CHAPTER SIX | Power of His Blood

“Watch yourselves, the barrier isn’t going to last much longer.” Jisung warned the two while aiming his arrow at a demon that had successfully gnawed a hole through the invisible field. He hit the creature directly in its forehead, and it crumbled into dust, leaving room for the next demon to attempt its way in.

“Can’t wait! I’m ready for them!” Minho cheered playfully.

One by one, the demons tore the barrier apart.

Jisung readied another arrow, but this time he poured more power into the weapon. The arrow began glowing bright yellow until it was blindingly bright.

Jeongin had to hide his face from the light it radiated.

When he let the arrow fly, it split into various beams of light that struck a good number of the demons all at once.

But it wasn’t enough to stop the inevitable.

The barrier finally shattered from the sheer overwhelming numbers of demons attacking it and the creatures all swarmed in at once.

“Here we go!” Minho gripped his swords tightly and moved fast to meet the demons head-on. His blades easily cut through his enemies like butter.

His speed and strength really impressed Jeongin. “Was it all from black magic too?” He thought, but his thoughts were quickly interrupted by the demons that set their sights on him.

“Ack—“ Jeongin came face to face with a mummy-like demon, but before it could lay it’s hands on him, he was grabbed by his arm and pulled into Minho’s chest.

“Oh no you don’t!” Minho spun and sliced the demon’s head clean off.

Jeongin glanced up at his face and noticed the crazed smile he had on his lips. “Was he enjoying himself?”

From the moment they met each other he never doubted he was insane.

“On your right!” Jisung alerted him.

Minho reacted immediately. “I see it” He jerked Jeongin again, leading him away from a cluster of demons that were throwing themselves in their direction. The boy had nearly gotten whiplash from the constant rapid movements of Minho pulling him around.

“Jisung!” Minho shoved Jeongin backwards, and Jisung caught him in his free arm, giving Minho the chance to charge a stampede of demons without worrying he’d be leaving Jeongin wide open.

Jisung shot his magic arrows over the boy’s shoulders and took a second to retrieve a special gold colored arrow from his quiver. As he did before, he poured his power into it, making it glow brightly. Only this time, the light rose from the arrow and spilled to the side to form a clone of Jisung next to him. It’s eyes were entirely red, and it had a hollower feeling to it than the real Jisung.

“Protect him!” He ordered, forcing Jeongin into the clone’s arms and kicking a demon away from him.

The clone nodded and wrapped one arm securely around Jeongin while using a dagger to fight off more demons. His cloak served as a secondary barrier that rejected the touch of any demon that came into contact with it.

Jeongin buried his face behind the cloak, hoping nothing else was going to jump out and grab him.

In the meantime, Zrox was waiting. He watched the fight from afar, waiting for the right opportunity to intervene.

His eyes were glued to Jeongin. The scent his blood gave off was enough to make even a demon of his stature lose his mind just a bit. He wanted him. No, he needed him.

“Useless creatures…” he whispered. His demons were failing to bring him his prize. Instead, they were being overpowered by a human and demon alone despite the staggering numbers.

He was losing his patients.

“These things are not as strong as I thought they’d be!” Minho admitted, striking down a row of demons like it was nothing.

“Don’t get cocky Minho. You tend to jinx us whenever you say things like that!” Jisung could have slapped him for saying those words, but he was too preoccupied by his enemies do so.

Minho laughed while holding his swords up against two wolf-like demons that were snapping and reaching to get a hold of him. “I’m always cocky! It’s a force of habit!”

Jisung rolled his eyes and jabbed a demon in the face with an arrow, turning it into dust. He then checked over his shoulder to make sure his clone was still holding up. Thankfully, Jeongin was still safely hidden in the clone’s cloak.

Zrox’s patients was dwindling as the fight continued. He couldn’t wait any longer. He had to act now.

Blue lightning formed in his open hand and morphed into the shape of a short rod with sharpened edges.

Jisung and Minho were too busy with his demons to notice he was making his move.

He raised his hand and the rod levitated in the air above his palm. Once he closed his hand into a fist, the rod zipped through the crowd and stabbed straight through Jisung’s clone.

Jisung felt a sting of pain and whipped around to see his clone standing in place with the rod sticking out of his back. It quickly reverted into a broken arrow in a flash of light, leaving Jeongin alone.

Zrox grinned and opened his fist and closed it again. This motion created a hook in the end of the rod that wrapped around Jeongin like a net.

“No!” Jisung shouted, alerting Minho.

Zrox drew his hand back and the rod pulled Jeongin towards him through the crowd. The boy resisted with all his strength, terrified to be taken by the demon.

“Damnit!” Minho jumped to stop Jeongin, but his hand burned as it touched the lightning, sending him stumbling backwards.

“Minho! Jisung! Help me!” Jeongin cried out. He seriously hated being so useless, but what could a human like him do against such powerful foes? He could do nothing but be tossed around helplessly.

Jisung notched an arrow and aimed it at Zrox, but Jeongin was being used as a sheild.

“Take the shot!” Minho yelled.

“I can’t!” Jisung lowered his bow slightly. “I might hit the boy!”

Minho growled in frustration and destroyed another couple of demons that leapt at him.

Once Zrox had him in his grasp, he held Jeongin close and breathed in the scent that quaffed into his nostrils. The sent was indescribably delectable. It made his hunger grow uncontrollably.

“Zrox—let go of me!” Jeongin tried to order him with a trembling voice, but it was obvious the demon wasn’t listening to him. He was a completely different person from the man he used to know in the palace.

Zrox breathed out and brought the king closer to where he could reach the crook of his neck. His breath against his skin sent chills down his spine in the worst way. His face scrunched up, feeling pure terror in the pit of his stomach.

“Don’t you touch him!” Minho growled, plowing his way through the demon crowd to get to the two of them.

“Minho no! Stay back!” Jisung cautioned, but it was too late.

Zrox bit down hard on Jeongin neck and the boy screamed. He chugged down the boy’s golden blood and blue lightning spiraled out of control, tearing through anything it hit.

Minho shielded himself with his swords, but was slashed hard, sending him flying backwards into a tree.

“Minho!” Jisung watched his partner go flying and was blindsided as well, getting hit hard by a strand of lightning.

Not even the demon spawn was safe from the attack.

Zrox drank until his body could no longer handle the amount of power it was receiving.

“Amazing!” He shouted, feeling his body beginning to change. He cackled as he grew into a more demonic-looking creature. His body quadrupled in size, reaching a staggering height above the tree line, and his appearance became more like that of a skeletal, rotting corpse than a human.

Jeongin fell to the ground as he changed. His entire body ached and he felt too dizzy to see straight. It was amazing he was still conscious.

Minho sorely got back to his feet, using his swords to keep himself balanced. He spat out blood and wiped the stray dribble that slid down his chin. “what in the hell is that thing?!”

Jisung limped over to him, holding his bleeding left arm. “It’s the power of the boy’s blood.” He coughed, not taking his eyes off of the giant demon in front of them. “I told you he was the key.”

“, you weren’t kidding! The guy’s massive now!”

Jisung painfully flexed his hurt arm, cringing at the pain as he reached for an arrow. “We’re in too far over our heads now. You wouldn’t believe the aura that’s coming off of him. If we’re smart, we should run while we still can.”

“And leave the boy? If his blood can do that—“ he pointed at Zrox “—then we can’t leave something so dangerous in some