Vale stared at Callum, utterly flabbergasted by what he had just witnessed.
His eyes were wide, his body faintly trembling as he struggled to process the impossible display of power. Thoughts collided in his mind, but only one managed to surface clearly.
'How did that even happen?'
As he continued staring at the blonde knight, Vale noticed Callum's expression shift. The sharp focus drained from his face, replaced by something far more human, gloom, tinged with regret.
After a brief pause, Callum opened his mouth.
Though the distance between them was vast, Vale could have sworn he heard him clearly.
"…Oops."
A single drop of cold sweat slid down Callum's cheek.
Vale blinked, confused by the remark, and turned toward Evelyn. She now wore a deeply annoyed expression, her jaw clenched tightly. After a moment, she strode forward toward Callum with purpose.
"Seriously," she snapped, her voice sharp with irritation, "can you go one test without destroying something?"
Callum looked at her nervously, visibly shrinking under her glare.
Vale glanced around the field. The others present, warriors and researchers alike, were still staring toward the place where the mountain had once stood. Several researchers hurriedly recorded data on their devices, fingers flying as readings and numbers scrolled across their screens.
As Vale turned to look at the others, his gaze met Yuki's.
She was staring directly at him, wearing an unmistakably smug grin.
"So, kid," she said, folding her arms, "did you notice?"
Vale tilted his head, confused. "Notice what exactly?"
Yuki let out a disappointed sigh. "Where Callum drew his power from."
Vale's brow furrowed as he thought back. After several seconds, he slowly shook his head.
Yuki sighed again. "Want me to explain?"
Vale hesitated. His expression grew uncertain as he recalled what little he knew. "Are you… allowed to?" he asked cautiously. "From what I read, only a few hundred people have ever passed the Fourth Trial, and none of them came from the same plane. Information about it is practically nonexistent."
Yuki smiled, clearly amused. "Normally? No. But you're a special case." She shrugged lightly. "I'm sure they'll make an exception."
Vale studied her for a moment, then nodded. "If you're willing to explain," he said, "then please do."
Yuki's grin widened. She took a breath before speaking.
"After the Fourth Trial, a Visorian's power no longer comes from the plane they were originally connected to," she began. "Instead, their power becomes directly linked to their current realm."
She gestured vaguely around them. "I, for example, can freeze any part of this planet, as long as there's even the slightest trace of moisture."
Her gaze sharpened as she turned fully toward Vale. "Callum, however, works a little differently."
She paused deliberately. "Can you guess which plane he's connected to?"
Vale raised an eyebrow and closed his eyes, replaying the scene in his mind, the shifting winds, the constant fluctuations, the way the air itself seemed to obey Callum's focus.
After a moment, he opened his eyes. "Wind?" he asked carefully.
Yuki sighed. "Wrong."
She continued, her tone turning explanatory. "His plane is Keniscus, the plane associated with kinetic energy. Or, more bluntly, the simple act of movement."
Vale's eyes widened.
It made sense. The wind had never been stable, it had surged, slowed, reversed. Kinetic energy was born from motion, after all.
Yuki smirked. "That knight of ours didn't just manipulate wind. He stole speed."
Vale glanced back at Callum, who was still trying, and failing, to placate Evelyn. "So… he used the wind?" Vale asked again.
Yuki's grin turned sharp. "Wrong again."
Vale turned back to her, visibly confused.
"Twenty million light-years from Earth," Yuki said calmly, "there exists another solar system. Much larger than ours."
Vale stiffened.
"For five seconds," she continued, "Callum halted all movement within that system. Planetary rotation. Orbital motion. Every single kinetic interaction."
Vale's breath caught.
"All of it stopped," Yuki said softly. "And he stole the kinetic energy that should have been produced in that moment, just to try and leave a scratch on that sword."
She glanced back toward the colossal blade embedded in the ground. "And even that wasn't enough."
Vale's thoughts spiraled.
'Is their authority truly this vast?'
A bead of cold sweat rolled down his cheek as he turned his gaze back toward Callum and Evelyn.
Then, without looking away, Vale asked quietly, "Then… what happened to the mountain?"
Yuki's expression shifted, becoming more subdued. "You know how everything contains energy, right?"
Vale nodded. He knew that better than most.
"Callum's energy overwhelmed the mountain completely," she explained. "If I had to guess, its energy, and its matter, were forcibly transferred to his plane."
