Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“And so in remembrance, the citizens of the kingdom began to call the day of Wanna One’s retirement as ‘Therefore’. ‘Therefore’ … a word that signifies the conclusion. The conclusion of a legendary and historic period of eighteen years. A befitting name for the end…” —a male voice paused— “…the end of Wanna One’s era.”

“Thus, this is the story of the second batch of Chosen who swept Hallyu like a storm. The history of the legendary Wanna One.” A female voice read.

A book was, then, closed along with some restrained exclamations of awe and admiration. Twelve women and eleven men returned the book to its original place and looked at the wall where Wanna One’s portrait was hung between IOI’s and two others. They bowed to the portraits before walking out of the Hall of History.

“IZ*ONE, X1, have you found out anything that could help?” two males teleported in front of the two groups in orbs of light — one in dark blue and the other in pale green.

“Unfortunately, no, Lee Seunggi-daepyonim and Lee Dongwook-daepyonim. The only other similar occasion was during the invasion attempt of the Source of All Evil, the arch-nemesis of the Honorable Charmed Ones of the Arcanus Alliance, decades ago,” the leader of the female group responded.

In case you were wondering who these people are, then an explanation is in order. The twelve females are the third generation of Chosen, IZ*ONE. Why twelve, you ask, when the Chosen should only be eleven? Nobody knows. No explanation was given by the Ancient Beings of Lake Tenm. Formed and inaugurated exactly thirty years after Wanna One retired, IZ*ONE is composed of Jang Wonyoung, Miyawaki Sakura, Jo Yuri, Choi Yena, Ahn Yujin, Yabuki Nako, Kwon Eunbi, Kang Hyewon, Honda Hitomi, Kim Chaewon, Kim Minjoo, and Lee Chaeyeon. Kwon Eunbi serves as their leader while Jang Wonyoung is their center.

The eleven men, on the other hand, are X1, the fourth generation of Chosen. Formed just ten years after IZ*ONE, X1’s members are Kim Yohan, Kim Wooseok, Han Seungwoo, Song Hyeongjun, Cho Seungyoun, Son Dongpyo, Lee Hangyul, Nam Dohyon, Chan Junho, Kang Minhee, and Lee Eunsang. Kim Yohan is the center while Han Seungwoo is the group’s leader. Confused as to why there are two active generations of Chosen at the same time? Then you are the same as the rest of Hallyu. And just like before, the Ancient Beings of Lake Tenm provided no clarification as to why things are happening this way. So, by some unexpected turn of events, Hallyu currently has two rulers.

Finally, the two males who orbed in are the two current Kingdom Seers of Hallyu. The Seer with the dark blue orbs is Lee Seunggi, the third Kingdom Seer while the pale green orbs belong to Lee Dongwook, the fourth Kingdom Seer. With IZ*ONE and X1 simultaneously existing, there are two concurrent Kingdom Seers as well. You can never really tell what the Ancient Beings of Lake Temn are thinking.

Now going back to the current events, IZ*ONE and X1, as the current rulers of the Hallyu, were tasked to find a counter for the invasion of Novus Red Force. Led by Origin, the Novus Red Force consisted of Torrid, Frazzle, Ubiquitous, Frigid, Speedbump, Spectrum, Synesthesia, and Ego. It had been a couple of days since the invasion began and unfortunately, Hallyu was down to its final line defense: The Supreme Six and Twilight Triad.

Seunggi and Dongwook hoped that the chronicle records in the Hall of History would provide them an insight on how to deal with the problem. But it seems even the past did not hold the solution to their problems — or so they thought for the time being.

“Are you sure? How did they handle that invasion then?” Seunggi asked.

“Well, the curious thing was that the invasion was successfully suppressed with the Seventeenth Supreme Six and Twilight Triad missing in action. That is why the remaining magical squads formed the interim Supreme Six and Twilight Triad. And with the help of the Honorable Kinomoto Sakura of Tomoeda, Charmed Ones of the Halliwell line of Witches, and Lucy Heartfilia of Fairy Tail, the Source of All Evil and his demons were vanquished,” Yohan replied what they found out.

“Well, that checks out. BoA-seonbaenim’s memory of that event is still fresh in our memories,” Dongwook sighed while Seunggi nodded in affirmation.

“What should we do now?” Wonyoung asked no one in particular.

“In the meantime, proceed to the meeting room. The rest of the Supreme Six and Twilight Triad are already waiting for you,” Seunggi instructed. “Dongwook-hyung and I will continue to check the chronicle records in case you missed something.”

Following instructions, IZ*ONE and X1 teleported to the meeting hall on the eleventh floor of the only hotel in Wanna City — IZ*ONE in a pink tornado and X1 in a Galaxy Blue tornado.

“Here they are. We can start the meeting now,” one female said.

Once seated, IZ*ONE presided over the meeting as the more senior Chosen.

“Plus Everything! Hello, we are Pone Harmony!”

“One, two, connect! Hello, we are Endash!”

“Dive into Ivy! Hello, we are Ivy!”

“It's We! Hello, we are Temp Fist!”

“I’m fearless! Hello, we are The Seraphim!”

“Attention! Hello, we are Jeansnew!”

“Eyes on me! Hello, we are IZ*ONE!”

“Fly high, X1! Hello, we are X1!”

“Be my æ! Hello, we are Ace Spa!”

The meeting officially started after all the members had stated their greeting slogans. For clarity, Endash, Pone Harmony, Temp Fist, The Seraphim, Jeansnew, and Ivy comprise the Supreme Six while IZ*ONE, X1, and Ace Spa are the members of the Twilight Triad.

“Did you discover anything to help us?” Jungwon, leader of Endash, asked IZ*ONE and X1.

“Unfortunately, after reading several chronicles, we are unable to find a possible solution to Novus Red Force’s invasion. The detailed account of the Source of All Evil’s invasion attempt mentioned no special method on how they managed to suppress it. The magical squads of their time were able to handle the situation for the majority of the invasion,” Eunbi reported.

“So, what should we do now? The majority of the Entente Cordiale are already injured due to Novus Red Force’s invasion. In fact, except for the nine of us, Tonvic is the only mobile magical squad,” Keeho painted the bigger picture.

“For now, Seunggi-daepyonim and Dongwook-daepyonim are still combing the Hall of History for anything that might help,” Sakura was trying to uplift everyone’s spirits.

“By the way, how is everyone, especially the magical squads?” Wooseok inquired.

“The number of casualties is still rising overall,” Karina delivered the grim news.

Before the discussion could continue, a group of individuals teleported into the meeting room in Blue Atoll flames. It was the only other unscathed group, Tonvic.

“What’s wrong?” Seungwoo, leader of X1, addressed his group mates. Yes, just like Sungwoon and Minhyun of Wanna One, Seungwoo is both a member of X1 and Tonvic. The pattern is further replicated by Sakura and Chaewon for both IZ*ONE and The Seraphim; Yujin and Wonyoung for both Ivy and IZ*ONE; and Wooseok for both X1 and Tension Up.

“They have returned,” Seungsik, leader of Tonvic, replied despite being weak from injuries.

With Seungsik’s response, the Supreme Six and Twilight Triad were filled with dread. The Novus Red Force came back to force Hallyu into submission.

Chapter Text

“They have returned,” Seungsik, leader of Tonvic, informed everyone in the meeting room despite writhing in pain from their injuries.

“What should we do?” Hyein was in distress.

“We have no choice but to defend the kingdom. That is the Supreme Six and Twilight Triad’s original duty after all,” Yohan declared.

“Yohan’s right. As the current strongest magical squads of the kingdom, let us do our duty to Hallyu,” Wonyoung seconded.

With the empathic words coming from the Centers of both Chosen groups, the rest were convinced to take a stand as well.

“Where are they, seonbaenim?” Hanbin asked Tonvic.

“They are in the open space on the outskirts of Wanna City,” Byungchan replied.

“The field where the Seer performs the selection ritual?” Ningning verified.

“Yes. That open field,” Hanse confirmed.

“In that case, let’s go,” the Supreme Six and Twilight Triad left without the injured Tonvic.

The nine groups reached the location using their signature teleportation: IZ*ONE in pink tornado; X1 in Galaxy Blue tornado; Endash in orange spirals; Pone Harmony in dark blue pillars of water; Temp Fist in dark purple swirling clouds; Ace Spa in purplish smoke; Ivy in red flames; The Seraphim glistened in Fearless Blue light; and Jeansnew in bluish-purple spirals.

“Ready to surrender?” Origin, the leader of the Novus Red Force, said with an evil grin.

“Over our dead bodies,” Yujin claimed.

“If you say so,” Origin cackled.

As if on cue, the Novus Red Force except Origin started moving. The Supreme Six and Twilight Triad had no choice but to retaliate.

“Temp Fist, use your X-Con technique to learn about the powers of our enemies,” Eunbi instructed. “Everyone, let’s defend Temp Fist while they do their task.”

“X-Con: Eye of the Storm!” a dark purple magic circle formed under Temp Fist after the chant.

“Eye of the Storm” is a support-type X-Con technique that enchants the eyes of its users and allows them to see the powers possessed by anyone whom they lay their eyes on. The technique can be detected as a faint glow around the eyes of the Temp Fist members.

To protect Temp Fist from incoming attacks, Hyewon and Hyeongjun, raised their force fields around Temp Fist. The rest had the daunting task of stopping the Novus Red Force members.

Stalling for time so that Temp Fist could gather the necessary information, X1 activated their technique.

“X-Con: Flash!” beneath X1, a yellow-blue-green magic circle manifested.

Flash is an offensive X-Con technique. It releases eleven consecutive bursts of light that deal heavy damage. X1 decided to utilize their X-Con technique due to its large area of effect.

X1’s X-Con technique managed to slow down the enemies from further advancing but was unable to deal enough damage.

“We’ve got it! We know about their powers!” Lew announced.

“Heeseungie-hyung, use your powers to disseminate the information to everyone,” Jungwon requested with urgency.

Heeseung was a high-level telepath. In fact, he is the first telepath since Sungwoon capable of Telepathic Replication. Heeseung wasted no time and was able to gather the information from Temp Fist’s members’ minds and send it to all of his allies.

“Thank you for this!” Hangyul stomped as soon as he received the information. He caused fissures to erupt on the ground. It was the necessary countermeasure against Speedbump who had Hyper Speed as one of his powers. The rest of X1 supported Hangyul in facing Speedbump.

Meanwhile, Theo was on equal footing thus far with Torrid as their streams of blue fire collided with each other. The rest of the Pone Harmony were countering the fiery projectiles coming out of Torrid.

Jang Wonyoung took it upon herself to counter Frazzle’s Advanced Electrokinesis as they possessed the same power. With Chayeon’s Augmentation, the remaining IZ*ONE members took care of the other attacks released by Frazzle.

After deactivating their X-Con technique, Temp Fist faced Ubiquitous as Hyeongseop was the only one who could counter the enemy’s Energy Wave with his own. Meanwhile, Endash took care of Frigid through Sunghoon’s Cryokinesis and Heeseung’s Telepathic Replication. The Serephims and Spectrum went head-to-head as Photokinesis clashed against each other with Yunjin leading the charge. Jeansnew’s Minji and her groupmates got stuck with Synesthesia in the battle of Advanced Telekinesis.

Just when they thought that things were going smoothly, one thing slipped off their minds - Ego. With most of the crossfire stuck in a deadlock, Ego stretched his right hand forward and unleashed his power of Gyrokinesis and increased the gravity around the battlefield. The Supreme Six and Twilight Triad got smashed to the ground, unable to stand under the influence of such strong gravitational force.

As a last-ditch effort, Ivy had no choice but to activate their X-Con technique.

“X-Con: Kitsch!” the technique made a red magic circle appear.

Ivy’s technique linked them and their target in such a way that whatever happened to them would also happen to the target and vice versa. The X-Con specifically targeted Ego; for that reason, when Ivy fainted due to the strong gravitational force, Ego fainted as well.

Able to move freely, IZ*ONE desperately countered.

“X-Con: Bloom*Iz!” a pink magic circle appeared under IZ*ONE.

The battlefield around Novus Red Force transformed into a field of colorful flowers. A few seconds later, the flowers simultaneously exploded, hitting their targets spot-on. When the smoke settled, IZ*ONE was shocked to see that the Novus Red Force only got small scratches from their attack.

Origin cackled, “Amazing! You were able to deal us some amount of damage. As recognition of this feat, we will retreat for now and leave you to fight for another day.”

“We can still fight!” Seungwoo valiantly claimed.

“Not from where I’m standing,” Origin scoffed. “But what do I even expect, you are no match against us. The Golden Age of Hallyu is over!”

Wooseok grunted, “We might not be in the Golden Age anymore, but we can still hold our ground against you.”

“If this was the Golden Age, I might have not dared to attempt an invasion. Unfortunately for you, your chances of defeating us are lost along with your Golden Age,” Origin said. “Goodbye for now. The next time we meet, we will eradicate Hallyu once and for all.”

Those were Origin’s last words before they teleported out in a blink of an eye. As for the Supreme Six and Twilight Triad, they were left lying on the ground physically, mentally, and emotionally defeated.

Chapter Text

After the confrontation, Seunggi and Dongwook found the Supreme Six and Twilight Triad weakly lying on the ground of the battlefield. The two Kingdom Seers had no choice but to teleport everyone to WIZ*ONE It, the Chosen headquarters to tend to their wounds. Fortunately, Eunchae, the only healer among the group, was conscious and she was able to heal up Heeseung of Endash first. With Heeseung’s Telepathic Replication, he was able to return the favor to Eunchae, and together, the two of them healed the remaining members of the Supreme Six and Twilight Triad.

“What happened?” Dongwook asked.

“The Novus Red Force attacked once again. We mobilized after they managed to heavily injure Tonvic but…” Seungyoun glanced around. “…we were severely outclassed as well.”

“I see,” Seunggi noticed how demoralized the Supreme Six and Twilight Triad had become.

“How’s Tonvic?” Seungwoo was alarmed.

“Calm down. The Tonvic members were transferred to the hotel for recuperation, just like the other injured members of the Entente Cordiale,” Dongwook reassured. “It could take a while before healers could take care of the injured magical squads since they are prioritizing the civilians.”

“Still, that’s good to hear,” Seungwoo calmed down after hearing the relatively good news.

“Going back to the events earlier, did you learn something from the battle?” Seunggi told the Supreme Six and Twilight Triad.

“Well, thanks to Temp Fist’s X-Con technique, we were able to know the powers possessed by all the members of the Novus Red Force,” Karina stated.

“Then why don’t you brief us with their abilities? We might be able to help strategizing or we might notice something helpful,” Dongwook urged.

They waited for everyone to be healed up before starting to share the information. They needed to be ready and back to full health just in case the Novus Red Force returned on a whim.

“First is Torrid,” Keeho accessed his memories. “He has Advanced Pyrogenism with access to Fireballs plus Thermal Balls, Plasma Balls, and Optical Firebolts.”

“Frazzle possesses Advanced Electrokinesis with access to Energy Balls. He also has Energy Beam, Energy Blast, Energy Sparks, and Energy Waves,” Lew followed.

“Ubiquitous has Aerokinesis, Atmokinesis, Energy Waves, and Particle Swarm,” Giselle recalled.

“Frigid’s powers are Aerokinesis, Hydrokinesis, Cryokinesis, and Atmokinesis which is a good collection of powers in my opinion,” Gaeul mentioned.

“Geokinesis, Sonokinesis, and Hyper Speed for Speedbump,” Kazuha just went straight to the point.

“Spectrum has Photokinesis, Atmokinesis, Light Darts, and Laser Bolts,” Danielle said.

“Synesthesia’s powers include Advanced Telekinesis, Hallucikinesis, Empathy, Telepathy, Premonition, and Enhanced Senses,” Sunghoon enumerated.

“Ego holds Gyrokinesis, Thought Projection, Conjuration, and Cloning,” Yuri told the Seers.

“As for their leader, Origin, he basically possesses the same powers as all of X-O seonbaenim,” Eunsang summarized. “So Cryokinesis, Advanced Telekinesis, Flight, Hydrokinesis, Healing, Photokinesis, Advanced Electrokinesis with Energy Balls, Advanced Pyrogenism with Fireballs, Super Strength, Geokinesis, Shielding, Chronokinesis, Blinking, and Aerokinesis.”

While the members enumerated the powers, the two Kingdom Seers listed them on a whiteboard for easy visualization. There was silence for a few minutes before Seunggi noticed a pattern.

“Their names and powers are both consistent and inconsistent,” Seunggi noticed.

“What do you mean, daepyonim?” Yena was confused.

“For example, Torrid means ‘scorching hot’ so it makes sense that he has fire-based powers,” Seunggi elaborated. “Frigid also follows the same principle for having powers which can induce cold.”

“I see what you mean,” Dongwook scanned the board. “Synesthesia relates to the senses and the mind that is why he got mental-based powers. Also, Ubiquitous, which carries the meaning of ‘being everywhere at the same time’ has powers that can cover a wide area.”

“But the consistencies stop there,” Seunggi continued. “Hyper Speed is not an appropriate power to match Speedbump and Frazzle means ‘loss of energy’ but possesses energy-based powers.”

“How about Origin, Spectrum, and Ego, daepyonim?” Junho inquired.

“You could say Ego is slightly consistent since he can clone himself. So with Spectrum since the term ‘spectrum of light’ exists,” Dongwook reasoned. “But Origin with all these powers does not make any sense at all.”

“But I presume this pattern won’t help us in defeating them, right?” Winter figured out.

“Unfortunately, no,” the two Seers shook their heads.

“Is there anything we could do to stop them?” Taerae groaned in frustration.

“Should we ask for help from the Arcanus Alliance? After all, the Alliance was originally created for situations like this,” Yujin suggested.

“As appealing as that may sound, there is a huge chance that our call for reinforcements would be in vain,” Wooseok said.

“How can you say so?”

“Have you forgotten how the last Arcanus Alliance Convention almost did not push through due to a series of unfortunate circumstances?” Wooseok recalled. “The Kingdom of Enchancia was supposed to be the host of the Convention this year but because of an attack on their kingdom, they passed on the hosting duties to the Guardian of the Miraculous, the next-in-line host.”

“However, by an unfortunate turn of events, the previous guardian renounced his title in a way to ward off an archenemy of theirs. So, the new guardian politely declined the offer to host the convention and asked the help of Exoplanet to host the Convention,” Eunbi continued the explanation. “Exoplanet, in turn, had to pass the hosting duties to us since their lost Guardian Legends finally made their much-awaited return and a Hymeneal was needed to happen.”

“And even though the Convention pushed through, almost half of the alliance members were not present due to their own worsening problems that need immediate attention,” Yohan sighed. “With that information alone, chances are no one would be available to help us with our problems when they also have problems to take care of. We are on our own.”

There was a brief pause in the conversation as they stared at the whiteboard, pondering what could be the solution to their current predicament. The enemies were so formidable, even in writing, that they could not think of anything that could possibly help them. Well, not until someone remembered something inconspicuously important.

Sakura gasped, “Something came to mind.”

“What is it?”

“Remember earlier when Origin mentioned the Golden Age over and over again?” Sakura reminded everyone.

“Ah, yes. He even claimed that he would not have dared to invade Hallyu even if we were still in the Golden Age,” Sunoo added.

“Not only that, he specifically mentioned that our chances of defeating them are lost in our Golden Age,” Soul joined the conversation. “What could he mean by that?”

“Perhaps the Golden Age had something that we don’t. Something that could help us battle against them,” Seunggi theorized. “IZ*ONE, X1, you just read our historical records. What could the Golden Age have that we currently don’t?”

After moments of silence, Minhee hesitantly answered, “The Ten Crests of Hallyu?”

“That’s it!” Dongwook and Seunggi nodded while walking out of the Chosen Headquarters in hurried steps. The Supreme Six and Twilight Triad followed the two Seers of the Kingdom.

“What? What is it, daepyonim?” Nako was confused.

“We might not be able to ask for reinforcements from the Arcanus Alliance…” Seunggi was excited about something.

“…but we can certainly ask for help from your predecessors,” Dongwook was sporting a smile on his face.

“How exactly?”

“We are going to summon the Ten Crests of Hallyu.”

Chapter Text

The two incumbent Kingdom Seers, along with the current Supreme Six and Twilight Triad, were making their way from the Chosen Headquarters to the Hall of History. It didn’t take long for them to reach the Hall right in front of the second edition of Light, particularly the volume about magical powers.

“Summon? Summon the Ten Crests?” Seungwoo could not believe what he just heard.

“Is that even possible?” Eunbi was doubtful as well.

Their doubts were more or less justified. The Ten Crests of Hallyu were the ten strongest magical squads in the kingdom’s history who led the kingdom into and during the Golden Age. It also made sense why even Origin, the leader of the Novus Red Force, would be intimidated to attack during the Golden Age just like what he claimed. After all, Hallyu’s reputation as one of the top magical kingdoms in the Arcanus Alliance was due to the Ten Crests. In retrospect, the Ten Crests would be highly reliable and capable reinforcements, especially in the situation that they were in.

“Well, according to the Summoning entry here in Light, summoning could be done using an active power or a spell,” Seunggi read out.

“Wait. If we have the means to actually summon them from the past, why haven’t we done it before over and over again?” Yujin pointed out. “Having the Ten Crests can be a huge asset for our kingdom at any period.”

“That is because summoning them from the past comes with a great risk,” Dongwook answered.

“Risks? What risks?” Liz wondered.

“Summoning them to our time poses the risk of altering the timeline and changing the present if we are not careful,” Seunggi explained. “For example, if we summoned them from a crucial point in our history such as the Fandom War, then the War would have not happened, changing the course of our kingdom’s history.”

“Another risk of summoning them towards our time is the information leak,” Dongwook added.

“Information leak? What kind?” Niki was confused.

“Technically, based on the flow of time, we are their future, correct?” Seunggi received nods of approval. “Now, any information revealed to them here that still does not exist or is not yet known in their time could potentially alter the course of history. These two risks could cause inconspicuous changes throughout the whole timeline; only Chronokinetics and Premonition wielders could sense these changes, if any.”

“But seeing our situation, they’re the risks we are willing to take,” Wonyoung stated, which the two Kingdom Seers nodded in confirmation.

“So, how are we going to summon them, daepyonim?” Yohan inquired.

“Since none of you possesses Summoning or Projection as an active power, we’ll resort to spell casting,” Dongwook finished the thought.

“Is there even any particular spell for summoning the Ten Crests?” Liz questioned.

“Honestly, there’s none. But that is not the main concern here,” Seunggi said. “To increase the chances of successfully summoning them, we need artifacts, one for each Crest, that contain some part of their being.”

“And how are we going to find such artifacts?” Niki asked.

Opening another volume of Light specific for magical artifacts, Dongwook tapped the page, “Simple. These will work perfectly.”

“The Glinters? You mean our lightsticks?” Ningning’s eyebrows furrowed.

“Yes,” Seunggi verbalized the entry. “Created using the magic of the Four Founders of the Arcanus Alliance, the Glinters are artifacts that represent their respective owners. Each group has its own Glinter with its characteristics, identifiable by the group’s logo or official colors. The most important element in its creation is the powers of its owners, making each Glinter unique from each other.”

“I understand that each Glinter or lightstick has been integrated with the powers of their owners but how would that help with the summoning?” Haerin was still confused.

“Well, as you might already know, powers are a biological part of every magic user, similar to blood or DNA. That is why when you provided a part of your power to create your own Glinter, the Glinter in turn now contains a part of your living will or essence or being, whatever you call it,” Dongwook explained. “And that is how the Glinters are the perfect artifacts for the summoning ritual.”

“So does this mean, if it wasn’t for the risk of messing up the timeline, we can actually summon any of our seniors with their Glinters?” Giselle realized.

“Who would have thought that those Glinters have a specific usefulness? I always thought they were just made as a keepsake for the kingdom’s magical squads,” Eunchan muttered.

“Then, what are we waiting for? Let’s go to the Photic Zone beneath the Hall which houses all the existing Glinters. The sooner we can summon them, the sooner we can end this invasion,” Intak told everyone.

“You guys go to the Photic Zone. I believe you already know which Glinters belong to the Ten Crests,” Seunggi instructed the Supreme Six and Twilight Triad. “We will stay behind and write the necessary spell for the summoning.”

Through the hidden door at the end of the hallway, the Supreme Six and Twilight Triad descended a long spiral staircase before reaching the Photic Zone through the cased opening.

“The last time we’ve been here, we placed our newly created Engene-bong in one of the seemingly infinite glass cases here,” Jay recalled.

Jay was correct. The last time each member of the Supreme Six and Twilight Triad was in the Photic Zone was when they put their own Glinter in a glass case there.

“There’s the P1ece Siren!” Jongseob pointed to Pone Harmony’s Glinter.

“I’m glad to see the Dreamus once again,” Winter said as Ace Spa looked at their Glinter.

“The Fimbong is still looking good,” The Seraphim was focused on theirs.

“I found the Binky Bong!” Hanni caught the attention of her teammates.

“I always forget how beautiful our I Ha-Bong is,” Gaeul commented.

Refocusing back to their original intentions, the nine squads started to search around the Photic Zone for the specific Glinters that they needed.

“Look! There’s Five-Sided Polygon-seonbaenim’s Unibong!”

“Ex-Monster-seonbaenim’s Moondongie and Troas-seonbaenim’s Robong.”

“Gots-Even-seonbaenim’s Ahgabong and Icon-seonbaenim’s Konbat!”

“Atease-seonbaenim’s Lightiny.”

“I.O.I-seonbaenim’s Ice Cream,” they giggled as they found the name unique.

But even after a meticulous search, they couldn’t find what they were looking for.

“The Glinters of the Ten Crests are not here! What should we do?” Hyein was worried.

“That’s impossible! The Photic Zone houses all of the kingdom’s Glinters. We might have missed them somehow,” Hangyul insisted.

“Statistically speaking, how improbable is it for nine groups of people to simultaneously miss seeing all ten Glinters? With this many people looking, we should have seen at least one,” Jake reasoned logically.

Despite Jake’s sound logic, they searched the Photic Zone once more. When they found nothing the second or third time around, the Supreme Six and Twilight had no choice but to return to the Seers and report the missing Glinters.

“Daepyonim, the Glinters of the Ten Crests are not in the Photic Zone,” Chaeyeon reported with a desperate tone.

“Are you sure?” Dongwook stood up at the unexpected news.

“What is even going on? Why is everything not going in our favor?” Seunggi clutched his hair in frustration.

The unfortunate news brought forth an uncomfortable silence in the room. Everyone was now thinking hard about a Plan B.

Hwarang walked around the hall and broke the silence, “You know, I always found it fascinating that there are two versions of the Eighteenth Supreme Six and Twilight Triad.”

“If it wasn’t for the historical records, we might be confused as to what could have happened,” Hyuk giggled.

Hwarang touched the conjoined frames of the two portraits of the Eighteenth Bicameral Chambers. As he did so, he received a premonition. In his premonition, a group of eleven silhouettes was hanging the conjoined frames on the wall.

“Do we really need to do this?” one voice asked.

“We need to. Or else they will not be able to follow the Black Ocean Protocol in Light to find our missing Glinters,” another voice replied.

Hwarang returned to reality when the vision ended. His groupmates were gathered around him to prevent him from falling while the rest were looking at him expectantly.

“I think I know how to find the Glinters of the Ten Crests,” Hwarang said after catching his breath.

“How?”

“The Black Ocean Protocol.”

Chapter Text

“I think I know how to find the Glinters of the Ten Crests,” Hwarang said after catching his breath.

“How?”

“The Black Ocean Protocol.”

“The Black Ocean Protocol? What is that?” Minji voiced out everyone’s sentiments.

“Ok, listen, I just received a premonition. And in that premonition, I saw eleven silhouettes hanging this frame on this wall. They said it was necessary so that Black Ocean Protocol will be used to search for the missing Glinters,” Hwarang explained. “After scouring the Photic Zone, we know that the only missing Glinters are those that belonged to the Ten Crests. So, if my assumptions are correct, the Black Ocean Protocol could lead us to where their lightsticks are located.”

“Okay, let’s believe your assumptions are correct, but still we don’t know what is this ‘Black Ocean Protocol’,” Dongwook calmly told Hwarang.

“I guess it’s a good thing that the silhouettes in my premonition mentioned where we can learn about the Black Ocean Protocol,” Hwarang smiled.

“Where is it?” Lew urged his groupmate.

“If we need information about anything magical, where do we look for it?” Hwarang hinted.

“You mean?” everyone turned their heads to one particular object in the room.

Hwarang nodded, “Yes. The Light Codices.”

Seunggi and Dongwook quickly grabbed all volumes of Light. They scanned the volumes starting from the front, going through each page one by one until they found the entry they were looking for at the very end of the volume for the magical squads of Hallyu.

The Black Ocean Protocol

The Supreme Six and the Twilight Triad are Hallyu’s pride. Tasked with the duty to protect the kingdom from both internal and external threats, the Supreme Six and Twilight Triad are Hallyu’s final line of defense.

However, the Supreme Six and the Twilight Triad are not infallible. Through the Arcanus Alliance, it is no secret that powerful threats are lurking in the shadows, just waiting for the opportune moment to strike. Thus, countermeasures need to be prepared.

If there will come such a time when the Supreme Six and Twilight Triad are unable to subdue the threat on their own, the Black Ocean Protocol can be your guide:

“When Hallyu will be in great danger, the glint of hope could be found at the core of the alliance.”

“And so, where are the Glinters?” Giselle questioned.

“That’s it. The entry ends there,” Seunggi said.

“But there is no mention of where the Glinters could be,” Yujin noticed.

“Are you sure, daepyonim? How about the next page?” Dohyon suggested to the two Seers.

“There is no next page. The entry is on the final page of the book,” Dongwook revealed.

“But there is nothing there that could help us find the Glinters,” Jongseob raised his concern.

The Seers read the entry on the “Black Ocean Protocol” over and over again. They could not believe that the location of the Glinters was not mentioned in the entry, especially following the premonition Hwarang got.

After Dongwook read the entry for the eleventh time, Jake and Jay gasped, “That’s it!”

“Did you figure something out, Jay-hyung?” Jungwon reacted.

“The Black Ocean Protocol do tell us the location of the Glinters,” Jake claimed.

“Where is it then?” Wonyoung was puzzled.

“When Hallyu will be in great danger, the glint of hope could be found at the core of the alliance,” Jay stated. “The glint of hope might refer to the Glinters that we are looking for. And that they can be found at the core of the alliance… or more specifically, the Arcanus Alliance.”

“So, what does that mean? That we should ask help from the Arcanus Alliance?” Keeho blurted out.

“Not necessarily. What if they are in the Arcanus Alliance Convention Hall?” Jake responded.

Jake’s statement felt like everyone had been doused with iced water, “That’s a great idea!”

And so, the Supreme Six, Twilight Triad, and the two Kingdom Seers rushed to the Arcanus Alliance Convention Hall to the left of the eleven-story hotel in Wanna City. Just like the Entente Cordiale building located to the right of the hotel, the Arcanus Alliance Convention Hall was designed to accommodate a large number of dignitaries.

Once inside, the group searched every nook and cranny of the convention hall. They hoped to find a hidden vault, a secret passageway, a concealed door, or anything that may be keeping the missing Glinters. But as the sun set behind the horizon, they were not having any luck in finding the lightsticks.

“Are you sure it’s here, Jake?” Seunggi clarified.

“It was a theory, seonbaenim. I just assumed they were here based on the words stated by the entry,” Jake honestly said. “Actually, while I am certain that it is related to the Arcanus Alliance, the mention of the word ‘core’ is throwing me off.”

“Yes. I was also wondering what the ‘core’ of the alliance means,” Sakura offered her thoughts.

“For the meantime, let’s search the entire hall for one last time before planning our next move,” Dongwook suggested.

Another sweep of the entire area ended in vain once more. There was no sign of the Glinters anywhere inside the building.

“Nothing. Nada. Zilch,” Theo shook his head in defeat.

“Core of the alliance… core of the alliance… core of the alliance…” Yohan mumbled as he walked around. “Well, ‘core’ could mean the center, right? So, perhaps we might see something in the center of the hall?”

Yujin groaned in annoyance, “Why did they have to make everything cryptic?”

“Maybe it’s a test… to see if we are worthy of summoning them,” Heeseung mentioned.

“That’s a new way of looking at it,” Seunggi approved of Heeseung’s way of thinking.

While they were talking, Yohan stood in the center of the hall looking for clues. He theorized that the “core” of the alliance meant the center of the convention hall. He slowly spun to scrutinize the whole area and even looked up at the ceiling. Just like everyone else, he found nothing.

“Yohan-ah, let’s go already! It’s getting dark,” Wooseok called for him.

“Be right there!”

Disappointed, Yohan sighed and hung his head. However, that action opened a new perspective to Yohan. The center noticed this and spun around slowly once more to verify his find. When it was consistent with what he was thinking, he couldn’t help but announce his finding.

“Uhmm… everyone?” Yohan called for everyone’s attention. “I think I found something.”

Chapter Text

With Yohan’s declaration that he found something, the rest made their way toward where the X1’s Center was standing. The said male was just frozen in his position, possibly stunned by his discovery.

“What is it, Yohan-ah?” Wooseok asked their Center.

“I think I figured out what the ‘core’ of the alliance is,” Yohan muttered.

“Tell us then,” Dongwook told Yohan.

“Ok, hear me out. So, I was thinking that the ‘core’ could mean the center of the convention hall so I stood here and tried to look for clues,” Yohan explained. “When I found nothing, I was disappointed with myself so let my head down in frustration. That is when I found this.”

The rest looked down on what Yohan was talking about, “The Arcanus Alliance logo on the floor? What about it?”

“So, when I looked down, not only was I in the ‘core’ of the convention hall, but I was also standing in the dead center of the logo,” Yohan continued explaining. “That is when I noticed what can be found in the center of the Arcanus Alliance logo.”

Yohan’s words prompted them to take a closer look at the Arcanus Alliance logo. Surrounding the center of the alliance’s insignia are ten multicolored wavy diamonds with each diamond containing a silhouette of a different logo.

“Now, it all makes sense,” Seunggi exclaimed. “The core of the alliance, both literally and symbolically, is the Premier Ten.”

“Why, of course! The Glinters of the Ten Crests could only have been entrusted to the first ten members of the Arcanus Alliance,” realization finally dawned on Dongwook.

The Premier Ten, just like how Dongwook explained it to be, are the first ten members of the Arcanus Alliance. Even as the Arcanus Alliance grew, the ten were considered to be the backbone of the organization and thus, were highly respected by all the members of the alliance.

“Ok. This is a great find,” Seunggi clapped. “Good job, everyone. For now, let’s take a good rest and we will pick this up tomorrow in the Bicameral Committee’s meeting room.”

The next day, all the members of the Supreme Six and Twilight Triad were present early in the meeting room. Upon the arrival of the two Kingdom Seers, the meeting was called to order.

“Plus Everything! Hello, we are Pone Harmony!”

“One, two, connect! Hello, we are Endash!”

“Dive into Ivy! Hello, we are Ivy!”

“It's We! Hello, we are Temp Fist!”

“I’m fearless! Hello, we are The Seraphim!”

“Attention! Hello, we are Jeansnew!”

