“So that’s the rumoured successor of Darkness, huh?”

“I heard he destroyed the mirror during the second test. I wonder if he will destroy it again this year.”

“Ah, that would be great, I’m not in great condition today!”

“Tch, excuses. When have you ever been in good condition?”

“What did you say, you little bastard?!”

While other successors were joking around and having fun as they waited for their turn, Sunggyu was left sitting in a corner by himself. He was used to people being afraid of him. He didn’t really need friends anyway. Having Jiyeon and Jieun by his sides was more than he could have ever asked for. However, hearing that Jiyeon could possibly be coupled with someone else left a bitter taste in his mouth. Hence, he was determined to take the fourth test. With his power, the King title was easily his. Yet that was not his main concern at the moment. The condition given by the other gods and goddesses was for him not to break the mirror again. After a lot of training, Sunggyu was able to control his power much better than before, but he was still worried. Back then, he hadn't even meant to use his full power and he broke the mirror. He himself had been utterly shocked when the mirror shattered, for the impact had caused all of Paradise to undergo a tremendous tremor.

*Calm down, Sunggyu. You can do this!* Sunggyu said to himself as he clasped his fingers together nervously.

“Hey!”

Sunggyu looked up to see a boy smiling at him. It was rare for anyone to approach him so cheerfully like that. Before he could say a word, the boy sat himself down beside him.   

“It sure is taking a while, huh? My number is 201. What’s yours?”

“…249,” Sunggyu answered with hesitation.

“Wow, that’s the very last number. You’re going to have to wait for a while then!” The boy laughed while Sunggyu remained quiet at his side. He continued to stare at the ground in anxiety when a warm hand suddenly covered his interlocked fingers.

Sunggyu looked up to see the boy smiling at him. “Don’t worry, buddy. You’ll be fine! It’s just a test ,so even if you can’t get over 2,000 points, nobody will say a word.”

The boy could see that Sunggyu was extremely nervous and naively thought that Sunggyu must be very weak in terms of power and that he was afraid of the other's judgment if his score was revealed to be low. Little did he know that Sunggyu’s problem was the exact opposite.

The successor of Darkness stared at the strange boy in confusion. Before he could say a word, the announcement of the boy’s number could be heard.

“Number 201, please!”

“Ah, it’s my turn. Gotta go now. Nice meeting you, and don’t be nervous! Remember, you’ll be fine.” The boy continued to cheer on Sunggyu as he ran towards the testing ground. Because he was running backwards, he accidentally bumped into someone and they both fell over. The sight made Sunggyu let out a short laugh in the midst of the tension.

*What a strange guy…* Sunggyu thought as he watched him disappear from sight. After all, the boy was the first, other than the twins, to approach him and talk to him like a fellow successor.

“Ah, I forgot to ask for his name!” the boy said out loud as he jogged towards the testing ground. “Oh well, I can ask him later.”

“Woohyun!!”

“Coming!!” the boy answered, and broke into a sprint.

“Number 249, please!”

*It’s time.* Sunggyu opened his eyes that had been closed for a long time.

Arriving at the testing ground, he took a deep breath and took a step back from the line. Usually, when it was time for the last successor to take the test, there should not be many people left around. But since the successor was Sunggyu, many gods and goddesses, plus a decent number of successors who had some spare time, were present to witness the strength of a successor who had shattered the Power Mirror during the second test. Everyone was holding their breath as Sunggyu began to take his stance.

He lifted one arm, aiming at the mirror, and began to chant his spell in a low voice with his eyes closed. The distance between him and the mirror was only 30 meters, much shorter than the distance he usually stood from the trees during his special training.

You can do this, Sunggyu oppa!

Sunggyu smiled as he remembered Jiyeon’s smiling face in his head, cheering for him. Just the mere thought of her alone immediately calmed him down.

Opening his eyes, he looked at the mirror very seriously, as if he were in a battle with a living opponent.

Don’t worry, buddy. You’ll be fine!

Suddenly, the image of the strange boy he had met earlier popped up in his head. Sunggyu chuckled at the thought that the boy thought he was weak.

*Stranger, I won’t just be fine. I’ll be goddamn amazing.* He thought as he finally released the power inside his little body.

Boom!

The tester had been informed about Sunggyu’s power, but he hadn't thought that his power was actually enough to shake the mirror.

*Seems like the gods weren’t joking when they said that the boy destroyed the Power Mirror during the second test.* The tester thought to himself as he nervously checked the score.

The moment he laid eyes on the score, his eyes opened wide and with a half-shaking voice, he began to announce Sunggyu’s score.

“9-9,793 points!”

Mutters could be heard everywhere, as people were in shock at the ridiculously high score. The successors were whining, thinking about how their ranking would be affected.

“What?! 9,793!? Oh man, my ranking is one rank lower now.”

