The blow came fast—too fast for a normal eye to see.
Jiwoon ducked under the sweeping claw of his dark reflection, the force of it splitting the air with a shriek. He rolled back, eyes narrowed, locking onto the monster wearing his face.
"So this is what I become," Jiwoon muttered. "If I lose everything else."
The reflection's voice was distorted, yet eerily familiar—like Jiwoon's own voice buried under centuries of wrath.
"You already have. You just haven't admitted it yet."
The figure lunged again, black wings folding inward like blades as it thrust its clawed fist forward. Jiwoon caught it with his bare hand—barely.
The impact cracked the obsidian ground beneath them.
BOOM—
Jiwoon slid back, boots skidding across the arena floor.
This version of himself—the Sin-Flooded Jiwoon—was faster, stronger, more brutal. Unchained. A form born not from control but indulgence. It didn't fight with restraint.
It fought to destroy.
[System Alert – Trial of Origin: Intensity Adjusted]
"Candidate's resistance detected. Unlocking restraint seals."
The mirror-Jiwoon roared. Its wings spread wide, and a river of black flame erupted from its mouth, sweeping across the chamber like the breath of a fallen dragon.
Jiwoon responded.
With a single stomp, he activated a fraction of the Ebonwyrm Exordium. Not the full armor—just a pulse. Enough to form the shoulder plate and gauntlet. The wingless half-form shimmered like shadowed steel.
"Let's see how much of me you really are."
He charged.
Their fists met midair, and the entire coliseum trembled—walls cracking, ceiling shifting. Debris rained around them. Jiwoon spun low, dodged a claw, and delivered a high-kick straight to the reflection's jaw, launching it backward into the mirror it came from.
But it didn't fall.
It stood.
Smiling.
"You can't win this fight. Not with power."
"Because I'm made of everything you try to suppress—your rage, your grief, your guilt."
Jiwoon's eyes narrowed.
"Then I'll beat you with something you've forgotten."
"Judgment."
He held out his hand—and the sigil of the Sinbound Covenant flared on his palm.
Chains of black fire erupted from the ground, trying to bind the reflection.
But the dark Jiwoon only laughed—its wings shielding its body as it began absorbing the chains instead of being restrained by them.
"Fool. I am your sin. I grow when you fight."
The trial was far from over.
But Jiwoon knew now:
This wasn't a battle for strength.
It was a battle for self.