Dunha opened her eyes and found herself surrounded by hundreds of corpses. She then quickly stood up horrified.
"W-What is this?!" Dunha shouted.
No matter where she looked, she only saw the corpses scattered everywhere.
"Wait a minute... These are the soldiers from my battalion!" she thought.
From the distance, she saw a village engulfed in flames as the villagers filled the air with their screams of agony.
After recognizing the corpses as the soldiers from her battalion, Dunha realized that she was at the village where she suffered her first devastating defeat. Her armor was covered in blood, her sword was shattered and her shield was nowhere to be seen. She remembered that this was the aftermath of the ambush that was set by the raiders.
Suddenly, she felt something grab her ankle.
"!" (Dunha)
To her shock, it was one of the children from the burning village. She was holding a stuffed animal that was missing half of its body and looked at Dunha with emotionless eyes.
"My mama... They're hurting her... Please save her..." said the young child before collapsing.
Dunha quickly picked up the child and was horrified. The child's eyes were completely black as blood dripped down her eyes. She quickly let go of the child which caused her to hiss at Dunha.
Suddenly, dozens of arms rose from the ground and grabbed Dunha's leg, and attempted to drag her underground.
"What is this?! Let go of me!" she shouted as she attempted to break free from their grasp.
As she continued to struggle, a large crowd of dark figures appeared in front of her as they looked down on her with a smirk.
Among the group, a beautiful woman with long dark hair, wearing a gold miner's cap, appeared right in front of her. She also looked at Dunha and smirked.
"!" (Dunha)
Dunha recognized the woman with the miner's cap.
"Coal?" Dunha murmured.
The woman then waved at her.
Suddenly her eyes were filled with rage.
"COOAAALLLL!!!" Dunha shouted as she broke free from the arms that were trying to drag her down.
She charged at Coal with her broken sword and stabbed her heart with great force.
As Coal was stabbed, she suddenly melted into black goo and replaced her appearance with somebody else.
Much to Dunha's horror, Coal changed into her brother, Luke Star.
He looked at Dunha with his eyes wide open, out of shock that she stabbed him.
"N-Noona?" Luke weakly mumbled before collapsing to the ground.
Dunha dropped her broken sword and stared at her brother's corpse with a horrified expression.
"N-N-No... What have I done?" she mumbled. "I-I just killed my baby brother..."
Dunha fell on her knees and lifted Luke's body. She slowly touched her brother's face with her hand that was shaking.
Suddenly, her brother's eyes opened as wide as they could while making an abnormally wide smile that an ordinary human couldn't make. Luke then suddenly grabbed Dunha and hugged her tightly as he attempted to drag her underground with him.
Dunha was still in a state of shock so she did not notice that she was sinking. Just as half of her body sank underground, she heard a voice.
"Dunha?"
Who's voice is that?
"Dunha!"
Before Dunha could completely sink underground, she managed to open her eyes and wake up. As she woke up, she was panting heavily as her body was covered in sweat.
She then sighed in relief when she realized that everything she saw was all just a dream.
It was revealed that Dunha's mother was calling out for Dunha, her eyes were filled with worry.
"Dunha, are you alright? You were screaming and crying!" a worried Seo-Yeon asked.
Blue was also behind Seo-Yeon and looked at Dunha with a worried expression.
"It... It was..."
Dunha tried to explain that it was just a nightmare but looking at Seo-Yeon made Dunha tear up again. She then proceeded to hug her and cry.
Although it's been decades since the tragic defeat that she suffered, it was still a painful thorn in her heart. After seeing her mother again after many years, it warmed Dunha's heart and caused her to cry again.
"Dunha... Calm down! Did you have another nightmare?!" Seo-Yeon asked.
Dunha managed to stop crying, however, her eyes were still teary as she also got the hiccups.
"It was *Hic* something similar *Hic* from last night..." said Dunha as she tried to stop crying.
Suddenly, Blue approached Dunha with sad eyes and placed his hands on her back.
"Cor Illius Leniret," Blue whispered.
When Blue finished his chanting, Dunha suddenly started to feel better and managed to calm down.
"What did you do?" Seo-Yeon asked.
"I used a calming spell. She should be calm for a while," said Blue.
"T-Thank you..." Dunha murmured.
"Don't mention it," said Blue as he warmly smiled. "So, Dunha, can you tell us what you dreamed about?"
"Blue!" Seo-Yeon shouted, out of concern that as it might cause Dunha to have another breakdown.
"Don't worry, the spell will prevent her from feeling scared for a few hours." Said Blue.
Suddenly, a screen popped up in front of Dunha once more.
[The skill "Fearless" has been activated through outside assistance. You will no longer experience fear for 10 hours.]
Duration: 09:59:55
[New skill unlocked! "Fearless"]
Does this mean that I can receive the skills that anyone uses on me? I'll have to keep that in mind... Nevermind with that! I can't believe I cried in front of my mother and uncle! How embarrassing...
Dunha shook her head to clear her mind and looked at Blue with serious eyes.
[Your "Actor" skill has been activated!]
"What does "aphrodisiac" mean?" Dunha asked with the most innocent eyes.
"H-Huh?!" (Seo-Yeon)
Seo-Yeon was flabbergasted at what Dunha asked them. Blue stood still as if he was frozen solid. He was also caught off guard as well.
"W-Where did you hear that from?" Seo-Yeon asked.
Dunha noticed that her mother was blushing but she pretended to not notice it.
"T-The head-doctor... I heard him talk about selling them to somewhere as "potions"... He saw me hear him and threatened to harm mama and papa if I tell... *Gasp!*" said Dunha as she gasped at the end of her sentence to make her look like she said something she shouldn't.
"What?" Blue asked with a serious expression.
"Mason... She's talking about Mason Archivo." Seo-Yeon angrily answered.
"Mason?! Wasn't he a former supporter of the old king?! Why did you place him as the head-doctor?!" Blue shouted.
"Oi, don't shout at me. Also, I didn't hire him. Henry did out of pity and because his medical skills were decent. But I guess he was wrong," said Seo-Yeon. "I was planning on finding an excuse to get rid of him and now... I found a reason."
"Indeed," said Blue.
Seo-Yeon and Blue were making menacing smiles which caused Dunha to flinch.
However, she was more happy than scared.
"Yes! If he gets replaced with the vice head-doctor, mother's survival might be possible!" Dunha thought.
Dunha then made an evil smile as well.
If someone had walked in during those few minutes, they would've most likely fainted.
(To be Continued)
2020.03 24