[Editing]
The door to the final trial yawned open with a slow groan, revealing a vast, cathedral-like expanse filled with floating celestial platforms and astral storms rolling above a void of endless stars. The constellations here weren't gentle. They burned. Aries clashed with Scorpio, Leo danced madly with Sagittarius, and in the center hovered a throne of tangled energy—shifting, roaring, alive.
"That… doesn't look like a normal test," Penelope muttered, tightening her grip on Clarina's sleeve like a kid at a haunted house.
"That's because it isn't," Verena said grimly, her eyes tracing the formation of glowing symbols at the far end of the room. "This is the Zodiabeast chamber."
"Final assessment protocol confirmed," a mechanical voice echoed above them. It was the system's voice now, stripped of narrative charm and entirely clinical.
[ZODIABEAST ENGAGED: OPHIOTAUROS — THE ENDLING OF STAGNATION]
Classification: Mythic Construct of Dormant Will
