“Sunny,” Ethan rasps past his clenched jaw.
“I know.” I glance over my shoulder. “I’ll be careful.”
“Liar.” He gives me a strained smile. “Besides, I was about to say, ‘Go kick ass.’”
“That’s a given.” I give him a saucy wink, then turn back to face the Amheuk. “Now, withdraw your shield like a good husband. I’ll buy you guys time to retreat behind the wall.”
I throw a glimmering white shield over Ethan and our friends, drawing the Amheuk’s attention to me. But I flinch when it leans down and pushes its face through the clouds.
Its glowing red eyes exude pure malice—an evil so elemental that a scream lodges in my throat.Get it together, Sunny. That thing killed Minju and Jaeseok.I swallow my fear and meet its violent gaze with one of my own.
It will never take another life. I will not allow it.
Ethan finally withdraws his protective dome and staggers back, his knees buckling. Jihun and Cheyun each catch hold of his arms to support him, but they aren’t much better off. The exhausted group stumbles toward the gates to the capital, leaning on one another.
Once they are inside, I give the Amheuk my full, undivided attention.
“I am the goddess of Light.” I push forward the shield of light until the Amheuk squints against the glare. “Otherwise known asyour demise.”
I call to my Yeoiju, and the Cheon’gwang swells within it. The white light grows fast—too fast—making my entire body vibrate with unleashed energy. Before it can overwhelm me, I launch balls of light at the Amheuk, punching gaping holes across its body.
Its furious roar is the sound of nightmares—the sound of unimaginable pain and boundless fear. It resonates inside me, and I scream, gripping my head. I sink my teeth into my lip to stem my cry.
The Amheuk’s soul-rending howl morphs into an insidious laugh. I watch in horror as the holes mend themselves.
A strand of darkness unrolls from its stomach and whips down on me with incomprehensible speed. I feel the burn of ice across my chest, and my pained shout gurgles in my throat.
Gagging on my own blood, I glance down at the flayed gash on my chest, deep enough to show the whites of my upper rib cage. Shock shudders down my spine and my limbs, and I lock my knees to stop them from buckling.
“Mother ... fucker.” I grit my teeth until the gaping wound begins to heal—flesh, muscle, and skin knitting back together.
“Goddess of Light.” The Amheuk sketches a mocking bow. “Have you learned that a mere god is no match for the ancient force of darkness? Or do you need another lesson?”
“Oh goody. You can talk.” I spit a mouthful of blood on the ground. “That will make kicking your ass much less boring.”
The evil incarnate narrows its scary eyes into even more terrifying slits.
“Now, use your words and tell me.” I launch a volley of white cannonballs, making certain I get the fucker’s chest.Payback is a bitch.“On a scale of one to ten, how much does that hurt?”
The Amheuk resorts to more roaring and lashes down at me with four dark tentacles. I am ready this time and evade most of them, but one pierces through my thigh, wrenching a scream out of me.
“I ... told you ...” I growl, my hand already glowing with white light, “to use your words.”
I aim at the darkness and propel the light at its face. The Amheuk spins away, but not before the light burns a gash across his cheek. It groans, the grating sound rumbling through the sky.
I smirk, but ten more tentacles reach for me, wiping the smile off my face. “Shit.”
I fly headlong toward them, but at the last minute, I spin toward the left, evading all of them. Carried by their momentum, they crash into the ground where I stood mere seconds ago.
The choreography of violence stretches on without pause until I forget what it’s like not to be exhausted.
When will this end?
The Amheuk sprouts endless arms and whips them toward me again and again. And I launch my attacks of light, giving him hell right back. I want to teach the darkness to feel fear. I want it to fear pain—to fear death—before Iendit.
I flit through the air, weaving between the tentacles, but my luck runs out and one finally punches through my shoulder.
“Fuck me.” I groan.
