Author: I won the badminton competition today with a friend of mine, though I was actually being carried by him. So I think I'm going to celebrate our victory in being the first place by publishing two chapters.

- Zahard and Khun Edahn-

"You from the outside, look carefully with those eyes of yours. What do I look like to you right now? A human being or a monster?"

Zahard's appearance started to change. If before he could be said as a human, but now he looked like a very terrifying monster that the two of them had never seen before.

Charlotte was deeply afraid of her past. But compared to her past, right now, the monster before her was even more terrifying and scary. She held Bam's sleeve tighter.

Inside her, the pink lotus released its power, letting her regain her composure again. The lotus was helping her to calm her mind from the fear that was caused by the monster before them. Still, she was still shaking. The effect of the lotus wasn't enough to calm her down...or Zahard was simply too strong.

As if it was protecting its owner, the lotus gave her the ability to breath again before the monster. It gave her the chance to regain her rationality instead of blindly attacking the monster.

When she unconsciously let go of Bam, Bam who didn't have anything to calm his mind shouted and recklessly charged towards Zahard with his red thorn.

Zahard's appearance returned to the appearance of a human, "I see. So you see the monster within me too? Fine. Go ahead and struggle."

He grinned when he saw Bam charging towards him.

"Nothing beats death when it comes to ending fear- little monster!!"

"Brother! Don't!"

Fortunately, Charlotte quickly released her green vine. Her voice distracted Bam for a second and she used her green vine and had it wrapped around Bam's waist before pulling him back with the help of shinsu strengthening.

Charlotte hugged her brother who panted and panted.

'Wait...why did I attack him?' Bam silently thought. He worried at Charlotte and saw her expression, "Charlotte...?"

"Brother, you have to calm down," said Charlotte. "He's the data of the king of this tower. His power is more than what you could imagine."

'...you saved me once more.'

That was what Bam thought when he looked at his younger sister. To say that he felt relieved, he did feel relieved that Charlotte stopped him. But in the same time, he wasn't satisfied. Charlotte was able to fight the fear that was created by Zahard for a moment while he couldn't. This made him realize that Charlotte was indeed stronger than him.

If she was stronger than him, how could he protect her?

He had to be stronger. To protect his sister would be one of his motivations to get stronger.

"Really are a pair of little monsters" said Zahard. Even though he failed to have the two of them attack him, but he was still grinning. "Then let's see whether you can handle this-"

The man disappeared and suddenly appeared before the two of them.

Charlotte instinctively pushed Bam away and opened her palm. The pink lotus blossomed on her hand.

"Charlotte!"

[Zahard's Style Air Explosion- Iron Fist]

"AHHH!!"

The others who were traveling saw an explosion from the central dome and immediately rushed there. Zahard's attack caused a strong explosion and even destroyed some part in the Central Dome when he has yet to use his full power.

Meanwhile, after Zahard used his air explosion, even though he didn't make contact with her body, but Charlotte had suffered serious damage.

Right on her stomach, she was bleeding. The brown-haired girl who was know kneeling on the ground after withstanding the attack of the data of the king had blood flowing slowly from the corner of her lips. If it wasn't for the healing effect that she had from the lotus, she would have received even more severe wound.

But the white flower that Khun personally put on her ear had fell down and was drenched with blood.

'... Khun....' she thought. '... How am I supposed to explain that his cloth and flower are ruined...?'

Bam ran back towards Charlotte, asking whether she was fine or not and Charlotte replied that this severe wound was still nothing. When she said that it was nothing, that really got Zahard's attention for a moment.

"A wave explosion is supposed to make contact with your opponent's body and disrupt the shinsu in their body. You know that, right? But think about it, if you could control the shinsu flowing through everything in this world, you could control the shinsu in that person's body without even needing to touch them."

"!!"

Charlotte didn't think that she would get a valuable lesson today.

