Chapter 7: Trial of the Unseen

Orion landed on his feet, but the world around him was no longer the shifting corridors of the Labyrinth. Instead, he stood in a vast, empty void where the stars had been snuffed out. A voice, ancient and commanding, echoed from the darkness.

"The first trial is the Trial of the Unseen. Face what you deny. See what you refuse. Only then will the path reveal itself."

Orion felt the weight of something pressing against his chest—his own past, his regrets, his buried fears. The void shimmered, and suddenly, he was no longer alone.

Figures emerged from the darkness. His mother, the woman he had lost long ago, stood before him, her face gentle yet unreadable. Behind her, shadows took form—faces he recognized, comrades he had failed, enemies who had fallen at his hands.

"This isn't real," Orion whispered. "It's an illusion."

The shade of his mother stepped forward. "Is it? Or is this the truth you refuse to see?"

A searing pain shot through Orion's head. He dropped to one knee, gasping. The memories came rushing back—his childhood, the moment he first touched the Astral Paradox, the day he lost everything. The illusions weren't attacking him. They were forcing him to relive what he had buried deep inside.

Astraea's voice rang through his mind. "Do not resist. Accept what you see. Only then can you move forward."

Orion clenched his fists, forcing himself to his feet. "I won't be controlled by my past."

The shadows shifted. The illusion of his mother smiled, but sadness lingered in her eyes. "Then prove it."

A sudden wave of force slammed into him, sending him flying backward. When he landed, the void twisted, and new figures emerged. One of them made his blood turn to ice.

It was himself—another Orion, standing tall, eyes burning with raw power. This Orion was different, cloaked in a dark aura, his expression unreadable.

"This is the you that could have been," the voice of the trial declared. "Defeat him, or become him."

The other Orion raised his hand, summoning a blade identical to Eos but dripping with dark energy.

Orion exhaled sharply. "Great. Fighting myself. That's a new one."

His dark counterpart lunged.

The battle had begun.