Areum immediately ran out without heeding Oliver's orders not to leave the room. But before that, Areum summoned the soul dragon to protect the three who were still asleep.
"Milord..."
Along the way, the passageway is filled with glass on both sides. Because she was too focused on running, Areum didn't realize that someone was watching her from the reflection of the glass. The figure was exactly what Areum had seen before.
"Why..."
"Why is this lane so long"
The longer Areum runs, the end of the alley seems to move away. At the end of there it was very dark. There are no signs such as doors or turns, just straight.
Several times Areum checked her back, feeling that she was being watched. But there was no one there. Areum stopped running to catch her breath. She looked at the mirror next to her that reflected her reflection.
No creepy face of her appeared.
As soon as her breathing was under control, Areum ran back by calling her master.
Feeling that it was useless to keep running, Areum summoned a bat monster that could make a sound to detect every location. Once called, the bat emits an ultrasonic sound for echolocation.
Areum divided her vision and interpreted everything. Even though she could see the location of the passage, the end was still undetectable.
However, when Areum almost gave up, her echolocation found someone sitting not far ahead. Soon Areum ran and hoped that it was her master, Oliver.
From a distance, the silhouette of the person in front of her was visible. However, what made Areum confused was that the person sitting in front of her was not wearing the stamp that her master was wearing, but the clothes that Areum was wearing.
How could it be?!
Areum was cautious when approaching while preparing with her spear. And when the two were only a few meters away, Areum was really shocked and afraid that the one in front of her was herself complete with a spear of faith.
"You... Who are you?!"
Tap!
A touch patted Areum's shoulder. "Who?!"
However, when Areum looked back, there was no one. And when Areum turned around to look at her clone, she was still sitting there.
Wait, where's the spear?!
Trang!!
Areum's Spear of faith moved quickly to fend off the attacks coming from the glass.
"It's not fair..."
A whisper again sounded from behind Areum, right in her ear.
Areum threw a spear that attacked her and turned to attack her back.
"Who are you!? Show yourself, hurry!!"
"From the beginning I was always in front of you..."
When Areum turned her body around, the face she saw in the mirror, was right in front of Areum's face. Her pale skin and her look that seemed to hate and envy adorned her fragile face.
Without a doubt, Areum slashed her shadow. Just as spear of faith resisted the attack of her clone, the shadow spear also swiftly resisted Areum's attack.
"It's not fair..."
"Why do you live in peace when I don't..."
Areum didn't understand what her shadow was saying. "What do you mean...?"
Not answering Areum's question, shadow spear disappeared and reappeared from the mirror next door. Areum, which lost its balance because shadow was lost, almost fell down. And quickly Areum's spear held back and suppressed shadow attack.
"You should have died then..." said shadow as she unleashed a few punches towards Areum.
What was she talking about?
Areum removed her spear and quickly parried the blows aimed at her.
The battle is divided into two, where the two spears attack and deflect each other. Meanwhile, Areum was busy withholding shadow attacks.
"Die..."
"You don't deserve to live..."
Angry because she didn't understand and continued to be ignored, Areum tried to attack back.
"From earlier.... What are you talking about, impersonator?!"
Although the passageway was wide enough for a fight, several attacks from both Areum and her spear, shattered the glass that was around her.
The fight continued until Areum's shadow suddenly retreated.
What is-
No wait, that movement...
"Stop her!!"
Areum ordered her spear and summoned several wolves and monsters that had high speed to attack shadow.
"Can she really bring out all my skills?!"
Late.
Although Areum attacked quickly, the mock spear and several monsters coming from the mirror stopped them. "Damn! Since when did she summon this monsters?!"
There, Areum's shadow was finished with her summons. The soul dragon was now standing right next to her.
Impossible!
"Can she summon him with the full power of-"
Trang!!
Areum hadn't even blinked her eyes when the soul dragon's attack almost hit her neck. Also the spear of faith was unable react to the attack.
Luckily, Oliver left his angel to Areum earlier. One of Oliver's angels of death managed to withstand the deadly attack.
"Again, you were saved by him...!!"
Finally, Areum knew who the clone was in front of her. That was her before she met Oliver.
That when Areum was 19 years old, three years earlier. The moment where she was destroyed because of her family. Her father and mother who almost never returned home. And when one of them comes home, it must bring her affair. They have always ignored Areum and have never considered its existence.