'Right. If I remember about this method earlier and trained again and again with this method...no matter what I'm an irregular, right? This is not entirely impossible!' She thought. 'Charlotte, ah, Charlotte, you spent years reading the manhwa but you can't even remember about this one? It's fine to fail in Math class, but how could you fail memorizing this?'

She shook her head and sighed in regret.

She didn't even bother hiding her thinking expression which made Zahard kinda speechless. Who was he? The king of the tower and her strongest opponent right now. Yet in front of him, she was too busy with her own thoughts.

'...... she's no longer afraid of me' he thought as he remembered how she glared at him in vigilance and fear. 'I wonder what she's thinking.'

"So do you want to tell me now? Who are the two of you and how do you know Arlene's name?" Zahard asked.

"Heal yourself first" Bam whispered very softly to her ear. Charlotte nodded her head and hummed as she looked back at Zahard.

[Time Manipulation Skill- Time Reverse]

Immediately, she had healed herself. The clothes even returned to the point before they were destroyed and the flower that was lying on the ground was suddenly lifted up, returning to her ear.

'My lotus indeed works well for healing. It consumes less energy than manipulating the time and also restores my energy. Although the energy that I need to spend on reversing the time is lesser considering how many chains I've broken, but then again...it can't be compared to my lotus healing. Because lotus's nature is to heal anything from the beginning' Charlotte thought. 'But I have to reverse the time since lotus's healing takes time. He isn't that stupid to let me heal myself.'

Charlotte looked at her brother as she stood up with his help.

'I also can't leave him alone to go somewhere safe and heal myself.'

Seeing how the wound that he gave her was healed instantly made Zahard surprised.

"How did you-"

The pink light of Bong Bong distracted the three of them.

'No!' Charlotte frowned and as she looked at the entrance to the Central Dome.

"Bam! Charlotte!" "Black Turtles!"

Both Endorsi and Rak had arrived with Bong Bong.

When Endorsi arrived there, her mind went blank the moment she saw the data of young Zahard. It was because she recognized their opponent this time, the data of the king in the tower.

'As a Zahard Princess, Endorsi can't fight against Zahard' Charlotte thought. 'The most important thing is to take all of them go right now!'

The explosion earlier must have attracted everyone. Neither of them would expect that their opponent this time will be the data of the king.

"We've got some irritating intruders. I've changed my mind" said Zahard. "I'm going to do something more extreme. Tell me who both of you are or all of you die here."

He began to control shinsu once more, "If you don't tell me the truth, I'll make you and your companions disappear forever with this [Shinsu Black- Hole Sphere] of mine."

Charlotte forced herself to grin and said, "What a good king you are. Why not declare yourself as a tyrant?"

"A king should be firm with his decision" he replied.

The golden- colored light in his palm disappeared and his body was glowing right now.

"Now, tell me. Who are you?"

It was weird, Charlotte thought. At this moment, somehow she wanted to tease the data of the king of the tower for a second. Perhaps it was because now she viewed Zahard as a miserable person who was trapped with his selfish desire to sit on the lonely throne while ruining his own friendships with his friends. He, in her eyes, was just a person who didn't know how wonderful it was to be free, rather than putting a facade and deceived everyone including himself. All his words, actions should be weighed carefully as a king. But if he was a traveler, an adventurer, he could be more relaxed and more free.

She pitied him.

She pitied him for being trapped within the golden cage, she pitied him for having to put up an act to be a real king, slowly losing who he really was in the process. She pitied him for falling to the sweet words of the demon inside him who told him that he was destined to be a king.

And in the same time, she hated him.

It wasn't because he abandoned Arlene for throne... she had seen many people using others as step stones to survive, to climb higher. Wasn't she herself like that? She hated him because that, even though she knew that this would happen, she couldn't bring herself to not hate those who harmed her friends. Her rationality and emotions were fighting against each other. Even though she understood that this was for the sake of plot, but she could not help but to hate him.

She just wanted to hate him.