“Eyes on me! Hello, we are IZ*ONE!”

“Fly high, X1! Hello, we are X1!”

“Be my æ! Hello, we are Ace Spa!”

“Good morning, Supreme Six and Twilight Triad. We are here today to finally decode where the Glinters of the Ten Crests are hidden,” Seunggi started the meeting.

“And as Yohan brilliantly discovered yesterday, at very core of the Arcanus Alliance logo lies the symbol for the Premier Ten of the Arcanus Alliance,” Dongwook pressed a button and the emblem appeared on the screens in front of each group. “This, ladies and gentlemen, is the insignia of the Premier Ten.”

The nine groups took a closer look at the emblem. There were parts of it that they recognized but it was mostly indistinguishable to them.

“Out of the Ten silhouettes, I can only recognize four,” Seungwoo said.

“I think that goes for all of us here,” Hyein agreed.

“I wouldn’t blame you for that,” Seunggi nodded in understanding. “After all, the Premier Ten has not been in quorum for the Arcanus Alliance in decades. According to records, the last time the Premier Ten was in quorum was before In-City retired and all ten Premiers were present during that Arcanus Alliance convention which our kingdom hosted.”

“Ever since then, the Premier Ten failed to reach a quorum, thus there is no need for them to convene and meet in a separate session,” Dongwook explained. “Now, as you have said earlier, you only recognize four of the ten silhouettes. Thankfully, we were able to identify the silhouettes with the help of BoA-seonbaenim’s memories.”

“Then please, educate us with the Premier Ten,” Keeho requested.

“Of course, you are all familiar with the logo in the diamond divided by the red and dark blue vertically,” Seunggi started. “It is none other than one of the four founding members of the Arcanus Alliance, our very own Kingdom of Hallyu.”

“In the pink and yellow diamond next to it is the outline of the magic circle which belongs to the second founding member of the Arcanus Alliance, the Honorable Kinomoto Sakura of Tomoeda,” Dongwook stated.

“To the right of Hallyu’s logo is the pure blue diamond which contains the Triquetra, the symbol of the three strongest witches from the Warren Line, now called the Halliwell Line, who possess the ‘Power of Three’. The third founding members of the Arcanus Alliance are the Emerita Honorables Prudence Halliwell, Piper Halliwell, Phoebe Halliwell, and Paige Matthews. They are collectively called the Charmed Ones of Halliwell line of Witches from San Francisco,” Seunggi proceeded. “Currently, they are being represented by the Honorable Wyatt Matthew Halliwell and Christopher Perry Halliwell.”

Dongwook cleared his throat before continuing, “In the diamond with the red and orange gradient is the insignia of the strongest magicians’ guild in the Kingdom of Fiore. The fourth founding member of Arcanus Alliance is the Fairy Tail guild represented by the Honorable Lucy Heartfilia. The guild is currently headed by their seventh guild master, Erza Scarlet.”

“Now, these four are recognizable as Sakura-nim, Charmed Ones-nim, and Lucy-nim helped the kingdom suppress the final attempt of the Source of All Evil to conquer Hallyu years ago,” Seunggi mentioned and the magical squad members nodded. “Not to mention, they help create the Glinters for the magical squads of Hallyu.”

“As for the rest of the Premier Ten, they are respectable entities as well,” Dongwook continued. “In the pure orange diamond sits the insignia of the strongest mafia organization. The fifth Premier is the Vongola Family now headed by the tenth-generation boss, Honorable Sawada Tsunayoshi, and his six Guardians.”

“Depicted in the yellow and gold gradient diamond is the elite school known for housing the most brilliant minds, the sixth Premier is Hakusen Academy. They are currently represented by the Special A Class which is made up of the top seven students of the academy: Honorables Takishima Kei, Hanazono Hikari, Yamamoto Jun and Megumi, Karino Tadashi, Toudo Akira, and Tsuji Ryuu,” Seunggi presented the next Premier.

“The diamond with the four colors — red, green, yellow, and blue — stands for another school. Regarded as the best and finest wizarding school, the seventh Premier is Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry with its current headmistress, Honorable Minerva McGonagall,” Dongwook stated.

“The pure Cosmic Latte diamond includes the insignia of a magical civilization with an interestingly rich history. The eighth Premier is the Honorable Guardian Legends of Exoplanet,” Seunggi revealed. “Now, I know some of you are itching to ask why Cosmic Latte sounds awfully familiar, we’ll explain that later. For now, let’s proceed to the last two members of the Premier Ten.”

“The ninth diamond filled with the colors Rose-Quartz and Serenity stands for the kingdom where humans and vampires cohabitate peacefully. The ninth Premier is the Carat Kingdom currently ruled by the Honorable King Han Sungsoo,” the Supreme Six’s and Twilight Triad’s ears all perked up at the mention of the name, so Dongwook smiled at the expected reaction. “Like Seunggi-ssi said, we will explain everything in a while.”

“Finally, the diamond divided by the red and dark blue horizontally is the only honorary member of the Arcanus Alliance. It is an academic institution that piqued the interest of the Second Generation of Chosen which led to it being inducted as an honorary member of the alliance. The tenth Premier is Hall University of the Republic of Korea. As per reports, the current university president is Honorable Chae Chinjeol,” Seunggi read the document. “According to records, the university has no idea of the existence of magic. To their knowledge, the Arcanus Alliance is no more than a charitable organization. The only direct connection between Hall University and the Alliance is through Carat Kingdom; but even then, they don’t know that Carat Kingdom is populated with vampires.”

“Those are the Premier Ten, the core of the Arcanus Alliance,” Dongwook ended the presentation.

“So, is it safe to assume that the Glinters are with them?” Lew addressed the two Seers.

“It seems so, assuming we correctly decoded what the Black Ocean Protocol states,” Seunggi confirmed.

“Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go visit the Premier Ten to retrieve the Glinters,” Yujin was impatient.

“Well, there is something else you must know about the Arcanus Alliance before going to the Premiers to retrieve the Glinters,” Dongwook scratched his head.

“Does this have to do with Cosmic Latte and Exoplanet and also Carat Kingdom and Honorable King Han Sungsoo?” Leeseo realized.

The two Kingdom Seers only nodded in silence. The Supreme Six and Twilight Triad realized it was something serious.

“You need to know about the Secret of the Arcanus Alliance,” Seunggi’s tone changed.

Chapter Text

The Seers’ silence changed the atmosphere inside the meeting room. The Supreme Six and Twilight Triad held their breath, waiting for the next words of Hallyu’s best spell casters.

After a brief pause, Seunggi said, “You need to know about the Secret of the Arcanus Alliance.”

“The Secret of the Arcanus Alliance?” several people muttered.

“Well, it’s just something you need to have at least an idea about before you go visit any member of the alliance,” Dongwook clarified. “Please listen carefully as this might get confusing or borderline unbelievable.”

The members of each group braced themselves for what they were about to hear.

“According to the minutes of the Bicameral Chambers and the Entente Cordiale, the creation of the Arcanus Alliance was originally conceived by the Second Generation of Chosen after BoA-seonbaenim travelled to the future members’ locations for diplomatic and research purposes in line with the ‘One: The World Program’. At first, everything was fine; she was learning new kinds of magic and cultures. But everything changed when she noticed one particular recurring theme across the locations,” Seunggi explained. “That is how she discovered a phenomenon that will later be the Arcanus Alliance’s greatest kept secret.”

Sakura took the courage to ask the all-important question, “What is this secret, daepyonim?”

“All the members of the Arcanus Alliance exist in alternate universes,” Dongwook succinctly revealed.

“Alternate universes?” Liz mumbled.

“What is that?” Sunoo blurted out.

“Have you ever wondered why you cannot find the infamous ‘Anihc Kingdom’ in any of our maps?” Seunggi cited as an example and the rest slowly nodded in realization. “That is because the Anihc Kingdom, just like the rest of the alliance, is an alternate universe.”

“Alternate Universes are simply the existence of different realities filled with various things and configurations not found in other realities,” Dongwook immediately followed. “This further explains why Hall University is not aware of the existence of the Arcanus Alliance because, in that reality, magic does not simply exist.”

“But that doesn’t explain why Carat Kingdom, King Han Sungsoo, Rose Quartz and Serenity, and Cosmic Latte sound so familiar,” Lew raised a valid point.

Seunggi smiled, “Actually it does. As explained, Alternate Universes are filled with alternate realities. And as BoA-seonbaenim noticed, while realities differ from one another, there are still consistencies that exist.”

“Take for example Carat Kingdom, one of the Ten Premiers. As you all know, the Carat Kingdom is ruled by the Honorable King Han Sungsoo who is a vampire. Now, I know you have heard that name before, right?” Dongwook started to explain a bit deeper.

“Yes. Han Sungsoo-nim, the previous ruler of Disple Province. Also, Carat is the name of a magical squad headquarters in Disple with Rose Quartz and Serenity being the official colors of—” Sunghoon mentioned but was cut off at the last second.

“Correct. Now, both Han Sungsoo in Hallyu and Carat are technically the same entity. It’s just that, in our universe, he is a human province ruler while in Carat’s universe, he is a vampire king,” Seunggi gave an example. “That is how Alternate Universes work. Each ‘universe’ has a different version of reality.”

“So, you’re telling us that there exists a different version of us in each alternate universe?” Theo could not believe what he just heard. “That there could be a vampire version of us in Carat… or a witch version of us in San Francisco… or a student version of us could be studying in Hogwarts or Hakusen?”

“Yes, possibly. That is how alternate universes work in a nutshell,” Dongwook nodded affirmatively. “That also explains why Exoplanet’s Cosmic Latte coloration is familiar to you.”

“So why is this a secret of the Arcanus Alliance?” Karina questioned.

“Because only the members of the Arcanus Alliance know about this,” Seunggi answered. “The Fairy Tail guild is the only guild in their kingdom that knows about the existence of Arcanus Alliance and the alternate universes. In Hakusen Academy, only the members of the Special A Class are provided with knowledge of the alternate universes. The rest of the alliance members also have their own version of confidentiality about the existence of the Arcanus Alliance and alternate universes. While the alliance is widely known to the populace of both Exoplanet and Carat Kingdom, only a select few know about this Secret.”

“Despite this, a few members of the alliance are still skeptical about this concept and only those who have visited the locations in person could attest to the existence of alternate universes,” Dongwook elaborated. “The level of confidentiality adopted by each member of the alliance is important as to prevent archenemies from possibly communicating with the different version of themselves or just take advantage of the information in general.”

“The Source of All Evil, the archenemy of the Charmed Ones, was able to invade Hallyu after learning the existence of alternate universes,” Seunggi cited another example. “One archenemy of the Vongola Family abused his ability to communicate with his versions in different alternate universes which led to several universes falling under his control. Thankfully, they sealed his powers and reversed the effects of his wrongdoings.”

“So, in a way, you could say that the Arcanus Alliance is an exclusive secret organization. Only the members and a select others know about it; and the only way to join the alliance is through an invitation and the approval from the majority of the members,” Dongwook summarized.

“How do you know about this then, daepyonim?” Hangyul asked.

“Through the memories of BoA-seonbaenim which was passed down to us as Seers of the Kingdom,” Seunggi responded. “It was also a privilege that Hallyu is a founding member so we were able to gather information easily from the archives as Kingdom Seers.”

“And why do we have no idea about this as the Chosen or the Supreme Six or the Twilight Triad?” Eunbi probed.

“According to the minutes of the second Arcanus Alliance Convention, Wanna One revealed and explained the Secret of the Arcanus Alliance to the Ten Premiers and the Seventeenth Bicameral Chambers,” Dongwook stated. “Outside of those circles, no one in the Kingdom was informed. Of course, as BoA’s successors, we knew about the Secret as soon as we started our tenure from the memories we inherited from her. We chose to uphold strict confidentiality; the details were kept to a need-to-know basis.”

 Seunggi added, “When Wanna One unexpectedly stepped down as rulers, In-City, upon joining the Eighteenth Bicameral Chambers, was likewise briefed on the Secret.”

Dongwook finished, “After the Second Generation of Chosen retired, Hallyu’s representation to the Alliance fell to the remaining original members of the Eighteenth Supreme Six and Twilight Triad. When In-City later retired from active magical duties after serving through eighteen Bicameral Chambers, Hallyu found itself without a magical squad to act as representative and had to file a leave of absence from Alliance attendance.”

“We only started joining the conventions again as soon as IZ*ONE was inaugurated. But even by then, I was the one representing the kingdom immediately starting the thirty-second convention. The reason for that is because the convention is being organized by a different host member each year in their own universe and I, being the only one who knew about alternate universes from BoA-seonbaenim’s memories, knew how to get to the venue,” Seunggi added.

“When X1 was inaugurated, I joined Seunggi-ssi as representative at the forty-second convention,” Dongwook said. “And the only time, IZ*ONE and X1 attended the convention was this year when we took over the hosting on behalf of the Kingdom of Enchancia, Guardian of the Miraculous, and Exoplanet.”

“Just out of curiosity, is there any danger in meeting our versions from alternate universes?” Jay raised a concern.

“There shouldn’t be any problem when meeting another version of yourself except maybe a strong sense of confusion,” Seunggi reassured everyone. “Just don’t expect that you will be able to meet them easily. Even BoA-seonbaenim could not meet a single version of herself despite her knowledge about alternate universes and her extensive travels.”

“Now, that you will be personally travelling to meet the Premier Ten. We decided it would be best to inform you of the existence of the alternate universes to avoid any confusion or possible complication,” Dongwook concluded. “Any questions about alternate universes?”

The groups shook their heads; they more or less grasped the gist of the concept.

“Now that you understand the concept of alternate universes, we will proceed with our plans to summon the Ten Crests tomorrow,” Seunggi shifted the topic. “Each of you will meet a Premier and retrieve the Glinter from them.”

“Let’s adjourn for now. Take the rest of the day to prepare for your first journey to an alternate universe,” Dongwook instructed.

With that, a day full of unexpected revelations had passed, and an uncertain tomorrow awaited everyone.

Chapter Text

By dawn, the Supreme Six, Twilight Triad, and the two Kingdom Seers were gathered in the large open field in Swing Province where the Chosen Selection Ritual was usually performed. This was intended in order not to disturb Wanna City from any commotion caused by the spells.

For this mission, the members of the Supreme Six and Twilight Triad were all wearing formal attires paired with their respective capelets. The Seers thought the capelets would be recognized by the Premiers.

“Good morning, Supreme Six and Twilight Triad. I hope you are ready for your mission,” Seunggi began the final briefing. “Your ultimate goal is to retrieve the Glinter of the Ten Crests from its guardian.”

When the groups nodded, Dongwook continued, “The nine of you will be each teleported into the universe of one Premier. From then, it will be up to you to find the Premier on your own.”

“Since, all of you will be leaving, Hallyu will be left with no protector. So, before we proceed further, Dongwook-ssi and I will construct a force field around Swing Province,” Seunggi mentioned.

Air, Earth, Fire, Water

Imbue our words with power

In this time of desperation

Send to us your great protection

After the two Seers chanted those words, a large transparent dome surrounded the perimeter of Swing Province.

“Are you sure that is enough to stop Novus Red Force from entering this province?” Gaeul was not convinced.

“We sure hope so. That spell is a revised version of the one BoA-seonbaenim used to keep Swing unscathed during the Fandom War. For reference, the shield was only broken by the combined strength of the Five Pillars,” Dongwook was confident.

 “Now, before you go, we have a few additional reminders for each Premier,” Seunggi revealed. “Honorable Kinomoto Sakura is a female teenager. And while magic exists in their universe, it should be kept secret or, at least, inconspicuous; try not to openly use your powers in Tomoeda.”

“In San Francisco, demons and other evil creatures are masterfully disguised as ordinary humans and are always on the hunt for those who possess powers. Magic is also a secret in San Francisco so proceed with caution,” Dongwook said.

“Magic is openly practiced in the Kingdom of Fiore and magicians’ guilds are well known in their universe. I advise you to ask for directions to easily find the town of Magnolia where Fairy Tail is located,” Seunggi suggested.

“The Vongola Family is a covert organization being a mafia group. If you land in a place called Italia, you can openly ask people for directions to the Vongola Headquarters. However, if the spell takes you to Namimori, ask people about the Honorable Sawada Tsunayoshi or any of his guardians. However, no open use of magic in either Italia or Namimori,” Dongwook stated.

“In Hakusen Academy, the Special A Class has its own separate facilities away from the other classes. Once you find the academy, we suggest visiting the office of the school director and proceeding from there,” Seunggi informed the groups. “In the universe of Hakusen Academy, magic does not exist; however, you can still use your powers there. So, avoid using your powers unless it’s in front of the members of the Special A Class.”

“As suggested by the name, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry allows the use of magic only within the boundaries of its surrounding community. Furthermore, magic-users in their universe must use a wooden wand and chant a spell to perform magical feats. Wandless magic, just like ours, is perceived to be a high-level skill. Only use your powers when necessary and when in the presence of other magic users. Try to find the Honorable Minerva McGonagall as soon as possible with the help of their students,” Dongwook advised.

“Vampires possess magical powers just like us so there is no need to hide your powers in the Kingdom of Carat. Everyone knows the Royal Family so the mission is significantly easier in Carat. Just be careful of Barbarians, bloodthirsty vampires who victimize others,” Seunggi shared the information. “Another unique thing about Carat Kingdom’s universe is the existence of destined soulmates. So, don’t be so shocked if you see many forms of couples there. Also, don’t be surprised if you see some familiar faces — faces that you might associate with Hallyu’s version of Carat.”

“Moving on to Exoplanet. While the population there is exposed to magic, the only known magic-users are the Guardian Legends of the planet. Limit the use of your powers since the planet still has a trauma; as far as they can remember, the only other being to possess powers other than their Guardian Legends was the archenemy of the planet,” Dongwook reminded everyone. “Similar to Carat Kingdom, you might also recognize a few people in Exoplanet, especially those you can associate with the Cosmic Latte color. So, try not to overreact.”

“Finally, Hall University. Being a universe with no existence of and exposure to magic, looking for the Glinter might be trickier. We suggest infiltrating the university campus at night and looking for the Special Section Building located far back in the campus through the mini-forest, near the university greenhouse. In case you are wondering why that specific building, it’s because the building was built with the help of a donation from the Arcanus Alliance somehow,” Seunggi explained. “During your infiltration, only use your powers when it’s absolutely necessary.”

“Another thing,” Dongwook said. “Time flows differently in each alternate universe.”

“In some universes, they are in a different time of the year from us, causing them to be in a different season or climate. While in other universes, spending a day there is equivalent to only an hour here or vice-versa,” Seunggi illustrated. “Don’t be so confused about the time so much.”

“Did everyone get those reminders?” Dongwook asked the crowd.

“Yes, seonbaenim.”

“Now, retrieving the Glinters requires eloquence in communicating with the Premiers. That is why we prepared this spell so you may be able to understand and communicate with their language,” Seunggi informed the nine squads.

Magic forces far and wide

We call upon you to our side

Holding onto our optimism

Grant them Omnilingualism

“Did the spell work?” Dongwook turned to the Supreme Six and Twilight Triad.

But before the groups could respond, a low rumbling sound echoed through the air.

“What is that sound?” Haerin was looking for the source of the sound.

“It sounds like one object crashing into another with great force,” Jungwon described the sound.

“This sound…” Seunggi looked up and saw the disturbance in the newly established force field. “The force field is under attack!”

“It must be the Novus Red Force,” Dongwook realized. “There is no time to waste. Hold the hands of your groupmates and we will start the spell.”

Remove the chains of time and space

With the phrases that we speak

Let these wanderers find the place

Of the object that they seek

After the chant, the nine groups were teleported away by dark blue and pale green orbs of light. Just as the spell worked, the barrier broke and the Novus Red Force appeared in front of the Seers.

“Where did you send them?” Origin insisted.

“Who knows where the spell might have taken them,” Seunggi shrugged while smirking.

“Find them! I’ll follow you after I’m done here,” Origin commanded to his subordinates.

Upon command, the eight members of the Novus Red Force teleported away in red flames.

“Once my underlings and I will find them, they will be good as dead,” Origin cackled. “As for you two, prepare to go to the afterlife.”

Origin released a beam of concentrated electricity from his right hand and a stream of blue fire from his left. The two Seers, on the other hand, were just orbing around to dodge the attacks while chanting another spell.

Evil that has traveled near

We call on you to disappear

Elementals hear our prayers

Remove this creature from these borders

The spell caused Origin to be teleported away from Swing Province. Immediately, Seunggi and Dongwook rebuilt the force field around Swing.

“Please hurry! The fate of Hallyu now rests in your hands,” Dongwook whispered in the air.

Chapter Text

Temp Fist arrived in a secluded alleyway but they knew they were in the center of a developed civilization, if the noises and the bright lights were any indication. The seven boys slowly made their way out of the alley and found themselves in the middle of a city, near a bridge with a large clock tower nearby.

“Where are we?” Taerae looked around the cityscape at night.

“It’s obvious that we are in the middle of a city in the middle of the night. The question is which city?” Eunchan’s eyes were scanning the area.

“Well, we better ask someone to get a hold of our location,” Hanbin told his groupmates.

The group of seven slowly approached a gentleman walking to ask a question.

“Pardon me, but I just want to ask where are we right now?” Lew fluently asked in a language that was different from his mother tongue.

“Are you guys tourists?” the gentleman chuckled endearingly. “You are currently in Westminster Pier. A block from here, you will reach Big Ben, the famous landmark of the United Kingdom. Across the river is the London Eye. But it is already too late for sightseeing; you might wanna try your luck early tomorrow.”

“I see. Thank you so much for your help,” Hyeongseop thanked the gentleman with a bow.

The conversation left Temp Fist with more questions than answers. They sat on a nearby bench, thinking about what to do next.

“United Kingdom? Is that one of the members of the Arcanus Alliance?” Hwarang was confused.

“It could be. Nevertheless, it’s not one of the Premier Ten,” Hyuk mentioned.

“Did the spell not work?” Taerae opened up the possibilities.

“What should we do now, Lew-hyung?” Hwarang looked at the clock tower. “It’s almost midnight.”

“I guess we need to find a place to stay,” Lew was unsure of his own answer.

Temp Fist was about to wander around when they heard faint voices coming from above, speaking a completely different language from the gentleman earlier. They were still able to understand the conversation though, thanks to Omnilingualism.

“Slow as always, I see,” the male voice said.

“Shut up! I’m not going to lose!” the female voice responded defiantly.

It could have been any normal conversation between two people but it was certainly not; the two people having the conversation were running across the rooftops of the buildings.

“Are they…” Hanbin looked up to the source of the voices.

“Running from one roof to another? Yes. Yes, they are,” Hyeongseop confirmed.

“I think we should follow them,” Lew suggested.

“Follow them? Follow the crazy people running on building rooftops?” Hyuk could not believe what their leader just said. “Just exactly why?”

“Do you really think running on rooftops is a common behavior?” Lew reasoned. “For me, that feels like a Premier.”

“Well, if you look at it that way,” Hwarang was convinced.

Meanwhile, Temp Fist quietly followed the two people. They stopped when the two were having another conversation on the middle portion of the façade of the clock tower.

“Are you that against my winning?” the male voice asked.

“It’s because you are special,” the female voice replied.

“Special?”

“Takishima, you’re… special,” the female paused. “Ever since we were kids, I thought you were incredible. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t beat you. I felt you were stronger than anyone. I respected you more than anyone. I hated you more than anymore. You’re my special one.”

“Hikari…” the male, now identified as Takishima, muttered.

“You’re… you’re… my eternal rival!” the female, now known as Hikari, confessed.

The heart-to-heart talk was going smoothly when the flowers kept in Hikari’s chest pocket were blown away by a gust of wind. Chasing after the flowers, Hikari jumped off from the side of the building. Reacting quickly, Takishima jumped after Hikari and hugged her mid-air, preventing Hikari from reaching the flowers. The two then shared a kiss, just as the clock struck midnight.

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Meanwhile, Temp Fist was listening to the confession from the adjacent façade of the clock tower.

“That’s so romantic,” Eunchan swooned.

“Never mind that. Did they just call each other Takishima and Hikari?” Lew noticed.

“Yeah, what about it, hyung?” Taerae did not get the point.

“As in like the Honorable Takishima Kei and Hanazono Hikari of the Special A Class?” Lew had to clarify.

“Wait, does this mean… are they…” Hyuk trailed off.

“Hyung! They jumped!” Hwarang alarmed the rest.

By reflex, Lew extended his right hand and used his power for Kei and Hikari to remain suspended in the air. Even without the help of Taerae’s Augmentation, Lew’s Advanced Telekinesis was strong enough to lift two people at the same time. As Big Ben hinted the start of a new day, Hanbin used his Aeroportation to transfer them to the other side of the clock tower.

“Uhm… excuse me?” Hyeongseop cleared his throat after giving the two a minute to savor each other’s presence and privacy. Hyuk was using his Photokinesis to provide enough illumination for them to be seen.

The two looked at them before Kei broke the silence, “Oh, it seems we have company.”

“Takishima, why are we levitating?” Hikari noticed.

Lew gasped, “Oh, sorry about that.”

Lew brought the two closer to them. When they were within arm’s reach, Lew asked Hanbin to bring them back down to terra firma.

“Good evening. Are you perhaps Takishima Kei-sama and Hanazono Hikari-sama?” Lew politely asked the two.

“Yes, we are,” Hikari confirmed and noticed the insignia on their capelets. “That symbol… are you...”

“It’s we! Hello, we are Temp Fist!” the group greeted. “We are a member of the Supreme Six of Hallyu.”

“The Kingdom of Hallyu? I see. Welcome to our dimension,” Kei returned the pleasantries. “I believe this is not a good place to talk. Please, let us continue this conversation in my estate.”

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At this point, Temp Fist and the seven members of the Special A Class were gathered in one of the many large rooms of the Takishima Group Headquarters.

“Everyone, this is Temp Fist, one of the Supreme Six of Hallyu. The members are Hanbin, Hyeongseop, Hyuk, Eunchan, Lew, Hwarang, and Taerae,” Kei introduced the guests.

“Nice to meet you. I am Tsuji Ryuu.”

“I’m Karino Tadashi.”

“Toudo Akira. Nice to meet you.

“I’m Yamamoto Jun and this is my twin sister, Yamamoto Megumi.”

“Nice to meet you,” Megumi wrote on her sketchpad.

“It’s we! Hello, we are Temp Fist! It’s our huge honor to meet one of the Premier Ten,” they greeted once more. “We apologize for the sudden visit but we have an urgent business to attend with you.”

“Urgent business? What might it be?” Hikari sounded concerned.

“Due to an unprecedented attack, the Kingdom of Hallyu is now facing a great danger,” Lew was performing his duties as the leader. “Were the honorable members of the Special A Class entrusted with a magical artifact? We have been instructed to bring it back to Hallyu.”

The seven members of Special A looked at each other and there was silence in the room.

“I guess the situation is dire enough for your Kingdom to need that artifact,” Kei sighed. “Very well. We agree. However, we cannot give you the artifact as of the moment.”

“Can we ask for the reason?” Eunchan asked.

“In case you did not know, we are in London, the capital city of the United Kingdom. The artifact you need is secured in Hakusen Academy, halfway across the planet,” Jun kindly explained.

“Rest assured though, as we already have settled our issue here, we will be flying back to Hakusen first thing tomorrow morning,” Akira reassured.

Kei told everyone. “For now, please accept our hospitality and stay for the night.”

Out of respect, Temp Fist accepted the offer. As per Kei’s instructions, the helper provided Temp Fist with dinner and other necessities. After a long day, Temp Fist finally rested. They had far more important things to do tomorrow.

Chapter Text

The flight took nearly fifteen hours to complete. While that sounded tiring, the fact that the Special A Class and Temp Fist were flying in Takishima Group’s private jet made everything significantly more comfortable.

The jet landed at the destination in seven in the morning. Upon arrival, they transferred to a limousine which will transport them to Hakusen Academy.

“Would you like to make a courtesy call to the office of the school directress?” Kei asked Temp Fist.

“Most certainly,” Lew agreed.

“I already informed my mother beforehand. She will be waiting in her office for our arrival,” Tadashi informed everyone.

“I don’t intend to sound disrespectful, but Tadashi-sama, your mother is the school directress?” Hanbin inquired.

“Well, yeah. It just turned out that way,” Tadashi confirmed bashfully.

It wasn’t long before they arrived. They disembarked from the limousine just outside the front gate of the campus as it was not allowed for any vehicles to enter the school premises. As soon as they entered the threshold of the academy, all eyes were on them especially considering that unfamiliar individuals were with members of the Special A Class.

Passing through a curious crowd of students, they finally reached the office of the school directress.

Tadashi knocked before opening the door, “Mother, our special visitors are here.”

“Welcome, everyone, to Hakusen Academy,” the school directress greeted. “I am Karino Sumire, the school directress.”

“It's We! Hello, we are Temp Fist! It’s our honor to meet you.”

“I heard from Tadashi that you are coming, but what brings you here to our humble academy?” Sumire inquired.

“Pardon our sudden visit but we have important business to attend with the Honorable Special A,” Hanbin courteously replied.

“Is that so?” Sumire nodded. “SA, I leave them with your capable hands.”

“If there is nothing else, we would be heading to the Greenhouse.”

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After the courtesy call, the members of Special A gave them a tour of the school grounds.

“Welcome to our humble abode,” Hikari ushered Temp Fist into the Greenhouse.

The Greenhouse is a special place provided to the SA. The SA spends most of their time in the Greenhouse which is one of the most peaceful places in the school. It has a high glass ceiling and an expensive table set where the SA have their tea and lunch.

“Please make yourselves comfortable,” Akira offered. “Tsuji and I will be preparing a quick brunch for everyone.”

While the meal was being prepared, Tadashi opened a conversation to kill the time.

“So, do you mind telling us who is pulling off an attack on the reputable Kingdom of Hallyu?” Tadashi inquired.

“They call themselves the Novus Red Force. Other than their names and powers, we do not have any other information about them,” Lew provided the information. “Although, their leader, Origin, seems to have extensive knowledge about our kingdom. He even made references to Hallyu’s Golden Age during our confrontations.”

“Well, I hope that is not related to that, but several months ago, there was an intrusion to Special A’s Secret Archives containing important information regarding the Premier Ten and the parallel dimensions,” Hikari reported. “And since we were unable to attend the last Arcanus Alliance Convention due to external threats to the SA and our lack of magical resources, we were unable to send a report to the Alliance regarding this matter.”

“Just out of curiosity, how do you manage to attend the Arcanus Alliance?” Hwarang asked.

“The Honorable Charmed Ones gave us a large amount of what they called ‘teleportation potion’. We concentrate on the place we would like to teleport to and the potion takes us there with no adverse effects,” Jun explained. “Although half of our potion stock was also stolen during the break-in, we still have enough to go around.”

Akira and Tsuji served the food right at that moment. As they finished enjoying their brunch, Temp Fist went straight to their original intentions.

Wiping his mouth, Lew cautiously mentioned, “Thank you so much for your hospitality; however, can we have the artifact now? We need to return to Hallyu as soon as possible.”

“Certainly. Guys, we need the key,” Tsuji prompted the rest.

The seven members of SA stood in front of the decorative wall backdrop of the dining area.

“Biometrics, recognized,” a mechanical voice announced after SA each placed a hand on the wall they were facing.

The wall’s façade split in half to reveal a hidden vault. A code was entered, opening the door, and revealing a glowing object inside. Kei carefully held the object and faced Temp Fist.

“Temp Fist, we present to you the Glass Marble Stick,” Kei presented the artifact.

Lew, as the leader, received the Glinter from Kei, “Thank you. This will be very helpful for us.”

“There is no more time to waste. We need to return to Hallyu now,” Taerae said with urgency. “Thank you once again for taking care of us.”

“Before you go, there is one additional thing we need to inform you. When we were entrusted with that artifact, an agreement was made between Hallyu and the rest of the Premier Ten,” Hikari blurted out. “The artifacts must be returned to their respective guardians after Hallyu is done using them. We hope you will adhere to this agreement.”

“Certainly. We will return the Glass Marble Stick to you as soon as we settle the invasion in Hallyu,” Lew promised. “We will be taking our leave now.”

“May luck be on your side,” Megumi wrote on her sketch pad.

“By the way, how do we go back to Hallyu?” Hanbin was clueless. “We used a spell to get here, remember?”

Akira giggled, “You can use your teleportation power since you already know your way back to Hallyu. I presume the spell was used since you have no idea where our dimension would be. Teleportation relies on knowing your destination, or so I have read.”

“That makes sense. Thank you for that,” Hanbin realized.

With any more delays, Temp Fist disappeared in dark purple swirling clouds.

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Temp Fist arrived moments later back to Hallyu, exactly where they were standing before they left.

“How is it?” the voice of Seunggi grabbed their attention.

“Seonbaenim, we present to you the Glass Marble Stick,” Lew handed the Glinter to Seunggi.

“Thank goodness. Now, we can summon the first Crest,” Dongwook exhaled a breath of relief.

Holding the Glinter in front of them, the two Seers chanted the needed spell.

We call upon the Hallyu Crest

Whose essence in this Glinter rests

Reaching back through time and space

We summon them face to face

A magic circle opened in front of the Seers. Out from the smoke emerged six females, confusion on their faces.

“During their time, they served as the gatekeepers from those who wished to reach the crossroads of becoming part of the Bicameral Chambers. Hallyu’s best friend, Geefreend!”

Chapter Text

Endash reached their destination at dusk. From their position, they noticed that they were on a relatively empty road near a school campus. They knew it was an educational institution as evidenced by the students exiting the front gate of the compound. While Endash was still scanning the area, five students — four females and one male — were walking in their direction while engaged in a conversation.

“I still can’t believe I won the Vernal Festival singing contest last night,” one of the females said.

“Oh, shut up, Hana. Even if we take your special guests out of the equation, you still killed that performance,” another female voiced out.

“Aiben’s right, you know. As for me, I still could not believe we successfully organized a random play dance,” the only male expressed.

“Come on, Jay, don’t sell yourself short. You are one of the most organized people I know. There was no way that random play dance could end up in disaster,” the third female interjected. “Don’t you agree, Ada?”

“I totally agree with you, Clouie,” the fourth female nodded. “My grandfather told me that the random play dance received the best reviews.”

Taking the opportunity, Endash cautiously approached the group of five.

“Excuse me, can I ask a question?” Heeseung expected himself to speak a different language but he was speaking normally.

“Of course. How can we help?” Hana replied in Heeseung’s native tongue.

“What school are you attending? We are new to the area and we wanted to know some landmarks,” Sunoo asked.

“Oh, alright. So, that over there is Hall University,” Aiben responded.

“Are outsiders allowed inside?” Sunghoon inquired.

“Outsiders will need to go to the security office, state the intention of visiting, and secure a visitor’s pass and I.D.,” Ada enumerated. “But the university is already closed for visitors for today and tomorrow is a Sunday, so the university will be closed. You might want to try by Monday.”

“I see. Thank you for the information,” Endash’s Jay ended the conversation.

“You’re welcome. But you better hurry and return home soon,” the student Jay mentioned with a knowing smile.

