His body dropped instantly.
No time to scream. No time to speak.
Blood pooled at the base of the ancient gate.
The group froze.
Even Steve couldn't look away.
Dara gasped. Jin swore under his breath. Even Lee Hyun's eyes twitched.
"Steve!" Lee Hyun shouted, panic rising. "What the hell is happening?!"
Steve stepped forward slowly, chest rising and falling. His hand reached into his jacket "why is it getting so warm." the tavis pulsed like a living heart.
He didn't flinch.
"I'll handle this," he said. "Let me check the door."
He moved toward the carved entrance, eyes scanning the runes, the cracks, the strange glow still flickering from the edge of the arch. Then, he crouched.
There was still blood on the floor of Min Seo's.
Steve hesitated for only a second, then dipped his fingers into the blood and draw the lines across the door, near the frame.
A soft hum. Then a burst of light.
The door responded.
Glowing lines snaked across the arch like awakening veins. The runes shifted… then stilled. The danger, it seemed, had passed.
"It was sealed," Steve said, standing up. "Some kind of old spell. Blood was the key."
Everyone looked at him not as the weak link this time, but with something close to respect.
Lee Hyun sheathed his blade. "If anyone wants to back out, now is the time? This isn't what we trained for."
No one moved.
"I'll go," said Dara.
"Same," Jin muttered.
"Let's end what we started," Hwan added.
One by one, they nodded.
"Alright," Lee Hyun said. "Stay sharp."
The group crossed through the safe door and into a wider, empty stone hall. The walls were smooth, polished obsidian.
Lee Hyun nodded. "We move on your signal."
The ancient voice echoed through the chamber, as they entered.
"Only the one who does not cast a shadow may touch the crystal. Others… will face the wrath of reflections."
"What the hell is happening?" Jin whispered, his voice shaky, stepping back toward the sealed door.
Dara's gaze, however, was fixed. Unblinking
Her eyes slowly moved to the glowing crystal.
Dara's gaze, however, was fixed. Unblinking
"Wait..Dara," Steve said, but it was too late.
She stepped forward, the torchlight trembling in her hand, casting her long shadow over the crystal as she approached towards it. She reached out, slowly, her fingers brushing the glowing surface of the crystal.
Then...
A ripple ran across the giant crystal.
From its smooth surface, a figure emerged silent, shimmering.
Everyone froze.
It was… Dara.
An identical copy, her same face, her same stance but with glassy, empty eyes.
Dara gasped, torch flickering in her hand. "H-How… how can it look like me?"
Before anyone could speak, the clone rushed forward, unnaturally fast.
"Dara, move!" Lee Hyun shouted, stepping in.
His sword slashed across the clone's chest with a spark the figure shattered into glimmering dust.
Everyone took a deep breath.
"That was easier than I thought," Lee Hyun said.
But the moment was shattered.
Rippp...
Behind them, the mirror shimmered again and this time, two more clones of Dara stepped out. Perfectly in sync. Eyes glowing cold.
"What the...?! Are you kidding me." Jin shouted.
Dara stepped back, terrified. "They're multiplying?!"
Lee Hyun raised his blade again.
"No...don't kill them!" Steve shouted suddenly, his voice sharp and urgent. "Don't attack!"
Lee Hyun stopped mid-swing. "Why?"
Steve's eyes locked onto the mirror. "I… I think the voice was a warning, not a threat. The clones...if someone other than the original kills them they keep multiply."
The group went silent.
Steve took a deep breath, thinking hard.
The riddle… the shadow… the torch…
He shut his eyes. Then opened them slowly.
"I got it," he whispered. "We've been doing it wrong."
But before he could explain, one of the clones made its move.
It dashed forward and delivered a quiet, sudden blow straight into Dara's chest.
She gasped.
Blood bloomed across her uniform.
"Dara....!!" Jin screamed.
She collapsed to her knees, then to the floor.
Still.
Silent.
Dead.
The room pulsed red.
And Steve felt something deep inside shift like the tavis in his jacket had just sensed it too.
The torch slipped from Dara's hand.
It rolled across the ground slowly, and the torch stopped right in front of the big crystal wall.
Suddenly, the light from the torch shined directly on the crystal and something strange happened.
The crystal started glowing.
Everyone looked up, confused.
Then, right in front of their eyes, the crystal showed their reflections.
Steve,Jin,Lee Hyun, kyo,Hwan everyone standing there.
And the next second… their reflections stepped out.
Clones of each of them, walking out of the crystal like ghosts.
They looked exactly the same, but their eyes were empty and glass, and their faces had no emotion.
Jin's voice shook. "What is this…?"
"They're… us?" lee hyun whispered.
"No," Steve said slowly. "They just look like us."
The clones stood still, staring at them weapons in hand.
No one knew what would happen next.
END OF CHAPTER.