And Zahard noticed the moment of her glance that contained anger. It was cold but the resentment in those eyes were clear. And less than one second, that anger had disappeared, buried deep down on her heart.

But then again, if she provokes him, he'll make her disappear instantly. She didn't want that. It was now clear that she was only afraid of his strength. Without his strength, why should she be afraid of him?

"Endorsi! Use Bong Bong-" Bam shouted but was interrupted by Charlotte.

"Her mind is blank now when she saw Zahard" said Charlotte. "We couldn't use Bong Bong."

"Then what should we do?"

Charlotte looked at Zahard.

"Wait."

She answered Bam's question.

"But if we wait too long--"

"Brother, trust me," said Charlotte. "It won't take long."

'That pair of golden eyes...she doesn't show even the slightest fear again... even though she knows I'll kill her now' Zahard thought as he looked at Charlotte. 'Could it be she has a plan to get out from this sticky situation?'

"CHARLOTTE! BAM!"

Khun who saw the explosion earlier had arrived along with Altaira, Bero Bero and Irure. His voice that was shouting their names made the three of them turned around and looked at them.

"NO! KNOW!" Bam shouted, wanting to tell the others to stay away but failed as Zahard had made his decision to get rid of them.

"You've taken too long to answer!"

"EVERYONE GET OUT!"

"I'll start by killing your opponents!"

"NO!"

Green vines grew around them, serving as their shields and barrier. As the green vines were shielding them, in the same time, it also blocked their sights. The green vines could only reduce the amount of pain that they will have to receive from his attack as she knew that his one attack could just annihilate and kill them right there.

Yet when Zahard was trying to kill them, his attack was blocked by a tremendous force that saved all of them.

Whoever saved them had electricity as his shinsu attribute. The clash between two forces created an even larger explosion that almost destroyed the whole building.

Charlotte had seen this coming and she prepared those green vines to shield them from the effect between their attacks. When she was sure that it was the right time, she withdrew her green vines that had already surrounded the Central Dome like forest.

Standing before both Charlotte and Bam, there was a blue-haired man. That blue-haired man tied his long blue hair in ponytail. Even if his hair has been tied, the length of his hair was really long that it reached his feet. He was dressed in white robe with a pair of blue eyes looking at Zahard as an opponent. He was surrounded by his shinsu attribute; electricity.

And a few moments right after the clash between two forces, the others had arrived as well to found 2 well-known figures standing face-to- face with each other.

Khun and Altaira were surprised to see that man. How hard was it to recognize him? Just by his hair color and his shinsu attribute, it wasn't hard to tell who he was. Yes, there were lots of people who had electricity as their shinsu attribute, but this power...

"...why did you suddenly appear here?" Zahard asked. "Data of Khun Edahn."

Charlotte had her eyes widened.

'Indeed, it's better to see something directly with both of your own eyes. No wonder this lifetime brother's appearance becomes thousand times more attractive...or why Khun could attract the attentions of so many girls without glancing at them...' Charlotte thought. 'They inherited their appearances from their father!'

The brown haired girl put her hand on her mouth as she realized her mistake this time.

'Wait- is this truly the right time to think about it? Gosh, Charlotte, you are easily distracted by beautiful and attractive things and stuffs. You are big already, shouldn't get distracted this easy...'

She shook her head and sighed.

"Is there anything wrong?" Bam asked her.

Charlotte shook her head and smiled, "Nothing, brother."

"That's-"

Estrella who had just heard Zahard's words couldn't believe her own ears and looked at Altaira, "That's really Khun Edahn?! His data?!"

"...yes" Altaira answered.

Estrella honestly wanted to say more words and talked about Altaira's father until she saw Altaira's expression. In fact, the others could immediately tell Altaira's feelings towards his own father and restrain themselves from talking towards Altaira for now.

Altaira is rarely revealed his blood lust or his desire to murder someone. Even the White Chocolate members never seen him this angry before.

