[CONTENTID1]Myosotis[/CONTENTID1]

[CONTENTID2]Chapter Thirty-Four[/CONTENTID2]

[CONTENTID3]

One time too many, Yoonhee gazed into the bloodred orbs of none other than Haeil, the person who had taken her parents from her, the person she hated the most. His actions had been the catalyst for the misfortune that had befallen her in the past years. If he hadn’t killed her family, she could have lived safely with her parents and grown up like any other student at her high school. She could have attended university and made new friends. Instead, she had been forced to flee from her only home and hide from a murderous vampire, eventually encountering Sooyoung, who had taken advantage of her unfortunate situation. She had stayed with him for a long time without realizing how toxic their relationship had been, but thanks to her soulmate, her life had taken a turn for the better. Yoonhee treasured the new life she had built for herself in the past six months. She adored her shop, her new clan who she considered her family, and of course, Baekhyun. Haeil would not ruin everything again. The vampire had gone too far—Yoonhee would put an end to his evil actions. Today would be the last time they met. She would only stop fighting once one of them was dead.

Yoonhee didn’t have time to cast a spell before Haeil lunged at her. He was fast, so fast that his body blurred, and she was powerless against his speed and agility. In a blink, he had pushed her down and was on top of her, nearly crushing her shoulders in his merciless grasp. A strangled scream tore from . With wide eyes, she took in Haeil’s twisted grin. He looked deranged. Burning hatred had overtaken all other emotions and she was convinced he was ready to kill her, regardless of Taeseon’s orders.

“You won’t get away from me this time, little witch,” he snarled at her, leaning in. His nose almost touched hers, the proximity revolting her. “It’s over. My prey never survives.”

His fingers dug deeply into her flesh, drawing blood. She squirmed under him, releasing a spark of angry green magic. Not even three seconds had passed since he had attacked her, and yet she was already overwhelmed by him. Gritting her teeth, she spat in his face.

The vampire’s expression changed—and then he was suddenly ripped away from her by a massive force. The weight above her disappeared and the pain in her shoulders eased. She grimaced and carefully pushed herself up, trying to see what was happening. The young witch was in the middle of a chaotic fight, vampires clashing all around her and spells flying past her—she panicked and searched the crowd for a sign of her soulmate. Baekhyun must have attacked Haeil, but where did they disappear to?

Her head snapped around when she heard Baekhyun’s voice yelling a curse. There he was, not far from her, fighting Haeil as she had suspected. She forced her body to get up, observing their blurry motions with bated breath. Baekhyun was strong, but Haeil was his equal. The witch hunter attacked viciously, punching her soulmate and slashing a silver blade across his chest. Blood was drawn, soaked up by the gray shirt Baekhyun wore under his leather jacket.

He groaned and scoffed at the weapon. “Are you too much of a coward to fight me without a weapon? Think you would lose against me?” he mocked.

“Shut up. It doesn’t matter if I use a weapon or not, in the end, I will kill you and your soulmate.”

The vampires disappeared in a blur and reappeared a few meters closer to Yoonhee, kicking and punching each other. Baekhyun was cautious because of the knife and didn’t attack as aggressively as Haeil—unfortunately, the weapon gave his opponent an advantage.

It was obvious Baekhyun couldn’t win the fight if he stayed on the defense—it was time to cast a spell to even the odds. Yoonhee mumbled a few words and reached out her hand, sending a wave of magic at Haeil. She targeted the hand that held the knife, causing wolfsbane to sprout from his wrist and palm. Its poison burned his skin, making it bleed within seconds. Surprised, Haeil let go of the knife, clutching his injury while he dodged Baekhyun’s relentless attacks. He performed a roundhouse kick, hurling Haeil backward straight into a window. The glass broke at the impact, shards flying in all directions and raining down on him.

Baekhyun approached him slowly, throwing Yoonhee a pleased grin over his shoulder. “Hey, that was a great idea.”

“Be careful, Baekhyun, you’re injured. Should I heal you?” she answered as she picked up the weapon. Its hilt was covered in poisonous vines, but they didn’t hurt her. No vampire would be able to hold the weapon without severely burning themselves.

