For the next week, the group continued to look for clues about the rumored Mythos. The villagers scorned them and tried to run them out by throwing random objects at them, but as members of the Academy, they were all swift to dodge the attacks. Jieun was the only one who took their hits, ending up with bruises or smelling like rotten eggs by the end of the day. No one understood why she kept taking in their hits, but she wouldn't let them know.

"You wouldn't understand what these people are thinking," she would say. "If you truly understood what the Academy had done to some of these villages, you would think that getting hit by random objects is a small price to pay."

But after two weeks of trying to dig up evidence, Kihyun finally got fed up with waiting.

"We need to take action," he said one night.

All of the students looked over at Kihyun, who leaned against the tree a few feet away from the fireplace. Jieun, who had been managing the fire, didn't even bother to lift her head to see him.

"We are taking action," Jieun said innocently. "We've been trying to find out where this rumored Mythos is located."

"We're not getting anything done," Kihyun argued.

"Then maybe you're just bad at your job," Jieun muttered.

Kihyun narrowed his eyes. "It's because I'm keeping an eye on you while I'm trying to focus on the mission."

"Aw. You can't multitask?" Jieun clicked her tongue. "How sad."

"You know that I've been keeping an eye on you so that's why you've been pretending to look for information," Kihyun retorted.

"Really? I barely noticed." Jieun poked the fire. "Besides, it's not like I'm doing nothing. I've been training your students."

Jungkook's ears perked up. He looked at Jieun, who still kept her gaze on the flames.

"You've been training Kihyun's students?" Jungkook repeated.

"Well, I've only been training Byungchan," she admitted. "Yugyeom and Yoohyeon are a bit of a hopeless situation, so that's why I sent them to find more information about the Mythos a few minutes ago. They just need to toughen up a little bit, but Byungchan?" She pointed her stick at Byungchan, who seemed genuinely surprised about her comment. "He's a natural. He's just lazy."

Kihyun scoffed. "I've seen them fight before. They can't do anything."

"You're right, but not really," Jieun said. "Byungchan can fight. He just chooses not to and the Academy hasn't reprimended him for that because it would be a waste of time for them to focus their energy on building him into their ideal soldier like these three." She swung her stick towards Jungkook, Yuna and Seokmin, who were slightly offended to hear that they were "soldiers" for the Academy.

"Byungchan always ranks last."

"I'm sure someone as sharp as you wouldn't have overlooked Byungchan's ability," Jieun said. She finally looked up from the fire. "Tell me, Kihyun: Have you ever wondered why you don't really care about training your own students when they have so much potential?" She tilted her head. "Have you thought about it?"

For a split second, Kihyun's face crumbled a little. It seemed like he was trying to fight his own thoughts, but his troubled expression faded and he stepped closer to the shadows.

"It's a waste of time to train them," Kihyun said. 

Jieun clicked her tongue. "What a pity."

Seokmin leaned closer to Byungchan and whispered, "Is it just me, or are our Instructors talking badly about us? Should we be insulted?"

Byungchan whispered back, "Well, we're used to it, but it doesn't look like Jungkook's too happy."

Seokmin glanced over at his best friend. Just like Byungchan had said, Jungkook had a deep frown on his face. He wasn't sure why Jungkook was upset, but he noticed that Yuna's eyes were glued to him. She had a look of concern on her face and he even saw her inch closer to Jungkook, but Jungkook's eyes were still on Jieun.

"I still think you're hiding something from me," Kihyun told her.

"Everyone has a secret of some sort," Jieun said calmly.

"You've been quite pale, too," Kihyun pointed out.

"Is that supposed to be a compliment?" She grinned. "Are you trying to flirt with me? I'm sorry, but I'm not attracted to guys who judge women based on their appearance."

Kihyun glared. "Are you trying to be funny?"

"I'm just saying what's on my mind," Jieun said. She eyed at him carefully. "Is that something you're incapable of doing yourself?"

Kihyun's face twitched again. Jieun stared in amusement, then took a deep breath.

"Well, I supposed I should stop there." She got up and stretched her arms. "I think I'm ready to sleep! Tomorrow is another day of work and searching."

"Wait, shouldn't we talk about a new way to approach this situation?" Seokmin asked her. "We're not getting anywhere at this rate."

"You're too eager," Jieun said. "It might be because you were lucky to find two Mythos in a span of a few months, but you need to realize that it took several years for the Academy to finally find one Mythos, which was the Sleef."

"And the enemy took the Sleef," Kihyun muttered.

Jieun shot him a look. "I don't think I saw you during the time I was trying to protect two Mythos alone."

