Chapter 64 – The Crownless King
Part 2: Trial of the Observer
The Hollow grew stranger as they moved.
It wasn't the beasts—those had fled.
It was the feeling.
Like the world was breathing through stone.
Like something was watching from behind the trees, beneath the dust, inside the bones of the place.
Ariz said nothing, but Serika could see the tension in his gait. He walked like a blade unsheathed—loose in stance, but coiled in silence.
Luceris muttered behind them, "I don't like this. Nothing's hunting us. No echoes. No beasts. Even the bloodflies are gone."
Ariz's voice came low, calm, but clipped.
"Because the Hollow isn't testing us anymore.It's testing me."
They reached an old battlefield—cracked ground, black steel half-buried, blades stabbed into the earth like gravestones. Red mist rolled across the field, thick and slow.
A single pillar stood in the center.
Upon it, a mask.
Smooth. Silver.
Expressionless.
As they approached, Serika froze.
"That's not… an artifact."
Ariz stepped forward.
The mask rose from the pedestal on its own.
It turned to face him.
[System Warning: An Observer wishes to judge your claim]
Proceed with Trial?
Yes | No
Ariz stared into the floating mask.
Then chose.
Yes.
The mask shattered.
The world blinked.
Serika and Luceris were no longer with him.
He stood alone in a different Hollow now.
The sky was a mirror of violet fire.
The battlefield moved.
Swords twitched in the dirt.
And ahead of him stood a being cloaked in long black feathers, body made of smoke, face a blank white void.
It didn't speak.
Not with words.
But Ariz heard it anyway.
"You carry the blood of those who disobeyed.You walk without kneeling.You fight without command.You wear no crown.Who gives you the right?"
Ariz answered, voice steady.
"I don't need a crown.I am what they tried to erase.I live. That's enough."
The creature's wings spread wide.
It pointed.
Twelve silhouettes formed from smoke.
Each wielded a blade of light and flame.
Each shaped like a former Umbrakin King.
The last one looked like Ariz.
[Trial Initiated – Remnant Judgment]Objective: Survive the twelveSecondary: Break the loop
They moved all at once.
Outside the trial, Serika knelt near Ariz's body.
He hadn't fallen—just stopped.
Breathing, still. Eyes closed.
Luceris circled the field. "I don't like this. We should pull him out."
"We can't," Serika said quietly. "Look at the ground."
The earth around Ariz was scorched in perfect rings—concentric circles of ash and sigils none of them recognized.
Serika reached for her blade—
And then stopped.
She'd never seen Ariz flinch before.
But now?
Even unconscious, his brow creased.
His fingers curled.
He was fighting something.
And whatever it was, it wasn't letting go.
Inside, Ariz parried the seventh strike and sliced through the echo's chest.
Shadow exploded in ribbons.
The battlefield bent.
He was bleeding now.
Breathing hard.
But not retreating.
Never that.
The next king stepped forward.
Taller. Wrapped in armor of blackened gold.
Voice hollow.
"We fell for vengeance.We ruled in hatred.What will you do differently?"
Ariz lifted his blades.
And walked forward.