The Crowns Judgement

Rin walked alone, fists clenched.

The walls here were wrong—stone, not steel. Torches, not LEDs. She was underground now, deeper than the others.

And at the end of the corridor, a single doorway framed in firelight.

No system voice.

No countdown.

Just a whisper from the stone above:

"Trial of the Crown."

She stepped inside.

The door sealed behind her with a cold boom.

The chamber was wide, circular, and lined with statues—all of them wearing crowns, but all headless.

At the center, a cracked pedestal.

A sword impaled into it.

Words etched into the stone read:

"Claim the Crown."

"Or Fall As One Who Tried."

She laughed once. "What kind of recycled garbage is this?"

But as she stepped forward—

The statues moved.

Each statue slowly raised a hand toward her.

One held a chain.

One held a scroll.

One held a mirror.

But none spoke.

Instead, a memory that wasn't hers slammed into her chest:

Her standing on the King's Trail.

The final trial.

And the crown offered to her—

But she turned away.

"I didn't want it," Rin growled, stumbling backward.

"I never asked to be Queen."

But the statues began chanting in a cold, unified voice:

"You walked the trail."

"You spilled the blood."

"You left the seat empty."

"Now finish it."

The sword in the pedestal began to hum.

And behind her—a figure appeared, cloaked in lightless shadow.

Crowned. Smiling.

It was her.

Not a copy.

Not a glitch.

Her—but crowned.

A version that did take the throne.

And now it raised its own sword.

Rin faced herself.

The statues stilled.

The final judgment was clear:

To claim the crown, Rin must defeat the version of herself that wanted it.

In the chapter's final spread:

Rin grips the pedestal blade, voice shaking.

"I didn't want the crown…"

"But I'm done letting ghosts wear it for me."

The blades clash.

And the chamber roars to life.