By the looks of it, Seunghyun’s group was outnumbered at least two to one. There was an air of uncertainty because of the Shadows newfound ability to hide their auras. There was no way to know if anymore Shadows were hiding in the area.

The six warlocks, three standing on each side of the death knight, jumped off their mounts and the dark fiery mane horses disappeared. The warlocks took a few steps forward and started casting Shadow Bolt. In their hands, balls made of a dark matter started forming with greenish fire lighting up around them. It took only a few seconds for them to finish casting and launch the bolts at Seunghyun’s group.

Everyone darted in different directions to avoid being hit, but Seunghyun raised his sturdy shield and blocked the two bolts directed towards him. He threw the backpack he was carrying on his right shoulder and reached for the heavy mace attached to his back. Seunghyun moved his feet; the heavy boots dug into the soft soil, and crouched slightly to prepare his attack.

In a sudden burst of speed, he took off running faster than anyone expected of a warrior clad in heavy armor and struck one of the warlocks with his shield. Seunghyun had used an attack called Shield Bash, which caused him to run quickly and strike his enemy with his shield. The warlock had no way of avoiding the attack and he flew backwards and landed unconscious a few feet behind the death knight.

The other four warriors followed their leader’s movement and used their Charge ability to quickly strike the rest of the warlocks with their weapons. They unfortunately were charged back at by the warriors the death knight had brought with them. Sharp and heavy weapons clashed as the warriors began fighting amongst each other.

Seunghyun had now focused his attention on the death knight, who had dismounted, and waited for Seunghyun to attack him. His sword clashed against Seunghyun’s mace and the two of them exchanged a few more blows. Neither of them was willing to give up to the other, but the death knight did have an advantage over Seunghyun with his magical abilities.

The warlocks on both sides had summoned their demons to aid them in battle. Jiyong, being an affliction warlock, was casting curses on all the enemies he spotted in order to help weaken them. The other warlock with him was beginning to set the battlefield ablaze with all his fire attacks; nothing less was to be expected of a destruction warlock.

The enemy warlocks had begun to counter the affliction abilities of Jiyong. Just like Jiyong, they focused on casting curses and damage over time spells on Seunghyun’s group. The rogues managed to spare themselves with their Cloaks of Shadow which helped them avoid being hit by magical spells.

Kyurhee had informed Yonghwa and Jonghyun that their trademark abilities were useless in this battle. They could not go in stealth mode because the enemy would be able to sense them; therefore, their strongest attacks could not be used. Yonghwa was one to not give into his weakness, so as he struck and killed one rogue that had attacked him, he went into stealth mode and managed to kill a shadow priest in one blow.

Kyurhee had already fended off three rogues and was now running towards one of the destruction warlocks who had focused his attacks on the two shadow priests of her group. Both priests already had their hands full dealing with the enemy priests and trying to keep everyone alive by casting their vampiric abilities that not only healed their teammates but helped keep their energy up to continue fighting or casting spells.

Their protective shields were barely managing to keep them safe. The destruction warlock’s spells were quickly burning away the barrier and soon the priests would be vulnerable to all the attacks directed towards them.

As Kyurhee neared him, she jumped in order to stab the warlock on his shoulder and render his ability to move his arms. Before she could land her attack, a whip suddenly came out of nowhere and wrapped around her left ankle. The owner of the whip pulled Kyurhee down and she landed hard on the ground. Kyurhee grunted as she felt a sharp pain run down her back caused by the rough landing.

She looked up to look at the owner of the whip who now stood before her in all her succubus glory. The succubus was stunningly beautiful, her voluptuous form was squeezed into a tight leather bodice, large bat wings unfurled from her back, and she cracked her whip on her thigh. Kyurhee couldn’t fight back the unresisting aura of the succubus and looked down at the succubus’s thigh and then at her hoofed feet.

The succubus suddenly began straddling Kyurhee and ran her left hand down the side of Kyurhee’s face and leaned closer to the rogue. “Your hornsss…they’re similar to mine.”

Kyurhee wanted to push the seductive demon off of her, but found that she couldn’t move her body not matter how much she tried. The succubus had already used her seduction ability to render Kyurhee motionless.

“Let’s have some fun…” The succubus whispered as she leaned down closer to Kyurhee and captured the rogue’s lips in a passionate yet soothing kiss. Any desire Kyurhee had of attacking the succubus had now disappeared. She was completely at the mercy of the vixen.

The succubus let out a cackle and started lashing at Kyurhee with her whip. “Couldn’t resist, could you?” She asked and cackled even more. Kyurhee winced at the pain from the succubus’s attacks but could still not move her body.

The seduction did begin to wear off after another few lashes and Kyurhee started to try and move her arms to stab the succubus with her daggers. The succubus noticed this and tried to seduce the rogue once more but a dark blue figure suddenly stood behind the succubus. She turned around to face the ghastly void walker who roared and lashed at the succubus with his sharp clawed right hand.

A shadow bolt then struck the succubus and she cried in pain as she got pushed off Kyurhee by it. By now all of the control of her own body had returned to Kyurhee and she began to move to stand up although slower than she wanted.

“Kyurhee!” Jiyong called out to his friend as he approached her and began draining what life remained of the succubus. Another slash from Jiyong’s void walker and the succubus fell over dead.

