Minji awoke when she heard muffled voices and felt Baëkhyun’s overwhelming anger in the back of her mind. She groaned, rolling on her side and rubbing her eyes. As soon as her memories of the fire returned, she tensed up, looking around in the bedroom and searching for Baëkhyun. Unfortunately, he wasn’t here, but she had heard his voice just now, so he had to be nearby.

She pulled back the cover and got out of bed, running her hand through her hair to make it look a little less disheveled. Putting on her sneakers, she nearly stumbled over her own feet in her haste to get to him. Minji ripped open the door and hurried to the living room, following the sound of the familiar voices.

When she entered the room, all eyes moved to her. The nine demons were here, scattered through Baëkhyun’s spacious living room. Some of them were standing, others sitting on the sofas, but they had one thing in common—their anger. The rage they felt was palpable, their demonic magic waiting to be set free.

“Minji,” Läy said, breaking the silence that her arrival had caused. “Are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m alright,” she answered with a weak smile before she joined Baëkhyun on the sofa, seeking his proximity. He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her in.

“Did something happen while I was asleep?” she asked.

“No,” Suhø answered. “We arrived around an hour ago and all we did was wait for that bastard to show up. But he is taking his time… and that isn’t a good sign to me.”

The fear in her stomach grew and was accompanied by nausea. “You think he’s planning something,” she breathed.

“Of course,” Kāi nodded. His piercing eyes were shining with madness, and Minji shuddered upon seeing the sinister emotions within his gaze. He wasn’t here to have fun—he was here for revenge like all of them.

“He won’t get close to you,” Baëkhyun said lowly, his tone dark and voice shaking with rage. “Not again.” He took her hand, squeezing it lightly, and she held on to it, the physical contact to him offering comfort to her.

“Minji, do you want to tell us what exactly happened at your home?” Läy asked carefully, not sure whether she was ready to speak about it yet. To him, she looked rather pale and wasn’t in the best state.

“Um… well, Krïs showed up while Baëkhyun was away. Of course I didn’t open the door nor did I let him in since I knew that something was off when I sensed his fire magic. But a locked door doesn’t keep a demon out,” she explained, her eyes resting on Baëkhyun’s and her linked hands. His thumb traced gentle patterns on the back of her hand while she spoke. He knew very well how unsettled she was, so he tried to calm her down.

“When he kicked the door in, I tried to run to the windows, but he blocked them with fire and trapped me. There was no way out, so I defended myself with my magic… but surprisingly, he never attacked me directly. All he did was set the entire apartment on fire. The furniture, the ceiling, everything. I think he… he wanted to drag it out.”

She swallowed hard as she relived these scary moments.

“B-But that’s not all. You should know that Krïs wasn’t a stranger to me,” she continued with a lump in . The demons stared at her in stunned silence, waiting for her to elaborate. “I met him briefly a few days ago. It happened in the mall. We ran into each other by accident and after I apologized, he introduced himself as Yifan.”

“You met that bastard when you were alone?!” Baëkhyun snarled. His body emitted an eerie reddish light and his sudden rage made her uncomfortable since it felt like an explosion of fire within her.

“Baëkhyun, calm down!” Läy interfered, glaring at him.

“I didn’t know it was him,” she said quietly. “He hid his magic somehow and I had no idea that he was actually a demon.”

“,” Baëkhyun hissed. “That could have ended terribly! You could have died!”

“I know,” she breathed weakly. His shoulders heaved and his eyes were filled with agitation, but once he realized how defeated and sad she looked, he reined himself in.

“I won’t leave you alone until he’s taken care of,” he said stubbornly and inched closer to her, intending to reassure her. He felt the fearful flutters of her heart in his own chest. Her apprehension was that strong. Baëkhyun didn’t want her to be scared anymore, he finally wanted her to be happy and he longed to feel her joy return. It was his brightest light and he refused to let go of it.

“When will that bastard finally show himself?!” Kāi snapped, glaring out the window, but of course, nobody could answer his question.

