[2:00 – SYSTEM ANNOUNCEMENT SUPPRESSED]
Hidden Layer Detected.
Ego Death Resistance Engaged.
True Core of Nurarihyon Revealed.
Stage Extension: Activated.
Estimated Time Remaining: 1 Hour
Participants: 5 Duos
Psychological Collapse Threshold: 85%
---
[2:01 – False End, True Trial]
They thought it was over.
Aya still had her head resting against Kaito's shoulder. Dev and Meera held each other in relief, while Takeshi and Reina spoke softly about their memories of home.
But peace was the real trap.
The entire environment trembled. The air thickened with an invisible weight—an emotion not entirely their own.
It started as a hum.
Then a whisper.
Then the System's voice returned, colder than before.
> "You have touched the surface of Ego. Now survive its Abyss."
From below the floating island of fragmented consciousness, a tower of bone and mirror began rising—twisting, unnatural, like a spinal column made of faces. Each face screamed silently.
Aya stood, blades raised. "It's not over."
"No," Kaito murmured, rising beside her. "That was the shell. Now we face what he truly is."
---
[2:10 – The Tower of the True Self]
They ascended.
The final battlefield wasn't built for warriors.
It was built for confessions.
Each floor of the tower warped their perception. Gravity shifted. Time bent. Thoughts from others echoed as their own. Guilt not theirs suddenly pressed down like lead.
Floor 1: The Confession Chamber
A voice—Nurarihyon's—spoke through the walls.
"You are all liars."
Meera collapsed first. Her father's disappointed voice echoed: "You betrayed your caste for lust."
Dev shook. "You aren't worthy of her."
Takeshi knelt, palms over ears.
Reina bled from her nose. "These aren't my thoughts—"
Kaito snapped his fingers. Aura burst out, blanketing them.
"Aya, use your voice."
Aya didn't hesitate.
She screamed.
A pure, defiant sound—rippling with intent and rage. Her scream shattered the illusions on the first floor.
But it cost her.
She staggered, nose bleeding, breathing ragged.
Kaito caught her.
---
[2:25 – Floor 2: Memory Burn]
They were forced to relive the one memory they never told anyone.
Takeshi saw himself abandoning his little brother.
Reina saw herself surviving by feeding someone else to a monster.
Dev saw himself once pretending to love Meera, just to save her from execution.
Meera saw herself hesitating—once, briefly—when Dev was dying.
Aya saw herself trying to end her life.
Kaito saw—
Nothing.
He frowned.
Where was his hidden memory?
The tower refused to show him anything.
That was worse.
---
[2:40 – Floor 3: The Mirror of Self]
A mirror floated in the air.
They were told to stand before it.
Each saw their "true" reflection—twisted, exaggerated, monstrous versions of themselves. Claws. Masks. Empty eyes.
Only Kaito's reflection smiled at him.
Identical.
Unchanged.
He stepped forward.
The mirror shattered.
And a new figure emerged.
The true Nurarihyon.
A fusion of a thousand thoughts, stitched into a single entity. Its body was fluid, chaotic—ever-shifting faces, limbs, and symbols from Japanese myth, floating in and out of its form. The top half of its face was concealed by a Noh mask of the trickster spirit. The bottom half bore a permanent, hollow grin.
It opened its hands.
"Let's end this."
---
[2:45 – Final Fight: No Weapons, Only Mind]
No swords.
No aura.
No power.
Just will.
Nurarihyon pulled them into his mind—his final trick.
He broke them into copies of themselves and pit them against each other.
Kaito vs. Logical Kaito: the cold version that would sacrifice anyone.
Aya vs. Vengeful Aya: the one that hated her father enough to kill him.
Dev vs. Heroic Dev: the martyr version that wanted to die instead of live in shame.
Meera vs. Obedient Meera: the girl who would have married a caste-approved suitor.
Takeshi and Reina—twisted into fragments and forced to fight or merge with their worst instincts.
Kaito won by embracing all versions of himself.
"I am the liar. The coward. The killer. I'm also the one who chooses—not avoids."
Aya won not by killing her other self, but by hugging her.
"I needed to hear you. I forgive you."
Dev and Meera clasped hands and fought side by side, together.
Takeshi and Reina broke free as well.
Together, all five duos attacked Nurarihyon's consciousness.
He roared—
And finally, broke.
---
[2:59 – SYSTEM MESSAGE: FINAL CLEARED]
[Event 1 – Psychological Trial COMPLETE]
Survivors: 5 Duos
Soul Damage: 73%
Reward Distribution Initiated
Awakener: Kaito Yamada – "Core Stability: Perfect Synchronization – ERROR CLASS"
Awakener: Aya Shirogane – "Core Recognition Matched – UR RANK TRUE SYNC"
Hidden Path Unlocked – Title: "Mind Sovereign" (Undisclosed)
48-Hour Recovery Phase Begins Now
---
[Aftermath – Chapter End]
They wake on the shore of a dark lake, surrounded by sakura trees that shouldn't bloom in this dimension.
Kaito and Aya lie beside each other, hands clasped.
The others, silent but breathing.
Above them, a moon of fractured light shines down.
The first Event has ended.
But a part of them… stayed behind in that tower.
---