Chapter 22: The Origin Shard
Mu-won's knees buckled slightly under the weight of the memories flooding back.
Not just images—emotions.
Betrayal. Fire. A blade in his back. And Baekrin's face looking down at him—not with sorrow, but with acceptance.
> "It had to be done."
The words echoed in his mind.
---
"You killed me," Mu-won whispered.
Baekrin didn't flinch. "I did."
Yura's eyes widened.
> "You… what?"
Baekrin turned toward the floating crystal that held the Origin Shard.
> "He was no longer fit to lead," he said simply. "He clung to honor in a world that respected only power. If we followed him any longer, we all would've died meaningless deaths."
> "So you stabbed your brother-in-arms," Yura growled. "And now you ask him to join you?"
Baekrin stepped forward slowly, hands behind his back.
> "You've felt it, haven't you? The decay of the Murim world. The so-called righteous sects, corrupted. The demonic clans, directionless. The balance we fought for has rotted into chaos."
He stopped just short of Mu-won.
> "This time, we don't serve a fading ideal. We rule. Together."
---
Mu-won stared into Baekrin's eyes, searching for regret. There was none.
Only clarity.
Only purpose.
And something else—fearless conviction.
> He believes he saved us… by killing me.
> He still believes it now.
---
The Origin Shard pulsed above them, releasing a shockwave of pressure that pressed down like a divine decree. Symbols floated in the air—memories, truths, and choices etched into starlight.
A voice—ancient and emotionless—resounded through the chamber.
> "Three bear the Echo. Only one may claim the Origin."
The chamber trembled.
The pendants around Mu-won's, Yura's, and Baekrin's necks began to rise on their own, drawn toward the shard.
---
Suddenly, a massive guardian statue awoke from the edge of the chamber. Towering, armored in obsidian, eyes glowing violet.
A sentinel of the old oath.
It spoke not in words, but in will.
> "Prove your soul. Prove your choice."
With a deafening roar, it launched forward.
---
Mu-won moved before either of them could react, intercepting the golem's crushing strike with his bare arm.
His qi flared—blood-red, furious, controlled. The sheer force of the blow sent cracks racing across the stone beneath his feet, but he held firm.
> "You want proof?" he snarled. "Then I'll carve my choice into stone!"
---
The fight was brutal.
The guardian moved with ancient precision, swinging its axe with the weight of centuries.
Mu-won used everything—his awakened instincts, brutal close-quarters strikes, and shadow-step footwork from his assassin training in this life. But more than that, he fought with intention.
Each blow was a declaration.
Each dodge a rejection of fate.
---
Yura joined the fight, her cracked pendant glowing faintly as she slashed through the guardian's arm with her crescent blade.
Baekrin didn't move.
He only watched, arms crossed, eyes analyzing every motion.
---
As the golem staggered, Mu-won leapt high and drove his fist—coated in qi shaped like a dragon fang—straight into its chest.
> "I was betrayed once."
> "This time, I choose myself!"
The guardian exploded into shards of obsidian and stardust, its armor scattering across the chamber.
---
The Origin Shard pulsed again, brighter this time. The three pendants aligned in the air before it.
A new inscription appeared on the altar.
> "The One Who Chose Himself… shall carry the Flame of Balance."
Mu-won reached forward—
—and the shard entered his chest.
He gasped as his consciousness exploded outward.
And for the first time, he saw it all.
The world.
The cycle.
The truth.
> The heavens themselves had forged the war to keep balance.
> And now… he could break it.
To be continued...