"But Jungkook was there—"

"He didn't do much. It's not like you can rely on Academy students in the first place."

"You could let Jungkook do so much more, but you choose not to," Kihyun said.

Jieun sighed and glanced at him. "You know, I can say the same thing for you, too. You could let your students grow so much more, but you're just letting them wither and be useless."

"My students are inferior compared to yours."

"Didn't I already tell you that you got a good student?" Jieun pointed at Byungchan. "This guy is your gem. If you know how to polish him, you're going to be a great Instructor for the other two."

"It baffles me to know that you don't know what 'top three students' mean," Kihyun ridiculed.

Jieun scoffed. "You know what? Let's bet on it. Byungchan versus Seokmin."

Seokmin widened his eyes. "I have to battle him? Why don't you make Byungchan fight Jungkook or Yuna? They both rank higher than me!"

"Because you're the one who will actually fight and be okay with losing without demanding a rematch," Jieun said. She cleared the floor and gestured the two to stand on the opposite side. Yuna handed Seokmin his swords and Jieun gave Byungchan his spear.

Byungchan looked at her meakly. "I don't want to fight..."

Jieun gave him a serious look. "Think of it as training, but take this seriously."

He gulped and nodded. As the two stood facing each other with their weapons in their hand, Jieun started to announce the rules:

"We'll do a total of three battles—"

"One," Kihyun interrupted. "Just one match."

"Really? You're not going to say that Byungchan just got lucky or anything like that when he wins?"

"If he wins," Kihyun said. "That is, if he can win."

Jieun pursed her lips, then shrugged. "Fine. One battle. You can do whatever you want, but the moment that your opponent's weapon is at your throat, then the battle is over. Is that clear?"

"Sounds simple enough," Seokmin said.

"Do we really have to do this?" Byungchan whined.

"Both sides should take this seriously, so no fooling around. Give it all you got." Once Jieun finished explaining the rules, she signaled for the two boys to start.

During the entire battle, Seokmin was the only one who charged and tried to attack, but Byungchan kept defending himself and avoided his attacks. While it was intense to watch the battle in the beginning, the repetitiveness drew little interest from the students. Despite being bored, Jungkook couldn't help but notice that both Jieun and Kihyun were keen on watching the battle. 

I wonder what they're thinking of this fight, he thought to himself.

Suddenly, Seokmin charged at Byungchan, appearing as if he was finally going to end the battle. Just before he could point his sword at Byungchan's neck, Byungchan managed to avoid it and deflected the incoming attack with his weapon before running away to the opposite end of the field. Seokmin let out a heavy sigh.

"For crying out loud, they're still fighting?" Yuna muttered at the side.

"He's just dodging! It's getting annoying!" Seokmin whined.

"Byungchan," Jieun said sternly. She stared at him, which sent chills down his spine. "Just do it."

Byungchan gulped. He had always thought that Kihyun was scary, but seeing Jieun now, he felt like she could be scarier than his real Instructor. He took a deep breath, then focused his attention on Seokmin.

"Just end it, Seokmin!" Yuna shouted, slightly annoyed over how long the battle was going.

"Okay, okay!" Seokmin positioned his sword. "I'll end it right n—" He quickly hitched his breath and switched to defense position as Byungchan charged at him with his weapon. !

Seokmin could feel the heels of his feet digging into the ground. He looked down to see where he could find some footing, but by the time he looked back up, Byungchan had somehow made his way behind him and tried to strike him. Seokmim gasped and managed to deflect him, but ended up falling on his bottom. Right before Seokmin could point his sword, Byungchan already had his right beneath Seokmin's chin.

There was a moment of silence. Everyone except for the Instructors seemed genuinely surprised. Byungchan started to grow wary of their stares and gulped. He withdrew his weapon and extended his hand to help Seokmin up from the ground. Seokmin stared at his hand for a few seconds, then reluctantly grabbed onto it.

"Good battle," Seokmin murmured.

Byungchan looked down, ashamed. "Sorry, I—"

"Don't."

Jieun turned to Kihyun. "You're not surprised. Did you know?"

Kihyun remained silent. 

"I can't believe Seokmin lost to Byungchan," Yuna murmured. She eyed at Jungkook. "Jungkook, what do you th—"

Before she had the chance to finish her sentence, Jungkook walked into the battle field. He tapped Seokmin's shoulder and pointed his sword at Byungchan.

"Fight me," he challenged.

