Mother Ship stared at what had once been “the mansion.”There was nothing left — as if the whole place had been swallowed by a black hole.When Hyde stretched out his hand, the bird flapped its wings and landed softly on his index finger.Blood dripped steadily from Hyde’s burst veins, streaking down his pale face.Yet his eyes were curved in a strangely serene smile.“In the Hell will now prioritize the extermination of Aengak and the goblins. Any being that threatens our family… has no reason to exist in this world.”If something posed harm to the youngest, then every sibling of In the Hell was ready to endure even a frozen hell to protect him.The bird took off again — faster than ever before.***“No… no!”Ji Woojae plunged through the smoke, searching desperately for the lump of earth that had called his name.But the sphere that had been visible only moments ago had vanished; no matter how wide he opened his eyes or how frantically he searched, he couldn’t find it.He swung his fists, trying to clear away the choking smoke.“Uichan!”His shout tore through the air like a blade.From within the darkness, another explosion thundered. The ground trembled, and Ji Woojae lost his footing, crashing face-first into the asphalt. Only after slamming his forehead against the ground did he spot it — a faintly glowing lump of dirt amid the rising smoke.“Uichan… Uichan!”He crawled frantically toward the sphere.And there, he saw them — grotesque creatures with unnaturally long arms and bulging bellies, numbering in the hundreds.They were gnawing at the embedded sphere, clawing and biting, trying to dig it up and tear it apart.But the lump of earth was solid — resilient enough to withstand every assault, as if determined to protect what it held inside.The goblin Chiryeong, who had dragged that earthen sphere down from the mountains, was trying to take it back to his lair.However, as they descended, the strangely thick forest turned against them. Trees struck at Chiryeong, forcing the sphere to veer away and roll toward the city. To divert attention from himself, Chiryeong had triggered the terror attacks, filling the streets with smoke.Yet the lump had wedged itself deep into the concrete, immovable.Worse, it drew in surrounding debris and gravel, hardening itself into a fortified shell.“Gwek! It’s stuck! Completely jammed in the ground! Kwak! Is it even possible to take this thing?”“Sir Chiryeong, we can’t! Kwak! It won’t move!”“We must take it. Do you know what’s inside? You can’t even imagine it. That’s why we have to!”Not long ago, Chiryeong had felt his twin brother’s death — the sudden severing of their shared soul.In that instant, a fragment of his brother’s memories burned itself into Chiryeong’s mind. The words had been disjointed, nearly incoherent, but the dying memory showed a pale, beautiful man — Uichan.Seeing the three small forms growing within the man’s belly, Chiryeong trembled with excitement instead of grief.According to the dying message, those beings were the only key to Aengak’s resurrection.At Chiryeong’s command, the monsters vomited torrents of acid.Ji Woojae, eyes wide and blazing, charged forward.“No!”A shadow the size of a mountain ripped the beasts away from the sphere.With each blow, monsters were torn apart, limbs snapping as their bodies slammed into the pavement.Charging headlong, Ji Woojae looked more like a beast than they did.Baring his teeth like an animal, he shielded the sphere.Sweat drenched his entire body; even as monsters latched onto him, biting and clawing, he didn’t allow a single one to approach the sphere.“Touch Uichan… and I’ll… I’ll kill you!”Anything within his reach, he struck.Each swing of his fist crushed skulls with sickening cracks.Waaah—Sirens and hero alerts wailed through the city.Trying to steady his frantic heart, Ji Woojae repeated to himself — they weren’t humans, they were beasts, monsters; killing them was fine.But the more blood soaked his hands, the harder he trembled.The past kept dragging him down by the ankles.Kwaaang—!Another explosion tore through the street. Ji Woojae stumbled, wrapping «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» his huge body around the sphere to shield it.Flames seared his back, skin blistering, but he held on.By now, the mangled corpses of monsters he had crushed piled high like a mound of graves.“You dare… kill my lost children?”Furious, Chiryeong bit into his own finger and flung drops of blood around him.His Ability, Soul Manipulation, controlled the spirits of the dead.The torn and mangled carcasses of his beasts began to twitch, reforming grotesquely as they rose again.Lurching like zombies, they charged straight toward Ji Woojae.They swarmed him like a pack of dogs, biting into his flesh.Chunks of meat tore loose; blood streamed down, pooling beneath his feet.Ji Woojae fought back savagely, ripping them away, slamming them into the ground with crushing blows.But then, the monsters began to change. Their bodies swelled, merging together — children turning into youths, youths into beasts.Soon they towered above Ji Woojae’s two-meter frame.—Grrr… grrk….Venom dripped from their blue-lit fangs.When the largest lunged, the asphalt buckled beneath its weight.Gunshots rang from somewhere, but Ji Woojae didn’t even register them — he was already charging.“We’ve found the villain suspected in the terror attack!”Ji Woojae and the monster collided head-on.Veins bulged grotesquely along his neck and face.“Uichan… I’ll… protect you!”He didn’t realize that heroes had already surrounded the area, closing off every escape route, or that more monsters were gathering beyond the smoke.“Your brother… will protect you this time. I swear.”The beast’s muscles swelled, its strength driving Ji Woojae backward, feet gouging trenches in the ground. Still, he fought with everything he had.—You’re not a bad person, hyung. You have kind eyes. There’s probably no one in the world as good as you. So live. I’ll take responsibility for what comes next.Those words — a single ray of light in his miserable life — had never left him.He had to repay them, even if it meant his life.Crack—The ground beneath Ji Woojae caved in.He gripped the monster’s neck and twisted with every ounce of his strength.Bones snapped, muscles tore, the sound like breaking wood.But suddenly the beast’s belly swelled, grotesque and unstable.Its mouth opened wide, gurgling acid.Gweeeeh—!Even then, Ji Woojae didn’t flinch.When the torrent of acid engulfed him, a blinding explosion ripped through the air with a deafening roar.Kwoooaaang—It was larger, sadder, than any blast that had shaken the city that day — as if the world itself were crying out.Yet in that fleeting moment, something precious happened.Behind Ji Woojae, a shadow that swallowed even the light wrapped around the sphere, protecting it.It held the lump gently, as though cradling it in its arms.Perhaps the sphere recognized it.Crack—The sphere, bristling like a hedgehog in defense, sensed the familiar aura.Realizing it was one of its siblings, it slowly opened.The shadow slipped inside, silently — as though sinking into a lightless burrow.***Why… is it so hard to breathe?Why does my head feel so heavy?Uichan tried to make sense of his state through the fog in his mind.But his body felt limp, as if he’d just awoken from an endless sleep.He tried to open his eyes, but they refused to move. Even his fingertips felt drained, lifeless.What happened…? Right — he’d been at Hyde’s mansion when the intruder came.He’d struggled to break free from their grip, and then there’d been a dizzying drop into darkness. After that, nothing.‘Something… happened, didn’t it?’Maybe the air was too thin — his head buzzed dully. He didn’t know where he was, only that he needed to get out.He reached out, groping blindly in the void.Then — crack — a faint sound of something splitting. The air shifted.Uichan flailed instinctively, but there was nothing to grab.Was he even moving? Panic tightened his chest; his breath came ragged.Then a cold hand cupped his cheek.“…Uichan.”Could a human voice really sound this calm, this still?In the dark, narrow space, that low voice pierced straight into his senses.The large hand holding his face brushed the sweat from his forehead, tenderly.“Uichan… it’s me. Please, open your eyes.”Summoning what little strength he had left, Uichan’s lashes quivered.As his breath came out in shallow gasps, something warm and damp pressed against his lips.The moment his body tilted backward, the gentle touch deepened, heavy and firm.

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