Vale's eyes widened further.
Slowly, he looked back at the white knight.
"…Is that so?" he murmured, his voice filled not with awe alone, but deep, unsettling confusion.
Yet all of this, every revelation, every display of impossible power, led Vale to a single, overwhelming question.
It spread through his mind like a plague, refusing to be ignored.
He turned back toward Yuki, his expression caught somewhere between confusion and quiet dread. Carefully, as if afraid the question itself might provoke something unseen, he opened his mouth.
"Then… Miss Yuki," he began, pausing briefly to steady himself.
"What happens once someone clears the Fifth Trial?"
Vale already knew how unlikely an answer was. According to every record he had read, no one in history had ever cleared it. Some sources even claimed no one had truly attempted it. Still, the question gnawed at him relentlessly, and he asked it regardless.
Yuki's eyes widened slightly.
She raised a hand to her chin and fell silent, her gaze drifting as she searched her thoughts. Several seconds passed before she finally spoke.
"My Enigma once told me," she said slowly, "that the Fifth Trial isn't really a trial at all."
Vale held his breath.
"He said it exists beyond something as small as a test," she continued, her voice softening. "That it can't be challenged the way the others can. Instead… it chooses who is even allowed to stand before it."
She hesitated. "The Fifth Trial doesn't wait for challengers. It opens its doors only to those it deems worthy of attempting it."
Vale studied her face. Yuki looked unusually contemplative, almost unsettled, as if she were confronting an answer she herself didn't fully understand.
After a moment of silence, Vale spoke again.
"…Anything else?"
Yuki turned her gaze back to him and slowly shook her head. "No. My Enigma doesn't really like me," she admitted with a faint, awkward smile. "You'd probably get more out of asking Eve or Callum."
Her confidence faltered slightly at the end of the sentence.
Vale lowered his gaze, his eyes narrowing as they fixed on the frozen grass beneath his feet.
"I see," he murmured.
They stood in silence for a while longer, the weight of the conversation settling heavily between them.
Then Vale suddenly remembered Ember.
He looked up toward the top of the prison structure. There stood Hydra once more, silhouetted against the blazing sun. The light was so intense that Vale had to squint just to make out the towering figure, his presence as imposing as ever.
Vale whistled sharply.
At once, the small wyvern leapt from Hydra's shoulder and glided down with effortless grace, landing firmly on Vale's shoulder as if it had never left.
Yuki laughed softly. "Lucky little thing," she said. "Not many Spectres can handle being near Lord Hydra, you know."
Vale glanced at Ember, recalling what Nym had once told him, that Ember wasn't a Spectre at all, yet she couldn't identify what the creature truly was either.
A spark of renewed curiosity flickered in Vale's mind as he studied the wyvern, but his thoughts were interrupted by a familiar voice.
"Hey, Vale! Let's go, we'll take you back to your room."
Vale turned to see Callum approaching with a broad smile, waving casually. Despite everything he had just witnessed, Vale couldn't help but return the smile.
He pushed his unanswered question aside, at least for now, and focused on the two figures approaching him. Evelyn soon joined Callum at his side.
"Ready to go?" Callum asked.
Vale glanced around. Most of the researchers were already dispersing, returning to their duties. He nodded.
"Yeah."
"That's great," Callum said cheerfully, turning and heading back toward the door.
Vale followed closely behind. After a moment, he glanced toward Evelyn.
"So… what exactly happened back there?"
An awkward tension settled over the group.
Callum let out a nervous chuckle, scratching the back of his head. "Well, you know… I might've underestimated my abilities a bit."
Evelyn fixed him with a sharp stare.
Vale studied Callum for a moment, his expression complicated.
'So he really didn't mean to erase the mountain…'
The thought made Vale chuckle softly under his breath.
They continued walking, the tension gradually fading as the minutes passed. Eventually, after nearly ten minutes, they arrived at Vale's room.
"Well, this is it," Evelyn said, giving him a brief wave. "We'll be heading out."
She paused, then turned back as if remembering something important.
"Oh, and Yuki will be in charge of you tomorrow, so don't be surprised when she shows up."
Vale chuckled as he opened the door and stepped inside.
As the door closed behind him, he turned his attention to his computer. Opening Chrome, a small, quiet smile formed on his lips.