Part I: The Voice Beneath the Emperor
Time did not move.
Mujin stood—no longer in the field of the Origin Era.But in a space without light. Without air.Only echoes.
His body floated. Or fell. Or neither.
And then—A voice.Not the Emperor's.Not Gihyeon's.
His own.
"You have remembered.Now choose what it means."
Mujin turned.And saw himself.
Juhwa.
Fully formed. Wearing the black armor of the Emperor's brother.Eyes calm, but unreadable.
"We didn't lose the war," Juhwa said."We gave it away. Because we feared what we could become."
Mujin clenched his fists.
"I'm not afraid anymore."
"Then prove it.Rule—or destroy."
Part II: The Skybone Throne
Suddenly, ground formed beneath him.Stone. Old. Breathing.
A palace rose from the dark like a memory excavated.
At its center:A throne carved from spines.Laced with gold.Burning with seven seals.
Elder Gihyeon stood at the edge, eyes wide.
"This is… the Skybone Throne.It hasn't been seen in a thousand years."
The Emperor stood nearby, watching.
"You now bear every mark," he said.
"The seals were not trials. They were keys.And you… are the door."
Mujin approached the throne.
He felt it.
Power. Enough to remake kingdoms.
But also—grief.It throbbed like an old scar that never healed.
He touched the armrest.
And the palace shook.
Part III: The Choice of the Wounded
The Emperor stepped forward.
"You can sit," he said. "And take what I left behind.Power. Memory. History."
"Or you can walk away."
Mujin stared at the throne.
He saw—
—his wife, reaching for him.
—his junior, shouting through time.
—the skyline of Seoul, burning beneath a crimson sun.
"I didn't come here to wear a crown," he said.
"But I'll carry what it protects."
He turned his back on the throne.
The palace began to collapse.
The Emperor did not stop him.
Instead—he smiled.
"You may be the first heir… who refused to rule."
Part IV: What Comes After
They escaped the collapsing sanctum.
Stone fell. Sky cracked. The seals on Mujin's arm glowed in pain.
But they emerged—into a forest once thought burned.
It had regrown.
Gihyeon fell to one knee.
"Mujin… you changed the throne.You didn't take it, but it responded."
Mujin looked up.
High in the sky, seven constellations had twisted.
Where once they formed a chain—now they formed a sword.
And far to the west—across the ocean of bone—a new Gate awakened.
One not shaped like a circle.
But like a blade stabbed into the world.
Epilogue: The Path of the Uncrowned
Mujin stood before a quiet pond.
His reflection shifted.
Not Juhwa.
Not a ghost.
Just a man—scarred, uncertain, walking forward anyway.
In his hand, the Skycut Fang gleamed faintly.
In his heart—
No throne.
But a promise.
"I'll protect what they forgot.Not as Emperor.But as Mujin."
Behind him, wind moved through the trees like memory learning how to breathe again.
To be continued...