C17

Scarlet Dragon King – Chapter 17: The Embers Between Us

The Gate pulsed softly now.

Three mirrors had shattered. Three flames stood strong.

Eric knelt at the center of them—Rias, Grayfia, and Shiva gathered around him in a quiet circle beneath the Trial Sky.

No gods watching.

No pantheons judging.

Just them.

He looked exhausted—but calm. Focused.

Shiva sat cross-legged, arms folded, her long hair brushing the ground behind her like a flowing river. "Three down. Eight more to go." Her tone was steady, but her eyes were gentler than they had ever been.

Rias leaned into Eric's side, her hand sliding into his, fingers interlaced. "I wasn't sure I'd make it. That world… it was like being drowned in my past."

Grayfia sat to his right, not touching—but close. Her silver eyes rested on his face with quiet admiration. "And yet, even in that illusion, you never left our minds."

Eric's lips curled into a soft smile.

"I saw all of it. Felt everything you went through. Each of you," he said, voice low and steady, "walked through hell for me."

Shiva scoffed. "I walked through silence. That was worse."

They laughed.

A moment of light in a storm of shadows.

"But you didn't fall," Eric said. He looked at each of them in turn. "Not because of me. But because of who you already were. I'm just lucky enough to be the one you chose."

Grayfia's voice dropped to a near-whisper. "You gave us that choice."

Rias reached up, cupped his face, and brought her forehead to his. "You didn't save us, Eric. You saw us. And that's something no one ever did before you."

There was a stillness in the air.

Then—

The Gate pulsed again.

And this time, it wasn't warmth.

It was cold.

Eric's expression hardened.

He stood.

From the swirling air, a black mirror began to take shape. Its frame was bone. Its surface, darker than the void.

Behind him, Rias tightened her grip. "Who's next?"

Eric didn't answer right away.

But Grayfia knew.

And Shiva already felt it in her bones.

"Death," Eric said finally. "Her trial is next."

He stepped toward the mirror.

But not alone.

The three women stood behind him, silent pillars of flame and faith.

And as he placed his hand on the surface—

The mirror opened.

Its black glass cracked, folding inward like a blooming flower of obsidian.

Eric stepped forward, eyes steady. But even he felt it—the chill of eternity, the weight of finality.

This wasn't just another trial.

This was Death's world.

—

The Trial Plane: The End of All Things

There was no ground. No sky.

Only a horizon made of broken stars and fading whispers. Time didn't flow here. It paused… then asked if you deserved to move on.

Eric saw her before she spoke.

Death.

A woman cloaked in black so deep, it absorbed thought. Her hair was a cascade of endless midnight, and her eyes—pale silver—glowed like dying moons.

"You've come," she said quietly, floating above a sea of faded souls. "To see if I can still feel."

Eric said nothing at first. He didn't challenge her. Didn't try to seduce her. He just looked.

Like she was real.

Like she was beautiful.

She blinked—almost startled.

"No mortal has ever reached for me without fear," she whispered. "And no god has ever touched me without trying to claim me."

Eric stepped forward. "I'm not trying to touch you. I'm here to see you."

She lowered herself to the starlit ground, a single tear tracing down a cheek that had never known warmth.

"I am the end. The last breath. The forgotten silence."

She turned her hand over—and the memory of a child vanished in her palm, erased forever.

"Who would want this?"

Eric looked at her, sadness in his voice.

"Someone who knows that endings matter. That beauty fades. That even gods can be lonely."

Her eyes widened.

He stepped closer.

"Death isn't cruelty. It's closure. It's peace. You're not a monster, you're a part of everything that lives."

Her trial didn't rage.

It wept.

> She had waited eons not for a warrior… but for a man who would not flinch.

The trial cracked.

Not from power—but from vulnerability.

Eric reached out.

And Death, trembling, took his hand.

Her sigil blazed pure white and black—dual, eternal, and whole.

—

Outside the Trial

Eric emerged slowly, carrying her in his arms. She was ethereal still, but tangible, her pale fingers wrapped around his collar like she might fade again.

Rias, Grayfia, and Shiva watched in silence.

"She passed," Eric whispered. "She let herself be loved."

Death opened her eyes briefly—and smiled.

A soft, haunting smile.

And for the first time in the universe's history—

Death was not alone.

Four flames now burned around Eric.

And somewhere far beyond them…

The Primordial Sun stirred.