CHAPTER 22 — The Fourth Veil: Trial of the Soul

The world of the Third Veil shattered like glass beneath Ivan’s feet.
Fire faded.
Pain vanished.
Even the rumble of the Executioner dissolved into silence.
Ivan floated weightlessly through a tunnel of shifting light, as if falling upward through a dream that didn’t belong to him.
A whisper followed him.
Soft.
Empty.
Cold.
“THE FOURTH VEIL AWAITS.”
The lights vanished.
Darkness swallowed everything.

---
A PLACE WITH NO TIME
Ivan landed gently on cold ground.
He blinked.
No walls.No sky.No horizon.Just a pitch-black void stretching endlessly in every direction.
There was no sound.
Not even his heartbeat.
Not even his breath.
He touched his chest—
Nothing.
No heartbeat.
No air.
No warmth.
Just silence.
As if the world had erased him.
“What… what is this place?” Ivan whispered.
His voice didn’t echo.
It didn’t even sound real.
Like his voice was being swallowed the moment it left his lips.
A whisper finally responded:
“THE TRIAL OF THE SOUL.NOT PAIN.NOT FEAR.BUT… EMPTINESS.”
Ivan’s eyes sharpened.
Another challenge.
Another cruel trick.
He steadied his stance.
“Whatever it is… I’ll endure it.”
The voice laughed quietly.
“ENDURE?HUMAN… THIS TRIAL CANNOT BE ENDURED.”

---
THE FIRST TEST — NOTHINGNESS
Ivan began walking.
No footsteps sounded.
No air moved.
The void didn’t change.
He kept walking.
Five minutes.
Ten.
An hour.
He turned around—
There was no trace of his footprints… because he had never made any.
Time felt stretched… then compressed… then gone.
Ivan frowned.
“How long have I been walking?”
No answer.
His legs grew heavy—not from exhaustion, but from nothing happening.
No sound.
No danger.
No feeling.
No progress.
His thoughts began fading, memories dissolving like wet ink.
He caught himself whispering:
“…What am I walking toward?”
He shook his head.
“No. Focus. I’m here for a reason.”
The darkness swallowed his words.
Swallowed his resolve.
Swallowed him.
A whisper slithered behind him:
“YOU ARE NOTHING HERE.”
Ivan spun—
Nothing.
The void devoured everything.
He clenched his fists.
His heart began to ache.
Not physically—
Emotionally.
Loneliness deeper than any pain stabbed into him.
His voice cracked.
“Stop it…! Stop trying to get inside my head!”

---
THE SECOND TEST — MEMORIES ERODING
Images flickered in front of him—faint, blurry, distorted.
He squinted, stepping closer.
It was a memory.
Elen sitting by a fire.
Her hair illuminated by soft light.
Her smile warm, gentle, full of love.
Ivan stepped forward—
The image twisted into static and vanished.
“Elen…?”
Another appeared.
The night he carried her through the forest.
Her grip around his neck.
Her quiet whisper:“I’m scared…”
Ivan reached for the memory—
And it dissolved like smoke.
His heart clenched painfully.
“NO—STOP! Don’t take her from me!”
The void’s whisper turned cruel.
“LET HER GO.FORGET HER.FORGET EVERYTHING.”
Ivan fell to his knees.
His breath trembled.
Even the pain he felt… felt distant.
Memories blurred.
Their first meeting in the forest.
Her voice saying his name.
Her tears when he died in her arms.
Everything—slipping away.
His hands shook uncontrollably.
His voice cracked.
“What… was her name?What… did she look like…?”
Tears dripped onto the black floor.
For a moment—
He couldn’t remember.
Nothing.
An abyss swallowed his soul.
He curled forward, shaking violently.
“Who…?Who was I trying to save…?”
A final whisper sank its claws into his heart:
“YOU WERE ALONE FROM THE BEGINNING.”

---
THE MOMENT OF BREAKING
Ivan closed his eyes.
He felt—
Nothing.
No love.
No purpose.
No reason to stand.
His lips trembled.
“…Maybe it’s true.”
Maybe he really was alone.
He sat there for what felt like days.
Or years.
Or eternity.
Time didn’t exist here.
He stopped thinking.
Stopped breathing.
Stopped feeling.
The void whispered gently:
“SLEEP, IVAN.THE WORLD NO LONGER NEEDS YOU.”
His head lowered.
His shoulders slumped.
He began to fade—
Literally.
His body turning transparent.
His existence dissolving.
The Fourth Veil was erasing him.
Ending him quietly.
No fighting.
No pain.
No last stand.
Just…
Nothing.
Ivan whispered a final, broken breath:
“…I’m sorry, El—…”
He froze.
What was that name?
E…
Elen…
E…

---
THE SPARK OF REMEMBRANCE
A warmth flickered in his chest.
Tiny.Fragile.Barely alive.
A small voice inside him whispered:
“Ivan…”
His breath caught.
“E…len…?”
The void hissed instantly:
“NO. STOP. DO NOT REMEMBER.”
But Ivan’s dull eyes slowly regained light.
He clutched his chest desperately.
“I… remember…”
Her smile.
Her hand in his.
Her voice trembling when she said:
“Please live… my husband…”
Warmth exploded in his heart.
A heartbeat returned.
THUMP.
The void shook.
THUMP.
The darkness cracked.
THUMP.
Memories flooded back like a storm:
The forest.The village.Their mornings.Her cry when he died.Her kiss when she said goodbye.
He stood.
The darkness screamed:
“STOP!THIS IS THE TRIAL OF NOTHINGNESS!YOU CANNOT ESCAPE!”
Ivan roared.
“HER NAME IS ELEN!!AND I WILL NEVER FORGET HER!!”
Light burst from his chest.
Pure.
Radiant.
Unbreakable.
His soul burned so brightly that the void recoiled like a wounded beast.

---
THE FINAL TEST — SOUL RESURRECTION
A figure stepped out of the darkness.
Tall.
Armored in black.
No face.
No voice.
Just a giant blade of shadow.
The voice announced:
“THE FINAL GUARDIAN OF THE FOURTH VEIL.THE SOUL REAPER.”
Ivan tightened his grip on his sword.
His body was weak.
His mind hurt.
But his soul—
was unshakable.
“Come.”
The Reaper blurred forward.
Ivan raised his sword—
CLASH!!!
The impact sent him skating back, sparks erupting.
The Reaper swung again—Ivan blocked—His arms trembled—His soul flickered—
But he didn’t fall.
“NOT THIS TIME!!”
He pushed back with everything in him.
Their blades locked.
The Reaper whispered:
“WHY FIGHT SO HARD…?”
Ivan gritted his teeth.
“BECAUSE SOMEONE IS WAITING FOR ME.”
He roared.
And his soul flared like a star.
Light blasted outward—
shattering the Reaper into dust.
The darkness peeled away.
Silence.
Then—
“THE FOURTH VEIL…HAS BEEN CONQUERED.”
Ivan collapsed to one knee, exhausted, shaking—
But smiling.
“I’m coming, Elen…No matter what.”
The world dissolved—
And the Fifth Veil awakened.