「 episode 10; arc 4.2 」 —dual restitution//pillar of faith— 「 hyejoo vi 」

Sounds of clashing steel reverberated within the expanse of a cave clearing before being briefly muted by the clamorous boom of an explosion.

A team of four sorceresses dashed around a bloodied battlefield, odd eyes shining brightly with focused determination as they ran past with one another repeatedly. Figures clad in hooded robes and cloaks of red met their elementalism with swords, shields, axes, and maces of their own.

Though their forces outnumbered the magi greatly, their numbers were steadily dwindling as they fell one after the other.

A fountain of blood gushed into the air as a hooded man fell to his knees, his neck and chest grossly lacerated by the edge of an azure blade. Suddenly, the wavy dark blonde hair of its wielder whipped wildly. A gust of wind came from in front of her and curled around her body before sweeping an unseen assailant behind her off their feet.

Turning around, Seungwan was met with the sight of her taller comrade standing over her downed attacker. Silenced gunshots rang out, piercing the cultist’s chest and rendering their body motionless as a pool of blood grew underneath them. With a light breath, the markswoman detached an empty magazine from the bottom of her submachine gun.

“Thank you, Joy,” Seungwan said with somber appreciation.

“Stay sharp, Seungwan,” Joy replied with matching solemnity as the magazine in her hand dissolved into mana. Her verdant odd eye glimmered softly as the same cloud born from its dematerialization immediately coalesced into a fresh magazine.

Reattaching it to her firearm, Joy brought her eyes to Seungwan. “Joohyun’s got enough on her plate worrying about Yeri. Least we can do is finish this off without a scratch on you so she doesn’t have to worry about her girlfriend, too.”

Seungwan felt the cold steel of her half-scissor blade as she tightened her grip on its circular hilt. Nodding in response, another deafening explosion shook the area before she could reply in full.

Across the impossibly thick whirlpool of light gray mana which spun slowly above a monumental sinkhole in the center of the cave, a handaxe was tossed into the stomach of a sword-wielding cultist. Joohyun’s eye of fire flashed with vehement anger as she exhaled sharply through her nose, inciting an explosion of flames from within their flesh.

Joohyun’s face was splattered with her target’s blood as their abdomen burst open. The cultist fell to the floor face-first, charred skin and burnt organs sizzling loudly as they spilled out. Scanning the area, she felt her handaxe take shape in her grasp once more upon its complete dissipation—there were only two or three dozen cultists left, and they were falling at a consistent rate.

“Seulgi!”

Joohyun’s call was not immediately answered. The spry woman of electricity across the field was in the middle of an evasive cartwheel, dodging a staggered assault of three of Red Velvet’s members.

As their blades missed her body, Seulgi propped herself into a handstand with a steady breath, runic circles of gold forming the outline of a sphere above her.

In a show of upper body strength, the muscles in her arm tensed up as she pushed herself off the ground and rose into the air.

Positioned in the center of her sphere of circles at the apex of her ascent, she cavorted energetically within her planet of runes. From the inside of it, she slashed the circles to pieces while spinning every which way.

Landing cleanly on her feet, she seamlessly transitioned into a series of backflips towards Joohyun as her effect manifested. An electrified rush of chain lightning spread downwards, incapacitating her three foes with unsafe amounts of voltage.

“Heading further in?” Seulgi asked as her attackers succumbed to her effect, their bodies convulsing wildly on the ground. She joined Joohyun in surveying the remaining numbers of the opposing army while wiping sweat off her forehead with a convalescent breath. “Looks like a pretty safe amount for the three of us to handle.”

“I’m sure you three can take care of them, yeah,” Joohyun ascertained, her eyes finding Seungwan and Joy across the manachasm.

The two had just dispatched another three cultists, covering one another without issue. “There haven’t been reinforcements from further in since the first wave of them. Whoever’s left must be guarding Yeri.”

“Time for the Joohyun solo mission, then!” Seulgi commented with a grin, flipping her knife in her hands. “We’ll finish these guys off and catch up to you as soon as we can!”

The pair exchanged a nod before heading in separate directions.

Seulgi bolted across the clearing towards the women of water and wind while Joohyun headed towards the opening of a narrow path nearby. Before she ducked into it, however, she found herself turning around.

Her gaze fell upon Seungwan deflecting the strikes of a larger foe with careful timing and prudent positioning. Her enemy suddenly shifted his stance, adopting a two-handed grip on his sword as he slashed downwards at her. With grace, Seungwan avoided the attack with a reactive sidestep and ran her sword through his heart.

As his lifeless body slid down the length of her blade, she pulled it out of his chest while kicking him forwards. Her enemy dispatched, she searched for her next target. Instead, she met eyes with Joohyun across the area.

Thick drops of blood dripped from Seungwan’s sword. Swatting the air in front of her with it, she cleansed her steel of its sins as she peered at Joohyun across the manapool.

Silently, she gave her a slow nod.

The image of Seungwan’s unflinching perseverance burned itself into Joohyun’s mind as she nodded back.

Turning around, the axewoman disappeared into the rocky crevice in pursuit of her sibling. Upon seeing her figure fully vanish, Seungwan engaged her next enemy without hesitation.

Locked in a standoff against another sword-wielding cultist, the sound of clashing steel ricocheted in Seungwan’s ears as each of her slashes were met with equal force. Seeing Seulgi barreling towards her for an oncoming assist, Seungwan took a quick breath as her eye of azure emitted light.

In the air behind her current target, a moderately sized horizontal runic circle of deep blue came to life from Seungwan’s mana. With both of his hands occupied in holding his hefty claymore, the cultist was left with no immediate answer to Seungwan repositioning her sword and sliding it down against the edge of his own.

Turning sideways and coming closer to her opponent, Seungwan brought her sword to the cross-guard of the cultist’s claymore. She gained control of his stance as she forced it into the corner created by the base of her blade and the curve of its circular hilt.

His grasp on his blade weakening, Seungwan exerted force downwards as she overpowered him with a surprising display of physical strength.

His weapon knocked out of his hands, the cultist stumbled backwards from the struggle as his sword clattered to the ground. Before he could think of his next move, Seungwan stepped forward and planted the sole of her boot against his stomach.

Shoved backwards, the cultist fell to his side and landed right underneath Seungwan’s circle of runes. Looking to her right, Seungwan witnessed a female cultist equipped with a mace poised to strike Joy a few feet away.

With a short sprint, she came to Joy’s side just in time and raised her half-scissor blade, meeting her foe’s weapon in full and entering another standoff.

