Park Yerim’s eyes went wide, flooding with emotion before her jaw dropped open.

“My Sanho! Mareu! Suri! Haerang! Parang! Doran!”

The names tumbled out. Her sudden outburst made the baby water dragon flinch, drooping its delicate ears. Yerim caught herself and lowered her voice, glancing sheepishly at Han Yuhyun.

“Oh my god, it’s so cute! Did you see that? It’s actually a water dragon!”

My monster mount! Her grin stretched impossibly wide. Sure, their situation was beyond dire, but she couldn’t contain the pure joy bubbling up inside her.

She’d never been jealous of Yuhyun and Peace’s bond—not exactly. But watching them together had stirred something wistful in her chest. The longing for a partner who’d always be by her side. A monster mount that belonged to her and her alone.

“Dragons grow huge, right? God, I hope it learns Fluidization like Peace. Do Fluidization skill items even drop in dungeons?”

Chattering excitedly, she crept toward the water’s edge with careful, measured steps. As she drew closer to the baby dragon, her voice dropped to barely a whisper.

“Hello there.”

– Kyub.

“It’s okay, I’m not some mean unni. Or… noona? I honestly can’t tell.”

Yerim crouched beside the water. The baby dragon approached cautiously, studying her with bright, curious eyes before playfully spraying a mist of water at her face.

“Cold!” she gasped.

– Kkyureuk!

“This might be dangerous, little one. How about I move you somewhere safer?”

The dragon tilted its head, clearly not understanding. One of the nearby goblins stretched its arm out as far as possible—still terrified of the S-Rank Awakened—and offered the owner’s token it had received from Han Yujin. Yerim accepted it with a grateful nod.

“Alright, up you go.”

The water’s surface rippled and danced. Slowly, as if scooped by an invisible ladle, the dragon and the surrounding water rose into the air. Now floating inside a large, hemispherical bubble, the confused baby spun in gentle circles.

“Easy, easy. Should I warm this up for you?”

When she heated the frigid lake water just a touch, the dragon’s round eyes widened in surprise. Its tail fin swayed contentedly.

– Krrr.

“Nice, right? Though maybe I should leave you with the Murim Alliance? I’m worried about keeping you out here.”

“Don’t trust them.” Yuhyun’s voice cut through the air, cold and sharp.

“It’s a baby monster with S-Rank potential. The odds of them stealing it are astronomical. Even if they can’t raise it without Hyung, they could use it as leverage for deals.”

Finding a baby monster that matched your elemental affinity was incredibly rare. They could easily claim it was lost or stolen, then use some puppet faction to demand a ransom for its return. Given the Murim Alliance’s current precarious position, the danger was even greater.

Yerim’s face fell at his logic.

“Fine, I’ll just send it straight to Korea then. Hey Peace, want to make a trip home?”

– Grrr.

Peace wrinkled his nose and glared daggers at the baby dragon spinning in its water bubble. His expression clearly screamed I don’t like this thing.

“Look at him! Is he mad that Mister’s gone and there’s just another baby monster to deal with… wait.” Yerim blinked. “Han Yuhyun, you too?”

Somehow, both monster mount and owner wore identical grumpy expressions that transcended species barriers.

“No. The problem isn’t the water dragon—it’s Hyung.”

“True enough,” Yerim agreed with a nod.

“It would’ve been dangerous if he’d gotten caught smuggling this little guy out. But knowing Mister, there’s no way he could ignore a baby monster. Thank god there was only one. If there’d been more, he would’ve tried carrying them all out somehow—on his back, in his arms, whatever it took.”

What can you do? That’s just how Mister is. Yuhyun sighed softly at her words. It really was a relief there’d only been one.

“For now, hide it somewhere remote like we planned and get back here. We still have time before midnight.”

Yuhyun’s gaze shifted to the cluster of goblins huddled together. Yujin had told them to evacuate the goblins somewhere safe, but Yuhyun was reluctant to send away creatures so loyal to his brother. With Stealth abilities, short-range teleportation, and at least mid-rank stats, they could prove invaluable if used properly.

“Are you really unable to harm people?”

“We can’t!”

“No way!”

The goblins backed away slowly.

