Chapter 60 – Oris’s Trial: The Blade Remembers

The wind was still.

Oris stood on an ancient bridge suspended in an endless sky of ash, the sun frozen mid-fall on the horizon. The air was silent—too silent. Even his breathing echoed unnaturally.

[Trial of Redemption – Initiated.]
[Subject: Oris Veylen – Level 49 | Role: Bladebound Sentinel]

Suddenly, the clang of swords rang out—not in front of him, but all around.

From the mist stepped dozens of warriors—their armor fractured, their faces unfamiliar yet hauntingly recognizable.

One by one, they raised their swords.

Oris narrowed his eyes. “These are… the ones I’ve killed.”

And then he saw her.

A small figure near the back, trembling. She wasn’t armored.

She was a girl—no older than ten. Blonde, dirt-smudged, clutching a rusted pendant in her hand.

“Why did you kill my father?”

His hand trembled. That memory… he’d buried it.

The rebels he’d hunted during the war. She was a civilian’s child—caught in the storm.

He never meant—

“You said nothing as you cut him down.”

The other warriors closed in, silent and unblinking.

“You killed us all for ‘justice.’”
“But whose justice?”
“You never looked back.”

Oris gritted his teeth, summoning his spectral sword. But it wouldn’t respond—not here.

“No excuses,” he muttered. “If this is the reckoning I deserve… then so be it.”

He dropped to his knees. “I won’t fight you. I’ll carry you with me. Forever.”

[Acknowledged.]

Suddenly, the bridge cracked. The warriors stopped.

[Trial Passed – Acknowledgement of Burden: Complete.]
[Alignment Shift: Order → Grey]
[New Skill Unlocked: Phantom Echo – You may call upon fallen spirits for a single strike.]

The girl with the pendant stepped forward… and smiled faintly.

“Thank you for remembering.”

Then she vanished with the others, their forms turning to glowing fragments.

Oris stood.

He didn't feel absolved. But he felt ready.

“Ren. Astra. Kael. Wait for me…”

Next: Chapter 61 – The Monarch Reawakens: A Blade Through Time