Although Dokja blocks most of the breath attack with his wings, the exposed parts of his body get torn apart by the power. Though he's exhausted and in pain, he flies into the air, out of the range of the dragon's attack. Looking down at his exhausted and sobbing companions, he barely gets out a whisper for them to continue, knowing that they won't have another chance if they don't do it now.
Unfortunately, all of their bodies and mentalities seem to have reached their limits and none of them move to attack. Even the chimera dragon has exhausted its strength and lays down on the ground. Inwardly cursing now that only five minutes are left, Dokja realizes that they've reached the limit of his preparations for facing the Demon King, and he knows that the rest should be left to someone else.
[the constellation 'abyssal black flame dragon' is pleased to finally see more awesome dragon moments.]
As cool as it looked visually, Kim Dokja was certain that it was absolutely awful to experience. The breath tore at his flesh and clothes, and clearly did a lot of damage to his already battered form. It was only by reassuring himself that this wasn't real that he could force himself to keep watching. Through the temporary wall he was trying to construct in his mind, he thought he heard Lee Hyunsung choke out a sob.
It hadn't killed him. He hadn't been forced to relive the sensation of his flesh melting off his bones before crumbling into nothing but ash. It would be painful, but the pain was just proof that he was still alive. This time, Kim Dokja had faced down a dragon's breath and lived.
"I hope that that's all the children have to do," Lee Seolhwa said quietly, looking at them with concern.
Kim Dokja had to agree—that single attack had probably been extremely difficult for them to achieve, considering the dragon's strength and refusal to do it beforehand. If they could just stay off to the side in relative safety until this fight was over, maybe even slightly out of sight so they wouldn't have to witness their father figure's final moments, then Kim Dokja knew he would feel much more reassured.
[the constellation 'lily blooming in aquarius' is looking sadly at the condition of the incarnation 'kim dokja'.]
Yoo Sangah's lip trembled as she clenched her hands into fists and looked down at the ground, her hair falling around her face to obscure the look in her eyes. "We're all exhausted. And yet… Dokja-ssi, you're still enduring. This isn't fair."
The apocalypse was never fair—that was something they had all learned shortly after the beginning of the first main scenario.
[several constellations are laughing excitedly.]
[the constellations of the nebula 'olympus' are hoping that the incarnation 'kim dokja' will suffer.]
And that was the other reason, wasn't it? This was all a show to them—mere entertainment fuelled by his pain and agony. In fact, every minute that he still clung to life despite the horrific pain that he was experiencing was probably raising their moods. Bastards.
There were only five minutes left now, and those would quickly run out. To make matters worse, since their plans had changed because of the way the scenario had been altered, they hadn't practiced for more than this. Thinking over it, Kim Dokja also realized that it was possibly because Yoo Joonghyuk had usually never taken more than twenty minutes to complete this scenario with his chosen team. Perhaps those strategies that would cover the last parts of the third phase simply didn't exist in TWSA.
Han Sooyoung sighed, but her voice wasn't mocking at all when she spoke. "I'd call this a stupid cliché, but it's really up to the protagonist to claim victory in the darkest hour, isn't it?"
Of course it was. There was only one person left who had any chance of ending this scenario—and he would. It was Fate, after all.
[the constellation 'demon-like judge of fire' is already covering her eyes.]
It's at that moment that a blade sweeps through the air, one which Dokja barely manages to parry. On the ground stands Joonghyuk, and Dokja can recognize many emotions flash through his eyes as he recognizes the Demon King before him. The protagonist looks a mix of upset and angry as he bites his lip, even as he readies his normal sword for another attack. Deep down, Dokja knows that Joonghyuk is Joonghyuk, and that means that the man has already accepted that he must be the one to kill him.
Without saying anything, Joonghyuk rushes towards him, attacking multiple times to break his guard. With every strike, Dokja can feel Joonghyuk's despair conveyed through the blade each time it cuts his flesh, and he feels as though his physical strength is also being reduced. At the end of the flurry of attacks, Joonghyuk pivots and kicks Dokja in the abdomen with a boot as wide as Dokja's waist. The force of the blow sends Dokja crashing into a wall before slipping down to the ground, where he sits for a moment to catch his breath.
"Don't make that kind of expression. You can't change what has already happened," Dokja says, a small smile on his face, as he stands up unsteadily.
Standing across from him, Joonghyuk wipes the blood from his mouth and his eyes are shadowed by his hair as he mutters that he should have been the one to die. Looking at the four minutes they have remaining, not even enough for them to be allowed to feel despair, Dokja tells Joonghyuk to bring 'that' out to end it. Joonghyuk's gaze shifts to the side as he pretends not to understand what Dokja is talking about. Dokja, however, tells him to stop pretending because he knows that Joonghyuk has been avoiding using 'it' on purpose.
"Kim Dokja, I—" Yoo Joonghyuk began, his voice sounding oddly hesitant as he watched himself launch an attack that was barely blocked in time.
Kim Dokja just shook his head, cutting him off. "Not now, Joonghyuk-ah."
He had a feeling that he knew what Yoo Joonghyuk wanted to say, and he couldn't let the protagonist do that. There was too much happening already—too many emotions and too much chaos. It wasn't the time for unpacking anything yet, not when everything that needed to be said for the moment was already being conveyed wordlessly through each and every slash of Yoo Joonghyuk's blade.
Yoo Joonghyuk's eyes shook, but he kept his gaze on Kim Dokja even as they continued to clash on the screen. He knew what he had to do, and he knew that Kim Dokja knew it too.
[the constellation 'goryeo's first sword' is wondering when the incarnation 'yoo joonghyuk' got his other sword back.]