All of that happens when the two become hunters. A relationship that was not based on love from the beginning, just fell apart.
Areum is an unexpected child from the relationship between her parents. Even since childhood, Areum has never been given affection because the two are busy with their respective jobs.
Areum's father and mother are not married, they only live under one roof and live their respective lives. And when there was an incident 10 years ago where people had a chance to gain power, Areum's situation became even worse.
Unlike those who lose affection from parents and vent it by seeking the attention of others, little Areum has no one to lean on.
Because of her shy nature and coming from an ordinary family, little Areum often received unpleasant actions from her friends. Even until the age of 19, Areum didn't have anyone to call friends or bestfriends.
When choosing a job, Areum chooses something that requires her to trust someone to be her master. Hoping that one day she could find someone who deserved all her trust.
However, 2 years passed without being able to find a suitable one. Areum really almost gave up then. She sat quietly on the side of the bridge. Her mind wandered far away. Asking why she had to go through all this. Is it true that God's destiny is best?
Areum has really reached the threshold of patience. Feel like she wants to jump and all suffering will end as soon as she closes her eyes.
But, Areum was surprised when a hot coffee was offered to her.
Curious, Areum saw who handed coffee. It was Oliver. At that time, Areum didn't know who Oliver was and why the person had gotten here.
"It's just ordinary warm coffee," Oliver said when he saw Areum who was just staring at him.
Although still confused, Areum accepted the coffee. "Thank you"
Oliver then sat down beside her. The two were silent in the silence of the night. Enjoy a warm coffee.
Unable to stand the silence, Areum asked, "I'm sorry, but what are you doing here?"
"No, I'm just looking for trust..."
Belief?
"Sorry, if I may know, what is your name? Looks like I've seen you before?"
Oliver stares at the sky full of stars. "Oliver…"
"Eh?! Aren't you that No. 1 hunter?!" Areum was shocked to see Korea's strongest hunter currently sitting beside her.
"It seems so..."
"What do you mean it seems like that?! you are a hero to Korean society!!"
….
"How can I be called a hero when someone is not doing well just sit here"
"That..."
How could I meet the hunter no. 1 out of so many people, Areum thought.
The two chatted while enjoying the beauty of the city at night greeting. Although this was the first time they met, Areum didn't feel awkward and talked a lot.
Hearing Areum's story, Oliver listens to it carefully and sometimes chimes in with it. A warm feeling that Areum had never felt before, was now warming her heart and mind.
It was the beginning of their meeting and the turning point of Areum's transformation.
Back to the present.
With the help of Oliver's angel of death, Areum managed to suppress her shadow. During battles, the thing that annoyed Areum the most was her shadow's ability to enter and exit mirrors anytime and anywhere. Although Areum smashes mirror, this seemingly endless passage makes it even more difficult.
However, Areum knew one of her master's angel of death skills, which was that he could kill anything as long as that thing was hit by his slashes. She came up with a plan.
"Annoying..." Areum's shadow was seen which seemed overwhelmed to withstand the attack.
And when the shadow was about to enter the mirror, Areum launched her plan.
"Now!!"
Soon the angel of death created a barrier and restricted the surrounding area to darkness.
Due to the absence of light, the mirror cannot reflect the shadow. Which made Areum's shadow unable to use her powers.
When cornered, Areum's shadow tries to create light from the friction of the colliding metals. Areum's shadow also summons bats and uses its echolocation abilities.
Once a light was created from the friction of the metal, Areum's shadow immediately used its ability to enter the mirror.
However, when shadow could see the light of the spark, Areum could also see it and know what her shadow would do.
"Check mate..."
Just as Areum's shadow entered the mirror, Areum ordered the angel of death to slash all the mirrors there.
One slash and all the mirrors in the barrier area were destroyed.
Areum didn't know if the angel of death's slash had an effect on her shadow or not. So, Areum ordered him to remove the barrier and see if shadow would appear again.
1 minute passed, but Areum's shadow still showed no sign of attack. So, Areum concluded that her shadow was dead.
Areum ran again to catch up with her master. While running, along the hallway Areum found scattered mirror fragments. And thanks to the angel of death, Areum knew that her master was not far from her.