To Yeri's astonishment, the bullets seemed to slow to a crawl before her eyes.
She heard the sharp sound of glass shattering from the balcony.
Then, in the very next instant...
The group exploded, like balloons bursting apart.
Blood and flesh sprayed everywhere, splattering even onto her.
Everything happened so quickly that her breathing hitched, her mind became completely disoriented.
She could only stare blankly as the blood covering her body rapidly evaporated, while the scattered flesh ignited and crumbled into ashes until nothing remained.
None of it made any sense.
When she finally lifted her gaze again, the entire room was spotless.
It was as though everything that had happened only moments ago had never existed.
The only evidence left behind was the broken door standing wide open.
Then she heard the child hiss, his expression turning alert and furious as he shouted something she couldn't understand at whoever was behind her.
Yeri followed the direction the child was looking.
Standing by the shattered floor to ceiling balcony window was someone she never expected to see, someone she could never mistake.
Why is Shin Keir here?
Instead of feeling relieved, she only grew more confused, her brain going completely haywire.
Why is that balcony so easy for everyone to climb through?
Could it be that she's the only one who thinks they're on the fifth floor when, in reality, they're actually at ground level?
Standing against the backdrop of white snow, Shin looked like a grim reaper in a black coat.
He strode toward Yeri, but the golden snake resting around the child's neck like an ornament suddenly expanded to a massive size, lunging to attack him.
"Don't!" Yeri shouted instinctively.
But to her utter shock, Shin didn't react the way she did. He showed neither fear nor surprise at the otherworldly scene before him.
Instead, the golden snake seemed to realize that the person standing before it was an opponent it couldn't defeat.
It shuddered, trying to shrink back, but Shin suddenly materialized a sword out of nowhere and sliced through it as easily as cutting tofu.
The doll-like child screamed in fury, cursing at him, while black mist erupted from his body and rushed toward Shin, only to collide with an even larger mass of black mist as the two strange powers merged together.
Rather than retreating, the child snorted and threw one of the floating orbs at the severed golden snake. In an instant, it became whole again, hissing back to life.
Outside, thundersnow began to rage.
Shin reached out and touched the golden snake. It instantly dissolved into dark mist, crumbling away like dust. Then he picked up the child as though he weighed nothing at all.
The child dangled in his grip, screaming and cursing, only to be casually thrown outside as if he were nothing more than an object.
Yeri: "..."
If everything she had witnessed earlier wasn't already outrageous enough, then what was happening now was beyond anything she could even begin to describe.
Could it be that she had fallen asleep and woken up in some parallel world where everyone looked the same... except they all had supernatural powers?
Yeri blankly looked at Calin, covered in snow and shattered glass, Nina sleeping like Sleeping Beauty, and then outside, where Shin Keir was somehow fighting a child.
To make things even stranger, the weather outside continued to intensify. Yet despite the floor to ceiling window being completely gone, the room remained warm, and not even the slightest cold breeze drifted inside.
Yeri clutched her hair, not knowing what to do when she didn't even know what to think.
Perhaps biting her hand like they did in the movies would work. Without thinking, she bit down hard, but the pain did nothing to make her feel any better. She then looked at her reflection in the nearby mirror.
It was still her.
Barefoot, she walked to the door. The hallway was empty and eerily silent despite all the noise from earlier, as if the entire building had fallen asleep except for her and whatever was happening outside.
Who killed that group of men? Was it the child... or Shin Keir?
Is Shin Keir even human?
Yeri absentmindedly sat back down on the bed.
Outside, a heavy thud echoed.
Looking up, she saw another unfamiliar figure dressed in immaculate white and gold, restraining the child.
Even so, that beautiful child was far from easy to subdue. Time and again, he revived the golden snake, while the two floating orbs circling him transformed into enormous serpents.
Then a deafening rumble shook the air, and the balcony finally gave way, shattering into countless pieces as it collapsed below.
Yeri snapped out of her daze.
What if the entire building collapses?
Her gaze searched for Shin Keir as the battle drifted farther away, but the raging snowstorm obscured her vision. All she could see were waves of snow exploding into the air with each impact, hear the dull thuds of powerful blows, and catch muffled voices from Shin, the child, and the stranger in white speaking in a language she couldn't understand.
Standing there, Yeri suddenly caught a glimpse of the child.
Their eyes met.
Those ruby-red eyes stared straight into hers as the child's lips moved, saying something she couldn't comprehend.
Suddenly, a wave of dizziness struck her.
