[many constellations are urgently watching the scenario.]
[the constellation 'demon-like judge of fire' is praying for the safety of the incarnations.]
Jihye looks ahead, her eyes wide as blood drips down her face and she wonders what's going on—after all, they were doing fine until a moment ago, and at the beginning, she had felt that they'd be able to defend Veronica Castle. As she thinks this, the scene slowly pans out to show her as the last one standing in her area, still brandishing her sword defiantly, as she's surrounded by the bodies, blood, and limbs of unknown soldiers.
Her flashback begins, bringing everyone back to the start of the siege. Loud bangs echo in the air as enemy incarnations pound on the closed drawbridge with both their shoulders and feet in an attempt to bust their way into the castle. In some areas, soldiers are plucked off the walls as they call for their allies to defend the gate.
Leaping across the wall, Michio attempts to be the savior and rescue the soldiers caught in the grasp of the massive incarnations with his [Flying Squirrel Steps]. He manages to catch a disaster off guard as he swiftly attacks the man's arm, leaving a decent sized gash. However, the angered disaster quickly grasps his hammer to counterattack, aiming to squash Michio.
"Oh fuck," Han Sooyoung cursed as the scene suddenly changed to something that they didn't want to see. "What the fuck went wrong?"
Lee Jihye stiffened up immediately, trying her best to hide her anxiousness by clasping her hands together in her lap, which was so unusual for her that it just made it even more obvious.
Yoo Joonghyuk was radiating an aura of cold fury, like he was ready to absolutely fuck up anyone who had hurt his apprentice, and Kim Dokja was honestly in the same boat. Though Lee Jihye wasn't technically his responsibility like the kids were, he still cared about her.
[the constellation 'maritime war god' is demanding to know what happened to his incarnation.]
[the constellation 'secretive plotter' is wondering what happened.]
As the scene panned out, Kim Dokja sucked in a breath. In the area she was covering, Lee Jihye was the last one standing, and her expression was so full of despair that he wasn't sure she'd be able to keep her own morale up for long. It was an odd expression on her—the girl who had always done everything she could to stand strong and fight to her last breath.
"Jihye-yah, are you alright?" Yoo Sangah asked quietly as the scene switched to the flashback, and Lee Jihye paused for a moment too long before nodding.
She wasn't okay, and everyone knew it.
Shin Yoosung and Lee Gilyoung both glanced over at her with concerned expressions, and even Yoo Mia was doing the same. The three kids exchanged a look and a non-verbal conversation, and seemed to come to some kind of decision. When they looked back at the teenager again, Kim Dokja gave the two sitting with him an encouraging nudge.
"Go on, it's okay," he whispered, to the kids' surprise. "I'll be fine for a bit on my own, you know."
Though they hesitated, Shin Yoosung grabbed onto Lee Gilyoung's wrist before reaching over and taking Yoo Mia's hand, then half-leading, half-dragging them over to Lee Jihye.
"We're here for you, unnie," Yoo Mia declared as she confidently took her place next to her, plopping down like she belonged there. Shin Yoosung nodded and followed suit, practically draping herself over Lee Jihye's lap to hug her, while Lee Gilyoung sat down on the teenager's other side and grabbed onto one of her hands.
[the constellation 'queen of the darkest spring' is endeared by the current events.]
Though Lee Jihye tried to sputter out protests, the kids wouldn't be moved, and she finally gave in and grabbed all of them in a hug as she whispered, "I love you guys."
Kim Dokja glanced over at Yoo Joonghyuk, and realized that both he and the other man had small matching smiles on their lips. Like that, it was almost like they were watching their own kids, in a sense. It was a bit of a strange thought, he knew that, but… somehow, it didn't sound all that bad. Of course, that wasn't something that he would ever say to the protagonist's face.
Still, Kim Dokja had to focus, and he looked back at the screen in time to watch Lee Jihye's flashback.
"That doesn't look good already," Lee Hyunsung muttered nervously, but he seemed to relax somewhat when Michio Shoji began fighting back as well. Of course, he tensed right back up when the disaster started to attack him, clearly nervous for the other incarnation.
[the constellation 'abyssal black flame dragon' is cheering excitedly.]
Before he can strike, though, the familiar rattle of gunfire activates and forces the man back into the moat. Jihye's eyes are shadowed as she declares a reload, and immediately many Japanese disasters are quickly surrounded by the [Ghost Fleet]. Upon Jihye's command, the bombardment commences. One looks up, just in time for his eye to be pierced by Michio's blade, earning the man his first kill. With his eyes unfocused as he pants heavily, Michio raises his blade in victory, earning cheers from the soldiers on the wall. A constellation also begins to show interest in him due to his achievement.
