In the distance, an island appeared and vanished repeatedly with each flash of lightning.
I quickly led the children toward that island.
"Kids! This way!"
We were in the open sea.
We had to avoid the house-sized waves and the pounding rain.
But more urgently, we had to avoid the lightning constantly striking from the sky.
Cho would survive a lightning strike, but the rest of us—including myself—couldn’t be sure we’d live through it.
—Tzzzr! 『Got it, Dad!』
—Shiaaa! 『Yes, Master So-ryong.』
—Swaaaa!
The blinding downpour and °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° the unrelenting lightning overhead continued the whole way toward the island.
—Splash!
We were cutting through the storm, flying low toward the island, when a frantic voice from Yohwa came through the group chat.
『—Kishit! (Brother! Slow down a little! Hwanji and Hwana lost sight of you!)
—Shuu. (Master So-ryong! A wave separated us!)
—Shii. (Please slow down a bit, Master So-ryong!)』
I turned back.
Hwanji and Hwana were nowhere in sight.
But they should’ve been carrying Jeokwol, Moji, Soji, and Yohwa on their backs.
We’d probably flown too low in order to avoid the lightning, and the waves had surged high enough to separate us.
"I’ll go check!"
"No. It’s too dark at night to see clearly. Let’s stick together or we might get scattered."
Gun Hye-rin, who had been flying beside Yeondu, offered to go, but I stopped her and immediately spoke to Yohwa.
『“Wait just a moment! Yohwa, ask Sister Jeokwol to shine some light. If she can’t, then ask Moji or Soji.”』
Kishishi! 『Got it!』
I asked Yohwa to get Sister Jeokwol, Moji, or Soji to emit light so we could spot each other in the dark ocean.
If we made one mistake out here, we could all get separated.
Then, I looked up to the sky and asked Cho to fly upward the moment lightning struck.
It was dangerous, but if we wanted to find the others, we had to gain more altitude.
"Cho, I think Hwanji and Hwana lost us. Try flying a bit higher."
Tzzzr. 『Got it, Dad.』
We rose a bit into the sky, and then I saw it.
A flickering red glow far behind us in the darkness of the night sea.
It was a signal from Sister Jeokwol, above Hwanji and Hwana.
That vivid red glow in the black sky.
"There they are!"
I dove back down to sea level and pushed through the crashing waves toward them.
Moments later, we reached the spot above their heads and confirmed the children’s presence.
"Are you all okay?"
Kissit. 『We’re fine. We just lost track of you for a moment.』
They were thoroughly soaked, but none of them seemed hurt.
Sister Jeokwol, Moji, and Soji were waterproof by nature.
Yeondu, Hwanji, and Hwana, being reptiles, had water-repellent scales.
Yohwa, covered in fur, was damp from the rain but generally waterproof, so she wasn’t in any serious danger either.
"Yohwa, shoot a thread and tie it around my waist. Just in case we get separated again."
Kishishi. 『Ah! I know what you mean!』
To be safe, I had Yohwa wrap her silk thread around my waist.
That way, even if we got separated, she could just follow the direction the thread pulled.
We resumed heading toward the island.
This time, I kept an eye on the rear as we flew over the surface of the sea.
We hadn’t gone far when I suddenly felt the hair on my body stand up.
Even though I was completely drenched, every fine hair on my skin was standing on end.
It felt like that eerie sensation you get right before something terrible happens.
What the hell...?
In the next instant, my body plummeted downward.
Cho suddenly threw me off and shot upward into the sky.
"Cho!"
Tzzrrt! 『Dad! I’m sorry!』
I shouted in panic, and Cho’s voice rang in my ears.
Through the water swallowing my vision, I saw lightning crash down directly onto Cho’s body.
—SPLASH! KRRRAAAAK!
—FLASH!
If she’d been even a moment slower, I would’ve taken the strike too.
That prickling sensation must’ve been a premonition—lightning was imminent.
Cho must’ve realized it instinctively and threw me into the sea.
Maybe the reason it targeted me was because I had throwing needles and mirrors hidden in my clothes.
That was probably enough to draw lightning in the middle of this open sea.
D-Damn. I nearly died.
As I was still catching my breath, a massive wave slammed over me.
KRAAAASH.
I was tossed helplessly underwater, but then the thread around my waist tugged—and a familiar spider leg grabbed me.
Kissit! 『Brother, are you alright!?』
“Puh! Y-yeah, I’m fine!”
Yohwa pulled me up from the sea and carried me on her back.
Then came Cho’s worried voice.
『—Tzzrrt!? (Dad, are you okay!?)』
"Cho, I’m fine. Yohwa saved me."
Tzzrrrrrr. (I thought lightning was going to strike any second.)
"I know. I know. You did great."
Tzzrr. (I’ll just keep flying like this. Follow me from behind.)
"You sure you’re okay?"
Tzzrt. (Yeah. I actually feel even more energized somehow.)
She had some natural resistance to lightning, but still, I was worried.
Yet Cho said she felt more energized.
Relieved, I followed behind her.
—RUMBLE!
Cho took two more lightning strikes before we finally made it to the island.
It was a small coral island, without any mountains, just trees barely taller than a person.
"Let’s get under the trees and wait out the rain!"
We all headed toward the trees for shelter, and once we reached the grove, we saw it.
A path.
A clearly man-made path appeared under the trees.
"A path?"
"Does someone live here? I’ll check it out."
"Alright."
Gun Hye-rin volunteered to scout the area.
She wasn’t much for cooking or chores, but she was more than capable when it came to recon.
After a while—long enough to sip tea—Gun Hye-rin came running and shouted.
"There’s an abandoned house and a temple over there!"
The island wasn’t that large, but there were clearly traces of human habitation.
I immediately called out to everyone.
