Kaiden died again.

And again.

And again.

Some deaths came fast, with a misread feint, a fraction of hesitation, the demon's fist turning his ribs into powder before he could react. Others dragged, Wrath screaming for him to unleash everything as his body failed piece by piece, heat cooking his senses down to raw agony. Each reset tore him back to the start with a gasp, lungs burning, muscles remembering pain they no longer carried.

Wrath hated it.

It surged every time, furious, demanding dominance, demanding he take instead of think. It wanted reckless charges, overwhelming force, the intoxicating lie of power without restraint. Kaiden felt it clawing at the edges of his mind, whispering that victory was one good outburst away.

He didn't let it in.

Each reset, he stood still a second longer. Each time, he breathed through the tremor in his hands, forced the red haze down, packed it tight behind his sternum like a live explosive he refused to detonate. His heart thundered. His veins burned. Sweat slid down his spine as he denied the stance what it wanted.

The demon noticed.

It stopped smirking as often. Its attacks sharpened, adjusted, trying to bait him by overcommitting just enough to invite a furious counter, or leaving openings that begged to be exploited with brute force. Kaiden ignored them. He moved instead. Watched. Learned. Every defeat carved data into him, patterns burned in by pain and repetition.

Wrath fed him strength.

Kaiden gave it discipline.

The fight changed.

He no longer rushed. He walked, steps measured, weight balanced, power coiled but leashed. When the demon swung, he slipped past it by inches, skin blistering from proximity alone. When it stomped, he was already moving, shockwaves tearing up the ground behind him instead of breaking his bones. His strikes were fewer now, but each one landed exactly where it needed to, timed between breaths, aimed at stress points he'd mapped through failure.

Wrath screamed.

He bore it.

Muscles tore microscopically under the strain of containment, power compressing so tightly it felt like his body might rupture from the inside. His vision swam at the edges as he forced clarity to the forefront, jaw locked hard enough to ache.

The demon screeched.

It wasn't a roar this time but a shrill, furious scream that ripped through the air with raw, wounded pride. The sigils across its body blazed violently as it drew deeper, harder, molten fissures widening as power flooded in without restraint. Its frame expanded, flesh swelling grotesquely, heat surging until the ground beneath it softened and warped.

Kaiden clicked his tongue, irritation bleeding through his focus.

"Tch. So now you're throwing a tantrum," he muttered, shoulders tightening. He felt it then, Wrath stirring again, louder, sharper, pushing back against the walls he'd built. It recognized the escalation and demanded an answer in kind.

'Stay,' Kaiden ordered. He didn't want to become that type of combatant. Calm, cold, and collected was his ideal.

Kaiden jumped forward to meet the demon, and the two collided.

Shockwaves tore outward as fist met claw, force screaming between them as stone shattered and heat exploded in blinding arcs. For a heartbeat, Kaiden held.

Then the demon pushed with its grin returned, savage and triumphant, as it twisted the exchange and drove its knee into Kaiden's midsection with annihilating force.

The world folded.

Kaiden felt himself break before he hit the ground, breath crushed from his lungs as he was hurled through scorched terrain like a discarded weapon. Pain bloomed everywhere at once, overwhelming, absolute.

Darkness swallowed him.

…

Kaiden woke with a hoarse gasp, body jolting upright as air tore into his lungs. His arms trembled as he caught himself, chest heaving, sweat plastering his hair to his face.

"Damn it!" he rasped.

He lost.

Again.

The realization settled heavily. His body was whole, uninjured, but the fatigue lingered, deep and insidious. His hands shook as he clenched them, refusing to let them fall limp.

'Not yet,' he told himself. 'Not until this ends.'

Heat surged.

The demon materialized once more, towering and pristine, not a single crack or scar remaining. But its face, its expression, was different now. Gone was the smug amusement; in its place burned pure, unfiltered fury.

Kaiden exhaled slowly.

"You remember, don't you? You're angry because I pushed you further than you expected, or something cliche like that. I'm glad my Calypso isn't such an egotistical demon…" he grumbled, eyes narrowing. "The other trials didn't remember like this. Is Wrath special? Maybe it's a more personal power…"

Curious.

The demon answered his question with a scream.

The sound was thunderous, violent enough to rattle Kaiden's bones, a raw howl of rage that tore upward into the sky itself. The air trembled as the scream carried beyond the battlefield, beyond the demon, beyond Kaiden…

To the titan.

The Original Sin stood unmoving in the distance, colossal and silent, its massive hand open. The red orb resting in its palm flared violently in response to the call, light surging as something answered.

The orb shot forward.

"What?!" Kaiden shouted, leaping back as the crimson mass streaked toward the battlefield. "Are you kidding me?! You're teaming up now?!"

He twisted aside, dodging instinctively.

Then, he froze on the spot.

The orb stopped where he stood before dodging to the side. It didn't strike. It didn't explode.

Instead, it opened.

From within, figures dropped.

They hit the ground hard, bodies crumpling helplessly against scorched stone. Familiar shapes. Familiar silhouettes.

Kaiden's heart stuttered.

"No…" he whispered.

Luna lay sprawled on her side, Stormblade shattered beside her, armor cracked and sparking weakly. Aria was on her knees, trembling, one arm hanging uselessly as moonlight flickered erratically around her. Nyx lay curled in on herself, blood dark against the ground, eyes glassy with pain. Bastet was on one knee, breathing hard, radiant glow dim and unstable. Calypso reached out weakly, fingers scraping the ground.

"Kai…" Luna croaked.

"Help…" Aria whimpered, voice breaking.

"Please…" Nyx sobbed.

Kaiden's chest tightened painfully as their voices hit him all at once.

"What is going on?!" he demanded, spinning toward the titan, toward the demon, toward the cruel, impossible scene. "What the hell is this?!"

The demon loomed ahead of them, heat rolling off its furious form.

And Wrath stirred.

The demon's gaze slid to Kaiden.

Then it smiled.

Slow. Knowing. Vicious.

It raised one massive arm and angled it past him.

Kaiden's breath caught.

"No!"

Fire erupted from the demon's palm in a screaming torrent of molten fury, not aimed at him, but at the figures sprawled helplessly behind him.

Kaiden didn't think.

He moved.

Wrath detonated as he launched himself into the path of the attack with his teeth bared, a sound tearing out of his throat that wasn't quite human. He slammed his fist into the oncoming inferno uselessly, and it swallowed him whole.

Agony, unlike anything before, tore through his body. Flesh burned instantly, nerves lighting up as if soaked in oil. His skin charred and split, muscles searing, bones glowing beneath blackened meat.

He couldn't move now.

His body locked, every muscle seized, every command drowned under unbearable pain. He stood there, burning, immobile… But aware of his surroundings. This was the curse of having a high Vitality stat. Some things that should've killed you took far too long.

The demon stepped forward.

Kaiden's vision swam, smoke filling his lungs, vocal cords already blistered raw as he tried to turn, to crawl, to do anything.

But all he could do was watch.

The demon seized Luna first.

Her eyes widened as it lifted her effortlessly, her broken armor clattering uselessly. She reached out toward him, lips forming his name…

The demon crushed her.

Heat flared. Bone snapped. Light died.

"Kai!!"

Aria screamed next, dragging herself forward on one arm, moonlight flickering wildly as terror overtook her composure. The demon backhanded her into the ground, then brought its heel down with casual finality.

Nyx sobbed, curling inward, whispering apologies through tears as space magic sputtered and failed. The demon skewered her through the chest, lifting her off the ground before tearing her in half.

Bastet roared defiance even as her radiance dimmed, struggling to rise. The demon burned straight through her core, light extinguishing in a violent hiss.

Calypso reached for Kaiden.

"Darling… please…"

The demon didn't rush it.

It grabbed her by the throat and snapped her neck with a slow, excruciating twist.

Something inside Kaiden shattered.

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