Seunghyun studied the sword in his hand, afraid that a monster would pop out of nowhere and glanced up every now and then just in case. In fact, he was so engrossed in the sword that he had failed to realize how uncomfortable Jiyong was getting the longer he was standing next to him. Seunghyun tentatively ran his finger across the blade then let out a small gasp at how sharp it was, recoiling at the small bead of blood that formed on his finger. He instinctively stuck his finger in his mouth to nurse his wound and gave Jiyong a sheepish look, thinking he would be grossed out.

Instead what greeted him was a look that screamed hunger with eyes that would darken the happiest persons skies. Seunghyun took a step back in shock. He had not seen such ferocity in Jiyong’s eyes and instantly knew it was a touch of magic that had gotten into him, “Ji?” he spoke quietly as not to disturb the beast that had awakened in Jiyong.

Jiyong was visibly shaking and he looked like he was fighting something within himself from mauling Seunghyun right then and there, “Run,” he took a deep breath to calm himself, “This is the test.”

“Wha-” Seunghyun’s eyes widened when he saw Jiyong completely lose control and his eyes turn a dark black. He backed up, taking slow tentative steps away from Jiyong. As he backed up the aura around Jiyong seemed to grow bigger and darker. Black markings stretched up his skin looking like war paint across his face. Seunghyun trembled at the very sight, unsure as to what he was supposed to do because he surely wasn’t supposed to fight Jiyong, was he?

Jiyong took a deep breath which didn’t calm Seunghyun one bit. It was like he was readying himself to pounce on Seunghyun and not in a good way. He slowly walked toward Seunghyun with his head tilted in a curious manner as if he was sizing up Seunghyun. Jiyong stopped and a low chuckle rose from his chest sounding like pure demon had overcome him.

“Okay, this isn’t funny Jiyong.”

A slow smile spread on Jiyong’s lips revealing sharp teeth, “You’re funny and so weak.”

“Weak?’ Seunghyun huffed then deflated, well he had a point. While Seunghyun was wallowing Jiyong used to the opportunity to catch him off guard and tackle him to the ground causing him to fall and lose the heavy sword he was holding. The wind was knocked out of Seunghyun and he struggled to throw Jiyong off of him. He was finally able to push Jiyong off of him and immediately clutched his chest, thinking he needed to work out. He circled around Jiyong watching his every move as Jiyong was crouched in front of him looking completely feral, “Ji, come on snap out of it, I don’t want to fight you.”

A hiss escaped Jiyong’s lips. As time flew by it seemed Jiyong was losing more of his humanity while letting out low guttural noises. He snapped at Seunghyun causing him to flinch and then laughed at his reaction.

Seunghyun looked at the sword sitting not far from Jiyong and thought that this was his only chance to get it while Jiyong was laughing at him. He lunged for it, grabbing it by its hilt but was immediately knocked over by Jiyong once he secured it. A gasp escaped his lips once Jiyong was once gain on top of him. He maneuvered the sword between them, wincing as the blade cut into his hand as he held horizontally in between them. It was the only thing Seunghyun could to keep Jiyong’s gnashing teeth from tearing at his throat. He whispered to himself, completely terrified at what was to come, “What kind of test is this?” he hurled Jiyong off of him and pointed the sword shakily at him, “You gotta stop this or I’ll-

“Or you’ll what?” Jiyong snapped, cutting him off and making Seunghyun shake. Jiyong removed hair from his face showcasing new long and sharp nails protruding from his hands, “You’re too weak, and too much of coward,” his voice sounded scratchy while grating on Seunghyun’s ears, “You’re nothing without me.”

His words struck Seunghyun deep causing Seunghyun to grip the sword tightly. He kept it firmly between him and Jiyong as Jiyong walked toward him.

“Worthless, pathetic, piece of nothing. You’re not even better than the dirt on my boot.”

“This isn’t you.”

“And so what if it isn’t?” he chuckled laughing at Seunghyun, “Fight me,” in a flash he came charging at Seunghyun, swiping at his face in a flurry of blows.

Seunghyun struggled to keep the sword in front of him as Jiyong kept attacking him. He could hear the scrape of Jiyong’s nails on the metal. It sounded like nails on chalk, a high pitch screech every time he connected with the sword. Seunghyun was prepared for the kick that Jiyong sent flying toward his gut and had no time to dodge it.

He doubled over in pain and clutched his stomach while using the sword to lean on. He coughed, and looked up at the smug grin on Jiyong’s face.

“You’re soft,” Jiyong spits on the ground, “Useless.”

“Stop!” Seunghyun yelled, he was tired of him laying all his doubts and insecurities out for him to hear. He didn’t need it coming out of Jiyong’s mouth too, “I’ll show you useless.”

