A Trial Without Words
Darius stood alone within the Hall of Origin.
There were no walls—only light. No ceiling—only infinite presence. The High Council of Origin did not sit upon thrones, for they were thrones. Concepts incarnate. Each being a law of reality, a primordial verdict etched into the cosmos.
He had faced dragons, gods, and horrors beyond stars.
But never had Darius felt so… seen.
Judgment was not a person. It was a force—an impartial mirror that pulled truth from the soul. It floated before him as a faceless silhouette of shifting light, neither cruel nor kind.
> "Why do you exist?"
The question wasn't spoken. It unmade the air around him.
Darius opened his mouth—but no sound came.
A divine silence fell. The Law of Silence imposed earlier had followed him here. He could not speak his defense. He could only be it.
The Trial of Essence Begins