Seungwan heard a subdued gunshot ring out as she held off Joy’s assassin. From behind her, Joy had shattered her runic circle with a clean shot through the center, breaking it into pieces. Her odd eye shined once again as her effect manifested.

The cultist she disarmed found himself suddenly drenched as he staggered to his feet, enveloped in a torrential downpour of pressurized water. It battered down harshly against his body, dropping him back down to the floor and preventing him from standing.

In the next moment, two voices cried out in agonized unison.

The first belonged to the mace-wielding woman locked into place with Seungwan as Joy turned her sights to her. Seungwan stepped back as their foe collapsed onto the ground, a spray of ammunition unloaded into her side. With Joy turning around to engage another approaching figure, Seungwan finished the job and plunged her raised sword directly into the woman’s chest.

The second screech of pain came with the sound of crackling electricity.

Capitalizing on Seungwan’s and Joy’s efforts, Seulgi continued the combination attack as she approached her allies. With a quick breath, a row of vertically standing runic circles materialized ahead of her. With her knife extended outwards, she cleaved the gold circles in a straight line as she dashed parallel to them.

Successive bolts of lightning from each severed shape curved around Seulgi and flew forward in a staggered pattern, careening into Seungwan’s waterfall. The cultist trapped inside was subjected to a prison of lightning as Seungwan’s water became a conductor for Seulgi’s electricity. His incessant screams of suffering continued for a brief moment until they came to a stop.

The two effects came to an end as Seulgi neared Seungwan and Joy. The whirlpool of bolts faded away, revealing a lifeless figure with burnt robes laying on its back. Coming to a stop near her comrades, Seulgi turned around as the three backed into one another, covering each other’s flanks.

The cultists formed around them in a wide circle, weapons at the ready as they kept their distance. Joy surveyed their foes with calm, steady eyes while materializing a fresh magazine of ammo. “They’re dedicated, gotta give ‘em that much. You’d think some would run away after seeing what we’re doing to them, but they’re all still here…”

“They’re pretty damn determined, yeah,” Seulgi agreed with a grimace.

A wave of static encompassed her body as she idly flipped her knife in her hands. She peered at a hammer-equipped cultist slowly making his way towards her. “It’d be a lot more admirable if that dedication wasn’t focused on hunting down innocent thaumaturges...”

“Let’s finish this quickly,” Seungwan cut in, holding her blade steady at her waist. “The less time Joohyun has to spend fending for herself, the better.”

Seungwan’s call to action was answered with silent nods from Seulgi and Joy. As they locked onto their new targets, they charged forward, resolve burning within their souls.

Deeper inside the caves, the walls surrounding Joohyun slowly transformed into a hallway of hardened soil with human bones and skulls embedded within them.

Now in the catacombs proper once more, her footsteps were quick yet quiet. She had left earshot of the battle not long ago—exploring the underground network in ghostly silence, her mind was left to imagine how her companions were faring.

Lead by burning torches on the walls, the axewoman continued through the cavern with a surge of trepidation flooding her heart. Every step further she made into the depths of Red Velvet’s base of operations amplified her underlying fear about her sister’s safety.

Though she did a good job of masking it in the presence of the others, anxiety had been terrorizing her mind ever since Yeri’s kidnapping. As the oldest of the group by several years, she had long been declared their unofficial leader. It was a notion that made Joohyun feel she was in no position to show weakness.

Trudging through what could potentially become Yeri’s graveyard by herself, however, was now breaking her strength.

Doubt clouded Joohyun’s mind, and it was with a quivering breath that she dispelled the worried thoughts consuming her as best she could. She wasn’t sure what to expect. She could only hope it wasn’t too late.

The only thing Joohyun knew for sure was that they had a safe haven waiting for them.

Even if it was universes away, and even if part of her still didn’t entirely believe the idea...she had no choice but to accept it as truth. It was the only option they had left—the only way to guarantee Yeri’s safety for the rest of their life.

A focus on the security of their future home relaxed Joohyun, even if only slightly. It eased her mind for a moment, but as she turned a corner, her focus recentered on a sight both immensely relieving and utterly horrifying.

Down the bone-coated hallway, the path opened up into a circular clearing. Much smaller than the previous battlefield, three figures cloaked in red were present. The tallest one by a fair margin, a man with broad shoulders, paced around a structure at the center of the room. The other two stood next to one another close to the centerpiece of the area, not far from one of several pillars that spanned the clearing.

On the central structure, guarded by the pacing cultist, a girl equal in height to Joohyun was restrained—Yeri.

Fighting an instinct to burst into a dash, Joohyun played it safe in the interest of Yeri’s life and backed up behind the corner. Getting down on one knee, she craned her head beyond the wall and studiously analyzed the situation in full.

Yeri was affixed to a giant wooden cross planted in the middle of the area, bound by rope at her wrists and ankles. A bundle of cloth was tied around , preventing any attempt at vocalizing distress. Given that no one would ever even hear such a thing several stories below the city, Joohyun found herself annoyed at the fact that it was still on her.

The obvious implication that Red Velvet likely wanted nothing more than to silence Yeri’s crying brought about the agitated grinding of Joohyun’s teeth.

Joohyun’s eyes traveled upwards. She looked upon her little sister’s face, and with the sight of it, her heart sank as her nails slowly dug into the handle of her axe.

Yeri wore a tired expression of defeat.

She stared at the ground below her with emotionally drained hollow eyes of light brown. Her short, neck-length auburn hair was messy and roughed up, and there were stains of dried tears set about her cheeks. It was clear that she struggled, but it appeared that after a period of time, she never bothered to resume her resistance.

Even if she was alive and well with no outwardly visibly bodily harm done to her, the empty look in Yeri’s eyes told Joohyun all she needed to know. Out of exhaustion and fear, she had given up. With no physical movement whatsoever and her head hung low, she had submitted to her captors.

Seeing her little sister—normally one of the happiest, brightest people she had ever known—devoid of life and ready to die...Yeri must have truly believed she was doomed to meet her end. Joohyun’s eyes narrowed as she shifted her view to the trio of cultists defending their quarry.

They had managed to end her life before even attempting to kill her.

Joohyun bit her lip hard in exasperated frustration.

The realization of it gave birth to new flames of even further unbridled resentment towards Red Velvet in Joohyun’s soul. More than ever before, the sight of them now filled her with disgusted abhorrence.

Her gaze found Yeri again before her mind settled on one thing and one thing only.

“You’re not dead yet, Yeri,” Joohyun spoke in a hushed whisper as her crimson mana took its place on the edge of her axe. “Don’t give up.”

