The Primordial Threshold did not heal.
It hesitated.
Hairline fractures drifted through the colorless expanse like broken thoughts, refusing to close. The True Throne hovered above them, dimmed, unstable—its presence no longer absolute.
Feixue stood silently.
The Immortal Emperor did not.
---
"You've broken the Trial," he said, his voice tight with restrained fury.
"No being may exist without designation. Without law. Without a name."
Seraphis floated between them.
She no longer radiated divinity.
She no longer suppressed reality either.
Instead, existence bent slightly around her—like water unsure whether to ripple.
"I didn't break it," Seraphis replied calmly.
"I finished it."
---
The Emperor raised his blade.
It trembled.
Not from fear—but from uncertainty.
He tried to summon Heaven's authority.
Nothing answered.
Golden runes flickered into existence… then collapsed into static.
For the first time since ascending the throne, Heaven did not respond to his will.
His eyes widened.
"What are you?" he demanded.
Seraphis looked at him.
And for the first time, she truly saw him—not as ruler, not as god, but as something clinging desperately to control.
"I don't know," she said honestly.
"And neither does Heaven."
The Primordial Threshold shuddered.
---
The ancient voice of the Throne attempted once more to speak.
> "ENTITY STATUS:—"
"—UNDEFINED."
"—UNBOUND."
The words fractured.
The Throne dimmed further.
Feixue exhaled softly.
> "It cannot rule what it cannot classify," she said.
"And Heaven cannot erase what it cannot name."
The Emperor's expression twisted.
"You think this changes anything?" he snarled.
"Heaven still stands. The Immortal Realm still obeys me."
Feixue met his gaze, her eyes calm and merciless.
> "Then why did you follow us here?"
Silence.
---
The Emperor did not answer.
Because the truth had finally surfaced—
He was no longer defending Heaven.
He was defending himself.
---
Seraphis lowered her gaze to her hands.
There was no divine core.
No immortal foundation.
Yet she felt… whole.
Memories remained—but without chains.
Power remained—but without command.
Choice remained.
> "Feixue," she said quietly, "what happens to someone like me?"
Feixue stepped closer.
Her presence did not overwhelm Seraphis.
It aligned with her.
> "You become a variable," Feixue answered.
"The one thing Heaven never learned how to control."
The Primordial Threshold pulsed faintly.
The Throne shifted—away from the Emperor.
---
Rage finally broke free.
The Immortal Emperor roared and slashed his blade across reality itself.
A tear of absolute authority ripped through the space, aiming straight for Seraphis—an execution born not from law, but obsession.
Feixue moved.
Not fast.
Not slow.
She simply stood between.
The slash struck her palm.
Stopped.
Reality screamed—but did not break.
> "Enough," Feixue said quietly.
Her voice carried no force.
No command.
Yet the Emperor staggered backward as if struck.
Blood spilled from his lips.
---
"You still protect her?" he hissed.
Feixue's eyes were cold.
> "I protect balance."
She glanced at Seraphis.
> "And balance no longer belongs to Heaven."
---
The Primordial Threshold began to collapse inward—not violently, but decisively.
The Trial was ending.
The Throne dimmed until it was barely visible.
The ancient voice whispered one final message, fractured yet undeniable:
> "THE AGE OF ABSOLUTE HEAVEN HAS ENDED."
The Emperor screamed in fury as space expelled him violently, casting him back toward the Celestial Palace.
---
Silence returned.
Feixue and Seraphis stood alone.
The Veil of Heaven shimmered faintly behind them.
Seraphis breathed slowly.
> "So this is what freedom feels like…"
Feixue nodded.
> "And Heaven has never felt it."
She turned her gaze downward—toward the Immortal Realm, where sects trembled, laws destabilized, and destiny began to unravel.
> "This world will fracture," Feixue said.
"Not because of destruction… but because choice has returned."
Seraphis looked at her.
> "And me?"
Feixue's expression softened slightly.
> "You will walk between worlds.
Between Heaven and Origin.
Between law and freedom."
Seraphis closed her eyes.
Then opened them—with resolve.
> "Then I will walk forward."
Snow fell once more.
Not cold.
Not warm.
But undefined.
---
Far away, in the Celestial Palace, the Immortal Emperor knelt amid shattered mirrors, blood dripping from his chin.
For the first time—
He whispered a word he had erased from Heaven long ago.
> "…Fear."