The Unsurpassed Maiden

"Please tell me I'm hallucinating. Please tell me I'm hallucinating." Mi Young repeats again and again as she eyes the beast who was now very much alive and is standing in front of them.

The black haired girl hopes that it was just all part of her imagination as the giant beast starts to walk towards them, sneering and seemingly growling.

"Sh*t. I think the door did something to it." Hae Choon whispers while looking back at the door behind them.

"Hae Choon, I think it's getting ready to attack." Mi Young warns while keeping eye contact with the beast. "What do we do?"

Hae Choon didn't reply as he continued looking behind them. Mi Young followed the other party's gaze and realized that Hae Choon was looking at their own reflections.

"Why do you keep staring at it? We need to get out of here!" Mi Young announces, trying to keep Hae Choon's focus off from the mirror.

However, despite her struggles, the taller man continued looking at the mirror as if it would magically help them escape.

The black haired girl looks back at the beast. Her eyes widened in fear when the beast bent its legs, seemingly ready to attack.

"Hae Choon! It's about to attack!"

"When I say jump you jump okay?" Hae Choon suddenly shouts while he turns both of their bodies so they would be facing the door once more. "In a count of three, jump with me!"

"Why do we have to jump?!" Mi Young shouts while she looks back to check the beast. She sees the beast leaping towards them and she couldn't help but let out a huge scream, "Hae Choon!"

"Three!" Hae Choon, despite his body aching and looking weak, uses all the remaining force inside his body to help him and Mi Young jump into the door.

The black haired girl didn't even know how it happened but the moment she looks back and sees the huge beast leaping towards them, all she could do was let out a scream. She felt Hae Choon push her body into the door while the young girl closed her eyes.

When she opened them, she was already lying on solid ground, panting and sweating profusely.

"What….happened…" Mi Young says in between her heavy breathing. Remembering the situation they were in earlier, Mi Young immediately sits up to scan their surroundings. "Where are we?! Where's the beast?!"

Hae Choon was groaning beside her, that's when Mi Young remembered her friend's condition. She immediately went to his side to check his body for any injury. "Are you okay? What happened? Why are we here?"

"Can you please help me up first?" Hae Choon questions while groaning. Mi Young grabs the boy's outstretched hand and pulls him so he could sit up.

"Are you okay?" Mi Young asks, concern evident in her voice.

Hae Choon nodded his head. "Yes, I'm fine. How about you?"

"I'm fine as well. What happened by the way?" The young girl asks. She looked at their surroundings and realized that they were somewhere along the corridors of the basement. "How the hell did we get here?"

"I realized too late what that door was." Hae Choon explains as he lets out a deep sigh.

The black haired girl cocks her head to the side. "What do you mean?"

"That door wasn't an ordinary door. It was the Door of Death."

"Door of Death?" Mi Young repeats.

Hae Choon nodded his head to answer the girl's question. "Uhn. That door is one of the most ancient magic items ever made. It was used during the Dark War."

"What does this Door of Death do?" The black haired student questions.

"It has the ability to revive those who have already died." Hae Choon says in a grim voice. Mi Young clenched his fist on his side before he continued, "During the Dark War, all the enemies keep on coming back to life, all because of the Door of Death."

"Was that why the beast was able to be alive again?" The student questions. Hae Choon nodded his head at her.

"I think they waited for the beast to die before they opened the door. They also waited for us to step in front of the door so the ritual could proceed." Hae Choon says.

"What do you mean?" Asked the confused looking Mi Young.

"The Door of Death can only revive those who have already died if someone alive steps in front of the door." Hae Choon explains.

"But how did it manage to revive the beast? I mean, why would it revive the beast when it was laying on the ground and far away from us?" The black haired student asks.

"It's because the reflection of the beast can be seen on the door's reflection. They said that those dead bodies who can be seen through the door the moment someone alive steps in front are the only ones who can be revived." Hae Choon added. "The Door of Death was said to be the link between the human realm and the realm of the dead. They said that it can make someone pass through the two realms, if he or she has enough mana to do so. The Great Mages from before use this in order to ask those who were murdered why and who killed them."

"But why does it automatically revive the dead?"

"During the Dark War, someone put a curse on the Door of Death, causing it to become a tool of darkness." Hae Choon adds while he clenches his hand until his knuckles turn white. "Whoever made that was the worst kind of person ever. Because of them, innocent people were forced to kill their loved ones who have turned."

"What do you mean?"

"I was there. I witnessed how the people who were slain during the war came back alive. But they have already become the minions of the enemy. So the other people, the people who sided on the good side, were forced to kill their family members who were brought back to life by the enemy." Hae Choon starts his story with a dark voice. "I myself killed my younger sisters using my own hands. I have no choice because if I let them kill me, the darkness would triumph. I still remember the look on their faces when my blades cut through their bodies."

"I'm so sorry to hear that." The black haired girl says as she looks down at her own hands, seemingly out of words as well.

"That's why I vowed to my family that I would find the one who put the curse on the Door of Death and let him feel the wrath of my people." Hae Choon says while he touches a scar on his left hand. "After I set Ireena free, I swear I would hunt down the reason why the Door of Death got cursed. And after that, I will willingly accept my death."

"I don't know what to say but I hope you know that I'm willing to help you anytime." Mi Young whispers as she puts a hand on the boy's shoulder in order to squeeze it and give him comfort.

Hae Choon turns his gaze towards the black haired girl before letting out a small smile. "I know and I am really grateful for that."

The two of them stayed like that for a while. They were still trying to make the shock and tiredness go away before they started to walk once more in search of Mi Young's missing friends.

They decided that they would use the left path because Mi Young said that she has a strong feeling that Kwang Soo and Jang Hoon's cells were in there.

Hae Choon has already managed to return most of his mana power and mana energy, thanks to another spell Mi Young saw on her spell book. She was supposed to give him all of his energy back but the other party stopped her, saying that she should keep her mana power and strength first or else she would deplete all her energy. Mi Young protested at first but she ultimately agreed at the end.

After that, they started to move around the headquarters again to search for Kwang Soo and Jang Hoon.

While on their way there, Mi Young couldn't help but feel like another storm was about to hit them any moment.

It was all too quiet and their progress was too fast. It feels like they were walking inside a trap once more and it was making her feel nervous.

Hae Choon must have felt nervous because he called Mi Young and made her stop walking at first.

"What's wrong?" The young girl asks.

"I should be the one asking you that. What's wrong with you?" Hae Choon fires back.

Mi Young cocks her head to the side. "Nothing's wrong with me. Why?"

"You seem nervous." Hae Choon says.

"Well you see—"

Mi Young wasn't able to finish her sentence when a loud bang suddenly stopped them.