Steeling her nerves, Joohyun proceeded around the corner and down the skeleton-ridden path. Coming into the clearing, she snuck behind the rocky pillar closest to her and brought her head to the side of it.

“Are they still waiting on people or something? Why haven’t they come to pick her up yet?”

One of the two cultists away from Yeri posed an open question to the figure next to him. The other cultist brought a finger to their chin.

A woman’s voice answered. “It is pretty strange...I wonder if something happened?”

“Like what?”

The woman didn’t answer the man’s question immediately. She tilted her head curiously. Unseen to Joohyun beneath the cover of her hood, a frown had spawned on her face. “Wonder if they showed up…”

“They? You don’t mean…?”

“Just a possibility,” the woman reasoned. She shifted her view upwards to look at Yeri.

“Could be any number of things, I guess, but...well, you know who we’re dealing with here. After how long we’ve spent hunting them, maybe they’ve become the type to return that favor and trail us here themselves. Who knows?”

“You can’t be serious,” the male cultist disagreed in disbelief with a shake of his head. “You understand what that would mean, right? If they came here, then…”

“...our brothers and sisters at the phantadrop are no doubt crossing into the afterlife as we speak.”

The pair turned their head in surprise as the sentry pacing around Yeri suddenly spoke up.

He had paused his dutiful guard of their prisoner, standing in front of her and looking up directly into her eyes. Yeri didn’t acknowledge his glance in the slightest, her downcast hues of hazel gazing right through him.

Joohyun’s eyes and ears were at attention as she crept to the next closest pillar, inching closer to the group.

“Maybe, maybe not,” the woman indecisively stated with a single hand on her hip. “Most of our branch is in attendance tonight. We’re talking seventy, eighty of us. That’s one hell of a home advantage.”

“An advantage that pales in comparison to the demonic arts that thaumaturges are capable of unleashing upon the world,” the sentry countered, his voice low and his words heavy as he turned to face his conspirators.

“The wretched hellspawn connected to this girl are some of the most worthwhile adversaries our family has ever faced. The proficiency they bear with their cursed powers is beyond most of their ilk. Why do you think we hunt them so? Their mere existence poses a serious threat to our continued endeavors.”

“You’re making it sound like we don’t stand a chance against them,” the male cultist worriedly whined with crossed arms.

“Because we don’t,” the sentry declared conclusively. “Such was the entire purpose of resorting to this kidnapping. In combat, they are far too powerful with each other at their backs. Dealing with them individually is the only way to handle the discrepancy in our fighting capabilities.”

“If only you put even a fraction of the faith you hold for our beliefs into our family instead,” the woman said with resentment. “You know how strong we are when we work together. How can you think we really don’t stand a chance?”

“The reality in front of us divulges all—an hour has passed since the appointed time for the sacrifice, and yet the girl still draws breath.”

The three fell silent after the sentry spoke, reminding the other two of the initial reason for their discourse. Joohyun slipped closer still, taking cover behind the next closest pillar.

The discomforting silence hung in the air for a moment until it was broken by the sound of steel scraping against the inside of a scabbard. Unsheathing a shortsword attached to his waist, the sentry turned back towards Yeri. His fingers slowly crawled along the edge of his blade, slithering down the length of it almost inquisitively.

“Perhaps it would be best to do it myself.”

Joohyun’s eyes widened. The pair behind the sentry took a step forward each. The woman’s voice boomed with disapproval. “Are you out of your mind?! What are you thinking?!”

“Slow down, alright?!” the man next to her said in similar protest, taking another step forward. “You can’t just abandon the rites of sacrifice! Her death will be completely wasted if we don’t follow the due processes!”

Joohyun’s turbulent fury momentarily spiked. The insinuation that Yeri’s life was a mere resource which could be incorrectly spent drove her mad beyond measure. Her vermilion eye began to flare with scintillating refulgence, but the light pouring from it quickly dimmed.

With a quiet, excruciatingly slow breath through her nostrils, Joohyun calmed herself. The time to strike had not yet arrived.

“Do not speak to me as if I do not understand such a basic principle!” the sentry roared as he turned around again. His arm was outstretched, the tip of his sword lined up with the center of the man’s forehead.

“So you would willingly ruin a sacrifice?”

The woman’s words were slow, her entire being offended and revolted by the concept alone. “Forget what I said! You don’t care for our beliefs at all!”

“A botched ritual ignored by our revered God is a small price to pay to secure the worth of what we believe in!” the sentry claimed as he raised his sword to the sky. “If this demon’s family has truly come to save her, then we must erase her existence before they can do so!”

“We still don’t know that for sure!” the male cultist contested. “We just need to wait! Or we could even go check ourselves! Just give it a rest already!”

“The time of passing for the life of this filthy thaumaturge has already swept us by, and the mere possibility of her family interrupting this is too great a threat. We must rid the world of her impure soul before the opportunity to do so is stolen from us.”

The sentry’s proclamation came with him turning back around to face Yeri.

The helpless girl didn’t even so much as flinch as his sword neared her frame, its tip dangerously close to the center of her chest. Joohyun nearly leaped out of her cover on reaction alone, but the sound of two more swords unsheathing held her back.

“...I see.”

An almost inaudible whisper left the sentry’s lips as he slowly turned back around. He was face-to-face with the pair of cultists both pointing blades of their own at him, seemingly eager to defend against what they perceived to be disrespectful sacrilege.

Silently, the sentry took a step forward, his towering frame looming above the two shorter cultists. In a display of nervousness, their apparent courage proved to be false as they reflexively stepped back. They stepped back once more as he stepped forward again, and then yet again.

With every inch of space that grew between them and Yeri, Joohyun was finally graced with the beginnings of the opening she had been waiting for. As they continued their slow path away from her sibling, the axewoman advanced behind the cover of the pillars, staying as close to them as she could manage.

For the first time in hours, with the sight of a shadow stepping across her vision, Yeri lifted her head.

Now near the far end of the clearing, the pair found themselves with their backs against the wall. The sentry peered at them with a judgmental glare and a vexed frown underneath his hood.

“Spineless rats. You challenge that which is being done to defend your faith with a proud display of misplaced bravery only to avoid the resulting conflict while you tremble in terror? You sicken me.

“Faith is the pillar to belief—its foundation. But, like any foundation, it can be destroyed if we are not careful,” the sentry lectured with a sigh as he slowly extended his blade, the point of his steel meeting both of theirs. “Should the foundation of belief fall to ruin, then those beliefs equally fall. They will amount to nothing. To protect your faith is to protect the worth and validity of your beliefs.