Altaira's face darkened as he clenched his fists to the point that one could see the veins popping in his hand. He lowered his head wasn't just because he was afraid, but also because of his rage. His blue eyes changed into red before changing into blue again repeatedly again and again. His red eyes...combined with how dark his expression looked right now, it was truly terrifying.

He bit his own lips to the point that it bleeds. The blood lust that he desired really made one felt uncomfortable even though Altaira was trying to control himself.

Celeste wanted to approach him. But with her strength weaker than Altaira and that Altaira was releasing strong blood lust, it was hard not to feel suppressed. She knew what made him angry and pissed.

Khun Edahn.

Even though it was just his data and not the Khun Edahn who he knew, his grudge with Khun Edahn was too deep that he wished to be able to kill him all over again and again.

Khun Edahn felt that blood lust and looked at Altaira who was glaring at him. But with the huge difference of their power, he didn't feel the slightest pressure or fear. He just glanced at him before looking at the brown-haired woman.

Seeing how Khun Edahn didn't put him in his eyes made Altaira gritted his teeth.

'Fight it off, Celeste.'

Celeste encouraged herself and ignored Noah who called her name and ran towards Altaira, holding his hand. This gesture surprised Altaira and distracted him for a moment when his eyes turned red.

'His eyes...even though he had told me a bit about his power...this is my first time seeing it.'

When she saw that pair of red eyes, there was only one word that crossed her mind: beautiful.

But that wasn't the reason why she approached him and encouraged herself to take a step and run towards him.

She put her right hand on his face and said with a genuinely worried look, "Calm down. You could do it."

It was amazing, Raisin thought, how a single gesture could suppress fully one's wrath and rage. Just like how Khun felt assured and calm when trusting his life to Charlotte, allowing her to completely heal him before laughing with each other like they had not been in a life- and- death situation, just with a few words and a small gesture could tame the wild monster. But even so, it couldn't erase the sadness that he had in his eyes as his eyes gradually turned blue once more.

'Well...', Raisin sighed like this was nothing special or a big news, 'It's probably because both of them lost all their intelligence and knowledge when it comes to love. Their father is the tower's biggest womanizer, yet the two of his sons are lovesick fools.'

'I never saw him looking this sad and regretful aside when Charlotte nearly died' Celeste thought. 'What actually happened in his past that made him look like this?'

Khun Edahn looked surprised when he saw Charlotte. Her appearance resembles someone who he knew, someone who he wouldn't be able to meet anymore. Charlotte who noticed that he was looking at her looked surprised as if she didn't expect it.

Both Zahard and Khun didn't fail to notice that. Unlike Zahard who understood why Khun Edahn looked rather surprised seeing Charlotte, Khun had no idea and frowned in displeasure.

"...Arlene...." He muttered.

'No, Arlene didn't have that forehead mark' he thought and tried to stop himself from shaking his head right now. He just turned his head away in disappointment.

'Somehow I feel like I've done something wrong. But I haven't even said a word....' Charlotte thought, didn't know whether she should laugh or cry, thinking why this handsome brother was so emotional.

"I'm surprised to see you here, fake" said Khun Edahn.

"...fake?"

The two of them were standing face-to-face, each of them stood on their grounds. Due to their fight earlier, the place was completely wrecked and there was a hole that separated the two of them, just like how their relationship now.

Messed up.

Each of them was distance towards another. It didn't work only at data Khun Edahn and data of young Zahard, but at the outside, they were probably like this as well.

'Otherwise, how could they kill their own friends, forcing them to death and madness?' Charlotte thought as she showed a hint of sadness.

Someone as sentimental and affectionate as her of course cared for relationships deeply. As the result, if she was betrayed by someone, she would have suffered deep pain. Even though she didn't know clearly what happened to them, but she just knew that the friendship between 13 people was shattered already.

Thinking about this made her felt a bit sad. Just a bit. The tragedy that happened among them will be a lesson for her and it was not her fault when she was not the one who caused the mess the fight among 13 people.

"You keep calling me that" said Zahard.