“Pardon our friend, Jay. He’s just into suspense crime dramas these days,” Clouie dragged Jay away from Endash. The rest of the friend group followed.

As the five students walked away, a thought formed in Endash’s Jay’s mind, “You don’t think he’s my version in this universe, do you?”

“I don’t think so, hyung,” Niki shook his head.

With the conversation, they were able to confirm that the campus was indeed one of the Premier Ten, Hall University. Their target was now in sight.

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When it was already dark out, Endash made their move. They stood in front of the closed campus gate just across the road.

“So, how are we going to do this? I assume we cannot just freely walk inside. Security must be tight in places like this,” Jake wondered.

“I could use my Geokinesis to cause a minor earthquake. Maybe that will shake the gates open,” Jay suggested.

“No, that might cause unnecessary damage. Instead, Sunoo-hyung will teleport us to that area covered with flora,” Jungwon, the leader, sprang into action. “From there, Niki will use his Umbrakinesis to cover us with darkness to allow us to navigate the campus in the shadows without being seen.”

“I have the directions to the special section building. Turns out, those students earlier knew where it was located,” Heeseung revealed. “I read their minds as soon as they said ‘Hall University’.”

“In that case, Heeseungie-hyung will lead the way for us,” Jungwon instructed his team. “Let’s try to make as little noise as possible.”

Their execution went better than expected. Right now, they were standing in front of the locked building.

“What now?” Niki stared at the special section building.

“Jake-hyung, can you illuminate this area for a bit,” Jungwon requested. Jake complied, making a small blue flame on his palm to allow their leader to survey the perimeter of the building.

“There! We can use that balcony,” Jungwon contemplated for a bit. “Sunoo-hyung will teleport on that balcony and then inside the building once we have a visual of the interior. Once inside, Sunghoon-hyung will fill the building with icy mist using his Cryokinesis to deceive any security cameras. That way we can search around without worries of getting caught.”

Sunoo and Sunghoon performed as instructed and they were inside after a minute. The special section building was huge. Endash split into two units, one searched the first floor and the other searched the third floor. When they found nothing, they met on the second floor and searched together. When they reached the library, the first thing they noticed on one wall were the portraits depicting the previous special sections.

“Section Aqua Pearl Gray… Section Cosmic Latte… Section Rose Quartz and Serenity… Section Purple… Section Pearl Neo Champagne… Section Silver-Gray…” Jay and the rest scanned the photos and recognized the people in each frame. “Aren’t they all…”

“That’s what I think as well,” Jungwon was amazed as well. “They must be this universe’s versions of our seonbaenims.”

After discovering something incredulous, they noticed something glowing somewhere in the library. Curious, they looked for the source of the faint light, only to find it in the innermost corner of the library. On a standalone shelf, Endash found some familiar objects.

“As expected from a member of the Premier Ten, they have the full set of the second edition of Light,” Sunghoon pointed.

“Isn’t this Light: Hallyu’s Ultimate Guide for Powers and Magical Squads? Like the first edition?” Sunoo noticed. “I know records tell us that BoA-seonbaenim created a replica of the original Light after it was destroyed during an invasion, but I cannot believe this is where she kept this copy for safekeeping.”

“Since those two are Hallyu-related items, the box on the top must be…” Heeseung’s attention was on a different object.

On top of the shelf was a box locked in a glass compartment containing something glowing.

“There’s no mistaking it. That must be the Glinter,” Jay sounded so sure.

“But how are we going to get it? It’s inside a locked compartment,” Niki had no idea.

“It cannot be helped. I’ll use my Advanced Telekinesis to pry the lock open,” Jungwon sighed. “I apologize to the school officials but we really need this Glinter.”

Jungwon concentrated and true enough, he was able to separate the lock into two. With a flick of a finger, Jungwon opened the compartment as well as the box. There, glowing inside the box, was a Glinter along with some inscriptions on the back side of the box’s cover.

“A valuable artifact from Carat Kingdom entrusted to Hall University ─ the ARMY Bomb,” Jungwon read the words.

“This is it! We found it!” Heeseung whisper-shouted as he grabbed the Glinter carefully.

Jay closed the box and the compartment again and said, “Let’s go back to Hallyu.”

With the Glinter on their hands, Endash disappeared in orange spirals.

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The two Kingdom Seers were the first people Endash saw after teleporting. That was how they knew they were back in Hallyu.

“Welcome back,” Seunggi smiled. “You’re just half an hour behind Temp Fist.”

“Seonbaenim, this is the ARMY Bomb,” Jungwon handed the Glinter to the Seers.

“Step back a little. We will summon the second Crest,” Dongwook told Endash.

We call upon the Hallyu Crest

Whose essence in this Glinter rests

Reaching back through time and space

We summon them face to face

Smoke filled the area as a magic circle appeared. When the spell was over, seven people were standing amid the smoke.

“Always standing firm in the Supreme Six, they defended Hallyu with their blood, sweat, and tears. The impenetrable seven, Bulletproof Scouts!”

Chapter Text

Ivy found themselves in the middle of the woods. They were at a loss for their location since they could not see anything beyond the canopy of the trees.

“Where are we even?” Yujin scowled.

The only response, however, was an energy ball which narrowly missed all of them. All the Ivy members scampered to hide behind the tree trunks.

“Who’s attacking us?” Gaeul asked no one in particular.

When they peeked, there was a swarm of nasty-looking creatures aiming at them. The barrage of energy balls and fireballs continued while Ivy countered every chance they got. Gaeul shot acid from her hands; Yujin released darkness to their opponents; Rei’s Particle Swarm eliminated some of the threat; Wonyoung’s beams of concentrated electricity took care of several creatures at once; Leeseo was able to hypnotize some of their enemies to fight for them; all the while, Liz was ready to teleport her team to safety.

During the crossfire, three people — two males and a female — orbed into the battlefield. Surprised by the crossfire, they used their powers to redirect the projectiles.  When it was relatively calm, the three started an incantation.

Nature spirits, we implore

Purge these woodlands evermore

The spell caused all the nasty-looking creatures to explode into flames. This impressed the members of Ivy and mindlessly went out of hiding. The three people must have noticed their movements as they turned around in one swift motion.

Ivy raised their hands in surrender while speaking a familiar yet different language, “Woah, calm down. We don’t mean any harm.”

“Did the spell not have enough power?” the female asked.

“Either that or they are not demons,” one of the males muttered.

“Take a look at what they are wearing. Those symbols…” the other male noticed. “Tell me. Who are you? No use resorting to violence. I already activated my negation field.”

“Dive into Ivy! Hello, we are Ivy!”

“Do any of you know about the Charmed Ones?” Wonyoung cautiously inquired.

“Our answer depends on your intentions. What do you need of them?” the female insisted.

Leeseo replied, “We are Ivy, one of the Supreme Six of Hallyu. We need the assistance of the Honorable Charmed Ones on matters regarding the Premier Ten.”

The three people visibly relaxed, “I see. Sorry about the misunderstanding. I am Wyatt Matthew Halliwell and these are my siblings, Christopher Perry and Melinda. Welcome to our realm.”

“Sorry for our ignorance. It’s nice to meet you, Honorable Representatives of Halliwell line of Witches from San Francisco,” Ivy bowed down.

“I guess we should continue this somewhere else,” Wyatt offered.

With a simple gesture, Wyatt was able to teleport everyone to another location.

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“Welcome to the Charmed Ones’ seat of power, the Halliwell Manor,” Chris said. “Please make yourselves comfortable.”

While Melinda and Chris offered them some tea and pie, Wyatt went straight to the point, “So, how can we be of service?”

“We deeply apologize for visiting out of nowhere but we really need your help,” Rei spoke up. “Another invasion has struck Hallyu and we are severely outpowered.”

“Another one? After the Source of All Evil?” Melinda blurted out.

“So, you want us to respond as reinforcements?” Wyatt offered.

“Not particularly as of the moment,” Yujin chose her words carefully. “As we have discovered, Hallyu entrusted a magical artifact to the other members of the Premier Ten. As our last resort before involving the Arcanus Alliance, we badly need that artifact right now.”

“A magical artifact? I haven’t heard about this from mom,” Wyatt turned to his siblings.

“I have no idea either,” Melinda shook her head.

“Don’t look at me. I know nothing as well,” Chris waved his hands dismissively.

“Excuse me? Your mom?” Gaeul trailed off.

“Oh, we forgot to explain. Our mother is Piper Halliwell, one of the Charmed Ones. Phoebe Halliwell and Paige Matthews are our aunts,” Chris explained. “After they retired from active “magical” duties, they entrusted us to protect this realm and appointed us as the representatives to the Arcanus Alliance.”

“That clarifies a lot of things,” Liz nodded her head slowly.

“Unfortunately, we have no idea of this magical artifact,” Wyatt thought for a bit. “No worries, though. I will call our mom and ask her about it.”

Wyatt dialed her mom’s contact on his phone. After a couple of rings, her mom picked up and Wyatt put the call on loudspeaker so everyone could hear the responses.

“Hey, Wyatt honey, what’s up? You know mom’s busy with the restaurant,” a female voice came from across the line.

“Mom, we have a bit of an emergency,” Melinda was forced to talk to their mom first.

“What kind of emergency, Melinda darling?” Piper sounded a bit concerned. “A Power of Three emergency? Injury emergency? Sibling emergency?”

“Actually mom, a Premier Ten emergency,” Chris said.

“Premier Ten?” Piper’s tone had hints of confusion. “Chris dear, what kind?”

“Mom… a member of Hallyu’s Supreme Six came to our realm and asked for our help,” Wyatt explained. “They are currently under attack and they told us they are here to retrieve a magical artifact that was entrusted to you, years ago.”

“And what’s the problem with that? Give it to them,” Piper simply told her children.

“But we don’t know what or where the artifact is, mom,” Chris replied.

“What do you mean you don’t? Haven’t I told you about it?”

“No, mom. Neither you, aunt Phoebe, nor aunt Paige told us anything about a magical artifact,” Melinda claimed.

Piper groaned from across the line, “Alright fine. Take good care of our guests. I’ll be right there.”

The call was ended after that exchange.

Half an hour later, a car parked on the manor’s driveway. The three Halliwell children rose from their seats when they heard the front door opening.

“Wyatt, Chris, Mel, where are you?”

“Sunroom, mom.”

When Piper reached the room, Wyatt introduced her to Ivy, “Ivy, this is our mom, Piper Halliwell. Mom, this is Ivy, one of the Supreme Six of Hallyu.”

“It’s our honor to meet one of the Honorable Charmed Ones,” Ivy bowed down.

“Please have a seat,” Piper had her motherly tone. “Tell me. What’s going on in Hallyu?”

“We are being invaded by the ‘Novus Red Force’. They managed to severely injure most members of the Entente Cordiale and only the Supreme Six and the Twilight Triad are left to defend the kingdom,” Yujin explained as briefly as possible. “Our Kingdom’s Seers sent us to the Premier Ten using a spell to collect the artifacts back.”

“Hallyu has always been a very powerful magical kingdom. Your kingdom must have been in really grave danger for you to need the artifact,” Piper let out a long exhale. “Very well. Follow me to our attic.”

Just as they were about to reach the stairwell, the front door was blasted by someone. This caught everyone, except one, by surprise.

“Who is that?” Piper seemed unfazed and used to the situation.

Recognizing the intruder, Gaeul answered, “It’s Frigid, one of the Novus Red Force.”

Chapter Text

The people inside the Halliwell Manor were caught off guard when the front door of the residence was blown into smithereens.

“Who is that?” Piper seemed unfazed and used to the situation.

Recognizing the intruder, Gaeul answered, “It’s Frigid, one of the Novus Red Force.”

Without warning, Frigid fired a stream of intense cold at Ive and the Halliwell Witches. Quick to react, Wyatt raised his force field to intercept the attack. In retaliation, Piper stretched forward one arm at Frigid and extended her fingers. Frigid was then seen moving in slow motion before resuming normal speed just seconds later.

“Why didn’t she freeze?” Piper was confused.

In another attempt, Piper made the same gesture again but only caused a small explosion to knock back Frigid several meters. Standing back up, Frigid tilted her head, causing a swarm of other creatures to appear in the Manor. The swarm included Scabbars, Harpies, Furies, Shockers, and Banshees.

“It seems she brought company,” Chris commented.

“I’ll take that Frigid guy,” Wyatt claimed.

“We’ll handle the rest,” Yujin claimed. “Please be careful. Frigid can manipulate air, water, ice, and lightning.”

Piper groaned, “I’m getting too old for this!”

Nevertheless, Piper was extremely formidable in battle. In one simple hand gesture, she was able to blast ten creatures at a time. Her offspring, Chris and Melinda, were capable fighters using Telekinesis and Remote Orbing respectively. Gauel’s acids, Yujin’s darkness, Rei’s swarm of particles, and Wonyoung’s beam of electricity were slowly whittling down the enemies as well.

On the other hand, Frigid took the first shot and blasted air to Wyatt. Wyatt easily countered with his Telekinesis enhanced by Augmentation he accessed through his Projection ability. Wyatt quickly fired a beam of light as a counterattack but was negated by bolts of electricity from Frigid. Immediately after, Frigid released a continuous stream of icy mist while Wyatt responded with his Energy Wave, putting them at a standstill.

The battle took a drastic turn when three consecutive explosions near Frigid’s torso, flinging her backward toward the grandfather clock.

“You messed with the wrong house,” Piper smiled cockily at Frigid.

Angered, Frigid shot multiple bolts of lightning. In one fluid motion, Piper froze the bolts mid-air using her right hand and caused Frigid’s body to rupture using her left. Piper wasted no more time and started an incantation.

Take this beast, before I end her

Ship her back, return to sender

The simple albeit feistily worded spell teleported Frigid away. The battle left the Halliwell Manor in tatters.

“We apologized about what happened to your residence,” Leeseo was apologetic.

“Don’t worry. It’s a pretty common occurrence,” Piper giggled. “Wyatt honey, damage control please.”

With a snap of a finger, Wyatt effortlessly restored the Manor to pristine condition. This impressed Ivy greatly.

“I can tell you are actually dealing with a formidable opponent,” Piper mentioned as they climbed up the stairs. “My power was not able to completely freeze her.”

“Is that a concern?” Liz asked.

“Not to brag but my Molecular Immobilization has been able to freeze most of the beings I came across in all magical realms. One of the two main exceptions are morally good beings such as fellow good witches and most members of the Arcanus Alliance,” Piper elaborated.

“What is the other exception?”

“Upper-level demons and evil beings ─ such as the Source of All Evil ─ are immune to my freezing power,” Piper revealed. “That is why I am suspecting, based on what happened earlier, that your enemies might have demonic essences or DNA infused in them.”

“Could it be related to the unusual activities detected on the Demonic Wasteland months ago?” Wyatt remembered.

The conversation temporarily halted when they reached the attic. Piper opened the door and led everyone inside.

“Activities on the Demonic Wasteland? What is that?” Gaeul was puzzled.

“The Demonic Wasteland is a place in our realm where the essences of all vanquished demons end up. It’s like a supernatural graveyard in simpler terms,” Melinda told Ivy.

“Months ago, we received information that someone was pillaging demonic essences from the Demonic Wasteland. So much essence was taken, it raised a concern with the highest authorities of both good and evil in our realm,” Chris went into detail. “So far, the culprit remains at large.”

“You think the stolen essences and the immunity of Frigid from your freezing power could be connected?” Yujin questioned.

“I’m not entirely sure,” Piper answered. “But seeing her immune to my freeze and summon other demonic creatures, only high-level demons have that behavior.”

“That is very plausible. Even in my young magical career, I have seen and faced far too many enemies who exploited essences to their advantage,” Wyatt offered his opinion.

“If I am indeed correct, then that could spell trouble for your kingdom,” Piper stated.

“Why is that, mom?”

“Since each high-level demon has its own specific weaknesses. In our realm, each upper-level demon has a specific spell or potion or a combination of both to be vanquished,” Piper used her magical knowledge. “If I am indeed correct, each member of the Novus Red Force could have a specific weakness you need to exploit to vanquish them; nothing else will work.”

“I see. We are truly thankful for that insight. We will report this to the other members of the Supreme Six and Twilight Triad as soon as we return,” Wonyoung claimed.

While Ivy was letting the facts sink in, Piper already went to one corner of the attic and dusted off an ornate chest.

“Now… as for your magical artifact,” Piper opened the chest.

“Mom, please don’t tell us you kept a valuable magical artifact in an old wooden box in a corner of our unkempt attic,” Wyatt and his siblings could not believe what they were seeing.

“Pish posh. This is no ordinary box; this is where the Book of Shadows was hidden before we discovered our destiny,” Piper dismissed the concern of her children. “It’s also a magic-resistant chest. You aunts and I enchanted this, you know. Now, this is where we keep the codices we received from Hallyu as well as the magical artifact they are searching for.”

“I cannot believe it has always been there all this time,” Chris rubbed his temples.

“Ah, here it is,” Piper took out something wrapped in cloth.

“We apologize for the poor storage of your magical artifacts,” Melinda told Ivy.

When Piper removed the wraps, a shining object came into view, “Ladies and gentlemen, the Bbyongbong.”

Ivy received the Glinter from Piper.

“Since we have the artifact, we will now take our leave,” Ivy bowed politely.

“Before you go, please be reminded that as per our agreement before, you are to return that artifact after use,” Piper informed Ivy.

“If that is the case, we will return this as soon as things settle in Hallyu,” Wonyoung assured.

“Also, should you need our help, we are always ready to assist our fellow founder of the Arcanus Alliance,” Piper committed.

“Thank you and goodbye for now,” Ivy said before teleporting out.

“Blessed be,” Piper whispered in the air.

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Ivy reappeared before the Kingdom Seers. They were relieved to see familiar faces after what they had been through.

“Daepyonim, we have brought the Bbyongbong,” Yujin handed the Glinter to Seunggi.

Seunggi nodded, “With this, we can summon the third Crest.”

We call upon the Hallyu Crest

Whose essence in this Glinter rests

Reaching back through time and space

We summon them face to face

The spell worked just like before. Emerging from the smoke were four females.

“A resolute member of the Supreme Six, they always performed their duties as if it was their last. Always present in your area, Plackbink!”

Chapter Text

Jeansnew landed in what appears to be a village center. The crisscrossing residents of the said village briefly glanced at them before resuming whatever they were doing, as if someone appearing out of nowhere was a common occurrence.

“From the looks of the reaction of the people, I think this a magical universe,” Haerin observed. “The question is which one.”

“I just hope they are friendly enough to answer questions,” Hanni looked around.

The five females hesitantly approached one of the townspeople.

“Excuse me? Sorry for disturbing but can we ask you what place is this?” Minji inquired in Hallyu’s native tongue.

“Are you lost? This is the Zirconia Village,” the relatively old man answered irritably in the same language.

Intimidated, Jeansnew scurried away from the man. Still, their location was not clear to them.

“Zirconia Village? Of what universe?” Hyein pouted.

Jeansnew was about to try their luck again when a mob blockaded an entrance to the village.

“Cubics! I am Hojin, a Moissanite general! It’s time for your dues to the Moissanite Tribe,” the person in front of the mob announced in a loud voice.

Jeansnew heard the townsfolk groan, “Not this again! It’s becoming too much.”

“Are they harassing your village?” Danielle whispered to the nearest person.

“Unfortunately, yes, for some reason.”

“Who are they?” Hanni probed.

“They are from a rebel tribe,” the person answered. “They suddenly began asking us for money and other resources in exchange for not attacking the village. It’s been taking a toll on the whole village.”

“Should we help them?” Minji looked at her groupmates. The rest nodded in agreement.

Somehow, even though they did not know what place were they at, Jeansnew had the urge to help.

Stepping in front of the mob, Jeansnew claimed, “You are not taking anything from this village.”

“And who might you be?” Hojin sneered.

“You could say we are the protectors of the village,” Minji stood her ground.

“Curses! How did the royalties find out!” Hojin’s face contorted into displeasure. “Moissanites, attack!”

To their surprise, the so-called Moissanites began moving at high speeds. Due to the sheer number and speed of the opponents, Jeansnew had to activate their trump card.

“X-Con: ETA!” a bluish purple magic circle accompanied the chant.

Jeansnew’s X-Con, ETA, is a supportive type that temporarily enables its users and their allies to read the lightest and minimum movements made by their opponents, allowing them to predict enemy movements and prepare countermeasures accordingly.

Thanks to their X-Con technique, Jeansnew had a clear vision of their enemies’ movements. Even with low-level Energy Balls, Fireballs, Thermal Balls, and Plasma Balls being thrown in their direction, they were able to dodge the projectiles easily; all thanks to Haerin further slowing down time with her Temporal Stasis. As a counter, Danielle had activated her Hallucikinesis, filling the area with illusory pillars of fire that erupted from beneath the earth. Hanni’s mind manipulation had convinced some of the Moissanites to attack their own kind. All the while, Minji was expertly deviating the projectiles back to their owners with her Advanced Telekinesis. They were steadily reducing the mob.

Seeing his soldiers being vanquished one after another, Hojin made his move, firing laser bolts in high quantities. Jeansnew remained unfazed as their X-Con technique was working in their favor. With fewer enemies, Minji faced Hojin alone. Dodging all of Hojin’s laser bolts with minimal effort, Minji released a burst of telekinetic energy. Hojin was unable to move out of the way quickly and was thrown back several meters. At this point of the battle, the effect of Jeansnew’s X-Con had ended.

Struggling to get up, Hojin clenched his teeth, “Who are you? Why are you so powerful?”

“Don’t underestimate one of the kingdom’s defense forces,” Hyein responded, completely forgetting that they were not in Hallyu.

“Curse you!”

As a last-ditch effort, Hojin stretched both of his arms forward and fired five laser bolts at once. Cool as a cucumber, Minji just flicked her right wrist. She was able to send the laser bolts back to their owner. Hojin was far too weak to dodge and got hit by his own attack.

Wincing in pain, Hojin hollered, “This is not over yet! You will regret this! Tell Han Sungsoo we will be back!”

The name Hojin mentioned rang a bell to Jeansnew. Meanwhile, Hojin staggered as he used his Hyper Speed to flee, much to the delight of the village people.

“Goodness! You were able to go head-to-head with a Moissanite general,” one female from a crowd now huddling around them. “Are you from the kingdom’s capital city?”

“Uhm… no?” Minji replied. “By the way, which kingdom are we talking about here?”

“What are you even talking about? Did you hit your head during the battle? This is the Carat Kingdom,” another civilian rebutted.

“Ah, yes. Right. Carat Kingdom,” Hanni pretended to know as Jeansnew finally got an idea of their location. “I must still be dizzy from the fight.”

“Quick question. Who is the current king?” Danielle fired another question.

“While there are already rumors that the Crown Prince already found both of his soulmates, the crown was not passed down yet,” the respondent eyed Jeansnew suspiciously. “So, King Han Sungsoo remains the ruler of the kingdom.”

“We apologize if we ask too many questions,” Haerin tried to cover up for her group. “The truth is we have been working undercover in the outskirts of the kingdom for surveillance for a month now and as part of the mission, we cut off any communication or information from the outside.”

“Ah…” the crowd bought Haerin’s off-the-top-of-her-head alibi.

“And so, we have to go back to the capital now. But we seem to have lost our path. Do you have a map we could refer to?” Hyein took the opportunity.

“Of course.”

Grateful for saving their village, the people rushed to grab a map to help Jeansnew.

“Ok. So, you are currently here and the palace is right here at the capital,” one of the village elders pointed at the map. “The fastest way from here to the capital is through…”

The navigational voice faded away into Jeansnew’s subconscious as they really did not need the directions that badly. They only needed the map so that Hyein could know where the capital was located and teleport them directly into the vicinity of the palace.

“…Did you get those directions?” the village looked at them expectantly.

Jeansnew nodded as if they were listening, “Thank you for your help. Very much appreciated.”

“It’s nothing compared to how you saved our village.”

“We cannot afford to waste any more time. We have to go now,” Hyein said. “Rest assured, the attack here will reach the king.”

With the target location safely inputted in their heads, Jeansnew teleported toward their destination in bluish-purple spirals.

Chapter Text

Jeansnew next found themselves across the road from a palace. Trusting the accuracy of their information and the precision of the teleporter, they assumed that the palace in front of them was the seat of power for the Carat Kingdom.

“Good early afternoon. Is this the palace of the Carat Kingdom?” Minji asked the palace guard inside the gate.

“Yes. Is there anything you need?” the palace guard replied.

“May we speak to King Han Sungsoo?” Hanni requested.

“Can we ask for the reason?” the other palace guard countered.

“Please tell him we are from the Kingdom of Hallyu for a Premier Ten concern,” Danielle told the palace guard.

“Very well. We will inform him about your presence,” the first palace guard said. “Please wait for his response.”

Jeansnew had no other choice but to wait from outside the gates.

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Han Sungsoo was attending to important matters in his throne room when a palace helper interrupted his work.

“Your Majesty, a group of five women wishes to have an audience with you,” a palace helper told the king.

“Do you have their identities?” Sungsoo asked.

“According to the guards, they claim to be from the Kingdom of Hallyu and they are here for a Premier Ten concern,” the palace helper supplied.

The mention of the place of origin and affiliation perked Han Sungsoo’s ears, “Let them in. They could be important visitors.”

“We’ll let the palace guards at the gate know right away.”

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“Good news. The King has granted you an audience. He will be waiting at the throne room,” the two palace guards opened the gate. “Welcome to the palace.”

Another palace guard escorted them from the gates and into the palace. It wasn’t long before Jeansnew was standing before Han Sungsoo. Jeansnew was stunned due to the familiar face in front of them.

“Your capelets… you must be…” Sungsoo trailed off.

“Attention! Hello, we are Jeansnew!”

“Good afternoon, Honorable Han Sungsoo. We are Jeansnew, one of the Supreme Six of Hallyu.”

“Welcome to Carat Kingdom. I am Han Sungsoo. What brings you to our alternate universe?”

“We sincerely apologize for the sudden visit but we really need your help,” Minji, the eldest, spoke on behalf of the group. “The Kingdom of Hallyu is being invaded and the Supreme Six and Twilight Triad cannot handle the threat anymore. That is why we are sent here to retrieve a magical artifact that was entrusted to your kingdom for safekeeping.”

“Hallyu is being invaded again? And you need that artifact?” Sungsoo definitely did not expect to hear those words in the same sentence. “Is the threat so great that you need to use that artifact?”

“Unfortunately, yes. Except for the Supreme Six and Twilight Triad, the rest of the Entente Cordiale has fallen,” Hanni gave a clearer picture of the reality of the situation.

“I see. Then, there is no time to waste,” Sungsoo stood up. “I will contact my kingdom’s Mystics to assist and teleport us to the location where I kept the artifact. As soon as they arrive, we are going.”

Sungsoo instructed a palace helper to contact the kingdom’s Mystics. While waiting, Jeansnew walked around the throne room. Their attention is caught by a particularly large portrait depicting thirteen people.

“Wait, isn’t this…”

“Well, since we already met this universe’s version of Han Sungsoo-nim, I think they are this universe’s version of our seonbaenims,” Danielle deducted.

Sungsoo noticed them staring at the portrait, “Ah, those are my adoptive sons and their respective soulmates.”

“S-soulmates? They are each other’s soulmates?” Jeansnew stuttered.

“Yes, I think it’s pretty obvious based on how they are seated on who is paired with who,” Sungsoo giggled. “Once all of my son’s soulmates have fully transformed into a full-fledged Paragon vampire, I will be planning a Royal Hymeneal immediately to pass on the crown.

That simple conversation made Jeansnew remember that destined soulmates and vampires are norms in this universe. They had to school their expressions to avoid any misunderstandings; they were just flabbergasted by the information.

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They easily arrived at their destination, thanks to the Mystics who were another set of familiar faces to Jeansnew. They were in Shining Diamond, the royal vacation beach resort.

“Welcome to Shining Dia—” Sungsoo was cut off by someone from behind.

“Found you!” a menacing voice declared.

When they turned around, Jeansnew instantly knew who it was, “It’s Speedbump! One of the Novus Red Force who’s invading our kingdom!”

“Careful, everyone. Aside from Geokinesis and Sonokinesis, he also has Hyper Speed,” Hyein warned the King and the Mystics.

“I see. What do you want Speedbump?” Sungsoo sounded authoritative.

“Eliminate everyone,” Speedbump evilly grinned before rushing forward at incredible speeds.

 “Not on my watch!” Sungsoo said.

Just halfway crossing the distance, Speedbump slowed down to normal speed. He was thrown back to his starting point when one of the Mystics punched him with a Super Strength-enhanced punch. Speedbump stood up and flicked his whole arm forward, but nothing happened; Speedbump was utterly confused.

“Can’t access something? That’s too bad,” Sungsoo mocked.

While Speedbump was at a loss about something, a ferocious bolt of lightning was fired at him by the leader of the Mystics, causing injuries. This was immediately followed by a barrage of hail. Sensing danger and with his apparent injuries, Speedbump hastily teleported away.

“That was a good battle, Your Majesty, but how did you do that?” Haerin questioned.

“Did I forget to mention I have Power Negation while the Mystics have Psammokinesis, Atmokinesis, Super Strength, and Hydroportation?” Sungsoo smiled gently while explaining.

“Now, that’s an awesome combination of powers,” Danielle was amazed.

“Never mind that. There is something I’m concerned about that opponent of yours,” Sungsoo’s tone turned serious. “I sensed vampiric blood in him.”

“You felt it too, Your Majesty? I thought we were the only ones who noticed,” the leader of the Mystics blurted out.

“You see, vampires can sense other vampires. And although vampires can disguise themselves to avoid detection, nothing can escape my centuries-old senses as king. Your opponent has vampiric blood in him, I’m pretty sure of it,” Sungsoo insisted. “And that’s a bit of concern as vampires have high resistance from magical harm.”

“That sounds a bit concerning indeed. We will raise this information to our compatriots as soon as we return,” Minji stated.

“Now, as for your magical artifact…” Sungsoo suddenly started walking like nothing happened.

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They were inside the largest house in the resort. Sungsoo led the rest to one of the rooms near the master bedroom. The king placed the soulmate mark on his left wrist onto the scanner which turned out to be the key to the room. There, in the middle of a vault-like room, was the lightstick glowing brightly.

“May I present to you, the Caratbong,” Sungsoo handed over the artifact to Hanni.

“Thank you for this, Your Majesty. This will be a great help to our kingdom,” Minji expressed her appreciation.

“Now, as agreed upon between Hallyu and the rest of the Premier Ten, you should return the artifact to us as soon as you finished using it. Even I don’t know the reason—” Sungsoo was interrupted when one of the Mystics whispered something in his ear. “It seems one of my son’s soulmates just manifested his powers so the Mystics and I need to go back to the palace as soon as possible. So, to make the story short, return Caratbong to us after usage. Got it?”

“Certainly, Your Majesty. We will hold on to the agreement,” Jeansnew reassured. “We also have to go now, Your Majesty.”

Jeansnew, together with the artifact, disappeared in bluish-purple spirals. Meanwhile, Sungsoo had other things in mind.

“How do I make a grand entrance while you’re explaining his powers to him?” Sungsoo faced the Mystics.

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A familiar scenery greeted Jeansnew after teleporting; they knew they were in their very own universe.

“Welcome back, Jeansnew. Did you get it?” Dongwook’s voice reached their ears.

“Here is the Caratbong, seonbaenim,” Hanni gave the Glinter to the Seers.

“Thank you. Now, if you could just take some steps to the side, we will start the summoning,” Seunggi instructed Jeansnew.

We call upon the Hallyu Crest

Whose essence in this Glinter rests

Reaching back through time and space

We summon them face to face

An abundance of smoke filled the area once more, temporarily obscuring the newly arrived group from view.

“Protecting Hallyu left and right from all possible threats, they are the first Twilight Triad member to be promoted into the Supreme Six. The super valiant troop of thirteen, SVT!

Chapter Text

It was snowing when Pone Harmony arrived in the middle of a square in front of a statue under a large tree. A few people noticed their appearance, but continued with their nonchalance due to the cold weather. Pone Harmony concluded that the people in this universe seemed to be comfortable with magic based on how they reacted.

“Now, now, which universe do we have the pleasure of visiting?” Soul looked around, slightly shivering due to the sudden temperature drop.

“We’ll never know unless we ask,” Jiung told his groupmates.

Pone Harmony walked to the nearest crowded place, Steepley and Sons Tea Shop.

“Pardon for disturbing but would you kindly tell us where we are right now?” Theo asked in a language different than what he was used to.

“Well, you are in Hogsmeade Square,” the old lady provided as she drank her tea.

“Hogsmeade? Do you mean Hogwarts?” Soul was in auto-correct mode.

“No. This is Hogsmeade,” the old lady insisted. “If you are looking for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, then it’s up the main road. Just follow that path or ask assistance from a student; there should be several of them here, considering they usually visit this time of the year.”

“Thank you for the information,” Pone Harmony bowed in gratitude.

As they were walking around Hogsmeade, Pone Harmony found three teenagers younger than them wearing a distinctive black winter cloak with silver fastenings that bore a familiar logo on their left chest side. They deduced them to be students so they gently approached them.

“Excuse me but are you perhaps students of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry?” Intak asked.

“Yes, why do you ask?” the first male, presumably the eldest, cautiously asked.

“Well, we have a meeting with the Honorable Minerva McGonagall regarding the Premier Ten. So, could you tell us the direction to Hogwarts please?” Theo requested.

“If you want, we could take you there. We are going back anyways,” the only female offered.

“That would be lovely.”

And so, Pone Harmony and the three Hogwarts students walked along the path that led to the said school. It was a quiet walk, understandably so as the two parties were not close to each other.

“We’re almost there,” the other male told Pone Harmony.

“Finally, I found you!” a menacing voice came from behind them.

When Pone Harmony turned around, it was someone they knew, “It’s Torrid!”

Without prior warning, Torrid released a stream of blue fire to Pone Harmony. As much as he did not want to use “wandless” magic while in this particular universe, Theo had no choice but to counter with his own blue fire.

“Woah! Wandless magic,” the three students were frozen both in awe and in fear.

“Run back to your school now! We will deal with this in the meantime,” Keeho urgently instructed the three students.

The three students did not need to be told twice what to do; they sprinted back to Hogwarts as instructed. Meanwhile, to disturb the deadlock, Jiung caused the ground beneath Torrid to fissure. Torrid managed to escape the crack and shot Fireballs, Thermal Balls, and Plasma Balls in one fluid motion. Keeho had to release a concentrated beam of electricity to counter the Plasma balls; a blast of ice from Soul to cancel out the Thermal Balls; and a strong burst of wind to eliminate the Fireballs. The confrontation continued with Pone Harmony and Torrid exchanging attacks in the middle of the road.

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“Professor McGonagall! Professor McGonagall!” three students were rushing their way toward the headmistress’ office.

“James Sirius, Albus Severus, and Lily Luna, what is with the cacophony?” Minerva McGonagall, Hogwarts' current Headmistress, gave a stern look.

“Wandless magic… outside… dueling…” Albus Severus, the middle one, was doing his best to catch his breath.

“Pull yourselves together, would you? What is so important that the three of you had to rush to my office?” McGonagall was keeping herself calm. “James Sirius, you explain.”