“Not that it will make a difference, anyway. You’re at the bottom of the ranking chart.”

“Hmmph! So are you!”

On the other hand, the gods and goddesses were looking just as gloomy, although for a very different reason.

“That boy’s power… To be able to manipulate his power this well, I can’t even begin to imagine what he would be like as a god.”

“Don’t you think he would be the closest to The Great in terms of destructive power?”

“What nonsense are you saying? We can never compare ourselves to The Great!”

“I don’t think she is too far off. Take a look at that monstrous strength. We know better than anyone how hard it is to manipulate our power. That boy managed to go from destroying the mirror to using just the right amount of power. That’s something.”

“But I suppose having too much power isn’t good for a balanced world.”

“We’ll see about that. After all, all that is not meant to be will be soon eliminated. If he is a threat to Paradise, The Great will erase his existence.”

Jongwan, who had been listening to the talk in silence, rolled his eyes in annoyance.

*My Sunggyu is the cutest! He could never be a threat to anyone, let alone Paradise. How stupid.* He thought as he excused himself from the boring talk and teleported to where Sunggyu was.

“Congratulations, my boy! You did not shatter the mirror, even at a close distance. Hooray! Let’s go party,” Jongwan said with a smile as he laughed internally. He had never thought that one day, he would be cheering on his successor for being able to hold back.

“Ah, hyung… I want to find Jiyeon and Jieun first,” Sunggyu said with a smile. He was so happy that he had managed to succeed. All of that training had finally paid off. Now he wanted to bring the news to Jiyeon as soon as possible.

“Aish, this boy. Since when did you become a skirt-chaser, huh?” Jongwan teased the poor boy. “Go. They should still be at the healing testing ground.”

“Thank you!” In less than a second, Sunggyu disappeared.

Jongwan heaved a heavy sigh. “Why do I feel like I just sent my daughter away to a man? Aigoo… This old man needs a drink or two.”

The moment Jongwan left, a boy could be seen walking around looking for someone.

“Hey, has number 249 been called?”

“Number 249…? Ah! Yeah, it was called a while ago.”

“Ah, I guess I missed him on the way. Oh well, I wanted to be there to console the poor boy in case he got a low score,” Woohyun said dejectedly. Worry could be seen in his eyes.

“Gotta go back now. Thanks for telling me. See ya!” Woohyun bid goodbye with a smile and jumped through his teleporting hole.

“Are we talking about the same person? That guy scored over 9,700! How is that low?” the other person said in confusion.

↭↭↭↭↭↭↭↭

“Hey, hey! Don’t push!”

“Get out of my way, bastard.”

“Let me see! Let me see!”

“Ohhh, is that her? She's beautiful.”

“Of course, she’s the Queen. What did you expect?”

Jieun stared at the pushing crowd in disgust.

*Tch. These boys are drooling all over my sister.*

“Move!” she commanded as she charged through the crowd.

“Who dares push— Ah, Jieun-ssi! Haha… Come, come!” The boys’ anger immediately dissipated at the mere sight of Jieun, the second Queen, famous for her ability to away life forces. While it was categorized under destructive power, her ability was very different from Sunggyu’s, whose power destroyed things into nothingness, like a black hole. With Jieun’s power, one couldn’t die so easily; instead, they watched as their life force disappeared slowly by her hand.

“Tch. Wipe your drool, disgraceful boys!” Jieun scoffed as she walked by.

*This little arrogant ! One day, I ought to teach her a lesson.* The boys hid their resentment behind a smile as they watched Jieun walk towards the testing ground.

She stopped right before the barrier and found her sister standing among many others, all waiting for the word ‘Begin’. Surrounding them were dead trees, flowers, and animals. During the healing test, one was supposed to try and heal as much as possible during his or her turn. However, each person only got one shot at releasing his or her power, and depending on what the successors managed to heal, their scores would be determined. Jiyeon, the main focus of the group, was placed last in a group of five people, which put her at a disadvantage in choosing targets.

“Group R, get ready!”

“As usual, you must announce your name and your element. Remember, you only have one shot!”

“Alright, let’s begin.”

“Mijoo, successor of Water.”

Being the first person in line, the young girl quickly made her way to the heavily wounded tiger, clearly on the verge of death, and healed the poor creature. After less than three minutes, the tiger recovered its proud look. Since its wound was the most severe on the testing ground plus how fast she healed the tiger, the girl had earned herself 10,450 points – a score that belongs to the top 10% tier in the healing section. After all, her element was among the top five elements compatible with healing.

“Impressive. Next!”  

“Jaehyung, successor of Wind.”

With a swift wind, he brought three small rabbits back to life in less than a minute and earned 3,800 points.

“Saeun, successor of Fire.”

