The rejected stood together, their silence heavy, their futures uncertain. The Celestial Gate had remained closed to them, its verdict absolute. Nullborn. Unchosen. Stripped of the destiny they had spent their lives preparing for.
Kai clenched his fists, staring at the fading golden glow of the gate, at the chosen vanishing into its depths. He refused to accept this. Not yet.
He turned toward Lady Aurora, the revered overseer of the Attunement Phase. Her silver armor caught the firelight, her gaze sharp and unreadable. The elders around her murmured amongst themselves, already preparing to dismiss the failed candidates.
Kai took a step forward. Others followed—faces weary, desperate, demanding answers.
"Is this truly it?" Kai's voice cut through the tension. "There's nothing we can do?"
Aurora's expression remained impassive. "The gate judges. It does not grant second chances."
"But why?" Another Nullborn spoke up, shaking. "We trained. We fought just as hard as they did. How can fate be this cruel?"
"Maybe the crystal ball lied?" Another questioned.
Some of the elders scoffed at the question, but Aurora remained quiet. Kai saw something flicker in her eyes—a thought, perhaps a doubt. The murmurs grew louder, the rejected clung to hope, asking—begging for another way.
Then, Lady Aurora did something she had never done before.
She raised a hand, silencing the crowd. "There is… one alternative," she said slowly.
The elders stiffened. Disbelief rippled through them.
Aurora turned fully to face the Nullborns, her gaze assessing. "It is not a path for the weak," she warned. "It is not kind, nor does it promise success."
Kai felt his pulse quicken.
"The Maze of Death," she proclaimed, her voice steady, unshaken. "A trial unlike any other. If you survive its horrors—if you endure until the end—the gate will open for you."
A shocked silence followed. Even the chosen who had yet to cross the gate hesitated.
"The Maze has never been offered before in the history of Awakening Tests," one elder growled. "And for good reason! It is not meant to be conquered."
Aurora's gaze never wavered. "Yet, we stand before those who demand a second chance. If they seek to defy fate, let them do so and pay with their lives."
The choice was theirs.
Some Nullborns hesitated, whispering among themselves. The fear was palpable—the Maze was legendary, a labyrinth of death traps, monstrous foes, and unspeakable horrors. Survival was not expected.
One by one, some rejected the offer, stepping away. "I'll go home," one muttered. Another shook their head. "This isn't worth my life."
But Kai? He stepped forward. His heart pounding, his body stiff with determination.
"I accept."
He wasn't alone. Others followed—those who refused to be broken, who refused to bow to a fate not decided by their hands.
Aurora nodded once. "So be it."
The Maze awaited.
Kai swallowed hard.
There was no turning back.
The great doors to the maze loomed ahead, waiting.
The great stone doors of the maze groaned as they began to open, revealing a yawning abyss of mist-shrouded corridors beyond. The air shifted, thick with an unsettling energy—the feeling of unseen eyes watching, waiting.
Kai exhaled sharply, his pulse pounding in his ears. Around him, the contenders stood rigid, some exchanging glances, others gripping weapons they had been allowed to bring. Fear was present in their eyes—but so was resolve.
The official raised a hand, silencing the murmurs. _"Once you step inside, the test begins. The maze is alive—it shifts, it deceives, and it devours the weak. Your only goal is to reach the center where the Celestial Gate is. If you do, you may proceed to enter the gate."_
His gaze swept across them, cold and unreadable.
"If you fail, the maze will claim you."
With that, the doors fully opened, the mist rolling outward like breath from some ancient beast. The entrance beckoned, dark and endless.
The Princess watched from above, silent, observing.
Kai tightened his grip on his satchel, steeling himself.
Then—without hesitation—he stepped forward.
The Maze of Death swallowed him whole.
The ground beneath their feet was uneven, riddled with jagged roots and loose rocks, forcing them into a relentless sprint over treacherous terrain. The walls—towering slabs of ancient stone covered in thick ivy—stretched high above them, sealing the path in suffocating shadows.
Kai ran alongside the others, his heartbeat hammering in his ears as he maneuvered through the winding corridors. The air was thick with sweat and adrenaline, and every breath burned in his lungs.
Then—
A scream.
A sharp, blood-curdling cry pierced the air, ripping through the momentum of the runners. Kai barely had time to glance back before he saw the source.
A boy—one of the nobles—had stepped forward too recklessly. His foot had landed on a loose stone, triggering something unseen.
With a sickening crack, iron spikes erupted from the ground.
They skewered him in an instant, puncturing through his body like meat on a spit. His mouth opened, a choked, broken noise escaping—but no words came. His eyes went wide, trembling with horror, with realization. Then, his body sagged, the life draining out of him before he even had a chance to react.
Kai's stomach twisted, but he forced his feet forward.
There was no time to stop.
Others screamed at the gruesome sight, stumbling back only for another trap to be triggered. This time—
A girl.
The wall beside her suddenly groaned, stone grinding against stone as it shifted unnaturally. Before she could move, metal blades swung out from the crevices, slicing straight through her torso.
Her body was severed instantly.
Her upper half collapsed to the ground with a wet, sickening thud, her face frozen in an expression of sheer terror. Blood sprayed the wall behind her, an obscene splash of crimson against the dull stone.
Kai clenched his jaw, forcing himself to look forward, to keep running.
The maze was merciless.
Every corner, every step, every breath carried the weight of impending doom. The teenagers around him had become frantic, their careful pacing abandoned as desperation took over.
Another scream—this time from his left.
A boy with dark auburn hair sprinted ahead, only for the ground beneath him to suddenly give way. The stone collapsed beneath his weight, revealing a pit lined with sharpened stakes.
He barely had time to gasp before gravity took hold.
His body plummeted, limbs flailing in a futile attempt to grasp onto something—anything. But there was nothing.
A deafening crack rang out as he landed.
Impaled.
Kai caught only a brief glimpse—his body sprawled over the stakes, his chest split open, blood pooling beneath his ruined form.
More fell.
Some were crushed beneath shifting walls. Others impaled by hidden spikes that shot from unseen slots in the maze's foundation. One girl had tried climbing the vines to escape, only for the ivy to constrict around her body, tightening like a strangling serpent until she was nothing but a crushed corpse.
Death surrounded them.
Yet still, Kai ran.
His breath was ragged, his limbs screaming in protest, but he refused to stop. He zigzagged through the path, eyes darting to every possible danger, searching for the slightest movement, the faintest shift in the ground.
Then—
A snap.
His foot landed on something unnatural. A thin wire hidden beneath the dirt.
Time slowed.
Kai's heart plummeted as he realized—he had triggered a trap.
A mechanical click echoed through the corridor.
A shadow loomed.
Above him, an iron blade—massive, glinting with wicked edges—descended at an unforgiving speed.
It was aimed straight for his head.
Kai's breath caught.
There was no time to think.
No time to escape.
Only the instant before death came crashing