As Aron's name was called, he stepped forward and made his way toward the towering stairs. A mix of nerves and excitement churned within him, evident in his clenched fists. He stood before the first step, the monumental ascent stretching into infinity above him.
Grey looked at him and said in his raspy, elderly voice, "Walk." He narrowed his eyes slightly. "This is your chance to achieve what you desire. So, show us if you truly have the will to do it, or if you are all talk and nothing more."
Aron looked toward Grey, his own eyes narrowing in defiance. "I'll show you that I'm not just talk. And you should pray that I don't accidentally become the candidate for the Almighty God of Fate, because if that happens, it will be your last day."
Without another word, Aron stepped forward and entered the separate dimension of the stairs.
Grey wore a small smile, his eyes drifting shut. "I like this confidence of his, that he believes he could kill me," Grey muttered to himself. He opened his eyes a sliver, his gaze finding Seiichi, who stood near the back of the gathered crowd.
Seiichi, sensing a focused gaze upon him, looked around and noticed Grey staring directly at him with that same cryptic smile. Why is he smiling at me? Seiichi thought, a ripple of confusion passing through him.
---
Inside the dimension, Aron struggled to stand upright. The gravity was already a hundred times stronger than in the Realm of Fate, and upon stepping onto the first stair, it instantly increased tenfold, making it a crushing thousand times normal gravity.
"I didn't expect it to be this hard from the very beginning!" Aron grunted heavily, fighting to straighten his posture and steady himself. He took slow, deliberate breaths and looked up at the endless stairs looming above.
"I finally understand why this requires willpower. But this still isn't enough to stop me from reaching my goal. The Almighty God should have made it more challenging."
He took a laborious step forward, planting his foot on the second stair. The gravity intensified by another tenfold in an instant, the increase so violent it nearly slammed him to the ground.
I don't think I'll be able to reach the hundredth stair, he admitted to himself. But even if I can't, I'll at least climb to the thirtieth.
He fought for balance against the immense pressure and took another step. Then another. He focused on moving forward, trying to force the sensation of his body being crushed into the back of his mind.
If I reach the thirtieth stair, I'll climb even more. I won't stop until I reach the hundredth. He repeated this mantra over and over, a mental lifeline as he conquered one agonizing step after another.
After what felt like many hours, perhaps even days of relentless climbing, Aron finally reached the thirtieth stair. He was panting violently, teetering on the brink of collapse, but he refused to stop. He knew that upon reaching this stair, he had begun to earn his rank; he was currently at F-rank.
"I can still keep going forward," he muttered, his voice broken and sore, his throat burning with each ragged breath.
Cough, cough. He kept coughing, the air scraping against his raw throat as he dragged himself upward another step.
He was so exhausted that simply inhaling made him cough, but he ignored the pain and kept climbing.
After what seemed like many more days, he finally stood before the sixty-ninth stair. "Just one more," he whispered to the void.
He was almost completely broken. It was beyond his mind's comprehension and his body's limit how he was still standing. His entire frame shook uncontrollably. A sharp, stabbing pain erupted in his chest as the pressure threatened to crush his very heart.
With a monumental effort, he lifted his violently trembling right foot and placed it on the seventieth stair.
The moment his foot made contact, a flat, circular platform materialized, pushing the next stretch of stairs slightly away. In the center of the platform, an intricate magical circle glowed with a soft light.
Aron staggered forward and collapsed into the center of the circle. He lay there, utterly spent, breathing in harsh, open-mouthed gasps. He could not speak. He could not lift a single finger.
Several moments passed as he lay under the relentless pressure. Summoning a final, desperate reserve of strength, he tried to push himself up with his arms, only to collapse again and again. After numerous failed attempts, he finally succeeded, managing to sit upright on his knees.
He brought his hands together, intertwining his fingers, and closed his eyes, his breath still coming in heavy, labored heaves. His heart hammered against his ribs like a wild thing trying to escape.
Slowly, with his eyes still closed, he whispered a vow into the oppressive silence.
"In the name of Heaven and the seven Almighties… In the name of the Celestials who gave birth to all creation… I, Aron, now make a vow to the Almighties of Heaven and Hell. I swear I will never abandon anyone who needs help. I will slay anyone who is unjust and pass judgment upon them. If I ever try to turn from this oath… my life is yours."
As the last word left his lips, everything went black. He remained on his knees, hands clasped, eyes shut. Then, the darkness became absolute.
Slowly, he opened his eyes. His irises now glowed with a faint, ethereal green light. He found himself in a pitch-black void. Before him stood a shadowy figure, a silhouette of pure darkness with long, indistinguishable hair. Floating in the center of its chest was a radiant green orb.
A small fragment broke away from the orb and drifted toward Aron, stopping just before him. Without hesitation, he slowly extended a hand and took the glowing fragment. The moment it touched his skin, the green light expanded, covering his entire body in a shimmering aura.
Aron's eyes jolted open wide. A flood of memories he had never experienced surged into his mind. He found himself within those memories, floating in an empty space. He looked around, confused by his surroundings. Suddenly, his eyes widened at the scene unfolding before him.
He was in the Pathway, but it was unlike any Pathway he knew. This one was stained a deep, bloody red. The gates were shattered and broken. Cracks spiderwebbed through the fabric of the space itself. Blood was splattered across the ruined gates, and weapons, slick with gore, were impaled on spikes that jutted from the gateways.
But this horrific vista was not what shocked him most. His attention was seized by something else, something that defied his understanding. There were three brilliant lights: one white, one black. These two lights moved in unison, and their opponent was a single, blazing blood-red light at the center of the conflict.
As he continued to watch, desperate to understand what these entities were, his eyes widened completely in a wave of pure, primal shock and terror. He saw something, something unspeakable—
---
Suddenly, Aron's eyes snapped open. He jolted upright into a sitting position. He was no longer in the other dimension but back in the Realm of Fate. He was drenched in sweat, his clothes completely soaked through.
"Are you alright, kid?" Grey asked, standing beside him.
Before Aron could form a response, an unbearable pain exploded in his skull. The agony was beyond any limit he had known. As his head screamed in torment, he began to hear screams—real, visceral screams—and saw visions of people dying, crying for help while covered in blood, their organs spilling from torn bodies.
The pain intensified, a white-hot spike driving through his consciousness. With a final, silent gasp, he collapsed to the ground and passed out.