“I’m afraid there’s no time,” he replied, his eyes returning to Haeil when he slowly got up, brushing glass shards off his clothes. He staggered and glared at Baekhyun and Yoonhee.

“Don’t get cocky, witch. Just because you managed to surprise me with your cheap trick doesn’t mean you will win.”

He disappeared in a blur, shooting off so suddenly and so fast that not even Baekhyun could stop him. She heard his shocked scream, but couldn’t react in time. Haeil reached her in a fraction of a second, laying his hands on her neck and squeezing. She grabbed his wrists, her survival instincts kicking in. The silver knife in her hand was plunged into his arm—but the vampire didn’t even flinch. His ultimate goal was to end her life and a blade would hardly stop him.

Baekhyun appeared behind him, struggling to rip him away from her. His desperation allowed him to unleash hell—but Haeil didn’t budge, not even when one of his ribs broke because of Baekhyun’s attacks. He was hyper-focused on his prey and nothing else.

Yoonhee stared right into Haeil’s cruel eyes as strangled her—obviously, he wanted her death to be slow and drawn out. The dark pleasure she found in his expression made her sick to her stomach. Fear gathered in her chest when she realized that Baekhyun might not be able to save her this time. Although her panic made it difficult to concentrate on her magic, she was able to give life to more poisonous plants. Again, they sprouted from his hands, engulfing his fingers.

He howled in pain and frustration, letting go of her neck to rip the plants away. Seeing an opportunity, Baekhyun shoved himself between her and Haeil. He balanced his weight on one leg and raised the other, executing a perfect hapkido kick. His boot collided with Haeil’s chest, fast like lightning. Bones cracked and the vampire was pushed back, landing hard on the ground.

Baekhyun didn’t wait to see if he would get up. Instead, he kneeled next to Yoonhee’s heaving body on the ground, his hand on her back offering comfort. She wheezed, tears gathering in her eyes.

“Breathe, Yoonhee. Focus on breathing,” he muttered. “, that bastard is stronger than I thought.” His voice was laden with pain and anger; he was furious at Haeil and frustrated with himself for being too slow to protect his soulmate. Honestly, Baekhyun wasn’t sure how to defeat Haeil—they were equally strong and without a good plan, it would be next to impossible to dominate him in a fight. All Baekhyun wanted was to stop him fast and without exposing Yoonhee to more danger.

“I… I’m okay,” she gasped. “G-Give me a second, I have an idea.”

The key to defeating Haeil was her magic. It was the one thing he had no control over, the one thing a vampire was powerless against. She would combine Baekhyun’s and her strengths—his agility and her magic would surely be enough to kill Haeil. Yoonhee opened her palm and concentrated a soft flow of magic on her hand. Instead of a plant, she created a sturdy piece of wood, shaped like a stake. It had a sharp, spiky end dripping with the essence of wolfsbane—it was a deadly weapon against a vampire.

“Use this,” she whispered to Baekhyun. “One side is poisoned. The other is safe to touch.”

He scrunched his nose when the pungent stench of wolfsbane engulfed him but didn’t hesitate to take the weapon. Using a stake was an old-fashioned way to kill a vampire, but it was effective.

“Thank you,” he uttered. His stormy gaze scanned over her one last time before he got up. She had sustained bruises and the smell of spilled blood lingered on her, but the determination in her eyes was unbroken. Baekhyun clutched the stake in his hand, his knuckles turning white. He would put her gift to good use and avenge her parents.

“You think that piece of wood will be enough to defeat me? Nothing this witch does will ever amount to anything. She’ll meet her parents in hell when I’m done with her,” Haeil taunted, raising his brow. He had recovered from Baekhyun’s attack and was back on his legs.

However, his mocking tone fell on deaf ears. Baekhyun did not answer. His cold stare followed each of Haeil’s movements as he paced back and forth like a caged lion, curling his burnt palms to hide the injuries Yoonhee had inflicted on him. The broken skin took a long time to heal itself since his body had absorbed too much of the poison. It began to weaken him, sapping his strength and robbing him of his superior reflexes. The more time passed, the more it would affect him—and while Baekhyun wou