“So, when we were in Hogsmeade, a group of people wanted to talk to you so they asked us for directions. Since we are returning from Hogsmeade ourselves, we decided to accompany them,” James Sirius narrated.

“When we were near the gate, another individual appeared and started to shoot blue fire from his hands without a wand. And if that was not incredible enough, one person from the group we are accompanying also shot blue fire from his hands without a wand,” Lily Luna finished the story.

“Did not your parents tell you not to deal with strangers? Did you have any information regarding these people?” McGonagall questioned.

“We do not know their names,” Albus Severus confessed. “But the group we were escorting did say they were supposed to meet you about the Premier Ten?”

“The Premier Ten?” realization dawned on the Headmistress. “Dears, why did you mention the most important thing this late?”

“We were doubting if they were telling the truth or not,” James Sirius reasoned.

“Understandable,” McGonagall nodded. “And so, where are they now?”

“They were dueling in the middle of the road to Hogsmeade near the gate.”

Minerva McGonagall quickly dashed out, leaving the three students standing idly inside her office.

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At this point, the standoff between Torrid and Pone Harmony was still continuing. Torrid did not stop shooting streams of blue fire, his three fiery projectiles, and even fire bolts from his eyes. On the other side of the battlefield, Jongseob was ready to teleport his team if need be. Sometime in between, a loud cracking sound was heard beside Pone Harmony.

“Am I correct in my assumption that you are the group that wanted to meet me regarding the Premier Ten?” McGonagall sought confirmation.

“Plus Everything! Hello, we are Pone Harmony and we are one of the Supreme Six of Hallyu.”

“I see. I am Minerva McGonagall but let us reserve the pleasantries for later. Right now, my priority is to assist you in dealing with this unwanted guest,” McGonagall turned serious.

Minerva pulled out her trusty wooden wand and pointed it toward Torrid.

“Redacto!” McGonagall stated. Her wand released a burst of light toward Torrid. However, the light only bounced off the member of the Novus Red Force.

“Bombarda Maxima!” still the spell was shrugged off. “Expulso! Confringo! Diffindo! Incendio!”

“Why are none of the spells seem to affect him?” McGonagall was baffled.

Thankfully, the ineffective spells caused enough of a distraction for Keeho to hit Torrid with his power. Jiung quickly followed it up with a barrage of sharp rocks, dealing considerable damage to Torrid.

“Pestis Incendium!” Minerva said with force while waving her wand around above her head. Out of her wand came a powerful serpent-shaped enchanted fire.

The fire serpent made its way to Torrid. Torrid tried hitting it with his blue fire but was unsuccessful. Dealing with his injuries and intimidated by the fire serpent, Torrid left the battlefield.

“That sure chased him away,” McGonagall snickered as she dispelled her fire serpent.

“Thank you for your help,” Pone Harmony told McGonagall.

“Now, I believe this is not the best place to talk. Please follow me to my office,” Minerva said.

Chapter Text

After the face-off between Torrid and Pone Harmony and Minerva McGonagall, the Hogwarts’ Headmistress brought them back to her office.

“That was a bit of a commotion,” Minerva sighed. “Anyways, once again, I am Minerva McGonagall, the current Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.”

“Plus Everything! Hello, we are Pone Harmony and we are one of the Supreme Six of Hallyu,” Keeho led the greeting. “It is our honor to meet one of the members of the Premier Ten.”

“Please, have a seat,” McGonagall offered. “To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?”

“As much as we wanted to visit in far better circumstances, but unfortunately, this time we really need your help,” Keeho stated. “The Kingdom of Hallyu is being invaded once again by unforeseen enemies.”

“Correct me if I am mistaken but was that creature you referred to as ‘Torrid’ the one invading your kingdom?” Minerva assumed.

“Technically, yes. He is a member of the Novus Red Force which is currently invading our kingdom. The Novus Red Force has nine members headed by Origin,” Theo elaborated.

“The leader’s name is Origin? My fears might turn out to be true then,” Minerva had a worried look on her face.

“May we ask why?” Jeongseob caught the change in expression.

“You see, based on our confrontation with Torrid earlier, I have a reason to believe that he, and presumably the others as well, might be horcruxes,” Minerva shifted her glasses.

“Horcruxes? What are those?”

“A form of dark magic here in our dimension, a Horcrux is a receptacle, living or inanimate, in which a magician had hidden a fragment of his or her soul in order to become immortal,” McGonagall began her explanation.

“Your theory is that Torrid might be a Horcrux. If so, whose Horcrux?” Soul probed.

“Perhaps their leader, Origin, since he named himself as such,” Minerva theorized. “Origin might be the source of the souls that was split to form this Novus Red Force that is invading your kingdom.”

“Not that we are not open to possibilities, but how were you able to make this speculation?” Intak was curious.

“Horcruxes are also extremely durable and highly magic resistant. That is why, as you may have seen earlier, most of my spells were ineffective,” Minerva reviewed what happened earlier. “However, he retreated when I used Fiendfyre. In our dimension, Fiendfyre is one of the very few magic capable of destroying a pure Horcrux. A strong magic, perhaps one of your many reputed X-Con techniques, might be necessary for their demise.”

“This is a valuable piece of information. We will report this to our Bicameral Chambers as soon as we return,” Keeho was grateful.

“Now, going back to the invasion, do you need reinforcements from the Premier Ten?”

“Actually, we are hoping not to reach that point,” Theo responded. “As our last resort, we are tasked to retrieve a magical artifact given to members of the Premier Ten. Is Hogwarts safekeeping an artifact from Hallyu?”

“So, it really has come to a point where that particular artifact is needed,” Minerva massaged her temples. “Very well. Follow me to the underground chambers of the castle.”

They followed Minerva McGonagall to a corridor in the third floor. McGonagall stopped right in front of the door.

“Now, let me tell you some things before we enter,” Minerva was serious. “The underground chambers were originally intended to house a powerful magical stone in our dimension. After the owner decided to destroy the stone, the chambers are now utilized to protect your artifact.”

“Is there any problem with that?”

“Originally, there are seven chambers, each with a different obstacle. Unfortunately, the previous Headmaster decided to retain five of the original seven obstacles and placed your artifact in the innermost chamber,” McGonagall revealed.

“Are you saying that we need to get pass through these obstacles to get to the artifact that we need?” Jongseob was taken aback.

“Yes, that is what I am implying,” Minerva confirmed.

“It should be fine. We can use our powers if necessary,” Theo kept a positive attitude.

“Now, beyond this door is the first chamber guarded by enormous three-headed dog, Fluffy,” the headmistress briefed them beforehand. “The only way to get pass that dog is to make him sleep or to hold him back.”

“I think I could handle it,” Intak gulped.

The group positioned themselves several meters from the door. Jongseob opened the door then teleported to a safe distance. As soon as the door opened, Fluffy immediate rampaged and rushed toward the door. Intak kept calm and stretched his right hand forward; the three-headed dog was stopped in his tracks and was slowly being pushed backward against the far wall by the hurricane-force winds. With the dog immobilized, they found the trapdoor on the floor; they all dropped down, Intak being the last person to do so.

“Be careful. The next chamber is full of Devil’s Snare. The plant was designed to entangle and suffocate any intruders,” the sole female of the group warned.

Heeding the warning, Intak slowed down everyone’s fall by manipulating the air around them. When they reached the second chamber, the plant sensed them and immediately started moving. Theo unleashed his blue flames, scorching the Devil’s Snare in all corners of the chamber. Intak gentle dropped them to the floor when it was deemed safe.

“Very impressive,” Minerva praised as they entered the third chamber with a very high ceiling. “In the opposite end of this chamber is a large, old-fashioned wooden door with a silver lock that will not open without the necessary key. If you look up, you could see glittering winged keys. You must find the right key for us to proceed.”

Theo and Keeho observed the lock, “It’s old-fashioned and silver so the key must be too.”

Pone Harmony searched for the right key until Jongseob found an old-fashioned, silver key with bright blue wings. Keeho used low voltage bolts to jolt the key off the air, succeeding in his eleventh attempt. Pone Harmony was impressed as soon as they entered the fourth chamber. In front of them stood a large chessboard with gigantic chess pieces.

“For this obstacle, you must play wizard’s chess and checkmate the white king piece of the opposing side. Be vigilant though, Wizard's Chess is the magical variant of your familiar classic board game Chess, in which the pieces were enchanted to move of their own accord when commanded by the player. When a piece is taken, it is removed by the attacking piece, often in a barbaric manner where the losing piece is smashed violently by the winning piece,” Minerva explained the room’s mechanics.

“That sounds dangerous,” Soul commented. “How are we going to pass this obstacle?”

Jiung thought for a while, “So, the objective is to destroy the opposing side’s king, right?”

“In a way, yes,” McGonagall agreed.

“And what are the pieces made of?” Jiung queried.

“Solid marble.”

Nodding, Jiung smiled victoriously. He did some basic stretches and exhaled deeply. When he was ready, Jiung brought his two palms together in a clapping motion. Seconds later, all the white pieces on the opposite side of the board exploded into pieces.

“What just happened?” Theo was confused.

“I used my Geokinesis to shatter the marble,” Jiung said casually.

That allowed them to reach the fifth chamber which was empty, granting them easy passage. Upon entering the sixth chamber, the entrance was blocked by yellow flames, whilst the door to the next chamber was covered by white flames. A table holding seven bottles filled with a different liquid sat in the center of the room, with a logical riddle.

“For this chamber, you must work out the riddle to reveal the contents of each bottle. Out of the seven bottles, three are poison, two contains grape juice, one contains a potion to safely traverse the white flame, and the last contains a potion that allow passage back through the yellow flames,” the Hogwarts’ Headmistress informed Pone Harmony.

“Or we could just part the white flames for us to pass through,” Soul claimed.

True enough, Soul released a continuous blast of ice from both of his hands, splitting the fire into two for safe passage. Finally, after many obstacles, they reached the final and innermost chamber; and in the center of the very empty room was the Glinter in a glass case on a pedestal.

“Congratulations, you successfully passed my trial,” McGonagall gladly announced.

“Trial? What trial?” Keeho was confused.

“Do you really think, I, as the Headmistress, do not know how to get into this room without facing all those obstacles? Truth be told, the professors of this school and I were the ones who created those obstacles.” Minerva claimed. “I just wanted to test if you are worthy to retrieve the artifact.”

“I see. Good to know we have proven ourselves,” Theo could only smile.

“And even though you technically cheated to pass through my Wizard’s Chess puzzle, you still passed with flying colors for your ingenuity,” Minerva lauded. “And with that, I present to you the Moobong.”

 “Thank you very much. This will greatly aid our cause,” Keeho, as the leader, received the Glinter. “As much as we wanted to stay longer, we urgently need to return to Hallyu now.”

“May luck be with you.”

Pone Harmony left the chambers with dark blue pillars of water.

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Pone Harmony was glad to finally return to Hallyu when they saw the two Kingdom Seers still standing in the same place as before the spell sent them to another universe.

“Seonbaenim, here is the Moobong,” Keeho presented the Glinter.

“Thank you. We can summon the fifth Crest now,” Dongwook nodded.

We call upon the Hallyu Crest

Whose essence in this Glinter rests

Reaching back through time and space

We summon them face to face

Smoke emerged around the magic circle that appeared as the spell was in effect. In the center of the magic circle stood four silhouettes.

“Unassumingly fierce in battle, they are always named as one of the strongest nine groups of the kingdom. The formidable star wind flower sun of Hallyu, Mommymoo!”

Chapter Text

It was mid-morning when The Seraphim appeared in what seemed to be an old, run-down amusement park. In every direction they looked, the place looked abandoned.

“I think we landed on the wrong universe,” Eunchae said as she looked around.

“Did the spell not work properly?” Kazuha doubted.

“Kokuyo Land?” Yunjin read a dilapidated signage. Sakura and Kazuha were familiar with the language.

“Yah! Who are you and what are you doing in our place?” a young voice called out to The Seraphim.

When they looked at the origin of the voice, they saw two teenagers. The teenager who shouted at them had a large horizontal scar stretching from cheek to cheek, crossing the bridge of his nose. The other teenager was tall with a barcode on his left cheek and a bandage on his right and was wearing glasses and a white beanie.

 “Are you a friend or an enemy?” Chikusa, the tall teenager, asked the group.

“We have come in peace! We don’t mean any harm,” Sakura was fluently speaking the language even without the help of Omnilingualism.

“What are your intentions doing here?” Ken, the one with the horizontal scar, was aggressively asking them.

“Uhm…” Chaewon took control of the situation. “We are looking for someone but we don’t know if we are in the right place.”

“Try us,” Chikusa challenged.

“We’ll enumerate a series of names of places that we know of and tell us if anything is familiar to you. Would that be alright?” Sakura bargained.

“Sure. But if don’t recognize anything, you need to leave as soon as possible,” Ken gritted his teeth.

“Let’s see… Uhm… Hakusen Academy?” Eunchae started but was met with a negative response.

“How about Hall University or Adore University?” Yunjin tried her luck but to no avail.

“Fiore Kingdom? Tomoeda?” Chaewon attempted but failed.

“How about Namimori?” Kazuha said.

Ken nodded, “We definitely know about Namimori. It’s the small city next to this town.”

“Ken, Chikusa, what’s going on?” a teenage female wearing an eyepatch on her right eye appeared from inside one of the abandoned buildings.

“Nothing to worry about, Chrome,” Chikusa said calmly.

“These people are loitering around our territory,” Ken pointed at them. “But they are just lost since they are looking for Namimori.”

“So, do you guys know Sawada Tsunayoshi-sama?” Sakura asked further.

“Boss? Why are you looking for Boss?” the female named Chrome chimed in.

“Sorry for the sudden intrusion but are you familiar with the Premier Ten?” Chaewon carefully asked.

Chrome nodded her head, “Yes. Boss has told us about it.”

“Is there any way we could personally talk to him? It’s of grave importance,” Kazuha requested.

“Well, Boss told me he is coming over with the other Guardians. They will be accompanying my friends, Kyoko and Haru, as they visit,” Chrome said in a gentle voice.

“In that case, can we wait for them here?” Eunchae sought permission.

“What?” Ken was clearly displeased.

“I finally caught up with you. Prepare to be destroyed!” another menacing voice pierced through the verbal exchange.

“Ubiquitous? Why are you here?” Yunjin was taken aback.

“Who is she? Do you know her?” Chikusa asked The Seraphim.

“Yes. To put it simply, she’s an enemy to both of us,” Sakura made things clear. “Be very careful in dealing with her.”

Ubiquitous released an Energy Wave. Chaewon was able to block it by establishing a wall of air while Chrome defended her side by spinning her trident extremely fast. As a counter, Chikusa used his yo-yo to rain down needles on Ubiquitous but the Novus Red Force member simply blew them away with a burst of wind. Ken, now taking gorilla characteristics, suddenly lunged from behind for a sneak attack but Ubiquitous caught him and was electrified, causing him to faint.

“Ken!” Chrome hollered in worry.

Angered, Chrome slammed her trident on the ground. This caused several pillars of magma to erupt around Ubiquitous, impressing The Seraphim. However, Ubiquitous simply changed the weather around Kokuyo Land and caused hail to fall. The hail somehow was able to dispel Chrome’s magma pillars as it distracted Chrome from maintaining the illusions.

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A group of people were walking to Kokuyo Land when they heard consecutive explosions coming from inside the perimeter of the abandoned amusement park.

“What is that?” a female voice shrieked.

“Explosions… coming from Kokuyo Land,” one male said and reached back to grab hold of his shinai.

“Is it an enemy attack?”  another male was already holding a couple of dynamites.

“An attack? But what about Chrome?” the male in the middle of the pack panicked.

“Then, do you something about it, No-Good Tsuna,” the person pacifier hanging on his neck fired a bullet at the said Tsuna. After getting hit by the bullet, a flame blazed on his forehead and he immediately rushed to the scene.

“Saving Chrome to the extreme!”

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So far, Ken was the only casualty in the battle since he fainted. The Seraphim, Chrome, and Ken all had minor injuries but they were also able to deal Ubiquitous some damage as well.

Sakura was using vines as a long-ranged weapon, utilizing them as whips to attack Ubiquitous. Yunjin was yielding her Photokinesis both offensively and defensively. Chaewon was getting ready to heal the fainted Ken while Kazuha was on standby to teleport everyone away from danger. The battle took a drastic turn when dynamites exploded around Ubiquitous.

“Shigure Seon Ryu – Offensive Eighth Form: Shinotsuku Ame,” the person wielding a shinai earlier was charging at Ubiquitous and then slashed a katana at her. The blade of the sword cut around Ubiquitous, forming a cross slash, and heavily damaging Ubiquitous.

“Natsu!” Tsuna, hovering in the air, commanded. The small lion on his shoulder roared some orange flames at Ubiquitous. The Novus Red Force member was able to dodge the attack.

“Boss! Everyone!” Chrome was relieved.

Without missing a beat, Ubiquitous released an Energy Wave to Tsuna. Somehow, Tsuna simply put his fingers together and absorbed the attack.

“Operation XX!” Tsuna muttered.

It wasn’t long before Tsuna fired a lion-shaped flame at Ubiquitous, making a direct hit. While it was not enough to destroy Ubiquitous, it made the invader retreat due to her extensive injuries.

Tsuna landed and the flames on his forehead were extinguished, “Chrome, are you alright?”

“Yes, but Ken was injured,” Chrome reported.

“I might be able to help with that,” Eunchae used her power to slowly heal the unconscious Ken.

It was only then that the newly arrived crowd noticed The Seraphim, “Who are you?”

“I’m fearless! Hello, we are The Seraphim!” the girls greeted. “It’s an honor to meet you, Honorable Sawada Tsunayoshi.”

Chapter Text

It was only then that the newly arrived crowd noticed The Seraphim, “Who are you?”

“I’m fearless! Hello, we are The Seraphim!” the girls greeted. “It’s an honor to meet you, Honorable Sawada Tsunayoshi.”

Seeing the confusion on Tsuna’s face, Chrome said, “They want to meet you about the Premier Ten.”

“Why?” Chrome’s statement did not clarify things for Tsuna.

“Just look at clothes, No-Good Tsuna. You might be able to see something familiar,” the infant-sized individual scolded Tsuna.

Tsuna carefully looked at The Seraphim. His eyes grew wide when he saw a familiar logo on the capelets, “Are you from the Kingdom of Hallyu?”

“Yes. We are here to ask for your assistance,” Chaewon mentioned.

“Oh, sorry for the late introduction but I am Sawada Tsunayoshi, now Neo Vongola Primo,” Tsuna bowed as he introduced his group. “This guy with the pacifier is my tutor, Reborn.”

“Nice to meet you. I am Yamamoto Takeshi, Vongola’s Rain Guardian.”

“I am Gokudera Hayato, Vongola Storm Guardian and Tenth’s right-hand man.”

“Sasagawa Ryohei, Vongola’s Sun Guardian to the extreme!”

“I am Sasagawa Kyoko and this is my friend, Miura Haru.”

“I’m sorry if my Lightning, Cloud, and Mist Guardians are not here to welcome you but what brings you to our parallel world?” Tsuna questioned.

“I know this is too sudden but we need to retrieve an artifact from you,” Sakura went straight to the point.

“Artifact? Oh, that artifact?” Tsuna realized. “I think we need to get back to my house for that.”

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The Seraphim, Tsuna, Reborn, Yamamoto, and Gokudera returned to Tsuna’s house to discuss the matter at hand. Meanwhile, Ryohei stayed with Kyoko and Haru as they spent the afternoon with Chrome.

“Uhm… so you need that artifact?” Tsuna was unsure what to do despite being a respected boss of the strongest mafia family in their world.

“That artifact was entrusted to the Vongola Family with the premise that someone will come and retrieve it when Hallyu is faced with a catastrophe,” Reborn’s tone turned serious. “Tell us. What great trouble has fallen unto Hallyu for you to need that artifact?”

“Our kingdom is being invaded once again by a group called “Novus Red Force”. Ubiquitous, the one we fought earlier, was a member,” Chaewon explained. “Novus Red Force has nine members including their leader, Origin.”

“At first, we wanted to stop the invasion on our own. However, as the days have gone by, more and more magical squads fell victim to Novus Red Force until such time that most of the Entente Cordiale have been seriously injured and incapacitated,” Sakura added further details. “As it stands, only the Supreme Six and the Twilight Triad are the magical squads left to defend Hallyu, but even our collective efforts were not enough to stop any of them.”

“Why did they attack Hallyu? Do you know which parallel world they originally came from?” Yamamoto asked.

“Unfortunately, we do not have any information about their motives or where they come from,” Yunjin shook her head. “They suddenly appeared one day and insisted they will annihilate Hallyu.”

“While fighting earlier, I noticed something unusual about Ubi… Ubiquitous,” Tsuna had a hard time pronouncing the name. “My Zero Point Breakthrough: Revised was able to absorb one of his attacks.”

“Wow, that’s unusual,” Yamamoto commented.

“Sorry for not understanding anything but what about Ubiquitous’ attack being absorbed?” Eunchae wanted clarification.

“The Dying Will Flames are a form of condensed energy in this world.” Gokudera had to make the explanation simple for The Seraphim to understand. “Now, Zero Point Breakthrough: Revised is a technique created by Tenth during his training with Reborn-san. Using this technique, Tenth can absorb his opponent's Dying Will Flames, purify it, and add it to his own store of Flames.”

“So, how was Tsunayoshi-sama able to absorb the attack then?” Kazuha was clueless.

“There could only be two explanations,” Reborn stated. “Their powers have been infused or strengthened by Dying Will Flames or the source of their magical energy is Dying Will Flames. Most likely it’s option number 2.”

“What do you mean by Dying Will Flames being the source of their magical energy?” Sakura questioned.

“If humans have a heart to live, they might be relying on Dying Will Flames to stay alive,” Reborn theorized. “That might be the reason why Tsuna was able to absorb his attack; traces of Dying Will Flames must be present in their powers or bodies as a by-product for serving as their energy source.”

“Could this be related to the missing eight Mafiosi that even the Vindice have a hard time figuring out?” Gokudera laid out his assumptions.

“If the members of Novus Red Force are the missing eight Mafiosi, then I will not be surprised as to why they have innate Dying Will Flames inside their bodies,” Reborn grimaced.

“If that is the case, do we have to do anything in particular to extinguish this flame?” Chaewon probed.

“Not necessarily. The flame should extinguish on their own if you deal them enough damage,” Yamamoto offered his expertise. “You could also strike them with an extremely powerful attack enough to overpower the flame and extinguish it.”

“I see. Thank you for these valuable inputs.”

The conversation took a short break after Tsuna’s mom gave them snacks and refreshments to enjoy. The Seraphim gladly took the offer, indulging themselves with the baked goods and beverages.

“Sorry for sounding impatient but can we get the artifact now? We need to return to Hallyu as soon as possible,” Chaewon steered back to their original intentions.

“I see. Sorry about that. I’ll get it right away,” Tsuna clumsily scurried around his room.

Tsuna opened a drawer of his study table and pulled out a small cube the size of his own palm.

“The artifact is safely confined in this storage box,” Tsuna proudly said. “When I officially took over and Vongola Ninth passed me the artifact, I thought I needed to secure it inside something only the current and future Vongola Boss and Guardians could open. That is how I thought about this storage box which can only be opened when injected with all seven Dying Will Flames of the Sky.”

“Uhm… Tsuna, aren’t you forgetting something?” Yamamoto giggled. “The rest are not here.”

Tsuna’s eyes widened in realization, “Wait, the Sun, Lightning, Mist, and Cloud Guardians are not here. We cannot open this without them!”

“You’re still No-Good Tsuna, even after all this time,” Reborn scoffed. “Don’t worry. I already called for them.

As if on cue, the door and window of Tsuna’s room opened.

“Vongola Sun Guardian is present to the extreme!”  a male entered through the door.

“Lambo has arrived!” a bovine child was sitting on the male’s shoulder.

“Herbivore, why did you call for me here?” the person on the window was seething.

Someone suddenly appeared in the corner of Tsuna’s room. “Fufufufufu… what’s your reason for dragging me here, Sawada Tsunayoshi?”

Tsuna was glad when they arrived at the perfect moment. The four were the rest of his guardians.

“Alright, so you already know about Ryohei-nii, my Sun Guardian. That cow child on his shoulder is Lambo, my Lightning Guardian,” Tsuna pointed as he introduced the newly arrived. “The person on the window is Hibari Kyoya, my Cloud Guardian, while that person in the corner is Rokudo Mukuro, my Mist Guardian.”

“I’m fearless! Hello, we are The Seraphim!”

“So, everyone, The Seraphim came from Hallyu and they needed their artifact back,” Tsuna sounded unconfident before his guardians. “The artifact is stored in this custom-made storage box and I need everyone’s flames to open it.”

“Fine. Let’s get this over with,” Hibari Kyoya mumbled.

Kyoya rolled his left sleeve and released violet flames from the bracelet he was wearing. When the box was near the flame, a portion of the flame was absorbed. Mukuro ignited the earrings on his right ear with indigo flames and did the same to the box. Mukuro and Kyoya left as soon as they had done their part.

“Lambo, can we have some of your flames?” Tsuna asked the child.

Although confused with the situation, Lambo released green lightning bolts from the helm on his head. Tsuna held the box closer and the box absorbed some of the flames. Ryohei, for his part, had the bangle on his upper left arm burst out yellow flames which the box also absorbed. To make things faster, Gokudera and Yamamoto did the task simultaneously; Gokudera’s red flames came out of the buckle on his waist while Yamamoto’s blue flames emerged from his necklace. Both flames went into the box as well. Finally, Tsuna ignited the ring on his right middle finger with his orange flame. When the box absorbed all seven Dying Will Flames, the top part split into two right in the middle as it opened, the Glowing Glinter emerging from the inside.

“The Seraphim, this is the Kimmanbong. May this help you greatly,” Tsuna gave the Glinter to The Seraphim. “Please don’t forget to return that as soon as you’re done.”

“Thank you so much for your assistance. We have to go now,” Chaewon bowed before The Seraphim teleported away.

“Tenth? Do you think Hallyu will be alright?” Gokudera asked Tsuna.

“They’re gonna be alright according to my Hyper Intuition,” Tsuna smiled.

“If Tsuna says so, then there is nothing to worry about,” Yamamoto laughed. “What should we do for the rest of the afternoon?”

“Exercise to the extreme!”

“Not a good idea, you muscle heads.”

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The Seraphim reappeared on Hallyu as they glistened with in Fearless Blue light. Waiting for them were the two Kingdom Seers.

“The Seraphim! I assume you did your job well?” Seunggi greeted.

“This is the Kimmanbong, daepyonim,” Chaewon passed over the Glinter to Seunggi.

We call upon the Hallyu Crest

Whose essence in this Glinter rests

Reaching back through time and space

We summon them face to face

For the sixth time that day, smoke enveloped the open field. Other than the two Seers and The Seraphim, five other individuals were there.

“Never leaving the position of Supreme Six while still active, they are always ready to power up for the kingdom’s sake. Hallyu’s favorite red flavor, Velvety Red!”

Chapter Text

Ace Spa appeared in front of a tall skyscraper; the building was quite unusual as its entire first floor was a parking lot.

“This is quite a developed civilization. I wonder which universe did we land in?” Giselle muttered as she looked around.

“We can ask the guard for information,” Ningning suggested. “The sooner we establish our location, the sooner we know which universe we are in and who to look for.”

Convinced by Ningning’s reason, Ace Spa walked closer to the personnel guarding the entrance and exit of the parking lot.

“Good morning. May we ask where we are right now?” Winter asked the guard; she was still speaking Hallyu’s language.

“This is the Eri Central Office. Do you have any appointments with any of the Guardian Legends?” the guard questioned back.

“So, this is where we can find the Guardian Legends of Exoplanet?” Karina blurted out of excitement.

“Uhm, yes?” the guard looked at them suspiciously.

“Sorry about the confusion. She had a little too much drink last night,” Giselle vouched for their leader.

“Well, if you have an appointment with the Guardian Legends, please circle back to the other side of the building, the main entrance is there,” the parking guard instructed them. “You can also ask them if you have further questions.”

“Thank you for that information.”

Ace Spa scampered away from the suspecting eyes of the guard.

“Just our luck to be dropped in a nearby location as our target,” Ningning giggled.

“Even I couldn’t believe it myself. That is why I wasn’t able to hold my reaction back,” Karina chuckled.

After a short walk, they reached the main entrance of the building. Just like the other guard had said, there is another guard office on this side.

“Good morning. Welcome to the Eri Central Office. Do you have any appointments?” the guard inquired.

“Yes. We are here for the Arcanus Alliance,” Winter tried using the keyword since they were in the right location.

“Ah, the Bureau of Arcanus Alliance. The Department of Diplomatic and Foreign Affairs is on the seventh floor. You may take the elevators up ahead,” the guard told them.

“Thank you for your assistance.”

As per instructions, they rode the elevator toward the seventh floor. It was only a short ride and the receptionist’s area was what welcomed them as soon as the doors opened. However, there was no receptionist in sight so they had to find the office themselves. Thankfully, there were signs near the doors so they were able to find the Department of Diplomatic and Foreign Affairs on the left end of the hallway.

They carefully entered the Office of the Department of Diplomatic and Foreign Affairs, wary that they might be bypassing some protocols. Inside the office were two cuddling males, which was a shocking sight for Ace Spa.

“Sorry for disturbing…” Karina broke the silence while trying to gain their employees’ attention.

The two immediately rose from their seating position and welcomed the guests, “Welcome to the Department of Diplomatic and Foreign Affairs. I am Osaki Shotaro and this is Jung Sungchan; we are the co-assistant chiefs of the Department and co-executive assistants to the Bureau of Arcanus Alliance.”

“Shotaro-seonbaenim and Sungchan-seonbaenim?” the four members of Ace Spa were in greater shock since the people standing in front of them had an uncanny resemblance to their legendary seniors in Essim. At this point, they were not expecting another bigger shock to come their way.

“How can we help you? Do you have an appointment?” Sungchan’s voice pulled Ace Spa back to reality.

“Sorry, we do not have an appointment but…” Giselle trailed off, signaling her teammates about something.

“Be my æ! Hello, we are Ace Spa, one of the Twilight Triad of Hallyu.”

“Welcome to Exoplanet! How can we be of service?” Shotaro welcomed them with a charming smile.

“We are here to retrieve a magical artifact entrusted to the Guardian Legends,” Karina told Shotaro and Sungchan.

“I see. While we do know about Exoplanet’s affiliation to the Arcanus Alliance, only the Guardian Legends have the authority to discuss those matters,” Sungchan stated.

“But rest assured, we will contact the Guardian Legends for this urgent matter,” Shotaro promised.

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Shotaro dialed his phone and waited for the line to be connected.

“Yifan-hyung, a group came to the Central Office claiming to be from the Kingdom of Hallyu. They want to retrieve some magical artifact from us,” Shotaro said as soon as the call connected.

The call ended shortly after.

Shotaro faced Ace Spa, “The twelve Guardian Legends will be seeing you shortly.”

“In the meantime, please take a seat,” Sungchan offered.

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After several minutes, the twelve Guardian Legends of Exoplanet teleported into the office in their casual clothes while holding onto food baskets and other picnic-related stuff.

“Your Excellences, this is Ace Spa,” Shotaro introduced both parties, suppressing a giggle. “Ace Spa, these are the Guardian Legends of Exoplanet.”

“Be my æ! Hello, we are Ace Spa, one of the Twilight Triad of Hallyu.”

“Pleasure to meet you. I am Wu Yifan, the Guardian Legend of the Sky and the chief executive for the Department of Diplomatic and Foreign Affairs.”

“I am Kim Minseok, Guardian Legend of Frost.”

“I am Lu Han, Guardian Legend of Wisdom.”

“I am Kim Junmyeon, Guardian Legend of Water.”

“I am Zhang Yixing, Guardian Legend of Health.”

“I am the Guardian Legend of Light, Byun Baekhyun.”

“I am Kim Jongdae, Guardian Legend of Lightning.”

“I’m the Guardian Legend of Fire, Park Chanyeol.”

“Do Kyungsoo, Guardian Legend of the Earth.”

“I’m Huang Zitao, Guardian Legend of Time.”

“I am Kim Jongin, Guardian Legend of Travel.”

“And I am Oh Sehun, Guardian Legend of Wind.”

“Welcome to Exoplanet and the Eri Central Office,” Kris ended the introductions.

“S-s-seonbaenims?” Ace Spa was frozen in place. Shivers were running down their bodies and goosebumps were felt everywhere. Standing right in front of them were twelve people who looked exactly like another legendary senior group of theirs in Hallyu.

Junmyeon simply smiled, “You might have mistaken us for our counterparts there in Hallyu. We do have lots of similarities, from appearance to powers.”

“As we have been told,” Giselle mumbled. “We just cannot believe that we are actually experiencing this extreme sense of déjà vu. It’s like looking at their doppelgangers.”

“Well, we could qualify as their doppelgangers alright. Wait until you visit Carat Kingdom; your minds will be blown even more,” Jongdae said.

“Now that we have experienced this, we might visit the other alternate universes soon,” Winter was still dazed.

Kris requested Shotaro and Sungchan to prepare refreshments for the guests. The talk was carried over to the Horizon Conference Room inside the office.

“Sorry for our late arrival and our inappropriate attires; it was supposed to be our day off but it seems that your visit must take priority,” Kyungsoo clarified.

“No, we are the ones who should apologize for appearing out of nowhere without an appointment,” Karina dismissed the Legend’s concern.

“So, let’s get back on track,” Yifan steered the conversation back to its original topic. “Why do need the artifact?”

Chapter Text

“So, let’s get back on track,” Yifan steered the conversation back to its original topic. “Why do need the artifact?”

The atmosphere in the Horizon Conference Room turned serious. Both parties were sure what they were about to discuss was no laughing matter.

“The Kingdom of Hallyu is being invaded and is on the brink of being annihilated,” Ace Spa revealed. “Only the Supreme Six and the Twilight Triad stand between the fall of Hallyu and the Novus Red Force.”

“Novus Red Force?” Jongin and the rest were startled.

“Yes. The ones who are invading our kingdom call themselves the Novus Red Force. The Novus Red Force, led by Origin, suddenly appeared out of nowhere and mercilessly started their offensive against Hallyu,” Karina explained. “Is something the matter?”

“Well, we don’t know if it is a coincidence or not but Exoplanet’s archenemy ─ our archenemy ─ was called the Red Force. And it took us hundreds of years and a few painful sacrifices for us to defeat them,” Junmyeon mentioned.

“Wait. Didn’t our reconnaissance discover a fully functioning Red Force laboratory in the desert lands a few weeks ago?” Jongdae recalled.

“According to the reports, Activity was detected in an abandoned Red Force laboratory. When they raided the laboratory, they found no one but discovered traces of usage on the cloning machines,” Xiumin added the details. “The laboratory was demolished shortly afterward.”

“I don’t like where this might be going,” Luhan rubbed his temples.

“While I have no concrete proof, I have a strong reason to believe that Novus Red Force in Hallyu and Red Force here in Exoplanet have a direct connection,” Yifan gritted his teeth. “We must send an alert to all members of the Arcanus Alliance to be vigilant about any unusual activities, especially those concerning their archenemies.”

