Four days.
That's how long the system said he had before the Judgment.
And now, there were three left.
The day passed slowly. Every hour, the pit grew more tense. The air smelled like ash. The torches burned shorter. Even the chains creaked less. Everyone could feel it — a weight crawling down from the surface, hour by hour.
Jace tried to keep spirits up, joking with the other slaves, handing out stolen scraps of dried meat. But his eyes always came back to Auron, and every time they did, they held more fear than hope.
Mira was no better. She'd stopped asking questions. Just watched. Always from a few steps behind. Her soldiers didn't even hide their fear anymore. They avoided Auron's path, avoided his eyes.
Something in him had shifted after entering the Eye's chamber.
And everyone knew it.
---
By nightfall, the sky above the shaft turned red.
Not from the sun.
From banners.
A ship descended — black metal with gold trim, shaped like a sword plunged into the clouds. It hovered over the lift for a moment, then anchored with chains of silver.
The mine held its breath.
The Black Judge had arrived.
---
Auron stood at the edge of the upper ridge, arms crossed as the lift creaked under the weight of armored boots.
Three figures stepped off first. Noble soldiers — not Mira's kind. These ones wore full black plate, no faces visible behind their helms. Silent. Precise.
Then came the fourth.
A man dressed in long, dark robes embroidered with golden thread in spiraling runes. His face was uncovered, but his eyes were blindfolded. A heavy seal hung from his neck.
The Black Judge.
He didn't walk. He glided.
His feet never touched the ground.
The moment he passed, the torch flames dimmed.
And behind him floated a great scroll — unrolled, pages fluttering as if being read by unseen hands.
Mira knelt immediately. Her men followed.
Even the Warden bowed.
Auron did not.
The Judge's head turned in his direction.
"You are the one touched by the Abyss," he said. His voice was quiet, yet it echoed through the stone halls like a bell.
Auron met his gaze, even through the blindfold.
"And you're the one who kills without trial."
"There is no trial in rot. Only cleansing."
The Judge turned to Mira.
"Status?"
"One confirmed fragment. Neutralized. Multiple unknown readings in deeper tunnels. One artifact—unstable, possibly sentient."
The Judge raised one hand.
The scroll floated to his side. Pages flipped wildly. Then stopped.
He spoke again.
"Bring me the slave who carried the mask."
Mira hesitated. "He stands before you."
The Judge's head tilted slightly.
Then slowly, he stepped toward Auron.
Each movement was measured. Too smooth to be human.
"You are not a slave," he said.
Auron stayed silent.
"You are not a noble either. Not anymore. What are you now?"
"I'm what you fear," Auron said.
The soldiers raised their weapons, but the Judge held up a hand.
"Interesting."
Auron could feel it now — the Judge wasn't just looking at him. He was searching. Pressing through the layers of his mind. But the mask pulsed once on his belt, and the system responded:
\[Mind Veil Active – Probing Blocked]
The Judge paused.
"Your thoughts are sealed. Your essence... fractured. The Abyss runs through you, but you still remain."
He stepped closer.
"Why?"
Auron stared straight into the blank cloth over the man's eyes.
"Because I don't run from the dark. I use it."
The Judge reached out.
His hand hovered just above Auron's chest.
Then—
The system flashed.
\[Warning: High-Level Divine Interference Detected]
\[Stability Compromised – Abort Contact]
\[System Shielding Engaged…]
The Judge flinched.
Slightly.
His hand recoiled as if burned.
Then he turned.
"To the Warden," he said. "Prepare the chamber. He will be tested."
Mira stood quickly. "Tested?"
"Yes. We will separate him from the Abyss. If he survives, he is cleansed."
"And if he doesn't?" Mira asked.
"Then we burn the pit."
---
Two hours later, Auron sat chained in the cleansing chamber.
It was a circular room of stone, with symbols carved in blood around the rim. Runes burned faint blue in the walls. Candles floated in the air. The Judge stood at the edge, arms raised.
The soldiers chanted.
The scroll glowed.
The mask on Auron's belt trembled.
Inside his mind, the whispers screamed.
**"Run. Run. Run."**
He didn't.
He closed his eyes.
And waited.
The spell struck like lightning.
Pain. Searing. Endless. Like claws tearing through his veins.
The system blinked in and out.
\[Core Link Disrupted]
\[Corruption Surging – 38%]
\[Artifact Lockdown Initiated]
\[Mind Fragment Splitting…]
Auron screamed.
He saw flashes — Mira standing behind the glass, watching.
Jace, praying in the corner.
The boy, still asleep beneath the barracks.
Then the stitched face again.
And a voice louder than any before.
**"I see you now. Little king. Little key."**
Then—
Silence.
The spell ended.
Smoke filled the chamber.
The Judge stepped forward, expression unchanged.
The chains were gone.
Auron stood in the center.
Unmoving.
Breathing.
Alive.
The Judge tilted his head.
"Impossible."
Auron raised his eyes, glowing faintly.
"Your light doesn't reach here anymore."
Then he walked past the soldiers.
And the pit, for the first time in years, felt truly silent.
The kind of silence that came before a war.