Unbeknownst to them, they were done waiting at this exact moment. The only warning Minji received was a stinging in her wrist, and then they were plunged into chaos. The windows behind the sofas exploded. Razor-sharp shards of glass shot towards them. The demons were caught off guard and Minji sat in shock as the projectiles flew at her. Baëkhyun was the first to react, lunging at her and knocking her down. He kneeled above her and used his magic to shield them from the glass.

His reaction drove the other demons to act. Wild magic surged around her, overwhelming her with its intensity. She had never experienced so many demons using their destructive magic at the same time—it was like a bomb that had gone off next to her and had she been standing, she would have probably been knocked off her feet. The devastating wave of elemental magic shot past her and Baëkhyun, targeting the area near the windows.

A terrifying screeching reached her ears followed by howls and snarls. Her pulse raced when she tried to see what was happening, sitting up with Baëkhyun hovering over her. The scene she laid eyes on caused bile to rise in . A large group of low-class fire demons attempted to enter the house from all sides. They were like a hungry pack of wolves, coming in all shapes and sizes. Some reminded Minji of hyenas, others looked more like dogs or even reptiles. They shared one similarity—their bodies were on fire, burning brightly. The orange and blue flames looked bizarre in the darkness of hell, illuminating its eternal blackness.

Minji didn’t see Krïs among the low-class demons, but she knew that he was behind this ambush. He was probably waiting for the right moment to strike and since he had caught them off guard, the advantage was on his side.

“Stay close to me,” Baëkhyun told her when he pulled her up and took her wrist to lead her away from the shattered windows. The army of fire demons tried to pour into the house, their flames flickering over the window sills.

Suhø and Xiůmin did all they could to keep the angry flames under control, their magic being the most effective against fire. Sehůn used his wind to steer the hot smoke away from them while Chanyeøl had no other choice but to fight fire with fire. Whenever his magic collided with a demon, the sheer force of the impact hurled it back. That way, he was able to prevent some of their enemies from entering Baëkhyun’s home—but not all of them. Several monsters slipped past him, Suhø and Xiůmin, and were met with D.Ø.’s, Läy’s and Kāi’s combined forces. Chën’s thunder lit up the room as it crashed into a fire demon. A horribly loud screeching followed his attack and the fire demon quickly retaliated.

Within minutes, the living room had turned into a chaotic mess. The furniture was destroyed, some walls were charred and the door leading to the hallway had been knocked down from the other side. The demons had invaded the entire house. There was no place to hide.

Baëkhyun’s light magic tore through a demon that tried to snap at him, turning it to ashes. His ruby eyes constantly flitted around the room. He was on high alert and ready to defend her and him at any given moment. Minji couldn’t say how relieved she was that he was with her—the situation scared her since she knew that she wasn’t exactly a good match for a group of vicious fire demons.

The unnatural heat that built within the living room was hard to bear. Hot sparks exploded next to her when her magic cut into a demon that had tried to sneak up on her. Its beady eyes stared at her, greed and bloodlust reflecting within their black depths. She summoned more light in her palms, shot another powerful beam at it. The fire demon didn’t survive—it was turned into smithereens, leaving only ashes behind.

“We shouldn’t stay in this room,” Baëkhyun said when more demons entered through the windows. The situation became too hard to control and too many fire demons managed to get near her. He didn’t like that at all.

Suhø heard his words and agreed with him. “Retreat into the hallway! We’ll distract them for you,” he shouted as he continued to douse the flames with his water. He did all he could to prevent the entire house from catching fire. Steam rose and mixed with the smoke.

Baëkhyun took her wrist and pulled her along into the hallway. They left the chaos of the living room behind, but even here, they encountered fire demons that had found other ways into the house. A hyena jumped out of the bedroom, snapping at Minji’s leg.

Light engulfed her and drove the monster back. Baëkhyun snarled, his rage consuming him. His body exuded red light that flickered ominously as he intercepted the demon when it advanced once more. It didn’t get close to her before it got speared by a beam of light. The screech it let out as it died drew the attention of other enemies nearby.

