Mu-Won walked through the aftermath, not with malice but with judgment. His disciples stood behind him, each holding themselves upright not from pride, but from conviction.
The Grandmaster of the Nine Heavens Alliance, bloodied and broken, stumbled forward.
"Why?" he cried. "We kept peace. We unified the sects. We gave structure to chaos."
Mu-Won looked him in the eye. "You built a cage and called it peace. You took a path meant for warriors and turned it into a marketplace for titles and prestige."
"We kept the people safe!"
"You kept them weak."
Mu-Won turned his back and began to walk away.
"Kill me then!" the Grandmaster shouted.
"I already did," Mu-Won said without turning. "You just haven't fallen yet."
Above them, the sky cracked—not metaphorically, but literally. A rift tore through the heavens. The world trembled.
It was an omen.
The Heavenly Demon had returned.
And this time, he wasn't just a man. He was the beginning of a new age.