“Then show me, Karuna-pathetic.”

Seunghyun grit his teeth then gasped when he felt an immense coming from the sword. He tried to drop it, but his hand wouldn’t open from around the hilt. His breathing sped up as holding the sword became almost unbearable. Then suddenly he felt nothing. He looked around and it seemed like everything was clearer, Seunghyun couldn’t describe it.

Jiyong grew impatient and sneered. He ran toward Seunghyun then turned away from Seunghyun with his leg following after him with a sweeping kick.

Seunghyun’s eyes widened at his boldness and in an instant, he grabbed Jiyong’s ankle stopping him in mid-air and then throwing him aside.

“Lucky grab,” Jiyong growled, “I’ll kill you and drink your blood.”

Seunghyun shivered at the mere thought, thinking Jiyong was getting a lot vulgar. He marveled at how easy it was to parry Jiyong and wondered if he could do it again. His thoughts were cut short when Jiyong swiped at his face making him step back quickly. With blow after blow Seunghyun was able to block Jiyong and it just made Jiyong even angrier.

There was a pause in the fight and that almost made Seunghyun think that it was over till in a blink of an eye Jiyong was behind him with his claws inches away from his throat. He was able to move quick enough that there was only a shallow scratch on his neck. Seunghyun faced Jiyong, realizing that he was indeed out for blood and that if he lost this he would die, but most importantly that if he won Jiyong would be lost to him.

He shook his head, he knew he couldn’t lose, he couldn’t be useless, pathetic, everything that Jiyong was telling him. Seunghyun knew this.

“This demon is a bit hard to control,” a man the goddess’ equal said as he tried to tighten the bonds of control on Jiyong.

The goddess chuckled and laid a hand on the man’s shoulder, giving him a bit of her strength, “You’ve grown weak brother.”

“Weak? Or I’m dealing with something a lot stronger than a petty demon.”

She smiled, “You should have done your research, he has the power of the wanderer.”

Her brother’s eyes widened, “You mean death?”

She nodded her head, “They’re special boys.”

“The human too?”

“Oh, he won’t be human for long. There has been too much power that has been blessed within him to keep that worldly vessel. He just needs to learn how to control it, the sword will help him do that.”

Her brother sighed, “And this test?”

“He’ll have to kill him.”

“Which one?”

She chuckled once more, “Don’t be foolish.”

Seunghyun started panting he had been fending off Jiyong for what seemed like ages, and it felt like Jiyong had only grown stronger. He needed to end this quick. He heaved the sword up and swung down narrowly missing Jiyong as he danced out of the way.

“So, you’ve finally decided to play?” Jiyong smiled a wicked smile with sharp teeth.

Seunghyun rolled back his shoulders and stood tall, “This isn’t a game, and whoever you are controlling Jiyong, you’ll pay,” he swung the sword down as Jiyong tried to make another dodge. He almost dodged the sword, but it grazed his shoulder, and as he went to strike again with the arm, he realized it was limp.

“What the?” Jiyong questioned as he tried to move his arm. He angrily growled and lunged for Seunghyun. Seunghyun rolled forward, ending up behind Jiyong and his sword forward. He gasped when Jiyong quickly turned around and grabbed the sword, surprisingly unfazed by the blood trailing down his hand from where he grasped the blade, “You’re done, human,” Jiyong spoke through his teeth as he yanked the sword out of Seunghyun’s hands and threw it far away from them.

He walked slowly toward Seunghyun then grabbed him by throat.

“This is where it ends,” the goddess watched silently as her brother controlled Jiyong and with a flick of his wrist and a pull of the magical strings that bound Jiyong’s body, he finished Seunghyun off.

There was a scream loud and tortured that echoed around the vast nothingness that encompassed Jiyong. His eyes grew wider as he looked at the scene I front of him and clutched his chest in disbelief, “No, No,” Jiyong said as he shook Seunghyun Violently. He took a few deep breaths in quick succession then laughed a wild and untamed laugh, “It’s not real, it’s not real.”

Jiyong shook Seunghyun one more time in hopes that he would get up and go ha, I got you, but he didn’t and he sat there for minutes that felt like hours, he didn’t know what to feel.

“Oh it’s very real,” the goddess that didn’t look so much like a goddess to Jiyong anymore spoke plainly.

“It’s not a test then,” he said shaking and confused. He didn’t know what was going on and what he was going to say next.

“Oh yes, it is a test, and Seunghyun passed with flying colors. He was very good. I’m quite proud of him,” she crooned and bent down to touch Seunghyun’s hair, but laughed quietly as Jiyong slapped her hand away, “I understand little one, but what must be done is done,” she picked up the sword that laid by Seunghyun and smiled gently at the glint and looked at the wound on Seunghyun’s body, “Well, let us finish this.”

