The Coliseum of Oblivion shook with each burst of energy. Shadows snaked through the air, enveloping the floating ruins, which writhed as if they were part of a living organism. Ezra remained on his throne, watching calmly, as if everything was happening exactly as he had planned.
Akihiko gripped his katana tightly. The initial ordeal was over, but something inside him told him the worst was yet to come. Isabella and Kael were by his side, their bodies still trembling from the sensation of having been on the brink of nonexistence.
"We can't go on like this much longer," Isabella murmured, her eyes fixed on the ground, which seemed more unstable with each passing second. "This place is made to devour us."
Kael checked his equipment, but even his technology seemed useless in this place. "If we don't find a way out of here, Ezra won't have to fight us. The city will do it for him."
"We're not leaving here without answers," Akihiko said firmly. "Ezra... what's your real intention?"
The man with the empty eyes smiled slightly. "Oh, Akihiko... you still believe there's a purpose behind all of this. But the truth is much simpler: I want to see how far you can go before you disappear completely."
With a wave of his hand, shadows burst forth in all directions.
The Second Test: The Cracked Existence
Akihiko barely had time to react before something materialized in front of him.
It was his reflection. But something was wrong.
The figure's eyes were hollow, its expression vacant. Its movements were erratic, as if it were struggling to hold onto reality. The shadow armor covering its body seemed to pulse, as if alive.
Ezra spoke from his throne. "This is the essence of your very being. The parts of you that have been forgotten... fragments of an Akihiko who no longer exists."
Akihiko's doppelganger raised his katana, identical to his own, but wrapped in a dark, ethereal aura. And then he attacked.
The impact was brutal. Akihiko was forced to block, but the blow sent a shockwave throughout the coliseum. Isabella and Kael tried to intervene, but the shadows separated them, pushing them to the edges of the arena. This battle was for Akihiko alone.
Each blow echoed as if the universe itself were shattering. Akihiko's shadow didn't speak, but its movements were perfect, mimicking each of his with terrifying precision.
"If you can't overcome your own broken existence," Ezra said calmly, "then you don't deserve to continue existing."
Akihiko slid back, breathing heavily. He couldn't just cut out his reflection. It was a part of him.
Then he had to do something that his shadow didn't expect.
Instead of attacking, Akihiko closed his eyes.
He let himself be enveloped by the void.
The shadow hesitated for the first time.
Ezra narrowed his eyes in interest. "Oh... so you understand."
When Akihiko opened his eyes again, his katana no longer glowed with void energy.
This time, it was pure abyss.
A single slash. His shadow dissolved into nothingness.
The Face of Truth
The shadows calmed for a moment. Ezra descended from his throne with silent steps, stopping in front of Akihiko.
"Interesting. You really are different from the others."
Akihiko raised his katana, ready for the next attack. "I'm not interested in your approval. I want answers. Why are you doing this? What are you really?"
Ezra smiled. "What am I? I am the result of what the Tree of Eden truly is. You've been searching for the truth, Akihiko... but you've never asked yourself if you really want to know it."
The coliseum began to shake again.
"Now I will show you what no one has ever seen... the origin of the Tree of Eden."
Akihiko, Isabella and Kael were swallowed by the shadows.
And the world changed.