Baeri’s eyes were venomous when she dashed at Hana, who just gazed back blankly. Gikwang was close by the girl, while Dongwoon had a little more distance. Hana simply waited, without any intention to move. Usually Baeri would have doubted charging with an opponent as calm as that, but under these circumstances the thought never even crossed her mind. She was solely focussed on protecting her brother, from whatever these two were planning. She couldn’t involve him more than she already had, she couldn’t allow him to be a scapegoat every time. He had the right to live a decent live, just as much as anyone else did. She had to tolerate the behaviour and treatment he got from the other villagers, but Baeri would never allow anyone else to look down on him like this. She had sworn that. Even if those people might have been her good friends in the past.

As soon as she was within reaching distance, Baeri launched a quick palm towards Hana. Despite the short distance, Hana still never made a move and the healer soon found out why. When her palm almost hit Hana, it collided against an invisible wall. Baeri’s eyes were locked on Hana’s deep dark ones, while she almost let out a growl in frustration. Gikwang pulled the girl back by the collar when he felt the force field move. His instincts told him that there was danger and trusting it, he and Baeri retreated with a big leap. Dongwoon as well retreated. Gikwang’s hunch was proved right when they indeed saw a thin glowing layer spread and push away from Hana. The marble wall around Baeri’s brother was lightly damaged due to the impact, while Yoseob chanted a negation spell. He was done after several seconds and made a gun from his fingers to ‘shoot’ at the barrier.

It worked and even Hana found herself a little surprise at Yoseob’s course of action. She created another field about the same as the previous one to push it away from her again. With only a smirk Yoseob shot his spell again and the force field disappeared once again, leaving a triumphant spellcaster to grin at the girl, who had to bite back a snarl. Baeri once again took a sprint towards Hana, this time not directly from the front but from the back. Gikwang had summoned two wolves to assist him in his strike from the front. Hana found herself surrendered and shaped more force fields, creating a layer system while taking Yoseob’s ability into consideration. Yoseob was easily able to break down all the layers, but by the time he had, both Baeri and Gikwang’s attacks had failed once again.

Dongwoon stood by, hesitant to hurt his friend with his ability. The moment of hesitation was perceived by Hana. Innerly she smirked. A little hesitation was all she needed to be able to attack sneakily. Her fingers spread, stretching them to their limits, before she abruptly curled them into a tight fist. At the same time Dongwoon was trapped in a cube of invisible walls that narrowed at a rapid speed. Baeri, Gikwang and Yoseob were so focussed on Hana, that they hadn’t noticed until they heard sickening snapping sounds coming from Dongwoon and expressions of pain. Immediately Yoseob shot his negation spell at the field and dashed to him, while he collapsed to his knees. Gikwang let out a dangerous growl, resulting in his wolves pinning Hana to the ground. Before she could even think of making a move, the girl found herself held down by the weight of two well built fully grown wolves.

Saenan didn’t have as much trouble defending herself while fighting back against her sister, the illusionist and the shape shifter with her abilities. Although she found herself unable to steal the air from her lungs, courtesy of Yang Yoseob, the damned fairy, she could easily wound them and hold them back. Hearing a muffled shout from Hana however, caught her off guard and turned her attention to the scene. What she saw made her blood boil in anger. The wind was even more aggressive when it violently blew her three opponents against the wall. She threw daggers into the direction of the wolves, speeding them up with the support of the wind. They were too fast for Baeri and Gikwang to intercept, so they hit their targets, before the animals were thrown to Gikwang and Baeri, who weren’t far from the scene.

The wounded animals never hit the ground though. Gikwang caught both of the wolves, while eyeing the healer briefly. Baeri nodded before turning around and switching with Yoseob, who took her place on Gikwang’s side while she took care of the wounded Dongwoon. She placed her hand on the man’s shoulder, her eyes widening upon her discovery. To her horror she found out that many of his superficial bones were broken, due to the impact of the trap. Baeri placed her other hand on Dongwoon’s other shoulder. When he jolted with a painful grunt she mumbled an apology before concentrating on his recovery. She had to be quick, as Hana was free and Saenan was approaching them. Gikwang had returned the wolves to where they came from and stretched his muscles, ready for another assault. Junhyung and Hyunseung were back on their feet as well, while the pyrokinetic already moved.