The owner of the succubus turned to face Jiyong and Kyurhee in order to attack them for killing his demon but he was struck from behind by Jonghyun and simultaneously decapitated by Jongkook’s massive sword. The warlock had managed to kill one of the priests though and all that remained was the lone priestess, who healed Minhyuk, turned to another warlock.

Jonghyun and Jongkook nodded at Kyurhee and took off to fight more enemies. Jiyong had turned away from Kyurhee now as well and was focused on striking down one of the priest’s who was focusing on keeping the enemy healed and alive.

Kyurhee looked around the battlefield and noticed that many of the enemy Shadows had fallen but more than half still remained and the losses to her group so far were three. One priest and two warriors. Seunghyun continued his struggle against the death knight who seemed to almost be toying with the warrior without even using any of his magical abilities.

The death knight was Kyurhee’s main target. She wanted to focus her attacks on him but the selfishness of doing that would put her allies in danger. But Kyurhee needed to be selfish at this moment; she needed to bring that death knight down at all costs.

A dark shadow suddenly loomed behind Kyurhee and she turned around to see what it was. There was a loud roar as she turned around and she came face to face with two Infernos. The gigantic demons were made of boulders and green flames burst from the crevices of the different boulders that made up their bodies. They looked straight down at Kyurhee with their green flamed eyes and roared once more before moving their right arms to crush Kyurhee with them.

The rogue stared intently at them; the purple glow from her eyes seemed to intensify as she watched the two giant fists made of rock come down her way. There was a loud crashing sound after the Infernos struck the spot where Kyurhee was.

Seunghyun kneed the death knight in the stomach and then took a few steps forward as he saw the Infernos crush Kyurhee before him. “Kyurhee! Agh!” Seunghyun yelled out.

The death knight laughed loudly as he struck Seunghyun’s midsection with his sword. His midsection was left unprotected by the two pieces of plate metal that made up his chest armor and lower body armor.





After promising Jieun that she would go to her recording session, Jiyeon had asked Eunjung to take her straight home after school because she wanted to do her homework and then go to bed early. Eunjung had not questioned Jiyeon’s wishes and did as the girl told her. Jiyeon was thrilled when Eunjung had done what she had asked of her.

Jiyeon had not told Eunjung about her plans with Jieun this evening because if she had, Eunjung would have insisted in taking Jiyeon to the studio and being there with her while they waited for Jieun to finish. Even though she loved Eunjung, sometimes being with her, being followed by her, or just calling Eunjung to let her know where she was going was becoming suffocating. For once, Jiyeon wanted to spend a normal afternoon with her best friend supporting Jieun in her endeavors.

The fact that no Shadow had attacked Jiyeon since the day she met Eunjung had made Jiyeon a little too comfortable. Adding the fact that she had gotten a good control on her powers had made Jiyeon a bit cocky about it as well. She was sure that nothing would happen to her if she went somewhere without any Guardian or Guardians watching over her.

So when Jieun and Taeyang pulled up in front of her apartment building to pick her up, Jiyeon didn’t expect to be followed. Jiyeon greeted Jieun and Taeyang as she stepped into the limousine that was going to take them to the studio. Mr. Yang had asked Taeyang to pick up Jieun in one of the company limousines so that Jieun could feel like a star on her way to the studio.

Hwayoung who had been watching over the area with her group noticed the limousine when it had first arrived. She didn’t know why it was here, but when she saw Jiyeon come out of the apartment building and step inside the limousine she was shocked. The majority of the time, unless she was going out with her parents, Eunjung would accompany Jiyeon everywhere but she was nowhere to be found right now.

Hwayoung asked the Guardians in her group to remain in the area while she followed Jiyeon. She had been standing on the roof top of the restaurant across the street from Jiyeon’s apartment building so the jump down the side of the building wasn’t very high. Hwayoung quickly ran to the Jeep Wrangler that she had arrived in and pulled off to follow the limousine Jiyeon was in.

The youngest of the Elite Six was unsure if she should call Eunjung and let her know about this but she decided to leave it be and just follow Jiyeon. She was a skilled warrior so if anything did happen, Hwayoung was sure she could protect Jiyeon just as well as Eunjung could.

Hwayoung was surprised to see that the limousine pulled up the YG Entertainment building. She parked the Jeep a few hundred feet behind the limousine and watched as Jiyeon, another girl around Jiyeon’s age, and a guy stepped out of the vehicle. The guy suddenly made the hairs on the back of Hwayoung’s neck stand up as she felt his aura all the way to where she was. It wasn’t a very powerful aura, but nonetheless, Hwayoung knew he was a Shadow.

Jiyeon has to know he’s a Shadow, but why is he with her and that girl? Are they friends? When the limousine pulled away from the side of the road, Hwayoung moved the Jeep closer to the YG building and parked it in an open parking space on the opposite side of the street. Hwayoung remained in the car and waited patiently outside.

Inside the YG building, Taeyang led both Jieun and Jiyeon to the room where Seungri was recording his album. When they entered the room, they heard Seungri singing a verse of a song while the music played loudly in the room. There was a guy wearing a baseball cap listening to Seungri and adjusting various levers on the sound board. He turned around and smiled at the group.

“Okay Seungri, that’s enough for now.” He told Seungri and turned to face Taeyang and the two girls.

“Hey bro!” Teddy greeted Taeyang and then looked at the two girls. “Such beautiful ladies. Which one of you is Jieun?”

