The Labyrinth trembled beneath their feet. Vehlin, the Watcher of Echoes, descended like a falling star, his cloak stitched from collapsed timelines and his voice resonating like the strike of a divine bell.
"You seek to break the balance," he thundered. "You challenge what the Architects have woven for eternity."
Arin stepped forward, Sovereign aura flaring behind him like a celestial tide.
"I seek freedom," he said coldly. "And the truth."
Vehlin raised his hand.
> Trial Sequence Initiated: Sovereign Candidate Detected.
A spiral of glyphs formed a dome around them, trapping time itself. Archive scanned the runes, eyes wide.
"This is a Trial of Paradox," she whispered. "Few survive it."
---
The First Trial: Burden of Infinite Selves
The world blinked.
Arin was suddenly alone—in a realm of mirrors. Each reflection showed a different version of himself:
Arin the coward.
Arin the tyrant.
Arin the forgotten.
Arin the murderer.
They lunged, blades of guilt and fear clashing against him.
> System Alert: You are being tested against your fractured soul.
Memories invaded him—his lowest moments, his regrets, his rage.
"I am not them," he gasped, blocking strike after strike.
"But you could become them," the reflections echoed.
Drawing strength from his core, from Astra's belief and his companions' hope, Arin roared, "I am not the shadow—I am the one who walks through it!"
With that, he shattered the illusions.
> Trial One Passed: Identity Confirmed.
---
The Second Trial: The Weight of Time
Suddenly, Arin aged rapidly. His hair turned silver. Bones ached. His system dimmed.
Time crushed him under its relentless march.
Vehlin's voice echoed, "Sovereignty means resisting even the nature of time. Can you bear its weight?"
Kneeling, Arin's thoughts spiraled—every moment he wasted, every second he regretted. But in the collapse, he remembered something:
Time is a river, but I am the storm that alters its course.
He stood, reversing the flow within his system.
> Chrono Core Reversal Successful. Trial Two Passed: Temporal Authority Verified.
---
The Third Trial: The Choice
Vehlin appeared before him now—not as an enemy, but as a gatekeeper.
"Final trial: You may see the truth of your system... but at a price."
A portal opened.
On one side: Truth. The real source of the system, the Architects' war, and Arin's destined role.
On the other: Power. A surge that would elevate him instantly to a true Sovereign, able to fight gods—but blinded to the deeper knowledge.
Astra's voice rang in his memory: "You were meant to change this world, not just rule it."
Arin reached for the truth.
---
Revelation
Visions flooded him:
The system was not a divine gift. It was a containment protocol—created by the Architects to trap potential threats to their rule across dimensions.
Arin's awakening was an error—or perhaps, an act of rebellion from a forgotten Architect.
Sovereigns were never meant to exist. They were viruses in the code of reality.
> Sovereign Insight Unlocked. New Path Initiated: Breaker of Constructs.
Vehlin looked at him with both fear and awe.
"You chose the impossible path," he said.
Arin's voice was calm.
"Then I'll make the impossible inevitable."
The Labyrinth shattered.
His allies reappeared, and Astra caught him as he staggered. Archive looked on, stunned.
"You... changed the system," she whispered.
"No," Arin replied. "I started rewriting it."