“Ok, so going back to Hallyu, what’s your current situation?” Junmyeon inquired.

“As I said earlier, most members of our Entente Cordiale are already severely injured. As our last resort before involving the Arcanus Alliance directly, we were sent to the Premier Ten to retrieve a magical artifact that was entrusted to its members,” Giselle said.

“I see. The situation in Hallyu is so dire that you had to resort to using the artifact,” Chanyeol hissed.

“Thus, we have no time to lose. The artifact is actually safely stored in a high-security room in Exploration Convention Hall,” Yifan mentioned. “Don’t worry. Jongin could teleport us there.”

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Jongin, the Guardian Legend of Travel, effortlessly teleported them to the lobby of the Exploration Convention Hall in just a blink of an eye.

“Welcome to Exploration Convention Hall. This was supposed to be the venue of the last Arcanus Alliance Convention but we had no choice but to pass the hosting duties to Hallyu due to our Hymeneal and the discovery of the functioning Red Force Laboratory,” Yifan clarified as he was the one responsible for handling Arcanus Alliance matters.

“This place is absolutely beautiful!” Ace Spa was mesmerized. “Congratulations on your Hymeneal by the way.”

“Thank you. Also, Zitao designed the whole place,” Yifan proudly shared, gaining the expected response from Ace Spa. “Now, please, let’s proceed to the Premier Room where the artifact is stored.”

 After a short walk, they reached an obscure part of the building where there was a single door at the end of the long, albeit wide, hallway.

“This is the Premier Room. Rest assured; while this looks like any ordinary room, the security here is top-notch,” Yifan was leading the whole crowd. “The door only opens using our biometrics and powers. The computer on the right scans our faces and fingerprints while the computer infused with the magic crystal on the left recognizes our powers. The crystal is a generous donation of Fairy Tail.”

Thus, the twelve Guardian Legends stood in front of the door one at a time. The computer on the right first scanned their face and fingerprints. When a match is confirmed, the owner’s power is immediately required by the crystal. If both the identity and the power matched, it was considered a success. Successful matches were to be repeated at least six times before the door opened. Inside the room, there were two objects ─ on one pedestal sat ornate, mother-of-pearl boxes that contained the complete volume of the second edition of Light. But there it was, on top of the other pedestal, was the Glinter that Ace Spa was desperately trying to bring back to Hallyu.

“Ace Spa, may I present to you the Pharynx,” Yifan turned the Glinter over to Karina.

“Thank you. This is a great help for our Kingdom,” Karina replied.

“Just don’t forget to bring it back here after use. That is the agreement between the Premier Ten,” Kyungsoo stated.

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Ace Spa exited the Exploration Convention Hall together with the Guardian Legends. They were about to say their goodbyes when a voice grabbed their attention.

“Found you!”

“It’s Ego and Frazzle, two members of the Novus Red Force,” Ningning blurted out.

The twelve Guardian Legends shivered, “Oh, they are Red Force indeed. We will never forget this unpleasant sensation.”

“Prepare to meet your demise,” Ego eerily said in a deep voice.

“Please be very careful, Your Excellences. Frazzle possesses Advanced Electrokinesis, Energy Balls, Energy Beam, Energy Blast, Energy Sparks, and Energy Waves,” Karina oriented the twelve Guardian Legends. “While Ego has Gyrokinesis, Cloning, Conjuration, and Thought Projection.”

“I cannot believe we still get to experience battling at this age,” Baekhyun giggled.

“We apologize for dragging you into this, Your Excellences,” Ace Spa was apologetic.

“Nonsense. This could be fun,” Sehun simply smiled.

Ego was the first one to make a move; he immediately resorted to his trump card of increasing the gravity around his targets. Ego expected an easy win; however, Kyungsoo enveloped everyone with his force field and Luhan used his Advanced Telekinesis to move the whole bubble away from the strong gravitational field. Frazzle joined the exchange when he shot out a beam of concentrated electricity but his attack was nullified by Jongdae with his own concentrated beam of electricity. Junmyeon’s water whips were effective in eliminating the clones created by Ego. Minseok released a strong burst of ice while Sehun whipped up a strong gale; the two attacks unintentionally made a blizzard hurdling toward Ego and Frazzle. An Energy Wave from Frazzle negated the blizzard, immediately followed by a barrage of Energy Beams. Baekhyun was having fun countering the Energy Beams with bullets made out of light coming out of his fingers shaped like a gun. Chanyeol made a large pillar of fire erupt from beneath Ego, causing injuries. Frazzle, on the other hand, took damage when Kyungsoo made fissures on the ground under him. When the battle was taking longer than expected, Tao simply froze time.

“Bored, panda?” Yifan ruffled the hair of Zitao when he landed from flying.

“Anyone I need to heal?” Yixing asked around.

“Can you even imagine how the Ten Crests would have fought?” Winter’s jaw was dropped.

“If our seonbaenim’s skills were anywhere near that, we have a long way to go,” Karina was stunned. Ace Spa was unable to do anything due to the fighting skill of the twelve Guardian Legends.

“Can we finish this up already? Is there a faster way to deal with them? A strong, concentrated attack perhaps?” Zitao gave his opinion.

“We might have something that could help,” Ace Spa claimed.

“X-Con: Black Mamba!” a purple magic circle formed under Ace Spa.

Ace Spa’s X-Con, Black Mamba, was an offensive type that conjures a huge snake made of poison that roams the battlefield, poisoning every living thing it touches. Zitao resumed the flow of time when the snake appeared on the battlefield. While Ego and Frazzle were able to destroy the poison snake, it was a good enough distraction for Minseok, Luhan, Junmyeon, Baekhyun, Jongdae, Chanyeol, Kyungsoo, and Sehun to launch a powerful attack. Ego and Frazzle emerged heavily injured from the attack which caused them to retreat.

“That was a good warm-up,” Chanyeol dusted himself off.

“You should return to Hallyu now. We don’t know where they might have escaped to or when they might return,” Junmyeon offered his advice.

“Thank you so much for your help,” Ace Spa left in purplish smoke.

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Ace Spa came face to face with the two Kingdom Seers as soon as they returned.

“Seonbaenim, here is the Pharynx,” Karina gave the Glinter to the Seers.

“Thank you,” Dongwook nodded. “We can summon the seventh Crest now.”

We call upon the Hallyu Crest

Whose essence in this Glinter rests

Reaching back through time and space

We summon them face to face

 A glimpse of twelve silhouettes could be seen through the thick smoke.

“The most senior out of the Ten Crests, they exemplified out-of-this-world battle prowess and excellence that is still looked up to until this day. Hallyu’s twelve growling guardians, X-O!”

Chapter Text

IZ*ONE, sans Wonyoung, Sakura, Yujin, and Chaewon, arrived in the middle of a park. No one seemed to mind that a group of eight women suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

“This universe must be familiar to magic as nobody seemed surprised when we teleported in,” Hitomi noticed.

“The more important thing to know is which universe are we in,” Chaeyeon said.

As they looked around, they concluded that the place was a large port town, as evidenced by its large marina. There was also a train station on the other side of the town. Unable to establish their location, IZ*ONE entered the restaurant that caught their attention, 8-Island.

“Welcome to 8-Island! How can I serve you?” the person inside greeted in a language familiar to Nako and Hitomi.

“Good morning,” Yena glanced around. “This is a nice restaurant.”

“Thank you for that compliment. It’s nice to hear that as the owner,” the owner was appreciative. “You can call me Yajima.”

“Can we ask you something, Yajima-san?” Nako was looking for permission.

“Sure. How can I help?”

“What is the name of this location? We seem to be lost,” Nako inquired.

“Oh, you are in Hargeon Town,” Yajima kindly supplied. “What brings you here to our town?”

“Please keep this a secret, but we are actually on a mission right now,” Yuri whispered.

“On a mission? From which local magic guild are you?” Yajima probed.

When IZ*ONE heard “local magic guild”, they immediately knew which universe they were in. Having established that fact, they can now find their destination using the correct keywords.

“We are on a mission to go to Magnolia. We wanted to join a guild there,” Hyewon lied as a cover-up.

“Magnolia? Are you planning to join Fairy Tail?” Yajima sounded enthusiastic.

“Yes! Fairy Tail! We wanted to try our luck there,” Minjoo went with the flow.

Yajima chuckled, “Fairy Tail is very welcoming. You will have no problem as new mages there.”

“How do we get to Magnolia? Do you have a map we could refer to?” Hitomi pleaded.

“Sure. I have a map right here,” Yajima walked away to get a map.

Helpful as he was, Yajima showed IZ*ONE where Magnolia was with Hargeon Town as a reference point. He also explained how Magnolia could be reached by train via the Hargeon Town Train Station. But none actually mattered as Hitomi, IZ*ONE’s resident teleporter, just needed the general idea of where Magnolia was to teleport there.

“Thank you so much for your help,” Eunbi extended her gratitude. “We’re off to the train station then.”

“Good luck in Fairy Tail!” Yajima waved as IZ*ONE left.

IZ*ONE returned to the park where they first arrived. When the coast was clear, IZ*ONE disappeared in a pink tornado.

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When IZ*ONE rematerialized, they were standing in front of a cathedral. Just like before, no one batted an eye when IZ*ONE suddenly came into view. The next order of business was to find Fairy Tail.

“Sorry to interrupt but how can we get to Fairy Tail?” Yena asked politely.

“Ah, Fairy Tail?” the woman recognized. “Just turn right as you reach Central Path. Their guild can be found at the end of that road.”

“Thank you very much.”

As per instructions, they turned right when they reached the Central Path and went straight from there. Along the way, they saw magic being used in various ways; it definitely opened a new perspective in the eyes of Hallyu’s third rulers. It wasn’t very long before IZ*ONE arrived at the threshold of the ─ raucous ─ Fairy Tail Guild. IZ*ONE was intimidated to enter the headquarters of one of the Four Founders of the Arcanus Alliance.

“Hello. Are you looking for someone?” a lady with long, white hair approached the eight.

“Uhm, is Lucy Heartfilia-sama around? May we talk to her?” Eunbi tried her luck.

“Oh, Lucy? Please wait for a while. Let me call her,” the lady obliged.

A moment passed before a lady with long, blonde hair emerged from the guild building’s entrance.

“Were you the ones looking for me?” Lucy scanned IZ*ONE and noticed their capelets. “Wait… those symbols… are you from the Kingdom of Hallyu?”

IZ*ONE was able to release a sigh of relief, “Eyes on me! Hello, we are IZ*ONE!”

“It’s a huge honor for us to meet the Honorable Lucy Heartfilia, one of the Four Founders of the Arcanus Alliance,” Yena was more relaxed than earlier.

“IZ*ONE? The third rulers of Hallyu?” Lucy seemed taken aback as well. “Why are the rulers of Hallyu in our parallel universe?”

“A Premier Ten emergency,” Eunbi went straight to the point.

“Do you want to discuss it with our guild master?” Lucy offered, understanding the situation.

“That would be nice. We also would like you to join the discussion,” Hyewon requested.

“Certainly. Please come in. I’ll lead you to Master Makarov,” Lucy ushered them inside.

“Makarov-sama?” Chaeyeon was confused as they were walking through the interior of the guild building. “We were informed that the current guild mistress was Erza Scarlet-sama.”

“Oh, that was only for a short time. Erza returned the position to Master Makarov,” Lucy explained.

As they were walking through the large hall, IZ*ONE saw the other members of the guild in a huge unruly commotion.

“Lucy, who’s our visitors?” another female with scarlet hair approached the group.

“Oh, Erza! Let me introduce you to IZ*ONE, the third rulers of the Hallyu Kingdom. IZ*ONE, this is the Erza Scarlet whom you were informed about,” Lucy made the introductions.

“What’s the purpose of their visit?” Erza asked.

“A Premier Ten emergency,” Lucy replied, and Erza’s face turned serious.

But before Erza could ask another question, a loud voice echoed through the halls, “Lucy! Erza! Who are those people with you and why are they here?”

“Quiet down, Natsu!” Erza glared at the source of the voice.

“What are you angry about? We are just curious!” another male joined in the argument.

“Stay out of this, Gray!” Erza snapped back.

“Eh! Just tell us!” Natsu insisted.

“They are IZ*ONE, the third rulers of the Kingdom of Hallyu!” Erza angrily screamed for the whole guild to hear. “They are here because of a Premier Ten Emergency and Fairy Tail, as one of the founders of the Arcanus Alliance, should be prepared to help. So, get a hold of yourselves!”

Erza’s screaming calmed down the whole guild; commotion died down and people seemed to have an idea of the current situation.

“A Premier Ten Emergency? Fairy Tail is always ready to assist,” an old man sitting in a wheelchair was being pushed by the lady with the long, white hair from earlier. “Please, tell me the details.”

“Master Makarov,” Lucy and Erza muttered.

Chapter Text

“A Premier Ten Emergency? Fairy Tail is always ready to assist,” an old man sitting in a wheelchair was being pushed by the lady with the long, white hair from earlier. “Please, tell me the details.”

“Master Makarov,” Lucy and Erza muttered.

Together with Makarov and Lucy, IZ*ONE was led to a secluded corner of the guild to discuss matters. Since everyone realized the seriousness of the situation, the whole guild quieted down to allow the discussions to proceed smoothly.

“Eyes on me! Hello, we are IZ*ONE! It’s our pleasure to meet you, Honorable Makarov.”

“I share the same sentiments. It’s not every day I get to meet the third rulers of the renowned Kingdom of Hallyu,” Makarov responded. “As you know, Lucy has always been the one representing us in the Arcanus Alliance.”

“So, what has brought you to our parallel universe?” Lucy kept things going.

Eunbi sighed deeply, “Hallyu has been under attack and is at the brink of total annihilation.”

“What?” Lucy and Makarov could not believe what they just heard.

“A group who calls themselves the ‘Novus Red Force’ invaded Hallyu all of a sudden. We don’t know where they came from or what are their motives and intentions,” Yuri elaborated. “However, their continued offensive has injured most of the magical squads of the kingdom. Only the Supreme Six and the Twilight Triad are left to defend Hallyu.”

“Hallyu is down to its last nine protectors?” Lucy shivered and was dumbfounded. “How did they manage to inflict such damage on Hallyu?”

“They have multiple formidable powers. We don’t even know how they managed to acquire such powers. They might have stolen them from someone, somewhere,” Chaeyeon revealed.

“Didn’t the magic council report something about stolen lacrimas?” Lucy recalled.

“Lacrimas?” IZ*ONE was unfamiliar with the concept.

“A Lacrima is a magical crystalline substance found here in our universe which can be used for different purposes,” Makarov explained. “Several weeks ago, our local magic council alerted all magic guilds that some of their experimental lacrimas were stolen. Those lacrimas were capable of storing any form of magic — powers, souls, spirits, and other magical manifestations. As they were still experimental, the lacrimas would break after one use. The feasibility and viability are already there; it only comes down to perfecting the lacrimas.”

“And do you think the stolen lacrimas could have something to do with the Novus Red Force?” Hyewon questioned.

“I cannot say for certain, but the timeline of events does line up,” Makarov suspected.

“So, this Novus Red Force is attacking Hallyu. Is that the reason why you are here? Do you want Fairy Tail to assist you in repelling the Novus Red Force?” Lucy went back to the topic.

“Not yet as of now,” Minjoo shook her head. “Before involving the Arcanus Alliance, we have one last resort. And for that, the artifact that was entrusted to Fairy Tail is needed.”

“I see. The situation has been grave enough that the artifact must be put into use,” Lucy could feel a headache forming. “Master, the artifact…”

“The fact that the third rulers of Hallyu have personally made their way to our parallel universe just to retrieve that artifact shows their desperation,” Makarov closed his eyes and nodded. “Very well. We will take you underground.”

“Open, Gate of the Lion! Loke!” Lucy summoned one of her Celestial Spirits.

“How can I be of service?” Loke, the called-upon Celestial Spirit, asked.

“Please carry Master Makarov. We need to go underground,” Lucy instructed.

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IZ*ONE was led into a stone underground passage consisting of a long spiral staircase residing deep below the guild building. The stairs end in a large, mildly ruined yet majestic room, possessing columns on its walls and brick arcs, with its carved walls adorned by several Fairy Tail symbols. In the middle of the room were two stone pedestals ─ one holding the second edition Light; the other one holding the glowing Glinter on top of it. Makarov cued Loke to get closer to the Glinter so that he may reach it.

“Honorable IZ*ONE, third rulers of Hallyu, I humbly present to you the Candy Bong,” Makarov personally handed the Glinter over.

Eunbi received the Glinter delicately, “Thank you for entrusting us with this artifact.”

The solemn moment was only disturbed when tremors shook the underground room.

“Master! Fairy Tail is under attack!” Erza came running.

“What?” Makarov was alarmed.

“Star Dress: Cancer Form!” Lucy prepared for battle. “Loke! Put Master in a comfortable place then help everyone against the enemy.”

“We will help in the battle as well,” IZ*ONE volunteered.

“Thank you so much,” Makarov thanked IZ*ONE.

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When they reached outside for the battle, Natsu was already breathing huge amounts of fire to, presumably, the enemy. When the fire subsided, the enemy was found to be unscathed inside his force field. IZ*ONE only took a second to identify the enemy.

“It’s Origin, the leader of Novus Red Force!” Hitomi identified the adversary.

“He is the leader of the people invading Hallyu?” Lucy screamed; the rest of Fairy Tail hearing what she said.

“Yes. Let’s be very careful. He has control over air, water, fire, earth, lightning, ice, light, and time. He can fly, heal, produce shields, and teleport in a blink of an eye. He also possesses Advanced Telekinesis and Super Strength,” Nako informed Lucy and Erza.

“Everyone, did you hear that? Be careful in dealing with him,” Erza told his fellow guild members. “Requip: Heaven’s Wheel Armor!”

The battle continued with Origin having a counter with everything that they throw at him: Gray’s and Yena’s ice, Juvia’s and Nako’s water, Loke’s and Yuri’s light, Laxus’ lightning, Natsu’s and Minjoo’s fire, Wendy’s wind and Eunbi’s earth. The face-off was in a virtual deadlock even with Chaeyeon’s Augmentation and Wendy’s enchantments.

Things took an abrupt turn when Origin was about to snap his fingers. As Origin slowly lifted his hand, Gray screamed.

“He is going to stop time! Defend yourselves! We’re done for if he freezes everyone!” Gray warned everyone.

“Open, Gate of the Twins! Gemini!” Lucy hurriedly summoned another spirit. “Everyone, hold hands!

When everyone was linked up, Lucy and Gemini chanted, “Fairy Sphere!”

With the help of Gemini who transformed into another Lucy, the two Lucy were able to successfully activate Fairy Sphere, one of Fairy Tail’s Three Great Magics, for several seconds. The sphere was able to defend everyone from the time stop.

When his stoppage of time failed, Origin flew up high. However, he was met there by Erza in a metallic winged armor and was able to slash Origin with her sword. Origin fell to the ground with great force. When Origin tried to stand up, Gemini tackled him which made Origin fall back to the ground.

“Roar of the Fire Dragon!”

“Secret Dragon Slayer Art! Shattering Light: Sky Drill!”

“Ice Devil’s Rage!”

Natsu, Wendy, and Gray unleashed a full-force attack. However, Origin was still strong enough to raise a shield to defend himself.

“Gather! O river of light that's guided by the fairies! Shine! In order to perish the fangs of evil!” one Fairy Tail member, Cana, chanted. “Fairy Glitter!”

Fairy Glitter was another Fairy Tail Great Magic. A ring of light encircled Origin and his shield. The ring of light slowly shrank, broke through Origin’s shield, and struck Origin forcefully. The attack resulted in an explosion. When the dust and smoke subsided, Origin was greatly injured.

“X-Con: Bloom*Iz!”

IZ*ONE did not waste the opportunity to injure Origin even more. Origin was surrounded by a field of flowers which later exploded. After taking so many injuries, Origin teleported away.

“That was a close call. He really is powerful,” Erza admitted.

“Why is he even doing all of this? If only we could access his mind to know his intentions and motives,” Eunbi ran her hand through her hair in frustration.

“I think I might be able to access his memories,” Lucy blurted out, catching everyone’s attention.

Chapter Text

“I think I might be able to access his memories,” Lucy blurted out.

“What?” Lucy’s statement caught everyone’s attention.

“How?” IZ*ONE was interested.

“My Celestial Spirit, Gemini, has the ability called Copy. This ability allows them to transform flawlessly into anyone that they have contact with,” Lucy explained. “Once transformed, they will gain the transformed person's knowledge, magic, and their recent thoughts.”

“Was Gemini able to make contact with Origin?” Natsu wondered.

“It did,” Erza nodded. “Gemini tackled Origin earlier.”

“With that… Gemini, please transform into Origin,” Lucy requested to the Celestial Spirit.

Gemini obliged to the request of their owner. In just a matter of seconds and a puff of smoke, an Origin doppelganger appeared in front of them.

“Origin memory data collection complete,” Gemini mumbled.

“Gemini, using Origin’s memories, tell us what the intention of the Novus Red Force’s attack on Hallyu,” Lucy questioned.

“He wants to destroy the Arcanus Alliance starting from Hallyu who came up with the idea,” Gemini answered.

“He wants to destroy the Arcanus Alliance? Why?” Erza asked.

“Due to his grudge to the Arcanus Alliance, especially Hakusen Academy,” Gemini revealed.

“What is this grudge?” Juvia probed.

“Origin’s real identity is Akuyaku Tensai. Akuyaku Tensai was a professor at Hakusen Academy with a doctorate in Biotechnology and Bioengineering. He was fired from Hakusen Academy after the school discovered his unethical research about creating genetically enhanced armies. His removal from the faculty cost him his years of research as well as funding,” Gemini narrated.

“And so, how did the Arcanus Alliance get involved?” Eunbi questioned.

“Since the members of the Special A Class of Hakusen were smarter than him by leaps and bounds, he sneaked into their greenhouse to find anything he could use against them,” Gemini accessed the memories. “When he managed to infiltrate the secret archives of the SA, he found out about the existence of parallel universes, the Ten Premiers, and the Arcanus Alliance.”

“And how did the Novus Red Force come about?” Hyewon wanted clarification.

“The Novus Red Force was his successful attempt at creating a genetically modified army. The Novus Red Force was created to destroy the Premier Ten,” Gemini continued to spill the beans. “Ironically, the Novus Red Force could not have existed without the Premier Ten. Each universe of the Ten Premier has a contribution to how the Premier Ten came to existence.”

“Can you please elaborate on this?” Makarov was wheeled in by the long-haired woman.

“After he discovered the existence of the Arcanus Alliance and the parallel universes, he used the teleportation potion given by the Charmed Ones to the SA members to teleport to the universe of Kinomoto Sakura,” Gemini said. “Once there, despite not yet being able to wield magic, he learned everything about magic from a secret association of powerful wizards. He later defected from the association without notice.”

“So, he learned about magic in Sakura-san’s universe. What else?” Lucy encouraged Gemini to talk further.

“After learning about magic, he teleported to Exoplanet. Once there, he was able to take control of an abandoned Red Force laboratory. With his expertise and the Red Force cloning technology, he successfully infused himself with the powers of all twelve Guardian Legends of Exoplanet. This now allowed him to possess and wield magic in his body,” Gemini was expertly navigating through Origin’s memories.

“That explains why he has the same capabilities as the Guardian Legends,” Lucy realized.

Gemini was not stopping, “Now with the power to teleport, his next move was sneaking into the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry’s Library. In the restricted section, he discovered the concept of Horcruxes and how to make them. That is where he had his idea of building an army capable of destroying the parallel universes.”

“To build his Horcrux army, he needed magical ingredients and tools. His search had taken him to Fiore. His discovery of the experimental lacrimas fueled his ambitions. He managed to steal several lacrimas from the magic council without being detected,” Gemini was slowly unraveling the mysteries.

“So, he was the one who stole the lacrimas,” Makarov mumbled. “Since this incident involves the Arcanus Alliance, this must be kept a secret within Fairy Tail. Understand?”

The members of Fairy Tail agreed to the decision of their guild master.

“So, what happens next?” Gray inquired to the Origin-looking Celestial Spirit.

“Making full use of the lacrimas, he pillaged upper-level demonic essences from the Demonic Wasteland located in the universe of the Charmed Ones. He stored the essences of the vanquished demons in the experimental lacrimas,” Gemini stated. “He planned to use the essences to make his army stronger and naturally give them powers.”

“Wow, this is getting out of hand,” Wendy was getting intimidated as the story went deeper.

“To fortify his army further, he victimized Barbarian vampires in the Carat Kingdom and extracted their blood for their vampiric DNA,” Gemini scoured Origin’s memories. “Finally, he kidnapped eight mafia members who possess Dying Will Flames from the universe of the Vongola Family. He deduced that the Mafiosi were the perfect base for his Horcrux army because of their physical skills and innate possession of Dying Will Flames which could serve as a power source to keep the bodies alive.”

“He went back to his makeshift laboratory in Exoplanet with all the ingredients in his possession. Once there, he started making his army. To satisfy the conditions of making a Horcrux, he first killed the eight Mafiosi, causing his soul to split. He each placed one part of his soul on one dead body. He immediately gave each dead body vampiric blood and demonic essences. With a few modifications and adjustments using the Red Force technology, he was able to create eight underlings,” Gemini was nearing the end of Origin’s memory. “Together with Origin, these eight monsters constitute the Novus Red Force.”

“He really made full use of his knowledge of the Premier Ten to achieve his evil desires,” Makarov sighed. “He really is an evil genius.”

“Do you think we can extract the information on how to defeat the Novus Red Force from his memories?” Chaeyeon wondered.

“We could try,” Lucy was unsure. “Does Origin’s memories contain information about how to defeat the Novus Red Force?”

“Novus Red Force weakness data collection complete.”

“Anything, Gemini?” Lucy was curious.

“As the monsters are basically Horcruxes infused with upper-level demonic essences, each member of the Novus Red Force could only be defeated with their respective specific weaknesses,” Gemini answered.

“Can you tell us what are these weaknesses?” Yuri told Gemini.

“Torrid possesses Fire-based powers to cover the fact that he is weak to extremely high heat. Any powerful attack that has high temperature will vanquish Torrid.” Gemini started once more. “Frazzle, just as his name suggests, could be vanquished if he is drained of his magical energy.”

“Is someone taking a record of this? This is valuable information for us,” Yena looked around.

“Ubiquitous is vulnerable to omnidirectional attacks while Frigid’s weak to extreme cold,” Gemini was blurting out important information. “To vanquish Speedbump, you must stop him from moving or running around freely. Spectrum is literally afraid of rainbows and will die if a rainbow hits him. Synesthesia heavily relies on her senses, so a strong attack that overloads or disorients her senses should work in your favor.”

“How about Ego and Origin?” Nako and Hitomi asked simultaneously.

“Ego is too full of himself that to defeat him, you must hit him with any of the powers he possesses or deflect his powers right back at him,” Gemini revealed. “Origin, as the creator of the Horcruxes, is invincible as long as the other eight are alive. Once his monsters are taken care of, you can basically eliminate Origin with one strong attack.”

“Oh, wow. Did we just unlock the solution to the Novus Red Force problem?” Minjoo commented.

“Thank you so much for this information, Honorable Lucy Heartfilia and the rest of the Fairy Tail Guild,” Eunbi’s gratitude was overflowing. “With this, not only did we retrieve the artifact, but we also have valuable data on how to defeat them.”

“We will not hold you for much longer. Return to Hallyu and save your kingdom,” Makarov told IZ*ONE. “We are expecting to hear wonderful news from your kingdom in the coming days.”

“But before you go, you need to return the artifact to us afterward. That was the agreement between the Premier Ten,” Lucy reminded the rulers of Hallyu.

“We understand. We’ll be on our way. Thank you so much for all your help,” IZ*ONE said before disappearing in a pink tornado.

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IZ*ONE’s return to Hallyu not only brought the Glinter back but also a bit of hope that they might be able to overcome this adversity.

“Daepyonim, we have the Candy Bong,” Eunbi gave the Glinter to the Seers.

“We also have important information about the Novus Red Force and how to defeat them,” Minjoo excitedly reported.

“That’s wonderful! In the meantime, we will summon the next Crest,” Seunggi was proud of what IZ*ONE accomplished.

We call upon the Hallyu Crest

Whose essence in this Glinter rests

Reaching back through time and space

We summon them face to face

The open was filled with smoke once more. Silhouettes signified the arrival of another group.

“Never leaving the Supreme Six position, they proved themselves to be one of the kingdom’s strongest throughout their careers. Hallyu’s one-of-a-kind group, Two-Times!”

Chapter Text

The members of X1 appeared in a forest area in the middle of the night somewhere.

“It’s nighttime here? Seriously? I hope we don’t get jetlagged,” Minhee chuckled.

“So, where are we exactly?” Seungyoun looked around.

Thankfully, the moon was full and bright enough to provide decent illumination in the surrounding area. Just a walking distance away, the fourth rulers of Hallyu could distinguish a large Cherry Blossom tree and several hints that they were in a religious shrine. When the coast was clear, they emerged from behind the trees and went near the solitary Cherry Blossom Tree.

“Wow, this tree stores great magic,” Yohan commented when he touched the tree.

“Why do we have to arrive in this universe at night? We cannot do much at this hour,” Dongpyo whined.

“We also don’t have anything to spend on accommodation,” Hangyul pointed out. “We don’t even know what currency this universe is using.”

“Any help from the supernatural will do,” Eunsang pleaded to the cosmos in a hushed voice.

And as if the heavens had heard Eunsang, a teenage girl with short brown hair and wings behind her back landed in front of X1. When she gained stable footing, the wings turned into swirling masses and reconstituted as a card in her hand.

“Who are you?” the girl gently asked with her six-pointed star staff being held forward using her two hands. The girl was speaking a language that was not prominent in Hallyu.

Having an idea who the girl might be, X1 introduced themselves in the girl’s language, “Fly high, X1! Hello, we are X1!”

“X1-san? Like the fourth rulers of the Kingdom of Hallyu?” the girl questioned.

“Yes,” Eunsang had to use his Photokinesis to better illuminate the immediate area.

“Hoeh! I’m sorry for acting aggressively,” she visibly relaxed. “I am Kinomoto Sakura. Nice to meet you.”

“The pleasure is all ours. We are honored to be personally meeting one of the Four Founders of the Arcanus Alliance,” Seungwoo did not hesitate to return the compliment.

“I don’t want to sound rude but may I ask why are you here?” Sakura asked.

“Unfortunately, we are here to meet you due to an emergency,” Wooseok stated.

“An emergency?” Sakura noticeably flinched. “If you want, we could talk about it at my house.”

“That would be fantastic. Thank you very much.”

They were about to go when a group of five people teleported in a light yellow tornado.

“Sakura-sama,” the five bowed to Kinomoto Sakura.

“Oh, you guys are here. Allow me to introduce the group Typhoon. They are a magical squad I formed based on the magical squads of Hallyu to help me in this world. This is their leader, Ohno Satoshi, and his members, Sakurai Sho, Aiba Masaki, Ninomiya Kazunari, and Matsumoto Jun,” Sakura sounded excited. “Typhoon, this is X1, the fourth rulers of Hallyu.”

“Nice to meet you,” the two groups exchanged.

“What brings the whole group here? Any problem?” Sakura asked Ohno.

“We detected two unidentified presences to have entered into our world,” Ohno reported.

“Are you sure you did not detect X1’s arrival? That’s the reason I rushed here since I thought someone infiltrated us from an alternate world,” Sakura mentioned.

“No, it was not them. The two unidentified presences came minutes after we detected X1-san’s arrival,” Sakurai disagreed.

“We’re pretty sure it’s not them,” Aiba seconded.

“That’s mysterious. Who could that be?” Sakura pouted as she pondered.

The answers to the question revealed themselves right there and then.

“Who would have thought we would find you here,” a menacing voice reached their ears.

“I guess we can finish you here,” the other one cackled.

Junho hissed, “It’s Synesthesia and Spectrum.”

Without any warning, Synesthesia released a huge burst of Telekinetic energy. Both Sakurai and Hyeongjun raised their force field to defend their side from the attack. In response, Ohno fired a beam of concentrated electricity and Ninomiya threw air blades as Matsumoto and Wooseok augmented everyone’s powers. Synesthesia was able to dodge as she already read both of their minds. In turn, Synesthesia made everything spin which disoriented Typhoon. Seungwoo sent out darkness to cancel the illusion created by Synesthesia. Matsumoto tried to create a crevice under Synesthesia using his Geokinesis but the target simply relocated to another side.

“It’s no use trying to attack me. I can feel your emotions, read your thoughts, foresee your actions, and detect every little thing you attempt,” Synesthesia claimed, proud of her Empathy, Telepathy, Premonitions, and Enhanced Senses.

The battle continued with Spectrum firing laser bolts and light darts simultaneously. Some of the projectiles were being redirected by Ninomiya via the remote advancement of his teleportation while the rest were countered by a barrage of leaves controlled by Aiba. Ohno conjured a water spout to trap Spectrum and it was immediately frozen by Junho. While Spectrum was frozen, Yohan shot a huge stream of blue fire at Synesthesia. The fire was deviated by Synesthesia to thaw out Spectrum. Spectrum wasted no time and changed the weather, causing it to hail.

“Melt all the hail, Fiery!” Sakura activated her card. “Pour down upon the battlefield, Rain!”

A winged fire spirit emerged from the first card and eliminated the hail; shortly after, a child-like entity took over the sky and made it rain. Taking advantage, Dohyon manipulated the rainwater to trap Synesthesia in a water bubble. Junho froze some raindrops into icicle spears and launched them at Spectrum. Synesthesia simply used her Advanced Telekinesis to escape the water bubble while Spectrum countered the icicle spears using his light darts. Without missing a beat, Spectrum released a strong vortex of air from his mouth, shot a beam of light from his right hand, and bolts of electricity from his left. Seungyoun dispersed the air vortex using his Aerokinesis; Eunsang negated the beam of light with his own beam of light; while Minhee took care of the bolts of lightning with his Electrokinesis. Meanwhile, the large boulders Hangyul threw in Synesthesia’s direction exploded after Synesthesia used her Telekinesis on them.

With the battle not favoring one side over the other, Sakura walked to the frontline.

“Sakura-sama!” Typhoon was worried.

“Envelop them in your protection, Shield!” Sakura activated another card using her staff. A force field was seen to form around Typhoon and X1.

“Luxuriate and restrain the opponents, Wood!” another card was activated. This time, vines suddenly grew and wrapped around Spectrum and Synesthesia.

With a bit of struggle, Spectrum and Synesthesia were able to free themselves from the vines. Spectrum fired a beam of light and Synesthesia released a wave of Telekinetic energy to Sakura.

“Reflect everything you touch, Mirror!” a huge mirror appeared in front of Sakura. The mirror was able to deflect the attacks back to their owners.

While Spectrum and Synesthesia were busy dealing with their own attack, Sakura activated another card, “Rain down on the opponents, Arrow!

Hundreds of arrows fell on the side of the Novus Red Force. Spectrum and Synesthesia weren’t able to dodge everything due to the sheer number.

With Spectrum and Synesthesia distracted, Sakura thought it was time to deal the deciding blow, “Heed my call and help me cut down evil, Sword!”