“, what now?” Minji hissed and looked around for a possible escape route.

“We need to find out where Krïs is hiding,” Baëkhyun muttered as he led her into the nearby bedroom. “He incited these demons to attack us, so he must be close.”

“It won’t stop until we find him,” she concluded with dread. Remembering the fire demon made her tremble in horror. She recalled the desperation she had felt upon facing him all alone. The sight of the flames covering his entire body had been terrifying. She wanted to forget about it, but it was burned into her mind. It had been unbearably hot and painful to be trapped by flames within her own home.

With her rising fear, she sensed Baëkhyun’s rising fury. The demon was about to burst with rage and even to her, his expression looked ferocious. Wrath brimmed in his eyes. His pupils had shrunken to the size of a needle, and his silver chain reflected the light his hands emitted. The sinister sensation of his bloodlust seeped into her heart through their bond—it used to scare her, but not anymore. She’d long since accepted every part of him, be it the positive or the negative.

Suddenly, Baëkhyun shoved her, making her fall with a strangled cry. She landed on the ground with him next to her. A ball of hot blue fire had crashed into the ground where they had been standing just seconds ago. Wide-eyed, she stared at it and quickly got up. Baëkhyun stepped in front of her and blocked her view. She knew exactly who had attacked them since she would recognize his fire magic anywhere.

“Krïs,” Baëkhyun snapped.

Krïs’ lips formed a smirk as he jumped through the shattered window and entered the bedroom. He was accompanied by two more demons that appeared like panthers, set ablaze by their fire magic.

“Did you miss me?” he mocked and tilted his head. His eyes moved from Baëkhyun to Minji. “It’s unfortunate you survived this far. I rarely have to take care of problems myself. Consider yourselves lucky.”

His arrogance induced disgust within Minji. “So we’re a problem to you?” she yelled and glared at him. “We never did anything to you! And neither did Lůhan and Jungeun! Why did you kill them?”

Krïs’ body heated the air in the room up. Flames over his black clothes, ignited his eyes. “Jungeun made a mistake,” he muttered. “It’s her fault she died. She could have led a happy life, but she decided to betray me.”

“What the are you talking about?” Baëkhyun asked. His patience was waning—all he cared about was his insatiable thirst for revenge.

“You knew her?” Minji said. That made the entire thing even worse—if he hadn’t just killed her and Lůhan randomly but known exactly who they were, then he must have targeted them, maybe even hunted them down.

“Of course I knew her,” Krïs scoffed, playing with a blue flame that danced in his hand. “I met her while I visited Seoul. She was a beautiful woman, and on top of that, she knew about the supernatural since she was a witch. I immediately decided that I wanted to keep her, so I planned to get bonded to her. However, she ran away from me… and she ended up with Lůhan.” The malice in his voice left no doubts as to the intensity of his hate.

“I’m not surprised she ran away,” Minji taunted. “Who would want to share a bond with someone like you? She must have been terrified.”

“Shut up, human,” he snarled and took a step closer. “You have no idea what you’re talking about!”

“Who cares about your history with that woman?” Baëkhyun cut in. “Stop talking, I want to get this over with.” His light magic formed the slim silver weapon that she had already seen him use before—a fencing saber. He held it confidently and didn’t show any concern, only glared at Krïs with icy eyes.

The two demons couldn’t have been any more different at that moment. Krïs was literally burning with loathing, while Baëkhyun desired cold revenge. Their dangerous magic layered the atmosphere around her, feeling like prickling needles on her skin.

Minji would be lying if she said she wasn’t worried. Her gaze flitted to the closed door that led to the hallway—she knew that the others were close, but by the sounds of it, they were still fending off the numerous demons outside. She heard their angry screams and snarls, sometimes even felt the building tremble when D.Ø. used his powerful earth magic. None of them was in a position to help which meant she and Baëkhyun were on their own. At least for now.

Baëkhyun had long since realized that Krïs would never stop terrorizing them, not as long as he lived. He would continue to tor