Jieun practically jumped towards Teddy with a grin on her face and bowed before him. She recognized him as soon as they had walked in the room. “I’m Jieun! It’s so nice to finally meet you Teddy sunbaenim.”

“Aww…” Teddy blushed slightly and bowed back at Jieun. “Please don’t be so formal with me. Taeyang has talked a lot about you lately. You certainly stole our boy’s heart Jieun-ah. He didn’t mention how beautiful you were though. I think I might have to steal you away.”

Jieun blushed and grinned at Teddy’s comment and the wink he gave her. Taeyang stared at his friend for flirting with his girlfriend. Teddy then turned to Jiyeon, “And you are?”

Jiyeon gave him a smile and bowed. “I’m Park Jiyeon; Jieun’s best friend. It’s nice to meet you sir.”

“Nice to meet you too Jiyeon. I’m Teddy, one of the producers and composers here at YG.” Teddy told her and then went back to sit on his chair.

Seungri had taken off his headphones and walked out of the recording room by now to greet everyone as well. He greeted Taeyang and the older boy introduced Seungri to his girlfriend. Seungri greeted Jieun and then turned his attention to Jiyeon. He was struck by her beauty and almost felt a little shy when he introduced himself to Jiyeon.

“Nice to meet you Jiyeon…and I must say, you’re gorgeous.” Seungri said as he took Jiyeon’s hand in his a placed a kiss on it.

Jiyeon was taken aback by the singer’s actions but blushed a bit. “Thank you…”

“Hey man! I didn’t bring Jiyeon and Jieun here for the two of you to flirt with them.” Taeyang protested and Teddy and Seungri laughed.

“Don’t bring beautiful girls in here then!” Teddy yelled out and Seungri nodded.

Taeyang rolled his eyes. “Why don’t we just get started? I think Jieun’s voice will work well with yours Seungri.”

Seungri nodded and asked Jieun to follow him into the recording room. Taeyang and Jiyeon took a seat on the couch that was behind the soundboard and Teddy. Inside the recording room, Seungri handed a pair of headphones to Jieun and showed her which part of the lyrics she needed to sing.

“Once Teddy starts the music you will hear a backtrack with someone singing. You just have to match your singing to the key and melody. These are your individual lines and in this part here we sing together.” Seungri instructed and Jieun nodded.

Seungri signaled to Teddy and the older man started the music at the part where it was Jieun’s turn to sing. The young girl listened carefully to the track and sung out the words as she read them on the paper before her. The first try wasn’t the best so Teddy asked her to stop and restart it.

The recording session went on for sometime and Jiyeon was happy to see her best friend doing the one thing she loved which was singing. Jieun had caught onto the song and now she and Seungri were working on singing the part where their voices joined up. Jiyeon felt her stomach rumble and she knew it was because she was hungry.

“Taeyang oppa, is there anywhere to get something to eat here? I’m kind of hungry.” Jiyeon asked the older boy sitting next to her.

He turned to face her and nodded, “Yeah, there’s some vending machines on the first floor. I can take you to them if you’d like.”

“I would appreciate it.” Jiyeon told him and the two of them stood up from the couch and headed out of the room. They took an elevator to the first floor and then Taeyang led Jiyeon to the vending machines.

The vending machines where located in an empty hallway that lead to an exit. There were about five different ones with different things to choose from. Jiyeon decided to get something from the machine with chips and candy bars. Taeyang stood next to her thinking if perhaps he should get something as well and perhaps something to drink for Jieun. As the two of them stood there deciding, they began to feel as if there was something or someone around.

Jiyeon turned to look behind her and then turned back to the machine. “Oppa…why do I feel like there might be someone else around?”

Jiyeon knew that Taeyang was a Shadow. She could sense his aura every time he was near or around her so she knew that he could sense her and anyone else that had powers.

Taeyang turned to face Jiyeon as he put his money into the machine. “There’s no one around here but us. Oddly enough, I feel the same thing you do.”

Jiyeon frowned and began looking around again. She was certain that there was someone around and her suspicions were confirmed when the exit door suddenly opened and then closed. No one had walked out through there and a cold wind suddenly blew past both of them.

Taeyang and Jiyeon turned to face the door and then looked at each other as they shivered because of the cold wind. “What was that?” Taeyang said as he looked around.

Behind him, where his own shadow was, a Shadow appeared and pushed him against the vending machine. The same Shadow then turned to Jiyeon and grabbed her arm to take her with him. As soon as his hand touched Jiyeon, he felt the burning sensation and flinched from the pain caused by it.

“You’re coming with me!” He shouted at her and tried to drag Jiyeon away. Jiyeon was shocked by the sudden appearance and actions of the Shadow. Taeyang rubbed his forehead as he turned around and punched the Shadow away from Jiyeon.

The Shadow fell backwards and landed on his back. He had his face covered with a mask, so the only part of his face that could be seen were his eyes. They started glowing red as he stood up and took off running towards the exit. Jiyeon and Taeyang ran after him.

Outside of the YG building, Hwayoung had kept her eyes on the entrance of the YG building and at the alley located next to it. There had not been any kind of activity to alert her that Jiyeon was in danger until she sensed a strong aura coming from the building and it was not the one from the guy she had seen Jiyeon with earlier.

Hwayoung reached for her spear and took off running towards the building. Luckily for her, not many cars were driving by and no pedestrians were in sight. As she ran across the street, she saw someone in dark clothing with a mask on run out of the side of the building. Hwayoung headed towards the figure and behind him, Jiyeon and Taeyang came out running after the suspect.