"Then let’s head that way!"
If there was even a bit of roof left, it would be better for shelter than hiding under trees.
It truly felt like a typhoon was rolling in—the wind and rain were so relentless that even beneath the trees, we couldn’t escape the downpour.
The rain, swept sideways by gusts, came at us like water sprayed from a showerhead in every direction.
"Over here!"
We ran down the soaked path and arrived at the island’s center, where we spotted houses.
It looked like a fishing village, but it had long been abandoned.
Most of the houses had collapsed.
Tattered nets still clinging to broken beams fluttered in the wind and rain, giving off a gloomy, desolate mood.
But past those ruined homes, in the forest, there stood a temple.
Though no longer visited by people, the temple remained mostly intact.
Wol-a Temple.
The signboard read: Wol-a Temple—meaning Crescent Moon Temple, since "wol-a" refers to a crescent moon in Central Plains language.
"Excuse me for intruding. Wait, what am I saying—aren’t all Central Plains temples basically mine now?"
"What do you mean by that?"
"Ah, it’s nothing. Just saying."
As I stepped into the temple gates and greeted it instinctively, I realized—aren’t all temples in the Central Plains kind of mine now?
We headed to the main hall, which was still intact, and made camp.
Hwanji and Hwana were too big to enter, so they chose to rest in the forest instead.
—Swaaaah.
"You sure you’ll be alright?"
—Shua. 『Of course. We’re big, so when it rains like this, we usually just rest under trees.』
—Shiii. 『Master So-ryong, don’t worry. We just curl our bodies and rest our heads beneath the coils. It’s fine.』
"Alright. Let me know if you get cold or anything."
—Shuaaa. 『Hehe. Got it.』
I left Hwanji and Hwana resting beneath the densely grown trees near the temple and returned to the hall, where Gun Hye-rin was building a fire using broken doors and chairs from the collapsed houses.
The main hall warmed up quickly.
I took off my soaked outer layer, wrung it out near the fire, and asked:
"You found dry wood?"
Gun Hye-rin pulled a stick from a nearby pile and showed me something curious.
—Ssszzzzz.
She held the wood and poured energy into it—steam erupted, and it instantly dried, turning crispy and light.
She looked like a human dehydrator.
Seeing my impressed expression, she explained,
"I used the Trance Flame to remove the moisture and start the fire."
"Oh. That sounds useful."
"Should... should I teach you?"
"Really?"
"Of course. You’re the m-master, aren’t you?"
It seemed incredibly useful.
No wonder her clothes were already perfectly dry.
"Please teach me right away."
"Alright."
—RUMBLE.
—CRASH!
While I was learning how to use the Trance Flame from Gun Hye-rin to dry my body and things, the thunder and rain continued outside.
***
—RUMBLE!
Outside, the storm still raged with wind and thunder.
Hwa-eun’s worried voice came through the group chat.
『“Is the storm still bad today?”』
"Yes, Hwa-eun."
No wonder she asked—this was now the third day, and the rain hadn’t let up.
We were on Wol-a Island.
According to Ji-ryong, whom Hwa-eun had contacted, it was a coral island southwest of Taiwan.
That explained the name Wol-a Temple.
We’d been stranded here for three full days.
The intense storm and constant lightning made it impossible to travel further.
A little while later, Hwa-eun asked again, sounding a bit alarmed.
『“Now that I think about it—what about food? It’s an island. How are you eating? Are there even animals there?”』
It had just dawned on her, it seemed.
Normally, martial artists hunt birds, deer, or boar for food.
But this was a small island—likely hard to find anything to hunt.
I smiled as I replied.
We were eating just fine, after all.
『“There’s a well in the village, but we’re drinking rainwater. As for food, Cho’s been handling that, so it’s all good.”』
“Cho?”
Just then, the main hall’s doors opened—and Cho entered with a proud air.
Tzzrr. 『Dad, it’s a big one today!』
Clamped in Cho’s jaws was a giant stingray.
Tonight’s dinner: steamed stingray.
"Ooh! Looks delicious!"
There were no seagulls here, so fish was our only option.
But with this storm, going out to fish wasn’t feasible.
So Cho had been diving into the sea and catching them for us.
Yesterday, I tasted dolphin meat for the first time in my life.
“People say dolphins are mammals—makes sense now. It was insanely good.”
Now I understood why some countries hunted whales and dolphins.
Dolphin was, indeed, a mammal.
It had its own distinct scent, but the flavor rivaled any land-based meat.
It was so good, I smoked some and hung it from the temple ceiling to give to Hwa-eun later.
As I took the stingray from Cho to start preparing it, I spoke to Hwa-eun.
『“Yes, Cho’s been catching fish from the sea for us.”』
『“I see. That’s a relief.”』
The stingray, lightly boiled with a bit of seawater, was absolutely delicious.
Being a cartilaginous fish, stingray had soft bones, was easy to prepare, and its flesh was firm and chewy.
The big one Cho caught would probably feed us for another two days.
After the meal, Gun Hye-rin was lying back on a bed of dried grass she had gathered, rubbing her belly.
Then suddenly, the voices of Hwanji and Hwana called out.
『—Shuu. (Master So-ryong! Over here, quick!)
—Shii. (Master So-ryong, come outside now!)』
Something must’ve happened.
I shot up and ran outside like a bolt of lightning.
"W-what’s wrong, Master!?"
"Hwanji and Hwana said to come out, quick!"
Gun Hye-rin followed after me in alarm.
That’s when I saw it—high in the sky, the clouds were flashing in multiple colors.
Gun Hye-rin’s eyes widened in shock as she gasped out a single word.
"Seven-Colored!?"
One side of the sky was glowing in seven distinct colors.
It shimmered with the brilliance of a rainbow fire.
