The scent of boiled herbs clung to the tent walls like stubborn smoke.
Baek Sun-Ho blinked slowly, vision swimming through shades of orange and gold. His limbs were sore, his ribs tight with bruises. Yet beneath all that—beneath the weight of the trial, the phantom duel, and the brand on his chest—something within him pulsed steadily.
Lightning.
Not jagged or chaotic, but woven through his veins like thread through silk.
"...He's awake," So-Ri said softly from beside the cot.
She was holding a damp cloth in one hand and a fan in the other, both momentarily forgotten as she leaned closer.
Sun-Ho gave her a small, pained smile. "I passed?"
"You passed out," Yul-Rin said from across the tent, where she was crushing dried roots with surgical precision. "Big difference."
Ji-Mun peeked in, upside down from the tent flap. "Alive and sarcastic. Murim may still be doomed."
Master Jang sipped tea at the corner. "He's stabilized. The brand left no permanent damage. But something has changed."
Sun-Ho shifted slightly, and felt it—the qi within him was calmer, richer. Lightning no longer fought for space. It flowed.
"I didn't just conquer it," he said slowly. "I accepted it. Made it mine."
"Then we'll update your list of terrifying achievements," Ma-Rok said, entering with a roasted fowl skewered on a stick. "Flame Wielder. Lightning Bringer. Conscious."
"Conscious is a new one," So-Ri murmured. "He doesn't always have that on."
Sun-Ho chuckled once, then groaned. "Ow. Laughing hurts."
"That's what happens when you wrestle ghosts and win."
---
Later – The Brand and the Message
Outside the tent, the camp was quiet. Rumors of Sun-Ho's "rite of conquest" had already begun circulating. Some claimed he fought a dragon. Others whispered he was the reincarnation of a Sword Sage.
All of them were wrong.
None of them were far off.
Sun-Ho sat by the fire now, cloak around his shoulders. So-Ri sat next to him, poking the embers with a stick.
"What does the brand mean?" she asked.
He lifted his shirt slightly to show the faint outline burned onto his skin—two halves of a cracked sword sealed with a lightning bolt.
"It was the seal of the Old Murim Council. They used to brand their chosen successors… before the current structure replaced them."
"So the trial marked you as one of them?"
He nodded. "Not officially. But symbolically? Yes. It means the older factions will stir."
So-Ri leaned back on her hands. "They already have."
---
That Evening – A Meeting of Rivals
The neutral hall within the fortress had once been a war room. Now it served as a meeting place for the remaining Murim heir candidates.
The room was quiet when Baek Sun-Ho entered.
Kang Mu-Jin sat at the far end—tall, stone-faced, his armor etched with the sigil of the Iron Wall Sect. He gave no greeting.
Jin Ye-Hwa, elegant and unreadable, leaned against the table, sipping fruit wine.
Seo Ji-Wan stood nearby, arms crossed, watching everyone carefully.
The last seat was empty—reserved for a representative of the shadow faction. Still unclaimed.
Sun-Ho took his place without hesitation.
"You should be resting," Mu-Jin said without looking up.
Sun-Ho met his gaze. "And let you all scheme without me? That would be impolite."
Ye-Hwa chuckled. "He's witty and reckless. I like this version better."
Ji-Wan stepped forward. "We need to agree on what happens next. The elders are planning something—too quiet, too sudden."
Mu-Jin finally spoke. "They want division. If we fracture, they stay in power."
"So we unite?" Sun-Ho asked, not unkindly.
"No," Ye-Hwa said. "We pretend to unite. Then each of us pushes our own agenda."
"And that's what broke Murim the first time," Ji-Wan snapped.
Silence followed.
Until Sun-Ho said, "I'll stand for unity. Even if I have to carry it myself."
"Brave words," Mu-Jin said coldly. "But can you enforce them?"
Ye-Hwa raised a wine cup. "We'll find out soon, won't we?"
---
Meanwhile – In the Shadows
Beneath the fortress, in catacombs long abandoned, a robed figure watched everything through a circle of mist.
"The Forgotten Trial awakened him," the shadow whispered.
A second figure stepped into the frame—eyes glowing faintly red.
"And now he carries the mark," it said.
"He'll threaten the chain. The pact. The silence."
The first voice was soft. "Then the Crownless Flame must be extinguished… before the past fully awakens."
They turned toward a coffin carved with five dragon heads—each one sealed with ancient symbols now beginning to flicker.
---
That Night – One Final Conversation
Sun-Ho stood once more at the ridge overlooking the Grove of Ancestral Oaths.
So-Ri joined him, silent for a while.
"Did you really expect peace?" she asked at last.
"No," he replied. "But I hoped for clarity."
She turned toward him. "You have it now?"
He looked to the stars.
"I'm not just fighting to lead. I'm fighting to rebuild something better. Even if it kills me."
So-Ri stepped closer. "Then don't die."
"I'll try."
She hesitated—then kissed his cheek. "Try harder."
---
End of Chapter 94 – When the Flame Wakes Lightning