𝚁𝚘𝚕𝚕 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙳𝚒𝚌𝚎: 𝚀𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝙵𝚘𝚛 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙴𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚛𝚘𝚌𝚔

🅕🅔🅔🅛🅘🅝🅖 🅢🅜🅐🅛🅛

19. FEELING SMALL

『 Sullyoon's POV 』

I was burnt out. Literally. I wasn’t exaggerating when I said I was this close to passing out. If one more person overworked themselves or got injured, I was going down next. I had no idea why my friends insisted on pushing themselves beyond their limits, but because they did, I had to as well.

Then again, it was my job. I didn’t exactly have a choice.

We were finally nearing the edge of the Fire Realm, and as Enya promised, there were no major obstacles. Just unbearable heat. If not for Sunghoon and Jungwon keeping the air cool, I would’ve melted by now.

"I wish I could do something. I feel useless right now," Bae muttered, glancing at me and then at Yuna, who was still unconscious.

"She’ll wake up. Don’t worry," I reassured her. "And you’re not useless. You helped us cross half the realm undetected. Besides, you’ve got an entire realm to deal with at the end of this journey."

Bae hummed in response, her gaze shifting toward Jungwon, who was still focused on maintaining the cool breeze, then to Edlynne and Sunghoon, who were guiding the horses.

"They’re adorable, aren’t they?" she commented.

"Yep, totally," I chuckled. It was painfully obvious how in love those two were.

After what felt like forever, Yuna finally stirred, blinking blearily before sitting up.

"Good morning, Miss Drools-a-Lot," Bae teased.

"Shut up," Yuna grumbled, rolling her eyes.

"I, for one, won’t shut up," I cut in, crossing my arms. "Idiot, you nearly killed yourself."

Yuna winced. "I’m sorry. I must’ve exhausted you and worried everyone."

"Yeah, you did," I sighed. "But at least you’re awake now."

"Any dreams?" Bae asked curiously.

"No, none. Nada. I’m not like you," Yuna answered.

"Lucky," Bae mumbled.

"Well, Yuna, you woke up at the right time. We’re here," Edlynne called out from the front.

"Wow… the Realm of Dragons," Yuna breathed, eyes widening in awe.

We all fell silent, taking in the sight before us. Compared to the Fire Realm, this place was an entirely different world. The land was alive with color—trees bursting with leaves of every hue, massive plants stretching toward the sky. Everything here was enormous, from the trees to the mountains to structures so large they made us feel minuscule in comparison.

Once we recovered from our amazement, we dismounted, preparing to do what we did in the previous realm—turn invisible and move undetected. Which, of course, meant everyone would overwork themselves again, and I’d have to heal them.

Just like I predicted, Bae summoned a thick mist to conceal us, and we moved forward.

This time, Ni-ki took the lead, practically vibrating with excitement as he and Jini whispered about how it felt when the stone seemed to "call" to them.