Hwayoung gritted her teeth and threw her spear at the Shadow. The spear quickly flew through the air and stabbed through the chest of the Shadow killing him instantly. Jiyeon gasped at the sight of Hwayoung but then screamed when more Shadows suddenly appeared and grabbed her.

“Ah! Let go of me!” Jiyeon shouted. Taeyang turned around and cast a curse on one of the Shadows who had taken a hold of Jiyeon. The Shadow winced and let go of Jiyeon as he felt an excruciating pain shoot all around his body.

Another Shadow suddenly appeared and tackled Taeyang to the ground. Hwayoung ran up to the Shadow she had killed and pulled her spear out of his chest. As she looked up towards Jiyeon, more Shadows appeared out of nowhere and headed directly for Hwayoung.

Taeyang continued to struggle and wrestle the one who had attacked him. He rolled the Shadow over onto his back and punched him in the face, but then the Shadow reversed their positions and began punching Taeyang back.

“Immolate!” Taeyang shouted out and cast his spell to set the Shadow on fire. The Shadow screamed in pain as the flames engulfed his body. Taeyang pushed him off of him and then cast Shadow Bolt to send the burning Shadow flying back against the wall.

Meanwhile, Jiyeon was struggling to get the Shadow that was holding her back to let her go. A female Shadow suddenly appeared and tried to grab Jiyeon but the human girl blinded the female with a burst of light energy from her right hand. She then created a giant fist made out of light and punched the one that was still holding onto her with it. The Shadow flew back and crashed onto the wall already unconscious.

Hwayoung grinned as she noticed that all of the Shadows that had suddenly appeared were just warriors. They launched themselves at her but Hwayoung swung her spear in a circular motion to push them back. Most of them avoided the swing but one of them was caught by the tip of the spear which cut right through her neck. Hwayoung wasted no time and jab another Shadow with her spear through his stomach.

Jiyeon turned to look at the battle before her and was mesmerized by the beautiful way Hwayoung moved with her spear as she fended off the Shadows attacking her. A Shadow suddenly crashed against the wall next to Jiyeon and the young girl jumped back. The Shadow was burning alive by the flames engulfing his body. Jiyeon turned to the direction from which he came from and saw Taeyang casting different spells at the other two guys who had attacked him.

The Shadow Jiyeon had previously blinded shook her head as her vision returned and she ran towards Jiyeon. She wrapped one of her arms around Jiyeon’s neck and started dragging her back. “You won’t get away this time.”

Jiyeon struggled against the Shadow and managed to elbow her in the stomach. The Shadow fell back but suddenly two more Shadows were on Jiyeon holding her back. “Ahhhhh! LET ME GO!” Jiyeon yelled out as she struggled against the two bulky Shadows.

Hwayoung’s rapid jabs with her spear to the different Shadows managed to bring them all down. She turned around when she heard Jiyeon’s scream and started running towards her. Hwayoung threw her spear at one of the Shadows that was holding Jiyeon down, but instead it struck a stealthed rogue that was headed in Taeyang’s direction. Hwayoung continued running towards Jiyeon, but suddenly two rogues appeared and stabbed Hwayoung’s back with all four daggers.

Hwayoung gasped in shock. The extremely sharp daggers managed to penetrate the metal chest armor she was wearing and she felt some blood rush up through her esophagus as she was falling to the ground. The crimson liquid began to pool around her face as she lay on the ground unable to move and drowsy from the pain and blood loss she was encountering.

“HWAYOUNG!” Jiyeon yelled out as she saw the young warrior fall over. There was such desperation in Jiyeon’s voice at the moment. Jiyeon shut her eyes tight and began focusing her powers around her entire body.

“AAAAHHHHH!” She yelled out and the light energy around her body exploded and sent the two bulky Shadows flying. She panted hard and turned to the two rogues who had pulled their daggers out of Hwayoung and were now running towards her.

Jiyeon suddenly had her bow made out of light in her hands and she was aiming an arrow at the two rogues, but before she could unleash it, the same female Shadow struck the back of Jiyeon’s head with the shield she previously had attached to her back. Jiyeon fell forward and landed face first onto the concrete. Her lip busted open and began bleeding but she was not unconscious. She tried to get up but the warrior kicked her back down.

“You insolent !” The Shadow yelled at her and was about to strike her with her shield once more when a shadow bolt flew her way and struck in her the chest. There was a loud roar and Taeyang suddenly grew taller, his feet became hoofed, giant wings spread out from his back, his fingers became sharp claws and the only piece of clothing he wore now were some black pants. His entire body was purple and his golden yellow eyes shined brightly.

He had undergone a special ability that Demonology warlocks learned called Metamorphosis. This allowed the warlocks to use new abilities and take more damage than normal. He was a different kind of demon for the moment. Taeyang charged at the female Shadow, leaving a trail of fire behind him, and struck her with his claws. The claws left a deep wound in the neck of the Shadow and she quickly bled out.

The rest of the hidden Shadows appeared to deal with the demon before them. Taeyang turned to them and charged at them striking as many enemies as he could with his claws. The Shadows tried to dodge the best they could but the more Taeyang moved the more the ground lit up in flames. The metamorphosis didn’t last very long because Taeyang exhausted his energy faster in this form and he also had not completely mastered it yet.

