The storm clouds above Mount Goseong had yet to clear.
Thunder rumbled softly, not from rain, but from pressure. Deep spiritual pressure. Across the mountain ranges, the wind trembled, as if trying to run away.
And under the surface, deep beneath the ocean far from the Monkey King's domain, something ancient opened its eyes.
A pair of slitted pupils blinked in the darkness.
"He's awakened."
The voice belonged to a dragon, its scales dark as obsidian, its body curled around a pillar of glowing jade. Its voice rumbled through the sea like a distant earthquake.
Another dragon shifted nearby, smaller but sharper, its eyes burning with curiosity.
"I thought the Royal Flame was lost," she hissed.
"It was sealed," the larger dragon answered. "Buried. Until now."
"And it chose a monkey?" the smaller one sneered.
There was silence.
Then the larger dragon rumbled: "No… it chose a Royal Monkey."
The words echoed through the undersea chamber.
High above, in the world of sky and stone, Sunmok sat quietly on the mountain peak. His legs crossed, tail curled behind him. His body bore cuts and bruises, but the White Flame within him pulsed gently, slowly healing his wounds.
His expression, though calm, was no longer naïve.
Something had changed after the third strike from Jinri.
The White Flame had protected him on its own. Without his will. As if it had a memory… or instinct.
Sunmok opened his eyes.
"They're all watching me now," he said softly.
From the trees behind him, Rika stepped out, holding a peach and chewing lazily.
"They've been watching," she muttered through a mouthful. "You just didn't notice."
Sunmok raised a brow. "You're oddly calm about it."
"I'm a monkey. I live in trees. We see things," she smirked. "Also, I found a scroll near the southern pass. Smelled like dragon."
Sunmok stood immediately.
"Dragon? You sure?"
"I've never smelled burning jade before. It's unmistakable."
He walked to her side and unrolled the scroll. It was blank at first — but when his White Flame neared it, golden letters appeared.
To the One Who Carries the White Flame
The sea stirs. The heavens take note.
We remember what your kind once did.
Come to the Southern Sky Pavilion when the moon turns red.
— Watcher of the Deep Scales
Sunmok's eyes narrowed.
"So it begins…"
He turned, staring toward the horizon.
Rika tilted her head. "You gonna tell me what that means?"
"No," Sunmok said simply. "Because I don't even know myself."
Far away, at the Jade Veil Sect, Jinri knelt before a council of robed elders. The spirit mirror hovered in the air, replaying the moment Sunmok had unleashed the full presence of the White Flame.
The elders were silent.
Finally, the head elder, a woman with silver eyes and a lotus mark on her brow, spoke.
"A monkey… with the royal mark. And six orbs already glowing."
Jinri bowed lower. "Yes, Master."
"Did he show signs of control?"
"Yes. The flame obeyed him. Or… protected him."
Another elder, a stern man with a sword across his back, spoke up.
"Send another. We need more information. If the dragons move before we do, this opportunity may vanish."
"But carefully," the head elder warned. "The White Flame… remembers. It may not tolerate a second test."
Back on the mountain, Sunmok walked alone through a quiet glade.
The trees were lush here, untouched by fire. Birds chirped cautiously, and somewhere a fox scampered.
He was headed to the Ancient Mirror Tree, a place he hadn't visited in decades. An old spiritual tree, twisted like a dancer's spine, with bark like glass. It was said to reflect not just faces, but truths.
He placed a hand on it.
The bark shimmered.
A reflection appeared — not his own.
It was a monkey with a crown of flame and twelve orbs glowing around a sun-like sigil behind its head. Its fur was gold. Its eyes… old.
Sunmok stared.
The reflection faded.
He clenched his fists.
"…What am I?"
And from the wind came a whisper:
"You are what they fear… and what they tried to erase."
His breath caught.
He turned — but no one was there.
Only a single white feather floated down from the trees above.
Rika arrived minutes later to find him still standing there.
"You look like you saw a ghost."
"I think I saw my future," he said softly. "And I don't think it ends on this mountain."