Jihye's thoughts seem optimistic, declaring that if they can keep this up, they might be able to defend the castle as Hyunsung slices fingers off another disaster. As Jihye calls out reassurances and instructs the soldiers to take down one disaster at a time, she looks out over the field beyond her fleet and freezes. There, deep in the midst of the disasters, there's a horrifying dark red aura surrounding a multi-headed serpent.
"It's that ahjussi!" Lee Gilyoung cheered upon seeing that Gong Pildu's turrets were forcing the disaster away. As soon as the man ended up in the moat, Lee Jihye smiled a bit as she watched herself add her own firepower to the defense.
"Oh thank goodness, they finished the moat in time," Lee Seolhwa breathed in relief, her expression relaxing slightly.
[the constellation 'prisoner of the golden headband' is nodding in approval at the actions of the incarnation 'michio shoji'.]
Jung Heewon cheered when Michio Shoji stabbed the man, and she looked genuinely invested in everything that was happening. Honestly, it was pretty impressive to see him actually take the initiative to do that, and then succeed.
However, all the adults exchanged a nervous glance upon hearing Lee Jihye's confident thoughts. Everything did seem to be going well so far, so that left one big question in their minds—what had gone wrong between then and now for the situation to get so dire?
"Yeah! Go Hyunsung-ssi!" Jung Heewon cheered again, grabbing onto his shoulder and grinning wildly. "You're all doing such a good job."
Lee Jihye grinned shakily while Lee Hyunsung went beet red, but the mood suddenly changed when Lee Jihye surveyed the battlefield once more.
"Shit," Kim Dokja cursed, seeing the serpent itself upon the plains like a harbinger of death. "Run away. Run away right now."
He had told them to run, to abandon the castle if anything like that happened, but clearly they hadn't. Why?
[many constellations are greatly alarmed by the appearance of the constellation 'sovereign of eight heads'.]
"... What the hell is that?" Gazing upon it, her heart rate thuds in her chest. Everything other than that rhythmic thudding goes fuzzy as fear coils within her. Sweat drips down her brow, unnoticed, as her shaking eyes settle on the terrifying figure that advances towards them, ever so slowly. Her voice loses all of her previous confidence, barely even coming out as a whisper. "That's insane, how are we supposed to defend against that…?"
At the base of the heads, a figure of a completely entangled man plods forward with every step, swaying lightly as though his body isn't moving at his command. The heads writhe around, baring their teeth and hissing before one shoots forward, slamming into a soldier beside Jihye. She dares to glance over, and sees that nothing but a splatter of red was left behind to prove his existence.
"That's the serpent," Kim Dokja said grimly. "You need to run, all of you."
They wouldn't stand a chance, not against something of that magnitude. It didn't matter how powerful their sponsor was, or how skilled they were—very few people could fight against a constellation's shadow and survive, let alone win.
Yoo Joonghyuk glanced over at him, frowning and clearly worried, and Kim Dokja knew that he likely looked the same. This was basically the worst-case situation because who even knew when this battle had started while Kim Dokja was away, and neither of them had any idea where Yoo Joonghyuk and Lee Seolhwa were.
[the constellation 'queen of the darkest spring' is hoping that the incarnation 'kim dokja' returns soon.]
[many constellations are stressing over the current events.]
"No shit she lost her confidence, only someone with a few screws loose could look at something like that and be unscathed!" Han Sooyoung hissed, shooting a pointed look at him and Yoo Joonghyuk, clearly implying that they were some of the people with 'screws loose' in question.
Lee Jihye's grip on the kids tightened, but none of them complained. Instead, they all hugged her back, looking equally nervous.
"Wait, isn't that the King guy?" Yoo Mia exclaimed suddenly, managing to wiggle one of her arms out of the hug just enough to point at Izumi's oddly moving body. He looked and moved more like a zombie than a human, and Kim Dokja bit back another curse under his breath.
[the constellation 'demon-like judge of fire' shrieks in horror.]
[several constellations are stunned into silence.]
Yoo Sangah's jaw dropped as she whispered, "That head… did it really just…?"
It had. In a single instant, a man standing next to Lee Jihye had been turned into nothing more than a bloody smear on the ground, and Kim Dokja felt sick.
Lee Jihye was trembling violently, breathing in quick gasps as she was unable to tear her eyes from the screen ahead of her. The kids, thanks to their unfortunate amount of practice with Kim Dokja's own issues, began trying to help her regulate her breathing while Yoo Mia just hugged her a bit tighter.
