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Hope you'll like this chapter as well :)

 

Hyukjae would be lying if he said he had forgotten about the demon.
Days passed but he didn’t forget. The incident left him with a taste of bitterness in his mouth and a growl of anger down his throat. Instead of cooling him down, time made the frustration build up. He found himself thinking over and over again about Donghae, unable to get him out of his mind.

It wasn’t only for the fact that his pride had been crushed and his body effortlessly overpowered (though the simple memory of it never failed to make his guts twist in rage). He was terribly angry, but at the same time strangely fascinated.

The creature intrigued him. He couldn’t understand its difference, its lack of evilness. The devil was nothing like the other demons he had met before. He almost didn’t look like one of them. He seemed so calm and quiet, and those sad eyes kept haunting the angel day and night.

But Hyukjae was no fool. He knew that behind the gorgeous appearance and the smooth words, there was a heartless monster lusting after blood and death. Just like the others.
And a part of him kept repeating that the devil was only smarter and sneaky, trying to trick him with his strange behaviour.
Somehow, he was even more dangerous than any other demon.

Even as he went back to his usual occupations, Hyukjae’s mind kept pondering about Donghae and his intentions. The Gate had been moved to a new place, more secure, but Hyukjae was restless, knowing that the demon was surely still looking for it.

He kept thinking about the deal too. Not that he ever considered to accept it. Yet it was tempting, to be honest. The High Demon was more active than ever, leading his pack of devils across the lands, devastating everything on their path.
They needed to be stopped, and quick. Angels needed to kill the High Demon. That was a thought that never left his mind.

Hyukjae was walking quickly, nearly rushing through the white hallways, his expression stern and tense. Sungmin was walking right beside him, face calm but serious. None of them were talking but Hyukjae could feel the frequent glances his brother’d give him.

“You’ve been acting weird lately”, Sungmin nonchalantly commented after a long moment of silence.

Hyukjae peeked at him and raised an eyebrow. “What?”

“I said, you’ve been acting weird ever since you fought with that demon”, Sungmin said again. “Did something happen, that you didn’t tell us?”

“I told you exactly what happened”, Hyukjae coldly retorted.

“Are you sure? I know something is bothering you... I know you all too well. What is it that you didn’t tell me?”

Hyukjae grunted. “What now? Do you want all the details about how this bastard beat the crap out of my ? What did you expect? I’m so pissed off!”

“If it’s only about your pride getting a little hurt, you’ll get over it”, the other angel stated. “There’s nothing to be ashamed of, you protected the Gate. You just have to learn from your errors, Hyuk.”

The blonde nodded, his frown slightly softening. As usual, Sungmin was wise and his words were right. It managed to soothe him a bit.

“I won’t make the same mistake twice”, he ardently said. “Next time I meet him, I’ll kill him.”

“I know you will. Now, stop thinking about it, we have more important issues to deal with.”

Again, Hyukjae nodded and he pushed Donghae out of his mind for a while. He had indeed more urgent concerns to worry about. He needed more information, but from what he had heard, the situation was bad. Bad enough for Siwon and Leeteuk to summon everyone for a war council.

Sungmin had told him that a bunch of demons were moving towards the Blue Mountains, where the Gate had been moved and hidden. The High Demon was leading the pack and they were ravaging everything on their path.
They needed to stop them quickly.

Hyukjae his right, heels sliding on the marbled floor as he entered another corridor. He took a few more steps before he stopped in front of a silver painted door and pushed it open.

“How many are they?” he asked right away as he stepped into the room.

Siwon looked up at him, a deep frown on his handsome face. “About three hundreds”, he replied. “The High Demon is leading them. They’re moving fast. They’ll soon be at our doors”, he added and bent back over the large map spread on the table.

“How do they even manage to keep growing so big in number?” Ryeowook wondered out-loud, while Siwon rubbed his temples in concentration.

Hyukjae shrugged, walking to stand next to the quiet Leeteuk. From the corner of his eye, he noticed Sungmin closing the doors after them, before crossing his arms over his chest and leaning against the only entrance to the council room.

“It doesn’t matter”, Hyukjae commented without looking at Ryeowook. “I say we go and meet them, and then just kill all of them.”

“That’s a lot of demons Hyuk”, Kyuhyun snorted. “We are currently out-numbered. We need a strategy.”

“We can’t lose this fight, or they’ll get full access to the Gate”, Leeteuk said in a low voice, eyes fixed on the map.

“We won’t let them reach the Gate”, Hyukjae nearly snarled, blood already boiling with anger.

“We are in a bad situation. Out of four squads, three are out on raids. We are too few to protect the camp and the Gate. We don’t have enough time to move it to a safer place, but...”

“But what?” both Sungmin and Kyuhyun inquired at the same time.”

Leeteuk’s frown deepened. “Yesung’s ready to cast the spell on the passage. I think it’s time to use magic on the Gate.”

“Do we have to go this far?” Siwon instantly argued. “We shouldn’t-”

“No matter what, we have to protect the mortals”, Leeteuk retorted. “We should have done it a long time ago. The spell will kill whoever passes the Gate, be it angels or demons. No immortal should be allowed to cross the Gate anymore”, he sternly said.

Siwon obviously didn’t like the idea of altering the Gate with such a spell, but he nodded none-the-less, accepting the leader’s orders.

“You’re right. We need to make sure humans are safe. I don’t know if we can stop the demons this time”, the tall black-haired angel sighed.  

“Let’s call the 3rd squad back”, Hyukjae interfered. “They’ll help.”

“We can’t count on them”, Siwon shook his head. “They’re fighting demons near the eastern woods”, he mumbled. “We’re alone and we only have about one hundred fighters with us.”

“We have no choice”, Leeteuk gravely said. The angels turned around to look at him, and he gazed back at them with serious eyes. “Prepare for battle.”          

The sun was rising, painting the sky with reds and pinks, and Hyukjae had slain his twenty-third demon when his gaze fell upon the slim figure standing at the top of the hill, above the battlefield, not taking part into the bloody conflict.

His heart missed a beat, before it took up a crazy pace, thumping insanely hard in his chest. The shouts and the growls around him suddenly vanished; the lifeless bodies on the ground and the ones still fighting around him, turned into a blurry mess. His whole being could only focus on the small figure that was watching the battle from afar.

He recognized the demon right away and a sudden rush of adrenaline made his skin cover itself with goose-bumps.  

“Donghae”, he snarled, voice low and deep.

He was too far to be sure, but it almost seemed like the demon turned his face toward him, as if he had heard him call his name. And Hyukjae forgot about everything else. He spread his white feathered wings and pushed hard on his legs, propelling himself into the airs.

He flew towards the ginger-haired demon, flapping his large wings loudly, though the sound was covered by the screams and the swords clinking around him. He managed to make his way through the mass of fighting immortals, eyes never leaving the motionless figure but his senses on alert, ready to protect himself from any attack.

It took him only a short moment before he landed on the ground, a few meters away from t