The path to the fake Amelia ended up being relatively straightforward.


    He arrived a few minutes after leaving the main platform, without going through a long time of mindless walking, or a simulated life that could''ve happened.


    Nevertheless, the moment he stepped on the last remaining platform, his view shifted.


    Orion stood still while decors morphed from the white void, creating a castle-like hall, with a blonde woman sitting on the very top of the stairs, overlooking him with a chilling glare.


    Pillars formed to support the ceiling, stained-glass created from the void shone various tales from Orion''s life that he recognized instantly.


    His eyes scanned each decoration of the room, before a long black carpet rolled from the top of the stairs, kicked by Amelia.


    "Welcome, at last."


    Her somber tone caught his attention. Since this Amelia wasn''t related in any ways to the real one apart from her physical appearance, he cautiously took a step forward, and stepped on the black carpet.


    The very moment the sole of his shoe touched the carpet, Amelia opened her right hand, and attacked Orion.


    A heavy pressure crashed on him, making him unable to take a step forward.


    "Let''s have a little game, shall we?"


    While fighting the force pushing on him from above, he glared at her.


    "Come before me, and you win. If you fail, I will take your life."


    The pearl colored eyes of Amelia shone a variation of multiple colors, similar to a rainbow.


    ''A mixture of lightning and wind magic. If Amelia were to combine her elements, she would become incredibly powerful.''


    His spirit wasn''t in any means crushed, since he was expecting this last encounter to be even harder than the two previous ones.


    One step at a time, he dragged his body forward.


    "Don''t think it will be easy. At the end of the day, I am the daughter of Henrietta. I also possess the blood of Valkyries in me."


    Orion''s eyes opened wide.


    (Val...kyries...)


    He looked at the woman, who crossed her legs sensually. On both sides of her throne, an exhibit of many weapons were visible.


    Karambit knives, spears, chained daggers, scimitars, scythes, and lastly, a gun Orion couldn''t recognize.


    Instantly, Orion realized that this Amelia was clearly created to torture his mind. She was so similar to the real Amelia that it made him hesitate.


    ''If I have a Valkyrie in front of me, and not Amelia... I won''t be able to win this trial.''


    ''But...''


    With a determined glint in his eyes, Orion slammed his left foot on the ground, and gritted his teeth.


    (Throw everything you can at me. Just know that you will be unable to stop me!)


    A maniacal laugh echoed in the hall, coming from Amelia.


    "Sure, sure. A Valkyrie against a struggling wannabe Hero."


    She wiped the tears threatening to leave the corner of her eyes with her finger, and nodded.


    "Make it interesting, alright?"


    Clapping in her hands, she proudly sat on her throne with an amused expression.


    ''Just you wait...''


    Orion approached the first step leading to Amelia''s throne. He placed his foot on it, before the gravity pushing on him drastically increased.


    (Kh!)


    He felt his shoulders tremble, and his knees buckle down slightly. Yet, he still glared at Amelia.


    "The path toward Ascension isn''t just for show. If it were available to everyone, nothing would remain of this world."


    Suddenly, the mood changed. Amelia''s smile changed to a frown, before she leaned on one side of her big throne.


    "Do you remember your first steps?"


    (I... do.)


    One of the stained-glass on the wall suddenly shone brightly, before Orion''s mind was thrown into a short display of his own past.


    *


    As if those were still pictures succeeding one another, he watched them silently.


    "A little boy, left in an orphanage. No parents, no family, only himself. It took him a long time to realize the truth, yet those were the happiest days of his life."


    A baby Orion, struggling to stand, appeared, before walking off the pictures.


    *


    He blinked, finding himself back to the hall.


    "Each step you take is a part of your past being reenacted. If you were a normal demon, like Olivia, none of this would have happened."


    Behind Amelia, Orion noticed the shadow of the giant flame being he met at the beginning, Diramoi.


    The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    This is when he understood. The trial was fair, it just pushed the limits of the person being challenged.