The girl of fire attempted to heal a dog, but failed to bring it to full recovery, thus getting only 1,600 points.

“Nayoung, successor of Earth.”

After a good ten minutes, she successfully healed a severely injured animal and got 6,200 points.

By Jiyeon’s turn, all that were left were mildly injured animals worth roughly 1000 points and a few severely injured ones, but they were still worth fewer points than the other two which had already been taken by the previous successors. Furthermore, since she only had one shot, she could only heal one animal.

“Ah, this is unfortunate. Our Jiyeon might not be the Queen this time.”

“Aish. This is unfair! She was placed last!”

“Shh! Let’s watch quietly.”

Unfazed by the situation, Jiyeon scanned the area as she walked by the injured animals. Then she turned around and walked towards the plants section. Dead plants weren't worth as much as injured animals. They were meant for successors whose elements were incompatible with healing — for example, Jieun, the successor of Death. It was bizarre for Jiyeon, the successor of Life, whose element was the most compatible with healing, to choose a plant.

“What is she doing?! Is she planning to—”

“No way! Has she gone nuts?”

“Ya! Quiet down! You talk too much,” Jieun hissed at the noisy crowd.

*You guys know nothing about Jiyeon’s power. Just you wait!* Jieun scoffed as she recalled the words from earlier.

After walking around for a while, Jiyeon finally settled in the middle of the testing ground. There were no injured animals in front of her, only dead trees. Her pure white dress made her stand out amidst the dying scenery. While everyone was wondering what she had chosen, Jiyeon smiled and announced her name loudly.

“Jiyeon, successor of Life.”

Confused, the tester asked, “Jiyeon, have you chosen your target?”

Jiyeon nodded with a smile.

“…Well then. Let the test begin. You have one shot. Best of luck.”

“Thank you,” Jiyeon replied politely.

With her hands clasped at her chest, Jiyeon took a deep breath. With her eyes closed, she stood there in silence for a short while.

“What is she doing? Why is she not chanting her spell?”

“…I think she gave up on the test already.”

“Has she? How disappointing.”

While everyone was ridiculing her, thinking that she had given up, Jiyeon suddenly began to sing in a language no one had ever heard before. Her soft voice echoed throughout the testing ground. In contrast to the gloomy surrounding, her song was soothing and relaxing.

*Eh? Isn’t this the weird song she has been singing lately?* Even Jieun was surprised by Jiyeon’s sudden action.

Suddenly, all the plants surrounding her began to regain their greenness. Even more shockingly, all of the injured animals currently residing on the testing ground began to recover as well. Jiyeon was performing a mass-healing spell, a spell of extreme difficulty that many gods were incapable of.

While the spectators were watching in shock, the gods and goddesses on the testing ground were simply astounded.

“Ya, Eunjung! Did you teach her the ancient spells?”

The Goddess of Life smiled. “So what if I did?”

“Are you stupid?! Even a god is not allowed to—”

“Such rules were made in order to protect us gods from harming ourselves. What’s more, I didn’t teach Jiyeon. She found the old book in my storage chest by herself.”

“What?! You’re saying that she taught herself?”

“The silly girl wanted to surprise me. I didn’t find out about it until a few days ago.” Eunjung sighed.  “The ancient spells… what makes you think I know how to use them in the first place?”

The ancient spells were created by The Great for the first generation of gods. However, after a major incident that nearly destroyed Paradise, in anger The Great punished the gods involved and took away the ancient spells and created a new and less powerful set of spells which had been used up until the present day. Even so, not all ancient spells were completely lost. Some gods and goddesses managed to leave behind a record of ancient spells belonging to their elements so that their successors could make use of them. However, once the new generation got used to the new spells and the new way of casting those spells, the ancient spells were not only extremely hard to use but also put a strain on their bodies when trying to cast them using the old methods. Only a few managed to succeed; however, at a cost of their own health and power. The rest simply died trying. For this reason, the ancient spells were hidden away and banned from practice.

It was no surprise, then, that Eunjung had been worried sick when she found out that Jiyeon had taught herself the ancient spells unknowingly. However, after she did a quick check up, she realized that not only was Jiyeon in perfect health, the flow of her power was much better than before after learning the ancient spells. It was as if she belonged to the first generation.

*The girl is a born healer.* Eunjung thought as she looked at Jiyeon. A hint of jealousy could be detected in her eyes.

In less than five minutes, every living being on the testing ground was healed. Those that could move gathered around Jiyeon in a circle, as if they were worshipping her. The tester was still in shock, even after Jiyeon had stopped singing and started to play around with the animals. It took him a while to snap back to reality and begin calculating Jiyeon’s score. He had never seen any successor capable of healing the entire testing ground.

“J-Jiyeon, 77,950 points.”

