Chapter 35 : What is Bravery?

The goblin finally noticed. Its taunting froze. Its eyes widened—not with curiosity, but fear.

"Impossible," it hissed. "You weren't allowed to use your beastification in this dream realm. How did..."

But before it could complete its sentence, With one mighty flap of my wings, I launched myself into the air, soaring above the nightmare.

I spotted the goblin—still clinging to her shoulder like a leech.

I dove.

I didn't hesitate.

One clawed hand reached forward.

The goblin turned too late.

I grabbed him by the throat.

He shrieked, claws flailing, but I held him midair—his legs kicking uselessly. I could feel him squirming against my grip, trying to vanish, trying to teleport—but it was too late.

"We should burn you into ash," I growled.

"You think grabbing me changes anything?" it snarled. "I'm already inside her! I AM her! Every fear, every scream—I am the voice she trusts!"

From below, Seo-yeon screamed " She is bleeding!".

I looked below to only watch an eight year old pulling her hairs out, blood flowing like tears from her eyes and gut clenching screams.

"You can't save her!" the goblin chief rasped. "She doesn't want to be saved!"

Below us, Eun-ha screamed.

Another pulse of psychic energy exploded from her, nearly knocking Seo-yeon back into a wall of moving memories.

"She's hurting!" Seo-yeon shouted. "We need to reach her!"

The goblin laughed even as I tightened my grip.

I felt the heat rising in my chest again—the dragon blood pushing me to crush him.

But killing him now wouldn't help.

We had to free her first.

"Seo-yeon!" I yelled. "Hold her off—I'll deal with the parasite!"

She nodded once, dodging another wave of monsters.

I spread my wings wide—still holding the struggling goblin—and dove into the ground and then throw it down with a loud thud.

As soon as the dust settled, I looked down to see there was no goblin there. It vanished.

Teleportation.

A flash of green light, and I felt claws tear through the air behind me.

I twisted—barely dodging—and his claw-necklace scraped across my shoulder scales, creating a trail of sparks.

I turned and roared. Not out of pain.

Out of joy.

The Chief's foot slammed into my chest, sending me skidding back. But my claws dug into the dream-earth, anchoring me. He came again—fast, erratic, flickering through teleport blinks like a mosquito with a blade.

But this time, I was ready.

He blinked—

I leapt— used my nostrils to sense it's direction.

Mid-blink, I met him in the air.

"Too slow!"

My golden fist collided with his jaw mid-teleport.

His body twisted from the impact, crashing into a pillar of dream light. The illusion cracked, ripples of glitchy distortion spreading like shattered glass through the mind-realm.

Its growl echoed.

It wiped blood from his mouth—green, thick, steaming.

But before it could move, I stomped its chest. It was having difficulty breathing. I lowered myself and asked

"You could have gotten your hands on the swords. Why did you try to use this little child? Speak! Before I rip your jaws off."

"I didn't want to become a sacrifice." It said, "To summon our god, the chief is sacrificed. These memories work as coordinates for our god to descend."

"Then why did you steal them in the first place?"

"To maintain my dominance in my tribe. My ancestors did the same before me. I always try to keep my tribe members safe. Please don't kill me. Please let my tribe live"

I was confused. Do monsters have the concept of empathy. But it didn't take me much time before it showed me its true nature.

It extended his claw necklace outward—black energy pulsing from it—and suddenly, the world around us responded.

"Ye-Jun!"

Seo-Yeon's voice rang through my mind.

I turned—

And saw the Seo-yeon battlefield.

Phantoms clawed through broken windows.

Blood-soaked memories spilled out from cracked walls.

And at the center of it all—Eun-ha, floating mid-air like a ghost possessed, her tiny face twisted with rage and grief no child should ever carry.

Her eyes glowed crimson under the Chief Goblin's influence, and her voice—small but laced with venom—cut deeper than any weapon.

"You didn't save them."

The world trembled as memories weaponized themselves.

Her father's body, lifeless and mangled, lurched out from the hallway. Her mother, still screaming in silence, dragged a knife across the floor. Even her teddy bear swelled into a nightmare, towering over Seo-Yeon with button-eyes leaking pitch-black tears.

Seo-Yeon raised her hands, fingers trembling. The monsters charged.

BOOM!

A telekinetic shockwave exploded around her, sending phantoms flying. But they kept coming. Endless. Unforgiving.

And Eun-ha just hovered above them all, shouting:

"IT'S YOUR FAULT!"

Another vision struck her—this time the living room, reassembled.

The TV was flickering static. The family portrait above the couch dripped blood. And a child—Eun-ha—stood in the corner, covering her ears, screaming wordlessly.

Seo-Yeon wanted to scream back.

But she didn't.

Instead, she stepped forward, her own voice cracking under the weight of everything they'd seen.

"Eun-ha…"

The phantoms hissed like snakes, circling her.

"I know what it's like to be left behind. I know what it's like to wake up in a world where everyone you love is gone. I don't even know if my father is alive or not."

She pointed at the floating girl.

"But this isn't your fault."

Eun-ha screamed again.

The monsters surged.

Seo-Yeon caught the blade of a shadow-mother mid-swing, her power flaring with a visible shockwave of violet light. She crushed the blade with sheer will, then hurled the specter into the ceiling.

Still—Eun-ha wept midair, her face contorted with guilt.

"They died because of me!"

"If I was stronger—!"

"If I hadn't screamed—!"

"STOP!" Seo-Yeon shouted, tears welling in her eyes.

"You were a child!"

The monsters froze—like puppets mid-dance.

Seo-Yeon's voice dropped to a whisper, raw and broken.

"You were a child, Eun-ha… You were scared. You hid. You did what they asked. You lived."

"That's not cowardice."

"That's bravery."

She reached out a trembling hand toward the floating child.

"And they'd be so proud of you."

Eun-ha's eyes wavered. The red glow flickered.

"I miss them…" she choked.

"I still hear them sometimes…"

Seo-Yeon nodded, stepping closer, past the halted monsters and the bleeding memories.

"That means their love is still with you. Not because of pain—but because of how deeply they loved you."

"It hurts. I know it hurts. But you have to wake up. Because there are people here who love you now, too."

"You're not alone anymore, Eun-ha."

Eun-ha sobbed once—hard—and the glow shattered from her eyes like glass.

Her tiny body fell.

Seo-Yeon surged forward and caught her in mid-air, arms wrapping around the trembling girl like a lifeline.

"I've got you," she whispered, voice shaking.

"I've got you, baby. I'm here."

The phantoms screamed one last time—then disintegrated into golden dust.

The memory collapsed.

The nightmare bled away.

And for the first time since this nightmare began…

Eun-ha wept not from fear—but from release.