Location: DMZ Border Forest, Near Goseong AM
The air shimmered unnaturally near the rift. Trees bent backward, pulled by an invisible force. Military units had evacuated, leaving behind empty tents and overturned equipment.
A dark mist spiralled out from the portal like black silk threads.
From within, a humanoid figure emerged—tall, cloaked, and faceless. Its body glitched as if reality struggled to render it.
Behind it, in another dimension, countless timelines twisted like roots of a dying tree.
"Fixed points must collapse… balance must return," it whispered in an ancient language."The Empress does not belong…"
Location: Seoul – Royal Underground Defense Room
Professor Song, Woo-jin, and Dephnie stood before a holographic projection of multiverse data. Everything was unstable—lines crossing, looping, vanishing.
"Whatever came through that rift is not from a parallel universe," Professor Song explained, voice shaky. "It's outside the multiverse. An interdimensional parasite."
Woo-jin crossed his arms. "So, what does it want?"
Dephnie stepped forward. "Me."
Lee Gon entered the room, his royal attire replaced by a tactical uniform. He looked every bit the emperor and protector.
"You were never supposed to stay in this world," he said softly to her. "Your existence here created the anomaly. Now… that thing is coming to restore balance."
Dephnie's heart pounded. "Then we fight."
Location: Jeju Island – Abandoned Observatory
Dephnie and Woo-jin flew by helicopter to retrieve a dimensional stabilizer, an invention only half-tested. As they entered the broken-down observatory, alarms started flashing on Dephnie's wrist device.
A flicker.
A presence.
It was already there.
The interdimensional entity appeared before them. Glitches swirled around its form. It reached toward Dephnie.
Woo-jin shot at it with a pulse rifle. The bullets passed through, slowed, and vanished in thin air.
"Run!" he shouted.
They barely escaped, blasting the stairs behind them.
Location: Seoul – Throne Hall
Lee Gon stood before the entire palace guard. "Seal the gates. No one enters or leaves without my command."
He held up an ancient sword glowing with golden inscriptions. "If this creature seeks my Empress, it will find me waiting."
Dephnie entered, breathless from the escape. "We can't keep running forever."
Lee Gon looked at her, conflicted.
"Then we make the universe choose."
Location: Border of North Korea—Inside the Rift
The creature slithered back into its dimension, dragging a stolen object—a watch, Dephnie's old childhood gift to Lee Gon, torn from their palace.
Inside its realm, mirrors reflected countless versions of them—some lovers, some strangers, some enemies.
It smiled, or tried to.
"Fate must be rewritten…"
End of Episode 16