Clang! Two blades t. The pure-white sword buckled, twisting as it slid aside. The gaze on fell away, and seizing that mont, the ebony blade arced in a long sweep. The edge grazed my arm, yet miraculously, the white sword thrust back the Monarch’s blade with brutal force.
None of it felt real. Like a mirage shimring in heat haze, it threatened to vanish at any second. The blades clashed again, and through Peace’s eyes I had to admit the truth.
“...Han Yuhyun!”
He was stronger than the current Yuhyun—but he still wouldn’t strike to kill. anwhile, Yuhyun baited him into grievous blows. When the blade swung for his shoulder, Yuhyun thrust his neck forward, then darted aside.
“Stop! Both of you!”
I leapt down from Peace’s back and strode onto the scorched ground where fire and fla intertwined. Peace tried to hold back in panic, but I pushed him away. Though the situation favored , I saw wounds across Yuhyun’s body. One arm was cut where I’d appeared—otherwise he seed unhard, but the butterflies obscured my view.
“ I said stop!”
The parched earth cracked beneath my feet and lted into slick mud before . Heat washed over in waves. Even as I activated Grace, my face flushed red. As I approached, both their movents slowed. Their eyes turned to . I advanced without hesitation and plunged into the fire.
“Hyung!”
My eyelids snapped shut from flas even S-Rank resistance couldn’t fully block. Imdiately, arms wrapped around , and the heat vanished. I opened my eyes to see the butterflies beyond Yuhyun’s shoulder.
“That was dangerous!”
“...Han Yuhyun.”
His form still blurred, the swarm covering him like a living cloak.
“Yuhyun.”
There was no answer. He held tight; his black eyes didn’t even blink in the hush.
“Han Yuhyun!”
“He’s just a corpse.”
Yuhyun said. Startled, I looked at my brother. I t his sunken, tangled gaze.
“You said it yourself.”
“...I did.”
“That if I couldn’t help you, I’d leave you behind.”
You were alive, and there were people here. That’s what he’d said. But this... this situation—
“It’s okay, Hyung.”
A voice drifted out. The butterflies scattered, and a familiar face ca clearly into view.
“I’m not the real one.”
...My voice caught. He claid he wasn’t real. Holding Yuhyun’s arm, I forced out words.
“What do you an?”
I racked my dizzy head for thoughts. If he truly was a fake—
“If I’m not real, then this Yuhyun...”
He would never have co here to kill the real Yuhyun. If he were a simple copy, he’d just have told he wasn’t real. I might have wavered, but then I’d grow angry.
“This body is nothing but a husk. Left alone it would rot and vanish.”
“...I don’t understand what you’re saying.”
“Originally you couldn’t even enter this place—just a discarded corpse.”
His quiet words cut like ice.
“A fragnt of him entered that corpse.”
His calm gaze shifted to the Yuhyun holding . Yuhyun’s eyes flickered.
“...A part of Yuhyun?”
“mories.”
mory. Sothing surfaced in an instant—the mory orb stolen by the King of Innocence. I’d lost it under the snowfall by the tree. It had vanished then.
“Th-that alone—!”
“When a link to this world ford, the Gardener discovered this body. Even as a husk, the mories remained intact, so he made it move using a shard of the living ‘’.”
The Gardener... had found Yuhyun’s root self beneath...
“That’s all, Hyung. I’m dead.”
He spoke as if to warn not to hope. But still! I looked at my brother. Faded, distant mories surged back.
“You rember and move like . Even if you say you’re dead—! Besides, you’ve changed. You’re taller... stronger than the current .”
“It was adjusted to match your rank. My true self was suppressed too.”
“Even so! You’re still Yuhyun—just Yuhyun!”
I didn’t know. He called himself a re husk, but I didn’t believe it. He looked at , spoke to ... how could he not be real?
“And the Gardener—why you?!”
“Hyung.”
Yuhyun’s eyes chilled. I looked to the one embracing .
“Take this one and go back.”
“...What?”
“You don’t need to be involved.”
“That’s true.”
The quiet Yuhyun spoke.
“This isn’t your affair. I know you’d take everyone back if you could. I had no intent to stop it—so long as you’re safe.”
Two voices, two identical gazes. His words echoed the guilt-free advice. But what could I do? Even the lost brother felt real to .
He was Yuhyun.
Suddenly, the flas around us subsided, leaving only scorched earth. Rain resud, evaporating before touching . Far off I spotted the Puppeteer, and behind him Seong Hyunjae and Song Taewon. Their discussion was likely drowned by rain and thunder.
I longed to stand in the rain—it would clear my mind. Yet Yuhyun never let raindrops fall on .
“Yuhyun.”
Always grateful, but—
“Right now I want the rain.”
“No. You’ll catch a cold.”
His refusal was firm. I knew it was what I’d want for him too: stay dry, take care. But I needed the cold rain on my head. I shoved off my brother’s arms. I couldn’t overpower him, yet I did.
“So what if I catch a cold?”
“Hyung!”
“I’ll do what I want.”
“But—”
“Let go of my hand.”