Jieun raised an eyebrow. "Jungkook, what are you doing? He's not going to battle—"

"You didn't announce the end of the battle, so technically it's still on-going," Jungkook pointed out. "So let me fight him and see what he's really capable of. I'm not going to let him ridicule my friend. I need to know if he actually has the skills or if he's lucky."

She grunted. "Stand down, Jungkook. The battle is over—"

"No, you never called for the end of the battle."

"Jungkook, are you disobeying my instructions?"

"You're not my Instructor right now." Jungkook eyed at Kihyun. "He is."

Jieun scoffed. "Well, then I'll just tell Byungchan to st—"

"Resume the fight!" Kihyun shouted abruptly.

With that, Jungkook made his first swing. Byungchan resumed to defense position, but he didn't last long. In just a few minutes, Jungkook skillfully tricked Byungchan and ended up landing his sword on his throat. Covered in sweat and on the ground, Byungchan gulped and stared down at the blade right beneath his chin.

"The fight is over. Jungkook wins," Kihyun announced.

Jungkook withdrew his sword and walked back to the side to Seokmin and Yuna. Yuna clapped her hands and cheered while Seokmin broke into a small smile. 

"As expected of the top student, he's on a different level." Kihyun glanced at Jieun. "I guess Byungchan was just lucky when he was battling Seokmin."

Jieun scoffed and didn't say anything. When Kihyun walked away and the students dispersed to do their own tasks, Jieun walked over to Jungkook and glared at him.

"What the hell was that?" she asked him.

Jungkook looked at her nonchantly. "What was what?"

"Really? All of the sudden, you wanted to fight Byungchan?"

"He humiliated my friend. I need to stand up for my team," Jungkook said in a matter-of-fact tone.

She crossed her arms. "You know, I really want to believe that you did this for Seokmin, but I can't help but feel like you had an ulterior move for doing this."

He kept silent. He awkwardly wiped the sweat off his face with a towel and continued to stare down at Jieun. Their gaze was interrupted when Yugyeom and Yoohyeon started to dash towards their base with a panicked expression.

"Guys, guys! We got a lead on the Mythos of Luos!" Yugyeom shouted.

Everyone's ears perked up and they all gathered around the two.

Yoohyeon panted and gulped. "It doesn't look like it's just the Mythos of Luos, either. I think the Kreo might be here!"

Jungkook, Yuna and Seokmin jolted, but Jieun remained calm.

"What makes you think that the Kreo is also here with the Luos?" she asked him.

Yoohyeon smiled. "They say that there is a man who has been freeing slaves in the black market accompanied by a horse with wings and a nine-tailed fox. All three have been sighted near the location of the Luos."

* * *

Seungho released his arrow and killed the last man on the floor. The stranger fell with a loud thud! and the slaves in chains scrambled and ran for their lives. The Kreo creature only gazed up at the moon before a cold wind swept across his face.

"How many have you killed?" Junki asked after a moment of silence.

"Not killed. I've only passed judgement," Seungho explained.

"A judgement that resulted in their deaths."

"Unfortunately."

Junki watched him. "I wonder who will pass judgement on you."

Seungho kept awfully quiet. Then, he looked over at Junki with cold eyes.

"I am a Kreo creature. My judgements are always correct, unlike a human."

"Yet, we are created as a reflection of our Kreo Creators, who are human."

"...I really am curious as to who your Kreo Creator was," Seungho said calmly. "I feel like I would have respected your Kreo Creator. The current Keeper of the Kreo is too irrational. She cannot make proper judgements when the situation requires her to."

"It sounds like you doubt that my Kreo Creator will pass your test?" Hannah inquired. "If that is the case, I do not appreciate how you have given her false hope." She pulled out her claws. "It would be much simpler if I just kill you now before you kill mine."

Seungho glanced at her. "I wonder why you are so attached to your Kreo Creator. She is full of flaws."

"And yours wasn't?"

"Mine wasn't until he became short-sighted of his morals. I killed him because he failed to make a proper judgement."

"Tell me, what made you decide to kill your Kreo Creator?" Hannah asked.

"I think I would like to hear the reason as well," Junki added.

Seungho's eyes softened. "...He became a mass murderer. He killed his entire village."

There was silence between Hannah and Junki. The two exchanged looks, surprised to hear that such a thing had happened. Then, Hannah started to snicker like a wicked fox. Junki only closed his eyes in silence while Seungho growled at her.

"What is so funny?"

"You, who is a reflection of someone 'righteous,' is actually a reflection of a murderer!" Hannah laughed.

Seungho glared. "We are not humans. We are—"

"And here I thought that your Kreo Creator was some kind of perfect figure! But no! It turns out that he's just a murderer!" Hannah cackled. "I thought your Kreo Creator would've been some kind of hero, but instead he ended up being a villain."

