The next days blurred into trials. Not the same kind as before. These weren't only tests of strength. They were mirrors.
Daiken's pull of gravity. Kazumi's abyss of shadows. Tetsuya's storm. The Silent Elder's void. Each of them was familiar, not because Rei had faced them before, but because he had felt their echoes in the chaos of Hurukoya.
Different wielders. Different intentions. But the same roots.
It was as if the Sayuri weren't just training him. They were preparing him to face something. Someone he had already met.
Late one night, Rei sat alone at the edge of the Sanctuary, the black stone heavy in his hand. It pulsed faintly, not light, not heat, just a presence.
He remembered the Elders' devastation. How it felt when the ground itself betrayed him, when the sky burned.
When he returned to the chamber the next morning, Daiken was waiting. Arms crossed, his voice was iron.
"You've touched each of us. You've survived. But surviving isn't enough."
Kazumi leaned against the wall, her scar catching the dim light. "You're not a child anymore. Stop thinking like one."
Tetsuya laughed, casual and sharp. "What they mean is, show us something new."
The Silent Elder said nothing, but Rei felt the air tighten. Expectation.
Rei tightened his grip on the Blade of Resolve. His pulse steadied. The words rose in him, not from desperation but from rhythm.
"I'm not afraid of dying anymore."
And for the first time, his Enso didn't flare recklessly. It pulsed, controlled, steady, a rhythm he owned.
The Elders watched without words. And Rei knew: the real trial was about to begin.