Fuck, this was an awful situation, and it was made even worse by the fact that none of them had any guarantee of survival anymore.
[the constellation 'maritime war god' is pleading for someone to do something.]
When Lee Jihye's breathing was more under control, Yoo Joonghyuk looked at her seriously. "Jihye. There is no shame in ordering a retreat if you need to."
She nodded. "Okay. I'm sorry, Master, I—"
"Don't," Yoo Joonghyuk stated, cutting her off. "Take advantage of this scenario to learn from this experience, and form contingency plans before you are ever in that situation."
Kim Dokja nodded along, fully agreeing with the protagonist's advice, even as Lee Jihye teared up a bit.
As people cry out for help, Dokja's trio make it back just in time to be met with a horrific sight—the ground, decorated only by the few remaining parts of soldiers and large splatters of blood. Straight ahead of them, the monster stands strong, its heads moving around and hissing while their eyes roll around in their skulls, seeming to look everywhere at once.
Asuka gasps and stumbles a step back, tearfully identifying the crumbling husk of a man at the core of the 'Serpent' as Izumi. As the notification confirms this identification, Dokja whirls around in a panic, looking for the other members of his group. After finding them, he can tell that they're all alive, albeit various levels of injured and traumatized. Hyunsung is clutching an injured shoulder and Boksoon is no longer laughing, Pildu stands and shakes, bleeding from his head, and the two children kneel on the ground in despair.
Dokja looks back at the 'Serpent', realizing that they've completely lost their will to fight. It's a reasonable reaction, knowing that everyone so far was just an easy, one-bite meal to the Fable-Grade constellation—the 'Sovereign of Eight Heads'—that has just manifested itself in the scenario.
"Dokja-ssi, you're back!" Lee Hyunsung exclaimed, looking both desperate and relieved. "It'll be okay now, right?"
Kim Dokja exhaled shakily and clenched his jaw. He couldn't respond to Lee Hyunsung because there was nothing he could say. He didn't know if things would be alright, or if they would just get worse.
[the constellation 'secretive plotter' is hoping that the incarnation 'kim dokja' has a plan.]
God he hoped so too.
[a few constellations are feeling sorrow over the fate of the incarnation 'izumi hiroki'.]
"What happened to him?" Lee Seolhwa gasped upon seeing the true extent of his condition. "Is he even still alive?"
That was the worst part, wasn't it? Kim Dokja lowered his gaze and bit his lip before saying, "He is. Just barely."
"Fuck," Han Sooyoung muttered. "That's gotta be the shittiest way to go."
[the constellation 'defense master' is watching the scenario tensely.]
[the constellation 'god of wine and ecstasy' is putting his wine glass down for now.]
God, the children. They seemed absolutely terrified on the screen—understandably so—and Kim Dokja was glad that the four of them had seemingly formed a mini cuddle pile for comfort. Yoo Mia also looked way less upset about having been left out of the sixth scenario, but that meant that she was the one doing her best to comfort the other three. It was a bit strange to see the usually confident and sassy girl speaking quietly and soothingly, but she was doing her best even if she was awkward.
[the constellation 'prisoner of the golden headband' is angered by the actions of the constellation 'sovereign of eight heads'.]
[the constellation 'demon-like judge of fire' is furious with the constellation 'sovereign of eight heads'.]
[the constellation 'abyssal black flame dragon' is complaining that it's not interesting when incarnations lose the will to fight.]
Kim Dokja didn't know what to do, or what his future self could be planning right now. The situation was so much worse than he had expected, and without the assistance of 'Snake Cutter', there might be no way to win. This couldn't be where their story would end, right?
Asuka shakes as she declares that they shouldn't fight him since they will never win. One of the heads finds some more soldiers, and easily bites another in half. The lighting turns a backlit red to hide the gore, but the splattering of blood, bone, and viscera is stomach-turning. The scene snaps to the horrified reactions of the nearby soldiers, covered in blood and vomiting at the sight of their comrades' fates.
Sooyoung, still staring straight at the 'Serpent' with a terrified gaze, grabs Dokja by the front of his shirt with a sweaty hand. "Kim Dokja. Don't tell me you're actually going to fight something like that? Yeah? Let's just run. Please?"
She turns to him, trying to get him to just grab their group and run, before Dokja cuts her off and tells her to wait a little bit. She screams out in anguish that they're all going to die, trying to convince Dokja to come to his senses. As she does, several serpent heads circle in the air above Jihye as she lowers her sword, losing her will to fight.
