A few days pass and the call from his uncle never came. The latter even refuses to see him, stating he's busy and he'll talk to him after everything is dealt with. The same bull every damn time. What lifts up Howon’s mood is Dongwoo’s and Sungjong’s company. He also hasn’t heard from Gwangsuk since their talk in the forest, assuming his friend is on a mission. 

Howon is very bored nowadays because, for some reason, he hasn’t been assigned any missions since the incident occurred. It's as if his schedule is cleared to make him more available. Possibly for an emergency situation? Or maybe that's just him being optimistic.

The miscommunication with his uncle still runs in the back of his mind as he is sandwiched between Dongwoo and Sungjong on the couch, watching TV. He looks to his right and notices Sungjong staring impassively at the TV. 

If he didn't know any better, he'd thought Sungjong was just a normal fifteen-year-old. Dongwoo was the one who introduced him to the Nephilim. He was shocked when the latter shamelessly called him by his name, without the proper title because he damn sure looked way younger than Howon. 

He chastised the Nephilim often and told him to call him ‘hyung’, but the angel-faced devil smirked. “You can't be older than me, Howon."

Howon's nose flared even more because Dongwoo burst into a fit of laughter. “You look like you just reached 15. And I just turned 18 so of course, I'm older. Now call me hyung."

“Sorry to break your bubble, Howon but I'm way older than you. Didn't Dongwoo tell you I'm a Nephilim?"

“Of course he did! So?"

“Well, a Nephilim stops aging physically at the age of 18 hence my look. But I've been around since the start of the 20th century so I'm much older than you. In fact, aren't you the one who should address me formally and with respect?"
 

It’s been three years since their first encounter and he still can't accept that someone who looks younger than him is way older. He's just glad that the Nephilim doesn’t force him to call him hyung or else it will be the end of him.

A loud curse brings Howon back to the present and his head immediately looks for the source of the noise. Dongwoo who was smiling awhile ago was now looking so serious, his face taut with tension. Plus he never heard him curse! Up until now, that is.
 

Howon then looks back at the television and figures out why Dongwoo cursed.

The news reporter is discussing two incidents where women went crazy, screaming as they stabbed their husbands to death. The TV then shows an interview with one of the victim's immediate family.

“My brother told me a couple of days ago that my sister-in-law seemed to ignore him all the time. And um...can I say it here?" The man, apparently the younger brother of one of the victims, goes near the reporter and whispers something in her ear. The reporter blushes a bit and nods for him to proceed.

The man then continues to speak. “My brother had a happy marriage. He was always proud of his life because every day felt like a honeymoon. But a few days ago, my sister-in-law stopped responding to his touch and it carried on for a few days to the point where my brother thought his wife was seeing another man. He was really frustrated and vented everything to me. That day when he.. was killed.. it was the day he decided to stop thinking negatively of his wife's behavior and decided to be romantic with her once again. I don't know what really happened, their neighbors said they heard her scream as if she just saw a monster and the next thing they know, she was on a rampage killing her husband."

Howon shivers. Wow, if that isn't dark...then what is? He then turns to Dongwoo with an intent to crack a (stupid) joke about the situation, but he senses the tense aura coming off from the two people beside him.

“Guys, is there something I should know?" He huffs. He hates being left out, especially in matters like this.

Again, Howon is met with silence.
 

Sungjong turns to him a moment later. “I'm sorry, Hoya. We are in no position to tell you anything. You have to wait for the higher-ups to tell you about the situation."

Right on cue, his in-ear communication device beeps.

“Hoya, come to my office ASAP. Bring Dongwoo and Sungjong with you,” Jungyeop asserts.
 

Howon heaves a sigh and then motions for the two to come with him. Before leaving, he glances at the television and sees the reporter talking with another man, presumably the other victim's relative. He shakes his head, grabbing the remote to turn off the tv. Dongwoo and Sungjong follow close behind as he leads the way to his uncle’s office. He knocks on the door three times.

Jungyeop has a grave look on his face when he opens the door. He tells them to sit on the couch parallel to his desk. 

Howon wants to make a sassy remark to lighten up the mood yet quickly assumes it’s not inappropriate to do so. The silence is overwhelming. He waits for his uncle to utter a single word and when he does, Howon's jaw is left hanging.


"With your expressions right now, I bet you've also seen the news?" Jungyeop starts. “I’m also going to assume you already know the demon behind that?"


