"The look on your face," the snow woman hissed, eyes narrowing. "Have you forgotten me?"
Kai glared, silent. His expression was blank—like she was a stranger.
Her face twisted. "How deviant..." she muttered, burying her face in her hands. A soft sob escaped her lips. "I never expected you to wallow among those filthy humans. Even your Ashen Herald rank dropped while you lived so... cozily." Her fists clenched, trembling with rage.
A vein pulsed in Kai's neck. His hands clenched at his sides.
She smiled behind her hands. Bullseye.
"I heard you're hunting Halcyons now?" Her voice iced over. "But aren't you a Halcyon too?"
Annoying.
"Huh? Did you—"
She didn't finish.
Wind howled—wild and instant.
Kai vanished.
The next second, he stood behind her, back turned, already walking away.
Her jaw slid clean off her face. Blood splashed the snow. Her head hit the ground with a dull thud.
He flexed his fingers, dissolving the icicle in his hand. Glanced back, raising a brow. "Sienna, right? If I remember correctly?"
Her eyes burned with fury. This bastard... now he remembers? After slicing off my jaw?!
Kai walked over and planted his boot on her severed head, twisting with a crunch.
"Didn't expect scum like you to rise so far... No, that can't be right." His voice lowered to a growl. "You're not the Halcyon here. So where is it?"
His foot pressed harder. Skull creaking.
The dismembered head twitched feebly beneath him. Kai looked down as if stepping on a cockroach.
"You—an S-rank wench who used to serve under me. I wiped out every beast in my domain, and you ran like the coward you are. Found another master to kiss up to?" His pupils constricted, cold and cruel. "Humans, monsters, Halcyons—trash, all of them. None of you mean a damn thing to me." He was cold, his expression devoid of any emotion.
She stared up, mind screaming. I thought he changed... Grew soft with the humans... Gotweaker... b-but, He's STILL the same demon. Worse.
Useless... utterly useless...
Her ears rang. Kai looked down at her like she was nothing.
"Where did you take her?" he asked quietly. Too quietly.
Silence.
Then a vine from the frost plant lunged from behind—aimed straight for him.
But Kai's eyes twitched, just slightly, catching it in the corner of his vision.
Without even turning his head, he dodged, caught the vine under his arm, and yanked.
The whole plant tore free from the ice, uprooted, flailing midair.
His fist clenched—then slammed into it with terrifying force. The punch not only shattered the vine but decimated the ice behind it, which cracked and blew apart like smoke.
He tossed the plant's remains aside like garbage. No sweat. No pause.
Then he turned back to her, eyes glowing with a bluish-green glint.
"Did you already forget?" His voice was low. Final.
"I don't repeat myself."
The snow woman stared, helpless and horrified.
I underestimated him.
***
Just as Yona scanned the eerie, unfamiliar terrain around her, a voice echoed in her ears—deep, thick, calm. A man's voice. Distant, and completely unfamiliar.
[Mysterious Voice: What makes you think this is someone's conspiracy?]
She froze mid-step. "Who are you?" she asked, brow lifting.
[Mysterious Voice: A well-wisher, of course. I mean no harm. Just a curious man seeking some answers.]
Yona raised her hand in half-sarcastic exasperation, as if to say, "Now this? Talking voices too?" She dropped down onto the ground, legs crossed, back slouched.
"It feels weirdly nice when you've got nothing to do," she muttered.
[Mysterious Voice: Referring to me?]
"No, me." Her answer came fast. Her tone held a strange emptiness. "I was powerless and had nothing to do. Now I've got power... and still, nothing to do. I'm still useless."
She laughed, low and bitter.
[Mysterious Voice: Is that really true? Or are you missing something important?]
"I don't want to think. I don't want to move. I just want to lie here and do nothing," she said through gritted teeth. She knew this wasn't okay. She knew lying here like this meant death. "And I don't even know why I'm telling you all this. I don't even know what you are."
[Mysterious Voice: You saw something today—something you didn't believe until now. You're shaken. You feel guilty for things you never did. But you weren't useless, Yona. You only believed you were. That belief started the day Meryt took your magic. You decided: without magic, there's no 'you'.]
"Then why didn't I go back to normal..." Her voice dropped. Her eyes widened. Like a realization hit her straight in the chest.
[Mysterious Voice: You really want to hear me say it, don't you? After all the times Kaia saved you—from your brothers, from death—you don't think you're useless because you lost your magic. You think you're useless because you can't do anything without her.]
Her breath hitched. Her lungs wouldn't cooperate. She sucked in air, but it wasn't enough. Something was wrong.
"Ah... ah—" she gasped.
The air around her grew heavier. Breathing became a struggle. Her throat locked up. Her heart pounded wildly.
[Mysterious Voice: Your external body is suffocating. The Halcyon is snapping your neck.]
Her eyes stretched open in horror.
No... this can't be happening...
[Mysterious Voice: You are dreaming. Wake up.]
Her vision blurred, pain seared through her neck. White-hot and paralyzing. "Angh...!" Her body convulsed against the hard floor.
Wake up.
Wake up.
beep... beep... beep...
Her eyes flew open.
She bolted upright in bed, gasping for air. Sweat clung to her skin. A pale shaft of light streamed through the narrow gap in the curtains.
She panted, wide-eyed, as if she'd surfaced from drowning.
Then—crack.
Her forehead smacked into the wooden headboard. "Ow—" she hissed, grabbing her head, blinking rapidly as she looked around the small, unfamiliar room.
Where am I?
Before she could gather her thoughts, the door swung open with a loud slam.
And the next sight sent chills slicing down her spine.
Her breathing turned ragged. Her limbs trembled uncontrollably. Even the bed beneath her shook with the force of her shivering.
A figure stood at the doorway, holding a tray. Smiling.
But that smile...
It was too wide. Too calm. Too genuinely wrong.
"Good morning," Thalia said softly, lips curled into that eerie, perfect smile. "Hope you had a good sleep, Yona."