At my firm words, he flinched and released , stepping back. Rain seeped through his hair. The other brother recoiled. Two Yuhyuns stood before .
“So you do what you want too.”
“...What does that an?”
“I want you happy. I wanted to grant your every wish.”
I still did.
“But we’re different. Yuhyun, I’m your brother, Han Yujin. You’re my brother, Han Yuhyun.”
We’re separate people. We can’t always act as the other wishes, nor should we.
“I thought maybe I should give up everything for you. Just walk away. But that’s not what I want. No matter how I think, I can never give up.”
“You’d be in danger!”
“True. But Yuhyun, I—”
My voice shook. Twenty-one-year-old Yuhyun alone wasn’t here. My younger self stood here too, looking at .
“I won’t abandon myself for you.”
I’d do anything for my brother, but I resolved to hold on to one thing—for both our sakes. Yuhyun drew a sharp breath and spoke.
“That’s what I want too! I don’t want you to sacrifice yourself for !”
“No, that’s not it. If you’re in danger, I’ll stand in your way—stake my life to protect you.”
“But just now—”
“Because that’s what I want. It’s what Han Yujin truly desires, and so, must do.”
Yuhyun’s eyes trembled, lost.
“I don’t, I don’t understand you, Hyung.”
“What I’ve lived and will live—that is .”
So might see it as sacrifice, but it wasn’t. It was my pure desire.
“I just want you to be...”
“You too. Tell what you want.”
And even if our paths diverged, it would be okay.
Whoosh! A cord flew in, wrapping around before Yuhyun could react, yanking back.
“Hyung!”
Familiar arms caught . A black butterfly swirled inches away. The Puppeteer’s flustered voice drifted.
“I have but one desire.”
Yuhyun said. The arm gripping grew ice-cold, chilling my heart. Yet he spoke and acted and looked at —and still—
“Return safely, Hyung.”
“Yuhyun, I—”
“So please help for a mont.”
His gaze fell to faint lines on the scorched ground. What were they?
“Wait, Han Yujin—look!”
The Puppeteer shouted. I sensed I shouldn’t stay.
“Let my brother go!”
“But you want him safe too, don’t you?”
Yuhyun hesitated, tried to pull free, but the arm held fast—firr than either brother.
“What are you doing, Han Yuhyun!”
“Don’t worry. I’ll give him back. I’m only clearing out the useless things—so you won’t have to worry!”
“What, you!”
Stepping on butterflies, Yuhyun descended onto the lines engraved in the earth.
“If there’s no reason left, you won’t need to stay here either.”
“Han Yujin! Skill!”
A skill? Crackling electricity coiled around the Puppeteer as he Spatial Shifted in. Yuhyun faced off with Yuhyun.
“Block him.”
“......”
“I’ll handle the aftermath.”
“Yuhyun!”
“It’s okay. I’ll bear it all.”
A faint smile brushed his cold lips—just as before regression. My throat tightened with heat.
“You idiot! What are you! Why /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ are you—”
Yuhyun stepped before the Puppeteer. Dark blue flas shot upward. He pressed his foot to the line as electricity crackled.
“You’ve clearly weakened.”
A drop of blood ford on his white fingertip. Poisonous flas blood. Fire dripped onto the line. Holding down, a surge of black fire roared up, burning the marking away.
I stared, dazed—then snapped back.
‘He must’ve crafted it. My skill? Poison? Curse?’
I didn’t know, but I must stop it. Yuhyun said he’d clear the rest.
‘It’ll be Seong Hyunjae. And Sigma?’
If the Puppeteer fought so hard, likely. I hastily toggled off poison and curse resistances. The fire ceased consuming the line. It hissed, radiating heat, but stopped advancing.
“Hyung.”
“I don’t care if you’re alive or dead. You’re my brother—let go of my hand!”
I twisted free. Thunder rolled. The foot sliding against earth wasn’t the brother holding , but the other one. Director Song leapt before the Monarch’s blade, a dark shadow following his arm.
“I can’t ascertain the situation, but is that also Hunter Han Yuhyun?”
Rather than answer, Yuhyun took two steps back toward us. Seong Hyunjae appeared beside the Puppeteer. Golden chains intertwined with silken threads. The two Yuhyuns exchanged a brief glance.
“I never envisioned such a pairing.”
Seong Hyunjae looked on with intrigued eyes.
“Master Han Yujin, may I inquire what’s happening?”
“...I won’t forgive it if my brother is hard.”
“To hear an answer, quite a process awaits.”
“Then you, Han Yujin, get out yourself!”
The Puppeteer spoke coolly. Three figures faced three. Flas flickered, light glinted. I bit my lip unconsciously. The hand on was still ice-cold, my mind muddled. But I couldn’t just let them clash.
Rumble—
The ground trembled. First to react were the Puppeteer and the Yuhyun holding . Their gazes darted, but each in a different direction.
“What now?”
The Puppeteer frowned. Sothing unseen struck the earth again from all sides—
Swoosh—!
The rain pounded down, growing heavier.
Crackle! Boom!
Water began surging in from everywhere—an unseen force of water. Through it ca a welco voice.
“Uncle! I’m here!”
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