"This is horrifying," Jung Heewon gasped, grabbing onto Lee Hyunsung's hand and squeezing the life out of it. Even though he winced, he held onto her in return to try and find some comfort in each other. Kim Dokja looked at how tightly she was squeezing, and had the fleeting thought that he was impressed that she hadn't broken his hand by accident.
Still, horrifying was an understatement. The apocalypse was traumatizing for everyone, and Kim Dokja logically knew that, but this… this was gore on a whole different level than what they had experienced so far. At least in other situations, they had only stumbled across the aftermath, not watched it happen.
[the constellation 'lily blooming in aquarius' is appalled by the carnage.]
Yoo Sangah reached out and grabbed onto Han Sooyoung's hand, looking at her with concern. "Are you alright, Sooyoung-ssi? I've never seen you look that terrified before."
That was true; even when she was scared of the protagonist before, the overall tone had always been more comedic than the frantic terror they were witnessing now.
"I don't know," she replied, sounding defeated, but she at least took Yoo Sangah's offer of comfort. "Fuck, we can't all die here."
Han Sooyoung didn't beg. That was something they had all assumed, but the fact that she had completely foregone all insults and teasing to plead with Kim Dokja to just take everyone they knew and escape was the true proof of just how dire the situation really was.
[the constellation 'abyssal black flame dragon' is feeling conflicted.]
And then Kim Dokja said to wait, and everyone shot him looks of disbelief.
"Ahjussi, why won't you just run!?" Yoo Mia demanded, looking distraught. "My oppa even said that retreating is okay, and you said it before too!"
Kim Dokja knew he was a hypocrite. He didn't know why his future self was waiting, but he at least believed that he had some kind of plan. Or, at least, he hoped so.
However, when Lee Jihye's morale finally gave out, a pit formed in his stomach. The kids were whimpering, Lee Jihye was on the verge of a panic attack again, and Yoo Joonghyuk looked downright furious.
[many constellations are begging the incarnation 'kim dokja' to listen to the pleas of the incarnation 'han sooyoung'.]
[the constellation 'maritime war god' is extremely anxious.]
If I step forward right now, it will be impossible to subjugate that monster. A bit more, just a bit more…
As Dokja's narration tries to hide his worry, Jihye looks straight up into the gaping maw of one of the heads as it descends upon her in slow motion, staring death in the face. He can't hesitate any longer. Dokja grits his teeth, cursing internally, and launches himself forwards, praying that he'll make it in time to save her. Suddenly, a black figure rushes past him and leaps up, sword gleaming in the dawn's light, before crashing into the head with a massive explosion of dust and debris.
[the constellation 'secretive plotter' is staring intently at the incarnation 'kim dokja'.]
"Do something, Kim Dokja," Yoo Joonghyuk commanded through gritted teeth. "Stop hesitating."
He flinched at the harsh words, but that was nothing in comparison to the sudden shrieks of terror from the kids when they were all forced to watch Lee Jihye look death in the face. Suddenly, Kim Dokja was assaulted by the memories of one of those heads easily biting one of the soldiers in half, and he felt like throwing up as soon as his mind replaced that soldier with the teenager sitting a few feet away from him.
"Unnie! Run, please!" Shin Yoosung pleaded, grasping so tightly onto Lee Jihye's sleeve that it was a surprise that it didn't end up torn.
Lee Gilyoung turned and looked at Kim Dokja with a desperate expression, still holding onto Lee Jihye's hand. "Hyung, please do something! You can't let noona die!"
[the constellation 'maritime war god' is begging someone to interfere and save his incarnation.]
[some constellations are laughing at the promise of more bloodshed.]
Fuck them. Fuck them all. A teenager—a child—was about to die if Kim Dokja didn't manage to save her in time, even now that he had moved. It wasn't fucking funny, and it wasn't fucking entertainment.
[the constellation 'secretive plotter' is clenching his hands into fists.]
[the constellation 'prisoner of the golden headband' is tearing his hair out in worry.]
And then, a black blur rushed past him, and Kim Dokja felt all his stress rush out of him like a dam had suddenly been broken. It might have only been a single instant, nowhere near enough for anyone else to realize—judging by the stunned and confused expressions on everyone else in the room, but Kim Dokja just knew in his heart that they were saved.
"It'll be okay now," he said, sounding relieved. In fact, he almost sounded hysterical with the tinge of laughter in his voice, but he was overwhelmed by so many emotions that he couldn't even care.
Kim Dokja wasn't crying as he looked up at Yoo Joonghyuk, ignoring the cold trails running down his cheeks, and smiled. "You made it in time, Joonghyuk-ah."