Page 481 of Axis of Fire

Then the memories reached...

that moment.

The moment he told me he wanted only my body.

Not me.

The pain became unbearable.

Everything inside me shattered.

Darkness swallowed me whole.

...

I had no idea how much time had passed when my eyes finally opened again.

Kaeron and Pria stood in front of me.

Neither of them could quite hide the shock on their faces.

I knew.

They had seen everything.

Maybe they pitied me.

Under any other circumstances, that realization would've destroyed what little pride I had left.

But beneath all the humiliation...

another feeling quietly surfaced.

Relief.

The Scorpio Realm hadn't exposed my friends to all twelve worlds.

Only me.

Anastasia Lang's POV

The Death Realm's trial surprised me.

Instead of my worst memory...

it showed me one of my happiest.

It was one of those rare family days when Alicia and I were eight years old, and our parents were still together.

I'd always assumed my mind clung to painful memories—

the ones that broke you.

The ones that left scars.

But apparently...

it held on to the happy ones just as tightly.