The Colour Of My Fate (Completed)

Chapter Eighteen

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Doors opened from both sides of the wall, forming a zigzag connection between them. The first pair to emerge from the doors was a cloned Razal, accompanied by Khali.

The next pair was another cloned Razal, with Meshach. The next was a cloned Razal, accompanied by Kirito, followed by Razal and Dominick, and finally, Razal with Oliver. The eyes of the group fell on the long and narrow hallway.

The Razal clones separated themselves from the group, and the men stood together in the center of the hallway. The walls of the hallway were red, but not crystalline like what the men have been seeing. They seemed to be made of a solid rock, with a black ceiling that twinkled with small, red lights that resembled stars.

As the men took in the appearance of their surroundings, the Original Razal suddenly appeared, making his presence known with a quick cough. Then, his clones floated and merged into him, leaving only one Razal in the hallway with the men, the original. The men who noticed Razal were staring at him, waiting for him to speak. He raised his fist at them and then suddenly flipped his hands, making a golden chair appear behind him. He then sat on it.

"That must be magic," Meshach thought after seeing what Razal did.

"Now, it's High time the fun part started," Razal said, as he was a few distances away from the men standing.
"But before we start, I have to make the gatekeeper of this place present. His presence usually makes it more fun," Razal said.

Hearing this, the men began to wonder who the gatekeeper was.

Razal sensed their thoughts, then said, "The gatekeeper whose presence I want is the gatekeeper of your fate."

The men tried to understand what Razal said, but they didn't get it.

A few seconds later, Razal snapped his fingers, and the gatekeeper suddenly appeared.

The gatekeeper stood about nine feet tall, and his skin was a deep, rich brown. He wore a shimmering, golden robe, which flowed behind him as he walked.

The men stood in stunned silence, not sure what to make of the gatekeeper's appearance.

Finally, Razal broke the silence.

"Young men, meet Shomer, the gatekeeper of your fate."

As the men stared at Shomer, trying to take in the sight of this enormous being, Razal continued to speak.

“Shomer is here to join me in judging you all. I often find his comments amusing during cases of judgment.” Razal said, smiling.

"Humor is just part of my specialty, and it’s useful in lightening the mood in cases like this. My lord here finds it relaxing,” Shomer said, smiling as he showed off his teeth.

Khali kept staring at Shomer, who was now standing beside Razal like a knight.

Khali thought, “I wasn’t expecting the Gatekeeper to be a giant, though he is still smaller than this god.”

Razal then spoke to Shomer.

“Tell me, are these men not an interesting find?” Razal asked.
“Yes, they’re my lord. I’ve been listening to how they answered the test questions. Some really intrigued me,” Shomer replied.
“Why am I even delaying the fun? Let’s begin,” Razal said. With that, he scanned each of the men until his eyes fell on Kirito.
“You, come forward,” Razal said, pointing to Kirito with his hand.

Hearing that, fear suddenly came over Kirito. The thought of being the first to undergo Razal's judgment scared him.

Razal sensed his fear and said, “You were much bolder earlier, during the test. So, why are you now scared? Is it because you’re the first to be judged? Come on, don't let that get into your head.” Then he turned to Shomer. “Shomer, I give you the honor to judge him first before I give my final judgment. You heard his answers to my questions. So, what do you think?”

Kirito swallowed hard. He had no idea what Shomer would say, and he wasn't sure if he wanted to know. Shomer looked at Kirito thoughtfully for a moment before speaking.

“Kirito Suzuki,” Shomer began. “I can see you're a changed man. Your show of remorsefulness and resolve really amazes me. It was all genuine, and I have to commend you for that. After all, it takes a man of good heart to admit a fault. You didn't blame your misfortune on fate or the fraudster you fell victim to. Instead, you admitted it was because of your greed. You promise yourself to live a life of contentment, and I think you will. Your heart says so, not me. I have to say this: the answer you gave to my Lord here about the one thing you would change about the world if you could, really intrigued me. Ridding the world of greed was thoughtful of you to say. We both know that greed is one of the major factors that contribute to the negative things that happen on earth, or let me say, in the mortal world. I have to admit this: all the answers you gave to the test questions seemed flawless," Shomer concluded.

Shomer's words were met with silence as Razal stared at Kirito for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, he broke the silence, saying, "Shomer, you have done well in judging this man. It is now time for me to give the final judgment."

Kirito's heart began to pound as he waited for Razal's verdict. Would he be deemed worthy, or would his fate be something else entirely? He held his breath as Razal began to speak.

"I usually do not call you men by your names. But I do remember calling some of you by your names during the test. But now, I will address you all by your names as I pass my judgment,” Razal said, pausing for a moment before continuing.
“Kirito Suzuki, from what Shomer said, it is clear that you did remarkably well on the test. But what if I told you right now that you still didn’t pass the test? In other words, you failed.”

Kirito felt his heart sink as Razal’s words echoed in his mind. The other men looked at him with an expression of compassion.

Kirito found it hard to believe what Razal had said. He stood there like a plant drained of nutrients. He started thinking,

"Where did I go wrong? Could there have been something bad I said or forgot to say? No, I don’t think so"

Meanwhile, Razal and Shomer were busy watching Kirito drown in his thoughts. Silence filled the air.

The other men began to wonder how they would be judged. Out of all the men, Khali started having thoughts about Shomer.

"Now that I think about it, how was Shomer able to hear all that we said during the test, even though he wasn’t present with us? And the strange part is that we all did the test separately in different rooms. So, how was he still able to hear all of us? This is kinda strange, I’ve gat to say," Khali thought.

As the silence kept going on, Meshach started to wonder.

“After all the praise poured on him, could it really be that he failed the test? The Gatekeeper said he couldn’t spot any flaws in his answers during the test. So, why is this god trying to say he failed the test? It doesn’t really make much sense to me, but I’ve got to consider this. Maybe the Gatekeeper doesn’t want to condemn him right away. So, they probably talked and commended him for the good answers he gave during the test before they will bring up his mistake that made him fail the test, and this god is about to give the final judgment. Could such a thing happen to me too? No, I don’t want to think about it,” Meshach thought to himself.

Irritated by the long silence, Dominick thought.

“Why is he suddenly silent all of a sudden? The silence is just too much. Whether this Kirito guy failed the test or not, he should finish passing the final judgment once and for all.”

Oliver’s thoughts raced.

“This is becoming intense. I could feel the intensity in the air. I’m becoming very eager to know the outcome of Kirito’s judgment. It already seems like a bad one, considering what our lord, the god of fate, said. Anyways, I just have to wait and see how it turns out.”

Razal and Shomer sensed the thoughts of Kirito and the other men. Then, a smile came over both of them. Just then, Razal broke the silence as he gave a quick cough and replaced his mocking smile with seriousness as he was about to continue speaking.

The men, seeing that he was about to say something, were filled with anticipation. Kirito on the other side gave a quick gulp, preparing himself to take in Razal's next words.