"Yun Seojun's seal?" Llewellyn said, sounding equally startled. "You mean his dojang?"
"Yes! Look!" I sent him the picture from the post Opal had shared.
Dojangs—personal or official seals used in place of a signature—never really caught on in Innishae, except as gifts or tourist curiosities from a handful of specialty shops.
As a Korean scholar though, Yun Seojun used his a lot in all his records and correspondence. After his death, a grieving King Eoghan had kept it, ordering it added to all the statues of Yun Seojun he'd commissioned.
"What is Yun Seojun's seal doing in a cave on Mount Dalrin?!" Llewellyn asked, sounding as baffled as I felt. "This should be seal script. I can't read it. Can you google it?"
I did some quick research on Yun Seojun's dojang. "He had more than one, it seems. This should be the one he used the most later on in life. Wait, I'll send you the link."
Llewellyn hummed.
We discussed what all of that could mean, but we got absolutely nowhere.
"I'm getting a headache," I said with a sigh. "Why would any of this have anything to do with us anyway?"
"Good question," Llewellyn said.
"You want to look into it?"
"Honestly?" Llewellyn said. "We're involved enough as it is. Fighting Distorted Realms is necessary—no one else can and it saves people. That's fine. But as for all these other mysteries the System seems to be conveniently dumping on us, I'd much rather spend my time at home with—" He trailed off.
"With?"
"—you."
Oh. Uh.
My face went hot. How did people do this so easily?!
Ah, I really wanted to kiss him.
"I'm… also in favor of this plan," I said, clearing my throat.
"Yeah?" Llewellyn said, voice catching a bit. "Maybe we could—"
A blaring noise interrupted whatever he was about to say next.
[EMERGENCY ALERT! Distorted Realm Detected!]
[EMERGENCY ALERT! Distorted Realm Detected!]
[EMERGENCY ALERT! Distorted Realm Detected!]
Fuck—what!!!!
"Are you getting this too?!" I asked, scrambling up for my shoes.
"Yeah," Llewellyn said, cursing. "I'm hanging up. See you in thirty seconds."
"Alright. Penguin!" I called.
Fuck fuck. I was going for my shoes, but I was still in my pajamas!
I changed course, heading to my bedroom, threw on some jeans and a hoodie, and quickly splashed my face in the bathroom. The whole thing couldn't have taken me more than fifty seconds.
Penguin ran toward me, ready to go.
I put my Seashell White Trench Coat on.
Fucking hell. What was my life these days.
***
Penguin and I materialized somewhere in the middle of a forest.
It was nighttime. Winds howled around us, harsh.
Moonlight filtered through the trees, illuminating patches of snow and dead leaves, and my gaze landed on something not too far away that looked like… an abandoned shrine. A crooked orange-painted gate stood between the trees, with what looked like rope and paper streamers snapping in the wind.
Huh.
Everything looked ominous, and I couldn't tell what was real and what was part of the Distorted Realm.
I spotted Llewellyn standing nearby and exhaled in relief.
"Llewellyn!" I called above the wind. "Do you know where—"
"Japan," Llewellyn called back, before I could finish my question, jumping on a gust of wind and closing the distance between us in seconds. "I just checked."
That explained the day/night difference.
"How do we—" I started, but Llewellyn suddenly yelled "Shields up!"
A blade whistled past my ear.
I ducked on instinct, pulling Llewellyn down with me.
Fuck, that had been close. My heart slammed against my ribs.
Thankfully, Penguin had turned into a wristwatch the moment we'd landed, so at least he was less in danger.
Another blade flew toward us. Then another.
Dozens of them, flying through the trees.
What the fuck!!!
I rolled behind a tree trunk just as a bunch of daggers embedded themselves into the bark, and I activated Exploratory Analysis.
[System Notification: Exploratory Analysis is activated!]
Looked like the Elements here were Wood, Metal, and Air.
Llewellyn's sword was already out, deflecting the incoming attack.
"Fire's out!" Llewellyn yelled, ducking another blade. "As much as possible! We can't risk burning down the forest."