    "Curse your mother for placing this burden on you."


    Orion glared at her, and angrily forced his voice out.


    (I would... never!)


    "Which is fine. In fact, it is certainly reassuring to hear that. Anyway, here."


    Placing his other foot on the second step, the pressure once again crushed him the moment Amelia nonchalantly pointed at the ceiling.


    *


    Orion looked at himself standing in front of a burning building.


    "The orphanage itself wasn''t what the young Orion was terrified about. It was the fear of losing the only person standing by his side."


    The pictures showed Orion throwing himself into the burning orphanage, before switching to him and Amelia hugging each other in the middle of her room.


    "With the truth revealed, the young man chose to follow the path of vengeance. With saving the young woman from the fire as his very first task, he escaped the scene, before collapsing."


    *


    Seeing his life being played in front of him was frustrating. He wanted to close his eyes, and ignore everything.


    Feeling his bones creaking from the weight, he painfully stepped on the third step.


    ''How many more?''


    He looked at the path leading to the throne.


    Unable to see clearly because of the air distorting in front of his eyes, he ignored it and pushed forward.


    *


    "After many efforts, the young man grew up. Now an adult, he left his hometown, and traveled to the nest of his enemies."


    "Yet, without the intervention of a mythical dragon, his story would have ended in a very tragic way."


    Monolavir appeared behind a cornered Orion, before everything returned to normal.


    *


    "Do you realize how lucky you are in life? With the world reset for you continuously, is it even worth taking it so seriously?"


    Looking at her nails, Amelia said.


    (...)


    "Oh, sorry. You can''t talk right now."


    She mocked him, before adding another layer of pressure on him. The moment he stepped on the fourth step, the floor cracked, showing how much strength was forced on him.


    *


    "At first cautious, the now adult Orion moved for others instead of egoistically caring for his own benefits."


    Orion talking to the fairy Queens for the first time was reenacted.


    "With his trusty followers, he accepted to save the Remnant of Life, and entered the tunnels under the tree to remove the corrupted threat."


    "Alas, this came at a cost."


    Staring at his transformation, Orion frowned.


    "With the help of the Remnant of Space and Time, he obtained the power to vanquish the enemy, not realizing that he was used by the Remnant to protect her friend from death."


    The picture switched to Orion holding his broken arm on top of a massive centipede corpse. In a room littered with bug parts, punctured by arrows that started to vanish into particles.


    "He successfully protected the Tree of Life from certain death, and recovered the ring his father had left behind."


    When Orion saw himself holding the ring, his vision faded.


    *


    "Your face is asking how long it will keep going."


    The pressure was starting to really hurt him. Not only was he enduring physical pain while walking up the stairs, but he was also enduring a mental strain by seeing his past.


    "Well, there''s still..."


    Holding her hand in front of her, she smiled cutely, releasing another wave of gravity pushing downward.


    "Quite more."


    Orion''s neck cracked violently. He felt his consciousness fade from the shock.


    His right knee dropped forcefully on the step, while he placed his hands on his left hand, holding his balance.


    "Is that it? Four steps?"


    With a mocking tone, the fake Amelia glared at him.


    Rapidly, his vision turned black, while the sounds faded.


    ''This is... it... I have no strength left.''


    Feeling his system shut down, he thought the end had arrived. Until a light flashed in his head.


    (Kh-)


    "Aaaah!"


    An aura of white magic enveloped his body, which broke the seal on his voice. He healed his injured body and glared at Amelia.


    "Oh~ Splendid. Not only did you break your limitations, but you''ve also destroyed the chains I''ve placed upon you."


    Through the clone, Diramoi spoke, amazed.


    "Is it your unyielding spirit? Or is it your fear to betray expectations? Either way, I am impressed."


    His voice stopped, replaced by Amelia''s.


    "Playtime''s over, I suppose. Come."


    Without a word, Orion stepped on the fifth step.


