Chapter 50
The corridor stretched endlessly ahead.
Cold stone.
Dim torchlight.
Silence heavy enough to suffocate thought itself.
John walked ahead without slowing.
Not once looking back.
Princess Flora followed behind him slowly—
but her thoughts refused to stop.
---
The yellow light replayed inside her head again.
That pressure.
That overwhelming force swallowing the battlefield whole.
Princess (thinking): Forbidden sealing magic…
Her fingers tightened slightly.
That magic should not exist anymore.
Not in this era.
Not after it had been erased from history itself.
Yet these people used it effortlessly.
Like breathing.
Like it had never disappeared at all.
Her gaze slowly lifted toward John's back.
Princess (thinking): Who are these people…?
The question felt heavier now.
Because this was beyond assassins.
Beyond hidden cults.
Beyond underground organizations.
They had taken down:
elite warriors,
royal soldiers,
Guinevere,
everyone—
within moments.
And now they were controlling all of them like pieces already placed on a board long ago.
Princess (thinking): There's something much bigger happening here…
Her breathing slowed carefully.
Princess (thinking): How does an organization this powerful remain hidden from the world?
That was the part she couldn't understand.
Royal families monitored dangerous magic constantly.
Entire kingdoms fought wars over less.
Yet somehow—
nobody knew about this organization.
Not properly.
Not completely.
Princess (thinking): How can even the royal bloodlines know almost nothing about them…?
A colder thought followed immediately.
Princess (thinking): Unless someone wanted them hidden.
Her eyes narrowed slightly.
Then slowly—
her gaze returned to John again.
Princess (thinking): And you…
A pause.
Princess (thinking): Who are you really…?
---
John suddenly stopped walking.
Flora almost stepped into him.
Before she could react—
GRAB—!
Her breath caught sharply.
John grabbed her wrist—
then slammed her against the wall beside them.
THUD—!
Princess: "Wha—?!"
The impact stunned her for a second.
John stood close.
Too close.
One arm against the wall beside her head.
Blocking her path completely.
His eyes locked onto hers instantly.
Sharp.
Unreadable.
John: "You're thinking too loudly… and too dangerously."
His voice was low.
Calm.
Controlled—but unsettlingly heavy.
Princess frowned slightly.
A faint smirk touched his lips.
John: "I already know what question is forming in that mind of yours."
Flora stayed silent.
Because he was right.
John leaned slightly closer.
John: "You're trying to define us… categorize us… put limits around something you don't understand."
Princess narrowed her eyes.
Princess: "But I'm more curious about why you're holding me like this right now."
John looked slightly caught off guard.
Small.
Brief.
Then—
he laughed quietly.
John: "Princess… if I wanted you harmed, you wouldn't even have time to ask questions."
A faint smile appeared.
But something about it felt hollow.
John: "I'm only making one thing clear."
His eyes sharpened again.
John: "You are not in control of this situation—not even of your own thoughts right now."
Silence.
Princess's expression hardened slightly.
John continued calmly.
John: "You are not a threat to me. Not in strength… not in knowledge… not even in perception."
A pause.
John: "And neither is Guinevere."
That made Flora's eyes narrow instantly.
John: "Even after awakening what your world calls divine potential…"
His voice remained calm.
Cold.
John: "…she still fights inside rules I no longer belong to."
Princess stared at him.
Princess: "Why…? Chosen Angels are supposed to be among the strongest beings alive."
John became quiet.
A strange silence settled between them.
Then—
he spoke again.
Lower this time.
John: "Strength granted by devotion is still borrowed strength."
Princess stayed still.
Listening carefully.
John: "Faith."
Another pause.
John: "Obedience."
His eyes darkened slightly.
John: "Tell me, Princess…"
A faint smile.
John: "When belief fractures… what exactly is left behind?"
Silence.
Princess's expression shifted slightly.
Because she understood what he meant.
Guinevere had changed.
Long ago.
Less obedient.
Less devoted.
More human.
Princess: "…So you're saying power fades when faith fades?"
John gave a small shrug.
John: "Power doesn't fade."
A pause.
John: "It is simply no longer granted."
Flora's eyes sharpened again immediately.
Princess: "But your people were using more than faith."
A pause.
Princess: "That wasn't normal magic."
John smiled faintly.
John: "Normal is just the word people use for things they haven't survived yet."
Princess didn't react.
John leaned slightly closer.