Sakura’s staff turned into a rapier. In just one stroke, even from a considerable distance, Sakura caused brutal lacerations on Spectrum’s and Synesthesia’s bodies. Heavily injured, Spectrum and Synesthesia retreated.

The battle left both X1 and Typhoon stunned. Kinomoto Sakura was able to singlehandedly face two enemies which the two groups had trouble dealing with while still keeping both groups safe inside a protective bubble.

“As expected from one of the Four Founders of the Arcanus Alliance…” Wooseok was in a daze.

“Records do say she is as powerful as the Golden Age Supreme Six,” Seungwoo whispered.

“We… still have a long way to go,” Yohan muttered.

After the battle, Sakura dusted herself, deactivated Shield, shrank her magic staff back to key form, and faced X1 and Typhoon as if nothing happened.

“Now, shall we go to my house and talk about the emergency?” Sakura said with a shy smile.

Chapter Text

It took them a while but Kinomoto Sakura, Typhoon, and X1 were able to teleport their way back to the Kinomoto residence’s front porch.

“Please come in,” Sakura opened the front door.

“Are you sure we are not intruding?” Dohyon was reluctant.

“Nonsense. You are important visitors,” Sakura insisted.

Now, there were seventeen people in the connected kitchen and dining and the adjacent living room of the Kinomoto house.  Ever generous and polite, Sakura offered them biscuits, cookies, and cake.

“Please help yourselves. My father baked the cake while I baked the biscuits and cookies,” Sakura shyly offered.

“By the way, Sakura-sama, where is Kero-sama, and your father and brother?” Ohno asked.

“Kero-chan is staying with Tomoyo-chan tonight since Tomoyo wants to update her measurements of Kero for his costumes,” Sakura supplied. “My father is joining an archaeological convention while my brother is on his part-time job with Yukito-san.”

“I see. You may proceed with your discussions now,” Ohno and his group settled themselves around the dining table.

“Yes, speaking of discussions, I still need to hear from you what is the reason why you’re here,” Sakura turned to X1.

Seungwoo nodded, “Well, the reason why we’re here is because Hallyu is on the brink of extinction.”

Sakura and Typhoon jolted with Seungwoo’s statement, “Hoeh! Why? What happened? Didn’t you host the recent Arcanus Alliance Convention? When did this start?”

“A month has passed in our world since we hosted the Arcanus Alliance Convention when the Kingdom was attacked out of nowhere. We were being invaded by the Novus Red Force,” Yohan told Sakura.

“Novus Red Force?” Sakura was sporting a look of concern. “Did the two creatures we fought earlier relate to them?”

“Yes. Those are Synesthesia and Spectrum, two of the nine members of the Novus Red Force led by Origin,” Wooseok mentioned.

“What’s the situation there in your kingdom?”

“Unfortunately, most of the kingdom is in ruins and casualties are rising by the day. In fact, most members of the Entente Cordiale are severely injured and unable to fight. Only the Supreme Six and Twilight Triad are left to defend the kingdom,” Hyeongjun’s tone was somber.

“Goodness. I cannot believe this has happened. I don’t want to imagine the destruction inflicted on your kingdom,” Sakura had tears in her eyes.

“Thus, we are here to ask for your assistance,” Seungyoun told Sakura directly.

“What assistance could I offer?” Sakura was determined.

“Actually, in a last-ditch effort, the Supreme Six and Twilight Triad scattered across the alternate worlds to visit the Premier Ten for assistance,” Dongpyo said.

“You want the Premier Ten to mobilize and help you stop the invasion in your kingdom?” Sakura wanted to clarify.

“Not yet for the meantime,” Hangyul shook his head. “We are here for a completely different reason.”

“I’m all ears,” Sakura waited for what X1 needed.

“We are here to retrieve the magical artifact that Hallyu entrusted to you as a member of the Premier Ten,” Seungwoo stated.

“I see,” Sakura nodded in understanding. “Well, I was really hoping this day wouldn’t come.”

“What magical artifact are they talking about, Sakura-sama?” Sakurai questioned.

“Well, everyone here might know that Hallyu was the one who proposed the creation of the Arcanus Alliance. The first Arcanus Alliance Convention happened just right after the invasion of the Source of All Evil was put under control. The Four Founders, including myself, were personally there to help during the climax of the invasion,” Sakura recalled. “Just months after the first convention, the second rulers of Hallyu called for me, Lucy-san, Piper-san, Phoebe-san, and Paige-san to have an emergency meeting. They proposed to add more members to the alliance.”

“And so, what happens next?” Aiba was curious.

“With our approval, they invited their prospects to join the alliance. Truth be told, the Premier Ten that you now know only came together during the second Arcanus Alliance Convention,” Sakura narrated. “It was during this second convention that the second rulers of Hallyu entrusted each of us two things — a full set of your magical codices and the magical artifact.”

“Why entrust them to you?” Ninomiya inquired.

“First and foremost, the second rulers of Hallyu contracted me, Lucy-san, Piper-san, Phoebe-san, and Paige-san to create these artifacts, dubbed as Glinters or Lightsticks, for the magical squads of Hallyu to 'preserve' their legacies,” Sakura elaborated. “At first, we only created ten of the artifacts before creating the rest in the years that followed or in the instance that Hallyu was hosting the convention. We should have made them this year but since I wasn’t able to attend, that did not happen.”

“If anything, Hallyu and Carat Kingdom were the only present Premier Ten members during the last convention,” Dohyon reassured Sakura.

“Why are these artifacts important?” Matsumoto probed.

“So, as I said earlier, we only made ten the first time we attempted making it. The first ten artifacts were entrusted to each member of the Premier Ten with a specific instruction,” Sakura remembered. “According to the second rulers of Hallyu, if the time comes when Hallyu faces a great threat, someone will be sent in to retrieve the artifacts from us. Thus, fast forward to the present, somebody was indeed sent to retrieve the artifact as Hallyu faces a great threat.”

Typhoon finally understood the gravity of the situation as well as the significance of X1’s presence and the artifact.

“I still can’t believe it has come to pass,” Sakura stood up. “The second rulers of Hallyu have always had this impeccable foresight.”

“They truly live up to their prophecy as the most powerful rulers Hallyu will ever see,” Junho agreed to Sakura’s statement.

“Follow me to the Glinter,” Sakura told them.

X1 and Typhoon followed Sakura to the house’s basement. The basement was Sakura’s father’s library, thus containing many books. In the innermost corner away from the entrance sat a study desk. On the desk were the complete set of the second edition Light and a small, rectangular, velvet box.

Sakura took the velvet box, “Your Glinter is here.”

X1 was expectant to see a familiar object being pulled out from the box; instead, she pulled out a card with a clear background on both sides but displayed different images on the front and back. The said card had a frame with a moon on the left and the sun on the right, with a seven-pointed star with smaller five-pointed stars on each tip at the top, and a magic circle at the back.

“I don’t want to jump ahead of everyone here but, Honorable Sakura, that is a card… presumably your own card,” Minhee pointed out.

“You’re not mistaken about that,” Sakura assured.

“But we are looking for the Glinter, not your card,” Eunsang did not understand the situation.

“But this is the Glinter you are looking for, the Nablebong,” Sakura flipped the card around, and true enough, the image of the card depicted the familiar shape of a Glinter with the word “Nablebong” written on the ribbon below the card. “I transformed your Glinter into a card for safety purposes. That way, only I can restore it to its original form if necessary.”

“Do we get the card or…” Hangyul trailed off.

“Of course not. I will return the Glinter to its natural form right now,” Sakura shook her head. “You might take a few steps away from me.”

As per instructions, X1 and Typhoon took several steps to give Sakura clearance. Sakura took off her key necklace and held it in front of her.

"Key which hides the forces of dreams, reveal your true form before me. Release!" the necklace Sakura was holding turned into her magical wand with a six-pointed star.

“Return to the form that you were meant to be in!” Sakura threw the card in the air and pointed her wand at it. The card spins for a few seconds before transforming into the lightstick it once depicted.

The glowing Glinter slowly landed on Sakura’s hand.

“X1, fourth rulers of Hallyu, I give you the Nablebong,” Sakura handed the Glinter over to X1.

“We are truly grateful for this,” Seungwoo received the Glinter and passed it over to Wooseok. “This will surely be helpful.”

“I must inform you that along with entrusting us with those artifacts, an agreement was also made,” Sakura mentioned.

“What does the agreement entail?” Yohan asked.

“The Glinters must be returned to their respective guardians after use,” Sakura informed X1.

“Certainly. We will return this as soon as we are successful in dealing with Novus Red Force,” Wooseok assured.

“As much as we want to stay, we have to return to Hallyu with this artifact as soon as possible,” Seungyoun politely excused his group. “Thank you for your help, Honorable Kinomoto Sakura, and also to Typhoon.”

“Before you go, do tell me how are you going to use those Glinters,” Sakura was curious.

“We are going to use them to summon their respective owners,” Eunsang replied.

“I see. Knowing who owns the one you are holding is very reassuring,” Sakura’s expression brightened. “Everything will definitely be alright.”

With that, X1 left the Kinomoto house in a Galaxy Blue tornado.

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X1 triumphantly returned to Hallyu with an all-important Glinter in their hands. They proudly approached the two Kingdom Seers immediately after arrival.

“Daepyonim, this is the Nablebong,” X1 gave the Glinter to the spell casters.

“Good work, X1. Now stand back as we start the spell,” Dongwook said.

We call upon the Hallyu Crest

Whose essence in this Glinter rests

Reaching back through time and space

We summon them face to face

The spell caused a magic circle to appear. It also made sparks fly upward and burst like fireworks. Smoke also engulfed the field where the spell was cast. Most importantly, eleven silhouettes stood in front of the two Kingdom Seers and X1.

“Destined to be able to achieve things together, they led the Kingdom into its Golden Age. The legendary second generation of Chosen, Wanna One!”

Chapter Text

“Destined to be able to achieve things together, they led the Kingdom into its Golden Age. The legendary second generation of Chosen, Wanna One!”

When the smoke cleared out, the eleven silhouettes really turned out to be the second rulers of Hallyu, Wanna One.

“Uhm… hello? Where are we?” Daniel asked X1 and the two Kingdom Seers with his confused puppy smile.

Snapping themselves from being starstruck, X1 hurriedly greeted, “Fly High, X1! We are X1, the fourth generation of Chosen.”

“Welcome to future Hallyu, Honorable Wanna One. I am Lee Seunggi, the third Kingdom Seer,” Seunggi greeted.

“And I am Lee Dongwook, the fourth Kingdom Seer,” Dongwook bowed.

“We are in the future? Oh, wow. Now, I’ve seen everything,” Seongwu looked around.

“If you don’t mind, why are we here?” Jisung asked.

“We summoned you along with the others to help with our predicament,” Seungwoo politely answered.

“With the others?” Minhyun noticed.

“Yes, with the other members of the Ten Crests,” Wooseok clarified.

“Ten Crests?” Jihoon looked confused.

“In the meantime, X1, take them to the Entente Cordiale building to reunite with them the rest,” Seunggi instructed.

“Certainly, daepyonim,” X1 obliged. “Wanna One-nim, please come with us.”

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X1 led Wanna One to the meeting place of the Entente Cordiale. Once there, X1 was reunited with their fellow members of the Bicameral Chambers. On the other hand, Wanna One discovered that X-O, Bulletproof Scouts, SVT, Two-Times, Plackbink, Velvety Red, Mommymoo, and Geefreend were also there; and if their capelets were any indication, they were from the same era.

“Oh, Wanna One is also here,” S.Coups was the first to notice Wanna One’s arrival.

Not shortly after, the two Kingdom Seers were also present in the hall.

“Good afternoon, Ten Crests of Hallyu. I know this is too confusing for your part but we will explain that shortly. First, let us introduce to you the members of the Sixty-fifth Bicameral Chambers,” Dongwook started.

“Plus Everything! Hello, we are Pone Harmony, a member of the Supreme Six.”

“One, two, connect! Hello, we are Endash, a member of the Supreme Six.”

“Dive into Ivy! Hello, we are Ivy, a member of the Supreme Six.”

“It's We! Hello, we are Temp Fist, a member of the Supreme Six.”

“I’m fearless! Hello, we are The Seraphim, a member of the Supreme Six.”

“Attention! Hello, we are Jeansnew, a member of the Supreme Six.”

“Eyes on me! Hello, we are IZ*ONE, a member of the Twilight Triad and the third generation of Chosen.”

“Fly high, X1! Hello, we are X1, a member of the Twilight Triad and the fourth generation of Chosen.”

“Be my æ! Hello, we are Ace Spa, a member of the Twilight Triad.”

“Oh? Two generations of Chosen ruling concurrently?” RM and the rest were surprised.

“Yes. Even we don’t understand what the Ancient Beings of Lake Tenm are thinking,” Seunggi mentioned. “But I think it’s better this way, given the current situation.”

“Well, I guess we need to introduce ourselves too,” Junmyeon looked around.

“All I wanna do, Wanna One! Hello, we are Wanna One!”

“Bang! Tan! We are the Bulletproof Scouts!”

“We are one! It’s X-O.”

“Say the name… SVT! Hello, we are SVT!”

“One in a Million! Hi, it’s Two-Times.”

“Plackbink in your area!”

“Happiness! We are Velvety Red! Hello, everyone!”

“I say Mommy~ Mommymoo! Mommymoo here.”

“Hello, we are Geefreend.”

“Now that the introductions are out of the way, can you please explain why you summoned us to the future?” Jaehwan questioned.

“Well, to be honest, Hallyu is being invaded and is on the brink of destruction,” Eunbi confessed.

“What?” the Ten Crests exclaimed.

“The invaders call themselves the Novus Red Force. They already injured most members of the Entente Cordiale and we are the only magical squads left to fight,” Yohan sadly said.

“As a last resort, we decided to summon the Ten Crests of Hallyu to help us with the invasion,” Wonyoung stated.

“I see,” Jihyo nodded. “That is the reason why everybody is here.”

“Not everybody…” Dongwook said.

“As stated earlier, we wanted to summon the Ten Crests of Hallyu who are the ten strongest magical squads in the kingdom’s history,” Seunggi elaborated. “But as you can see, there are only nine of you.”

“Daepyonim, which group is missing?” Seungyoun asked.

“The final puzzle piece of the Ten Crests, the group that is strong as units but stronger as a whole. The icon of expanding horizons, In-City,” Dongwook revealed.

“So, the nine of us plus In-City are the Ten Crests of Hallyu?” Xiumin clarified. “So, why didn’t you summon In-City?”

“It seems that we cannot find the requirement to summon In-City. When we consulted Light, there was no mention of where it might be hidden except the three dots at the bottom of the page,” Seunggi told everyone.

“Three dots? You mean an ellipsis?” Woozi figured something out. Wanna One flinched at the mention of “ellipsis”.

“Perhaps. We still couldn’t figure out what that means,” Dongwook sounded discouraged.

“Maybe we could figure it out? How about we’ll go take a look at Light?” Minhyun volunteered on behalf of his group.

“But—” Seunggi was cut off.

“No worries. We know where to look, thanks to your memories,” Sungwoon said.

Before anyone could move, Wanna One left via their signature teleportation method.

“Gosh. I still could not believe we got to see Sparkling in person,” Theo whispered to Keeho.

“Their teleportation is gorgeous,” Jungwon leaned on Jay’s shoulders.

“Ok, we get it that you summoned us to help you defeat the enemies, but what makes you think we can handle them when you cannot even handle them by yourselves? You are the strongest groups in this generation,” Jennie made her point.

“It’s because of one statement their leader, Origin, made,” Sakura replied. “He said that even he wouldn’t dare attack Hallyu if it was the Golden Age.”

“And if haven’t figured it out yet, the strongest magical squads during Hallyu’s Golden Age are the Ten Crests,” Wooseok clarified. “By logical reasoning, it makes sense if only the Ten Crests are capable of defeating the Novus Red Force.”

“By the way, it’s a little too late to ask, but when exactly did you come from?” Dohyon inquired.

“Before you summoned us?” Irene tilted her head. “We were just having the Seventeenth Entente Cordiale meeting when this Source of All Evil suddenly arrived. The next thing we know is that we are already here.”

The two Kingdom Seers and Bicameral Chambers looked at each other in realization.

“What? What is it?” Umji saw their expressions.

“That might be a reason why we must not summon In-City,” Dongwook muttered.

“Why?”

“This is already too much information to give you but, in the History of the Kingdom, In-City earned the title as one of the Ten Crests during the invasion of the Source of All Evil. According to records, the Seventeenth Supreme Six and Twilight Triad went missing in action during the invasion and the remaining groups tried to fill up the void of your sudden disappearance to suppress the invasion,” Seunggi narrated.

“So, you’re telling us that while we are here, helping you with your invasion, the kingdom in our time is also being invaded?” Suga could not believe what he just heard.

“But rest assured, In-City will lead the defense, the Source of All Evil will be defeated, and Hallyu will be safe and sound. Our existence should assure you of that,” Dongwook tried to calm everyone down.

“That is also the main reason why we cannot summon In-City here. Since they are the ones who will be defending Hallyu from the Source of All Evil. Summoning them toward this period would alter the course of history,” Seunggi concluded.

“Ok fine, we get it. So, how do we get rid of this Novus Red Force?” Hwasa sounded a bit irritated.

“Do you have any information about them that could help us when facing them?” Hoshi gently asked the sixty-fifth Bicameral Chambers.

“Yes. Yes, we do actually,” Eunbi claimed.

Chapter Text

“Do you have any information about them that could help us when facing them?” Hoshi gently asked the sixty-fifth Bicameral Chambers.

“Yes. Yes, we do actually,” Eunbi claimed.

“Please settle yourselves in any of the tables as we are going to use the monitors to explain the Novus Red Force to you,” Hyewon told the members of the Seventeenth Bicameral Chambers.

“Shouldn’t Wanna One-seonbaenim be here to listen to this also?” Junho was concerned.

“Oh, don’t mind them. Chances are they’re just going to extract the information from our minds,” Jeonghan dismissed.

“If they haven’t done it already,” Joshua giggled.

And so, except for IZ*ONE, the sixteen magical squads found themselves a seat. IZ*ONE will be at the front, using the main controls for the computer monitors.

“According to the information we gathered through the Arcanus Alliance—” Yuri started but was cut off.

“Wait… Arcanus Alliance? It actually is successful?” Sowon interjected.

“Yes, Sowon-nim. The Arcanus Alliance is now an integral part of the Kingdom,” Minhee confirmed. He was met with slow nods from the people of the past.

“So, going back, the Arcanus Alliance was vital in providing us crucial information regarding the Novus Red Force,” Yuri managed to finish the opening statement.

“And now, we will present to you our findings,” Yena prompted.

The monitors in front of each group lit up and displayed the information presented by IZ*ONE.

“So, the real identity of Origin, the leader of the Novus Red Force, is Akuyaku Tensai. He is a doctorate holder in Biotechnology and Bioengineering and a professor in the elite school known for housing the most brilliant minds,” Nako was the first one to speak. “When his unethical research of creating genetically enhanced army was discovered, he was removed from the school’s faculty. As revenge, he stole information from the Arcanus Alliance member there and learned about the existence of the Alliance.”

“He used this knowledge to build his genetically enhanced army we now know as the Novus Red Force,” Hitomi revealed.

“To summarize, the Novus Red Force are skilled mafiosi with vampiric blood infused with demonic essences created through advanced technology,” Minjoo elaborated. “Oh, and Origin also split his soul into nine and placed one part of his soul in each of the Novus Red Force members.”

“What the Honorable Piper Halliwell speculated turned out to be right,” Ivy whispered amongst themselves.

“Honorable Minerva McGonagall was spot-on,” Pone Harmony discussed among their members.

“The intuition of Honorable Sawada Tsunayoshi was accurate,” The Seraphim mumbled.

“The Honorable Guardian Legends were correct,” Ace Spa was in disbelief.

“That sounds complicated,” Lisa commented.

“However, this configuration also gave each member a unique special weakness,” Chaeyeon added.

“Unique special weakness?” Jimin blurted out.

“Now, if you take a look at your screens, we will go through their powers and weaknesses one by one,” Hyewon told the audience.

The display on the screen changed at the push of a button.

“The first member will discuss is Synesthesia. Synesthesia’s powers include Advanced Telekinesis, Hallucikinesis, Empathy, Telepathy, Premonition, and Enhanced Senses. This makes her the member with the sharpest senses and capable of deceiving the senses of others,” Yuri said. “Be that as it may, her weakness is a strong attack that overloads or disorients her senses.”

“Next is Spectrum. Spectrum has Photokinesis, Atmokinesis, Light Darts, and Laser Bolts,” Yena clicked to show the next member. “His weakness lies in his name. Spectrum is literally afraid of the full spectrum of light. In short, he will die if a powerful beam of a rainbow hits him.”

“Let’s go to Speedbump. He has Geokinesis, Sonokinesis, and Hyper Speed,” Nako reported. “To vanquish Speedbump, you must restrain him and stop him from moving or running around freely.”

“Frigid is the member with Aerokinesis, Hydrokinesis, Cryokinesis, and Atmokinesis,” Eunbi uttered from memory. “Just like her name suggests, Frigid is weak to extreme cold.”

“The next member is Ubiquitous. She wields Aerokinesis, Atmokinesis, Energy Waves, and Particle Swarm,” Hyewon read her notes. “Her large area of effect powers is to protect her since Ubiquitous is vulnerable to omnidirectional attacks.”

“We will talk about Frazzle next. Frazzle possesses Advanced Electrokinesis with access to Energy Balls. He also has Energy Beam, Energy Blast, Energy Sparks, and Energy Waves,” Hitomi added. “Frazzle, just as his name suggests, could be vanquished if he is drained of his magical energy.”

“Now for Torrid,” Minjoo clicked a button to show the next information. “He has Advanced Pyrogenism with access to Fireballs plus Thermal Balls, Plasma Balls, and Optical Firebolts. Ironically, Torrid possesses Fire-based powers to cover the fact that he is weak to extremely high heat. Any powerful attack that has high temperature will vanquish Torrid.”

“Ego holds Gyrokinesis, Thought Projection, Conjuration, and Cloning. His sneaky manipulation of gravity makes him a cunning opponent,” Hyewon stated. “However, Ego is too full of himself that to defeat him, you must hit him with a similar power to any of the powers he possesses or deflect his powers right back at him.”

“Finally, their leader is Akuyaku Tensai or Origin. He possesses the same powers as all of X-O seonbaenim,” Eunbi dropped the bombshell. X-O was taken aback by the information. “As we have mentioned earlier, a part of his soul is contained in the other members of the Novus Red Force. This makes him invincible as long as they are alive. But once his army is taken care of, you can eliminate Origin with one strong attack.”

“So those are our information regarding the Novus Red Force,” IZ*ONE concluded the discussion.

There was a short break to allow IZ*ONE to drink water for their parched throats.

“Now that we have vital information about the enemies, we must strategize to end this invasion once and for all in their next attack,” Yohan addressed everyone.

“But the problem is… no one in the Sixty-fifth Bicameral Chambers could do anything with their weakness. Even our X-Con techniques do not satisfy the conditions to vanquish the Novus Red Force.”

“No need to worry further. That is the reason why you summoned us, right?” Kris was confident. “We’ll give Frazzle an exhausting battle.”

“If Spectrum is afraid of a little rainbow, we will show him our true colors in battle,” S.Coups claimed.

“Leave Torrid to us. We’ll see how well can he handle the heat of the battle,” RM said.

“We will show Ubiquitous the reason why Two-Times is an all-around group,” Jihyo smiled.

“Frigid will be having the chills facing us,” Jennie chose their target.

“We’ll stop Speedbump from his tracks,” Irene announced.

“Ego will have a taste of his own medicine,” Solar giggled.

“My group will be knocking some sense into Synesthesia,” Sowon took the last member.

“Very well. Since it has already been decided, the members of the Sixty-fifth Supreme Six and Twilight Triad will be assisting you in your battles,” Dongwook concluded.

Not long after they formed their strategy, a familiar low rumbling sound could be heard from outside.

“What is that noise?” Nayeon looked around.

“It’s coming from the force field we established around Swing Province,” Seunggi recognized the sound.

“And why is it rumbling?” Joy questioned.

“Someone is trying to break through the force field,” Dongwook explained it simply.

“Does that mean…” SinB and the rest came to a realization.

They all exited the Entente Cordiale Building just in time for them to see the force field shatter with a sound similar to breaking glass. Shortly after, nine beings appeared just meters from them.

“The Novus Red Force,” Yohan and Wonyoung simultaneously muttered.

Chapter Text

Wanna One arrived at the location where Light was located according to the memories they hacked out of someone’s brain.

“Ellipsis? That was not referring to our secret ‘Ellipsis Estate’, was it?” Jisung said as soon as they materialized.

“We’ll never know unless we find out,” Sungwoon replied.

“Hall of History?” Daehwi read the name of the building.

“I guess Light is still here after all these years,” Kuanlin shrugged.

Kuanlin and the rest entered the familiar building. Once inside, they found four separate rooms: Hallyu’s History, The Bicameral Chambers, The Kingdom Seer, and The Chosen Rulers.

With no hesitation, Wanna One visited the Bicameral Chambers’ room first. Inside the room dedicated to the Bicameral Chambers, Wanna One saw sixty-seven portraits depicting the members of the Bicameral Chambers each year.

“So, these are the members of the Supreme Six and Twilight Triad since the very beginning,” Woojin was amazed at the gallery.

“Interim Seventeenth Supreme Six and Twilight Triad?” Jinyoung noticed a portrait next to the Seventeenth Generation.

“Maybe they are the ones who took over our duties while we are here in the future,” Jihoon deduced.

“But why are there two portraits of the Eighteenth Supreme Six and Twilight Triad?” Daniel noticed the two portraits on a conjoined frame for the Eighteenth Bicameral Chambers.

“That’s interesting… Why are there two? Is there any difference between the portraits?” Seongwu asked no one in particular.

“In the top portrait, we are in the picture. But in the bottom portrait, we are replaced by In-City,” Sungwoon found the difference.

“Really?” Minhyun stepped forward to touch the portrait when his power activated.

⸞⸟⸞⸟⸞⸟⸞⸟⸞⸟⸞⸟⸞⸟⸞⸟⸞⸟⸞⸟⸞⸟⸞⸟⸞

Minhyun did not expect to receive a premonition; let alone an Astral Premonition. An Astral Premonition is an advancement of his power where the user projects their consciousness into a future or past event, allowing the user to experience a premonition with all of their five senses first-hand either through the body of their past or future self or as an outside observer.

In this premonition, Minhyun found himself standing in the middle of the Entente Cordiale Hall filled with the Kingdom’s magical squads. He also found Wanna One, including his other self, seated in the middle of empty seats.

“Finally, completing the Eighteenth Supreme Six roster is…” a voice was heard by Minhyun. “…none other than our very own kingdom rulers, Wanna One!”

The hall erupted in thunderous applause with the announcement. Minhyun watched as Wanna One made their way to the front of the Hall.

“All I wanna do, Wanna One! Hello, we are Wanna One!” Jisung, along with the team, chanted. “Thank you for making us part of the Supreme Six once again. However, we are sorry to say that we cannot accept the title anymore…”

The crowd turned into a sea of hushed murmurs with Jisung’s statement.

“…because, tonight, we are officially retiring.”

The statement stunned everyone in the hall in the premonition, including Minhyun.

“As Jisung-hyung said, we are retiring,” Minhyun heard Kuanlin repeat the statement. “By midnight tonight, we, Wanna One, will already have stepped down as Hallyu’s Second Generation of Chosen.”

“In line with our imminent retirement, we will enact these final sets of proclamations that we like to put into effect this instant,” Jihoon spoke amidst the buzzing background noise. “With our retirement, one spot in the Eighteenth Supreme Six will be empty. According to the convention, our position will be filled up by SVT. Thus, we would like to personally welcome SVT into the Eighteenth Supreme Six.”

“Furthermore, with SVT’s transfer to the Supreme Six, one spot in the Twilight Triad will be open. Following the same conventions, we would to congratulate In-City on becoming a member of the Eighteenth Twilight Triad,” Jinyoung stated.

After Wanna One announced their retirement, they teleported out one by one. This also brought Minhyun to a different location. This time, he saw his group standing in the Bicameral Chambers Room in the Hall of History.

Daniel conjured two portraits in a conjoined frame — the very same object Minhyun touched to receive this premonition — and hung it on the wall right next to the Interim Seventeenth Supreme Six and Twilight Triad

“Do we really need to do this?” Jaehwan’s voice asked.

“We need to. Or else they will not be able to follow the Black Ocean Protocol in Light to find our missing Glinters,” Daniel’s voice replied.

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Minhyun gasped when he snapped out of his premonition; the others were just waiting for him albeit with a worried look on their faces.

“What did you see?” Jaehwan asked Minhyun.

“It will be faster if I show you,” Minhyun, through their Wannabond phenomenon, used Telepathy to project what he saw in his premonition to the rest of Wanna One.

“I see,” Jisung let out a large exhale. “Our time is almost up.”

⸞⸟⸞⸟⸞⸟⸞⸟⸞⸟⸞⸟⸞⸟⸞⸟⸞⸟⸞⸟⸞⸟⸞⸟⸞

The premonition dampened the mood of Wanna One. Nevertheless, they continued with their unrestrained wandering around the Hall of History. The next room they visited was The Chosen Rulers room. There was not much inside, considering only four generations of Chosen had been selected so far. Other than the four large portraits on the wall, there were also some items displayed there behind glass cases. For I.O.I., there were their honorary Chosen capelets on display. For Wanna One, in addition to the Produce 101 guidebook and Wanna Travel Magazine which they used during the search and gathering of the Chosen, a replica of their Chosen and Supreme Six capelets, and six cassette tapes of different designs were also on display.

“We are familiar with most of these artifacts,” Daniel mentioned. “But I wondered what those tapes are.”

“Only one way to find out,” Kuanlin opened his palm. “Cassette tape.”

Using his Remote Sparkling, Kuanlin teleported one of the tapes to his hand.

“Kuanlin! That’s stealing,” Minhyun reprimanded the youngest.

“Technically, it’s not. This artifact is ours to begin with,” Kuanlin reasoned.

“He has a point,” Daehwi seconded.

“But still, you can’t just do anything you want,” Seongwu countered.

“Technically, we can. After all…” Kuanlin glanced at Daehwi and nodded. “… it’s all I wanna do, Wanna One!”

When Kuanlin and Daehwi chanted their greeting slogan, the tape glowed and floated. Once mid-air, the tape floated and released a burst of light; it contained scenes from the day of the “Burn It Up” (when BoA conducted the selection ritual and X-O tried to ambush them albeit unsuccessfully) up to their inauguration immediately after the Fandom War. After showing them the flashback, the tapes stopped and gently fell back into Kuanlin’s palm.

“The tape contains our history,” Jihoon muttered.

“Let’s check what’s in store on the other tapes,” Woojin suggested.

One by one, Kuanlin teleported the tapes to his palm; and every time they chanted their greeting slogan, the tape would flash a different scene before their eyes. The second tape showed them the whole 18 years of their reign until their retirement. The third tape contained their memories of how they established the Arcanus Alliance and created the “Black Ocean Protocol” starting from creating the first ten Glinters until entrusting the Glinters to the Premier Ten including where In-City’s Glinter is hidden. In the fourth tape were the events during the Source of All Evil’s invasion starting from the disappearance of the Seventeenth Bicameral Chambers until their return from the future. The fifth tape stored select memories regarding their travels across the alternate universes. The sixth and final tape contained something Wanna One never knew existed: their seventh X-Con technique, its effects, and when they used it.

“It looks like we have a mission to accomplish once we return to our time,” Daniel giggled.

“So much to do, so little time left,” Jihoon chuckled.

“We cannot risk altering the course of history,” Daehwi offered his opinion. “We must fulfill our destiny.”

“Our future selves are wild. Or should I say we are wild? Either way, we truly did all we wanted to do,” Jaehwan rubbed his temples.

“As the natural chronokinetic, I must say we really did shape the flow of the timeline,” Seongwu shook his head. “We messed time up in a good way.”

While they were talking around the Hall of History, they heard a low rumbling sound resonating through the air.

“What’s that sound?” Daehwi looked around.

“It sounds like one object crashing into another with great force,” Jinyoung described the sound.

Seconds later, a sound similar to glass shattering replaced the low rumbling noise. Wanna One immediately sensed strong, malevolent auras not too far from where they were.

“The Novus Red Force is here.”

Chapter Text

“The Novus Red Force,” Yohan and Wonyoung simultaneously muttered.

Without any hesitation, all members of the Novus Red Force unleashed their respective powers toward the magical squads. Jin, D.O., Hyewon, and Hyeongjun put their force fields together to defend the attack. However, before the attacks could even reach them, a burst of energy nullified the offense fired by the Novus Red Force.

“They’re here,” Junmyeon smiled, knowing who was responsible for what just happened.

Daniel, Woojin, and Jaehwan immediately activated their X-Con technique nonverbally as soon as Wanna One arrived on the scene.

“They easily… canceled those attacks… like it was nothing,” Ningning uttered.

“The second generation of Chosen? Why are they here?” Origin was alarmed.

“X-Con: Chilli!”

“X-Con: Moonwalker!”

“Two X-Cons at the same time?” Gaeul could not believe what she was witnessing.

In retaliation, SVT’s Hiphop and Performance Unit countered with their own attacks. Chilli released a fire tornado that scattered sleep powder onto the battlefield while Moonwalker released a big glowing ball of ice with rings. To counter, Ego simply stretched his hand forward, using immense gravity to eliminate the tornado and the ball of ice.

“That Gyrokinesis is indeed tricky,” S.Coups mumbled.

“And powerful enough to counter two X-Con techniques simultaneously,” Hoshi scowled.

“The rest of the Ten Crests are also here?” Origin was getting more troubled. “Everyone, attack!”

Once more, another joint attack was unleashed by all of the Novus Red Force. This time, it was another group that countered.

“Shall we show them what the real Exoplanet looks like?” Xiumin looked at Luhan, Kris, and Tao. The three simply nodded their heads.

“Goodness. It’s happening,” Daehwi’s eyes sparkled. “I finally get to see the original Exoplanet.”

“X-Con: Exoplanet!” for the first time, all twelve X-O members activated their special technique.

Instead of the usual large elemental ball everyone was used to seeing, this had a different effect. This time, all the attacks released by the Novus Red Force were absorbed by X-O and turned into a big ball. After infusing their powers into the ball, X-O fired the ball back to Novus Red Force with double the strength. Origin tried to defend it using his force field but his shield shattered at the sheer force of the attack. As a last resort, they tried to teleport out of harm’s way. However, Daniel saw that coming and manipulated their teleportation, scattering most of the Novus Red Force to a different location in the spur of the moment.

“Is this how strong they really are?” Danielle was astounded at the amount of magic being used right now.

“They are just firing X-Cons one after another,” Eunchae had an expression of disbelief.

“They are the Ten Crests, indeed,” Jeongseob could only gape at the sight.

“Where are they?” RM blurted out when they only saw Origin and Frazzle after the dust settled.

