Chapter 6: The Crimson Eclipse

In the aftermath of the trial in the Realm of Thunder, Kaien found himself drifting between dimensions once more. The remnants of lightning still danced on his skin, the sensation a haunting reminder of the battle he barely survived. His heartbeat echoed in the void, like thunder trapped in a dying storm. Every breath felt heavier than the last, each pulse of his body carrying fragments of power: power won through fire, frost, and sacrifice.

He floated in the nothingness of the inter-realm corridor, a place where time was fragmented and direction meaningless. Stars shimmered and vanished like fireflies in oil-dark water. His mind was a storm of memories—the battles, the screams, the friends lost to shadows. Yet at the center of it all, a single thought burned: I'm not done yet.

Then, the void split open.

A wave of scorching heat crashed into him like a cosmic tidal wave. Kaien's eyes snapped open as a blinding red sky swallowed his vision. His lungs filled with the acrid scent of sulfur and ash. His feet slammed onto cracked obsidian ground, the impact sending pain lancing up his spine. He groaned and forced himself upright.

Before him stretched a hellish landscape. Volcanoes erupted in the distance, spewing rivers of molten lava across a scorched terrain that resembled a battlefield abandoned by the gods themselves. Fissures glowed beneath his feet. The sky above churned with black ash clouds, and high above, a blood-red moon eclipsed a luminous celestial body, staining everything in its cursed light.

"Welcome to the Sixth Realm," the system's voice chimed with eerie calm. "Trial Six: The Crimson Eclipse. Survive."

Kaien took a deep breath. The air was hot and thick like steam from a dying world. Every inch of the realm screamed danger, but he had no time to falter. Not now.

A low growl echoed through the canyons. The ground trembled. He wasn't alone.

Suddenly, the earth beneath him cracked, and he barely jumped aside as a massive tail erupted from the ground like a blade. A beast emerged: part dragon, part shadow, cloaked in molten scales that dripped lava. Six crimson eyes locked onto him, burning with malice.

"The Eclipse Wyrm," the system intoned. "Forged from the sins of fallen gods."

Kaien summoned his blade, forged in the Realm of Flame, still glowing with the embers of Ash'Kar's fire. His hands trembled, not from fear, but from the anticipation of yet another brutal trial. He tightened his grip.

The Wyrm lunged.

Kaien rolled, narrowly dodging its snapping jaws. He struck with his blade, but the molten scales shrugged it off like water on stone. The creature roared, a deafening wail that shook the very sky.

I can't win like this, he thought. Brute force wasn't enough.

He reached within, into the archive of powers he had accumulated: cold precision from the Realm of Ice, lightning reflexes from the Realm of Thunder, the raw inferno from the Realm of Flame. He focused, combining them.

Leaping into the air, Kaien spun, drawing frost from his left hand and fire from his right. The spiraling surge of ice-fire struck the Wyrm's flank. A loud crack echoed as its armor split slightly.

It screeched in agony.

Kaien smirked. "Not invincible after all."

The Wyrm coiled and launched into the air. From its mouth rained molten fireballs. Kaien twisted through them, flipping midair, but one struck his shoulder. The pain was instant—blinding and raw. He crashed to the ground, rolling in the ash. His armor smoldered, flesh beneath blistered.

He groaned but stood. I won't die here. I won't be erased.

Then, everything changed.

The crimson eclipse above pulsed like a dying heart. From its core descended a figure, cloaked in flame and shadow. Wings made of burning chains unfurled. His eyes were galaxies collapsing, glowing with ancient destruction.

The system returned. "Behold, the Keeper of the Eclipse: Voran, God of Ruin. He will judge your soul."

Kaien's breath caught. His hands trembled now, not with anticipation, but with awe.

Voran raised a hand. The Wyrm hissed and retreated.

"You are unworthy," Voran declared, voice echoing like the funeral dirge of a broken cosmos. "You are but a flicker of what was. A soul discarded by time."

Kaien's eyes narrowed. "Then why am I still fighting?"

Voran crashed into the ground like a meteor, drawing a jagged blade of bone and void. His swing was cataclysmic. Kaien blocked, but the force sent him flying, blood trailing through the air like a crimson comet.

He landed hard, gasping. Every bone felt cracked. But still, he rose.

"If this is what it takes," he whispered, fire in his voice, "then so be it."

Kaien unleashed everything. Thunder howled from his fists. Ice spiraled from his feet. Fire blazed from his soul. He blurred forward, a storm of elements, meeting Voran in a dance of destruction. Blades clashed like the cries of dying stars.

Voran struck with divine fury. Kaien answered with resolve forged in trials. He adapted, reading Voran's attacks, dancing through death itself. He found his opening and drove his blade into the god's chest.

Voran laughed.

"Pain is nothing. I am judgment. I am the end."

He seized Kaien by the throat, lifting him effortlessly. Flames burned into his skin. The agony was endless.

Am I really nothing? Kaien wondered. Is this where I die? Forgotten?

Then—

"Kaien! Remember who you are!"

A voice. Clear, soft, powerful. A girl's voice. A memory from the void. Silver hair, star-born eyes. A promise.

Light exploded from within him.

Celestial energy surged. Fire, Ice, Thunder merged. His body burned with transcendence. His aura expanded, a beacon against ruin.

He broke Voran's grip. Landed softly. Stood tall.

"You're not my judge," Kaien said, his voice like the roar of a star being born. "I forge my own destiny."

A weapon formed in his hands, neither sword nor spear, but something new. A double-bladed halberd, forged from every trial, infused with memory, pain, hope.

Kaien launched forward, faster than fate.

Voran swung. Kaien bent time, dodging beneath it. His halberd shone like the first light of creation.

He struck.

The blade pierced through Voran's divine core.

A scream unlike any other filled the realm. Light burst from Voran's chest. Cracks spidered through his form. The god exploded, not in gore, but in radiant stardust, torn apart by Kaien's truth.

The eclipse shattered. The red sky faded to deep blue. The volcanic winds calmed. The Wyrm, now a beast without a master, fled into the dark mountains.

Kaien collapsed to one knee. He stared at the sky, feeling the silence wrap around him like a warm shroud.

The system's voice was softer now. "Trial Six: Complete. You have conquered the Crimson Eclipse. Preparing for the next trial."

Before him, a silver portal bloomed.

Kaien stood. He looked at his shaking hands. The blood, the burn marks, the memories—they were all real.

"I'm coming for the truth, even if I have to slay gods to reach it."

He stepped forward into the next trial.

To be continued...