CHAPTER 182: THE CATALYST TRIAL

The summons was not a request. The world dissolved, and Nox reformed on a circular platform of shimmering light, floating in an endless, star-filled void. On other platforms around him were the rulers of the new world: Athena, Odin, Ra, and others.

"Welcome, Rulers," the Administrator’s voice echoed. He appeared on a raised platform, a featureless silhouette of pure, white light. "You have all proven your worth. You are the pillars upon which the new reality will be built."

"Get to the point," Odin’s voice rumbled.

"I have summoned you," the Administrator said, "to offer you a choice."

The void around them changed, showing a vision of a thousand different worlds.

"This reality is a crucible," the Administrator explained. "A seed from which a new universe will be born. The Scripture is not just a game; it is a creation engine. And its final purpose is to choose its creator."

"You are offering us godhood," Ra stated.

"I am offering you the chance to compete for it," the Administrator corrected. "This is the Ascension. The final scenario. A tournament of champions, where the winner will not just rule a world, but will become one."

He looked at the assembled rulers. "You are the final candidates. Each of you represents a fundamental concept. Order. War. Life. Death. Wisdom." He looked at Nox. "Chaos."

"You will compete in a series of trials. The winner of each trial will gain a greater influence over the final shape of the new reality. The losers will be... erased."

The platforms they were standing on began to move, arranging themselves into a massive, circular arena.

"The first trial will begin in one hour. It will be a simple one. A test of pure, unadulterated power. Each of you will face a ’Catalyst’, a being of pure, conceptual force, designed to test the absolute limits of your power. To defeat it, you must overcome the ultimate opponent: yourselves."

The Administrator’s silhouette faded. "Prepare yourselves. The Ascension has begun."

Nox stood on his platform, a mortal boy in an arena of literal gods. He just grinned.

’Liona, let’s show them what a little chaos can do.’

***

The hour passed. The Administrator’s voice echoed. "The first trial begins now."

A being of pure, white light coalesced in the center of the arena. The Catalyst.

It turned to Ra first, its form shimmering into an aspect of the sun. They clashed. Ra stood victorious. One by one, the gods faced their mirror-selves and won. Athena’s battle was one of logic, a silent, mental conflict that left her shaken.

Finally, the Catalyst turned to Nox.

Its form shifted. It did not take on the shape of his armor or his void. It took on the shape of a small, frightened boy, huddled in the corner of a dark room. The boy he had been in the orphanage.

"This is you," the Catalyst said, its voice an echo of his own childhood fears. "This is the core of your power. Fear. Weakness. Loneliness."

The memory-construct of the boy began to cry. With every sob, the power of the void in the arena grew, an uncontrolled storm of black energy.

"You see?" the Catalyst whispered in his mind. "You have not conquered your past. You have just built a bigger cage for it."

Nox just looked at the crying boy. He saw the pain, the fear, the loneliness.

He did not raise his scepter. He did not summon his armor.

He just walked forward and knelt in front of the Catalyst, in front of the memory of his own broken childhood.

He held out his hand.

"I know," he said, his voice quiet. "And it’s okay."

The Catalyst, the crying boy, looked up at him, shocked.

"You’re not my weakness," Nox said, a small, genuine smile on his face. "You’re my strength. You’re the reason I survived."

He placed his hand on the Catalyst’s shoulder. "Thank you."

The being of light, the perfect mirror, stared at him. It had expected a fight. It had not expected... acceptance.

The chaotic storm of void energy stilled. The crying stopped.

The Catalyst smiled. A real smile.

Then it dissolved into a shower of quiet, white motes of light that flowed into Nox, not as power, but as a peaceful warmth.

The trial was over.

The other gods just stared, their expressions a mixture of confusion and a new, profound respect. He had won not with strength, but with grace.

The Administrator’s silhouette appeared once more. "The first trial is complete."

"You have all proven your power," the voice echoed. "But power is meaningless without a purpose."

The arena dissolved, replaced by a vision of Earth. Of Portentia. It was in flames.

A new army, of twisted, biomechanical horrors, things of chrome and flesh, was swarming the planet.

"The Scripture was not a creation engine for just one universe," the Administrator explained, his voice for the first time tinged with urgency. "It was a defense mechanism. To cultivate champions. To prepare this reality for the real war."

He looked at the assembled gods. "Your final trial is not against each other. It is against them. The Ravagers. A parasitic, hive-mind civilization that consumes entire universes."

"They have been drawn here by the power of the Ascension," the Administrator stated. "And they are coming to harvest our new world."

A massive, moon-sized mothership descended from the heavens.

"You are no longer just champions," the Administrator said. "You are this universe’s last and only line of defense."

***

The vision in the Nexus was a live feed. The Ravagers were real.

"This is the trial?" Odin’s voice rumbled. "Not a contest, but a war of extinction."

"The ultimate test," the Administrator’s voice confirmed. "Survive, and you will have proven your worth. Fail, and there will be no reality left to shape."

The platforms of the Nexus dissolved. "You will be returned to your domains. Coordinate your defenses. The first wave of the invasion has already begun."

Nox rematerialized on the balcony of his spire. Serian and the others were already there, their faces pale. They had seen it too.

"They are here," Serian whispered.

"Yes," Nox said. He looked at his companions. They had faced gods and monsters. They would face this, too.

"Vexia, I want a full, planetary scan. Elisa, mobilize the army. Mela, recall your spies. Serian, I need you to be the heart of this city, give our people hope."

They all nodded and left to carry out their orders.

He was alone on the balcony.

’Liona, what are our chances?’

[Analysis: The Ravager threat is a Class-10 existential crisis. The probability of long-term survival for this civilization is... 0.01%.]

’So, we’re basically screwed.’

[That is a statistically accurate assessment.]

Nox just looked out at the sky. He had come too far to let it all end now.

He raised his scepter, Regulus. He was the Emperor of the Void, the Heart of a Nascent God.

He opened a private channel to Athena. ’The game has changed. It’s time to cash in that favor.’

A moment later, her voice echoed in his mind. ’I have already begun to mobilize the pantheons, Emperor Nox. The enemy of my enemy is my friend.’

He looked out at the horizon, where the first, dark specks of the Ravager fleet were beginning to appear.

The war for reality had begun. And the Void Monarch was ready.