"Wait! That was caused by a demon?" Howon rises from his seat. What the is happening

"Sit down Hoya. I apologize for keeping you in the dark for these past few days. But right now, I need your full attention. I'll be assigning you on a mission with Dongwoo and Sungjong and four more agents from other branches. I've talked this out with the board and we came to a conclusion to gather the best agents to carry out this mission."

"Okay, first of all,  why are Dongwoo and Sungjong included? No offense to you guys but do they have experience being on the field? And I refuse to take part in this mission without knowing what I am fighting with,” he replies.

Sungjong elbows him in the ribs. “Excuse me, Dongwoo and I are the best agents from the Black Order in the Demon world. I bet we have higher ranks and more experience than you."
 

Howon doesn’t buy the statement and stares blankly at the Nephilim. There’s no way the demon has its own Black Order. He sighs. “S-Sorry,” he attempts to apologize but fails miserably. "But my point still stands. I have to know everything about what's happening before I take part in this mission." Of course, he’s aware once the higher-ups assign a mission, there’s no other choice but to accept it whether you like it or not. But for now, he wants to be stubborn and force the truth out of his uncle.
 

"That's the reason why I called you here, you idiot. Now if you just sit down, we could get this done and over with."

Embarrassed, Howon silently plops back down on the couch.
 

Jungyeop clears his throat .”I'm sure you remember the incident two weeks ago when a few guards died from an attack by an unidentified demon. The demon you are about to fight is not to be underestimated. What assaulted our agents at that time isn't the demon itself but its malice."

“It's not the demon itself? What do you mean?" Howon questions.

“There’s only one demon of its kind and it can’t be easily defeated That’s why we decided to reach out to all the other branches of the Black Order and request their best agents. I've already called them and they're probably arriving this evening or tomorrow morning, the latest."

“Okay, but what about the demon? I still don't know anything about it." Howon’s patience wearing thin. His uncle sure is testing him today.

“Oh, apologies. This type of demon is called a nightmare spirit, an incubus to be specific. They humans in their dreams and thrive off their energy. Their victims don't know they're of course. These demons tend to incite ual satisfaction from their victims, thus it appears to be consensual but the truth is, the demon is already feeding on that victim's energy. It continues on until their victims are mentally drained. As a result, the victims refuse to participate in ual activities with their partners, and even worse, they start to see their partners as monsters and kill them."

Howon takes a moment to process everything he heard. “So aside from the worst-case scenario, the only problem is that the dream prevents the couples from getting it on?" He asks, half-joking.

The expressions around the room are grim.

"You see Hoya if we can't stop this demon from its victims, women killing their husbands isn’t the end result that we're concerned about. Although it's a matter of importance too, if this continues, you're right, couples won't ‘get it on and what do you think will happen to the human race if people stopped making babies?"

Howon keeps his mouth shut. He can't afford to spout any more idiocy from his mouth and further annoy his uncle. 

Jungyeop pinches the bridge of his nose out of frustration. “If people stopped making babies at this rate, there's a huge possibility that the human race will go extinct. Do you get why defeating this incubus is important now, Hoya?" He barks.
 

The sympathetic look from Dongwoo embarrasses Howon. He decides to be professional and asks a simple question.”So, what do we have to do?"

“As of now, you just have to wait. The organization has a specialized research team trying to locate the demon’s whereabouts. You see, since it assaults dreams, that means we can't be aware of whatever it is doing or wherever it is. If only there was a Dream Guard..."

Dream Guard? His eyebrow raises as he turns to Sungjong for more explanations since this also wasn’t discussed in any of the books left in the archive.

“The Dream Guard is the only one who has the best leverage when it comes to defeating the Incubi. The Dream Guard can alternate between the dream and the real world. He can control life and death in a dream. And because the enemy is a nightmare spirit living in the dream world, chances are higher of defeating it."
 

Howon nods. It would've been cool for this to be taught in class. “So, all we have to do is find the Dream Guard?"
 

“No, we can't do that. The last Dream Guard disappeared two decades ago when she was trying to contain the Incubi and lock it in a prison. Maybe the psychic power that the Dream Guard cast on the prison weakened, hence the escape of the nightmare spirit."

“Oh... Ohhhhh o-kay. Uhm so what do we do now, aside from waiting for the results of the research?"

“You have to wait for your new teammates. As I said, they'll be arriving tomorrow at the latest, this evening at the earliest. Get to know each other, be comfortable and discuss possible strategies. Anything to establish teamwork."

“Okay."

“Sungjong and Dongwoo, I expect you to educate our agents. They're not that much aware of the Incubi since the archive was robbed of all their documents."

“Yes, sir." The duo says simultaneously.

“Okay. Yo