Beomgyu scoffed, sending a glare towards Taehyun. “Baby, let me get this straight. You want us to go and attack those creatures?”

“Exactly. You’re catching on just fine, love.” It would be an understatement to say that Taehyun seemed extremely calm on the exterior. He crouched down to tie his shoelaces, aware of several pairs of eyes staring down at him.

“Oh my God, you’re ing crazy… Look, we’re helpless, okay? Kai and Jungeun-noona are the only ones who can actually do something, and to be honest, they really can’t do anything.” Beomgyu paused and looked at Kai and Jungeun with a shy smile. “No offence.”

“None taken.”

“Consider this to be a test, alright? A trial of some sort. We need to do this, and Gyu, you need to realise why…” Taehyun rose back to his feet, clasping his hands together as he stared back at Beomgyu with a strong gaze.

“You wanna see if the powers actually work against the slimes and then get back here…”

There was a reason why Taehyun grew to like Yeosang since their first encounter. The latter spoke the exact set of words that Taehyun would have used.

“Exactly. But first, we need to decide who stays and who goes. I’m sure the barrier will expand as soon as the slimes are attacked, sort of like an action and reaction concept. Be ready to run, yeah? Umm, Kai and Jungeun-noona are definitely coming. I’ll go too, and Yeosang-hyung, if you’re okay with it, tag along. Oh, and Felix-hyung, you wanna get Changbin-hyung back?”

Taehyun smiled as Felix eagerly nodded and walked over to his side along with Yeosang, Jungeun and Kai. He spared a few seconds to look behind the wall they were being protected by, letting his eyes observe the sight before him. He noticed the smaller slimes sneaking closer towards them, much faster than the rest. He suppressed a chuckle – the small creatures weren’t truly small, perhaps a little over seven feet, but their petrifying appearance told a different story.

“Well, I’m coming with you, Tae-”

“No, Gyu, you’re not. Neither are you two, Yeonjun-hyung and Soobin-hyung. Just stay here and be ready to run, and go take pee breaks if needed. We’ll be back very soon.” Taehyun switched on his torch and waved it around, sighing in relief at the sufficient light. He nodded towards the others before stepping out onto the empty road.

Audible gasps and whispers spread across the region from either side of the road upon which Taehyun, Kai, Jungeun, Yeosang and Felix stood still. On the count of three, Taehyun made a gesture with his fingers, jogging ahead with the others just by his side. They picked up their pace eventually, their eyes fixed on the troop of monsters.

“Taehyun, what’s the plan?”, Felix asked as he tried to look for a bright colour within the bulk of the distant climes. He needed to rescue Changbin, his mind was already set on that task. It took him a few seconds to acknowledge the lack of response, so he asked again, “Taehyun, there is a plan, right? You didn’t just bring us along without a plan, right?”

The aforementioned kept quiet, and it was difficult to decipher whether he was thinking or just too startled to speak.

“Taehyun, please-”

“Kai, prove your worth tonight, okay? The slime just at the centre, grey and ugly, that’s the one. When we’re about fifty metres away from it, you attack it and immediately run back a few steps to maintain a safe distance. Jungeun-noona, you’re in charge of defence. If the claws come towards us, especially towards Kai, build up a wall to protect him. Felix-hyung, you’re going to run diagonally and take a route away from the slimes. Try and look for Changbin-hyung and remember which slime it is. I’ll look for any changes in the slimes, and Yeosang-hyung can observe the barrier. This will all happen in the span of two minutes, no more than that. Is that clear?”

Yeosang let out a soft chortle, “Now that’s a plan.”

As if on cue, just as they crossed the route of the moving machine, Felix immediately ran towards his left, swiftly rushing across the empty plot of land, his eyes fixed on the frightening creatures. Meanwhile, the others continued running ahead, constantly shifting their eyes between the towering slimes and the road, ready to halt their movements.

“Now!”

At the sharp call, Kai stopped in his tracks, closing his eyes and breathing out heavily. He knew that Taehyun and Yeosang were just behind him, and Jungeun was just by his side.

He was used to it now – the utter heat of the flame and the way it danced around wildly. He drowned out any hints of fear and imagined a ball of fire within the grasp of his hands. In the blink of an eye, quite literally, he heard the crisping whoosh of the fire within his hands. He placed a foot behind him, leaning back and launching the ball of fire towards the slime, almost like pitching a baseball.