“The good of erasing cursed thaumaturges far outweighs the sin of sacrilege, for it stops our faith from crumbling to dust!” the sentry proclaimed while suddenly slashing downwards.

The pair of cultists flinched as their blades were sent flying. Left defenseless against the pious sentry, they looked up to him with quivering eyes as he pressed on.

“Our faith rests in the extinction of thaumaturges! They are blights against humanity that our revered God commands us to rid this world of! Sacrificial rites lose all meaning if upholding them would result in a thaumaturge escaping the death they deserve!

“With their death, our faith is defended! With our faith defended, our beliefs stand unchallenged on their pillar, remaining something worth devoting ourselves to!” the sentry shouted with threatening pride. “The sin of sacrilege matters not if it prevents the downfall of our faith and thus prevents the collapse and devaluation of our belief system!”

The sentry’s now boisterous voice came to a gradual stop as he stared at the two frightened cultists. When no response came from either of them, his voice reverberated in the cave once more.

“Now that you understand, do not interfere. I will stand tall as I sacrifice my future in our Heaven. I will do what you cannot and endure the sin of sacrilege.”

Despite the claim the sentry made as he turned around, he was no longer standing.

The gut-wrenching sound of flesh ripping apart echoed in the clearing as a flaming handaxe flew through the air. It tore through the sentry’s hood, cleaving his temple with significant force. The skin of his mutilated skull began to burn as he fell on his side. His robes caught fire and spread down his frame until he was covered in a blanket of flame.

In perplexed shock, the two cultists hastily ran from the sentry’s now collapsed body. Coming closer to the center of the area, their eyes scanned their surroundings with a troubling sense of urgency. In contrast to their gazes taking in everything around them, Yeri regained life as she focused on the axe lodged into the sentry’s skull.

As it turned to dust, she began to frantically search the area with newly invigorated eyes.

Before the pair of cultists could fully grasp the situation, Joohyun made her move. With a long exhale, her mana began to take shape around the feet of the woman. For all of their thorough scanning of the area, they mistakenly paid no mind to the ground below them.

Her axe taking shape in her hand once more, Joohyun’s eye glowed softly as a small runic circle materialized in front of her. Wordlessly, she raised her axe and pressed the edge of its blade into the center of it.

Joohyun didn’t flinch as she watched the woman become engulfed in a vortex of swirling fire. Even as her prey cried for help while being burnt alive, she was calmly silent. As her flames dispersed, the cultist fell to the ground, her body charred and motionless.

Feeling a presence on her, Joohyun turned her head back towards her captive sibling.

Yeri had found where she was hiding and was staring right at her with wide eyes.

The remaining cultist took notice of where Yeri was looking. His eyes following hers, he was met with the sight of two things. The first was Joohyun stepping out from behind the pillar she was using as cover, confidently revealing herself in full.

The second sight he took in was the axe that she hurriedly tossed forward, spinning wildly in the air towards his unprepared face with great speed.

Joohyun took a deep breath as she watched the edge of her steel split his forehead clean open. His face, frozen in fear with a horrified expression, was drenched with deep crimson from the fountain of blood that was expelled outwards. As the downpour turned his head red, his blood splattered against Joohyun, joining the dried remnants of her previous engagement.

The final moments of his life were spent in pained silence as he fell to his knees before collapsing backwards. As he joined his twisted family in whatever second life they believed was waiting for them after death, Joohyun’s axe dissipated into scarlet dust.

Every present threat handled and accounted for, Joohyun hurried towards Yeri and began to free her from her bindings. She hurriedly undid the ropes that held her legs together, followed by the ones at her wrists. Her limbs free, Joohyun helped her down to the ground before removing the cloth tied around .

“Yeri, I—”

Before Joohyun could even finish her thought, Yeri fell forward into her arms.

Joohyun felt a bewildering mixture of relief and sorrow take root in her mind as Yeri released the emotions she had forced herself to suspend. She sobbed loudly into her older sister’s chest. Joohyun held onto her tightly and felt Yeri clutch onto her back, the younger girl seemingly worried that her sister might vanish into thin air.

For a moment that felt like an infinite amount of eons, the sisters remained still in their embrace. The only sound was that of Yeri’s muffled weeping while Joohyun gently ran calm, loving fingers through locks of her hair.

“I w-wasn’t...I wasn’t sure if I’d ever see you again, Joohyun...”

Through the last of her tears, Yeri’s voice was weak and frail. She looked up to her older sister with a sniffle as she wiped her cheeks while pulling away from her. “I thought...I thought I was going to—”

“Did they hurt you?” Joohyun asked softly, politely cutting Yeri off in a tender manner as her eyes scanned her body.

“No, they didn’t do anything serious,” Yeri answered, her voice slowly regaining composure. The sight of Yeri’s long sleeved shirt of white and jeans of bright blue being merely disheveled supported her claims. Joohyun’s eyes met Yeri’s once more. “After they grabbed me and dragged me here, they just put me on that cross and left me there all day…”

Joohyun fell quiet. A warm feeling of long-awaited solace was finally beginning to supersede everything else present in her mind. Gazing upon the sight of her sister safe and sound compelled her to smile beyond her control. Inundated with joy, she felt her eyes welling up as she placed a hand on Yeri’s cheek.

Yeri’s exhausted frown gradually reversed as she witnessed the onset of her sister’s happiness. A smile of her own slowly took shape.

With one hand atop Joohyun’s own on her cheek, Yeri brought her other hand to Joohyun’s face. She quietly wiped away the tears that fell from her older sister’s eyes, and with it, they briefly hugged once more as the reality of their safety finally set in.

Separating again, a tense silence fell between the siblings as Yeri’s attention wandered to the slain cultists. Joohyun’s smile faded as she watched Yeri stare at their corpses quietly. With downcast eyes, her younger sister appeared to be in deep thought.

Yeri felt the tips of Joohyun’s fingers on her chin. The axewoman gently redirected the younger girl’s head back towards her. “I’m sorry you had to see that, Yeri. You don’t have to look at it.”

“You’re wrong, Joohyun. It’s something I should see.”

Joohyun felt her stomach turn as Yeri reasoned against her with calm maturity beyond her years. “If it hasn’t stopped now, it’ll never stop...I should’ve realized it a long time ago, but you guys are the only ones I can trust.

“Seeing their bodies...seeing their blood,” Yeri remarked contemplatively, her hand reaching for the fresh stain of red on Joohyun’s cheek. She slowly ran her thumb across the viscous liquid with her eyes still locked onto her older sister’s as she pressed on.

