The city wasn't made of stone or steel. It floated above an endless void, tethered to reality by massive chains the size of buildings, each one groaning under the weight of something older than time. Towers of gilded metal spiraled into clouds, some broken, some whole. Between them, threads of gold and shadow wove bridges like spiderwebs.
Joe stepped onto the edge of one such bridge. His breath fogged the air despite the warmth in his chest—the fifth eye on his palm still faintly glowing.
"This is the Crucible Above," the Warden said beside him. "Few reach it. Fewer leave it."
Joe didn't ask what it meant. He could feel it: this place wasn't built for him. Or anyone. It was a prison for the sky.
They crossed the bridge in silence, each footstep echoing like thunder in the distance. Beneath them, nothing. Above them, towers loomed with windows that stared like eyes.
In the center of the city stood the Heartspire—a column of chained light that pierced the sky itself. And before it, a gate. Covered in runes. Bound in flame.
Joe touched the gate. The mark on his hand pulsed.
The flame parted.
Inside was a chamber shaped like an hourglass. Time didn't flow normally here—each second stretched and folded in on itself.
A figure sat on the far end.
It wore no chains. No mask. No cloak.
It wore Joe's face.
But this version didn't feel like the mirror from the sand trial. This one was real. Awake. And smiling.
"Hello," the other Joe said. "I've been waiting a long time."
Joe stepped forward. "Are you—"
"I'm what you left behind. What you tried to kill. But pain doesn't die. It hides."
The room trembled. Gold began to melt from the walls, turning to shadow.
The Warden remained at the door, watching.
"Why bring me here?" Joe asked.
"To see what you'll do with truth," the Warden replied. "When it no longer flinches."
The other Joe stood. He looked older. Stronger. But broken in ways Joe couldn't describe.
"You want to save the world?" the reflection asked. "Then break it first. Like they broke you."
A sword of obsidian formed in his hand. It hummed with the same energy as the mark.
Joe raised his fists.
The final trial of the first arc had begun.
End of Chapter 5.