    *


    "After leaving the fairies, Orion, and his friends walked toward their next stop. A coastal city ruled by a fair and gentle Lord, supposed to be his enemy."


    The pictures showed Kamala, moments before she would be pierced by Ivan''s lightning spear.


    "He saved the woman, and forced the other Lord to flee back to his city. However, he realized that something strange was happening with the corrupted humans. They seemed to focus on him more than others."


    "Oblivious of the curse placed on him, he escorted the injured Lord back to her quarters, and healed her."


    "Yet, this choice turned out to be the most important of his life. By saving her, he obtained the knowledge to create a new element."


    Orion holding a sphere of starry void between his hands in a messy room appeared in the next frame.


    "This was the birth of the spatial plane named Horizon."


    A picture of Orion looking amazed into a wide void expanse flashed by, before disappearing.


    *


    "Your path did not happen by chance. It was created thanks to the Remnants of Fate, and Space and Time. Do you think it is fair to say that your life is your own?"


    "..."


    Enveloped in white magic, Orion constantly healed his body from the gravity pushing on him. He stood one foot on the fifth step, and one on the fourth, with a neutral expression.


    He was neither angry, not sad.


    "Everything you went through happened because other ''you'' died, trying to accomplish the same thing. Yet, you are the only one who made it this far."


    Orion stepped on the sixth step without caring for the next part.


    *


    "You could at least listen, but fine."


    Irritated, the fake Amelia snorted and continued narrating his life.


    "After killing his second Apostle, Orion chained the kills."


    Ivan, Leonis, Julian, Kelvin, Horace, and Neon. All of these Apostles died, some killed by circumstances, other at his hands.


    "He removed the threat of the people, and approached the end of his travels."


    A massive pillar of corruption rose to the sky.


    "Nonetheless, the moment had arrived. The fateful encounter between the Second Hero, and the Corrupted Elliott, was close."


    *


    Orion ignored everything, even the pain, and stepped on the seventh step without blinking.


    *


    "The fight between the two was spectacular. On one side, Elliott had freed himself from the claws of his father, and Orion had lost control over his emotions, creating an uncontrollable creature devoid of reasoning."


    Looking at his transformation, and the rapid exchange of blows between him and Elliott, he couldn''t help but bit his lower lips, waiting for that hateful moment.


    "Lacking any kind of thinking, the berserk Orion attacked his allies, and threatened to kill them. If not for Elliott, everyone would have been enveloped in the blast realized at the end."


    A large explosion, created by himself, sent the four flying in the air.


    "Noticing something strange over her head, the kind Lord Olivia caught the group before it was too late."


    An injured Orion, laying in bed, was all he saw before the light darkened.


    *


    "Is that it?"


    Orion stood in front of Amelia.


    "It''s all I needed to show you. The recent events are unnecessary. You still haven''t fully unlocked the potential of the light magic, but that is something I cannot help you with."


    Her face turned sideways, before she smiled.


    "I''ll probably have ''her'' help you."


    She glanced back at Orion, before he sighed.


    "Was this trial..."


    "Meant to make you acknowledge and respect the other iterations of yourself? It sure was."


    Amelia, with Diramoi''s voice, finished his sentence, as everything he thought was plainly read through her.


    "Not only that, you also needed to understand the status a true demon like yourself were about to hold."


    Orion nodded.


    "The Abyssal Sovereign."


    "Yes. It is a title I created. It has no value besides its name, but once the trial will be completed, that tree should be able to see it attached to you."


    Amelia crumbled into dust, leaving the last droplet of dark magic to fuse with his being.


    Diramoi''s voice echoed around Orion''s as the world around him crumbled to dust.


    "The title is nothing. What''s truly important is the power it represents."


    With a solemn tone, Diramoi asked him.


    "Orion, are you ready to fight for your life?"


    "Are you ready to show your worth?"


    "Do you wish to..."


    Determination gleamed in Orion''s eyes.


    "Become stronger?"


    With a nod, the next and last phase of the trials started.


    "May your ascension be successful."