“It just makes me realize how naive I was all of those times I hung out with my friends, thinking I was safe. This kind of thing could’ve happened at any time. I’m only really safe when I’m with all of you.”

“Yeri, don’t you dare apologize,” Joohyun commanded with benign authority, her hands holding Yeri by the shoulders. “You did nothing wrong. You deserve to live a normal life.”

“It doesn’t matter what I deserve,” Yeri swiftly negated to Joohyun’s surprise, lambasting herself with overt selflessness.

“It’s too dangerous, Joohyun. It doesn’t matter if I’m what everyone else considers normal. The people I care about most aren’t normal, so that means I’m not either. That’s how Red Velvet sees it, anyway, so I need to act like it. If I don’t, I’m just going to get in danger again.”

Joohyun’s stomach turned further. Yeri’s experience with Red Velvet had caused her to toss her humanity aside, instilling the thought that she wasn’t allowed that which was rightfully hers. The god forsaken cult that had hunted them down for years had finally gotten to Yeri, driving her to think she was something she wasn’t.

It sickened Joohyun to her core. However, for as furious as she was with their discrimination against her kind and the ill effects their never-ending hunts were posing on her sister, Joohyun was oddly calm.

She shook her head with a light sigh, a small smile present on her face. “Yeri...it’s alright. You don’t have to pretend to be something you’re not. You don’t have to give up on the experience of living your life how you want to.”

“But Red Velvet—”

“Red Velvet doesn’t matter anymore.”

Yeri blinked in surprise towards a statement she interpreted as purely asinine.

Words failed her as she addressed her sister. “Huh? What do you mean they don’t matter? How could they not? They...they’re...”

“Definitely not a problem where we’re headed.”

A familiar voice rang out as Yeri’s words trailed off, bringing the gazes of the siblings to its source behind them.

From the hallway that Joohyun had entered, Seulgi was approaching with Joy and Seungwan close behind. Similar to Joohyun, they wore new scars of battle in the form of scattered blotches of cultist blood visible on their faces and clothes.

Joohyun’s smile widened as she watched Yeri run towards the woman of electricity. Seulgi’s beaming grin was positively radiant as she picked up the shorter girl with a giggle, spinning around with her in a close hug. Releasing her as Joy and Seungwan caught up, Yeri was quick to embrace each of them as well.

The proper return to form for Yeri’s bright smile and cheerful demeanor gave rise to a comforting mellow warmth within Joohyun. The hopeless dread that was set about her face not even minutes ago while she hung from Red Velvet’s cross...she wanted to never again be in a position where Yeri would even have a reason to bear such an expression.

“You on board, then?”

Joohyun’s question collectively settled on Seulgi as Yeri stood by Seungwan’s side after her embrace with her. The four looked to Joohyun as she crossed her arms. An almost playful smile claimed its throne on her face.

“I don’t really recall ever saying we weren’t going with you, Joohyun,” Seulgi teased with an even brighter smile. It extended to Joy and Seungwan, leaving Yeri as the only one stuck in confusion as her eyes wandered between the older women. “It was never even a question. We’ll follow your lead like always, yeah?”

“Wait, what are you guys talking about?”

Yeri peeped curiously, stepping between the four sorceresses. She looked between them with cautious apprehension before her eyes fixated on Seulgi, parroting her claim. “You guys found somewhere we can go where Red Velvet won’t bother us…?”

“Yeah, assuming we don’t turn into space dust or something on the way there,” Joy remarked half-jokingly. She scratched the back of her head with a shrug and a sheepish chuckle as the others looked to her with smiles. “Hey, I don’t know what travel between entire realities involves!”

“Entire realities…?”

Yeri’s confusion doubled over. Seungwan laughed softly as she waved a dismissive hand towards the teenager. “It’s better if we let Kahei and the others explain it to you. I’m sure Seulgi could do with listening to the lecture again, as well, given how she nearly dozed off during it.”

“Damn, is that how it is?” Seulgi quipped with feigned sadness to a smiling Seungwan. “Brutal...but accurate.”

“What others? Who’s Kahei?” Yeri chimed back in, her unceasing curiosity demanding answers.

The only response she received was a gentle push towards the exit from Joy. “This cliffhanger won’t last long for you, Yeri. Let’s get out of here.”

As footsteps began to shuffle, one pair slowly came to a stop. Three others stopped shortly after.

“Joohyun?”

Seungwan’s voice called out across the clearing towards a detached Joohyun. The axewoman was standing in the center of the area, her eyes oddly fixated on the broad-shouldered sentry whom she had slain first.

Worried silence set the stage as Seulgi, Joy, and Yeri looked between Seungwan and Joohyun.

The woman of water returned their glance with a small nod, motioning them to go on ahead for the time being. As Yeri was ushered forward by Seulgi and Joy, Seungwan slowly approached Joohyun.

“Faith is the pillar of belief…”

As she repeated the sentry’s words, Joohyun felt Seungwan intertwine their hands. Her significant other had come to a stop next to her, taking in the sight of Joohyun’s handiwork alongside her.

“We’ve killed a lot of them over the past twelve years.”

“Yes, we have.”

Seungwan’s response to Joohyun’s statement was quietly curt. She felt Joohyun gently squeeze their interlocked fingers. She returned the action without hesitation.

The sound of nothing interrupted their light conversation. Joohyun’s eyes shifted towards the wooden cross that Yeri was bound to for nearly an entire day. Seungwan’s gaze followed.

“What do you believe in, Seungwan?”

“The idea that we’ve done nothing wrong,” Seungwan answered Joohyun peacefully, wistful eyes moving towards the love of her life next to her. “Everything Red Velvet’s done to us...we didn’t deserve any of it.”

Joohyun paused, her focus falling upon the three fallen cultists. “Does that mean they deserve what we did to them?”

“I don’t think you should be looking for an answer to that question, Joohyun.”

Seungwan’s words hung in the air for a moment as she joined Joohyun in gazing upon the bloodied remains of those who sought to bring them harm. “Deciding on an answer to that question might result in a change of what you hold faith in, Joohyun. That, in turn, would change you.”

“I shouldn’t try to find an answer because it might change who I am?”

“You shouldn’t try to find an answer because you might not be ready,” Seungwan corrected Joohyun softly. Joohyun fell silent as she continued. “It doesn’t matter what good it might bring...if you aren’t prepared to fully accept change, then you’ll never truly change. You’ll just be the same person you always were while falsely masquerading as someone else.

