Ji-hoon, you were always born for our purpose... and now it's time to fulfill your destiny.
Sera's voice flowed through Su-yeon's lips, deeper, older than before.
Ji-hoon stood still.
Su-yeon's body twisted with black veins, eyes swallowed by darkness.
"Sera," Ji-hoon said calmly. "Get out of her."
Sera smiled grotesquely. "How will you stop me? You've only just begun to awaken."
Through Ji-hoon's new senses, he saw it—Su-yeon's consciousness, faint but fighting inside the corruption.
"Su-yeon," he called. "Resist her."
A flicker of Su-yeon's true self surfaced. A stutter in Sera's control.
Ji-hoon seized the moment. Silver light surged from him, striking into Su-yeon's chest.
Sera shrieked. "You're killing her!"
No. Setting her free.
But hesitation cost him—Sera's hand lashed out, clawing Ji-hoon's throat.
"The Shadow King wants you," Sera hissed. "You're his vessel."
"What is the Shadow King?" Ji-hoon gasped, buying time.
Sera laughed, a sound like shattering glass.
"He's the creator. The god of the mirror world. And he's coming for you."
Ji-hoon's grip tightened on a nearby photo frame. He hurled it—missed.
In a blink, she was before him. Her hand pressed against his forehead.
Visions exploded.
An endless being of black eyes. A storm of shadows devouring worlds.
The Shadow King.
"You can't resist him," Sera whispered. "He's already inside you."
Black tears bled from Ji-hoon's right eye. His body convulsed.
'Since your birth,' the voice said. 'You were made for me.'
No. I am my own.
But the black veins crawled faster now. Ji-hoon's human side losing ground.
→ [To be continued in Episode 50]
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