John: "So ask yourself carefully…"
His voice lowered.
John: "What if the world you believe in is only one version of history?"
Silence.
Princess's heartbeat slowed slightly.
John: "What if…"
A pause.
John: "…forbidden magic was never forbidden at all—just buried."
That—
shook her more than she expected.
But before she could respond—
John laughed quietly again.
John: "Don't strain your mind over it."
He stepped back slightly.
John: "Some truths don't require your understanding to continue existing."
His eyes hardened again.
John: "You should focus on surviving instead."
Princess stared at him carefully.
Princess: "…Are you trying to warn me?"
John scoffed immediately.
John: "If I was warning you, you wouldn't still be standing here debating it."
Princess: "Then why say it?"
Silence.
Princess: "Why keep helping me?"
Another pause.
Princess: "What's your real goal?"
That question changed something in his expression.
Not anger.
Something sharper.
More distant.
John: "You assume there must be a goal."
Princess: "Liar."
His jaw tightened slightly.
John: "You mistake awareness for intention."
His voice lowered further.
John: "That's why you'll never understand the truth when it's placed directly in front of you."
Princess's eyes narrowed.
John continued quietly.
John: "You're not being led."
A pause.
John: "You're just unable to see the edges of the cage yet."
Flora stayed silent—
but anger slowly tightened inside her chest.
---
The prison cells finally came into view again.
John walked ahead.
Flora followed behind him silently.
Still thinking.
Still trying to understand him.
Then—
THUD—!
Flora almost slammed directly into the metal prison door.
Before impact—
GRAB—!
John pulled her back instantly.
Fast.
Instinctive.
Too instinctive.
The metal door slammed shut inches from her face.
Silence.
John still held her arm tightly.
And for a second—
neither of them moved.
Flora slowly looked at him.
Confused.
Suspicious.
Princess: "…Why?"
John immediately released her.
Stepping back again.
Rebuilding the distance between them.
John: "Don't misinterpret instinct as concern."
Cold voice again.
Controlled.
John: "You're still useful to us until the awakening."
Flora's eyes sharpened instantly.
Princess: "…The awakening of Monessa?"
John said nothing.
That silence answered enough.
Princess: "Why?"
No answer came.
John turned away.
Princess: "John."
He stopped briefly.
But didn't look back.
Then—
he walked away into the darkness.
---
Hours later—
the prison remained silent.
Flora sat inside her cell quietly.
Thoughts colliding endlessly inside her mind.
Then—
movement.
Guinevere's fingers twitched slightly.
Princess: "…Guinevere?"
Guinevere inhaled sharply before opening her eyes.
Instantly alert.
Her gaze scanned the prison immediately.
Guinevere: "…Princess."
Relief crossed her expression briefly.
Princess: "I'm alright."
Nearby—
Marco groaned awake.
Chris slowly pushed himself upright.
Bochy opened his eyes last.
The corridor slowly filled with exhausted voices.
Marco: "…What happened…?"
Chris gripped the bars tightly.
Chris: "Where the hell are we?"
Princess stepped closer slowly.
Princess: "They used forbidden magic."
Guinevere's expression darkened immediately.
Guinevere: "…I knew it."
Princess lowered her gaze slightly.
Princess: "But it's bigger than that."
Everyone looked toward her.
Princess: "Their goal is the same as ours."
Silence.
Chris frowned.
Chris: "…Awakening the gods?"
Princess nodded slowly.
Princess: "Yes."
A pause.
Princess: "But something about it feels wrong."
Guinevere narrowed her eyes.
Princess: "The masked man said he wants to awaken the gods as well."
Her voice lowered carefully.
Princess: "But… I don't think they want the same thing we do."
Silence settled across the corridor again.
Heavy.
Uneasy.
Princess's fingers slowly tightened at her side.
Princess: "…Then what are they really trying to do…?"
No one answered.
Because nobody knew.
And somehow—
that terrified her more than the prison itself.
Her thoughts drifted again.
Back to him.
Back to the corridor.
Back to those words.
What if history was simply rewritten?
Her chest tightened slightly.
Princess (thinking): And John…
A pause.
Princess (thinking): Why did he purposely tell me those things…?
Her eyes slowly narrowed.
Princess (thinking): Why give me so much information if he wants me blind?
Another pause.
Longer this time.
Princess (thinking): What are you really trying to do…?
...CHAPTER 50 ENDS...