“It would make you a liar, Joohyun,” Seungwan said quietly. “You’d just be deceiving everyone around you, but most of all, you’d be deceiving yourself.”

Her words stung Joohyun uncomfortably, and Joohyun knew it hurt because of the truth behind them.

“But then, even if you are prepared, you have to make sure you aren’t in a position where you shouldn’t change to begin with,” Seungwan proceeded, giving Joohyun further insight into her personal philosophy. “Sometimes you can only help the people who rely on you because of who you are, even if you’re someone you don’t want to be. Sometimes…”

Seungwan’s voice disappeared. It made itself audible again with a small sigh after a ruminative pause.

“...the person you don’t want to be is the person you need to be.”

Joohyun’s downcast eyes descended upon the fallen sentry once again as she processed Seungwan’s words with deep consideration. The silence of the clearing brought her attention to the sound of her beating heart.

“I never wanted to become someone who could end a life without hesitation just as easily as they could.”

With respect, Seungwan allowed Joohyun to impart the thoughts she felt compelled to share.

“Doesn’t matter if it’s just a faceless miscreation, but killing a living, conscious thing...just makes me feels like I’m no better than them,” Joohyun’s voice trembled slightly with a shake of her head. “But I have to tell myself I am, that my actions are justified, because if I don’t...I can’t protect you. I can’t protect Yeri. I can’t protect any of us, and I absolutely have to.”

“I absolutely have to,” Joohyun repeated in a lower tone as she revealed the true intensity of her feelings, summoning Seungwan’s eyes to her.

To her surprise, Joohyun was already looking at her, her mixed eyes alive with resounding steadfastness.

“After what they put us through, you guys were all I had left. I couldn’t live with the thought of losing any of you, so protecting you no matter what became the core of my belief system. Even if I had to kill, the faith I placed in the pursuit of finding us a safe place to call home let me believe that I was justified in killing. It let me believe that I was at least better than Red Velvet.

“But now that we’ve accomplished that goal and have likely guaranteed a life of peace from here on out...it’s making it difficult to continue seeing it like that,” Joohyun lamented. “I placed my faith in securing our future, and now that we’ve done so, that faith no longer has reason to be.”

Joohyun’s eyes slowly shifted back to the sentry, his words ringing in her mind as she echoed them.

“Should faith, the foundation of belief, fall to ruin, then those beliefs equally fall. They will amount to nothing...if my belief that I was justified in killing them loses worth, then how am I anything but a murderer?”

“And that’s why you want to know if they deserved to die.”

Seungwan’s words came after a moment of deliberate thought, her pensive eyes still attached to Joohyun. Her partner nodded quietly.

“If they deserved to meet their end, your actions are justified and you’ve done nothing wrong,” Seungwan deduced with a nod. “If they didn’t deserve it, then you see yourself as a murderer and you would want to change…

“Joohyun,” Seungwan resumed after a short pause. A somber smile manifested on her face as she looked into Joohyun’s eyes. “Do you think you’re prepared for that? To change who you are?”

“Once I can make absolutely sure that we aren’t threatened by anything, I think I would be,” Joohyun admitted. Her confidence had trails of hope hidden behind it.

“Joohyun,” Seungwan repeated. “Do you think you’re in a position to change who you are? Would the people depending on you be safe if you changed? Is the person you are right now the person they need you to be?”

The question cooked in Joohyun’s mind for what felt like hours. As the axewoman remembered the discussion with the four foreign sorceresses at length, she shook her head.

“I see,” she said quietly, inciting a shift in the tone of Seungwan’s smile. “We aren’t quite out of the woods yet, are we?”

“We aren’t,” Seungwan agreed. “The man they spoke of, YG, poisoning the phantasmal pathways across all of creation...even in the safety of their universe, we would be at risk alongside every other living thing across every plane of existence.”

“I can’t say I’ve secured our future so long as he’s around, then,” Joohyun surmised, a flame of newfound resolve firmly cementing itself within her soul. “When he’s out of the picture, only then would I be in a position to change. I understand...”

“LOONA, was it?” Seungwan asked as she thought back to the conversation herself. Joohyun nodded as Seungwan’s smile widened. “And they operate in teams of four...it would work out pretty well, don’t you think?”

“Thank you, Seungwan.”

Joohyun’s sudden declaration of appreciation was paired with a genuine smile of pure love and adoration. “I won’t hesitate. We’ll join LOONA. I’ll protect us. All of us.”

Seungwan returned the expression in full, the warmth of Joohyun’s determined aura reaching her as well. “I know you will. Now, I think we should catch up with them quickly before we give Seulgi reason to tease us about something…”

“I’m sure she’s too busy talking up Kahei and Jungeun’s greatness to Yeri,” Joohyun said with a playful roll of her eyes and a soft giggle. “I can already see Yeri believing in Seulgi’s idea of them having some powered up state.”

Seungwan shared in Joohyun’s laughter as they walked back into the tunnel system, hand in hand. “Leave it to Seulgi’s overactive imagination…”

「 ⮜ ⮜ ⮜ ★ ⮜ ⮜ ⮜ 」

Above the surface, Jungeun’s tranquil form stood in the center of a massive crater that spanned the width of the street.

A visible aura of lightly coalesced crimson mana encompassed her, rippling up and down her body like waves of flame. Moments prior, a tremendous burst of energy had abruptly exploded from her center, tossing the vehicles closest to her through the surrounding buildings like lightweight pebbles and shattering the earth beneath her.

The release of Jungeun’s might had spawned two runic circles of deep vermilion which motionlessly hovered about her horizontally, her frame acting as their center. One level with her chest and the other lined up with her knees, they were several feet in diameter and intricately ornate in design with far more runes inscribed upon them than the circles they normally employed.

Jungeun shook her head with disappointment at the sight of the two circles her body was stood within. With a dejected tone, she muttered inaudibly to herself. “Another second stage Absolution...not your lucky day, Jungeun. Not your lucky day…”

Lines and bridges of her mana came into existence between different symbols across both of the circles, surrounding Jungeun in a web of her dense roadways of dust while she sighed in defeat. As the birth of more and more links of mana between both circles took place, the one aligned with her chest slowly began to rotate in place.

With every breath of air she inhaled, Jungeun took in a large amount of the red dust surrounding her. With every exhale, she strangely produced mana than she took in, causing the runic circle at her chest to speed up ever so slightly as she added density to the web that enveloped her.

Jisoo’s eyes were b with astonished disbelief. She was in awe at the sight of Jungeun, speechless and helpless to even try and begin to figure what she was doing.

