“Grandmother, stop,” I shout.
The monster’s hand pauses, and it tilts its head toward me. The growling and clicking return, and it rises to its feet with surprising fluidity. Then ... it’s upon me before I can blink. My head hits the floor with a thwack, and pain rings through my skull.
Its jaw unhinges, the smell of rot and death bathing my face, and it bites down on my shoulder. I scream as its teeth drill down to my bones. I thrash my legs against the pain, and consciousness becomes too muchto bear. My eyes roll back, and darkness edges into my vision, but my survival instinct belatedly kicks in.
I punch the monster’s head, and I knee its ruined stomach. Yet the Donggul Monster doesn’t budge. It only clamps down harder into my shoulder, and I hear the crunch of bones.
I cry out in agony, and my Yeoiju cries with me.Help.I feel my Yeoiju unfurl, and the four life forces spin and expand inside me. The shivers running down my body become violent until I flop around on the ground like a fish out of water.
Then, at last, the light of the Yeoiju explodes out of my chest, my back arching from the force.
But the monster remains on top of me, unaffected by the white light. My vision wavers.Of course.This monster has the power of the gods, but it isn’t the Amheuk. The white light can’t kill it.
I ... I have to remember something. It’s important.
I can’t ... kill the monster. Not until I absorb its gi. Everything will be ruined if I don’t absorb the divine life forces inside it.
Draco. Minju. Jaeseok.
I push weakly against the Donggul Monster as it tugs on one of my arms, like it’s toying with it before it tears it off.
“Ungnyeo,” Hwanin roars and jumps onto the monster’s back. “I know you are in there, somewhere deep and dark. Find yourself, one last time. I know it hurts. I know you are scared. But you have to come out of hiding. Fight the madness.”
The monster slaps at its own back, trying to dislodge Hwanin, but the old man hangs on tenaciously.
“Look down, Ungnyeo.” He shakes the monster by its hackles. “That is yourgranddaughter. She is Dangun’s daughter.”
The Donggul Monster finally lands a hit on Hwanin and throws him to the ground. Then it lumbers to its feet and steps on Hwanin’s head, crushing it into a red pulp. I watch, lying on my back, and sob brokenly.
I don’t know if I’m crying because of the agony in my ruined shoulder or from the shock of seeing my great-grandfather’s headsmeared on the ground. What he did to my grandmother and the countless suhoshin cadets is unforgivable. But he tried to do the right thing in the end. He tried to save me.
The monster seems ... confused as it stares down at the limp, headless body of the former god. I force my limbs to move, and flip over to my stomach. When my shoulder begins to heal and the pain passes enough for me to see straight, I crawl up to my knees.
I have to do this—not only for Ethan and my friends—but for my grandmother. Hwanin said she’s still in there somewhere. Only I can help her. I don’t resent the lonely power of the Yeoiju anymore. Because of it, I can untangle the curse that broke her mind. I can free her from her tortured existence.
“Grandmother,” I whisper, pressing my hands against my chest. I summon my Yeoiju.We have to help her.“Grandmother, hear my voice.”
The Donggul Monster growls and clicks, then she slowly hobbles toward me, leaving bloody paw prints on the floor.
“Help me, Grandmother.” My husky voice breaks on the last word. “I need to absorb yourgito stop the Amheuk from destroying the Realm of Four Kingdoms. If I don’t stop it, it will destroy your beloved Mortal Realm next. That’s my home too. So please. Help me, Grandmother.”
The monster pauses halfway, as though she hears me.
I rise to my feet and reach my power toward her, expanding the light of my Yeoiju. And she allows my magic near her. But as soon as I come into contact with her psyche, I flinch and draw back my power.
She is hurting so much.
The four strands of divine life forces struggle inside her, fighting each other. Their strife is tearing her apart—her soul, her mind, her body—but the immortality of the divinegimends her, only to rip her to shreds all over again in a torturous cycle.
I harden my resolve and delve my magic deeper inside her, cold sweat breaking out on my forehead. The four life forces are frantic—their discord too jarring. I have to unravel the knot of divinegibefore I can absorb them. But they are tangled so badly that I don’t know where to start.
What do I do?
Panic unfurls in my stomach, and indecision threatens to paralyze me all over again. My gaze jumps frantically over the monster. She cocks her head at me, like she’s trying to decide whether to keep cooperating or to just kill me.
Fuck this.
I have always been an intuitive person. There’s no reason to stop listening to my gut just because the fate of the worlds hangs in the balance. Led by pure instinct, my magic pulls at the silver thread first. It is Hwanin’s gi, and it unravels from the knot without resistance. I had a feeling it would be cooperative.
