. The next mont he sat down and started ditating absorbing as much energy as he could.
Neal sat cross-legged in the quiet white expanse, his breathing slow, steady.
The energy here was unlike anything he had ever known or heard off, soft, nourishing, as if the realm itself was trying to feed him. Every breath drew in raw XP, the system rewarding his existence.
* 10,000 XP... 15,000 XP...
His fists twitched with restrained power. He could feel it the power rissing withing him.
Then a shimr.
The silence cracked.
Space twitched open beside him like fabric being torn. A jagged rift split the white air, and violet sparks flared as a figure stepped through.
Alira.
Silver hair, dark cloak, slender fra, it was unmistakably her.
But sothing was wrong.
She landed too lightly. Too silent.
Her head tilted at an unnatural angle, and her expression was... vacant. Eyes unfocused, lips twitching ever so slightly.
"Alira?" Neal called, rising to his feet.
No response.
He took a step forward. "Did you finish your trial? Are you okay?"
Still nothing.
Her gaze finally t his, and for a heartbeat, it was her.
Then—
The corner of her mouth pulled upward. Slowly. Deliberately.
Into a twisted, eerie grin.
Not one of triumph. Not one of relief.
It was the kind of smile predators wore right before the kill.
Neal’s voice dropped. "...Who are you?"
The smile widened.
Then ca the answer.
Whispered. Distorted.
"...Not Alira."
A spike of dread punched through his chest.
His Solari flas flared as his muscles tensed. "Get. Out. Of. Her."
But she was already moving.
Faster than before. Too fast to be Alira.
A shadowy claw ford over her hand and lunged for his throat.
Neal barely raised his guard in ti, a wall of solar flas erupting between them. The impact cracked the floor, sending white shards flying.
He slid backward, skidding to a stop, teeth clenched.
Alira or the thing inside her straightened again, her head cocked to the side.
No emotion. No hesitation.
Only cold intent.
Neal growled, eyes blazing. "You’re not Alira. You’re a parasite wearing her skin."
The entity let out a quiet, amused hum. "And you’re the brother who couldn’t even save his family. Will you fail her too?"
Neal’s aura exploded outward in a blaze of light.
"Touch her again, and I’ll burn you out of existence."
Then.
Both vanished in a blur.
A flash of white and black clashed in the center of the field. A strike parried. A feint turned into a hook. Neal’s fist grazed her cheek, light sizzling across her skin, just enough to draw a hiss.
But the creature retaliated just as fast, her heel sweeping his legs as another clawed hand ca down.
They clashed, again and again. Alira’s possessed body moving with deadly elegance, corrupted speed. Neal answering with brute force and holy fury.
Sparks danced. Light and shadow warred.
Every blow threatened to be the last.
And yet.
Neal’s face was calm.
Because deep inside that storm of violence, in every flicker of the corrupted soul before him,
He still saw her.
Fighting back.
Trapped.
"...I’m going to save you," he muttered under his breath, dodging a strike that cracked the floor. "I swear on everything I have."
Alira’s expression twisted, eyes flickering, for a heartbeat between cold void and panicked recognition.
Neal noticed.
"...You’re still in there."
The next strike she hesitated.
Just for a second.
But it was enough.
He charged forward, tackling her to the ground, both rolling in a blur of tangled limbs and cracked air—
And as they skidded to a stop—
Alira opened her mouth wide.
Not to speak. But to scream.
And the voice that ca out was not hers.
It was dozens.
Screeching. Laughing. Whispering all at once.
"YOU CANNOT SAVE HER."
Neal’s eyes widened.
Alira’s body arched, darkness oozing from her mouth, eyes, and fingertips like smoke from a dying star.
The white floor split.
The very light recoiled.
And as Neal tried to force her down, hands gripping her shoulders,
She looked at him with her eyes this ti.
Tears glistened.
And she whispered,
"...Kill ."
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