The realm shifted. Jin had passed his gate. But Yooha—
She stood alone in falling snow.
Not cold. Not warm. Just… quiet.
She looked down at the girl in front of her—herself, age 10, blade splintered in half, face bruised, eyes dry.
The younger Yooha didn't speak.
She simply stood, turned around, and walked… deeper into the storm.
Yooha followed.
With each step, memories returned:
—The humiliation from Ghost Gordon Academy.
—The day they branded her "Too soft."
—The way she smiled as they broke her sword, pretending not to care.
She had never cried.
Never screamed.
Just buried it.
> "You watched everything. You didn't stop it," a voice whispered through the snow.
It wasn't the little girl.
It wasn't her.
It was the sword.
Silent Veil, now floating in front of her, glowing with a pale, sacred light.
> "You sealed me away to be accepted. You denied your rage to survive. Why?"
Yooha closed her eyes. "Because the world fears fire. But I feared being alone more."
The storm howled louder.
Then it stopped.
From the whiteness, a hand reached out.
Not the child's. Not the sword's.
But someone else entirely.
A teenage boy. His clothes torn. His eyes… golden.
He didn't speak.
But Yooha felt it.
"I know what you hide. I've seen what they did to you. But you still smiled."
She stared at him.
And for the first time—she let her blade burn.
Golden flames erupted around her body, swirling with healing wind and raw fury. Her Trial had become a battlefield. Her scars—her power.
She didn't speak. She just stepped forward…
And embraced the child.
> "You can rest now. I'll fight for both of us."
The Trial shattered into thousands of lights.
Back in the real world…
Bo stood with his hands on his hips, yelling at a floating spirit cat made of water.
> "I said I was sorry for stepping on your tail! Stop trying to drown me!"
End of Episode 26( continue)