The dragon was gone.

Just dust. Gray powder floating in the air.

It covered their clothes. Their hair. Their bloody, tired faces.

For a long moment, nobody moved. Nobody spoke.

They just stood there. Breathing hard. Trying to believe it was real.

They'd won.

They'd actually won.

Then Lana started laughing.

Not a small laugh. A big, crazy, happy laugh.

She threw her head back and laughed at the ceiling. At the empty space where the dragon used to be.

Her laugh echoed off the bone walls. Loud. Wild. Free.

"We did it!" she shouted between laughs. "We actually killed a god!"

Erica started laughing too.

But hers was different. Mixed with crying. Relief pouring out of her.

She'd almost died. She'd charged at that thing knowing she'd probably die.

But she didn't.

She was alive.

Jin allowed himself a small smile. His first real smile in weeks.

It felt strange on his face. Like he'd forgotten how.

Even Masha just stood there. Staring. Her cold mask cracking.

She looked... stunned. Amazed.

They were celebrating.

Hugging each other. Laughing. Some crying.

They'd survived the impossible.

They were heroes.

But Dante?

Dante was cursing.

"Damn it!" he snarled. His voice cut through their happiness like a knife.

Everyone stopped. Turned to look at him.

He was walking around. Looking at the ground. At the dust.

His good hand was clenched tight. His face twisted with anger.

"Dante?" Erica asked carefully. "What's wrong? We won. It's over."

"Over?" Dante snapped. He turned to face them. Eyes burning. "It's a disaster!"

They stared at him. Confused.

"The dragon's soul is gone!" he said. Voice rising. "Its body! Everything! Just vanished into nothing!"

He pointed at the gray dust.

"Do you know how powerful that thing was? SSS-rank! Made from thousands of dead beasts!"

"And it just... disappears? What a waste!"

His fist clenched harder.

"I could've used it. Made it my ultimate weapon. Do you have any idea how much power we just lost?"

Silence.

They all just stared at him.

Processing what he'd just said.

He'd killed a god.

And he was angry because he couldn't enslave it afterward.

Lana burst out laughing again.

Even louder than before.

"Oh, Dante," she gasped, then wiped tears from her eyes. "You're unbelievable!"

She doubled over. Clutching her stomach.

"You just beat an ancient dragon! And you're upset you can't use its corpse!"

Jin started chuckling. Shaking his head.

Even Masha's lips twitched. Almost a smile.

"Never change my...," Lana said. Still laughing. "You're the most selfish bastard I've ever met. And I love it!"

Dante glared at them.

But they didn't care.

They'd walked through hell with him. Seen him at his worst.

And somehow, they'd accepted it.

Because Dante being Dante—selfish, power-hungry, ruthless—that was just who he was.

And right now? They were too tired to care.

They'd survived. That's what mattered.

But then something changed.

WHOOSH.

The dust in the center started moving.

Spinning. Gathering together.

"What the—" Jin's hand went to his sword.

Everyone tensed. Weapons ready.

Their moment of peace shattered.

The gray powder rose up. Forming a tornado of dust.

But it wasn't wild. Not chaotic.

It was controlled. Purposeful.

The dust compressed.

Shifted.

Changed shape.

Not into a dragon.

Into something else.

A man.

He appeared where the dragon had died. Standing tall.

But he wasn't normal.

He was made of bone. The same pale, greenish bone as the dragon.

But polished. Smooth. Like carved marble.

Not a skeleton. A statue. A perfect man-shape.

His armor was simple. Old-fashioned. Made of the same bone.

His face was handsome. Noble. But blank. No expression.

His eyes though...

His eyes were swirling pools of blue-green fire. Soul-fire.

Calm. Ancient. Cold.

"Congratulations, survivors," he said.

His voice was real. Deep. Echoing.

Not in their heads like the dragon. An actual voice.

"The final trial is complete."

He looked at them. One by one.

"It is rare," he continued. "Very rare. To see six heroes reach this place alive."

Six.

The word hit them hard.

Dante. Erica. Masha. Jin. Talia. Lana.

Six people.

The prophecy number.

"Wait," Masha said. Voice sharp. "What are you talking about? Six heroes? We started with more than that. Eric and Rina died to the Gorgon-Hydra. Kael died destroying your heart. We lost three people getting here."

The bone-man turned to her.

His soul-fire eyes flickered with something that might have been understanding.

"Indeed," he said calmly. "And their sacrifices were not in vain. The prophecy does not speak of how many begin the journey. It speaks of how many complete it."