“We don’t like that stuff.”

“Killing is even worse!”

“If we kill, we become scary!”

“Very, very scary!”

“They said they can’t. Leave it alone. Besides, do you think Mister would just stand by and watch them get hurt? Even with lower stats, he’d protect them no matter what.”

Though convinced by Yerim’s reasoning, Yuhyun still looked displeased. Seeing the goblins shrink back further, Yerim quickly waved her hands.

“Don’t worry! He may look scary and have a nasty temper, but he listens to Mister really well. It’s just worse because of his separation anxiety—he hasn’t been sleeping lately. Get some rest, seriously.”

“…”

Instead of responding, Yuhyun turned toward the lake. A light from what might be a watchtower flickered faintly across the dark water.

“Well then, I’ll be back!”

Yerim took flight with the water dragon and goblins in ow. In an instant, silence settled over the area. Only the gentle lapping of water against the shore remained. Peace trotted to the lakeside, letting out a low, yearning purr as if sensing Yujin somewhere across the water.

“Wait.”

Yuhyun’s command was brief but firm. His own desire to cross the lake immediately burned just as fierce, but the timing wasn’t right yet. He pulled out a chunk of meat and a magic stone from his inventory, feeding them to Peace before taking a drink himself. He wasn’t hungry, but forced himself to chew and swallow some dried provisions anyway.

‘…As if I could sleep.’

Yerim thought his insomnia was simply due to being separated from Yujin, but the reality ran deeper. Sure, he couldn’t sleep properly anywhere that didn’t feel like home—he could manage light dozing at best. But the real problem was the dreams.

Ever since that battle with Yujin, the events of that day haunted his sleep.

Hyung cloaked in black flames, soot-dark wings spread wide. Scattering dense poison as he closed the distance in a heartbeat, mercilessly slashing with razor-sharp claws. The metallic tang of blood, the acrid stench of burning flesh, choking smoke everywhere.

Dream-Yujin wielded not just Yerim and Noah’s abilities, but Seong Hyunjae’s and Song Taewon’s as well, switching between them with terrifying fluidity.

Arms and legs torn open, throat crushed in an iron grip. Just when victory seemed within reach, that tail would strike from an impossible angle. Skills stolen with plunder techniques, weight manipulation creating openings at the precise moment their blades met.

Poison seeping in silently. Ice spreading the moment his foot touched ground. Every battle technique Yujin had ever learned, combined with all of Yuhyun’s own accumulated experience, manifested in that dream version of his brother.

It was a chillingly exhilarating fight.

And it always ended the same way: Yuhyun’s hand piercing through Yujin’s body. Unlike reality, he couldn’t control himself in the dream—couldn’t stop the deep smile spreading across his face.

Yuhyun slowly clenched and unclenched his fist. Dreams were just dreams. Still, if he had another one like that in this situation, sitting here quietly waiting for time to pass would become impossible. Iryn slithered up onto his shoulder, spinning in frustrated circles as if annoyed it couldn’t speak without Yujin present.

After what felt like hours, Yerim reappeared—alone this time.

“What time is it?”

“Eleven twenty-four.”

“Not much time left.”

Yerim settled cross-legged in midair, gazing at the lake alongside Yuhyun. That’s when a faintly glowing green will-o’-the-wisp drifted toward them.

“Huh? A goblin? Why didn’t you follow me? It’s dangerous here.”

At Yerim’s words, the wisp swayed with obvious indecision. After a long, hesitant pause, it spoke carefully.

“I’m not supposed to say this…”

“What is it?”

“I can’t…”

Yerim tilted her head, then snapped her fingers as if remembering something.

“Oh! If you’re bound by some kind of contract, go see Mister. He’ll help you out.”

“Park Yerim.” Yuhyun’s voice held a warning note.

“I didn’t say anything specific! Besides, Mister would want to help anyway. There’s still time—hurry up and go.”

But the goblin shook its head.

“Can Little Kim Seobang go into the water?”

“Of course.”

“Are you very strong?”

“Absolutely! In water, I’m unbeatable.”

“Then… will you follow me?”

Yerim glanced at Yuhyun with a what-should-I-do expression. He considered for a moment.

