*You have passed the second test through sacrifice that defies comprehension,* the Guardian acknowledged, its ancient voice carrying newfound respect. *But one final trial remains—and this one will be fought not in the external world, but within the battleground of your own consciousness.*
The space around them dissolved completely, and Parker felt his awareness being pulled inward, spiraling down through layers of his own psyche until he found himself standing in a realm that existed purely within his mind.
The landscape was a twisted reflection of every choice he had ever made—crystalline spires representing moments of nobility rising alongside obsidian monuments to his darker impulses.
At the center of this mental battlefield stood a figure that made Parker's damaged soul recoil in absolute terror.
Himself.
