The circle had been drawn in sacred salt and silver ash. Twelve black candles flickered at its edge, feeding off Mona's energy like moths on dying light.
She stood barefoot at its center.
Bare-armed. Unflinching.
Her eyes were closed, but she could hear everything.
Sunghoon's breathing.
The wind groaning through the ancient window frames.
And beneath it all—something deeper.
A voice.
> "Don't do this."
"You'll lose me forever."
"You'll break."
It was Niki's voice.
No. It was Veylor's.
Or both.
---
Sunghoon stood at the edge of the circle, holding the scroll in his gloved hands. Sweat beaded down his temple.
"She's ready," he said quietly.
Heeseung and Jungwon nodded from the corners, each guarding the spell barriers. Enhypen wasn't just her group now—they were her family.
"Once the rite begins," Sunghoon told them, "no one can step into the circle. If you do—your soul gets caught in the split."
Jake swallowed hard. "And if she can't take it?"
Sunghoon didn't answer.
Because he knew what would happen.
---
Inside the circle, Mona whispered:
"I accept the severing. I release the bond of blood, breath, and flame. I unchain myself from the Heir."
The candles flared.
The scroll in Sunghoon's hands lit with golden fire.
Suddenly—her body lifted off the floor.
Her mark began to bleed—literally—glowing red and silver as if it were fighting the severing.
"She's resisting it," Heeseung said.
"No," Sunghoon breathed. "It's him."
---
Elsewhere — in the Hollow Realm
Niki stood on the edge of a cliff, his hand to his chest.
His heart burned.
She was tearing the bond.
He felt it like a blade twisting inside his ribs.
"She's trying to leave me," he muttered, his voice raw.
The power around him cracked the ground. Shadows twitched like angry spirits.
Then Veylor's voice hissed in his mind:
> "She must not succeed."
"She made you. She cannot unmake you."
And Niki—no longer sure if he was fighting Veylor or himself—let out a howl of rage…
…and vanished.
---
Back in the Mansion — Ritual Room
Mona's scream shattered the first candle.
"She's slipping!" Jungwon shouted.
Sunghoon didn't stop chanting, even as the air crackled and black lightning struck the floor.
Her body convulsed in midair.
> "I'm not ready to let go."
"What if I lose who I was with him?"
"What if there's nothing left?"
Sunghoon stepped forward, eyes fierce.
"MONA," he shouted. "YOU are not your bond. You are not your pain. You're more."
Her eyes snapped open.
And just as the last rune lit—
the ceiling exploded.
A figure dropped through the smoke.
Eyes burning.
Fangs bared.
"STEP. AWAY. FROM HER."
Niki.
---
The room erupted in chaos.
Jake pulled Jungwon to the floor as Niki sent a pulse of dark energy through the chamber, blowing out half the candles.
Mona collapsed to the ground, the ritual interrupted. Her breathing was shallow—barely there.
Sunghoon drew his sword from the sacred glass sheath.
"Niki, don't."
But Niki's eyes were not his own.
"Do you think I'd let you cut her from me like a wound?" he growled.
"She's not yours to keep."
"Then why does she still burn for me?"
He lunged.
Sunghoon met him halfway.
Blades, fists, flame.
The two collided in a blur of steel and shadow.
Mona tried to crawl toward them, her hand stretched out weakly.
"Niki… Sunghoon… stop…"
But they didn't hear her.
Because the Hollow had taken control.
And the heart she loved—
Was breaking between them.
---