Let the record show: I did not voluntarily show up to the celestial courtroom.
I was teleported.
Which, yes, is technically a kind of attendance, but being yoinked out of your post-mask-victory sob session by a glowing subpoena-portal that shouted, "YOU HAVE BEEN SUMMONED TO FACE TRIAL FOR EXISTENTIAL TRESPASSING," is hardly what I'd call "willing cooperation."
Especially when I landed in the middle of the divine courtroom in nothing but my glitch-scorched robes, mask half-floating, and the Spoon clutched in my left hand like a security blanket.
And especially not when the System Tribunal was already seated.
Imagine, if you will, the world's most terrifying courtroom.
Now fill it with cosmic judges, a jury made of timelines, and a bailiff who is definitely an eldritch spreadsheet.
Welcome to the Reincarnation Tribunal, where the charges include:
Unauthorized resurrection
Mask fraud
Emotional instability
Harem hoarding
Soup-based heresy
And "disrupting the linear structure of fate with sarcastic commentary."
Which is unfair, really. I'm barely hoarding.
"Kael of Echo," boomed the central judge, a twelve-eyed cosmic entity shaped like a scroll made of fire and glitter. "You stand accused of violating the Sacred Flow of Destiny."
"Objection," I said, hand raised.
"You may not object before we've started."
"Counter-objection: this entire thing smells like basil."
From beside me, the Spoon floated up like a divine defense attorney possessed by caffeine and audacity.
"Your Honor, my client pleads: emotionally exhausted, narratively complex, and guilty of nothing except being a little too loveable for linear destiny to handle."
The courtroom blinked.
Literally. The walls pulsed once, then turned into constellations shaped like soup bowls.
The System was confused.
Good. Let's keep it that way.
The Trial Begins
Judge One: a cosmic tape recorder.
Judge Two: a glowing question mark.
Judge Three: Belladonna's mother in disguise (I swear it was her).
Judge Four: The System, in full passive-aggressive glory.
"Charges include emotional corruption of other vessels, narrative disruption, glitch propagation, and excessive soup-related influence."
"Guilty of soup," the Spoon whispered. "Never of love."
"WHAT?" I hissed.
"Sorry. Practicing my closing arguments."
Exhibit A: The Glitch Incident
They replayed it.
On a floating memory-screen:
Me refusing my tutorial class.
Breaking a prophecy with a spoon.
Turning into Belladonna during a masquerade.
Accidentally founding a soup cult while shirtless.
Cue the jury, which I remind you is composed of timelines, murmuring among themselves. One of them split in half and formed a minor god just to raise an eyebrow.
"Kael," intoned the System's Prosecutor, a humanoid made of rulebooks and unresolved plot threads, "You defy reincarnation law. Your path was not authorized. Your emotions breach dimensional protocols."
I cleared my throat.
"Okay, but have you considered that your protocols are bad and you should feel bad?"
"Silence," barked Rulebook Man. "You are a glitch."
"A charming glitch," added the Spoon.
Belladonna, from the back of the courtroom, made a noise halfway between a sigh and a throat-clearing romantic gasp. I may have blushed.
Villain Kael from last chapter's memory council appeared in the audience with popcorn.
Exhibit B: The Mask
They projected the full mask above us.
Five shards, stitched together by glitchlight and sheer refusal to break again.
"This Mask," intoned the Prosecutor, "was never meant to be whole. It is a vessel of choice. Of chaos. It reflects not a destined self—but all selves. That power is illegal."
"Illegal to who?" I demanded. "To you? To the system that failed me before I was even born? That let me die in a tutorial, turned my trauma into entertainment, and then tried to delete me every time I resisted?"
Silence.
The jury twitched.
The Spoon clapped.
Loudly.
With dramatic echo.
Witness Testimony: Belladonna
And then they called her.
Belladonna, dressed in something formal, sharp, and dangerously romantic, stepped into the spotlight.
"Do you believe the defendant has corrupted fate?" asked Rulebook Man.
She stared directly at me.
"I believe Kael challenged fate."
Murmurs.
"Did he violate prophecy?"
"Yes," she said. "And thank the stars he did. Because if he hadn't, I'd still be a pawn. A puppet queen. And I would never have learned how to fight. Or feel. Or..."
She stopped.
I stopped breathing.
She didn't finish the sentence.
She didn't need to.
Witness Testimony: The Spoon
It spun twice, then spoke directly to the judges.
"Your Honor, let the record reflect: Kael never chose this path. It glitched around him. It forced him to confront the divine, the broken, the masked, and the mashed. He could've fled. He didn't."
"He could've become a god."
"Instead, he made soup."
The walls glowed.
The jury quieted.
For a moment, even the System paused.
Then the prosecutor slammed a glowing folder.
"You rest your defense?"
"In a soup bowl," the Spoon said proudly. "Microwave safe. Emotional capacity: infinite."
Final Statement: Kael
I stood. Hands shaking.
Mask floating behind me like a halo made of past selves.
"I didn't ask to be born again. I didn't ask to glitch. I didn't ask to be loved, or feared, or followed. I just wanted to live."
"To not hurt."
"To stay."
I looked around at the courtroom of gods and laws and divine bureaucracy.
"But if you're going to call me a glitch, then fine."
"Let me be the glitch that chose."
"Not the one fate picked, but the one who picked everyone else."
I met Belladonna's eyes.
"And the one who stayed."
Verdict Time
The jury of timelines rose.
Each flickered, rewound, played scenes from my journey. From every choice I made.
And then—
One by one—
They glowed.
Gold.
The courtroom split with a cosmic ding.
"Verdict delivered: Kael of Echo is... not guilty."
"On all charges?" I asked.
"Well," said the head judge, glancing at the soup cult paperwork, "You are still technically guilty of divine condiment fraud, but we'll let it slide."
Aftermath: Echo Sovereign Status Unlocked
The Mask re-formed around me.
Not covering my face—but hovering behind it like a crown made of memory.
[SYSTEM NOTICE: NEW STATUS UNLOCKED]
Echo Sovereign – Class: Glitch Divine
Abilities: Choice Manifestation, Masked Echo Integration, +1 to Soup Diplomacy
New Title: He Who Chose Himself
Warning: Sovereign stability depends on emotional honesty. Good luck with that.
Belladonna appeared at my side, arms crossed, eyes unreadable.
"You survived your trial."
"Barely."
"You won."
"Technically."
"You're still an idiot."
"Definitely."
Pause.
Then—softly—
"You stayed."
I turned.
"Of course I did."
Next Time on Kaelverse:
Kael visits the divine archives.
Mask fragments start speaking.
Romantic tension hits critical levels.
Fluffernox rebrands as a soul therapist.
The Spoon runs for office (of fate).
And Kael learns what it means to rebuild not just the world... but himself.
Bring soup.
We're only getting started.