Gasping sound could be heard throughout the testing ground. Even Jiyeon was surprised at the score. She had known she would rank first, but she had only been expecting 20,000 points at most. At the thought that she had broken the record of 53,900 points, Jiyeon was struck with disbelief.

“Are you sure? Can you please calculate it again?”

“I am very certain, Jiyeon-ssi. I have calculated it three times already.” The tester smiled at her humility. “Jiyeon-ssi, you healed the remaining testing ground. Anything that was dying came back to life. Therefore, your score out of 100,000 points is 77,950. Congratulations!”

“What? The entire testing ground? Me?” Jiyeon gasped in surprise and turned towards Eunjung, who simply smiled at her. When she had opened her eyes, she had noticed that everything in sight was healed, but she did not expect everything beyond her field of vision to be healed as well.

*Ah, so that’s why you told me to not choose a target and just sing in the middle of the testing ground instead. But it wouldn't have hurt to tell me the true power of the spell, you know! Bad unnie…* Jieun scolded her trainer for her mischievousness secretly in her mind as she began to step out of the testing ground.

“UNNIEEEEEEE!” Jieun jumped onto Jiyeon the moment she was outside.

“Easy, easy!” Jiyeon struggled to keep both of them from falling. Suddenly, she felt a hand supporting her from behind.

“Good job, Jiyeon.” Hearing his voice, Jiyeon’s cheeks immediately turned pink. She quickly threw Jieun off and turned around, looking a little shy.

“H-Hi there, Sunggyu oppa. When did you get here?” she asked, a little surprised as she had not expected Sunggyu to come. Earlier, she had overheard a few successors saying that it was soon Sunggyu’s turn at the power testing ground. As Jiyeon recalled the image of those girls purposely dressing up as they left to watch Sunggyu, a sense of anger and bitterness crept in.

“I got here as fast as I could right after I finished my turn.” Sunggyu smiled, not noticing the sour expression on Jiyeon’s face. “To think the song you have been singing these past two weeks was this powerful. I’m surp— Eh? What’s wrong?” His voice trailed off as he noticed Jiyeon was glaring at him angrily.

“Nothing. I’m fine,” Jiyeon said with a pout, and proceeded to leave immediately.

“Eh? J-Jiyeon? Where are you going?” Sunggyu immediately chased after her, but something held him back the moment he took a step.

“Sunggyu oppa! Congratulations on your test!” a strange girl said with a smile.

“Oppa, are you free now?” another girl asked as she held onto his arm.

Feeling uncomfortable, Sunggyu tried to get away from the group of girls he had never seen before.

“AHEM!”

“Jieun…” Sunggyu called out to her pleadingly in a soft voice.

Jieun smiled at him, then proceeded to glare at the girls. Cracking her neck and warming up her fists, Jieun smiled sadistically.

“I wasn’t warmed up properly during my power test; that’s why I got such a low score. Sunggyu, I wanted a quick practice, but you seem busy…. Should I take care of your guests first?” she said as she looked at the girls like a predator deciding which prey to eat first.

“O-oppa, I have to go now. My next test is coming up!”

“M-me too!”

“Ah, and me. Goodbye.”

Right away, one by one, the girls fled from Jieun in fear. Jieun scoffed at them, then looked at the bewildered Sunggyu.

Sighing, Jieun patted Sunggyu on the back and gave him a little glass jar. “Go find unnie. She was just a little jeal— Well… she’s not feeling very well. She’s probably just exhausted after the test; that’s why she’s a little grumpy. Give her this and she’ll be back to normal right away.” She winked.

“Thank you, Jieun! I’ll pay you back for this sometime.” With a bright expression, Sunggyu immediately left, chasing after Jiyeon.

As soon as Sunggyu was out of sight, the beaming smile on the younger twin disappeared, and in its place was a bitter one. Chuckling, Jieun whispered to herself, “What am I doing?”

During her power test, Jieun had purposely used only half of her power in order to sabotage her title as Queen alongside her twin. All this for the sake of making her twin the only Queen. She knew that Jiyeon wouldn’t mind if they were both the Queens, had Sunggyu become the King. But how could Jieun let that happen? She would not let anyone get in the way of her beloved unnie and Sunggyu – even if that person was herself.

Shutting her eyes sadly, Jieun turned around and walked away. Her shadow seemed to be so lonely, even though she was walking as proudly as she usually did. Who could have ever guessed that behind the strong and mighty front was a sad, lonely girl sacrificing her chance at love?

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Hey girls (and boys)! I'm back with the third part of chapter 8! Sorry it took longer than I thought since January was hectic for me :( On the bright side, guess what day is today? It's TED's two year anniversary!! Hooray! (And I'm only half-way through the story... Just barely... OTL) 

A big thank you to my beloved beta for correcting my grammars and all at the speed of light so that I can post this one time. I love her so much~ 

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