The Assembly fortress loomed in the afternoon haze, its shadow stretching over the valley like the judgment of ancient giants.
Sun-Ho stood with his arms crossed atop the outer rampart, eyes locked on a narrow entrance on the fortress's east wing—sealed, guarded, and curiously untouched since the trials began.
So-Ri climbed up beside him. "That door bothers you."
"I've seen doors meant to be opened. This one was built to be forgotten."
"And yet you're staring at it like it insulted your ancestors."
"Because the rumors say this Assembly was chosen for neutrality. But old maps call this place Stoneward Bastion. A fortress built during the Warring Sects era… and buried after."
So-Ri frowned. "You think there's something under it?"
"Something or someone." Sun-Ho's voice turned quiet. "I think someone wants us looking at the surface—while they dig into the past."
Down below, factions bustled in preparation for the next stage of the heir trials. But Sun-Ho's mind was already deeper, darker.
Master Jang appeared behind them, sipping broth this time instead of tea. "Thinking of breaking into the sealed wing?"
"I'm thinking of what secrets are worth being buried under a fortress like this."
The old man stirred his drink with a cinnamon twig. "Then make sure your shovel isn't your mouth. Secrets unearthed too soon tend to explode."
---
That Evening – Around the Fire
Ji-Mun squinted at a sketched map Yeon had drawn in the dirt. "Are we seriously planning a break-in between trials?"
Ma-Rok leaned closer. "I like this. This is my kind of night walk."
Yul-Rin raised an eyebrow. "It's either a vault… or a prison. Either way, it's sealed. Old formation, buried enchantments."
Yeon wrote:
> I can bypass the wards for two minutes. But no longer.
So-Ri shook her head, both amused and resigned. "So, a team of murder-capable lunatics is sneaking into an ancient sealed wing beneath an Assembly of Murim's most paranoid sects?"
Sun-Ho nodded.
She sighed. "Of course I'm in."
Master Jang slurped his broth. "Bring back souvenirs."
---
Midnight – East Wing
The sealed door groaned as Yeon's glyphs unraveled the bindings. Pale light spiraled out and vanished, like moonlight bleeding from stone.
Sun-Ho led the way in. No words. Only steady steps.
The air inside was thick—old. Not dusty, but heavy. Like something had been breathing here… slowly.
A long tunnel led downward into a chamber of carved pillars and flickering crystal sconces.
Ji-Mun whispered, "This isn't a ruin. It's a vault."
And then they saw it:
A massive circular door in the floor. Black metal, engraved with a sigil none of them recognized—except Master Jang, who frowned from the edge.
"...That's not a Murim symbol," he muttered. "It's older. Pre-Eastern Empire. Possibly even from the Forgotten Tribes."
So-Ri touched the edge. "It's been scorched. Recently."
Ma-Rok lifted a chunk of broken tile. "Someone's already tried to breach it. And failed."
Yul-Rin scanned the room. "No bodies. No traces. Just faded steps... and scorch marks."
Sun-Ho narrowed his eyes. "They weren't trying to open it. They were trying to wake it."
Yeon tapped his stick once and pointed to a small inscription beside the central lock.
The characters read:
> Only flame that is not consumed shall pass.
Sun-Ho stared at it.
Then raised his palm—and summoned fire.
But not wild fire. Controlled. Calm. Balanced.
A soft tongue of golden flame emerged, flickering silently.
He brought it close to the center.
The moment it touched the sigil—
Whrrrnnnnng—
The entire room began to hum.
Crystals along the wall lit up, pulsing.
Then the black metal door split open like an eye blinking against time.
Within was only a scroll. Resting on a pedestal of ancient bone and stone.
Ji-Mun stared. "That's it? All that for one piece of paper?"
Yul-Rin took a step forward. "No traps?"
"No traps that want to be seen," So-Ri muttered.
Sun-Ho picked up the scroll.
And his breath caught.
He knew this handwriting.
His own.
But not from this life.
---
Flashback – A Life Before
In a cold room filled with burning incense, a much older Sun-Ho—hair silver at the temples, robe frayed with years—sat writing.
His hands were tired. His heart, heavier.
"If anyone finds this, then I have failed. But perhaps you haven't. Perhaps you're me… before I broke. Before I chose silence over justice."
"This scroll contains the layout of the ancient sects before the Fall. And the names of those who survived the purge. Some became monsters. Others buried themselves. But one… one seeks the crown of unity not for peace, but for dominion."
"Stop him. And if you're me… then remember why we fought. Not to win. But to stop the wrong kind of victory."
---
Sun-Ho stood still.
Scroll in hand.
His younger companions watched his face, confused by the sudden stillness.
So-Ri touched his arm. "What is it?"
He shook his head. "Later. Let's go."
Yeon had already begun reactivating the exit glyphs.
---
Back at Camp
They sat in silence.
Only the fire cracked.
Ji-Mun was the first to break it. "So. What was in the scroll?"
Sun-Ho looked at him. Then at the others.
And smiled. It was small, but resolute.
"Nothing important."
So-Ri gave him a look, but didn't press.
Master Jang, though, chuckled. "Lying already, are we? You're becoming a real leader."
Sun-Ho stared into the flames.
There was someone ahead of them.
Someone from his past life.
Someone who might be him… twisted.
The race wasn't just to prove himself anymore.
It was to stop a second fall.
---
End of Chapter 66 – Echoes Beneath the Stone