The Final Collapse
Are you mentally prepared?
Sehwa stood in front of Yuria’s room, her question hanging in the air. The Doctor took a deep breath, exhaled slowly, and nodded.
“I’m fine.”
She said the words, but the tension still gripped her. The truth she had stumbled upon by chance was that shocking. Even as her mind shattered and reassembled itself, she found it strange that she could still maintain some semblance of reason.
While the Doctor fought to keep her sanity intact, Sehwa’s serious voice reached her.
“I already told Sister Yuria not to lay a hand on you, so don’t worry.”
It meant she had given an order… Did that make Yuria lower in rank than Sehwa? At the very least, it was clear she was a demon. Still, the Doctor knew she would only feel satisfied after hearing everything directly.
“…Aren’t you coming in?”
“I’ll go in with you, but I’ll remain a strict observer until the conversation ends. Ask Sister Yuria directly about anything you’re curious about regarding her.”
“Will Yuria really tell me the truth?”
“She definitely will. And if Sister Yuria lies, I’ll correct her. Is that acceptable?”
Sehwa’s words carried credibility. If so, there was no problem at all. Having finished her preparations, the Doctor gave a single firm nod. Sehwa then entered the passcode and opened the door, gesturing for her to go first. The Doctor cautiously stepped inside.
The room had the same sterile feel as before—white walls covering every surface, like a hospital ward. On the bed sat Yuria with her legs crossed, gazing at the Doctor with an arrogant expression. The atmosphere was on a completely different level from when she had been bound. The air itself felt icy, as if her lungs would freeze with every breath.
Was Yuria’s gaze always this sharp…?
It might have been because of the current situation and the realization that Yuria was on the enemy’s side. Overwhelmed by the pressure, the Doctor unconsciously took a step back. After a brief silence, Yuria spoke.
“Since when…?”
At those words, Yuria’s cheeks lifted in a smirk. She scoffed and answered.
“Since when have I been like this? For a very long time. Long before I was summoned in Lyon, I was already Master’s servant.”
The Doctor clutched her forehead and staggered. Had Yuria just referred to Tyrat as Master? The enemy who killed her parents? And she had lowered herself by calling herself a servant? Just what kind of being was Tyrat? How had he corrupted Yuria like this?
Leaning against the wall to steady herself, the Doctor bit her lower lip hard.
“You had a clear purpose… You were obsessed with killing Tyrat. You needed to avenge your parents, your fiancé, and your kingdom…”
“Revenge? No. What I hated more than anything was how my so-called father rejected Master’s mercy. Even though Master offered to rule the kingdom for him, Father became drunk on power and drove the citizens, the knights, the soldiers—and even Mother—into the jaws of death.”
Yuria’s kingdom had suffered a sudden invasion. That was why she had come to Earth through the portal created by the mages—to take revenge on Tyrat and prevent any more innocent victims. Yet here was a victim granting legitimacy to the invader… Combined with the way she called him Master, it was clear Yuria had fallen far beyond anything the Doctor had imagined.
“Yuria… What about your father who was reincarnated…? What about Kim Taegon, who’s on Earth right now…?”
Yuria let out a sharp, mocking laugh. It was blatant ridicule. Goosebumps ran down the Doctor’s spine as her eyes widened.
“Doctor, let’s stop with the pointless melodrama, shall we? And do you really believe reincarnation exists? I believed it with absolute certainty before Master took me in, but I thought you wouldn’t be that naïve…”
“What…?”
Kim Taegon was definitely a real person. The Doctor had verified the information herself and even checked his business connections with Jihyeok. She had seen his face. He was a dignified middle-aged man who looked perfect in a fedora and suit. Yet Yuria was treating him as if he had never existed…
Was Kim Taegon a fabricated persona…?
A deliberately crafted being used to approach Yuria under the pretext of reincarnation. No, it had to be even more intricate than that. The person closest to Yuria had been the reincarnated Kim Taegon. By staying constantly by her side, he must have shaken her values to their core. And there was only one person the Doctor could think of capable of breaking Yuria’s iron will.
“D-don’t tell me… Kim Taegon was Tyrat in disguise…”
At the Doctor’s murmured words, her hand covering her mouth, Yuria lifted one corner of her lips in a smirk.
“You deduced it well.”