Chaima dashed towards her sister, clashing her fire with the other’s wind with a great impact, that sent a wave of pressure through the room. Soon enough Saenan managed to kill the girl’s flames again, since she didn’t have to concentrate on controlling other wind aside from the wind barrier around Hana. She would manage by herself now though. Since the attack had pissed the force field magician off quite badly. The wounds Dongwoon sported were the proof. Hana was back on her feet her gaze hardened, while the rest of her facial features didn’t express anything. It was a cold expression that was quite rare for her to have, back when she was alive. Again she didn’t move from her spot, making Baeri slightly nervous. From the corner of her eye she could see that Hyunseung, Junhyung and Chaima were doing a good job on fighting Saenan, without getting too tired. Instead the wind bearer started to show trails of sweat running down her cheeks.

There wasn’t time for more observation since Hana already launched another attack. This time both Yoseob and Gikwang were trapped in her invisible walls. Using this opportunity Baeri dashed towards her, while Yoseob broke both barriers, before they ended up in a worse shape than Dongwoon. The latter joined Baeri using his ability to pull Hana to the ground by simply increasing the force of gravity on her. It took a while for the stubborn woman to give in, but it wasn’t in vain. A force field around herself, protected her from Dongwoon’s efforts. The male concentrated his attack on the force field instead and managed to create a shallow crater in the marble floor. Yoseob broke the barrier again and had already chanted a sealing spell. This time he wouldn’t miss.

Chaima’s fire had died down once again, giving Saenan the upper hand in the three against one battle. She trapped the three in a tornado, before throwing Yoseob towards a wall. The collision sent echoes through the room, while the boy slided down the surface dropping to the floor. His groans in pain didn’t go unheard. Saenan helped Hana up and this time the two attacked simultaneously in a perfect combination. While Hana worked to keep their opponents in place, Saenan cut them with her sharp razor like wind. Only Junhyung managed to defend against it, by coating his skin with a protective layer. Yoseob created a barrier, which was easily destroyed by Hana’s force field and Chaima’s fire died as soon as it woke. The situation was quite unfavourable and Baeri wondered how they managed to become a perfect combination like that. Her thoughts were cut short when she was thrown around by their attacks once again.

Yoseob finally had enough. His head hurt and his body was sore. Doojoon was nowhere to be seen either. He would take action then, but he needed help.

“Junhyung, Hyunseung, Dongwoon, buy me some time. Chaima, Baeri, Gikwang, create an opening for me. It needs to last for a few seconds.” He demanded.

With a curt nod all moved. While Junhyung shaped his body into a form he suitable to fight with, creating lances and blades on his arms, while his legs were about as sharpened with blades,  Hyunseung created his solid illusions and Gikwang summoned two large black panthers. The three charged together, while blocking incoming attacks. Most of Hana’s attempts to immobilise them were stopped by Dongwoon and Yoseob, while the latter was in the midst of preparing his spells as well. Chaima kept distracting Saenan by creating huge flames and aiming them at her sister, while Baeri and Gikwang did their attempts to distract her as well. Their effort was proven useful when both Hana and Saenan had no chance of defending each other, as their current opponents were almost too much for them to handle. Chaima could see that her sister had grown immensely frustrated.

Before Saenan could launch an attack though, Chaima darted towards her with a dangerous leap and a fire engulfed kick. The wind caster was too busy killing the flames and couldn’t defend against the strong impact of the shin colliding with her crossed arms to protect her. Chaima’s kick was strong enough to throw Saenan to the ground and she didn’t give her a chance to get up again. She dove after her with a fire engulfed fist aimed at her, but never got to reach her. With a loud snarl Saenan created a wind blow to throw everything off her and Chaima was thrown back, only to be caught by Hyunseung. This time Saenan did get back on her feet but was ambushed by Junhyung. He aimed kicks and punches at the girl, while she either evaded them or blocked them to counter with her own. When Junhyung was blown away, Hyunseung took the moment to lock Saenan into a hold, wrapping one arm around her waist, while the other gripped both of her wrists behind her.