“I scattered them to different locations,” Daniel closed his eyes for a bit. “I’m assuming you already chose which Novus Red Force member to handle. I’ll just tell you their locations: Spectrum is in Sorz; Torrid is in Arbee-W; Ubiquitous is in Essim; Frigid is in Jeewyphi; Speedbump is in Hitbig; Ego is in Disple; and Synesthesia is in Whygee.”

“Really? In our respective provinces as well?” Moonbyul sassed.

“And how do you even know their names— never mind,” Lisa realized something just a second later when Wanna One smiled at her question.

“I’m sorry, okay? There were the first places that came to mind,” Daniel sassed back. “And I apologize if your target is not in your own province. But hey, you gonna make do with what we have.”

“So, what’s the plan?” D.O. asked while raising his force field.

“Hurry up with the plan. Origin’s and Frazzle’s attacks are getting stronger. We might not sustain the force field for long,” Jin urged them to hurry up.

“What else? Go to your respective targets and try to take care of business,” Jisung told the other groups.

“That’s it?” the other groups were stunned at how simple that plan sounded.

“Ok, fine. We’ll give you something else,” Sungwoon cued his group mates.

Without speaking anything, a gold magic circle appeared beneath Wanna One. This X-Con technique is called “B-Side”. In the simplest explanation, this support-type X-Con technique gives the user’s allies an infinite amount of magic while also augmenting their powers at the same time. Due to its effect, the allies benefitting from this technique would find a small gold magic circle on the back of either wrist akin to a watch.

“A chantless X-Con activation?” the Sixty-fifth Bicameral Chambers were amazed.

“What is it this time?” Rose questioned.

“It’s an X-Con that gives you an infinite amount of magic. You don’t have to worry about exhausting your magical stamina. You may now go all-out against your opponents and activate your X-Cons as much as you want without experiencing fatigue,” Minhyun explained. “By the way, it also augments your powers simultaneously.”

“What a technique!” both Jungwon’s and Keeho’s jaws dropped.

SVT chuckled, “As expected from Wanna One.”

“Before you go, Heeseung of Endash, can you set up everyone in a telepathic link?” Sungwoon asked Heeseung.

“Why not do it yourself?” Kai asked Sungwoon.

“The limitation of our X-Con technique. While we are providing everyone with an unlimited amount of magic, we are unable to use our powers and other X-Con techniques,” Jihoon kindly explained. “That is why we need Heeseung to connect everyone telepathically so that updates can easily be disseminated. We also need the Sixty-fifth Bicameral Chambers to hold off Origin for us while we are still maintaining the effects of our X-Con. Don’t worry; everyone is included in the technique so you all have infinite magic as well.”

“I see. A small price to pay for providing endless magic to everyone,” Jeongyeon shook her head in amusement.

“How about its range? We are scattering across the kingdom after all,” Yuju probed.

“No worries. The range of this technique reaches the whole kingdom,” Kuanlin answered.

“A strong technique with a large range. It’s nothing like we have ever seen before,” Yujin muttered.

“They are living up to their legacy,” Eunsang grasped his hair.

“As soon as all eight members will be taken care of, we will personally face Origin ourselves,” Woojin claimed.

“Heeseungie, are you ready?” Sungwoon inquired the younger telepath.

“Yes, seonbaenim. Everyone is already connected,” Heeseung confirmed.

“Very good. Don’t do anything else. Just concentrate on maintaining the telepathic connection,” Sungwoon added.

“If there is nothing more, we will go kick some invader’s behind now,” Suga announced.

With every detail straightened out, SVT, Bulletproof Scouts, Two-Times, Plackbink, Velvety Red, Mommymoo, and Geefreend teleported to their respective targets while X-O remained.

“Oh? Why did you not go?” Jisung asked X-O.

“Frazzle is here. He is our target,” Kris mentioned, pointing the member next to Origin.

“I see. Well, you better get moving. You need to get rid of him before we can do anything,” Jaehwan joked.

“You don’t need to tell us twice,” Chen smirked.

“Hey, kids, can we leave the helpless Wanna One in your protection?” Sehun addressed the sixty-fifth Bicameral Chambers.

“We’ll do our best, seonbaenim,” Eunbi, Seungwoo, Yujin, Chaewon, Keeho, Jungwon, Lew, and Karina, along with their groups were determined to contribute.

Chanyeol chuckled, “All right, then. Watch the masters at work.”

Chapter Text

Geefreend landed in an arctic environment after teleporting via a Cloud Dancer sandstorm. The members were taken aback because they expected to be in Whygee according to Wanna One’s information, and not in some frozen wonderland.

“Umji-ya, I think you chose the wrong place,” Yerin pointed out.

“That’s impossible. I visualized Whygee as we teleported so we couldn’t have been lost,” Umji, the resident teleporter, responded.

“So, you’re telling me this is Whygee?” Yuju looked around.

Eunha shook her head, “I don’t think so. You made a mistake this time.”

Umji was about to rebut when a voice suddenly joined in their conversation.

“Welcome to my world! How is it? Are you cold?” Synesthesia cackled.

“Let’s bring you back to reality, shall we?” SinB was unamused.

SinB made a ring of electricity shoot out from her. True enough, the ring eliminated the fake landscape and revealed the skyscrapers Whygee is known for.

“Aigoo. Was that an illusion?” Sowon scratched her nape.

“Oops. We almost fell for it,” Yuju giggled.

“See! I told you my teleportation is not wrong,” Umji pouted.

“Curses! My illusion is lost,” Synesthesia scowled.

With her deception failing, Synesthesia released a wave of telekinetic energy. Geefreend finally took the hint that it was time for battle.

“Yerin, Umji, stand back!” Sowon told two of her groupmates.

Eunha managed to counter the telekinetic energy with her Thermal Blast, still augmented by Wanna One’s B-Side X-Con. Sowon released sharp blades of air but somehow Synesthesia managed to use minimal effort to dodge as if she already anticipated where the blades’ trajectory might be.

“I hate her abilities related to foresight,” Sowon was not pleased.

Yuju sneakily used her smoke to creep closer to Synesthesia without being detected.

“Foolish girl. Do you really think I can’t read your minds?” Synesthesia smirked.

Synesthesia used her Advanced Telekinesis to manipulate the smoke away from her. In response, she used her powerful telekinesis to hurl vehicles toward Geefreend. Sowon had stopped some vehicles with her whirlwind. Augmented by Wanna One, Yerin’s projective levitation allowed her to bring some of the vehicles down safely. Eunha was using an appropriate amount of Thermal Blast to redirect the cars away from her or her teammates. Umji was also helping by remotely teleporting as many vehicles as she could to the ground. While the rest of Geefreend were busy dealing with the flying vehicles, SinB fired a beam of concentrated electricity directly at Synesthesia. Synesthesia was unable to dodge and was thrown back several meters.

“What is this woman’s weakness again?” SinB asked her teammates.

“Disabling her senses is her sole weakness,” Yuju mentioned.

“We must do it subtly for it to be effective,” Eunha said.

“We could use both consecutively for maximum impact,” Sowon suggested.

“That’s a great idea!” Umji agreed.

When Synesthesia stood up, she was enveloped in a dome of electrically charged sands. Geefreend activated their X-Con technique, Fever, non-verbally.

“Let’s hurry. The dome won’t hold her for much longer,” Yerin sounded urgent.

“Memoria!” the six Geefreend members chanted.

At the activation of their X-Con technique, a tri-colored magic circle appeared under Geefreend before expanding outward to include the whole immediate area. From the magic circle, the fog began to fill the area where they were fighting. Shortly after, Synesthesia broke free from the dome of sand she was trapped in.

“Do you really think you could stop me with that flimsy ball?” Synesthesia’s tone had hints of irritation.

However, when she got out of the dome, something different welcomed her.

“What is this? Where am I?” Synesthesia was baffled as she glanced at the landscape. “Why is this place very familiar, yet I can’t remember exactly why?”

Memoria is an X-Con technique recently developed by Geefreend. Memoria summons a thick blanket of fog and unleashes deceptive mirages over a large area, changing its appearance to a familiar location to the target. The technique is also able to temporarily shut down psychic powers within range and deceive magicians with Enhanced Senses and even technological devices.

“No! Stop! Why can’t I feel anything? This is too much! My head hurts! AHHHHHHH!” Synesthesia’s head exploded. This was followed by the rest of her body turning into ash.

True enough, Synesthesia was vanquished after her senses were overloaded.

“Oh, the plan worked better than I expected,” Umji said.

Connecting to the telepathic network, Sowon reported, “Synesthesia is taken care of.”

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Meanwhile, Velvety Red was immediately attacked by someone moving at high speeds as soon as they materialized via Pastel Coral sands.

“I forgot we got the runner,” Wendy groaned.

“I’m starting to hate him now,” Joy gritted her teeth.

Speedbump began to run around Hitbig Province’s plains again, confusing Velvety Red where to attack. In order to slow him down even just a little bit, Velvety Red used their trump card.

“X-Con: Peek-a-Boo!”

Normally, this X-Con technique only launched one metallic ball. However, with the boost they got from Wanna One’s B-Side, they were able to activate it five times in just a single chant. This now caused five metallic balls to fly toward Speedbump. Due to his speed, Speedbump was able to dodge all the metallic balls. Unfortunately, he wasn’t aware that the metallic balls had a secondary effect; as soon as the metallic balls exploded, they released ten fireballs in random directions, totaling fifty fireballs all in all. The random crossfire of fireballs caught Speedbump off-guard, making several fireballs to make a direct hit on him.

Angered by the unexpected attack, Speedbump released damaging soundwaves toward Velvety Red. Irene tried to defend her team by raising a wall of water, but since sound could travel through water, they were hit regardless. While the ladies were down, Speedbump caused the ground beneath them to crack into a deep crevice. Joy was able to notice just in time for her to teleport her group out of harm’s way.

This opening allowed Speedbump to gain speed once more, running around the battlefield. Seulgi tried shooting him down with fireballs while Wendy did the same with her Bursting Balls, but Speedbump’s quickness allowed him to dodge everything with ease. An expert hand-to-hand combatant, Speedbump was using his speed to deal physical damage to Velvety Red. Without anything else to do, Irene surrounded all of them with a bubble of water, making everyone float. With Speedbump still adjusting himself to the water, Wendy was able to send two Bursting Balls to Speedbump, flinging him out of the bubble and toward the ground. Irene dissipated the water bubble shortly after.

“Who are you? How can you manage to deal with my speed?” Speedbump glared at them.

“Let’s just say you’re not quick enough,” Yeri taunted.

Enraged by the belittlement of his speed, Speedbump charged at Velvety Red at full speed. Velvety Red, expecting the exact reaction from him, simply sighed.

“Wildside!” the five females chanted. A Pastel Coral magic circle appeared from under Speedbump and expanded outward to engulf the whole battlefield.

Suddenly, the ground upon which Speedbump was running behaved like water. The earth was undulating like the ocean’s surface. The erratic movement of the ground made Speedbump lose his balance and fall to the ground harshly. Seconds later, Speedbump was slowly sinking to the ground as if it were quicksand until only his head remained above ground.

“Let me go!” Speedbump struggled but to no avail. He was completely immobilized by the ground. “What is happening? NOOOOO!”

While Speedbump struggled to escape, the ground began to bubble and boil. Immediately after, the ground, where Speedbump was trapped, exploded and caused a mini-earthquake as its aftermath. When the smoke and dust settled down, Speedbump was seen burning and turning into ashes.

Confused? That was Wildside, a new X-Con technique by Velvety Red. Wildside is an offensive X-Con that forces the earth to soften and swell, behaving like quicksand and trapping the target in the process. After a few seconds, the soft ground will start to bubble and boil, and the whole area will explode, causing a tremendous amount of damage.

“I can’t believe it worked!” Seulgi was kneeling on the ground.

“We’re just lucky we have the correct countermeasure for him,” Wendy was holding onto her right shoulder.

Despite their damages, Irene chose to report the development first, “Wanna One! Speedbump is no longer a threat.”

Chapter Text

Appearing in pink and black swirling clouds, Plackbink landed on a completely frozen downtown area of Jeewyphi. Everything was covered under a thick layer of ice, dropping the temperature even further.

“Frigid’s here alright,” Jisoo scanned the area.

“She really messed up the place,” Rose winced at the amount of damage

Things took an abrupt turn when a strong gust of cold wind jolted Plackbink out of their reverie.

“I’m sorry for the cold welcome,” Frigid scoffed.

“It’s alright. The cold never bothered us anyway,” Plackbink giggled.

“If so, then I won’t hold back,” Frigid’s facial expression turned sharper.

True enough, Frigid manipulated the weather for a blizzard to engulf the downtown area. She immediately followed it by launching sharp icicles concealed in the blizzard. To counter, Jennie released intense soundwaves to crush the icicles. Trying to gain the upper hand, Rose used Invisibility on herself as well as its advancement, Projective Invisibility, to conceal her groupmates.

“There is no use hiding. I can find you in these conditions,” Frigid claimed.

Frigid scanned the area and released a burst of icy mist. Her last attack gave out Plackbink’s location so Frigid sent out a large wave of water, effectively washing out any invisibility from the Plackbink members.

“How did you manage to locate us? My invisibility should have been effective,” Rose demanded an explanation.

“Simple. The blizzard helped me,” Frigid explained. “Even though you are invisible, you still left footprints in the accumulating snow. At the same time, your silhouettes were also prominent in the icy mist.”

“She is really clever,” Lisa gritted her teeth.

Jisoo unceremoniously shot a continuous burst of ice from her hands. This time, Frigid did not dodge but, instead, took the attack head-on. Despite the attack making direct contact, Frigid remained mostly unscathed with only minor injuries.

“I thought she was weak to extreme cold?” Jisoo was dumbfounded.

Frigid cackled, “I see you were able to get a hold of my weakness. Unfortunately, your attack is not powerful nor cold enough to defeat me.”

“Well, in that case…” Jennie trailed off.

A black and pink magic circle manifested under Jennie and Jisoo. A powerful sound wave was fired toward Frigid’s direction, further freezing everything in its path. It was “Boombayah”, Plackbink’s X-Con technique.

This time, Frigid made an effort to defend herself from the attack. She surrounded herself with a wall of air to intercept the attack. However, since sound can travel through air, Plackbink’s X-Con technique was able to penetrate her wall of wind and hit her directly. When the smoke subsided, Frigid was seen now with major injuries and several frostbites.

“I see you also specialize in freezing your opponents,” Frigid smirked.

“Boombayah was still not enough to stop her?” Lisa was surprised.

“It was definitely stronger but still not strong enough,” Frigid stated.

Frigid decided it was her turn to attack. In one smooth movement, Frigid was able to release sharp air blades, ice chunks, and water balls simultaneously. The air blades were countered by strong ice blasts from Jisoo; the ice chunks were shattered by Jennie’s sound waves; while the water balls were redirected by the remote advancement of Lisa’s Aeroportation.

“Just give up. You already hit me with your best shots but I’m still standing,” Frigid mocked Plackbink.

“Just relax. We still have an ace up our sleeves,” Rose rebutted.

“Stop bluffing. You have nothing against me,” Frigid was sure of herself.

Grinning, Jisoo used her augmented Cryokinesis to take control of the blizzard to a standstill.

“Let’s use it now,” Jennie told her groupmates.

“Are you sure? The new technique still has a huge chance of failing,” Jisoo replied.

“We still haven’t mastered it,” Rose added her concern.

“Well, it’s now or never. It could be the only thing strong enough and cold enough to stop her,” Lisa insisted.

“X-Con: Pretty Savage!”

At the chant, a black and pink magic circle appeared under Frigid. Suddenly, an icy tornado started to form around Frigid from the magic circle, sucking even the immobilized blizzard into its spin. The tornado lasted for several seconds. When the tornado dissipated, Frigid was completely frozen from the inside out.

To put it simply, Pretty Savage is Plackbink’s new X-Con technique. Plackbink attacks with a savagely cold, howling tornado that rapidly decreases body temperature and leaves the target completely frozen. Inanimate objects hit with this attack become extremely brittle and may cause spontaneous shattering.

“So, now it was cold enough,” Jisoo was in disbelief that only their new technique met Frigid’s weakness.

“Let’s just finish this. I’m already shivering,” Lisa was patting herself for warmth.

Using intense soundwaves, Jennie shattered the freeze-dried body of Frigid; this caused Frigid’s body to explode and turn to ash.

Jisoo tapped into the telepathic link and reported, “Frigid has been eliminated.”

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Jeongyeon’s Fading took her team to the middle of a soccer field. Needless to say, the area was familiar to the Two-Times members.

“Isn’t this part of Essim’s sports complex?” Nayeon noticed.

“Why are we even here?” Momo looked at Jeongyeon.

Jeongyeon took a defensive stance, “Don’t look at me. I only took us where Daniel said she would be.”

The conversation was halted when the weather around the soccer field shifted. From the sunny skies from earlier, a heavy downpour replaced the local atmospheric conditions.

“It seems you are my opponents,” Ubiquitous said from the other side of the field.

“You should be honored,” Jihyo told Ubiquitous. “It’s not every day you get to face us.”

“Then I shall pay my last respects before eliminating all of you,” Ubiquitous smiled.

Ubiquitous fired a large-scale Energy Wave. Jihyo eliminated the threat by intercepting using a wall of wind. Chaeyoung fired Laser Bolts; Mina shot bolts of fire from her eyes; and Momo let out consecutive Energy Beams. Learning from her opponents, Ubiquitous took care of the projectiles by establishing a dome of air of her own. This was immediately followed by Ubiquitous activating his Particle Swarms towards Two-Times. Dahyun was able to react quickly and countered with the same power, rendering Ubiquitous’ attack useless. At this point of the battle, Tzuyu had Ubiquitous surrounded with her clones.

“Surrender now. We got you surrounded,” Tzuyu demanded.

Ubiquitous chuckled, “Surrender? I think you don’t know me at all.”

After finishing her statement, Ubiquitous released her Energy Waves in all directions. Nayeon had to protect her group by using her Umbrakinesis. In the short opening, Sana shot blobs of acid to Ubiquitous; Ubiquitous eliminated the acids using her Particle Swarm. The collision between the acid and particles caused a huge explosion and smoke to spread on the battlefield.

“Be careful for sneak attacks!” Sana warned her group.

Sana’s instincts were absolutely right. Coming through the smoke was a double attack of Energy Waves and a vortex of air from Ubiquitous.

“X-Con: Heart Shaker!”

Two-Times’ X-Con technique released an air vortex accompanied by all the projectile powers that Two-Times possesses, wherein each projectile doubles in number every half-second. This technique easily overpowered Ubiquitous’ double attack, even continuing in its path after nullifying the opponent’s energy wave and the air vortex. Behind the smoke, Two-Times did not see that their X-Con managed to land a direct hit to Ubiquitous.

“Did we get her?” Mina was curious.

Dahyun was looking ahead, “I can’t see through the dust and smoke.”

“Just be on alert. She could be launching an attack under the cover of the particles in the air,” Chaeyoung reminded her group.

When the dust and smoke cleared up, Ubiquitous was seen to be kneeling on one knee, injuries evident in her body.

“That was a good attack. But still not good enough,” Ubiquitous commented.

“Yeah. Yeah. We know that is not enough to defeat you,” Tzuyu dismissed Ubiquitous’ statement.

“Throw your best at me,” Ubiquitous challenged.

Accepting the challenge, Nayeon covered the entire soccer field with darkness, effectively blocking out the rain.

“It doesn’t matter even if I can see you or not. You do not have the necessary power to finish me off,” Ubiquitous remained cocky in the darkness.

“It’s a shot in the dark, but we do have something,” Nayeon responded.

An Apricot and Neon Magenta magic circle glowed under Two-Times. They decided to activate their X-Con technique nonverbally in order to catch Ubiquitous off guard.

Two-Times’ new X-Con technique is called “Fanfare”. From the magic circle, an iridescent glow began to replace the darkness that covered them. Ninety huge spheres of projectiles made up from the powers of the group had manifested around the target and the magic circle from under Two-Times moved and settled under Ubiquitous. Without allowing Ubiquitous to react, the huge spheres hit the target simultaneously from all directions.

“What is this? It’s coming from everywhere!” Ubiquitous shrieked. “This is too much! Stop it! STOP!”

The attack overwhelmed Ubiquitous, making her burst out into flames and explode. Only her ashes remained in the place where she was located seconds ago.

“I can’t believe she is really weak against an omnidirectional attack,” Jeongyeon was shocked.

“We must never doubt credible information, no matter how absurd it sounds,” Momo said.

“Especially with magic, even improbable things can easily happen,” Sana uttered.

Jihyo reconnected to the telepathic link, “We have taken care of Ubiquitous.”

Chapter Text

With SVT, Mommymoo, and Geefreend consistently becoming a member of the Twilight Triad during their time, the provinces to which they belonged also received a collective moniker. Disple, Arbee-W, and Sorz were dubbed the “Twilight” Provinces for being the hometowns of the members of the original Twilight Triad since the Fandom War.

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Mommymoo arrived at the center of Disple Province through Wheein’s Electroportation. However, as soon as they landed, they were thrown down to the ground due to the strong gravitational force.

“Being able to manipulate gravity is such a strong power,” Moonbyul said.

To counter, Mommymoo had to pull out all the stops, “X-Con: Starry Night!”

Mommymoo used the refined version of Starry Night. In this version, Starry Night covered the local sky with thick clouds and caused glowing icy boulders to rain down on the area. In addition to causing damage, the boulders would cause a tower of ice spikes that freezes anything inside and impales other opponents in its vicinity. Due to dodging the boulders, Ego could not keep gravity from dragging Mommymoo down.

As soon as they stood up, Mommymoo was faced with Ego’s clones. Wasting no time, Solar used her Geokinesis, Moonbyul used her Photokinesis, and Hwasa used her Cryokinesis to eliminate the clones. But as they were doing so, Ego trapped them again under an area of strong gravity.

“This is getting annoying,” Moonbyul whined.

“Let’s make him feel our pain,” Hwasa suggested.

Nonverbally, Mommymoo caused a pale green magic circle to form under Ego. The magic circle swiftly ran upward through Ego as if scanning him. Afterward, the members of Mommymoo glowed and the gravitational field around them was negated.

For clarification, it was “Decalcomanie”, Mommymoo’s new X-Con technique. The technique temporarily copied up to four random powers of Ego, one for each member of Mommymoo. Solar got Gyrokinesis, Moonbyul got Conjuration, Wheein got Cloning, and Hwasa got Thought Projection.

“What? What happened? Where did my gravitational field go? My power should be invincible,” Ego was confused.

“Well then. Let me return the favor,” Solar declared.

Stretching her right hand forward, Solar copied Ego’s technique and made the gravity around him twenty times stronger. As expected this caused Ego to fall flat on the ground.

“What is this? How dare you use my powers against me!” Ego raged. “NO! NO, I WILL NOT BE DEFEATED!”

Ego simply burned and turned into ash; the immense gravity prevented an explosion from occurring. True enough, Ego was defeated when hit by a power similar to his own.

“Ego has self-destructed,” Solar told the others who were connected to the telepathic link.

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Bulletproof Scouts arrived on a clearing beside a lake via silver-gray flames.

“Why are we in the woodlands?”  Jimin said as soon as they arrived.

“Don’t ask me. I only took us to the location Daniel inputted in my brain,” J-Hope defended his power. “This should be within Arbee-W’s borders.”

Out of the blue, three kinds of projectiles shot out from behind the trees: a Fireball, a Thermal Ball, and a Plasma Ball. Relying on sheer reflexes and muscle memory, Jin was able to raise his force field just in time to protect his group mates.

“Wow, that was rude,” Jin commented as he deactivated his power.

“I’m sorry. I just wanted to give you a rather warm welcome,” Torrid emerged from the woods.

“You can turn up the heat even further. We can handle it,” Suga said in response.

As if to accept Suga’s offer, Torrid shot out a huge stream of blue fire. Not wanting to be outperformed, RM matched the flame output easily. At this point in the battle, V stayed behind the frontline; even though his power of Hypnosis had advanced into Mind Manipulation, he still needed to establish physical contact at this point for his new power to be successful. J-Hope was staying behind with V as the group’s resident teleporter.

The battle of projectiles also commenced. Since Torrid had Fireballs, Thermal Balls, and Plasma Balls, RM, Suga, and Jimin had to counter the projectiles with their respective similar powers.

Without any chants, a purple and silver-gray magic circle appeared under Bulletproof Scouts. They activated their X-Con technique “Fire”. From the perimeter of the magic circle, a ring of fire burst out and continued to expand outward. Torrid tried to defend himself from attack by forming a dome of fire around himself. However, the fire from the Bulletproof Scouts proved to be stronger as it easily pierced through Torrid’s makeshift shield, landing a direct hit.

“Hmm… It seems to me like we have a similar arsenal of powers. This would be an interesting battle,” Torrid spat out. “I can’t believe you specialize in flame-based powers and attacks as well.”

“You haven’t seen everything yet,” Jungkook commented.

“X-Con: Fire!” the Bulletproof Scouts was taking complete advantage of Wanna One’s unlimited supply of magic to them.

This time, Torrid managed to avoid getting damaged by destroying the part of the ring heading towards him. Unfortunately, he was so distracted by the ring of fire that he overlooked Jungkook shooting a beam of concentrated electricity right after the fire ring. Caught unaware, Torrid got electrified and thrown back several meters.

Taking full advantage of the situation, Bulletproof Scouts made another ring of fire for the third time in a row. Same as before, Torrid destroyed the part of the ring directly in front of him; but this time, he shot his projectiles to prevent another sneak attack.

“Projectiles!” J-Hope whispered and stealthily maneuvered his hand around. He used his Remote Pyroportation to manipulate the trajectory of the projectiles. He made the projectiles reappear behind Torrid, so when they continued on their flight, Torrid was right in front of their path. Tricked once more, Torrid was hit by his own attacks.

“No matter how much damage you deal me, I won’t be defeated unless you fulfill the specific conditions,” Torrid yelled out as he stood up.

“Like I said, you haven’t seen anything yet,” Jungkook smiled.

“X-Con: Fire!”

“What Wanna One said is true. I still don’t feel any fatigue despite activating our X-Con four times,” RM was amazed. “As expected from them.”

For the fourth time, a ring of fire was released from Bulletproof Scouts’ vicinity. As this was the fourth time, the lake near them was already bubbling due to the heat. To make the attack stronger, Jungkook followed it up with a barrage of Energy Balls. Torrid had no choice but to defend from the attack.

“Let’s do it while he’s distracted,” V suggested.

“Do you think that would be enough?” J-Hope questioned.

“His weakness is a powerful attack that has extreme heat right?” Jin was confident. “Just like he said, we are the fire specialists after all.”

At the end of the discussion, Bulletproof Scouts nonverbally activated their new X-Con technique, “Dynamite”. This caused their signature silver-gray magic circle to appear on top of Bulletproof Scouts, travel through them downward, and stop when it reached the ground. Upon touching the ground, the magic circle sent a wave of energy into the earth. The temperature began to rise in the immediate area, even causing the lake to evaporate due to the heat completely. Completely blindsided, the energy sent into the earth burst around Torrid’s location, causing consecutive upward bursts of high-temperature blue flames.

“NO! THIS IS TOO HOT FOR ME TO HANDLE!” these were Torrid’s final words before exploding into nothing, leaving only ashes behind.

RM concentrated on tapping into the telepathic channel, “Torrid has been fired.”

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Vernon’s Rose-Quartz mini-tornado took SVT in the middle of the Sorz’s grasslands.

“You are going to be my opponent?” Spectrum scowled. “I guess the more the merrier.”

Pleasantries were not in order as Spectrum immediately manipulated the weather and caused hail storms. What’s unusual was that the hail was heading only in SVT’s direction.

“X-Con: Change Up!” S.Coups, Hoshi, and Woozi chanted.

The first ever teleportation-type X-Con technique switched SVT’s and Spectrum’s positions; Spectrum, in turn, got hit by his own hailstones. When Spectrum was down, SVT was making full use of Wanna One’s B-Side.

“Chilli!”

“20!”

“Moonwalker!”

All three units of SVT activated their X-Con techniques simultaneously. This caused a fire tornado from the hip-hop unit, a big glowing ball of ice with rings from the performance unit, a beam of concentrated electricity from Jeonghan, an Energy Blast from DK, and a burst of soundwaves from Seungkwan to travel at Spectrum’s direction. Spectrum smartly avoided the attack by teleporting out of the attack path.

Fighting back, Spectrum shot hundreds of Laser Bolts and Light Darts. However, Dino simply stepped up front and drew all the projectiles toward him. As a Photokinetic, Dino simply absorbed the projectiles since they were all made out of light. To intimidate Spectrum, The8 used his illusions to project multiple rainbows in the sky despite the stormy conditions.

“You won’t scare me off that easily,” Spectrum scoffed.

“I almost forgot he was afraid of rainbows specifically,” Joshua giggled.

While The8 was scaring off Spectrum, Mingyu joined the backline together with Woozi and Joshua. Mingyu thought his Sleep Induction wasn’t necessary in this battle while Woozi did not bother augmenting his troop’s powers as Wanna One’s B-Side was already enhancing their powers. Joshua, as much as his power would be helpful at this point, his recently awakened Chronokinesis, as a result of his Temporal Stasis advancing, was still erratic; he still couldn’t control whether he would stop, slow down, rewind, or accelerate the time when he used it. In hindsight, Wanna One’s Seongwu was glad Joshua didn’t accidentally time travel using his powers yet.

After Dino absorbed the projectiles, Jun released an Energy Wave which was countered by Spectrum’s Photokinesis. When Spectrum tried to make it hail even more, Hoshi tapped into his Cryokinesis to take control of the hailstones and fling them back to Spectrum along with Seungcheol’s Aerokinesis and Wonwoo’s Fireballs. With precise bolts of electricity and a bit of wind, Spectrum was able to diffuse the attacks. Another barrage of projectiles was released by Spectrum but Wonwoo simply burned them down with blue fire.

“Is that all you got?” Spectrum taunted.

“No,” S.Coups smugly answered. “We are just about to show you your greatest fear.”

“I can’t wait to see.”

Looking at each other, SVT finally put their plans into action.

“Chilli!”

“Moonwalker!”

Just like before, the two X-Con techniques manifested as a fire whirl that scattered sleep powder and a huge glowing ball of ice with rings. With Spectrum dealing with two X-Cons, two Rose-Quartz and Serenity magic circles appeared — one in front of SVT and one above Spectrum. They activated their X-Cons nonverbally.

The magic circle in front of SVT launched a storm of multicolored diamonds to the target. When Spectrum was done dealing with the fire tornado and the glowing ball of ice, the second magic circle above Spectrum traveled through him downwards, trapping him inside a giant diamond in the process. With his attention on the giant diamond, Spectrum failed to notice that the storm of multicolored diamonds pierced through the larger diamond and struck him with full force.

The multicolored diamond storm was SVT’s X-Con technique, “17 Carat”. However, unlike its original version, SVT was able to refine their X-Con through the help of Ex-Monster to make it able to penetrate obstacles like force fields and other X-Cons.

While Spectrum was being hit by the multicolored diamond storm, beams of rainbow began bouncing around the inside of the larger diamond until they hit Spectrum. This was SVT’s newest X-Con technique, “Shining Diamond”. Shining Diamond traps the targets inside an impenetrable diamond and then gets attacked from all directions by several beams of the rainbow.

With rainbows being his unique weakness, Spectrum exploded inside the large diamond.

S.Coups delivered the news through telepathy, “Spectrum has crossed into the light.”

Chapter Text

“You, kids. Can we leave the helpless Wanna One in your protection?” Sehun addressed the sixty-fifth Bicameral Chambers.

“We’ll do our best, seonbaenim,” Eunbi, Seungwoo, Yujin, Chaewon, Keeho, Jungwon, Lew, and Karina, along with their groups were determined to contribute.

Chanyeol chuckled, “All right, then. Watch the masters at work.”

The penultimate battle was happening in the middle of the English Village. X-O moved a block away to give themselves enough space to battle without worries that the currently disabled Wanna One would be caught in between their crossfire. However, as per advice by Jisung, they were still close enough for Tao to negate any of Origin’s attempts to manipulate time, especially with the Sixty-fifth extremely vulnerable to Chronokinesis.

“You will be the one battling me?” Frazzle sassed. “Doesn’t matter. I won’t break a sweat with you.”

“Wanna bet on it?” Kris rebutted.

Frazzle tested the waters by throwing out a concentrated beam of electricity. But was easily countered by Chen who used the same attack. Sehun attacked with a blast of wind but was nullified when Frazzle’s Energy Blast made contact with it. Frazzle activated his Energy Wave. D.O. simply raised his shield to intercept the attack then caused a fissure to appear under Frazzle in a smooth transition from defense to offense. Frazzle simply teleported out of harm’s way and immediately fired many Energy Beams. Baekhyun took care of each beam with his Photokinesis. Chanyeol countered with a barrage of Fireballs but Frazzle released the same amount of Energy Balls to negate all the projectiles. Suho attacked with whips of water but each attempt was masterfully defended with a precise Energy Blast. When Frazzle released beams of concentrated electricity from both of his hands, Chanyeol had to take care of one with his blue fire while Xiumin’s ice clashed with the other. The collision of the powers caused smoke and dust to cover the area.

As the smoke and dust lingered in the air, Tao’s attention was on the other battle, “Oh, no, you don’t!”

“Thanks, Tao-hyung!” Seongwu shouted.

Tao noticed that Origin tried to stop time against them and cancelled its effects.

Taking advantage of the distracting particles in the air, Luhan released consecutive bursts of telekinetic energy in the opponent’s direction. When Sehun used his power to blow away the dust and smoke, Frazzle was seen to be leaning against a broken building wall presumably due to Luhan’s attack. Noticing that Frazzle was disoriented, X-O took the opportunity.

“X-Con: Exoplanet!” unlike earlier, only six members chanted this time. It was the second version of the technique that almost everyone was familiar with.

As the elemental ball sped its way to Frazzle, Luhan, Kris, and Tao were visibly impressed with the attack, “Ah, so this is the version of Exoplanet without the three of us.”

Unable to regain his bearings in time, the elemental ball landed a direct hit, burying Frazzle further under more rubble. X-O did not stop there; the second Exoplanet version was released four more times in succession toward Frazzle.

“Wanna One’s promise of unlimited magic turned out to be true,” Chanyeol giggled. “I don’t feel any fatigue at all despite already activating six X-Con techniques since earlier.”

“At this point, we can’t even deny that they are master X-Con innovators,” Xiumin agreed.

Meanwhile, a visibly injured Frazzle appeared from under the debris, “Would you stop that! It won’t be enough to defeat me anyway.”

“We know,” D.O. responded. “We are just experimenting with something with you as our test subject.”

“How dare you!” Frazzle was furious.

However, another elemental ball was thrown his way. This time, Frazzle was able to dodge. To retaliate, Frazzle unleashed a strong Energy Wave. Unfazed, Kris simply flew while he made his team float upward using his Projective Levitation. Frazzle made Energy Balls to follow X-O’s ascent but was simply deviated by Luhan.

“Stop running around!” Frazzle insisted.

“Why should we? We are just having fun,” Baekhyun mentioned.

“Stop playing with me and fight me seriously!” Frazzle demanded.