[the constellation 'god of wine and ecstasy' is shaking his head in disappointment at the stalling of the incarnation 'yoo joonghyuk'.]
"Joonghyuk-ssi, did you seriously go and pick up your other sword after getting up?" Jung Heewon wondered, though her tone sounded just as exhausted as they all felt. Yoo Joonghyuk stayed silent, clenching his fists so tightly that his knuckles had gone white.
Kim Dokja hoped that he had realized that it wasn't going to work. Maybe it was just the result of what naive hopes Yoo Joonghyuk could still muster, but all it would do is prolong the suffering rather than ending it in a final strike.
Honestly, it was oddly sentimental, and if Kim Dokja hadn't had the reality of Yoo Joonghyuk's foolish feelings shoved into his face over and over again—no matter how much he tried to deny them—he'd be convinced that it was extremely OOC of him. However this Yoo Joonghyuk, the one who called him a companion in a tone that was affectionate for him, genuinely wanted to avoid having to kill Kim Dokja.
"Even though we've seen it many times before, I'm always impressed by how good Joonghyuk-ssi is," Lee Hyunsung admitted. "He's very disciplined."
[several constellations are nodding in agreement with the incarnation 'lee hyunsung'.]
The attacks were intense, and it was hard for Kim Dokja to avoid having a reaction to them, especially considering that it was his own body getting torn up with every strike. To make matters worse, the children were flinching every time they heard anything, and they were refusing to look at the screen entirely.
"Um, this is probably really bad timing…" Lee Jihye admitted awkwardly as they all watched Kim Dokja get kicked into a wall, "but ahjussi, it's kind of sad that Master's boot is still the same size as your waist even though you got bigger."
… Okay, yeah, he had no defense for that one.
Regardless, what kind of bullshit shoe size did Yoo Joonghyuk wear for that to be possible? Damn unfairly large, muscular protagonist with his stupidly handsome face…
[the constellation 'secretive plotter' is insisting that the incarnation 'kim dokja' will need to eat better in the future.]
At this rate, Kim Dokja figured that he wouldn't have a choice in the matter anyway. The rest of the group had already realized how bad his childhood was, and Yoo Sangah was absolutely smart enough to put the pieces together and realize that his financial situation as an adult had been equally dire. Though, if it was Yoo Joonghyuk cooking, then Kim Dokja would be hard-pressed to try and ignore that kind of generosity. Those skewers had seemed too good to be true—what wouldn't he give to try them in real life…
Despite that, he had to focus.
"Dokja-ssi, please don't discount Joonghyuk-ssi's feelings either," Lee Seolhwa sighed. "It's true that the past can't be changed, but he's allowed to grieve too."
Kim Dokja knew that, but they had to understand that it was hard on him as well. The protagonist wasn't meant to falter in these kinds of moments, and Kim Dokja couldn't afford faltering right now either. If Yoo Joonghyuk allowed himself to crumble, then Kim Dokja would crumble along with him.
[the constellation 'queen of the darkest spring' is looking sadly at the current events.]
"No, Joonghyuk-ah," Kim Dokja muttered as a small smile tugged on the edges of his lips. "You were never meant to die here."
Yoo Joonghyuk clenched his jaw and glared intensely back at the screen. "You shouldn't be in this situation either."
Ah, but it was Fate, and it couldn't be changed. They were just the actors on a stage, putting on a show for the lofty stars in the sky.
[the constellation 'prisoner of the golden headband' is shifting uncomfortably in his seat.]
[the constellation 'maritime war god' is saddened by this turn of events.]
They had no time to say anything that needed to be said, either here or in the future. All they had was four minutes that would seem like an eternity and yet no time at all. It was four measly minutes that Kim Dokja knew would live on forever in their memories, replayed over and over like it was the last thing they could hold onto.
As Yoo Joonghyuk pretended not to know what Kim Dokja was talking about, Kim Dokja couldn't help but laugh. "Joonghyuk-ah, you're bad at lying, you know that right?"
"Ahjussi is right," Yoo Mia whispered sorrowfully, "that's a really bad lie, oppa."
Yoo Joonghyuk clenched his fists tighter somehow. "I do not want to do this."
Everyone knew that by now. How could they not, in the face of his already overwhelming grief and desperation?
[the constellation 'demon-like judge of fire' is turning away from the screen.]
Joonghyuk's eyes widen in surprise as the
Seeing the protagonist's continued hesitation, Dokja urges him to stop thinking so hard about things like that, and worry instead about whether his resurrection would ruin the scenario. Naturally, that doesn't help, rewarding Dokja with a glare instead. Despite that, Joonghyuk's thoughts are clear as he wonders if Dokja has has an idea—an unspoken question which Dokja answers with a laugh.
It's only after a few more tense seconds of hesitation that Joonghyuk moves to draw the blade, somberly admitting that he wished that the moment where he would have to use the blade would never come. Dokja, who seems to only be standing due to the scenario's bidding, tiredly replies that he had wished the same, but that the time has come. The moment he fully draws the blade, many of the constellations that have supported Dokja lament over the situation.
The Heavenly Sword of Gathering Clouds, also known as Ame no Murakumo no Tsurugi. It was the sword he got after defeating Yamata no Orochi's shadow in 'Peace Land'. My resurrection attribute, 'Eight Lives', was derived from the authority of the constellation 'Yamata no Orochi'. It can't help but be weak against the god-killing sword that slayed Yamata no Orochi.
No matter how much he didn't want to do it, Kim Dokja knew that Yoo Joonghyuk would still prioritize the completion of the scenario over the survival of a single man. Sooner or later, he would draw the sword.