Yuria had personally confirmed the hypothesis. The Doctor staggered, nearly collapsing, as her thoughts turned to Jihyeok. The reason he had been acting strangely lately must have been because of Kim Taegon. Since he was Jihyeok’s business partner, they would have spent a lot of time together. He must have lured Jihyeok in with sweet words during that time.
While the Doctor struggled to force her reeling mind to work, Yuria spoke again.
“Doctor, would you like some advice?”
“…?”
“Stop trying to think for yourself and reach your own conclusions. It’s too hard to bear when everything you believed in collapses. Just ask me anything. I said I would answer, didn’t I?”
When everything she believed in collapses? The Doctor didn’t quite understand. But she did understand the warning not to indulge in delusions. Indeed… it would be better to ask Yuria and hear the answers directly. With cold sweat soaking her face, the Doctor nodded.
“…Alright.”
“Next question?”
“You too… Do you have a true form like Sehwa?”
At those words, Yuria hopped down from the bed and stood directly in front of the Doctor. Then, with a wicked smile, she concentrated her power.
In the next instant—whoosh!
A ferocious energy erupted from the tips of Yuria’s toes and began transforming her entire body. The same stigma as Sehwa’s appeared on her lower abdomen. Her nails sharpened into claws, her lips turned a deep, vivid red, her irises became purple, and her pupils narrowed into vertical slits… The transformation was so violent it felt brutal. It was nothing like Sehwa’s gentle change.
The overall form was similar to Sehwa’s, but there was one clear difference: her hair. Unlike Sehwa’s soft lavender, Yuria’s hair was as dark as the abyss. Just like her current heart.
Scary…
It was truly terrifying, unlike with Sehwa. She looked like she could pierce an enemy’s skull without even blinking. Trembling as she watched Yuria’s true form, the Doctor narrowed her eyes when she sensed something familiar from the black energy radiating off her.
It was the same feeling she had gotten from Sehwa. What exactly was this? Even in her dazed state, the Doctor focused with all her might, trying to analyze the energy. But Yuria released her transformation almost immediately, causing the aura to vanish before she could grasp it.
“That’s enough for now. Do you have another question?”
It was a shame, but there was nothing she could do. Yuria clearly held hostility toward her, not goodwill. Asking her to stay transformed would be pointless. Suppressing her fear, the Doctor asked the question she truly wanted answered.
“Why did you toy with me…? If you were planning to bring me here anyway, you could have kidnapped me back in Lyon. Why did you follow me around and help me? Were you trying to see how much I would figure out?”
“You’re sharp. Master was truly troubled by your little escapades. Even after coming this far, you kept trying to run off. That’s why the plan went off track again.”
“The plan went off track…?”
“Originally, I was supposed to keep acting until I drove your mind into the deepest pit possible. But… it doesn’t matter anymore. The process to make you accept demonic energy has progressed far enough.”
At those horrifying words, the Doctor’s body shuddered violently.
“Demonic energy…? Process…?”
“How exactly did you discover me, Doctor?”
How… She had been trying to contact Jihyeok when she heard faint footsteps and hid. She had picked up a sound she normally would never have noticed. She had thought it strange at the time, and now that Yuria was asking this…
“Could it be… that I’m changing right now?”
“Correct. I believe you already know the cause.”
Blood… Sehwa’s blood was changing her. It seemed to have sharpened all five of her senses. And since Yuria had called it demonic energy, Sehwa’s blood must have contained the unique demonic power of their kind. Was that how she had gained this new strength?
As the Doctor tried to organize her complicated thoughts, Yuria’s next words made her flinch.
“If you had kept the incident you witnessed in Lyon locked away in your heart, you would be living a very comfortable life right now. But you kept sticking your nose into our business, so we had no choice but to turn you into Master’s kin.”
“Kin…? You mean I’m going to become Tyrat’s…?”
“You can hear the rest from Sehwa. It seems my role ends here.”
With that, Yuria waved her hand through the air. The monstrous portal the Doctor had grown sick of seeing appeared before her eyes, its maw opening wide to swallow Yuria before vanishing.
Stunned by the impossible sight, the Doctor stood with her mouth agape before snapping back to her senses. There was something far more urgent right now. The fact that she was becoming Tyrat’s kin… She needed to confirm that immediately.