“Thirty minutes left.”

“I have a strong feeling I won’t make it back in time. But I feel like I have to go.”

“Then go.”

“Really?”

“It doesn’t seem like a trap. And we need to confirm if this is related to the original goblin.”

If by some chance that goblin—Yun Yun—was helping the military, whether by force or choice, they could end up losing Yujin the moment after rescuing him. She could just teleport him away. Yujin had even left a message warning them about exactly that possibility. At Yuhyun’s reasoning, Yerim nodded.

“The others will be joining up with us anyway, so it should be fine, right? I’ll be back as fast as I can. If you get a chance, save some action for me!”

Yerim urged the goblin to hurry. It dove into the lake first, with her sliding silently into the water behind it. The midnight lake was impossibly dark—so black that even her S-Rank vision couldn’t make out the surroundings properly.

“Can I use a light?”

“No.”

The goblin’s reply was firm as it extinguished its own glow.

“Little Kim Seobang, shh!”

Gesturing for silence, the goblin swam hard just ahead of her. Despite the zero visibility, it set a precise course and moved forward with unwavering confidence.

I guess goblins can breathe underwater?

Its speed was painfully slow though, so Yerim gave it a gentle push with her hand. The sudden contact made it jump and narrow its eyes suspiciously, but it didn’t refuse the assistance.

How long had they been swimming? Just as she was certain midnight had passed, a faint light appeared in the distance.

“Little Kim Seobang,” the goblin whispered.

“I am Bamboo Flute.”

“Huh?”

“And over there… that’s Chrysanthemum Pot.”

“A flowerpot? What are you talking about?”

The lightless wisp flickered weakly in the current, so faint it seemed ready to dissipate at any moment.

“Chrysanthemum Pot can’t escape. {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} So I’m going with it.”

“Going where?” Yerim asked, though dread was already building in her chest.

The now-tiny wisp settled onto her palm.

“Save them, Little Kim Seobang. And there’s something very scary down there. Be careful.”

The whispered voice grew fainter with each word. The will-o’-the-wisp scattered like dying embers, its small, human-like form crumbling away. In Yerim’s hand remained only a single, ancient flute.

“You could have just gone to Mister,” she whispered.

Even as she said it, she understood why Bamboo Flute had chosen this path. She’d heard about the weaker goblins who couldn’t teleport. The military had probably captured those who couldn’t escape and bound them with curse contracts that would harm both sides if the others tried to mount a rescue.

Just as Yerim suspected, the military had imprisoned the weak goblins at the lake bottom. They could have captured the stronger goblins with contracts too, but instead they’d paired them with the weak ones and released them under agreements that prevented rescuing their own kind. The strong goblins, without being told, naturally stayed to watch over the trapped ones.

Hidden in the lake’s depths, there was no chance of discovery. No need for guards to watch and care for the prisoners—just install some surveillance cameras and leave them be.

“So what if you’re the only one who survives,” Yerim murmured.

Her hand carefully gripped the old flute to avoid breaking it. In the large cage submerged at the lake bottom, colorful lights swayed gently. The water around Yerim began to churn violently. Torrents of water extended like massive vines, seizing the cage’s thick metal bars. The sturdy barriers that mid-rank stats couldn’t even dent began to creak, twist, and finally tear apart.

Inside, among the will-o’-the-wisps moving in startled confusion, sat a large, chipped and cracked flowerpot—alone and forlorn.

Twelve o’clock.

Blue Willow Leaves scattered around Yuhyun like falling snow. Peace spread his wings wide. The exact moment the second hand aligned with the hour—

BOOM—!!

An explosion roared across the water. Once, twice, three times—continuous detonations without end.

Peace launched skyward as Yuhyun kicked off from the shore. Stepping across the leaves drifting over the water’s surface, he crossed the dark lake like a swift swallow skimming the waves. Soon an island engulfed in fierce flames came into view.

In those raging fires, something golden flashed for just an instant before vanishing.

Having clearly confirmed what he’d seen, a smile curved Yuhyun’s lips. The Sword of the Corrupting Sovereign extended long and deadly in his grip as the burning island rushed toward him.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep