Seventh Thread

Derrick moved instantly, scattering five Beam orbs.

Joy followed suit, her tome already out, blue flaming orbs flying towards the direction of the voice.

The red lasers and blue fireballs zipped past the woman’s head, smashing into the crucified shaman behind.

She did not even flinch at all.

“Wow. What a warm greeting you have prepared for me.”

She calmly walked forward.

Derrick and Joy kept launching attacks at her, but none of them hit their target.

Voidborn narrowed his eyes and took a good look at her.

“It’s you,” Voidborn said.

Derrick stopped his attack and realised.

“You’re the one who gave us the charm!” Jimin exclaimed.

The woman smiled warmly.

She was wearing the same elegant white dress, adorned with intricate floral designs that were sewn across the fabric. One of her elbows hung a small white satchel, decorated with many similar charms that hung off its handle.

They were the same charms that the woman gave the group.

“So, it was you that screwed our team up?!” Chaewon growled, eyes blazing with anger.

The sea of red that had calmed started to shake, waves of her rage crashing around at the realisation.

“Perhaps.”

The woman gave a small bow.

“Now, I’ve come to collect my prize.”

A red spear formed in the air above her and shot downwards.

“Flame Spear.”

The woman simply smiled.

The spear pierced through the air with a deafening scream, but right before it stabbed into her head, it completely stopped its motion and redirected into a hut nearby.

Boom.

The hut exploded into flames.

“Why the hell aren’t my spells hitting?” Joy frowned.

The woman simply pulled an umbrella out from inside her small satchel and opened it, blocking her fair skin from the blazing sun’s rays.

It was as though the bag held a pocket dimension.

“Why?” the woman said, holding on to the umbrella’s handle and tilted her head in confusion.

“Why would you attack someone you revere?”

Voidborn focused his eyes and looked around.

A brimming white radiance of reverence was bursting out of every single person’s chest.

Every single time the two tried to shoot the woman down, a wave of pure white emotion flooded their bodies.

Respect.
Reverence.
Devotion.

The thought harming her suddenly felt wrong.

Joy and Derrick frowned.

They realised that nothing they tried worked, so they stopped attacking. After all, there was no point in wasting their mental energy. However, their orbs and tomes continued hovering in the air, ready to take down their enemy at any opening.

“I don’t think you should be rude to someone you admire,” the woman giggled. “How about a bow?”

Voidborn saw everyone resisting, but they ultimately offered a sincere bow of admiration.

Somehow, he didn’t feel compelled to follow her instructions.

But he decided to lower his upper body and mimic the rest’s actions.

It was better to play along with what she desired, considering that she managed to force even Derrick and Joy to her bidding willingly. Recklessly defying a stronger one would likely lead to detrimental results.

“Great!”

The woman hopped in excitement, before turning towards Chaewon.

“Now that the formalities are out of the way, would you kindly hand me the stones?”

Chaewon glared at her with a sincere smile.

“Why the fu—I apologise for my rudeness. Please, if I may ask, why would I give you the stones?”

The woman chuckled.

“How polite.” She simply held out her hand and opened her palm.

“Why? Because the one you revere asked for it. Don’t you have someone you respect? Wouldn’t you obey what they ask for?”

The woman’s eyes flashed white.

The white reverence within Chaewon surged greater.

Chaewon instantly bent down and picked up the stones, gathering it all in her hands.

“Now, pass it to me.”

Chaewon walked towards the woman and stood in front of her.

“Clean it. I don’t want to dirty my hands.”

Chaewon took the stone from retrieved from the shaman’s body and wiped it on her clothes, before placing it in the woman’s outstretched hands.

Then she repeated the same for the next few stones.

As Chaewon wiped, tears welled up in her eyes.

She wanted to stop what she was doing, but she couldn’t.

Why was she doing this?
She placed her teammate’s stone in the woman’s hand.

Why was she simply handing them over to the woman?
She continued placing the next four stones into her palm.

Why was she feeling the need to give everything to the woman?
She hesitated slightly, refusing to let the last stone — her leader’s stone — go.

But another flash of white light made Chaewon smile wider and present the last stone with both hands to the woman sincerely.

“Thank you very much for your kindness,” the woman gently said, bowing softly with her head.

“Now that I have gotten what I need, I’ll take my leave.”

“Wait.”

She turned around and looked at Voidborn.

“Yes? I believe you don't have anything for me?”

Voidborn cleared his throat and spoke.

“I was taught by someone that respect and reverence must be earned, and I greatly believe in the concept of equivalent exchange.”

“You’re surprisingly composed.”

The woman looked at Voidborn, visibly intrigued.

“Now that we have given you the stones, perhaps out of our reverence for you, it should warrant us some questions and answers?”

Voidborn tried his best to be as polite as possible.

The woman chuckled.

“That's a very interesting way to put it. Fine, I’ll bite. Seven stones, seven questions.”

She squatted and placed the shaman’s rebirth stone on the ground.

“First question?”

Jimin, who was standing to Voidborn’s side, clutched his hand and looked at him worriedly.

“Please don't offend her,” she whispered, but she immediately covered her mouth.

Her eyes widened.

That wasn't what she wanted to say.

Voidborn nodded and stepped forward.

“What should we call you? It would not be polite to continue this conversation without knowing who you are. I am Voidborn.”

“A gentleman, aren't you?” She smirks. Can I take that as your first question?”

Voidborn nodded hesitantly, realising that he had been a little too careless.

“I am known as the Seventh Thread.” She stood up and gave a little curtsy bow. “Although, most who know me call me Yuri. Does that answer your question, Mr Voidborn?”

“Thank you, Ms Yuri.” Voidborn answered carefully.

Yuri squatted and placed another stone down on the ground, this time one of Chaewon's teammates’ stone.

“Ms Yuri, why do you need the stones?”

“Because they belong to our god.”

“Your god?” Voidborn asked.

“Is that meant to be your third question?” Yuri asked gently.

“No.”

“Choose your questions wisely, Mr Voidborn. But I shall answer it since you've already heard the answer before.”

She smiled and raised her finger, drawing an imaginary heptagram across her chest, ending with the final point of the seven-pointed star between her eyes.

“May the Weaver of Fate guide your threads towards fortune,” she prayed.

Voidborn frowned internally.

Weaver of Fate.

Yuri placed another stone onto the ground.

“Now Mr Voidborn, your third question?”

Voidborn bowed

“Ms Yuri, if you're so strong, why not gather the stones yourself?”

Yuri looked up at Voidborn and gave a pondering pout.

“Because I don’t need to? If I have people who are willing to revere and help me, why do I need to raise even a single finger?”

She placed the fourth stone.

“Go on.”

Voidborn nodded and continued asking.

“Were you the one who gave the shaman its stone, and do you feel responsible for the people who died?

Yuri looked at him, a smirk spreading across her face.

“You’re learning really quickly, Mr Voidborn.”

“Thank you for the praise, Ms Yuri.”

She shifted the fourth stone slightly and answered.

“It’s a yes to the first part of the question. For the second part, no?”

Yuri rolled the remaining three stones in her palm, playing with it.

“I offered the shaman the stone and asked it to help me get some more Rebirth stones. I didn’t tell it what to do, and how it should do it. If it killed others for the stones, is it my fault?”

She chuckled and continued.

“Now that it’s dead, I’m just simply collecting what I was promised. So, tell me. Why would I feel bad?”

Voidborn focused his eyes and gazed at her.

It was the same pure white honesty and deep blue sincerity.

But at this point, he wasn’t sure if he could trust these colours.

“Your next question, Mr Voidborn?”

She added the fifth stone to the ground.

“Why let us live?”

Yuri gave a puzzled look.

“Why would I harvest stones before they’re ripe?”

Eyes widened all around.

Then—

Something floated out from behind Yuri’s shadow.

“Seventh Thread.”

A shadowy figure of a man about two meters tall appeared and spoke.

He was entirely dark like the shadows, and his eyes were a pitch black darkness.

Voidborn focused and looked at him, but he could see no colours from within him.

He frowned.

“We are past the stipulated time. Return.”

“I’ll be there in a bit.”

The shadowy figure dissolved.

“I would like to talk with you more, Mr Voidborn, but unfortunately I am short on time.”

She placed the sixth stone down.

“Next.”

“What are Rebirth stones, Ms Yuri?”

“You ask really interesting questions, Mr Voidborn.”

She hummed and thought for a bit, before answering.

“The stones are seeds. Not all seeds are good seeds, but we also believe that not all good seeds are good seeds. However, seeds have the potential to grow into something akin to—”

She paused for a bit.

“—I shall end my answer.”

She placed the final stone onto the ground.

Voidborn took a glance.

She had arranged all the seven stones into the form of a heptagram, each stone at the tip of the diagram as she drew the lines to connect them.

“Your last question, Mr Voidborn?”

“What makes you so confident?”

“Why wouldn't I be, when I can get everyone to revere me like a godde—”

Voidborn leapt forward and swung his leg, kicking towards her.

But she was way faster.

Yuri smirked and hopped backwards, pulling something black out of her satchel and threw something at him.

It was a pair of black cuffs that latched on to Voidborn’s legs, clipping tightly around his ankles.

Before Voidborn could react, another object came flying at him, latching on to his wrists and snapped them backwards, clinking tightly behind his back.

Voidborn fell to the ground, kneeling at an awkward position.

“Voidborn!” Jimin screamed, but when she tried to move, she couldn't.

Or rather, her body didn't want to move.

Yuri walked forward whimsically, squatting in front of Voidborn.

He stared at her blankly.

“Interesting…” she said, running her thumb across his cheek. “I wonder why you were able to resist me.”

She looked at his thigh, peering towards the glowing object in his pocket.

“Oh? Where did you get this from?”

Voidborn kept silent.

“Perhaps this allowed you to escape my influence.”

She reached down towards his thigh.

“Seventh Thread.”

The shadowy figure appeared again.

“I said I’ll be there, Fifth Thread.”

Her eyes flashed white as she turned to glare at him.

“You know that won't work against me,” the figure said flatly.

“Tch,” Yuri clicked her tongue in annoyance. “One minute.”

“Now. The Wheel has spoken.”

Yuri’s eyes flashed in surprise.

“As per The Wheel’s woven fate,” she said, standing up.

She turned toward the heptagram and knelt beside it.

Mumbling something under her breath, the heptagram began to light up.

She stood up and smiled towards Voidborn.

“Perhaps fate may allow us to meet again.”

With a flash, light erupted from the heptagram and swallowed both Yuri and the shadowy figure.

Then they were gone.

Everyone suddenly felt that they could move once again, the strange feeling of devotion and reverence disappearing.

Chaewon collapsed onto the ground.

Tears streamed down her cheeks again as the feelings that was overtaken by the white earlier came surging outwards.

This time, nobody had taken them from her.

She had handed them over herself.

INFOGRAPHIC