“Should we?” Suho looked around at his teammates. “Alright then. You asked for it. Just don’t regret it.”

“I’ll be the one making you regret your mockery against me,” Frazzle spat back.

Insulted, Frazzle expelled a strong Energy Wave followed by beams of concentrated electricity. X-O just shrugged; a Cosmic Latte magic circle appeared behind them and then moved forward, passing through all the members. When the magic circle was in front of them, it turned into a black hole. The black hole not only sucked Frazzle’s last attack, it was also extracting something out of Frazzle’s body.

Nonverbally, X-O activated their recently-developed X-Con technique, “Overdose”. The black hole was absorbing all active offensive powers, including X-Cons. However, it also could forcefully drain the magical energy stored inside any magic-user in the immediate area. The absorbed energy was distributed to the X-O members, replenishing their lost energy and healing them in the process. According to the members, this technique was heavily inspired by Wanna One's X-Con techniques.

Back to the battle, it only took a matter of seconds before Overdose did its purpose.

“We don’t even need the extra magical energy and healing at this point,” Lay shook his head at the additional effects of their technique.

“We can’t help it. It’s the only way we could possibly exhaust his magical energy quickly,” Suho replied.

“What’s this?” Frazzle was sweating as he frantically checked himself. “My magic is being sucked out of me!”

 “Oh? I thought you won’t break a sweat in dealing with us,” Kai mocked.

As his magical energy was being drained, it was as if life was being sucked out of Frazzle. Gradually, Frazzle disintegrated into ashes.

“That got the job done,” Luhan was satisfied.

“Wanna One, the rest is up to you!” Suho notified the other group.

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With the rest dispersed, Wanna One could have been sitting ducks without the Sixty-fifth Bicameral Chambers to defend them.

“No pressure, everyone. Just hold Origin off for as long as you can,” Daniel instructed their successors. “Everyone, remember you can use your X-Cons as much as you like.”

“Not our X-Con,” Keeho scratched his nape.

“Can we ask why?” Kuanlin inquired.

“Our X-Con is called ‘Disharmony’. To put it simply, our X-Con prevents the activation of other X-Con Techniques for some time,” Theo explained. “It’s like power negation that only works for X-Cons.”

Usually, when Pone Harmony activates their X-Con technique, it is accompanied by a dark blue magic circle.

“Ah…” Wanna One nodded. “In that case, everyone except Pone Harmony can use your X-Cons as much as you like.”

In the premise of unlimited magic supply, the Sixty-fifth Bicameral Chambers were pretty determined on the task at hand.

“X-Con: Paradoxx Invasion!” Endash chanted. An orange magic circle glowed under Endash.

“X-Con: Antifragile!” The Seraphim followed suit. Fearless Blue magic circle manifested under The Seraphim.

“Care to explain the effects of your X-Cons?” Daehwi questioned.

“Of course, seonbaenim,” Heeseung took responsibility. “One effect of Paradoxx Invasion is augmenting all the power of our allies, so it kind of overlaps with your currently-in-effect X-Con technique. However, we activated it because of its other effect which is to weaken the powers of the opponents. In short, Paradoxx Invasion weakens the opponent while augmenting the allies.”

“Antifragile’s name could be a hint. For a limited period, Antifragile instantaneously heals us and our allies of all injuries sustained during battle. The only downside is that, while injuries are healed quickly, pain is still felt when taking the injury or damage,” Sakura elaborated.

“I see. So, IZ*ONE, X1, and Ace Spa have offensive X-Cons. Only Pone Harmony has the defensive X-Con. Endash, The Seraphim, Jeansnew, Ivy, and Temp Fist all have support-type X-Cons,” Jaehwan summarized.

The nine squads were astounded, “Seonbaenim, how did you even know?”

“Telepathy from much earlier,” Sungwoon explained with a gentle smile.

Their casual conversation was interrupted by Origin.

“It doesn’t matter if you weaken my powers. My attacks will still be enough to deal with all of you,” Origin claimed. “And besides, I am invincible and immortal!”

“Not for long,” Jinyoung rolled his eyes.

“Impudent!” Origin was ticked off by Jinyoung’s comment.

Offended, Origin released a beam of concentrated electricity on his left hand and a stream of blue fire on his right. Wonyoung and Keeho countered with their own electricity beam while Jake, Theo, and Yohan released a stream of blue fire as well. The attack cancelled each other out. Quite unusually, Origin winced in pain shortly after.

“Torrid has been fired!” RM’s report rang through their minds.

“Spectrum has crossed into the light,” S.Coups’ announcement arrived almost at the same time as RM’s.

“I can’t believe it. Both Torrid and Spectrum have been defeated!” Origin’s eyes widened.

Origin’s short moment of vulnerability was exploited by the groups.

“X-Con: ETA!” a bluish-purple magic circle opened under Jeansnew.

“X-Con: Black Mamba!” a purple magic circle signaled the appearance of a huge poison snake made out of poison.

“X-Con: Bloom*Iz!” a pink magic circle preceded the appearance of a field of flowers around Origin.

Refocusing on the battle, Origin used hurricane-force winds to blow away the flowers before they could explode. He also effortlessly froze the poison snake solid. To counter, Origin shouted as he released the strongest burst of telekinetic energy he could muster at that moment. Thankfully, Jeansnew’s X-Con enabled them to anticipate Origin’s next move. So, Minji, Lew, and Jungwon had to join forces to negate the attack with their own Advanced Telekinesis. It was at this moment Origin winced in pain once again.

“We have taken care of Ubiquitous,” the voice of Jihyo rang inside their head.

Taking advantage, X1 chanted, “X-Con: Flash!”

As soon as the tri-colored magic circle appeared, eleven consecutive bursts of light were unleashed. Hyewon had to exert effort to raise her force field to protect everyone from the effects of X1’s attack. Unable to recover just in time, Origin was flung back each time the burst of light hit him. Before he could stand up again, another wave of pain shot through Origin.

“Frigid has been eliminated!” Jisoo spoke through the telepathic link.

“X-Con: Black Mamba!”

“X-Con: Bloom*Iz!”

This time, both X-Cons landed a direct hit. Origin was now covered with injuries but was still capable enough to continue the battle.

“You already defeated four of my soldiers?” Origin scowled. “Doesn’t matter. I’ll just have to eliminate you before anything else happens.”

“Already having a hard time?” Woojin teased. “We still haven’t joined the party and you are already having trouble?”

“I’ll shut that mouth of yours,” Origin did not take Woojin’s statement lightly.

With a snap of his fingers, Origin stopped time on their battlefield. Everyone except Seongwu was frozen in time. Despite having Temporal Stasis, Jeansnew’s Haerin was affected as her power was hierarchically inferior to Chronokinesis; on the other hand, as a natural-born Chronokinetic, Seongwu was immune to the effects of Chronokinesis. Unfortunately, as they are still maintaining the effects of “B-Side”, Seongwu cannot use his own powers to remove the time stop.

“Oh, no, you don’t!” Seongwu heard Tao notice the temporal anomaly and wasted no time cancelling the stasis.

“Thanks, Tao-hyung!” Seongwu expressed his gratitude.

When everyone unfroze, Seongwu used the telepathic network to inform the Sixty-fifth Bicameral Chamber what happened. The time stop also forced Jeansnew’s ETA and The Seraphim’s Antifragile to lose their effects. In the meantime, Origin was jolted by another wave of pain.

“Wanna One! Speedbump is no longer a threat.”

“Synesthesia is taken care of.”

Irene and Sowon reported virtually at the same time. Only three remained —Frazzle, Ego, and Origin.

Chapter Text

With reports of Novus Red Force members falling one by one, everyone’s spirits were revitalized. Finally, only three enemies remained — Frazzle, Ego, and Origin. The Sixty-fifth Bicameral Chambers picked up the slack and attacked Origin simultaneously.

Rei’s swarm of particles was making its way to Origin. Gaeul fired spurts of acid. Eunchan formed plenty of Thermal Balls. Hyeongseop let out a strong Energy Wave. Keeho threw Energy Balls. Jake and Theo launched Fireballs in Origin’s direction. Undaunted, Origin returned all the projectiles using one simple flick of his wrist. Hyewon and Hyeongjun had to put their shields together to defend everyone from the attack. Fortunately for them, there was a slight pause in the barrage of attacks as Origin was aching once more.

“Ego has self-destructed,” Solar calmly informed her allies.

“Not Ego as well,” Origin muttered while in pain.

Hearing the good news, the Sixty-fifth Bicameral Chambers unleashed an all-out attack.

Minji, Lew, and Jungwon released their own version of a telekinetic burst. Yunjin, Hyuk, Eunsang, and Yuri were radiating light. Chaewon, Intak, and Seungyoun were utilizing air. Sakura summoned a plethora of sharp leaf blades and cherry blossom petals. Wonyoung, Keeho, and Minhee shot bolts of electricity. Darkness was leaking out of Yujin, Giselle, Niki, and Seungwoo. Karina contributed waves of poison. Soul, Sunghoon, Junho, and Yena were blasting out ice. Jiung, Jay, Hangyul, and Eunbi used rocks and boulders. Theo, Jake, Yohan, and Minjoo let out massive streams of fire. Dohyon and Nako filled the field with water. It was the Sixty-fifth Bicameral Chambers’ full arsenal of kinetic powers.

Even with the odds slowly stacking against him, Origin remained calm. He enveloped himself with his force field. Somehow, despite losing seven of his soldiers, his force field was strong enough to hold against all those attacks.

“X-Con: Bloom*Iz!”

Without Origin noticing, as he was defending using his force field, IZ*ONE activated their technique again. They made it so that the field of flowers was compacted inside his force field. The flowers exploded shortly after, shattering Origin’s force field and making him fall to the ground. It was at this point that the final good news was delivered.

“Wanna One, the rest is up to you!” Suho screamed from their position.

Origin stood up cackling; a more menacing aura radiated from him.

“I must commend you. To be able to defeat all eight of my soldiers is something I haven’t anticipated,” Origin chuckled evilly. “But if you think I will be an easier opponent since they are gone, you are most definitely wrong.”

“Well, that is your weakness according to our information,” Yujin tried to be cheeky.

“Indeed, that’s true,” Origin smirked. “But I guess your information lacked one crucial detail.”

Sensing that something was amiss, Wanna One warned the other groups, “Be careful. He has something up his sleeve.”

“Unfortunately for you, when I am the only Novus Red Force remaining, my power quadruples,” Origin stated.

The declaration shocked the Sixty-fifth Bicameral Chambers. After making his statement, Origin released a short burst of air. Everyone could sense Origin’s power level increasing.

“Look! His wounds are healing,” Jungwon noticed.

“Don’t panic. If indeed his power quadrupled, his Healing should be able to do that,” Daehwi calmed everyone down.

Without warning, Origin released a powerful telekinetic burst. Minji, Jungwon, and Lew tried to counter but were overpowered. The Sixty-fifth Bicameral Chambers were thrown back; Wanna One had no choice but to drop their B-Side technique with Jaehwan and Sungwoon only having enough time to replicate Shielding and protect the eleven of them while Jisung utilized his Advanced Telekinesis to soften the Sixty-fifth Bicameral Chambers’ landing.

“Good job for holding him off this long,” Minhyun lauded with a gentle tone. “You can take a rest now.”

“Hyewon, Hyeongjun, and Heeseung, put your shields together. Wooseok, Chaeyeon, Taerae, and Winter, concentrate on augmenting the force field. Teleporters, escape with everyone when you deem the situation is already extremely dangerous,” Jihoon instructed the younger generation.

“It’s our turn to battle,” Daniel said. “Don’t worry. I’ll augment your force fields as well.”

As soon as Daniel said that, everyone glowed in faint gold; it was a hint that Daniel was augmenting everyone’s powers through his Projection. The Sixty-fifth Supreme Six and Twilight Triad followed Jihoon’s instructions.

“Can we still do this? B-Side already drained most of our magical energy,” Seongwu raised his concern.

“We will protect Hallyu even if it exhausts all of our magic,” Jisung said with conviction.

“And we are the Chosen. We have a duty we must fulfill,” Sungwoon pointed to the capelets they were wearing.

“Oh? Is the honorable Second generation of Chosen finally making their move?” Origin said.

Without any response, Jinyoung stepped up front. All of a sudden, Origin swiftly sank into the ground until only his head remained visible. Out of Origin’s position, a powerful stream of magma erupted from under Origin and threw him upward. While Origin was still in mid-air, Jinyoung shot condensed electricity, landing a direct hit at Origin. Origin crashed back to terra firma.

The people inside the shield were stupefied, “Amazing!”

“Haven’t you noticed that Wanna One-seonbaenim’s magical presence severely weakened after they used their X-Con technique for unlimited magic supply?” Lew pointed out.

“They must be drained from maintaining that technique. Can you even imagine being the power source for seventeen magical squads simultaneously?” Theo theorized.

“But despite that, Jinyoung-seonbaenim’s full command of the elements is already spelling trouble for Origin even if we take the fact of Origin’s powers quadrupling into account,” Eunsang commented.

Origin breathed out fire from his mouth and shot ice from his left hand and air from his right.

“Number 1!” Jihoon, Jinyoung, and Kuanlin chanted.

Gold magic circles appeared beneath each Wanna One member. The magic circles swiftly made their way up, coating the members in an armor of sparkling light. When Origin’s attacks made contact with the armor, they were reflected back to Origin.

“It’s their X-Con technique, ‘Number 1’,” Wonyoung recognized. “One of the very first defensive-type X-Cons, it gives them an armor made out of light that deflects all elemental powers.”

What Wonyoung explained was correct; however, the only difference was that this was the refined “Number 1” which will remain active even when teleporting. Since Origin’s powers were exactly the same as X-O, Wanna One thought this could be an effective countermeasure. Oblivious to the fact, Origin continued to attack using air, water, fire, earth, electricity, and ice in vain. Only when Origin released consecutive telekinetic bursts did Wanna One use another power. All eleven simply raised their hands for Deflection.

“There it is ─ the Wannabond phenomenon!” Yohan geeked out. “As part of their prophecy to be the most powerful generation of Chosen our kingdom has ever seen, they were blessed with the unique ability to be able to access their members’ powers. And to think they all used Deflection with it.”

It went without saying that the attack was returned to Origin and he had to raise his force field to defend himself. However, Woojin was quick on his feet, negated his force field, and allowed the deflected telekinetic burst to land squarely on Origin.

“This cannot be! I will destroy the Arcanus Alliance!” Origin was furious.

Sneakily, Jaehwan quickly teleported near Origin and hovered his palms near the enemy’s temples. Jaehwan’s Empathy had recently advanced to Pathokinesis. Pathokinesis is the ability to manipulate the emotions of others.

Using Pathokinesis, Jaehwan reflected and amplified Origin’s anger back to him, causing extreme mental and physical pain. Origin was left temporarily incapacitated after the assault.

Seething in fury, Origin shot hundreds of Fireballs and Energy Balls once he recovered enough. This time, Kuanlin stepped into the frontlines.

“Projectiles!” Kuanlin twisted his right hand as if he were turning a doorknob.

Kuanlin used his Remote Sparkling to redirect the hundreds of projectiles back to Origin. Unable to raise his force field, Origin was defenseless; all the projectiles hit Origin consecutively. This was immediately followed by a burst of telekinetic energy from Jisung with his Advanced Telekinesis. This dealt severe injuries to Origin.

“I won’t let you defeat me! I will have my revenge!” Origin was adamant.

“How?” Daniel raised his eyebrows.

Origin screamed, “Quasar Supernova!”

Throughout Origin’s pursuit of magical knowledge across the alternate universes, he learned to create his own special attack similar to Hallyu’s X-Con Technique, Charmed One’s Power of Three, Fiore’s Unison Raid, and Vongola’s Box Combination. The resulting attack is “Quasar Supernova”. Quasar Supernova was simply a combination of all of his offensive powers into a powerful beam.

“Boomerang!” Daniel, Jihoon, and Daehwi chanted.

A gold magic circle manifested with Wanna One and the Sixty-fifth Bicameral Chambers inside it. From the perimeter of the magic circle, a shield dome formed; the shield dome was slowly healing the injuries of IZ*ONE, X1, Endash, Pone Harmony, Tempest, Jeansnew, The Seraphim, Ivy, and Ace Spa. Meanwhile, when Quasar Supernova hit the dome, it was easily deflected back to Origin.

Origin, for his part, certainly did not expect that his ultimate attack would simply be countered, let alone be reflected back to him. Origin was unmoving from where he was standing; the reality crashing down on him. His years of studying, research, and planning were ineffective against a magically superior and more experienced opponent. Ultimately, Quasar Supernova was returned to its sender without any resistance.

“Is this the true power of Hallyu’s second rulers?” despite absorbing the full force of his own attack, it was not enough to defeat Origin.

“You ain’t seen nothing yet,” Daehwi mentioned.

“Let’s end this,” Jisung told his group. “In honor of In-City as the final Crest, we will use their powers to defeat you once and for all.”

“How are they going to do that?” the younger generation whispered amongst themselves.

“X-Con: Lean On Me version In-City’s Resonance Pt. 2!” Jisung, Sungwoon, and Minhyun chanted.

A gold magic circle appeared in the sky. Seconds later, the gold magic circle changed into a Neo Pearl Champagne magic circle. Then, a tremendously powerful pillar of light made of the condensed energy of all of the In-City members’ powers shot down from the sky and struck Origin.

“You… win…” Origin conceded as he burst into flames and exploded.

With that final attack, Wanna One was able to defeat Origin.

Chapter Text

“X-Con: Lean On Me version In-City’s Resonance Pt. 2!” Jisung, Sungwoon, and Minhyun chanted.

With that final attack, Wanna One was able to defeat Origin. X-O, Bulletproof Scouts, SVT, Two-Times, Plackbink, Velvety Red, Mommymoo, and Geefreend arrived just in time as Wanna One delivered the final blow.

“How were they able to do that?” Dino questioned.

“Doesn’t “Lean On Me” copy a random X-Con technique from any present group in the area?” Suho recalled.

“But In-City seonbaenim isn’t here,” Sakura fact-checked.

“We refined the technique further,” Sungwoon explained. “Now, it allows us to replicate another squad’s X-Con technique whether they are present or not as long as we know how the technique works and what its effects are.”

“How do you keep getting stronger and stronger each year?” Moonbyul whined.

“We have to continue to improve ourselves to better perform our duties to the kingdom,” Minhyun reasoned. “Speaking of duties to the kingdom, Daehwi and Seongwu…”

With a simple nod, Daehwi and Seongwu understood what Minhyun meant.

A gold magic circle appeared from under Wanna One and expanded outward to reach the borders of the kingdom. The technique healed up everyone and everything within the magic circle as it slowly moved up toward the sky. When the magic circle reached the clouds, it dispersed into small orbs of light.

It was the refined version of “The Heal”. Unlike before, Daehwi and Seongwu can now mentally decide who and what to include or exclude in the healing and rejuvenation process.

“There. Everyone is now healed throughout the whole kin—” Seongwu and the rest of Wanna One suddenly dropped to the ground.

“Wanna One! What’s wrong?” their fellow members of the Seventeenth Bicameral Chambers rushed to their aid.

As the only one remaining conscious albeit barely, Daehwi managed to explain in a series of words, “Side effect… B-Side… fainting… afterward…”

After saying those four phrases, Daehwi fainted as well.

“What did he say?” Kai was worried.

“If I understood correctly, the side effect of their B-Side X-Con technique causes them to faint after use,” Woozi deduced.

“But if so, how were they able to fight Origin like that? Truth be told, they were even fighting Origin whose power had quadrupled after all his soldiers died,” Wooseok searched for an explanation.

“And it has been a while since Wanna One-seonbaenim stopped the effects of ‘B-Side’. We even noticed their magical presence significantly decreased when they deactivated it,” Chaeyeon added. “If the technique causes them to faint after use, how were they able to keep up with Origin and ultimately defeat him?”

“Perhaps by rigorous training and sheer willpower,” RM speculated. “They have always been that unpredictably amazing.”

“So, let me get this straight,” Liz was stunned by her realization. “So, you’re saying that a severely weakened Wanna One-seonbaenim still overpowered Origin who quadrupled his powers?”

“That’s the only explanation,” Nayeon nodded.

“And that is how they gained our respect,” Hwasa stated

“Let’s just put them somewhere comfortable first and allow them rest,” S.Coups suggested.

“Let’s have a good night’s sleep as well. It’s been a long day, especially for you,” Suho suggested, referring to the Sixty-fifth Bicameral Chambers.

“We will check the other magical squads and our Seers first before settling in for the night,” Seungwoo bowed while the rest followed his actions. “We’ll see you all tomorrow, seonbaenims. Have a good night’s rest.”

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“Do you think he will wake up anytime today?” a hushed voice brought Daniel into consciousness.

“Who knows?” another voice replied. “I can’t even imagine how tiring it must be to become the power source for one group, let alone seventeen groups at the same time.”

“Not only that, Niel-ah was augmenting our powers and the young ones during the battle, plus he is also part of activating Boomerang,” the voice must have belonged to the person playing with his hair as the voice sounded close to his ears.

Unable to return to slumber, Daniel fluttered his eyes open. The first thing he saw was Seongwu near him. When he looked around, he saw his other members awake ─ Kuanlin, Jisung, and Sungwoon taking the long sofa, Woojin and Jihoon were sitting on one bed, Daehwi and Jinyoung were on the floor, and Jaehwan and Minhyun were standing on his bedside. Meanwhile, the rest of the Seventeenth Bicameral Chambers were there as well.

“After all these years, you are still the last person to wake up, Daniel-ah,” Sehun said with a teasing tone.

“Where are we?” Daniel asked as he rose from the bed, drowsiness evident in his tone.

“The Chosen Suite in the only hotel in Swing Province,” SinB was the first to respond.

“How are you guys feeling?” Hoshi inquired.

“A bit tired but generally better,” Minhyun answered. “How about everyone?”

The rest of the squads laughed as if they found Minhyun’s question ridiculous.

“Did I say something wrong?” Minhyun was puzzled.

“Nothing,” Jihyo dismissed. “You ask that question as if you weren’t the ones who fainted yesterday. And besides, your final X-Con before fainting has healed and replenished our energies.”

“Well… we don’t want to rush you but we have an event to attend,” Irene mentioned. “Please have your breakfast. We will be waiting in the lobby.”

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“Why are we going to the Entente Cordiale Hall?” Wanna One had no idea what was going on.

“We are meeting the public,” Wheein chuckled.

Unbeknownst to Wanna One, they were invited to a special meeting of the Sixty-fifth Entente Cordiale. IZ*ONE and X1 introduced them to the present magical squads. In turn, the magical squads were starstruck that nine of the legendary Ten Crests of Hallyu were standing in the same hall as them. Needless to say, the whole event turned into a mini meet-and-greet of some sort.

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After the eventful introduction, the two generations of Bicameral Chambers and the two Kingdom Seers returned to the Chosen Suite. A light talk was started and it led to the discovery that Endash, The Seraphim, and Jeansnew are direct Hitbig juniors to Bulletproof Scouts, SVT, and Geefreend and that Hitbig was now named Hive. Ace Spa also mentioned that they are from Essim Province, much to the surprise of both X-O and Velvety Red.

“We can’t express how grateful we are for your help in our period,” Seunggi expressed.

“Especially since we summoned you from your time without any warning,” Dongwook added.

“We are very much glad we could be of help to Hallyu at one time or another,” Jisung said.

“Unfortunately, the moment has come for you to return to your time to keep the timeline in order,” Seunggi revealed.

“And how exactly are we going to achieve that?” Jennie questioned.

“Are we going use Chronokinesis to travel back in time?” Yerin looked at Seongwu, Tao, and Joshua.

“Not at all,” Dongwook shook his head. “We are going to reverse the spell that summoned you here to bring you back safely to the correct point in time.”

“I see,” Xiumin said. “I guess this is goodbye.”

The eighteen squads exchanged quick embraces as a form of farewell. Afterward, each younger squad took hold of the Glinter that they personally retrieved from the Premier Ten; this took the curiosity of the Ten Crests members sans Wanna One.

“What are those you are holding?” Woozi asked.

“These are the artifacts we used to summon you from your time,” Eunbi replied. “This is what was missing which is why we could not summon In-City seonbaenim. We cannot find where their artifact is hidden.”

“Oh, about that…” Jihoon interrupted. “It’s in the Ellipsis Estate. We wrote the exact location in its entry in Light.”

“Also, don’t push yourselves too much,” Suho advised. “Just because we, the Ten Crests, are in your position before doesn’t mean you have to be like us.”

“Just be who you are as a group and perform your duties as best you can,” RM continued.

“We leave the kingdom in your capable hands,” S.Coups added.

“As for IZ*ONE and X1, you are already doing a good job. We might never know why there are two of you at the same time, but like you said before, it must be for the best. No pressure from us,” Daniel spoke on behalf of Wanna One.

“Thank you for that,” Seunggi was appreciative. “But now, we have to start the spell.”

The travelers from the past gathered in one area as the Glinters were held out in their direction.

“Before you leave, we just have to remind you of one thing,” Dongwook mentioned. “Please do not reveal any crucial information about the future when you return to your own time as this may distort the timeline and unintentionally change the future.”

“Noted.”

With chanted words and Glinter glow

The Ten Crests shall we now let go

Through time and space, all the same

Bring them back from whence they came

A magic circle opened as the nine squads were taken away by giant orbs of light, leaving the Chosen Suite relatively empty than before.

“Alright. Next mission,” Seunggi clapped his hands.

“Return the Glinters to their respective guardians,” Dongwook told the remaining squads.

The Sixty-fifth Bicameral Chambers were up to the task. Even if they wanted the lightsticks to remain in their custody, it was better that way. After all, they knew it was part of the agreement and that there must be a reason why the Premier Ten were tasked to safeguard it. And besides, Hallyu felt more impregnable than before, knowing that they had reliable allies they could call upon through space and time.

----- THE END -----

Chapter Text

IZ*ONE, X1, Endash, Pone Harmony, Temp Fist, Jeansnew, The Seraphim, Ivy, and Ace Spa were gathered in front of WIZ*ONE It just after the break of dawn. They were all dressed in their respective capelets, with IZ*ONE and X1 wearing their Chosen Capelets for this particular day. The two Kingdom Seers orbed in minutes later.

“I see you are all ready to go,” Seunggi glanced at them clad with scarves of red and blue gradient.

“We’re so excited. It will be our first time to attend as representatives of Hallyu,” Jungwon clasped his palms together.

“This is our first time to attend in an alternate universe,” Seungwoo said, gaining nods of approval from IZ*ONE and the rest of X1.

“There is nothing to be nervous about. Think of it like your regular Bicameral Meeting but on a larger scale.  Just hand over this report to the host and they will read it out for you,” Dongwook instructed while giving X1 a folder full of documents.

“And if the host announces that the Premier Ten has achieved quorum, you will be given a separate session during the convention which you must attend,” Seunggi added. “Once there, you have to provide a detailed report to the Premiers on the recent invasion and how the Premiers’ universes were indirectly involved in that attack.”

“Noted,” Eunbi responded.

“By the way, IZ*ONE and X1, did you wear have the Premier Ten necklaces we gave you yesterday?” Dongwook made sure.

“Those are important as they symbolize your identification as a member of the Arcnuas Alliance by virtue of being one of the Premier Ten,” Seunggi reminded them.

“Yes, daepyonim. All of us wore it today. We already checked,” Seungwoo assured.

“It’s time. I believe you already know about this year’s convention venue?” Dongwook confirmed.

“Safe travels, everyone, and enjoy the whole thing,” Seunggi advised.

With those final words, each member of the Sixty-fifth Bicameral Chambers left with their signature teleportation method.

It had been months since the end of the Novus Red Force invasion in Hallyu. Today was the appointed day for the annual Arcanus Alliance Convention. Thankfully, this year, the host had no problems organizing the convention.

The nine squads materialized exactly where the map included in the invitation specifically instructed them to go. What they first saw upon arrival was a large gate and a long pathway that led to a castle.

“Invitation, please,” the guard manning the gate requested.

IZ*ONE gave the invitation to the guard. When the guard inspected the invitation, his eyes widened.

The guard immediately bowed, “Welcome to Enchancia, dignitaries from the Hallyu Kingdom. Please, follow the pathway toward the castle.”

The Kingdom of Enchancia was this year’s host of the Arcanus Alliance Convention. After they conceded the hosting duties last year also due to an enemy attack, they expressed their commitment to host the convention this year instead. The Premier Ten agreed; they thought it was for the best to continue the hosting cycle from where they left off.

After minutes of walking, the nine representatives reached the front of the castle. They were welcomed by five people in regal attire.

“Eyes on me! Hello, we are IZ*ONE, the third rulers of the Kingdom of Hallyu.”

“Fly high, X1! Hello, we are X1, the fourth rulers of the Kingdom of Hallyu.”

“Plus Everything! Hello, we are Pone Harmony, a member of the Supreme Six of Hallyu.”

“One, two, connect! Hello, we are Endash, a member of the Supreme Six of Hallyu.”

“Dive into Ivy! Hello, we are Ivy, a member of the Supreme Six of Hallyu.”

“It's We! Hello, we are Temp Fist, a member of the Supreme Six of Hallyu.”

“I’m fearless! Hello, we are The Seraphim, a member of the Supreme Six of Hallyu.”

“Attention! Hello, we are Jeansnew, a member of the Supreme Six of Hallyu.”

“Be my æ! Hello, we are Ace Spa, a member of the Twilight Triad of Hallyu.”

“Welcome to our kingdom, rulers of Hallyu and entourage. It’s our huge honor and pleasure to host the kingdom that initiated the idea for the establishment of the Arcanus Alliance. I am Roland Winslow II, the current king of Enchancia,” King Roland II welcomed them. “This is my family.”

“My warmest welcome. I am Miranda Balthazar-Winslow, Queen of Enchancia.”

“Pleasure to meet you. I am Crown Princess Amber Winslow.”

“Greetings! I am Prince James Winslow.”

“And I am Princess Sofia Balthazar-Winslow, Enchancia’s representative to the Arcanus Alliance. Welcome to our humble kingdom,” a purple and pink scarf with the Arcanus Alliance insignia was hanging from her neck.

“It’s nice to finally meet you, Princess Sofia of Enchancia, Protector of the EverRealm. We have heard so much about your adventures and accolades even at such a young age,” Yohan lauded the young princess.

“Please, come this way. The Convention will be starting in just a few hours,” King Roland II ushered them inside.

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The Arcanus Alliance meeting started when all the present members settled in the hall.

“Good day, everyone, and welcome to the annual Arcanus Alliance Convention. I am Roland Winslow II, King of Enchancia, your host for this year,” King Roland II presided over the meeting.

“And I am Sofia Balthazar-Winslow, Princess of Enchancia and Protector of the EverRealm. I am also the official representative of our kingdom to the Arcanus Alliance,” Sofia took over, her purple and pink scarf moving along with her allowing the brooch on her left chest to catch light and shimmer. “To start the convention, we will have a roll call to verify which members are present and absent.

The roll call was done alphabetically. At the end of the roll call, it was found that the majority of the members were present at the convention.

“Now, I am pleased to announce that all ten Premiers are present for the Alliance’s fiftieth convention. It has been thirty years since they last achieved quorum,” Sofia paused briefly as the chamber filled with applause. “Let it be known to the Premier Ten that a separate session will convene for you following the conclusion of this assembly.”

“Oh, wow. All Premiers are here?” Keeho and Lew looked at each other.

“The recent developments in our kingdom might be the reason for that,” Sakura speculated.

Sofia masterfully steered the meeting forward, “And now, to our first agenda…”

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As the convention ended, the Arcanus Sandglass was handed over to Ms. Marinette Dupain-Cheng, the new Guardian of the Miraculous, as the next host. And true enough, when the regular session ended, the members of the Premier Ten were led into a different room for their exclusive meeting.

“Now, that everyone’s here, we shall begin. As much as I want the Hallyu representatives to lead the discussions, it’s their first time attending. So instead, I will be presiding over the meeting,” one female voiced out, showing her earcuff in the shape of the Premier Ten insignia. “I am Lucy Heartfilia, the representative for Fairy Tail.”

“Eyes on me! Hello, we are IZ*ONE, the third rulers of the Kingdom of Hallyu.”

“Fly high, X1! Hello, we are X1, the fourth rulers of the Kingdom of Hallyu,” Seungwoon led his team as both rulers of Hallyu displayed their necklaces which had the insignia of the Premier Ten. “Accompanying us are the other members of the Supreme Six and Twilight Triad.”

“I am Kinomoto Sakura from Tomoeda.” Sakura bowed, putting into display her intricate hair clip with the Premier Ten insignia.

“I am Wyatt Matthew Halliwell and this is my brother, Christopher Perry. We are the sons of Piper Halliwell, one of the Charmed Ones,” Wyatt introduced himself and his brother while showing their Premier Ten insignia bracelets.

“We are here as the representatives of the Halliwell line of Witches from San Francisco,” Chris added.

“I am Sawada Tsunayoshi, the Neo Vongola Primo,” Tsuna shyly introduced his group, raising their hands to show the cocktail ring with the insignia of the Premier Ten. “Together with me are my six Guardians.”

“We are the Special A Class of Hakusen Academy,” Takishima said on behalf of the class. Their neckties each being held by a necktie clip with the Premier Ten insignia décor.

“I am Minerva McGonagall, current Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry,” she tilted her hat adorned with a Premier Ten insignia hat pin.

“I am Choi Seungcheol, newly crowned King of Carat Kingdom. These are my two soulmates, Consorts Yoon Jeonghan and Hong Jisoo,” the new King of Carat stated as his Premier Ten insignia cufflinks gently shimmering in daylight. “Also joining us are my brothers and their respective soulmates.”

“Goodness gracious! Are those SVT-seonbaenim?” the Sixty-fifth Bicameral Chambers, except Jeansnew, discussed amongst themselves through Heeseung’s Telepathy. “The Carat Royal Family is that alternate universe’s version of SVT-seonbaenim? And they are all soulmates?”

“Good day, everyone. I am Wu Yifan, Guardian Legend of the Sky and the Chief Executive for Exoplanet’s Department of Diplomatic and Foreign Affairs. This is my significant other, Huang Zitao, Guardian Legend of Time,” Exoplanet’s Kris spoke up and twelve people gestured to their armlets with the insignia of the Premier Ten on their left bicep. “The rest of the Guardian Legends are also here to join the meeting.”

“Unbelievable! The Guardian Legends of Exoplanet are alternate versions of X-O seonbaenim?” the Hallyu dignitaries, except Aespa, continued to gossip telepathically. “We definitely need to visit the alternate universes some other time.”

In case you were wondering where is the representative for Hall University, there was none. In fact, Hall University had never been physically represented in any of the meetings before. This was due to its status as an Honorary Member of the Ten Premiers and the Arcanus Alliance.

“Thank you so much for that,” Lucy continued. “For our first agenda, the Kingdom of Hallyu will report about the recent invasion in their kingdom.”

Seungwoo and Eunbi adjusted the microphones to face each of them. They were the ones tasked to deliver the report. The rest of the Premiers were eager to hear their report.

“This is the report on the Novus Red Force’s invasion of Hallyu Kingdom and how it all started and ended because of the Premier Ten...”