“Lee Sehwa…!”
With a furious expression, the Doctor stormed over to Sehwa and demanded,
“Was what Yuria said true? Did you feed me your blood… to turn me into Tyrat’s kin…?”
“Doctor. Calm down first.”
“Explain it to me…! I need an explanation before I can calm down…!”
“…Alright. Sister Yuria only spoke the truth.”
“You—!”
“But I have no intention of forcing anything on you. The choice is entirely yours. Think back to what I told you last time.”
What she had said last time…? Ah. After revealing her true form, Sehwa had told her that if she ever wanted to become family, she could say so anytime. Sehwa’s family meant becoming a demon. And Sehwa had left the decision entirely to her.
The sense of betrayal that had consumed her entire being faded considerably. Tears spilled from the Doctor’s eyes.
“Then… I won’t be forced to change…? That’s what you’re saying…?”
“Yes. Of course.”
“Hic…!”
If this had been the old Doctor, she would never have believed Sehwa’s words. But after receiving enough blood and being conditioned by her, the Doctor’s heart now saw Sehwa as someone she could rely on. As if sensing this, Sehwa slowly approached and pulled her into a gentle embrace.
“We love you so, so much, Doctor. So please don’t worry too much. We’ll leave everything up to you.”
The Doctor nodded frantically, but she couldn’t help wondering why Sehwa had used the word we again. Just as she was about to ask while still wrapped in the hug, a low hum filled the room.
Hoooo…!
A dark energy seeped in from somewhere, swirling around the Doctor. Noticing it, she pulled away from Sehwa and examined the aura closely. Then she flinched.
The same familiar feeling she had sensed from Sehwa and Yuria’s true forms was coming from this black energy. No—it was far stronger. It felt as if their very souls were connected. If she ranked the sensations, Yuria’s energy was low, Sehwa’s was middle, and this black energy was unmistakably high.
Stepping away from Sehwa, the Doctor pointed at the energy and asked,
“Can you… see this too?”
“I can.”
“I need to check something… Is that okay?”
“Of course. But… before you go, I want you to remember one thing. That energy is your true resting place. Just keep that in mind. Alright?”
“True resting place…?”
“Yes. Keep it in your heart.”
That energy was her true resting place. The Doctor etched Sehwa’s words deep into her mind, answered that she understood, and left the room.
The black energy led down the hallway. And at the end of it was her own room.
Thump!
Her heart beat again. This wasn’t the unpleasant feeling she had felt right before facing that shocking truth earlier. This was longing. A sense of attachment… a deep yearning.
The Doctor’s steps quickened. At first they were slow, then they became urgent, and by the time she had covered a third of the hallway, she was sprinting like an athlete in a full sprint. When she finally reached her door, she took several deep breaths to calm her ragged breathing and grabbed the doorknob.
She opened the door.
Click!
The moment she carefully opened it, the sight that greeted her was a room completely filled with pitch-black smoke, as if a fire had broken out. In the middle, where the smoke was relatively thinner, some kind of being stood.
It was hard to see clearly, but it looked tall and broad-shouldered… the silhouette of a man.
“…..”
It had to be Tyrat. No one else could emit this kind of energy. But why did she feel longing toward Tyrat? Was it because of Sehwa’s blood? Since Sehwa and Yuria had said they injected her with blood to make her his kin, that was probably it.
I just need to stay sharp…! Don’t let yourself be seduced!
After repeating the vow hundreds of times in her mind in that short span, the Doctor slowly advanced, parting the smoke with her hands. The closer she got to the being, the harder her heart pounded.
Tyrat—the one she had been searching for all this time but could never expose. She would finally learn his true identity.
I can’t see him…
Even though she was practically right in front of him, Tyrat remained obscured by the smoke. She could tell he had short hair and a muscular build… but she wanted to see his face as soon as possible.
The moment the Doctor’s curiosity and anxiety reached their peak, the smoke completely cleared away from Tyrat.
And the moment she saw his face, the Doctor’s eyes widened and her body froze solid.
Again. There was someone who should never have been there. And it was the person she loved and missed more than anyone else in the world.
“Hello, Noona.”
The instant that longed-for voice left his lips—
“Ah…!”
The Doctor completely lost consciousness.