Madrid's skies hung low with gray mist, the remnants of a storm that had not touched the ground. It was unnatural, Rei noted, how silence pressed against the edges of the city like a held breath.
The Golden Tribunal, once the seat of flame-fueled judgment under the Inquisition, had long since crumbled into ruin. But in the Spirit Layer, its architecture still loomed, pristine and untouched—white marble, blood-red carpets, and fire-branded altars that judged with absolute certainty.
"This is a Sovereign's courtroom," Eirenne muttered, hands on her twin chakrams.
Noira stepped cautiously, her boots silent on ghostly stone. "The kind that never heard appeals."
System Prompt:
[Judgement Zone Detected: Tribunal Sanctum – Echo Node Active]
[Sovereign Class Detected: Arbiter Ignatius – Flame of Absolute Verdict]
The echo of chanting reached them—Latin verses twisted by pain and history. And then, from the dais, a figure rose.
Ignatius stood cloaked in flame and iron, scales in one hand, a blade of obsidian in the other. His eyes were endless fire.
"I am Judgment given shape. You walk into my hall burdened with choice. I will measure you."
Rei stepped forward. "We carry flame, yes. But we don't burn blindly."
Ignatius' voice shook the hall. "Then prove it."
Trial of the Four Flames
One by one, the harem stepped forward.
Mireille was judged for her loyalty—was it choice, or dependence?
She raised her head high. "I serve not because I am weak, but because I chose whom to trust."
Eirenne faced her past as a soldier—was her strength freedom, or denial?
"I fight because I want to, not because I must."
Noira was shown the horrors she enacted for the Church.
"I bear my past not as shame, but as a scar I chose to heal."
Rei walked last. And what Ignatius showed him was not his past—but his possible futures.
In one, Rei ruled.
In another, Rei destroyed.
In another, Rei vanished.
"What do you choose?" Ignatius boomed.
Rei closed his eyes. "None. Or all. I'll carve the road as I walk it."
The blade fell.
And stopped, inches from Rei's neck.
The flame surrounding Ignatius dimmed.
"You are flawed," the Sovereign said.
"But not false."
System Prompt:
[Verdict: Flame Resonance Accepted]
[Ignatius Added to Spirit Registry — Class: Flame Arbiter]
The courtroom crumbled.
But not into ruin. Into light.
Madrid – Post-Verdict Silence
They stepped outside beneath a sky that had cleared.
The mist was gone.
The weight had lifted.
And in the distance, Karasu whispered, "One more lies ahead. The Sovereign of Ruin."
Rei nodded. "Berlin. Let's finish this arc."