The embers of the Celestial Flame still flickered across the courtyard, glowing faintly like dying stars. The scent of scorched stone and cosmic fire lingered in the air. Everyone's eyes remained locked on Staryo—still standing, still breathing, reborn from annihilation itself.
He had endured the impossible.
He had returned from the void.
The courtyard was silent. Not a whisper. Not a breath.
Even Aru's father, Emperor Kaelith, who had once watched countless prodigies rise and fall, found his heart trembling against his own ribs. His gaze was forced downward, as though the weight of Staryo's presence pressed upon his soul.
This boy… is not merely mortal.
The Emperor inhaled slowly, suppressing the unease tightening his throat.
But he could not stop.
The trials were not finished.
He stepped forward, voice steady but edged with something like fear.
"The Second Trial has ended," Kaelith spoke, though his tone lacked the certainty it once carried.
"There remains one final test."
The courtyard stirred. Students whispered. Some swallowed hard. Rivals paused mid-breath.
Everyone knew.
The final trial was always the most brutal.
Kaelith's expression hardened, his voice echoing across the sky.
"The Third Trial — The Trial of Heart."
Aru flinched, her fingers curling into her robe.
She knew what this trial meant.
This was not about strength. Not about skill. Not about talent. It was about whether Staryo's heart could withstand itself.
Kaelith raised his hand.
And the world shattered.
Not physically—but perception, reality, light, and sound twisted and folded in upon themselves.
The courtyard vanished.
The academy vanished.
The sky itself dissolved like ink in water.
Staryo stood alone.
In an endless void of stars.
A place of silence… and memory.
He blinked.
The air was cold—colder than death.
His breath came out as frost.
A whisper slithered through the darkness.
"…You finally came."
Staryo turned slowly.
A figure stepped out of the shadows.
Himself.
But not the Staryo who stood in the academy moments before—
This one's eyes were a swirling universe of darkness and collapsing suns.
His presence devoured warmth and hope alike.
His voice was venom and sorrow woven together.
"Tell me… why do you struggle?"
"Why do you break yourself again and again?"
"For love?"
He laughed. A sound like cracking bone.
"Pathetic."
Staryo clenched his fists.
He knew what this was.
This was the shadow that had always existed within him. The pain of his awakening. The grief of lifetimes forgotten. The loneliness of the cosmos.
His Dark Self.
The embodiment of every buried feeling.
Before Staryo could answer—
A scream tore through the void.
"Staryoooo!"
His blood froze.
Aru.
She appeared—not standing, but falling—her body burned, her hands reaching for him, tears streaming down her face.
Her voice trembled as if she were breaking apart.
"Staryo… why… why weren't you there?!"
The pain struck him like a blade driven through his chest.
This was not real.
He knew it wasn't real.
But the heart does not listen to reason.
Dark Staryo stepped behind her, whispering against her ear like poison.
"She will suffer because of you."
"Your path brings ruin."
"You will lose her."
Staryo's hands shook.
He wanted to run to her.
He wanted to hold her.
He wanted to say I am here.
But the moment he moved, chains of stardust wrapped around his arms and legs.
His own power binding him.
Dark Staryo smiled.
"You cannot save anyone."
The agony was unbearable.
But then—
Aru looked up at him.
Not the illusion.
The real Aru's heart reached him.
Her eyes—full of love, fear, and unwavering trust.
"Even if you fall," she whispered, "I fall with you."
Something inside Staryo broke.
And something greater awakened.
The chains cracked.
Cosmic veins lit beneath his skin like constellations being drawn in real-time.
His Cosmos Eye, already awakened to Level 11, now surged—
11 → 12 → 13 → 14 → 15
The void shook.
Dark Staryo's expression twisted—not smug now, but afraid.
"No… not that. You can't—"
Staryo spoke—not loud, not angry—just certain.
"Pain does not define me."
"Love does not weaken me."
"She chose me. And I choose her."
The void trembled.
And then—
Staryo stepped forward.
The chains shattered into cosmic dust.
He reached Aru, cradling her face gently.
She wasn't crying anymore.
Because she knew—
He had chosen her every single time.
He turned to his dark self.
His voice was calm. Unshakable.
"You are me. And I am you."
"We walk forward—together."
The void pulsed—then burst like a star going nova.
Light swallowed everything.
---
Back in the courtyard.
Staryo's knees buckled—but he did not fall.
His breathing was heavy, sweat beading across his brow.
Aru rushed forward before anyone could speak—
She threw her arms around him, burying her face into his chest.
Her voice broke, raw and real.
"Don't disappear like that again…"
Staryo's hand trembled as he held her back, fingers curling into her hair.
"I won't. Ever."
The courtyard was silent again.
But not from shock.
From awe.
Even Kaelith did not speak.
He was not looking at Staryo.
He was kneeling.
A gesture of acknowledgment.
Of respect.
Of surrender.
He had seen the truth.
This was not just love.
Not attachment.
Not adolescent affection.
It was a bond built across lifetimes.
Soul to soul.
Star to star.
A rival somewhere clenched his fists, whispering sharp and trembling:
"We can't compete with that…"
But somewhere else, in the far reaches of the academy shadows—
A pair of crimson eyes opened.
A voice like cracking universe murmured:
"So the Cosmos Heir has awakened."
"Let the real story begin."