"In all my cycles," he continued, "I have seen countless groups enter this trial."

"I have seen twenty warriors fall before me. I have seen teams of ten reduced to one."

"And even when—on rare occasions—a group defeated me, they always killed each other after."

He gestured to a gate behind him.

A shimmering portal. Glowing softly at the far end of the space.

They hadn't noticed it before.

"They fought over what came next," the bone-man said. "Over the reward. Over power."

"But you six?" He paused. "You fought together. You trusted each other."

"Even when your leader manipulated you. Even when you could have run. Even when death seemed certain."

"You protected one another. Sacrificed for one another."

His empty face somehow looked impressed.

"You worked as one unit. Split your forces when needed. Trusted your teammates to complete their tasks while you faced death as a distraction. This level of coordination, of faith in each other, is extraordinarily rare."

"You have passed the test. You have earned the title 'Heroes.'"

Dante stepped forward.

"Who are you?" he demanded. "What is this?"

The bone-man looked at him.

"I am the Warden of this gate. I am the final trial."

"I am a construct. Created by the Goddess Liora from the bones of this island."

"My purpose is to test those who would be heroes."

A construct.

Not a real being. Not alive.

Just a tool. A test.

"Test what?" Erica asked. Voice shaking slightly.

"Strength," the Warden said. "Will. Character."

"The Goddess needs heroes for her realm. But not just strong ones."

"She needs heroes who will work together. Who will protect others. Who will sacrifice for the greater good."

"That is why I exist."

Jin frowned. "So everything we went through... the forest, the monsters, all of it..."

"A test," the Warden confirmed. "To find the worthy."

"And what happens now?" Masha asked.

The Warden's soul-fire eyes swept over them.

"Now, you receive your reward."

He raised his hands.

"My defeat triggers the final phase. From my essence, six Hero's Marks will be created."

"Each of you must claim one. Only those who bear a Mark can pass through the gate."

He pointed to the glowing portal.

"The gate leads to the Goddess's realm. A new world. Your new home."

"The gate will remain open for a short time. Then it will seal forever."

"Forever?" Talia whispered.

"Yes. You will not be able to return here."

Silence.

They were being sent to another world. No return.

No going back to their old lives.

Everything they'd known was gone.

"There's more," the Warden said.

His eyes focused on Dante.

"The covenant includes a blessing. The first among you to claim a Hero's Mark—the one who leads the others through the gate—will be granted a wish."

The air went still.

"A wish?" Lana asked. Her voice was sharp.

"Yes. A single wish from the Goddess Liora herself. A wish of great power."

Understanding crashed over them.

A wish.

The power to bring back the dead.

The power to change fate.

The power to have anything.

And it belonged to whoever touched the Mark first.

"Wait," Jin said slowly. "So whoever grabs it first gets the wish?"

"Correct."

Dante's mind was racing.

Kael. He could bring back Kael.

Eric. Rina. All the others who died.

Or he could wish for ultimate power. Complete control.

One wish. Anything he wanted.

The possibilities were endless. Terrifying.

"The trial was never only about surviving," the Warden said. "Nor about defeating me."

"The true final trial is this. The choice you must make."

He looked at each of them.

"Will you fight over the wish? Will you prove me right—that even heroes betray each other for power?"

"Or will you choose differently?"

The Warden raised his arms wide.

His body started glowing. Blue-green light.

Brighter. Brighter.

Then he dissolved.

His entire form breaking apart into light.

Six spheres of pure shimmering light appeared.

Six Hero's Marks.

They floated in the air. Between the team and the gate.

Each one pulsing gently.

Beautiful. Powerful. Calling to them.

But one was different.

One sphere hovered slightly higher than the others.

It pulsed gold instead of blue-green.

The Mark of the First Hero.

The key to the wish.

The space fell completely silent.

Six survivors stood there.

Six heroes who had fought together. Bled together. Almost died together.

They'd trusted each other with their lives.

Protected each other.

Sacrificed for each other.

But now...

Now there was a wish.

Power beyond imagination.

And only one person could have it.

Dante looked at the gold Mark.

Then at his team.

Lana was staring at it. Eyes wide. Calculating.

Masha's face was unreadable. Cold. Thinking.

Jin's hand was near his sword. Body tense.

Erica looked torn. Scared.

Talia was just staring. Overwhelmed.

Between them and everything they'd fought for...

Between them and the new world...

Hung one terrible question:

Who would be first?

Who would reach for the wish?

And would the others let them?

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