When she opened her eyes, she saw Seungho's calm expression twist into anger. He raised his bow and pointed his arrow at her, breathing ever so slightly to calm himself down.

A wide smile spread across her face as she tried to cover her smile with her white sleeves. "Ah, I have a feeling that you will come to love my Kreo Creator."

"Those are quite bold words, considering that your Kreo Creator does not have a lot of time left," Seungho warned her. He guestred his chin at the moon. "The full moon is only a few hours. I do not think I recall your Kreo Creator doing anything that shows me she is worth being the Keeper?"

Hannah calmly grinned. "I trust my Kreo Creator. In fact, I think I hear her approaching us." As fox ears grew out from her head, her whiskers twitched. "However, it does not seem like it is only her approaching us."

An oddly shaped chain shot towards them out of nowhere. The three jumped away from their spots, dodging the clamp. They all noticed how the weapon looked like the chains that were shackled to the freed slaves. The attacker pulled back the chain, drawing their eyes to a petite girl with iron boots.

Taeyeon brought her communication device over . "Three Kreo Creatures spotted, but no Keeper of the Kreo in sight. Scanned for the Mythos of the Luos, but nowhere in sight. Permission to pursue the Creatures?"

A second later, she received a message: PERMISSION GRANTED. PROVIDING BACK-UP.

"Young lady, you should not throw such weapons carelessly at people," Seungho said. "What will you do if someone got hurt?"

"Stay alert! She is the enemy!" Hannah snapped.

"I will not judge her as the enemy unless she has done anything wrong."

Hannah scowled while Junki furrowed his eyebrows.

"Both of you, stay alert. She mentioned the presence of the Luos," Junki warned them.

"But I don't sense anything," Hannah retorted.

Taeyeon looked down at the dead men on the ground. "I see that you have killed my men?"

Seungho shifted his body towards the people he had killed. "You know them? They are yours?"

"I was wondering who was obstructing my underground trade," Taeyeon mumbled. "It seems like it was you all along."

"I heard that your men were kidnapping the slaves against their own will and that you would kill the slaves for their organs," Seungho said. He pulled out his arrow. "Is that the truth?"

Taeyeon stared at his arrow, then crossed her arms slowly. "And if it is?"

"Then I will have to pass judgement."

"Is that so?" Taeyeon cocked her head to the side. "Is it truly my fault if I only merely suggested the idea?"

"What are you talking about? You organized it!" Hannah snarled.

"I'm only the head of this underground market. If something happens without my knowledge, is it truly my fault? Should one be judged for being the face of this trade or should they be judged for their actions?"

Hannah growled and whirled around at Seungho. "Why aren't you doing your thing?"

"...Because I am still accessing the situation."

Hannah gave him a confused stare, but stopped when she felt another presence approaching them. She growled and raised her hand to claw the incoming attacker. A chain came around and wrapped her wrist. Seconds later, she was pulled to the ground, dirtying her clothes. She snarled and tried to pull back, but another chain came after her and tied her down on the ground. 

"Let go of me!" Hannah demanded.

At that moment, Junki flew in and broke her chains with his sword. Quickly assessing the situation, his eyes glowed purple and he quickly ran around the creatures in a circle. Sticking out his sword away from the creatures, he created a small tornado around them, allowing the three creatures to hide in the eye of the tornado. They could hear the chains lunging towards them, but it seemed like the chains couldn't pass through.

"This tornado isn't going to last long," Junki said. "We need to head back to the Kreo Creator before anything else happens."

"I cannot leave yet. I have not passed judgement to that lady," Seungho said.

"You killed her underlings so easily. What is making you hesitate on killing her?" Hannah asked as she tore off the chains from her body.

"I need to know exactly what she had said to her underlings. Only then, will I be able to judge her properly."

Hannah gritted her teeth and grabbed his shirt. "Listen, you have already put my Kreo Creator in danger, have carelessly killed and tossed bodies in this forest, and now you are getting in the way of our safety! You will return with us to my Kreo Creator this instant!"

Seungho glared down at her. "I will not. I need to judge the lady."

"How is it possible that you are able to pass judgement to those men earlier and not the mastermind behind all of what you are fighting against?" 

"Because according to her, she only implied the task. She never gave them direct orders."

"Is it not clear to you that she is the one plotting everything?"

"Is it truly her fault if she had only implied it?"

Hannah gaped at him. "I cannot believe that—"

"Both of you, pay attention!" Junki shouted.