He fell to his knees as he returned to his regular form and panted heavily. The Shadows launched themselves at him to finish him off but suddenly a priest clad in white robes landed before them. Soyeon sneered at all of them and slammed her staff onto the ground.

“Holy Nova!” She shouted and a dome of light spread from her, surprisingly healing Taeyang, and knocking all the Shadows backwards. More Guardians suddenly landed around the area and quickly began striking the remaining Shadows. In a matter of seconds, the Shadows fell to the Guardians and Soyeon turned her attention to Hwayoung.

There was a desperate look on Soyeon’s face as she kneeled down to heal Hwayoung. The warrior had been bleeding out all this time, there was a pool of blood around her, and her life was quickly fading. No, no, no, no, no, no! You can’t die on me Hwayoung Soyeon stood up and began casting her most powerful healing spell. Greater Heal engulfed Hwayoung’s body and completely healed all of the wounds in the warrior’s body.

Hwayoung took in a huge breath of air as she felt a bit of life kick back into her. She was no longer numb from the pain but she still remained weak over the blood loss. Soyeon turned to her Guardians, “Please get Hwayoung back to head quarters. She’s going to need a blood transfusion.”

The Guardians nodded at Soyeon and picked up Hwayoung. The mage in Soyeon’s group opened a portal to the warehouses and the Guardians stepped through with Hwayoung in tow. Soyeon turned to Jiyeon who was now sitting up with the help of Taeyang. Soyeon looked at Taeyang and was surprised to see that this unknown Shadow had actually helped defend Jiyeon.

“Jiyeon!” Soyeon called out to the young girl and kneeled down to come face to face with her. Soyeon turned to Taeyang, “Thank you for helping protect her.”

“It’s no problem. Thank you for the heal.” Taeyang responded and Soyeon looked at him surprised.

“I healed you?” Soyeon asked and Taeyang nodded.

“Yes, I’m surprised myself by it.”

“Soyeon unni…is Hwayoung unni going to be okay? It’s my fault she got hurt.” Jiyeon cried out.

“She will be fine Jiyeon but you need to come with me now. It’s safer if I take you back to HQ.” Soyeon told the young girl and helped her get up.

“Jiyeon, I’ll tell Jieun that you had an emergency and had to go back home. Please be careful you two.” Taeyang said and bowed at both girls.

“Thank you oppa for helping.” Jiyeon told him and Taeyang gave her a reassuring nod and hug.

“Please go now. I will gather these bodies and set up a contained fire to burn their bodies away.” Taeyang told them and Soyeon nodded. She grabbed Jiyeon’s arm and lead her to the Jeep Hwayoung had left on the other side of the street.





Seunghyun had avoided the death knight’s next attack by rolling out of the way and getting back on his feet quickly. Standing up so fast made Seunghyun’s injury hurt even worse but the warrior wasn’t going to let a shallow cut stop him from fighting the enemy. Kyurhee was still in his thoughts as he parried the next two attacks and he really hoped that the rogue had moved out of the way.

Kyurhee grinned as she stood up from the new spot she was in behind the two Infernos. She had rolled out of the way just before the Infernos would have crushed her to death. The Infernos were too big and dangerous to deal with on her own, so Kyurhee’s best bet was to kill the two warlocks controlling them. The rogue was surprised to see the two warlocks controlling the Infernos in their Metamorphosis Demon forms.

One of the warlocks was fighting against one of the warriors from her group so Kyurhee focused her attention on the other one. The Demon grinned and focused his long range spells on striking Kyurhee. The rogue knew she wouldn’t move as fast when she started running towards him, the pain from the lashings still lingered in her body, but she pushed on as she ran towards the warlock.

She increased her evasion abilities by making her body became almost translucent and when she neared the Demon, Kyurhee threw one of her daggers at him. The dagger struck the warlock in the middle of his chest and he fell back in pain. Kyurhee grabbed her dagger and then started striking the warlock multiple times building up her combination of attacks. She finished off the warlock by completely eviscerating his limbs off.

Kyurhee heard a roar behind her and knew that one of the Infernos fell to the ground in a pile of rocks now that his master was dead. She turned to head over to the other warlock but suddenly flames burst around her body and shadow bolt struck her. Kyurhee fell back crying out in pain but started rolling around to douse the flames on her body.

She slowly stood up and then felt a refreshing heal wash over her body. “The warrior has fallen Princess and the Commander seems to be in dire need. I’ll take care of this warlock.” The priestess told Kyurhee and ordered her shadow fiend to attack the warlock. The vile shadow creature hurriedly headed for the warlock to attack him.

Kyurhee looked around the battlefield and noticed that her group’s numbers had dwindled now. The only ones remaining were four rogues, Seunghyun, Jiyong, Jongkook, the priestess and herself. She could tell everyone was beginning to become exhausted and Seunghyun was losing against the death knight. The rogue gripped her daggers tightly and started running for the death knight.

Jongkook and Yonghwa were busy distracting the last remaining Inferno but their task was becoming even more difficult by the minute as suddenly more Shadows appeared to attack them. The Inferno was without mercy so luckily for the two of them, some of the enemy was being hit by the Inferno.

Minhyuk, Jungshin and Jonghyun all killed the warriors they were fighting at the same time and ran towards their two comrades to help fend off the new Shadows that had suddenly appeared. The all jumped at three different Shadows and stopped them from attacking Yonghwa and Jongkook.

