-Suho’s POV-

I’ve set out to the east of the Lumerian estate with Sehun while Chan Yeol and Kai scoured the west. Baekhyun and Shinhye set out for the northern hills where they would be safe, I guess, so we sent D.O. out south to survey the area. We haven’t gone far when I noticed something really off. It began a short while after Baekhyun and Shinhye left for the hills. I didn’t notice anything going on when we set out, but when we were in the middle of the forest, gliding through trees, Sehun stopped.

“Hyung?”

I let the soles of my shoes skid off against a tree branch before springing back to get to where he was.  “What is it?”

He looked at me strangely. “At this point and time, don’t you think the purist should be chasing after us?”

I thought about it and nodded. I gave him a reassuring grasp on the arm. “Maybe they have decided to back away. Besides, they were cowards.”

He shook his head. “No.”

I saw through what he was trying to tell me as soon as the word left his mouth. “You’re not saying that they’ve decided to reach…” My voice trailed off and a hostile wave of wind suddenly blew past us. I looked at Sehun. “Was that you?”

He shook his head. “No, but I definitely felt Shinhye’s life force in it.”

I looked up and saw black figures floating in mid-air right above where Shinhye should be at the moment. “It’s coming up north.”

The flame herald suddenly flew past us, heading to the same direction and Chan Yeol appeared on the forest floor, running in blinding speed before charging towards us. “Did you feel that?”

We nodded.

“It’s Shinhye.”

“Where’s Kai?” I asked without taking my gaze from the direction of the hill.

“I’ve sent him to find D.O.” He breathed in as he followed my gaze. “What was that?”

Kai and D.O. appeared the same instant a bright flash of light came from that same spot. It was so bright that we all had to shield our eyes, momentarily blinding us even then. Loud cries of agony erupted and echoed through the forest

“It’s Baekhyun hyung!” Sehun snarled and began setting off, but Kai stopped him and grinned.

“Don’t waste your energy,” the older one said and in that same instant, he transported us into the hill where we saw bodies falling from the sky at quite a height. In the middle, we could see Shinhye and Baekhyun surrounded with black-clothed people – purists. A number of those men were attacking them at the same time from every direction.

“Shinhye,” Kai whispered and D.O. stepped right in front, making an earth shield around them.

Suddenly, Shinhye levitated off the barrier and looked to our direction. “Way to go, D.O.!” she hollered and laughed as if everything was fine.

The purists were producing small light orbs and shooting through the air to where she was. Sehun sprung off the tree branch and lunged towards the center, leaving the enemies in a daze. Everything was silent for a moment until a loud, bursting sound erupted through the air, breaking the barrier into dust as violent winds blew and raged outwards from where Sehun and Baekhyun were standing. The nearest purists to where the barrier once stood were blown off a few yards away from the flats at the top of the hill, some were rolling off, but the others withstood the gale. They were tougher than we thought.

I caught sight of a red-cloaked figure near the edge of the forest, shouting at the men, telling them to attack amidst the abuses he had been telling them. He looked up into the sky where Shinhye was and glared. It spelled trouble the moment I saw him lift off the ground. It was none other than the purist official named Il Jae Hoon who had come just a few days ago in Hydris to negotiate with us. He really wouldn’t give up without a fight.

“Kai,” I said and we were immediately standing in what seemed to be a miniature battlefield.

“Well, well. The ninny commander finally decided to fight!” Shinhye yelled from where she was. “Let’s see what you got!”

I shook my head whilst trying to fend for myself as the pawns attacked. She really couldn’t keep her words in her when she needed to which in turn, angered Jae Hoon and lunged towards her, aiming a fire orb.

She avoided the first attack swiftly. “Impressive.” She leered at him and he threw another fireball at her. His force was similar to that of Chan Yeol whenever he produces those flaming spheres and I knew she felt intimidated, too. She just wasn’t showing it. “Is that it?” she mocked.

Knowing that he won’t be able to affect her with his long-range attacks, he flew right in front of her and they began a fist-fight…literally. We all knew that Shinhye knew how to fight at close range, sparring with either Kai or Baekhyun when they felt like it and now, she’s was definitely showing how capable she was not only when she was playing with the others, but also when it came to the real situation. Lights were flashing all around and wind was howling, the earth was rising before our feet and flaming things were being hurled into the air. Everything was happening at such a fast pace, but everything seemed to have slowed down when we all looked up to see one of the purist leader’s heavy fist land on the side of Shinhye’s face, missing by a fraction of an inch and just like that, she was hurled down to the ground, crashing into the trees.