He didn’t expect his power to work so efficiently, so quickly; he didn’t expect the slime in front of him to catch on fire so rapidly, and he watched closely as the fire spread all across the body of the creature, a chilling groan resonating across the area.

“Kai, we need to go now!”

He felt his hand being pulled hastily by Taehyun, his feet having no choice but to follow. He kept up a suitable pace, his breathing a little uneven with the heat inside, almost like the fire within was roaring against his chest. Knowing that he would only be a nuisance if he admitted it, he kept his mouth shut; his only goal was to return to the others and hide.

“The barrier’s expanding, just as we expected! The power does work on the slimes, again, just as we expected! Kai, do you think you can attack another one?”, Jungeun suggested as she ran alongside the others, yet there was no time for a response.

She flinched and elicited a painful screech as she spotted two limbs chasing after her at an incredible speed – but she was safe, all thanks to a wooden wall rising from the ground just behind her. The wall was thick and rigid, standing several feet tall. If it weren’t for her instinctive, reflexive power, all of them would’ve been captured again.

In a few seconds, the wall collapsed into nothingness.

“Hey! Where’s Felix?!?” Yeosang screamed out as he sneaked a quick glance over his shoulder, his teeth clenching at how the slimes were creeping closer towards them. He turned his head from side to side, searching for Felix but to no avail. “Felix!”

Suddenly, there was a familiar scream echoing across the region, tingling their ears. A rush of fear washed over them, causing them to turn around hesitantly.

“Felix, no, no!”, their voices were hardly audible amid the chaos before them, sweat dripping down their necks.

“Felix-hyung, get the hell out of there!”, Kai screamed with all his strength as he tiptoed and stumbled over. He looked at Jungeun with hopeful eyes, before launching himself across the dangerous area. He gestured Jungeun to follow closely as he curved his way towards the left, taking a detour around the creatures, ignoring the desperate cries of Taehyun and Yeosang.

Jungeun pointed towards one of the slimes. “There! Just behind that one!” She in a deep breath and yelled out: “Felix! Come back!”

Only then did she realise why the latter was there, catching a quick glimpse of a body on the ground; she assumed it was a result of Kai’s fire melting down one of the slimes.

Changbin was there – unconscious, motionless but hopefully alive.

Jungeun forced her feet to move forward quickly, with Kai just tagging along behind her. She prayed that the slimes wouldn’t stretch out their limbs and claws towards them. Just as she was sure to be out of their sight, she noticed that the relatively taller slimes would soon trample over them in just a few minutes or so – they had to be quick.

“Felix-hyung!” Kai was already at the site they needed to be at. He let his eyes linger on Changbin’s pitiful body for a few seconds, before he bent over and tried to get the latter on his back.

“N-No, wait, we’ll both carry him!” Felix immediately held onto Changbin’s legs, gesturing Kai to hold him at the other end. With some difficulty, they managed to move just a few steps to the side, Changbin’s numb body swaying along.

However, Jungeun arrived at the right time; she quickly supported Changbin’s body from his waist, making their movements much easier than before. She yelled out directions to avoid the claws of some of the smaller slimes that, unfortunately, had their eyes on the four of them. If she accidentally let beads of perspiration get into , she didn’t care.

“Jungeun-noona!” Kai screamed with sheer terror in his eyes, but let out a sigh of relief as a wooden wall grew from the ground to shield Jungeun from a piercing set of claws, merely pulling her away from the hands of death.

As they tried to get past the row of small slimes that continued skulking forward, they noticed Taehyun and Yeosang running towards them, ready to help with carrying Changbin back to safety, yet fate was not on their side that night.

Felix felt a tight hold around his waist; he looked down with fearful eyes, holding in an awful scream as blood dripped down his sides, staining his trousers red. He felt his skin tear apart, he felt the tough claw of the monster squeeze against him. In the split of a second, he found his body being dragged away, the others straying further away from his reach. He let out a bloodcurdling scream, his hands hitting the rough surface of the claw repeatedly, but he knew that his little punches had no effect in catalysing his escape.

“! Oh my God, Felix!” Jungeun began to panic, unsure of whether to drop Changbin and rush