Chapter 59: Beyond the Veil of Forgetfulness

The darkness was absolute.

Akihiko didn't feel the ground beneath his feet, nor the weight of his own existence. Only an endless void, an abyss in which reality fragmented and disappeared into nothingness.

"Is this how it ends?" he thought. Absolute oblivion.

But then, a spark. A heartbeat. Something inside him clung to reality. Ezra's voice still echoed in his mind.

"You are nothing here. This place devours even the memory of the gods."

The Weight of Memories

A violet flash pierced the blackness. Akihiko's katana shone dimly, like a beacon in the middle of nowhere. Its existence had not yet been erased.

He gritted his teeth and closed his eyes. If this was the abyss, then he would become the crack that spanned it.

Suddenly, a draft hit his face. He was falling.

He opened his eyes and saw a firmament of liquid shadows swirling around him. Fragments of the City of Oblivion floated around him like ruins suspended in the void. And in the distance, an enormous structure: a coliseum of dark stone, where damned souls swirled like tormented specters.

That's where Ezra was waiting for them.

The Colosseum of Oblivion

Isabella and Kael appeared beside him, as if they'd been ripped from another plane of reality. They both looked confused, but their survival instincts immediately kicked in. They were in Ezra's domain.

In the center of the coliseum, standing on a throne carved from obsidian, Ezra watched them with his eternal calm. "It never ceases to amaze me how much you resist, Akihiko. Here, you're nothing more than an echo about to fade away."

Akihiko didn't respond. He just raised his katana, his gaze blazing with determination.

Ezra smiled slightly. "Very well... then let's see if you can defy oblivion itself."

The shadows around him took shape.

The coliseum shook.

The Awakening of Oblivion

Before Akihiko could move, a surge of dark energy surged through the air. His body felt heavy, as if something invisible was trying to pull him from reality. The surroundings were unstable. Every step he took felt like he was walking on nonexistent ground, in a world that wasn't meant to be.

The damned souls floating in the air began to slowly descend. Their forms were blurred, unrecognizable. Whispers filled the coliseum, murmurs in languages ​​Akihiko had never heard, but somehow understood.

"We are... what is no longer."

"We were... but we will never be."

Isabella shuddered. "This isn't just a domain. It's a cemetery for the forgotten."

Ezra slowly descended from his throne. "I'm glad you're beginning to understand. This is not just my power, but my kingdom."

With a simple wave of his hand, one of the floating souls twisted and disappeared without a trace.

Kael took a step back. "Did you see that? Nothing was left. Not a trace, not a shadow."

Ezra watched them with a faint smile. "This is how it all ends here. No death. No rest. Just... disappearance."

The First Test

The ground shook.

In front of Akihiko, Ezra's shadow began to twist, lengthening into a dark silhouette with a shape almost identical to his own. A copy of himself, but without a face, without identity. A hollow reflection.

"Before you can challenge me, you must prove you truly exist," Ezra whispered. "If your will is weak, this place will claim you like all the others."

The silhouette attacked with impossible speed. Akihiko barely raised his katana to block the blow. The impact was brutal, sending him several meters back.

Isabella tried to move, but something stopped her. The ground was slowly sinking her into shadows. Kael tried to reach her, but his own limbs seemed to lose their shape. Oblivion was consuming them.

"Shit!" Kael yelled, fighting against an invisible force pulling him toward nothingness.

Akihiko struggled to his feet. He couldn't get lost here. He couldn't let oblivion take over.

The shadow attacked again, but this time Akihiko was ready. His katana flashed with the emptiness of his own power. If Ezra could master oblivion, then he must master nothingness.

With a single slash, he cut through the silhouette.

The coliseum rumbled with a deafening roar. Ezra smiled with interest.

"It seems you still have something to lose," he said calmly. "Let's see how long you can hold out before nothingness claims you."

The shadows began to move again.

The battle was just beginning.