“Yonghwa! Jongkook! Leave the Inferno to me and fight off the remaining enemy.” Jiyong shouted at them as he approached the scene. Jiyong dismissed his trusty void walker and began chanting the spell to summon his own Inferno.

In a matter of seconds, another giant Inferno formed and roared loudly as it started dashing towards the enemy Inferno. The two Infernos clashed and Jiyong did his best to aid his own Inferno by trying to shoot the enemy Inferno with a series of shadow bolts. The enemy Inferno let out a final roar as it broke off into individual boulders. The priestess had killed the last of the warlocks. Jiyong gave her a thumbs up and began focusing his Inferno on the enemy.

Kyurhee launched herself at the death knight and managed to clip his midsection with her daggers. The death knight growled and stood still as his Ice Fortitude spell covered his body and froze his blood solid. The spell prevented him from bleeding out. Kyurhee swung her daggers at him and he parried him with his sword.

Feed me…I hunger… The creepy voice Kyurhee heard coming from the sword stopped her attacks and this gave the death knight an opening. He blasted Kyurhee away from him with a strong freezing wind that left particles of ice on the rogue’s chest. Kyurhee flew back and landed on her back.

Seunghyun launched himself once more at the death knight. This time he was going to shield bash the death knight like he had done with the warlock earlier. His attack was effective as the death knight was pushed back several feet, but suddenly a swarm of insects began to surround Seunghyun and tried to bite him through his armor. Seunghyun waved his arms around to get rid of the insects so he was unable to block the next strike from the death knight.

The sword struck part of Seunghyun’s helmet and chest and the strike made him feel sick. He knew the strike had cast some kind of plague to attack his body. Skeletal arms spread out from the ground and grabbed a hold of the warrior’s legs. Seunghyun’s blood suddenly began to feel as if it was boiling inside him and he cried out in pain.

Disregarding the pain in her body, Kyurhee launched herself at the death knight once more. She buried her left dagger in the small space between the death knight’s neck and shoulder. The death knight grunted and managed to push Kyurhee off before she struck him once more. He reached for the dagger and pulled out and threw it on the ground.

Kyurhee stared at the death knight in shock because she had managed to catch a glimpse of his face through the small opening on his helmet. She breathe hard trying to catch her breath and next to her Seunghyun lay in pain as he tried to recuperate from the death knight’s successful attacks against him.

There was a wailing cry from the priestess as she was simultaneous stabbed by a group of rogues while she was trying to fend off another two. Jiyong turned his attention to the rogues who had stabbed her but he himself was backstabbed by a single rogue. The warlock felt the poison in the dagger quickly run through his body and his ability to cast any spells disappeared. He was drowsy and the pain was too much to bear. His Inferno roared and fell to the ground as Jiyong could not longer maintain him up.

Jungshin tackled the rogue who had stabbed Jiyong and sliced his throat open. Luckily for them, the Death Knight sent a signal to the entire enemy Shadows to retreat. He summoned his undead steed and mounted it. The death knight looked at Kyurhee once more then turned around to retreat with all of the enemy running behind him.

Kyurhee quickly shot up to start running after him but her exhaustion didn’t take her very far and she fell back to the ground after a few steps. I must catch him! I can’t let him escape!





Hyomin ran her left hand down Hwayoung’s face while her right hand was placed lightly on top of Hwayoung’s left forearm. The blood pack had already been set up so that it could run down the IV drip and enter Hwayoung’s body. The warrior had lost a significant amount of blood and if it hadn’t been for Soyeon, she could have died. Even though Hyomin was worried about Hwayoung, she was furious at Jiyeon. She blamed Jiyeon for not telling anyone her plans and leaving Hwayoung to follow and watch over her in such short notice.

Eunjung too was furious at Jiyeon’s actions. No one could tell how angry Eunjung was because of her expressionless face but the girl could certainly feel the fury running through her body. She stared at Jiyeon who was sitting on chair in front of Eunjung. Jiyeon’s busted lip had been healed by Soyeon but there were blood stains on her shirt. The young girl hung her head low; she knew she was about to get yelled at and scolded.

“Jiyeon…” Eunjung started off. She took a deep breath and then sighed. “Why did you go out without telling anyone? Don’t you realize how dangerous it is for you to be out on your own?”

Jiyeon didn’t raise her head to look at Eunjung. She wanted to say something but she just ended up biting her bottom lip. Soyeon, Qri, and Boram remained silent as Eunjung scolded Jiyeon. They could hear in Eunjung’s voice her frustration and anger something that was quite rare for their leader.

“Answer me Jiyeon!” Eunjung yelled out and placed both hands on the arm rests of the chair Jiyeon was sitting on. The sudden added weight pressing on the chair and Eunjung’s close proximity made Jiyeon jump. She looked back at Eunjung and fought back the tears getting ready to stream down her face.

Jiyeon shut her eyes and let the tears roll down. “I’m sorry!” She cried out and kept sobbing. “I didn’t think anything would happen! No one had attacked me since the day we met!”

The young girl cried harder now. Jiyeon had realized her mistake and because of her Hwayoung had almost died. She was blaming herself for everything that had happened and Eunjung’s words and demeanor brought her no comfort.

