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[Diana’s POV]“... so my dear friends Archer and Vilkus will check your manas. The ones with mana will have to wear these mana blockers,” Jihun said, showing us the cuff bracelets. Archer and Vilkus, Miya’s guardian, lit the incense in golden censers. “What are they doing?” I asked as Jihun went on explaining how the bracelets blocked manas.“Those white incense smoke are highly sensitive to mana, so even if there’s a little trace of mana inside someone, the smoke will change color. Based on the color of the smoke, they decide how strong mana an individual holds,” Janus said. “For the censer to work, one must hold its base in their palm. That’s how they work as mana detectors. A highly accurate one.”“Oh…” I nodded as the Uriko twins held the censers in their palms.Asashi’s censer smoke was still white, but the smoke from Aera’s censer turned blue.“Woah! Does this mean Aera has mana?” Reese asked.“Yes, and a powerful one. Average magic folk turn censer smoke blue,” Janus said.“H
[Diana’s POV]“I feel sorry for whoever’s nightmare this is,” Reese said. “I bet their mental health is all fucked up.”I had turned my back against the titans, feeling nauseous.“I wouldn’t want to be that body between those teeth,” Zephyr said, and I almost threw up.“I think as soon as we step on the snowy road they will attack us because we have been standing here for several minutes and they haven’t changed their positions even by an inch. All they do is stare with those creepy bulb-like eyes,” Reese said. “Is there no other way?” Zephyr asked with a casual sigh.“Well, do you see some other road? It’s only one road here, and it is through those blue giant men,” Reese said. “And who said you could talk to me, lowborn?”“Who was talking to you, highborn?”“Are you fucking with me?”“I got standards, highborn…”Reese snarled at Zephyr, grabbing his collar, “I will throw you right into their mouth if you don’t shut your filthy mouth this instant.”“Please stop it, you two!” I glare
[Diana’s POV]“Maybe they aren’t here to make things worse, look,” Zephyr said. I looked at the zombies that flooded our way seconds ago, and were divided into smaller groups towards the others.“Use them as bait?” Reese said.“No. I don’t think they will be used as baits. They are too smart for that. But we can’t let their smartness get the golden dreamcatcher either,” Zephyr said, peering at Kazeal, then skimming his eyes to Devon.“What’s the plan?” I asked.“The most important part of the plan is you are not going in there with us,” Zephyr said. “You will be here on the land...”“Why? Because I am a girl?” I frowned.“Why do you girls always think we men are trying to protect you? The thought never crossed your mind that we keep you away from troubles because we might need saving later if things go wrong. We protect you because we need you to protect us later. You will stay up here because we’d need someone outside the pit to pull us out. The pit’s deep and steep. For our quick e
[Diana’s POV] The blasts kept getting wilder. The flames reached out towards us like gigantic talons of flames. “We need to get out of here. The whole place is blowing up!” Ragnar said. BOOM! A sudden monstrous wall of fire isolated me and Kazeal from the others. I looked around frantically, panting and breathing the ashes and searing air. I looked around the flames frantically. Licking off the dryness of my lips, I gulped down the smoky ashes. “Let go!” I tried to wrench my arm out of Kazeal’s grip, but his grip only got tighter. I drew out my gun and pointed at his head. “Let. Go. Kazeal.” I said, glaring at him. His blank eyes sliced through my skin like ice blades. The eyes that looked down upon me when I was dying on the ground. The eyes that were killing me. In my previous life and even in this life, this man standing before me, had immensely controlled me and my life. I was sure about one thing: he wasn’t the kind of person who would ever have a ‘no’ as an answer. He
[Zephyr’s POV]“There is no fucking way I am letting you carry me!” Reese snapped.“No piggyback for you then,” I said, picking up Reese in my arms in princess style.“YAA!” Reese roared. “Put me down! You airhead!” Reese growled, throwing his fists and kicking in the air like a kid.“Look, I am not interested in carrying you either. You are nothing more than a liability for us, ok! But I don’t want my wife to hate me for leaving you behind, so you better stop throwing your freaking tantrums!”Reese growled, scratching my face. That piece of shit!“Reese!” Diana scolded him, glaring at him, and he stopped. “You only have two options. You either cover the further journey on Zephyr’s back or in his arms. Make your choice like a good boy or else—”She towered over him as he cowered closer to me.“Back...” he mumbled, scowling.Reese got on my back.“Stop strangling me,” I said with a cough.“I am not strangling you; I am holding on tight like you said, brother-in-law,” Reese said, tighte
[Zephyr’s POV] Diana slashed the sword at me. I dodged it right on time, tripping on a femur bone. “Diana?” I frowned, baffled. She looked at me with trepidation in her eyes, panting with fear. “Diana? What’s wrong with you?” I held her wrist. She flicked off my hand, stepping back from me. “Diana! What are you doing? What is going on here?” She brandished the sword at me. Dodging, I held her wrist and flicked away the sword from her hand. “Why are you attacking me, princess? What’s wrong? Will you tell me…” Horrified, she widened her eyes when I yanked her closer to me. Letting go of her, I sidestepped, protecting myself from Kazeal’s kick by barely an inch. “Why the hell are you attacking me?” I yelled, but Kazeal kept attacking me incessantly, pushing me farther away from Diana. Diana picked up her sword and looked around frantically. “Zeph! Where is Zeph?” she called out to me. I frowned, “Diana, I am right here. Can’t you see me?” Diana shuddered, glaring at me as if
[Kazeal’s POV]Her silent breaths. The slightest change in her emotions, her mood.I have been aware of all of them from the moment I was born. Her thoughts, her words, her everyday life constantly play like a vague blurry movie in the back of my head.A movie that’s a lifetime long.The movie was never vivid or clear, but she… she was as vivid to me as my soul. People waste their whole life finding the purpose of their lives, but she was right in front of me from the moment I unwillingly grabbed the hands of life. A life that would be devoted to ruining her by all means, controlling her in all ways I could. I could shatter her completely and still be celebrated as a hero in this world.She was the darkness they feared, so they sought light who, uncannily, had to be me.That was the fate I was cursed with. To be completely aware of her at all times, to the point I was no longer me without her.In the state of thoughtlessness, she was the thought that persisted. I could hear her voic
[Kazeal’s POV] “Why aren’t you waking up, sister? It’s already been a whole day…” Reese sat beside Diana. Why was he talking to her? She was clearly asleep and couldn’t hear him. Fire crackled as the silence of the night was filled with the melody of the nocturnal. “Prince Reese, her fever has gone down and as prince Arran said, she isn’t poisoned. She has been through a lot. We all have. Maybe she is having a good rest. You should rest as well,” Devon said, placing a banana leaf that had several fruits beside Reese. Devon might be the only practical one out of all of them. “But why do I feel like something isn’t right? What exactly did that serpent do to her?” Reese said in a low tone, stroking Diana’s hair. Devon glanced at Diana, then looked away as if he was committing some crime by stealing glances at her. I sighed and averted my attention. I was resting on the higher slope of the bank at some distance from the others. I was better off without the kind of attention I go