The next morning, the group reached the edge of a vast canyon—one filled not with earth, but with endless water. A hidden lake, untouched by sunlight, stretched before them. It shimmered unnaturally, as if it hid more than it showed.
"This is it," Mizu whispered. "The final key."
A small stone dock jutted into the water. At the end—an altar, half submerged, glowing faintly.
But the water was wrong.
It didn't move with the wind. It pulsed like a heartbeat.
"We'll need to go across," Honkai said. "But that water… it's not just water."
Rika threw a pebble in.
No splash.
The pebble disappeared—vanished.
"Okay. That's not normal," Sayos muttered.
Mizu stepped forward, removing his boots and shirt. "I'll go alone."
"No way," Rika said. "You're not diving into cursed water alone."
"I can feel it," Mizu said calmly. "This is my trial. It's calling me."
Without waiting for another word, he dove in.
Silence.
Nothing.
Then—
Mizu opened his eyes.
He wasn't underwater.
He was floating in the sky—surrounded by stars, and memories.
His own voice echoed: "I can't save them… I wasn't strong enough…"
Then another: "You're different, Mizu. You don't belong."
Figures appeared around him. Shadows from his past.
Every doubt. Every fear.
The water trial wasn't a fight.
It was a drowning of the soul.
A voice spoke: "Let go… and fade."
But something inside Mizu ignited.
"No."
The blue flame in his chest burst to life.
"I've come too far. I've bled. I've broken. But I'm still standing."
The shadows screamed.
The stars exploded around him—
And Mizu swam up—bursting from the lake with a gasp.
In his hand, the final key.
The water behind him stilled.
The trial was over.
The group rushed to him. Sayos helped him out. Rika held his arm. Lucy barked happily.
But then—
A tremor.
The lake began to shake violently.
Dark fog rose from the water. And from it—
A new presence.
Something massive.
Something ancient.
To be continued.