He was right, a forest fire now would be too dangerous, and it would make it impossible to find the Knot.
A gust of wind slammed into us both. I grabbed onto a root to keep from being swept away.
"Where are these swords even coming from!" I yelled.
Just as I said it, I saw a new swarm of them fly out of the shrine.
What the fuck!!!
The trees creaked and groaned. One of them reached for me, branches sharpening into wooden spikes.
I threw myself sideways, materializing my Moonlight Sword and summoning a harsh jet of Water through it to deflect the strike.
The wood splintered on impact, but more branches were already reforming.
"This whole fucking forest is hostile!"
"I noticed!" Llewellyn called back, fighting several swords by himself, cutting through a wave of flying blades. Sparks flew.
But more kept coming.
The wind picked up, howling through the trees, while more blades spun toward us.
I managed to fight back a few, but my sword skills were mediocre at best, and I was afraid of exposing my wrist too much in case one hit Penguin.
"We need to find the Knot," Llewellyn yelled, deflecting a katana mid-flight. "We're wasting time!"
He was right. But the trees were attacking us, the damn swords were attacking us, and because of the dark and wind it was hard to see anything!
I ducked under a swipe from a wooden branch and forced my way deeper into the forest, hacking at the leaves in my way, Llewellyn covering my back.
The trees seemed to close in around us, their branches reaching out, grasping.
I severed one with my sword. It fell, but three more took its place.
Penguin vibrated against my wrist. I could feel his agitation through the bond.
"Stay hidden!" I told him. "It's too chaotic now!"
The shrine loomed close now, half-swallowed by the forest.
More blades shot out from it. Llewellyn intercepted them mid-flight, jumping on a few he wouldn't have been able to avoid.
…Damn. That was insane. I wish I could just stop and watch.
"Let's try around the back!" I yelled as we passed through the gate, spotting a gap in the trees.
We circled the shrine, fighting through branches and dodging swords. The wind howled through the forest.
Suddenly, the itch in my chest slammed into me like a physical blow.
The Knot was there.
I gasped, stumbling.
"Ryo!"
"I'm fine," I gritted out. "Just—cover me for a second!"
I closed my eyes, letting the sensation drag me under.
The itch burrowed deep, scraping me raw from the inside, pulling me toward my own center—deeper, deeper—until something clicked.
Yes!
My vision shifted.
Colors blazed bright. The forest lit up with Threads—Wood, Metal, Air—spiraling inward toward the Knot like veins feeding a heart.
[System Notification: Elemental Insight is active! Flag for prioritization?]
The relief was so huge my legs almost gave out.
...But there was no time for that.
I reached out with my mind, locking onto a thick Metal Thread, and flagged it.
The Thread shuddered, opening up.
Metal creatures erupted from the fracture—humanoid figures made of interlocking blades, their joints grinding as they moved.
Llewellyn was on them in an instant, his sword blazing with Fire before dousing them immediately with Water so the Fire couldn't spread.
"I can take care of the Water!" I yelled. "I'll follow after you! Keep going!" I had practiced with Penguin after all. I could do this.
"Got it!" Llewellyn said.
The Metal creatures kept coming. Fewer swords were flying toward us, which meant opening the Thread had helped, but vines and branches still crawled around, trying to trip us.
I flagged a Wood Thread.
Wooden creatures came out this time—covered in bark, with too many limbs. I diverted a volley of swords and watched them collide against each other.
Good.
I dodged a stray blade, looking for another Thread to flag.
"Keep going!" Llewellyn shouted.
I scanned the Threads. An Air Thread was amplifying everything—but I couldn't flag it unless I muted some of the other Threads first, which took time. If I could just—
A gust of wind slammed into me before I could finish the thought. I was lifted off my feet and thrown into a tree.
The impact knocked the breath out of me.
"Ryo!"
I wheezed, sliding down the bark. My shield had taken most of the hit, but my ribs ached.
A wooden creature loomed over me, arm raised to strike.
The impact had knocked my sword out of my hand. There was no way I was going to reach it in time; the creature was too close. In a moment, I'd be—
Llewellyn jumped in front of me.