She staggered back a few steps before collapsing onto the bed.
It felt as though someone had opened a hidden room she had never known existed, a chamber buried deep within her mind whose countless locks were breaking one after another like the final seconds of a countdown.
Scenes surged forth, flashing before her eyes as though someone were frantically flipping through the pages of a book in mere seconds.
--
Outside, Shin immediately sensed that something was wrong with Yeri.
Fury flashed across his face.
With a wave of his hand, a colossal bolt of lightning descended from the heavens, striking where the child had been standing.
The child narrowly dodged it by a hair's breadth, shrieking in fury with several strands of his hair singed black.
Just as he was about to retaliate, countless arrows of light rained down from the sky, weaving together into a radiant cage that trapped him within.
"This is no place for demons to wage battle," the being from the Light Realm rebuked coldly. Turning to Shin, he demanded, "Emperor Hexion, did you not say there were no anomalies? Then why is the Demon Prince here?"
"Release me, you ugly creature!" the little demon screamed, struggling wildly. "I want my Mother Empress! Why do I sense Mother Empress from that human? You mad Emperor! What have you done to my Mother Empress?! Why is she so weak?!"
At that moment, he truly looked like nothing more than a child throwing a furious tantrum.
Shin ignored both of them and rushed back into the room.
The moment he stepped inside, his expression darkened.
Yeri was convulsing violently, her eyes had turned bloodshot, while black veins spread across her skin like twisting vines, crawling rapidly over her body in a web-like pattern.
He immediately placed a hand on her forehead.
At once, Yeri stopped convulsing but the damage caused some blood to slowly seeped from her nose and ears.
The being from the Light Realm appeared beside him, clutching the little prince, who continued struggling violently in his grasp.
"Emperor Hexion, this realm rejects outside entities. After what transpired earlier, this place itself could very well be in danger. The little prince must be returned to the Demon Realm immediately."
"I refuse!" the little demon shrieked. "You have no right to tell this prince what to do! Ugly creature, don't think you've won!"
"The manner in which he entered this realm must also be investigated," the Light Realm being continued gravely.
Shin's eyes blazed as the veins on his forehead bulged.
"No need to return him," he said through gritted teeth. "I'll end him myself. Right now."
"Not if I kill you first!" the little demon shouted back. "Wearing human flesh... don't you know how weak you are at this moment? Tell me where Mother Empress is, or I'll wipe out this entire human realm!"
Shin paid him no attention.
The sword in his hand released a terrifying murderous aura, its engraved runes glowing as though they had come alive.
The little demon prince's eyes narrowed, recognizing that sword as hatred surged within him.
The very same blade that had pierced through his Mother Empress.
Achlys.
Cracks rapidly spread across the walls, unable to withstand the overwhelming aura pouring from the two of them. The being from the Light Realm hurriedly reinforced the space, trying to keep it from collapsing.
"Emperor Hexion," he said sternly, "may I remind you that this realm is the only place where your Empress can continue to live."
Only then did Shin barely restrain himself, his icy gaze settled on his son.
"Then send that abomination back."
Before the being from the Light Realm could respond, the little demon prince sneered.
He pulled out a heavy black book, its cover engraved with ancient sigils and mysterious markings, flashed it before them, then quickly tucked it away again.
"Go ahead and open the dimensional gate," he mocked. "I'll simply return with the entire demon army and conquer this realm."
The being from the Light Realm was utterly stunned.
This little demon prince was every bit as insane as his father, the Demon Emperor.
More importantly...
How had he obtained that book?
It was no ordinary book. It was a key capable of opening dimensions, even possessing it wasn't enough but activating it required an intricate ritual, immense power, and extraordinary mastery.
"Emperor Hexion..." the being asked solemnly, "why does the prince possess the Key?"
Shin fell silent.
The Key was guarded by the Demon Palace Elders. Its location was known only to him and the elders, with his own demon beast standing watch over it.
"It must be a fake Key," Shin said at last.
Then he raised Achlys, clearly intending to beat the truth out of the little prince.
Seeing that the two were about to fight again, the being from the Light Realm had finally had enough.
"In the northeast, an avalanche has already occurred. The west has just experienced an earthquake, while the south is being ravaged by a thunderstorm."
Although this was the Arctic, and perhaps the only residents terrified by these disasters were the wildlife, especially the polar bears, if these two continued fighting, the entire building and everything surrounding it would be destroyed.
"The Light Realm exists to protect this realm," the being said sternly. "Breaking our agreement is no different from declaring war against us."