𝚁𝚘𝚕𝚕 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙳𝚒𝚌𝚎: 𝚀𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝙵𝚘𝚛 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙴𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚛𝚘𝚌𝚔

🅤🅝🅔🅧🅟🅔🅒🅣🅔🅓

17. UNEXPECTED

『 Jiwoo's POV 』

Jini was thrown back from the stone, but before she could hit the wall of the volcano, Jungwon created a cloud-like cushion that caught her just in time.

From the flames emerged a girl. She was stunning—easily taller than me, though still shorter than everyone else. Her face was serious, but to me, it looked like she was trying not to smile.

“Hi!” Kyujin greeted awkwardly after a few tense moments.

“Bae! I thought we were invisible!” Sullyoon whisper-shouted at Bae, stealing a glance at Yuna.

Before Bae or Yuna could answer, Enya spoke for them.

“This volcano is teeming with magic,” she said coldly. “It has nullified whatever cheap trick you insolent people used to cross into my realm unnoticed.”

"First of all—ouch! Calling us insolent is a little rude," Bae responded, hands on her hips. "And second, we're just here for the stone. No one has to get hurt."

That only made things worse.

“You want the stone?” Enya scoffed, eyes burning with fury. “That’s not going to happen anytime soon. Now, tell me—how do all ten of you want to die?”

Ten? But there are twelve of us. Oh, right. She can’t see Edlynne or Kai.

Yuna glanced desperately at them for help. The rest of us did too. I, for one, was shocked—this was probably the first time Yuna had ever looked at Kai without pure hatred in her eyes.

Edlynne looked calm, while Kai… was practically smiling to himself.

"Keep talking to her," Kai said, amused. "Say random, stupid stuff. She’ll break soon."

“What sort of discussion are you having with each other that makes you keep looking at an empty wall?” Enya demanded, her tone sharp.

“Just considering the best way to die,” Ni-ki said casually. “I mean, you asked, so I figured I should make it poetic.”

“…What?” Enya blinked.

Catching on to his game, I added, “Yeah. You seem really bored here, so if you're going to kill us, why not make it interesting?”

For the first time, Enya looked conflicted—somewhere between exasperated and confused.

"Or," Jungwon cut in after Huening Kai whispered something to him, "you could just give us the stone and be free of this realm. Isn't that what you really want?"

“I do. You have no idea how much I want to leave this hellhole,” Enya admitted, her façade finally cracking. “But I can’t leave. And I can’t give you the stone.”

"Why not? If it's Cadmodeus you're scared of, don't worry. We’ll defeat him too," Ni-ki said confidently.

Enya let out a humorless laugh. "That old man? No. It's the realm and its people I'm worried about. Without the stone, all life in this realm will cease to exist—including me. The magic from the stone keeps this place alive, and I'm not endangering anyone for selfish reasons like my boredom or my hatred for Cadmodeus."

A tense silence fell over us.

Then Enya sighed. "I'm sorry, but the next few moments are going to be very painful."

Lava erupted around us.

Well. We’re doomed.

『 Sunoo’s POV 』