The goblin grinned, sharp teeth glinting like needles beneath its warped lips.
"I see you now," it said again, voice curling like smoke inside my skull.
The chief goblin only laughed, crouched low with the weight of Eun-ha's soul beneath his claws. "And you're late," it said. "She belongs to me now. You should've let her stay broken."
My hands clenched, fingers tightening so hard they shook.I stood across from the Chief Goblin, my breath caught between fear and fury.
Seo-yeon stepped forward, her light flaring bright beside me. She leapt forward.
Goblin ripped the necklace from around its throat—a string of claws and teeth—and wrapped it around its knuckles like makeshift brass knuckles.
It bared its jagged teeth. "Let's see what bleeds first—your scales or your girl."
The kitchen was no longer a kitchen.
Tiles floated midair like puzzle pieces yanked apart by a child. Tables hung upside-down. Blood ran up the walls instead of down. The furniture trembled with a heartbeat that wasn't mine.
And in the center of it all—
Seo-yeon stood barefoot on a cracked dinner plate, eyes glowing silver, hands spread like a puppeteer.
Across from her, the Chief Goblin crouched on a twisted chandelier, brass-clawed necklace wrapped tight around both fists. His grin was made of glass and broken nerves.
He teleported—
A blur of green light—
—straight at her head.
CLANG!
Seo-yeon didn't even flinch.
A burst of invisible force snapped in front of her like an unseen wall. The goblin ricocheted off it, flipping backward midair with a hiss.
"You're not the first freak to jump at me," she muttered, hand twitching sideways.
With a jerk of her wrist, four shattered chairs shot toward the goblin like wooden spears. He teleported again—blinked left—just as they crashed through the air where he stood.
But she was already turning.
Her other hand pushed downward, and the chandelier collapsed, shattering like glass rain. The goblin hit the floor on his feet, but one of the falling chains wrapped around his wrist mid-fall.
She clenched her fist.
The chain tightened like a snake. Bones cracked.
The goblin screeched, punching forward with his free hand—brass knuckles grazing the edge of her cheek with a burst of green sparks.
Seo-yeon flinched, but didn't retreat.
Instead, she dropped low and slammed both palms against the floor.
The tiles beneath the goblin exploded upward, a geyser of debris catching him from below. As he staggered back, clutching his bleeding wrist, her power lifted the tiles into a jagged whip—and crashed it into his ribs.
He grunted, flew across the room, and smashed into the floating wall-clock.
But he laughed.
"You fight like a puppet girl," he hissed, blood dribbling from his lips. "Too clean. Too slow."
He blinked—vanished—
—and reappeared right above her.
One brass-knuckled fist drove down like a meteor—Seo-yeon barely threw up her arm in time. The psychic shield held, but the impact splintered the floor beneath her, throwing up a shockwave of dream-dust.
Seo-yeon skid backwards, knees bending. A trail of blood trickled from her mouth.
"I'm not slow," she panted. "You're just high on stolen trauma."
The goblin vanished again.
This time, he didn't reappear.
Seo-yeon's breath slowed. Her heart raced. Sweat dripped down her brow.
She closed her eyes.
Stillness.
Not weakness. Not fear.
Precision.
She opened her palm slowly.
Everything in the room—broken forks, chairs, shattered paintings, bent knives,lifted into the air like stars in orbit.
A thousand tiny blades, all spinning, all trembling.
"Come out," she whispered. "You're not the only one who knows how to dance."
The goblin blinked back into existence—right behind her.
But her trap was already sprung.
She twisted her fingers.
A dozen knives spun toward him like bullets.
He blocked three with his claws.
Four more carved into his shoulder and thigh.
He screamed and teleported away—but not before Seo-yeon flung a chain after him, psychically latching onto his teleport trail.
He appeared on top of the dream-cabinet, breathing hard.
So was she.
Blood on both ends.
Then he did something different.
He turned toward the corner of the room—where little Eun-ha's dream-self was crouched, trembling. She didn't know this battle was real. But she was watching now.
"Let's see what she thinks of you if you kill me in front of her," he said, grinning as he stepped toward the dream-child.
Seo-yeon's pupils shrank.
"Don't."
"Try and stop me."
Then it plunged its hand into Eun-ha's head.
The world broke.
Everything around us shifted, twisted like a painting drowned in oil.
Eun-ha's home dissolved into a mess of broken toys, shattered photo frames, and bloodstained walls. Dolls began to twitch. Drawings began to scream.The ceiling split open and from it poured Eun-ha's fears—twisted shadows wearing her family's faces, eyes gouged out, limbs warped.
Everything was moving.
Everything was attacking.
Seo-yeon slashed through the first wave of illusions—a mother's corpse dragging a kitchen knife. I saw her glance at me, panicked, surrounded.
"Ye-Jun! It's using her memories—!" But I couldn't respond. My body isn't listening to me anymore. I was about to use my beastification but my body froze. Then suddenly a voice came directly in my mind.
It was none other than Volt, The Three headed Dragon.
A voice echoed in my head.
"Use your Beastification, but select me as your target."
I was about to reject him, thinking Ye-Rin and others could be in danger if volt is not present there but it seems he sensed my hesitation.
"You hesitate too much, child."
My spine tensed.Seo-yeon was already locked in a battle of whirling metal and psychic force. The kitchen-dream-world around us groaned under the strain—plates shattering midair, chairs exploding under pressure.
"Wow. First time you've offered that. Should I be honored or terrified?" I smirked, a little bit.
[ Beastification Activated]
[Target : Volt, The three headed Dragon]
Volt's voice echoed in the depths of my mind, calm yet thunderous:
"Then rise, child of thunder, Let their fear become your wings."
I closed my eyes.
And let go.
The world shifted in that heartbeat — not the dream world around me, but me. My bones cracked like thunder under my skin. My spine arched with a violent tremor. I wasn't just activating a skill.
I was becoming something else.
The wind around me pulsed like it was holding its breath.
Then—
Flames ignited from under my skin.
My body stretched, warped—legs growing longer, more powerful. My arms thickened.
Golden light burst from my chest, veins glowing as if I'd swallowed a sun. My fingernails blackened, then lengthened into razor-sharp talons. My skin hardened and split—replaced with shimmering golden scales, layered like armor, glinting with every breath I took.
Each scale radiated heat.
Power.
Legacy.
From my back, I felt pressure—then release.
Two massive wings tore forth, not feathered, but leathery and regal. They cracked open wide, stretching from shoulder to shoulder like molten banners. They shimmered gold in the dream light, every motion stirring the air like a dragon's roar trapped in wind.
My teeth sharpened.
My pupils narrowed into vertical slits.
And my tail—long, coiling, twitching with tension—snapped against the ground like a whip.
My voice had deepened when I spoke aloud.
"I am not just Ye-Jun anymore." My voice echoed as if two voices were coming at the same time. "We are Dragon."
My feet hit the ground—no, clawsnow. My boots had melted away in the transformation. Steam curled from where I stood. I could feel power humming through every nerve, like Volt had poured centuries of rage, patience, and pride into my bloodstream.
I stepped forward.
The Goblin Chief's eyes, which had mocked us only seconds ago, now twitched.
Not amused.
Not curious.
But afraid.