The Unsurpassed Maiden

"What?" Mi Young asks, voice full of disbelief and shock.

"Uhn. They plan to copy the five lost elements and use it for themselves." The purple haired girl says while eyeing the body of the child in front of them. "They said that being able to have these elements again can prepare us for the future."

"The future? What about the future?" Mi Young questions with furrowed eyebrows. The purple haired girl didn't give her any answer at all. She just stared at Mi Young for a couple of seconds before she returned her gaze back to the glass wall in front.

Seeing the purple haired girl's silence suspicious, Mi Young chose to ask another question instead. "Were they successful? With their experiments, I mean."

The other girl shakes her head. "No."

For some reason, the black haired girl was able to let out a sigh of relief.

"However…" The purple haired girl starts to talk once more, making Mi Young look at her expectantly. "I heard from someone that they have managed to copy the Dendro element."

"H-How is that possible?" Hae Choon finally asks after his long silence.

The purple haired girl shrugs her shoulders. "I don't know. They said that the recent batch of descendants they have gathered have someone from the direct bloodline."

"You mean, a descendant from the main household was captured?"

"Uhn. Because of that descendant's pure and strong mana, they were able to copy her element successfully." The purple haired girl says while she drums her fingers against the glass wall. "They also said that the descendant died during the experiment."

"How can they do something as cruel as that?" Mi Young asks in anger. "Who are the people behind this? The High Lords?"

"The High Lords and more." The purple haired girl says. "I'm telling you, if you plan to confront them you better back down now or you will surely regret it."

"I don't care how powerful they are, someone needs to punish them." Mi Young says while clenching her fist hard.

"And who would give them that punishment? You?" The purple haired girl says while eyeing Mi Young. "No offense but if I were you, I would just go back to my academy and study hard. Maybe you can confront them after you graduate."

"How dare you—"

"Girls!" Hae Choon interjects. He looks at Mi Young and says in a calm voice, "Mi Young, we have other things to worry about. I think it should be best if you keep your emotions under control."

"I know I promised you that I would help you with your mission but people are dying out there for a f*cking stupid reason! Now that I have learned about this foolish experiment I won't let a child or anyone innocent die for other people's selfish reasons!" The black haired girl shouts while eyeing Hae Choon with a glare.

"I know. I promise I'll help you out but please, we need to take away the Mana Shell first." Hae Choon begs.

Mi Young looks hesitant for a few seconds before she closes her eyes and sighs. "Fine. But promise me you'll help me stop their experiments."

"I promise." Hae Choon says. When he sees that Mi Young has finally calmed down, his shoulders finally relaxed. "Thank you."

It was then that the purple haired girl decided to talk once more, "So you're here to steal the Mana Shell. Good. Can I join you guys?"

Mi Young looked at the purple haired girl. "We don't know you."

"My name is Su Yeon." The girl says with a small smile.

"Even if we know your name you're still too suspicious to join us. I mean, you appeared out of nowhere and you know about all the things happening here—"

"Not all things." Su Yeon interjects.

Mi Young ignored her and continued with her little speech. "—and you seemed like a person who isn't worthy of our trust so why should we let you join our group?"

"Because I know of your existence. I can just call and tell the soldiers around here that someone has infiltrated the headquarters and is planning to steal the Mana Shell. That would be too easy don't you think?" The purple haired girl, Su Yeon, says with the same friendly smile plastered on her lips.

"I hate to say this but the girl is right. We have no other choice but to let her join our team if we don't want the soldiers to know about our mission." Hae Choon says while scratching the back of his neck. "Aside from that, she knows about this place so she can maybe lead us to the place where the Mana Shell is hidden."

"Oh. I know where they are hiding the Mana Shell. However, we will have to go through a series of rooms and pass tight securities. Is that okay with you guys?" Su Yeon asks while blinking at them innocently.

"That's more than  okay. As long as we get to steal the Mana Shell." Hae Choon says.

"Then that's settled. Let's move." Su Yeon declares while starting to walk towards the other end of the room.

"Wait." Mi Young calls out, making the other two stop walking. She eyes the purple haired girl, and with a serious voice she asks, "Why do you want to help us so much? I mean, you said it yourself, you live here yet you're helping  strangers to steal something from your home."

"Don't worry, I know that the Mana Shell wasn't theirs to begin with, and I don't really give a damn what will happen to it so it's fine." Su Yeon says in a convincing voice.

"Right. Then again, why do you want to join us so bad?" Mi Young questions, voice stern and serious. Hae Choon gave her a look but Mi Young ignored him completely.

Su Yeon lets out a sigh at first before she finally answers Mi Young's question. "Well, to tell you honestly I don't have any friends. So it's good to see someone around my age inside here. I don't care if you're an enemy of my father or someone who wants to steal something from the place where I was born. Aside from that, I also want something from you guys in exchange for helping you steal the Mana Shell."

Hae Choon and Mi Young looked suspiciously at her. "What is it?"

"I want you guys to free me from this place" Su Yeon says. This time, her voice sounded serious and the previous friendly smile that was playing along her lips since earlier is now gone.

"What do you mean free you?"

"I've been locked up here since the day I was born. My father told me that I cannot go out since they will know about the existence of the headquarters." Su Yeon explains with a disappointed voice.

"Why would he say such a thing? And who is your father anyway? You kept on mentioning him since earlier." The black haired girl asks while keeping her eyes locked with Su Yeon's.

"Because my father has another family outside these walls. He is the Rank 1 among the High Lords. And since I was made without his wife's knowledge, then he decided to lock me up here, never to see the outside world. And he has an image to keep that's why he doesn't want anyone knowing about his dirty little secret which is....me." The purple haired girl explains with a sad smile.

"Well, that's sad." Hae Choon comments while giving the other girl a pitying look. Then he added, "Your father's a douche."

The purple haired girl didn't react with Hae Choon's comment but she gave him a small smile.

"Now that we know her backstory, then maybe someone can let her join our group, yeah?" Hae Choon teases while giving Mi Young his puppy eyes.

"It doesn't suit you, old man." Mi Young says while giving Hae Choon an eye roll. Then, the young girl looks at the other girl. "Fine. I'll let you join our mission and help you escape this place. But if you betray us, I'm going to kill you."

"Sounds like a nice deal." The purple haired girl says with a smile and while holding  out a hand at M Young.

The black haired girl stares at it for a few seconds before she grabs it and shakes hands with Su Yeon. "Deal."

"That was heartwarming." Hae Choon comments while slinging both his arms at each girl's shoulder.

Mi Young crossed her arms and gave the other party another glare. "I told you I don't like someone casually touching me."

Hae Choon didn't answer her and just gave her a huge smile while the three of them continued to walk towards the door that Mi Young thinks led to the place where the elevator was located.

"Is he always like this?" Su Yeon asks Mi Young as if Hae Choon isn't there.

"I don't know. It's then first time I met him." The black haired girl answers.

"Well, anyway he's annoying." Su Yeon says. This made Mi Young let out a chuckle.

"Finally. I know I'm not the only one.." Mi Young says while giving Su Yeon a wink.