White.
Not light.
Not void.
Just white.
When Seraphis opened her eyes, the Primordial Threshold was gone. The Throne was gone. Feixue and the Immortal Emperor were gone.
She stood alone.
---
Before her stretched an endless stairway of glass, each step reflecting a different version of herself.
A child formed of light, kneeling before Heaven.
A general bathed in golden authority, commanding legions.
A judge, cold and flawless, executing worlds without hesitation.
And at the highest step—
A throne.
Golden. Perfect. Empty.
A voice echoed, neither ancient nor kind.
> "SECOND TRIAL: SELF."
"ASCEND AND CLAIM WHAT YOU WERE MADE FOR."
Seraphis's heart trembled.
> This is Heaven's temptation, she realized.
---
She took a step forward.
The reflection beneath her feet changed.
She saw herself standing beside the Immortal Emperor, crowned in celestial radiance, her wings spanning realms.
> "You were loyal," the reflection said.
"You were perfect."
Another reflection appeared.
> "You were necessary."
Another.
> "Without you, Heaven collapses."
The stairway shimmered with promise.
---
Seraphis clenched her fists.
> "Then why," she whispered, "do I feel so empty?"
The stairway trembled.
---
The reflections changed.
Now she saw worlds burning beneath Heaven's judgment.
She saw mortals praying — not in faith, but fear.
She saw herself carrying out decrees she never questioned.
Her reflection spoke again, softer now.
> "You didn't enjoy it… but you did it anyway."
Seraphis's breath hitched.
> "Because I believed order mattered more than mercy."
The voice responded immediately.
> "AND YOU WERE RIGHT."
The golden throne at the top pulsed.
---
Suddenly, another image appeared.
Feixue.
Not as Origin.
Not as sovereign.
But as a lone girl standing beneath falling snow, asking:
> "Can you tell me… where the heavens end?"
Seraphis staggered.
> "Stop," she whispered.
The voice sharpened.
> "SHE IS CHAOS."
"WITHOUT HEAVEN, ALL RETURNS TO NOTHING."
The stairway brightened.
The throne beckoned.
---
Seraphis fell to her knees.
Her divine core burned violently, Heaven's law screaming inside her soul.
> If I ascend, she thought, I can fix it. I can rule better. I can be kinder.
The temptation was absolute.
---
Then—
She remembered the Lotus of Balance.
Not its power.
Its silence.
The way it did not command her.
Did not judge her.
Only waited.
Seraphis lifted her head.
> "Heaven never asked who I wanted to be," she said quietly.
"It only told me who I was allowed to be."
The stairway cracked.
---
The voice thundered.
> "IDENTITY IS PURPOSE."
"PURPOSE IS OBEDIENCE."
Seraphis stood.
Her wings burned away.
Her golden armor shattered.
Her divine name peeled from her soul like ash.
> "Then I reject purpose," she said.
"I choose responsibility instead."
The stairway exploded into fragments of glass.
---
She began to fall.
There was no light.
No dark.
Only memory.
She relived every execution.
Every command.
Every silence.
She did not look away.
She accepted them.
> "These were my choices," she whispered.
"Not Heaven's."
Her divine core cracked.
Then emptied.
---
Silence returned.
But this time—
It did not accuse her.
The ancient voice spoke again, changed.
> "SELF ACKNOWLEDGED."
"NAME RELEASED."
"TRIAL COMPLETE."
The white world dissolved.
---
Seraphis opened her eyes.
She floated once more in the Primordial Threshold.
Feixue stood nearby, watching her with quiet understanding.
The Immortal Emperor stared at her in horror.
> "What have you done?" he whispered.
Seraphis looked down at herself.
No divine aura.
No Heavenly classification.
Yet reality subtly bent around her presence.
> "I became… unassigned," she said calmly.
"Heaven cannot command what it cannot define."
The True Throne pulsed — uncertain.
For the first time in eternity, it did not know whom to recognize.
---
Feixue spoke softly.
> "This is why Heaven feared the Second Trial."
The Immortal Emperor's voice trembled with rage.
> "She is an anomaly!"
Feixue's eyes hardened.
> "No. She is freedom."
---
The Primordial Threshold cracked again.
The ancient voice whispered, almost reverent:
> "THE ONE BETWEEN HAS AWAKENED."
Seraphis lifted her gaze.
> "What happens now?"
Feixue answered quietly:
> "Now Heaven learns what it means to lose a name."