“Wha- ” Jiyong wasn’t able to finish his sentence before a gasp bubbled up in his throat and got stuck. He watched as the woman stood up and the sword down onto Seunghyun and dragged down opening a large hole that shined with a bright light. At this point, Jiyong was on the verge of fainting or nearly tearing his hair out in frustration. What was going on? He gagged as she reached into the hole and started pulling.

“You see,” she spoke as she grasped onto something, “He needed to die, for a greater cause, but only if he was worthy. He needed to stop pitying himself, to actually work toward a cause. In the end, he made me quite proud,” she yanked up and out came and out came an arm.

Jiyong gagged as he watched what was happening. There was blood pooled everywhere and he couldn’t stand the smell. Most importantly it was Seunghyun he was watching practically getting gutted and whatever strange person that was being pulled out of him. He covered his mouth with his hand and stifled a groan, he couldn’t stomach it, “When are you going to stop?” he whispered while trying to hold down his bile.

“Just about,” she heaved once more and held up a glowing spirit clad in armor with hair highlighted in gold. She lifted him up by the arm and his head hung low while his toes barely touched the ground while she was holding him up, still unconscious.

Jiyong’s eyebrows furrowed and he stood up slowly to walk over to the strange man, “I can’t take this anymore,” suddenly he felt tired, “Is it Seunghyun?” he looked up curiously then rubbed his eyes to get the tired out.

“In a way yes,” she slowly smiled, “This right here,” she gestured to the man, “Is what we needed to come out once Seunghyun was fully developed,” the goddess lifted up the sleeping man’s chin and blew what seemed like life into him because the second she did that his head sprung up and she let him go to drop onto his knees.

He stood up slowly while looking at his arms and the gold that wrapped around them. He finally looked up and made eye contact with Jiyong and a little smirk graced his lips that made Jiyong’s heart skip a beat but also made him just a little bit skeptical at the same time.

“Seunghyun?”

“I suppose,” he looked a little confused then looked at his hands, “Yes.”

Jiyong took a tentative step toward him, “Are you sure?”

“If you’re asking if I’m still the same person that was in that vessel, then no, I am not. I’m different, but my name is Seunghyun, but different.”

“How different?” Jiyong pressed him for answers, wanting to know if he had lost what was important to him.

“I know things now,” he looked up at the goddess who seemed pleased, then took the sword that she held in her other hand, “This is mine, I know that. I’ll be taking this, are we done now?”

She nodded her head but before she would let them leave she addressed Jiyong, “You have your power Jiyong, use it, and now Seunghyun has his. Be wise, children, because now that Seunghyun has shed his earthly body, your journey will become a lot more dangerous. Goodbye.”

Before Jiyong could say anything else in a blink he was standing next to the carriage with Seunghyun and Lilith had a bewildered look on her face.

“Well that was quick,” she managed to get out as she wrung the water out of her dress and stepped out of the carriage, “What happened? Did they send you back? Why is Seunghyun wearing such godly armor,” she almost forgot not to touch him as she reached her hand out to feel the ivory armor encrusted in gold, “Isn’t it heavy?”

“No, not at all,” Seunghyun flexed and for a second Lilith almost drooled at the muscles that ran down his arms.

“Wow, when I sent you guys down there I didn’t think they were going to be doing makeovers as well,” she drew in her bottom lip and let her eyes roam his new body. It was Seunghyun alright, but it was like Seunghyun 2.0, “I’m intrigued, you have a diff-

She cut off her sentence abruptly and took a step back, “Your earthy vessel is gone. You’re all spirit now. What happened?”

“Jiyong killed me,” Seunghyun said it without any hesitation nor any malice in his voice. It was like it was just a fact he was spewing without it meaning anything else but that.

Jiyong raised his hands in defense, “It wasn’t that. I was being controlled, that ing crazy lady…” he trailed off when he saw the smirk on Lilith’s lips, “What?”

“Her brother, he can literally use you like a puppet. That is his specialty,” she gave Seunghyun a quick glance, “I’m guessing that they needed Seunghyun to die to pull out his spirit, and only that ‘crazy lady’ as you so eloquently put it, can pull spirits out whole without damaging them. Did you go through tests?”

“Yes, two,” Seunghyun didn’t say any more after that, but he did have a look on his face that let Jiyong and Lilith know that he was holding onto some information that both were not privy to, “Well, shall we go on?”

Jiyong nodded his head, still disbelieving of everything that was going on and followed Seunghyun without a word. He guessed today’s journey was over, but whatever or whoever Seunghyun was now, he had no clue.

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Have had this chapter but I haven't had internet for a while and am not sure how long I will have it now. May try uploading on my phone for now on, am not sure.