Myungsoo felt like he had died on the spot. It was like time has frozen, as if everything was moving in slow motion. He registered every single movement of how those damned roots pierced Sungyeol’s legs, chest, stomach, and shoulder. How Sungyeol’s mouth opened slightly in a silent scream, and his heart burnt at the thought of how painful it must have been. He saw how Sungyeol’s jet black eyes were half opened, those beautiful tears rolling down his cheek, smudging the blood that had splattered their way to stain the milky skin.

Lee Sungyeol is an idiot.

Myungsoo’s vision blurred and his heart – his burnt heart – shattered. His knees buckled and soon he fell onto the ground. There was a ringing voice in his ears – he couldn’t hear or see anything else. Anything else beside the bloody figure of his best friend meters in front of him.

The sky turned cloudy within seconds, and now it looked as if there was a natural disaster going on there. Thunders were booming as Dongwoo’s anger rose as well. A storm brewed – a visible sign that he wasn’t the only one – that Sunggyu and Woohyun were both upset and furious as well. However, despite the heavy thunderstorm and strong wind, the blue fire didn’t diminish. It was still raging there, acting as a border preventing the coven from getting to Sungyeol.

Hoya couldn’t move. Being able to read minds, Myungsoo’s state had disabled Hoya from any reaction. The mind reader felt too affected to move, speak, or even breathe. Myungsoo’s strong emotion was consuming him; petrifying him.

Yunhee let out a growl. She was about to jump across the fire when Sungjong and Minyoung’s screams stopped her.

“MYUNGSOO!”

Yunhee turned to Myungsoo to see what was going on and her heart skipped a beat.

Myungsoo, who was kneeling down, was emitting a scary, dark aura. His eyes were covered by his fringe, and despite feeling concerned over his state of mind, Yunhee found herself unable to move as well. The rest of the coven members were rooted to the ground also, feeling fear.

A swirl of shadow formed from below Myungsoo, and was rapidly expanding. Sunggyu snapped out of his trance and shouted at the rest.

“MOVE!”

Yunhee recovered and leaped away, to where Minyoung and Sungjong were. Dongwoo grabbed Hoya (who still couldn’t move) and followed after. Sunggyu took Woohyun’s arm controlled the wind, making them ascend a few meters above the ground.

The wave of shadow grew intensely wider, eventually swallowing the dead corpses and roots that were assaulting all of them. The shadow continued to expand; crawling creepily to all direction, every single thing, drowning them and making them disappear.

The blue flames raged then – as if they were alive. As the shadow got closer, the fire got bigger and hotter.

“ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” Myungsoo’s scream was scaring the heck out of everyone, and Yunhee wished more than anything that she could do something.

The shadow became alive then – it engulfed the fire and immediately its figure was distorted, as if both elements were fighting. Myungsoo let out another anguished scream and soon the shadow burst, releasing smokes, indicating that the fire was gone.

“We have to stop him.” Dongwoo said, giving Hoya’s shoulder a squeeze. The latter was still petrified and Dongwoo didn’t blame him. He was just glad he couldn’t read minds – he always thought that Hoya had an awesome ability but to feel whatever Myungsoo was feeling… Dongwoo thinks that he could live better not knowing how horrible it felt like.

Minyoung’s eyes turned purple as she concentrated. She tried to invade Myungsoo’s mind, but the latter strongly repelled her. She didn’t give up – she refused to let anyone die right before her eyes – but as she attempted a stronger hypnotism, Myungsoo’s mind completely rejected her, causing her to let out a painful yelp.

“Minyoung?” Sungjong immediately grasped her. “Are you okay?”

“He wouldn’t let me in.” She whimpered, eye