Eunjung gripped the arm rests even harder until her knuckles turned white. She growled and pulled the two wooden arm rests completely off the chair. Jiyeon jumped up once again and looked at Eunjung in fear. Qri and Boram gasped and both of them took a step to try and get closer to Jiyeon but Soyeon held the two girls back with her staff. They looked at the priestess who shook her head letting them know not to interfere.

Eunjung panted and threw the arm rests in the direction behind her. “JUST BECAUSE NO ONE HAD ATTACKED YOU DIDN’T MEAN YOU WERE COMPLETELY SAFE!”

Eunjung kneeled down before Jiyeon and grabbed the young girl’s face with both hands. She wiped Jiyeon’s tears away with her thumbs and looked directly into Jiyeon’s eyes. Jiyeon looked back at Eunjung and noticed that the older girl seemed to be calm now.

“Jiyeon, I’m sorry if me being with you constantly bothers you. I know that you would like to go out on your own like you used to before we all came into your life and completely turned it around, but you can’t do that anymore. Even though you’re learning to use your powers, you’re no where near being able to defend yourself on your own.” Eunjung pulled Jiyeon into an embrace and Jiyeon held on tightly to the older girl as she sobbed.

“Also, do not blame yourself for what happened to Hwayoung. Her duty as one of your Guardians is to protect you at all costs even if it means losing her own life. The mistake she made was that she herself did not call anyone else to let them know she was following and watching over you. Thanks to Hyomin’s plan of having Guardians all around the city, Soyeon’s group was able to respond when they sensed the Shadows.” Eunjung’s words were now making Jiyeon feel better but she still felt a little guilty about what happened to Hwayoung.

“I promise I won’t ever do that again. I’m sorry.” Jiyeon pulled away from Eunjung and wiped her tears away with the back of her hands.

“Please get some rest now. I’ll take you home after you’ve rested. Boram, Qri, please take Jiyeon up to my room so she can take a nap.” Eunjung ordered the two girls and they quickly walked up to Jiyeon and placed their arms around the young girl to help her up.

As the mage and hunter led Jiyeon up the stairs to Eunjung’s room, Soyeon turned to Eunjung. “There was a Shadow with Jiyeon when my group and I arrived to help her. He was risking his own life to defend her and when I cast Holy Nova, the spell healed his injuries.”

Eunjung looked down at Soyeon and thought about who it could have been. Soyeon had told her earlier they were near the building of the YG Entertainment Company. Eunjung then remembered that Jiyeon had mentioned to her that Jieun’s boyfriend worked for the company. “He’s not one of Jaehee’s men. I’ll have to ask her about him.”






“Jiyong! Jiyong!” Jungshin called out to the unconscious warlock. He turned Jiyong around to see the two daggers embedded on the warlock’s back. Jungshin inspected the flesh near the entry wound of the daggers and gasped.

Hearing Jiyong’s name being called out in desperation made Seunghyun forget about how he was feeling and the pain running through his entire body. He stood up and ran as best as he could over to where Jiyong was. Everyone else ran towards the direction Seunghyun was running to see what had happened to Jiyong.

“Jiyong! Nooo!” Seunghyun yelled out as he took his boyfriend’s body off of Jungshin’s arms.

“Is he dead?” Jongkook asked and looked at everyone.

“No, but he’s been poisoned and will eventually bleed out even with the daggers still embedded in his body. He needs immediate medical attention.” Jungshin explained.

“Poisoned? We need to get the poison out of his bloodstream!” Seunghyun grabbed one of the daggers to pull it out but Jungshin stopped him.

“Don’t pull it out! He will stay alive longer with the daggers still inside him.”

“But…but…”

“Jungshin is right.” Kyurhee said as she looked at Jiyong.

“The poison running through him is Mind-numbing Poison. It’s not lethal; it is only meant to cloud spell casters minds and slow down their ability to cast spells. Jiyong fainted from the pain and exhaustion of the battle.” Jungshin explained.

“Seunghyun, I think it’s best that you and Jiyong return home. He won’t survive out here much longer. I will continue with the mission. I managed to catch a glimpse of who that death knight was and I must capture him.” Kyurhee told her friend.

Seunghyun looked up at Kyurhee and shook his head. “I can’t let you continue on by yourself. You saw how many attacked us. Most of our group is dead. I won’t allow it.”

“You’re in no position to stop me Seunghyun.”

“And you’re in no position to continue on with this mission. Look at all the cuts and bruises on your body. If you keep going, you’re going to end up dead. You cannot continue on, it’s an order.”

“You can’t order me around Seunghyun.”

“I’m the leader of this group!”

“And I’m your Princess! You might have command over the Royal Army but your position is still beneath mine. You listen to me now Seunghyun! Take Jiyong back home. He will die if you wait any longer. I will continue on by myself.” Kyurhee ordered Seunghyun and glared at him.

Yonghwa stepped forward and kneeled before Kyurhee. “Princess, please allow me to follow you in your quest.”

Jonghyun, Jungshin, Minhyuk and Jongkook followed Yonghwa’s actions and kneeled before Kyurhee. “Please allow us to follow you in your quest Princess!”

Seunghyun looked at everyone and then bowed his head to Kyurhee. He didn’t think it was a good idea but Kyurhee was right; his position was beneath hers and she was in better condition than he and Jiyong. Seunghyun gently laid Jiyong on the ground and stood up to walk over to his backpack. He picked it up and then walked back over to Jiyong and everyone else.