“What is this effect, spearwoman?”

For the first time since the beginning of their active conflict, the corrupted consciousness in control of Hyejoo’s body spoke up with the question burning in Jisoo’s mind.

Though Olivia’s consumed odd eye of flooded violet did not flinch at the sight of Jungeun’s new technique, a degree of cautionary concern was discernible in her voice. It equally showcased itself in her decision to observe from afar with a lack of action.

As the network of Jungeun’s mana expanded further with more and more connections forming between her two runic circles, the one aligned with her chest gained velocity. After a moment, it abruptly froze in place, appearing to lock itself into its resulting position.

“This isn’t just some effect, Olivia,” Jungeun announced as her second circle began to rotate at a snail’s pace around her knees. “Unfortunately, this is much more than that.”

“Unfortunately?” Olivia mimicked, failing to find sense in Jungeun’s choice of words. “If such power would help you achieve your goals, why would you consider it unfortunate?”

“Because worse comes to worst, this goes beyond my goal of holding you off until Chaewon’s back up,” Jungeun answered slowly, “and I wouldn’t be able to stop myself no matter how hard I try.”

Her second runic circle was slowly picking up in speed as the interconnecting bridges of her mana continued to expand and increase still. In her hand, her halberd was starting to glow, emitting a bright red light. The runes etched into the steel of its conjoined heads began to release streams of mana which flowed to Jungeun’s web, adding to its size.

“What exactly are you implying?” a nervous Jisoo asked from several paces back, unsure what to make of the information Jungeun provided.

Jungeun sighed quietly as her odd eye began to glow. She witnessed Olivia’s expression of neutral calm shift for the first time since the manifestation of her consciousness.

Potentially beyond her control from the shock of what she saw, Olivia’s eyebrows had slowly raised themselves.

The crimson hue of Jungeun’s altered iris broke free of its prison. The white sclera surrounding it was washed over with its shade, the entirety of her odd eye flooding with coruscant luminescence in a manner parallel to Olivia’s eye of darkness.

The runic circle set about her knees picked up in speed further, now spinning at a moderate pace as Jungeun spoke.

“What I’m...about to do...”

Jungeun’s speech gradually slowed down with each syllable she uttered, her voice becoming strained. It was as if something was fighting for control of her body and winning—she was struggling to hold on to the steering wheel as long as she could before it was seized from her.

“...might kill me...and Hyejoo both...but I don’t have a choice.”

Beyond two colossal walls of cement which rose stories high behind Jungeun, sounds of coughing inaudible to others rang out.

“Your stubborn commitment towards protecting the cursed one’s meaningless innocence has resulted in the utilization of desperate measures which carelessly threatens her life...I see.”

Olivia’s inference of Jungeun’s actions came with a return of her expression resetting to an unbothered neutral, her brows lowering.

“With your motivations pushing you to go to such lengths that you have made a full lap into self-destructive paradoxical logic, the commendable nature of your stalwart disposition has lost all value. Your nonsensical beliefs are now proving to be an endangerment to the safety of my vessel.”

The dark being spread its claws, the pitch black metal harshly reflecting moonlight from above as it spoke.

“As a threat to my existence, you must die. Had only you followed my instructions and kept yourself out of my affairs, you would have been able to return home to those you hold dear. Make your peace, spearwoman, for whomever holds your heart will be left with nothing but the memory of your presence.”

Olivia’s cold stare towards Jungeun paused with a blink as she heard her sneer with a laugh.

“You’ve got it...mixed up...” the woman of fire shamelessly revealed with a bittersweet smile as the runic circle at her knees reached its terminal speed, now spinning with fervor. The web of crimson mana surrounding her was growing immensely thick now with her breaths, almost shrouding her from view.

“She’s...been holding someone else’s heart...for a while now…”

Jungeun’s laughter died down as her eyelids began to fall. Struggling to keep them open, they fell slowly as she forfeited herself.

“I’m the ...still holding hers…”

Closing her eyes, Jungeun felt it in the back of her head—a single thought.

It swelled, magnifying in size and presence with blistering speed.

It consumed the whole of her headspace, washing away a blurred, fading image of a red-haired sorceress with mismatched eyes of dark gray and ocean blue.

The single thought that took over the entirety of her consciousness shrouded her mind like a protective veil, preventing anything from intruding upon its domain. With nothing else to contest it, the single thought she submitted herself to claimed dominion over its new land as it echoed inside of her head.

Olivia’s going to kill Jisoo with Hyejoo’s hands...

The single thought took shape in the form of unparalleled ambition that coursed through her like the blood in her veins, like the managen in her manasystem.

To the best of my ability...without hurting Hyejoo, if at all possible...

Her consciousness drowning in the single thought, every single ounce of her being became focused beyond her control in pursuit of it.

….I have to stop her.

She physically felt it—the will to act upon it manifesting.

The insatiable need to see it through to the end.

Amplified aspiration burned inside of her. In her body. In her heart. In her mind.

I have to stop her.

Jungeun’s single thought took over her.

It had become absolute.

Yet, in the selfsame moment she felt herself descend as she had so many times before...

“Jungeun.”

...something had miraculously managed to break through her mind’s hypercentralized focus of her absolution.

“Jungeun...”

A soft voice spoke to her.

It was angelic in nature, caring in tone and plainly concerned for her well-being. She felt a gentle, considerate touch on her shoulders. It summoned the consciousness she had willingly forfeited from its slumber, gingerly waking her from sleep in a manner almost inherently loving.

Slowly, Jungeun opened her eyes.

In front of her, Kahei stood especially close to her, their faces mere inches away from one another.

Her hands on her shoulders, Kahei held the woman of fire steady. The ruby pathways of mana that surrounded Jungeun began to quickly thin out, dissipating into nothing. The runic circles surrounding her body started to vanish in a similar fashion, turning to red dust which gradually evaporated.

Jungeun’s overtaken eye of crimson beginning to recede, the white of her sclera came back to life as her vermilion ocean shrunk back to her iris. Jungeun’s breathing was intermittent as her sense of self came back in pieces, the brief moment of unconsciousness becoming a small gap in her memory.

Her mind fully recollected, Jungeun’s reclaimed control of her body came next as her halberd’s intense glow faded. Feeling her own muscles again, she tightened her grip on her polearm to test her physical reawakening. Her fingers tensed, confirming that she had fully come back from the depths of her inner self.

She was fine. Her thoughts were her own, and her body was her own.

Everything was fine. She could move.

So then why wasn’t she moving?