The animalistic screech that came from her, was Yoseob’s cue to hurry up. With a jerk of his hand, he threw a spell right at Saenan which didn’t miss its target. The girl let out another howl in frustration when she felt her muscles relax and her body feel numb. Another binding spell. She didn’t need the movement in her body to be able to use her ability though and she verified that by creating a blizzard throughout the room, not caring whether she hit friend or foe. She knew Hana would be able to defend herself against it, but the others wouldn’t. The raging wind hid sharp blades that started to cut open Hyunseung’s skin as well as the others. He didn’t release her even during the attack. Several wounds opened over his body, leaking blood and tearing his clothes. Even when Saenan’s legs weren’t supporting her anymore, he tightened his arm around her waist to prevent her from colliding into the floor. He looked down at the girl who locked eyes with him, her eyes showing pure rage in her darkened expression. Hyunseung however carried pain in his orbs.

A familiar scream and several shouts broke their eye contact, whipping their attention towards the others. Saenan’s attack never died down even when the situation wasn’t in her favour, but on the other side of the room things seemed reversed. Hana had pinned Baeri to the ground with her hands trapped above her head, with probably force fields. Baeri’s struggle to release her hands were futile and with a blade at , the others couldn’t make a move either. They were forced to watch and wait for an opening to save their friend. Chaima and Gikwang’s eyes were dangerously glimmering with an ominous shade that sent shivers down Yoseob’s spine. Saenan smirked while she let her wind howl protectively around Hana. But that meant opening up her own defenses and give Hyunseung the upper hand.

“Try to make a move, Gikwang, and your beloved Banolim will be painted in a beautiful scarlet colour.” Hana threatened.

Gikwang’s response was unheard, when Hyunseung’s voice boomed. “Try anything funny Hana, I have Saenan right here.”

No one expected Saenan’s response to be a chuckle. “It’s an empty thread, Jangten. We all know you’re too nice to lift even a finger to hurt me.”

Baeri’s eyes narrowed at the girl sitting on top of her. She couldn’t believe that this person was actually smirking in amusement. When she looked for anything else in her eyes, she couldn’t. There was no nostalgia whatsoever. That was the moment Baeri finally realised that these two weren’t the Hana and Saenan they knew. They were being deceived by them and right now they were enemies. When tears formed in her eyes, Baeri couldn’t even wipe them away before anyone could see them. Being the sharp person he was, Gikwang had noticed them and eyed the girl cautiously, afraid to move an inch. The blade of the dagger was right on her skin and one movement could cut through it, wounding her fatally. Even Baeri wouldn’t be able to heal herself then and without a teleporter they wouldn’t be able to reach the headquarters in time for her to survive. He cursed in mind.

“Try me.” Hyunseung eventually growled.

He met eyes with Chaima, who swallowed the words she couldn’t even utter. She hadn’t seen Hyunseung like this in a long time and she didn’t expect to see it again. Especially not to her sister, the person he used to be even closer with than her. Hyunseung’s eyes moved back to Hana who sat over Baeri. None of the two made a move to hurt their victims, but their eyes told everyone they would when necessary. The moment of dual threats was short lived when another figure made his appearance right beside Saenan, ripping her out of Hyunseung’s grip. The latter was too surprised at the events and the unknown man eyed the girl in his arms before moving to Hana. In his hand he had a clear blue orb that the girl eyed before smiling. She frowned when she realised that she wouldn’t be able to finish her job though.

“Let’s go. We have no business here anymore.” The male spoke.

“But-...”

“I said, let’s go.”

Hana let out a sigh, while Baeri slightly flinched at the loss of weight on her and the man’s voice. She had never seen him before, but his association with the current Saenan and Hana meant only one thing. He was an enemy. Once Hana was off Baeri, Gikwang and Chaima both rushed to the healer’s side. Hyunseung darted towards the man, but he simply disappeared when the illusionist reached him. He reappeared right beside Hana, who placed an arm on his shoulders and within seconds the group was left alone.