With a violent gasp, Michi's eyes burst open. His lungs dragged in air as if he had been drowning, his chest heaving. The black bubble that had consumed him shattered into dissolving mist, and he fell to his knees upon the dark stone floor of the throne chamber. Sweat mingled with traces of blood, dripping from his face.
Melancholy's voice broke the silence, smooth yet heavy. Clap. Clap. Clap. His hands met together slowly, echoing through the hall.
"Impressive," the King of Despair said, his lips curling in satisfaction. "You've tasted despair, Michi. You've embraced it. And now… you have truly set your mind upon it. That is the first step. But the path is not yet complete. One challenge remains…"
Michi forced himself up on trembling legs, wiping his mouth. "What do you mean…?"
Melancholy's dark eyes locked onto him. "The despair inside you is not just a shadow—it is alive. Umbryel, your own manifested despair, born from your suffering, and given soul from Yuren's broken essence. To master despair, you must face him. Defeat him. Only then will despair obey you, not consume you."
Michi turned sharply. A figure stood in the mist—Umbryel. The dark reflection of himself, taller, stronger, cloaked in shifting black aura. His mark glowed pitch black, his eyes void-like, bottomless. He smirked at Michi like a predator greeting prey.
Before Michi could speak, Melancholy's voice resounded once more: "But look around you. You are not the only one tested."
Michi's eyes widened. Across the vast training grounds of Mélovetsia's palace, battles had erupted.
Lior's blade clashed with Kael's in synchronized rhythm, both training side by side against a formidable opponent—Darling Tragedy. A young boy with eyes like cracked glass, he moved with eerie elegance, wielding a long rapier infused with shimmering despair. Sparks burst as Lior parried a thrust, his voice strained.
"Kael, keep your guard up! He's too fast—"
Darling Tragedy laughed, tilting his head unnaturally. "Is this all? They said you two had strength… but I nearly bested Frostkeeper himself! Show me despair worth carving into my skin!"
Kael countered with a sweeping strike, barely missing Darling's shoulder. "He's mocking us, Lior! But I'm not losing—no matter what!"
Lior gritted his teeth, sweat dripping, determination burning in his eyes.
Nearby, Junia and Tieu fought against Dr Death, a skeletal figure cloaked in rotting robes. Around him swarmed corpses, twitching abominations with half-rotted limbs and glowing despair eyes.
"Junia, left!" Tieu cried, spinning her staff to smash a zombie's skull.
Junia dodged a skeletal claw, her spear piercing through two more. "He's multiplying them—don't get surrounded!"
Dr Death's hollow voice cackled. "Yes… dance for me, children of sun and moon… despair is sweetest when it drowns the hopeful!"
Junia growled, sweat glistening on her forehead. "You'll see… our light doesn't fade so easily!"
Tieu's voice trembled but held resolve. "We'll break your army, no matter how many times you raise them!"
On the other side, Tiana faced Nutcracker. A tall woman with steel gauntlets that gleamed like crushing jaws. Each punch she threw shattered the air with thunderous force.
"You slither well, girl," Nutcracker sneered, launching a barrage of gauntlet strikes.
Tiana's snakes whipped out from her arms, striking and binding, their fangs biting into Nutcracker's gauntlets with hissing venom. "And you punch like a brute. But snakes… always find a way to coil tighter."
Nutcracker grinned savagely and shattered one of the snake-constructs with a single blow. "Then coil and break. I'll crush every one of your little tricks!"
Tiana's eyes flared. "You'll have to try harder than that!"
The fights raged, filling the arena with clangs, growls, and bursts of despair energy. Michi could only watch for a brief moment before a voice, so close it chilled him, broke his focus.
"You're forgetting me."
Umbryel stood right before him now, his eyes reflecting Michi's own broken soul. The dark figure raised a jagged black blade, dripping with energy that hissed against the air.
Michi's grip tightened on his sword. His heartbeat thundered in his chest, his breath shaky yet fierce.
"Umbryel…" he whispered, glaring into the abyss of his own despair. "If I have to defeat you to control this power… then I'll fight with everything I have!"
Umbryel tilted his head, a twisted grin spreading across his face. "Good. Show me your suffering. Show me the despair that made me."
The air thickened, pressure coiling around Michi's lungs. He stepped forward, sword drawn, dagger ready at his side. The battlefield thundered with the clashes of his friends, but all his focus narrowed to the dark reflection standing before him.
Melancholy's voice carried, calm and commanding. "Let the trial begin. Michi versus Umbryel—the clash of despair itself."
Michi lunged. Umbryel's blade met his in a shower of black sparks, the sound of steel echoing like a scream.
Around them, despair and hope clashed on every front.
And Michi's battle for his soul had begun.