The tornado dissipated and several more weapons charged towards them. Hannah aggressively broke any weapon that came her way while Junki quickly ran away, avoiding the attack.

Seungho was about to get caught, but a staff came flying by, blocking the chain from touching him. The Kreo Creature turned and saw Jieun posed as if she had thrown an object in a hurry. She was sweaty and out of breath as if she had ran across the world. 

Hannah beamed. "My Kreo Creator!"

"No time! Hannah, Junki! Return to the Kreo!" Jieun demanded. 

"But—"

"Quickly!"

Hannah hesitated, but she lowered her head and obeyed. Junki did the same. They both turned to orbs and disappeared near her chest. Seungho raised his eyebrow.

"You did not ask me to return."

"You weren't going to, so I didn't bother," she replied. She took a second to catch her breath. "People from the Academy will come here any moment and are aware of you being here. My students are trying their best to delay them, but I know that they're going to come soon. My goal is to finish everything up so that you can do your thing, accept me as the Keeper, and return at my will."

"I thought your students already knew of us."

"Yes, but not the other Instructors or any other Academy students." Jieun looked around. "How many am I dealing with?"

"I am only interested in one," Seungho said. "She is a small woman wearing iron boots. I need to ask her a few questions."

He must be talking about Taeyeon, she thought. "Great, so I can take down the rest?"

Seungho's eyes glowed orange. "Are you sure that it is wise for you to attack them when they have not attacked you?"

Jieun stiffened as she felt the arrow heat up in front of her chest. "So you're telling me not to fight?"

"I am just saying that it would be unwise—"

"You're basically telling me not to fight or else I'll die because then I won't pass your test."

Moments later, the familiar electrical ribbon came flying towards her. Jieun hitched her breath and dodged, but ended up tripping and falling on her bottom. She groaned, realizing that she was still in no condition to fight off her enemies. She could hear Suzy howling in laughter before the young lady appeared from the shadows.

"Leo, did you see that? She just fell!" Suzy exclaimed. She gave her a smug grin. "Where's your little foxy and the pony? I swear I just saw them a second ago."

"They went to bed," Jieun said sarcastically. "As you can see, it's quite late."

"Did you hear that Leo? She's alone tonight—just like how she'll die all alone."

Leo calmly walked out under the moonlight. Suzy giggled and cuddled with his arm. Jieun narrowed her eyes and seethed her teeth.

"...You look like the Gumiho like this," Seungho commented.

Jieun broke eye-contact with the enemy and turned her head. "What?"

"That expression. It holds the same energy as the Gumiho." Seungho furrowed his eyebrows. "A look of disdain, coldness—A lack of reasonable judgement."

"Let me remind you that I am not your enemy," Jieun told him.

"But we are not friends." His eyes grew cold. "You think of me as a lesser being."

"No." Without taking a blink, she said, "It's you who thinks that I'm a lesser being."

Seungho raised an eyebrow. "What makes you say that?"

"You seem to think that just because I'm human, I can't make a proper judgement. Well, I'll admit it—yes, I am human. Yes, as a human, I will make mistakes. I might not be able to make the right judgement at times, but I can assure that you can trust me with your power." She extended her hand. "I don't know why you killed your own Kreo Creator, but if I know anything about being with Hannah, it's that a Kreo Creature holds a special bond with their own Kreo Creator." A cold breeze brushed against their skin. "I won't lie, I'm tempted to gain your trust quickly because I'm running out of time. Any moment now, all the people from the Academy will rush in, ready to fight. Like I said, my students—my actual students—are trying to buy some time for me, but it's not going to last long."

Seungho stared at her hand, then gazed into her eyes. "Then let me ask you a question."

Jieun tilted her head. "A question?"

"Your answer will depend on whether I will kill you with that arrow or whether I will submit to you," Seungho said, pointing at the arrow. This time, the arrow that was invisible to all started to glow orange. 

Jieun gulped.

"Current Keeper of the Kreo, I ask you this: What is justice?"

Author's Note: Hello everyone! I am back from my unannounced 1-year hiatus. It's been a while since I have written, but I still have this story fresh in my mind. My goal now is to do weekly updates for this story. My plan was to do weekly updates on Friday, but I was tired yesterday and decided to update on Saturday. I hope everyone has been doing well. One reason I was stuck with this story was because I was having trouble figuring out how I wanted to write the Kreo Creature's backstories, but now that I got that figured it out, I'm ready to resume writing! Thank you for being so patient and see you soon! Also, this story is also getting translated into Russian. You can find the Russsian translation in the foreword. Have a wonderful day!