Seunghyun took a small rock with a blue swirl shaped rune engraved on it. He then handed the backpack to Kyurhee who took it from him. Seunghyun then reached down to pick up Jiyong and throw him over one of his shoulders. Just the effort made the cut on his side bleed out slightly.

“I will do as you ask Kyurhee. I wish you and everyone here the best of luck. I have one request before I leave though.” Seunghyun looked at Kyurhee expectantly.

“What is your request?” She asked.

“You said you saw part of the death knight’s face. Who do you think it is?” Seunghyun asked.

“That bastard Park Jinyoung.” Kyurhee answered in a disgusted tone. Everyone was surprised at the mention of the Nobleman’s name.

“Are you sure?” Seunghyun asked and everyone waited for Kyurhee to answer.

“I didn’t see his face completely but I’m positive that it’s him! My instinct tells me it is him!” Kyurhee yelled out in frustration.

“I hope you’re right my friend. Please be safe. Good luck.” And with those last words, the stone lit up and Seunghyun and Jiyong disappeared.





Soyeon entered the room that Hwayoung was in and smiled when she noticed that Hwayoung’s skin tone was starting to gain back its color. She was positive that Hwayoung would be up and about after getting back the blood she lost and getting a good rest. Soyeon walked over to Hyomin and placed a hand on the warrior’s shoulder.

“Hwayoung will be just fine. I can see her color coming back to her.” Soyeon commented.

Hyomin looked up at the priestess and nodded. “I know she will. She’s a fighter but this would have not happened if it wasn’t for Jiyeon’s stupidity.”

“I know you’re mad Hyomin but you can’t blame Jiyeon. This is our duty as Guardians. We risk our lives for her safety and Hwayoung was doing her job. You should know this better than anyone.” Soyeon told her and Hyomin scoffed.

“I’ll see you later Hyomin.” Soyeon said as she walked over to the door and opened it to leave. She didn’t want to argue with Hyomin who could be very stubborn at times. Soyeon closed the door and was then approached by Jiyeon who had just woken up from her short nap.

“Soyeon unni, thank you for saving us. Especially Hwayoung unni.” Jiyeon told the priestess as she approached her.

Soyeon smiled at Jiyeon and wrapped an arm around Jiyeon’s waist. “You don’t have to thank me Jiyeon. It’s my job. Eunjung is downstairs watching TV with Kyuhyun.”

Jiyeon smiled and nodded at Soyeon and then made her way downstairs to ask Eunjung to take her back home.






Seunghyun and Jiyong suddenly appeared in front of the main doors to the temple. Seunghyun looked around but he didn’t spot anyone. He really couldn’t move anymore as the pain and exhaustion were taking a toll on his body.

“HELP! HELP!” He yelled out hoping someone would hear him. Luckily for him two priests opened the doors to the temple and spotted him. One of them told the other to get more people and then he ran up to Seunghyun.

He inspected Jiyong’s wounds and then Hyori and three other priests came out running towards Seunghyun and Jiyong. The two male priests picked up Jiyong from Seunghyun’s arms and took the unconscious warlock inside the temple. Hyori and another priestess helped Seunghyun stand up and then they followed the other two priests.

They took both men into the infirmary of the temple and lay Jiyong face down on one of the beds. Seunghyun took a seat on the bed next to Jiyong’s. TaeIn came in running after hearing that the two of them had returned. She ran up to Seunghyun and hugged the younger man.

“Seunghyun! Are you okay?” She asked and turned to Jiyong. “Oh no! Jiyong.”

TaeIn ran her finger near the entrance wound of one of the daggers and she could tell that Jiyong had been poisoned. “What kind of poison is running through his body?”

“Mind-numbing poison.” Seunghyun answered and gripped the shallow cut on his waist.

TaeIn nodded and turned to one of the priestess. “Go get the elixir to remove the poison running through his body.” 

The priestess headed over to the shelf where they kept the elixirs and looked for the one the High Priestess had requested. Meanwhile Hyori and TaeIn removed the daggers from Jiyong’s body and TaeIn cast a healing spell on the warlock to heal the two stab wounds. The heal spell brought Jiyong back from his unconsciousness and took in a deep breath as he woke up. He didn’t know where he was and felt dizzy at the moment.

“Jiyong, please drink this elixir. It will get rid of the poison in your body.” TaeIn placed the opening of the small glass bottle on Jiyong’s mouth and he drank the entire thing. “Now lay back down and rest. It will take sometime to completely rid the poison but you’ll be okay.”

Seunghyun let out a sigh of relief as he saw Jiyong wake up and take the elixir. Hyori had healed his wounds by now and he too lay back on the bed to get some rest. TaeIn walked over to Seunghyun and placed a hand on his chest.

“What happened Seunghyun? Where is everyone else? Is Kyurhee still alive?” TaeIn worriedly asked her series of questions.

Seunghyun looked at the High Priestess and answered. “Kyurhee is still alive, but she and the others who are still alive are chasing after those who attacked us. Among the one who attacked us, there was a death knight. Kyurhee believes he is Nobleman Park Jinyoung.”

TaeIn and Hyori gasped at the mention of the Nobleman’s name. TaeIn shook her head and asked Seunghyun another question. “Are you sure it was him?”

“I couldn’t see his face through the helmet while I was fighting him, but Kyurhee managed to get close enough to his face to see something. She’s positive it is him.” Seunghyun answered.

TaeIn turned to Hyori while still in shock over the news. “Hyori, please contact Jaehee.”