The grand cathedral of the Divine Order was unlike anything Alina had ever seen.
Towering obsidian pillars stretched toward the heavens, covered in shimmering runes that pulsed with the energy of the gods themselves. The vast chamber hummed with celestial power, the air thick with ancient whispers.
Alina stood alone in the center of the hall
Before her, seated upon high thrones carved from celestial stone, were the Seven High Divines—the mortal representatives of the goddesses. Their gazes bore into her, each filled with judgment, curiosity, and barely masked fear.
"You have been touched by Omniva," she stated, her voice carrying across the chamber. "No mortal has ever received the Goddess of Everything. We must determine if you are a blessing…"
She hesitated.
"Or a curse."
The words cut deep. A curse? That's what they thought of her?
The woman with silver eyes, Lady Elira, stepped forward.
Alina clenched her fists, trying to suppress the divine energy crackling beneath her skin. But it was always there, impossible to silence completely.
One of the High Divines leaned forward, an elder with storm-grey hair and piercing golden eyes. "Tell us, girl. What has the goddess said to you?"
Alina swallowed hard. How was she supposed to answer that? Omniva had spoken to her in whispers, in visions woven into reality itself. She had felt the infinite knowledge of existence flow through her—history, future, creation, destruction. The weight of everything.
She took a breath.
"She told me… the world is changing."
The chamber fell deathly silent.
ripple of unease passed through the High Divines.
Finally, Lady Elira spoke again. "Changing how?"
Alina hesitated. "I don't know yet."
It was the truth.
She didn't understand the full scope of what had happened—what Omniva wanted, or why she had been chosen. But she felt it. The shifting of fate. Theunraveling of something ancient.
And somehow, she was at the center of it all.
Lady Elira studied her carefully. "Then we will test you."
Alina stiffened. "Test me?"
"If you truly are the Goddess's chosen, then you must prove it."
The ground trembled beneath her feet. door at the far end of the chamber creaked open, revealing a path bathed in golden light.
The Trial of the Pantheon awaited.