As strong as Chan Yeol was while fighting with the enemies, he disintegrated into a melted mass just like all of us when he saw her plummet into the ground. He ran towards the direction that she went to, but before he could, trees began falling with loud cracking sounds as if the earth beneath them was caving in. Suddenly, Shinhye rose up into the air, pounced on Jae Hoon, taking him by the neck, strangling him. The wild manner in which he flailed and wriggled made Shinhye let go of him and he managed to free himself. Out of the blue, Kai appeared in a puff of smoke behind him. Before he could react, the Teleportation Noble whirled around and slammed his feet against the purist’s back which sent him speeding down into the ground just like what he did to Shinhye. Kai began falling to the ground, but Shinhye held him in place with a chuckle.

“Great going, Kai.”

“You’re doing well yourself.” He winked at her then teleported back to the ground.

Jae Hoon rose up from the ground, hurling more fireballs at her, but Shinhye dodged his attacks just as easily then countered his attacks with forceful wave of her hand towards him, pushing him down to the open grounds. Earth flew off to the air as he landed, skidding across the field into the tree line where a few small trees also feel to the ground with a thud.

Most of the purists were down on the ground by that time, but D.O. was still busy fighting some of them, but it was nothing he couldn’t handle. He was just a few paces from where Jae Hoon crashed. All the other purists disintegrated as Shinhye set her foot down on the ground. We all ran towards her, Sehun beating us all into it.

“Are you alright?” he asked her.

She nodded, flashing him a pained smile. “Yeah. I didn’t break any bones, just scratches,” she answered although she had a bloody lip, bruises all over her arms, her sleeves were torn, showing deep gashes and her knuckles were split and bleeding as well. Above all that, had a deep cut just above her right eyebrow. Her breathing was shallow, but surprisingly, she was still on her feet.

“Let’s get you home,” Chan Yeol said, towing her, but she froze on her spot and her eyes widened as he looked over our shoulders. She snatched her hand back and sprinted forward.

“KYUNGSOO! LOOK OUT!” she screamed, but it was too late.

D.O. turned around and he was met by a short blade glimmering under the sun. He was able to dodge it, but Jae Hoon was able to manage to stab him with it on the left shoulder. He fell down onto the ground and we all ran towards him, but a barrier suddenly formed itself behind Shinhye.

“NO!” she screamed as the barrier shone brighter.

“Shinhye!” Chan Yeol yelled, trying to get through, but she wouldn’t let us.

“How dare you?!” she lashed out on Jae Hoon who was scrambling off to the forest, but she pulled him back, her eyes glowing and releasing a bright green light which was otherworldly. Her life force began to engulf the whole place, making us all dig our heels to the earth to prevent us from getting thrown off the hill.

“Hyung, look,” Baekhyun said, pointing above Shinhye. A green mist was gathering and forming the shape of what seemed to be a serpent and as she raised her hand, a silvery scaled creature crawled in a spiral movement through the length of her arm. The outlines of the mist grew more pronounced as the snake disappeared from her arm and we saw a figure of a dragon, its eyes alight like hers were, green and sharp like the tip of the sword - Kiyo. Simultaneously, Il Jae Hoon began to levitate off the ground.

“Beg for mercy,” she said in an ominous whisper, hoarse and dark as another voice spoke with her, deep and foreboding, tears falling from her eyes. “Beg for it…NOW!”

“N-no!” Jae Hoon managed to say.

“So be it!” she hissed. In that same instant, his limbs were spread apart by invisible ropes and he broke off into pieces, his body parts falling into a bloody mess on the ground before they disappeared into a flurry of blood, carried by the wind, spattering the trees and the forest floor. The dragon disappeared and Shinhye was back to herself, running towards D.O. The barrier also disappeared and we were all able to manage to come near them.

She cradled his head on her lap while she tore the rest of her sleeves off, making an improvised bandage for D.O.’s wound. “D.O., can you hear me?”

He groaned a bit, overpowered by pain.

“Do Kyungsoo!” she growled frantically. “Stay with me.”

He broke into an agonized smile, opening his eyes a crack. “You were amazing. I…saw that.”

“Saw what? Saw me rip that person into pieces? That’s easy, I’ll teach you how, but for now, I need to fix you.”

“F-fix me?”

“You’ve been stabbed in case you didn’t notice,” she said harshly. She was definitely back to her old self.

“I kn