The Gamer's POV

"Seo-yeon?! What the... why? What are you? Why are you doing this? Why are you betraying us?!"

Sang-hoon began yelling questions like a terrified madman upon finally recognizing the person he had been fighting all this while.

Actually, truth be told, it wasn’t a fight, but more a one-sided beating.

No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t even harm her, and she just kept toying with him like a cat with a mouse.

"What is this? Answer me, Seo-yeon?!" He yelled at the top of his voice when she remained silent.

Still, she didn’t speak until after a few long seconds.

She exhaled and ran a hand through her hair, then said flatly, "Betray you? I never betrayed you guys."

"What? What are you saying...?" Sang-hoon’s confused expression deepened even further, and he yelled even louder. "You suddenly disappeared before the war. We looked for you but couldn’t find you! Then, while the others were at war, you went around killing all the Nagas in the city including the ones that were meant to defend this bridge. If that is not betrayal, then what is it?!"

Seo-yeon’s lips slowly curled upward into a small, tired smile. "I said I never betrayed you guys. How can I betray you when I was never one of you to begin with?"

"Huh...?" Sang-hoon’s brow knitted and his voice cracked as he stammered.

"Wh-what do you mean?"

Seo-yeon didn’t reply and just continued staring at him with the same cold, piercing gaze.

"I do not understand," Sang-hoon continued. "What do you mean by you were never one of us? Were you not also brought here by that God?"

Seo-yeon sighed and took her leg off his chest. Then she turned around and gazed blankly at the horizon.

Behind her, Sang-hoon, who still looked confused, added, "If... if you are not one of us, then whose side are you on? Why are you doing this? Don’t you care about what that God will do to yo—"

He was still speaking when Seo-yeon suddenly turned around and yelled. "He can go fuck himself!"

Suddenly, the air around her changed and the light dimmed. The hatred rolling off her was so palpable that Sang-hoon felt his breath hitch in his throat.

Seo-yeon clenched her fists and she trembled out of anger before taking in a long breath to calm herself. When she exhaled, she raised her right hand and the flames of decay began to dance across her fingertips. It was so powerful that the very stones beneath her feet started to crumble into dust.

Seeing that, Sang-hoon trembled. "No, don’t do this. We are the same kind, aren’t we?"

He suddenly seemed unsure of that last question. Regardless, he added. "...Please stop!"

He tried to rise, but all his limbs had been broken and twisted at unnatural angles. So all he could do was pitifully squirm against the cold ground.

As Seo-yeon crouched near his head, he leaned back and continued to whimper through his broken teeth.

"Stop this... you’re being more evil than the monsters we were sent here to rule!"

When he said that, Seo-yeon halted and arched a brow. "Evil?"

Her expression relaxed and she tilted her head. "Do not call me that. A Seraphid cannot be evil. However..." her cold eyes widened slightly as she began to bring her hand to his face. "To protect our master, we are willing to unleash the flames of decay buried within us."

With that, her fingers clamped around his face and suddenly, the flames of decay began to violently consume his head.

Sang-hoon yelled as the black fire spread down from his head, after which it began to consume his torso.

He thrashed and clawed at the air as the fire ate through his muscle and bone alike until eventually, nothing was left of him except the foul smelling wisps of green smoke that drifted upward toward the white stone walls.

For a moment, a heavy silence fell upon the space. Then Seo-yeon exhaled as she slowly stood up.

She ran her hand through her hair, scratching at her scalp frantically like someone trying to shake off a lingering itch or a bad memory, before finally putting the hand back into the pocket of her hoodie.

For a long moment after, she just stared at the ground where Sang-hoon had been.

After a while, she lifted her head tiredly and turned toward a few houses below the hill where the castle was situated.

Far away, in one of the flat-roofed structures made of sun-dried brick and stone, Seo-yeon could see two people hiding and shivering in horror. One was a girl of about eighteen and the other was a small humanoid creature with three eyes.

Through the eyes of a small raven perched on a nearby wooden beam, she could see that both of them were crouched low and sweating through their clothes in pure terror.

To be honest, she had seen them from the moment they arrived. They had stumbled onto the scene while she was still fighting Sang-hoon, and after witnessing her power, neither had dared to even breathe too loudly.

In fact, she could not feel any hostility from them.

Well, since neither of them was a threat to her or to Kim Min-jun, there was no need to bother herself with insignificant pests like them.

Instead, she turned toward the horizon, looking in the direction of the shore where the battle raged on.

’Next, I need to kill Hana and Ji-hoon.’

A frown creased her brow at the thought. Hana was, and had been, her best friend for a long time now.

The thought of killing her filled Seo-yeon with great bitterness. But then, she had to do it. Killing her would make things easier for Kim Min-jun, and so she could not hesitate.

Seo-yeon took a step in that direction, but then, she suddenly halted as she began to cough violently. Dark blood pooled in her palm, staining her pale skin. She doubled over as the fit continued to rack her small frame.

When it eventually passed, she looked at her palm with weary, vacant eyes, then sighed deeply. She didn’t look surprised or even particularly afraid anymore. She wiped the blood onto her shorts and straightened her glasses.

After pulling her hoodie over her head, wisp of black smoke began to converge at her back, after which they formed all six of her wings on her back. With a powerful flap, she took to the air in a sudden gust of wind and dust, leaving the empty silence of the castle behind.