Paralyzed in place, Jungeun connected the dots as she realized how intensely she was staring into Kahei’s heterochromatic hues of dark brown and bright amber behind her glasses. For several moments now, she had frankly been completely lost in the sight of the older woman’s tender eyes.

The woman of earth displayed a warm smile as she saw Kahei’s eyes move about ever so slightly. “It’s alright, Jungeun. Chaewon’s okay. You’re okay. You don’t have to submit yourself to an Absolution. Just breathe.”

For reasons she couldn’t quite understand, Jungeun felt something she hadn’t felt in a long time.

She questioned it as she processed Kahei’s instructions at a delayed rate. She took in a sudden deep gasp of air and stepped back, fully regathering her mind and body alike as she leaned forward slightly. Her chest heaved with her breaths, her lungs refilling their drained storage of oxygen.

Jungeun hoped the feeling would begin to subside with her recovery, but it was persistent. As much as she desperately wanted it to go away, it refused to leave her.

Kahei’s expression quickly turned over with worry as she stepped closer towards her ally. “J-Jungeun!”

Kahei held Jungeun steady by a single shoulder as her labored breaths continued. Jungeun kept her eyes to the floor, strangely fearful of gazing into Kahei’s eyes again—fearful of experiencing that sensation again.

However, knowing that she couldn’t avoid eye contact forever, Jungeun hesitantly raised her head.

She looked into Kahei’s eyes and, to her dismay, she felt it. Jungeun tried to lie to herself, to convince herself that the feeling was something else, but it’s true nature was undeniable. She winced as she realized it.

Jungeun had definitely gone Absolute. She forfeited her sense of self in exchange for the power to achieve her goal of stopping Olivia no matter the cost. She would be lost in the sea of her subconscious for however long it would take to achieve that goal, potentially never to awaken again on the off chance that pursuing it killed her.

Yet, despite the fact that she had completed her surrender and surely felt herself cease to exist...Kahei had managed to pull her out, and the fact that she was able to do so gave rise to butterflies in Jungeun’s stomach.

As she gazed into Kahei’s eyes, the feeling doubled over as her heart skipped a beat.

“I-I’m fine,” Jungeun stammered as she stood up straight, shaking her head. “Thanks, Kahei...”

“Thank goodness,” Kahei remarked with relief, her eyes checking Jungeun’s body twice over. “I was worried I wasn’t fast enough…”

“Yeah, you, uh...you got to me just in time,” Jungeun lied. As Kahei settled her vision onto her again, she felt them in her stomach once more—her butterflies incited her to immediately direct her eyes elsewhere. Guilt began to encompass her thoughts as she sighed. “Kahei, I’m really sorry that I—”

“It’s fine, Jungeun.”

Jungeun flinched slightly as Kahei interrupted her softly.

Unable to continue her awkward charade of purposefully avoiding eye contact, she allowed herself to meet Kahei’s gaze. She saw the earthen sorceress’ face flood with visible relief, her eyes smiling in tandem with .

“I’m just glad you’re okay. That’s all that matters.”

Jungeun felt her cheeks redden slightly as Kahei addressed her. She nodded slowly as she quickly changed the topic of conversation before her mind could become anymore rattled.

“So, Chaewon’s…?”

“I’m alright, Jungeun.”

The voice she had been waiting to hear finally came into existence.

Just ahead down the road, Chaewon’s calm frame stood across Olivia further down the ruined road. Her tome was in hand, and her odd eye of beige radiated a soft glow.

“That’s now twice today that others have had to go to extremely dangerous lengths to save me,” Chaewon murmured to herself, her eyes falling upon Olivia with a fiercely intense look of grave seriousness in them. “No more.”

Behind Kahei and Jungeun, Jisoo was left speechless. She felt uncomfortably out of place in the midst of a reunion resulting from an act of separation she had brought about.

The last of Jungeun’s heavy breaths of recovery passing, the frazzled spearwoman clutched her halberd tight as she peered at Olivia with renewed vigor. However, she was no longer the center of the demon’s attention.

The corrupted consciousness’ focus had shifted away from two previous foes. Looking directly into the girl of light’s eyes, Olivia wore a sour expression that stained Hyejoo’s face.

“Anchor of the cursed one...I ask that you have patience.”

Olivia’s entreaty was addressed not with Chaewon’s voice, but instead with the pages of her tome shuffling about madly.

“The swordswoman’s barrier has been destroyed. Her death is imminent, and with it, the safety of the cursed one’s longevity can be secured.”

Chaewon didn’t give Olivia the time of day as she took in a deep breath and immediately exhaled steadily.

An immense swarm of beige mana began to materialize in the air across the street, quickly breaking off and congregating into centralized pockets. With a flash of light from Chaewon’s eye, the pockets materialized into spheres of light which littered the air in a haphazard arrangement.

“This is not the correct course of action. I implore you to reconsider.”

To Jisoo’s shock, the demonic entity was displaying emotion once again.

Unabashedly, it looked at Chaewon pleadingly, now showcasing a fully despondent frown.

Gently, the ends of Chaewon’s infinite chains slid out of their origin points. They didn’t immediately extend towards their target. In a show of restraint, they hung loosely from their orbs as the girl of light began to walk towards Olivia at a slow pace.

Her body started to shine softly with a beige light. From her chest, a thin stream of beige mana flowed outwards, approaching Olivia in an unrushed manner.

Olivia’s frown multiplied exponentially at the sight of the approaching purification tether.

As the end of it neared her, Olivia showed equal restraint with the release of a subdued pulse of energy from her core. Minor enough to do no damage to anything around her, it served its purpose with its mere displacement of Chaewon’s mana.

Speaking up, Olivia’s reply to the notion was as much of a continued plea as it was a growing threat.

“Not yet. You are making a mistake. Cease.”

In response, Chaewon’s chains shook slightly with growing aggravation as they slithered further out. Their loose ends straightened themselves out and took focused aim at her like heat-seeking missiles ready to fire.

“Olivia…”

Chaewon’s voice sounded especially pained as she continued her stoic, undisturbed approach towards Hyejoo’s alter ego.

“...I’m only going to say this once…”

The girl of light’s purification tether reformed...and then it reformed again.

And again.

And again.

“...so please don’t make me repeat myself.”

The dark being found itself faced with over a dozen bridges of mana slowly extending themselves towards it. As more and more tethers came into existence, its current state of awoken consciousness was being threatened in full.

As remorseful and guilt-ridden as Chaewon’s request was, it was just as much a proclamation of her refusal to take no for an answer.

“Give me back my friend.”