The mountain they once stood upon was now a grave of heat and memory.
Where stone once sang with ancient echoes, now only scorched earth remained — twisted, blackened, silent.
Jiwoon sat alone at the edge of the blast zone.
Small hands. Bare feet. Eyes that had just cried.
He didn't know what scared him more:
The fact that he had turned into something unstoppable —
or the fact that he couldn't remember it at all.
[System Warning: Manifestation Residue Detected]
"Lingering energy signature: Type – Unknown."
"Interference with cognitive pathways likely."
"Monitoring emotional distortion…"
Behind him, Vera approached slowly.
She didn't speak.
She just took off her cloak and wrapped it around his shoulders, kneeling to his level.
Jiwoon didn't look at her.
"I heard… screaming," he whispered. "I thought it was a dream."
"It wasn't," she said. "But you're still here."
A moment later, Kaelya joined them — bruised, scuffed, but alive.
"We need to move. The shockwave reached nearby villages. They'll come looking."
"Let them," Kravein muttered from a boulder, arms crossed.
"If they're smart, they'll run the other way."
But something shifted.
Not in the ground — in the sky.
A cold ripple spread through the clouds, and a flickering sigil appeared above the crater. Purple. Ancient. Unreadable.
System Beacon Activated
Jiwoon's eyes widened.
"That symbol… I've seen it before."
Kaelya stepped closer, her voice low.
"Where?"
Jiwoon hesitated.
"In a dream… long ago. A cradle made of flame."
Far away, the Echo Faction stirred.
"The Sinborn child awakens."
"And the beacon has chosen."
Back in the ruins…
Vera looked at Jiwoon.
"What do we do now?"
Jiwoon, still shaking, answered:
"We go to where this all began."
"To the first sin."