Ashley stared at the gaping crater in the middle of the island. For some reason, it was in the exact spot where the Temple of the Water Lord was supposed to be located. As for Vur’s party, they were nowhere to be seen, which was to be expected seeing as their allotted time had been used up. The Light Lord scratched her head and looked around. If her suspicions were correct, Vur had dug the temple out of the ground, but what did he do with it afterwards? Throw it into the sea?

A sigh escaped from Ashley’s mouth as she stared up at the sky. She had outflown dragons before, left them in her figurative dust. It left a bad taste in her mouth to be on the receiving end. She might’ve reached the top of the tower, but there were a lot of aspects of herself she could still improve, huh?

***

Kim Hajun stood with his back pressed against the tunnel wall, his gaze trained on Vur and Bunno. Yes, it was true; Kim Hajun hadn’t joined the Extreme Heat Clan yet, and messages from clan leader to clan member shouldn’t be shared with outsiders in case of espionage, but he still couldn’t help but feel miffed. Hadn’t he done enough to earn the trust of Vur’s group? Even Miranda was allowed within earshot of Vur’s conversation with Bunno.

Kim Hajun shook his head and fixed his posture as he got off the wall. Now that he had obtained Flame Slash with his persuasion and charisma, he was more than qualified to join the battle between towers. He might’ve missed out on rudimentary wind magic, a supplement he was hoping to use to enhance the flames he had gained from Yeol’s Heart of Fire, but there was a synergistic effect between the Heart of Fire and Flame Slash; it more than made up for the loss.

Although Kim Hajun didn’t know why the towers decided to start fighting, he suspected it had something to do with Vur’s group. The towers hadn’t initiated a battle during this time period of his prophetic dream, and Vur’s group was the only variable he had encountered so far. Kim Hajun walked towards the wooden tablet, causing Bunno to shut his fiery mouth mid-sentence and glare at the well-dressed man as he walked past. Kim Hajun placed his hand on the tablet, and … it didn’t respond to him.

“That’s reserved for explorers only,” Bunno said.

Kim Hajun blinked as his cheeks took on a tinge of pink. Luckily, Yeol wasn’t around to see his blunder. If the wooden tablet was reserved for explorers only, how did the cursed elf use it to enter a residence? Kim Hajun cleared his throat. “I knew that,” he said. “I was just testing something.”

“Well, test it somewhere else,” Bunno said, placing his fiery hands on his hips which were covered in a layer of small, white crystals, the minerals forming a set of armor around the fire spirit race member. “Don’t think Deowi didn’t warn me about you. You’re a playboy chasing after Gaegukja Yeol; as long as there’s a single wisp of flame left in my body, I’ll never let you have her!”

“A love rival appears?” Stella asked from her spot on Vur’s shoulder, her eyes lighting up.

“P-playboy?” Kim Hajun asked, his expression darkening. “What kind of crap is Deowi spouting?”

“If you have a problem with Deowi’s words, then you can take it up with him,” Bunno said and exhaled through his nostrils, sending two tendrils of fire spiraling towards the ground. Bunno turned his head towards Vur and nodded. “I’ve said what I needed to, and I must take my leave now. Take care of yourself; Deowi has high hopes for you.”

Vur grunted, and the fire spirit race member glared at Kim Hajun one more time before placing his burning hand on the wooden tablet. With a flash of amber light, he vanished. Stella blinked and turned her head towards Kim Hajun with a brilliant smile on her face. “Your love rival is an explorer. If you don’t hurry up and get stronger, he’ll steal Yeol away.”

Kim Hajun’s expression darkened. In his prophetic dream, Bunno was one of the Extreme Heat Clan’s explorers, but Kim Hajun wasn’t aware of the fire spirit race member having feelings for Yeol. Would that be something affected by Vur’s group? Logically, it didn’t make any sense; how could the presence of Vur’s group influence the romantic feelings of an explorer? “By any chance,” Kim Hajun said, looking around at the group, “are any of you capable of manipulating someone’s feelings through magic or skills?”

Tafel stared at Kim Hajun as if he were a piece of dirt. “You’re going to manipulate Yeol into loving you?”

Kim Hajun blinked. “What? No!” Kim Hajun said and shook his head back and forth. Usually, he thought very carefully before he spoke in case his words could be misconstrued, but whenever he was around Vur’s group, his mental defenses came crumbling down. “That’s not what I meant. Bunno—”

“You want to make Bunno fall out of love with Yeol?” Stella asked, interrupting Kim Hajun while flying off of Vur. “I can do that—for a price, of course!”

Vur grabbed Stella and placed her back onto his shoulder. “Don’t play with people’s feelings.”

Stella blinked before turning her head towards Kim Hajun. The fairy queen gave an exaggerated shrug. “Sorry, but it seems like I can’t anymore.”

“I wasn’t going to ask you to,” Kim Hajun said. Before he could say anything else, an amber light flashed from the wooden tablet, and Lindyss appeared with two skeletons standing behind her. Held by their bony arms, there was an unconscious woman with pink hair and tanned skin.

“I found someone inside the temple,” Lindyss said. “She’s almost dead, so you better heal her quick.”

Kim Hajun turned around, and his eyes widened. “Melody!?”

“You know her?” Lindyss asked and raised an eyebrow.

“Of course, he knows her,” Tafel said and rolled her eyes. “Look at how pretty she is.”