The Throne of Silence
Trial V: The Realm of Gods
There were no enemies here.
No sky. No stars. No wind.
Only silence.
And a single stone path, suspended in endless white.
Matt walked alone.
Each step echoed across eternity—like time itself held its breath.
The four seals shimmered around him:
Memory. Flame. Time. Beast.
All pulsing with purpose.
All leading him to a single destination.
A gate awaited him.
It opened—
without sound.
---
Inside:
A black marble throne.
Empty.
And then—
A whisper.
Soft as ash.
Heavy as godhood.
> "Sit."
Matt froze.
His voice came out low. Guarded.
> "Who are you?"
The silence stirred.
Not broken—bent.
> "I am who you become...
If you accept what they tried to erase."
---
The light shifted.
And in the throne's reflection—
he saw himself.
Not broken.
Not twisted.
Not divine.
But whole.
Complete.
Matt stepped forward.
And sat.
---
The world paused.
Then—
everything returned.
Visions surged like a flood bursting the dam of reality.
Every timeline.
Every future.
Every path Matt had almost walked.
Every god who had feared the rise of a Nitine-born Eternal.
Every soul he had touched.
Every love.
Every death.
Amiya, crying.
Mailane, smiling.
Grey, bleeding.
Sam, laughing.
His parents, screaming.
His enemies, burning.
His friends, hoping.
Every piece of him—scattered across time—now burned back into place.
He looked out across the void.
It stretched on forever.
And he said:
> "I'm not their weapon.
Not their mistake.
Not their prophecy."
He stood.
Eyes blazing. Heart quiet. Voice final.
> "I'm the one they couldn't kill."
---
From the heavens—
golden chains fell.
They wrapped around his arms. His legs. His chest. His heart.
They pulsed with ancient power.
With the will of gods.
And then—
shattered.
A burst of light erupted from within him—ravenous, cleansing, eternal.
The four seals lifted from his skin, converged—
and fused.
Carved into the air before him:
Sigil of the Voidflame Ascendant.
The mark of one who had faced memory, fire, fate, instinct—
and remained.
---
His body pulsed—not with stolen strength.
Not with blessings.
Not with divine inheritance.
But with power earned.
The Trial Gates behind him shattered like glass.
The silence screamed.
Matt Salurga stood.
No longer rising.
Now ascended.
---
All Five Trials Complete.
The Ascension is over.
The war begins anew.