Moon Byulyi knew that she might have to break her promise to her wife, Kim Yongsun, when she entered the Moonlight Lounge alone and was entirely unchallenged. No one had tried to stop her, recognising her authority as the successor to Master, the future leader of Illuminati. The security teams which was supposed to keep her out had, effectively, rolled out a red carpet to welcome her.

This entire setup only stank of pure desperation from Master, the leader of Illuminati. Her steps faltered slightly since she wondered if this was simply an illusion. Besides, a desperate individual was very dangerous especially if that individual perceived that the plan that he had sowed decades into was failing.

Kang Seulgi and Jung Wheein remained at the rooftop apartment monitoring the situation closely. They were her back up for this mission of rescuing Ahn Hyejin from the clutches of her Master. It took a lot of quick talking to persuade the two younger women to remain behind and wait for her instructions.

Her final instruction was to get Hwasa to safety no matter the cost since the younger alpha was a disposable asset to Master. There were unshed tears in Wheein’s eyes when Byulyi had convinced them to make that promise to her. Bear understood her reasoning—even if Byulyi was caught by Master, there was very little he could do to her and she had more freedom to escape at a later time.

She continued her way through the hallway of the Moonlight Lounge, finding the location too quiet for her liking. This location had always been a favourite hangout with the rich in the country and it was strange to see it so empty.

Her mobile phone beeped, signalling a message. Byulyi glanced at it quickly and smiled ferally. Dr Wilfred Wisconsin had finally come through for her after the extensive research he had put in. This was a significant chip in this high-stake poker game. She continued her journey through the hallway, noting the position of every hidden and overt member of the security team. She studied the expression of every security detail surrounding the hall, noting their strange, jaded expression. Her cherry-shaped lips thinned at once when she realised that her fears were truly realised. Somehow, Master had fulfilled his dream of creating a way to control the individuals of the organisation biologically.

The very thought that Master had found a way to override the agency of an individual had her balling her hands into fists. It was exactly the sort of project that he would be interested in and she was certain that he did not bother about the welfare of the subordinates as he made them his test subjects.

The jaws of Byulyi clenched and unclenched as she closed the distance between Master and her boldly. The gaze of the Master and disciple connected from the moment that she entered the hall briskly.

Behind the Master, there was a cleverly-hidden device filming this entire confrontation. Byulyi did not need to guess the purpose of the videoing. The moment that she had entered the heart of the Moonlight Lounge, the guests of Master were projected on the four walls of the lobby, taking up the entire wall. The guests were hidden in the shadows, their voices altered by voice modifier theatrically. The entire set-up somehow reminded her of the premiering of a grand show.

“We’ve been waiting for you, Moonbyul,” smiled Master, opening his arms theatrically as if he was the host of this live show, ready to unveil a new technology. Byulyi did not bat an eye when Hwasa stepped behind the older man in deference. A quick glance at the younger alpha who was dressed in stealth combat fatigues like hers reassured the silver-haired alpha that she was fine.

“For years, we dabbled in some many fields to shape the world as how we have been called to. We have destroyed governments through information, fractured communities and cultivated a strong base of support for our vision. I have tried and failed so many times that I have lost count but I have finally achieve my lifelong goal.” Master smiled brightly, a crazed look in his eyes. “You’re in time to show our guests the power of my latest invention.” The older gentleman smiled proudly. “This is Moonbyul, my unhinged and bloodthirsty wolf, my successor.” He threw his hands into the air, chuckling.

Moonbyul paused and snorted, unimpressed. Her top lip curled derisively. “Point me to the Hr and I’ll hand in my notice.” Her gleaming sapphire eyes vacillated to Hwasa who had taken a combative stance of standing at shoulder’s length. There was no gleam of recognition in her brown eyes.

“Humour huh?” Master smirked faintly, the corners of his eyes crinkling. “Seems like someone has domesticated my meticulously bred successor without my knowledge.” He chuckled, clasping his hands behind his back almost paternally.

Moonbyul sneered at the elder brazenly. How dare Master mock Yongsun! Her blue eyes darkened as nameless rage exploded in her. She snarled as she attacked Master, going for his weakness, releasing her menacing and suffocating pressure fully.

“Notice how audacious my wolf can be?” Master smiled faintly. He was not threatened by his angry successor, remaining still. Mocking chuckles from the guests in shadows filled the hall. “Let me put her in her place.” He clapped his hand.

Hwasa immediately deflected the blow, hissing. She followed up with a sharp twist of her elbow against her face as she drew out a jagged knife from her pocket. The long hours of sparring with each other had clearly paid dividends. The voluptuous alpha’s attacks were more swift, powerful and efficient. She had intended to inflict maximum damage with every calculated move.

Byulyi was aware that Master was toying with her, otherwise he would have ordered one of the guards to shoot her and not order her favoured subordinate to kill her without resorting to guns. He was cruelly sadistic that way. He loved such battles between trusted companions to eliminate any sort of humanity remained within them. This battle to death was exactly like those battles in her spartan training where they were forced to kill their trusted partner.

Moonbyul was not going to cave into her brutal master’s plan. She refused to let she and her packmates be his puppet. When she tried to attack Master again, she was immediately countered by the hostile Hwasa who had nearly broke her arm. Her eyes were still a bright blue, a sign that she had not slipped into unique feral state, as she remained on offence—the only position she was good at— as she tried to devise another plan to help Hwasa break free from the control of Master.Her understanding of Master’s way of exerting control over a person was guesswork at best but she had no choice but to experiment with Hyejin.

Even though she was fully focused, she was aware of the Master sharing the context of this fight with the guests, while watching the fight. Hwasa was absolutely loyal to Moonbyul, giving the silver-haired alpha her personal loyalty. She had risked the punishment of death when she obeyed Moonbyul and openly defied the Illuminati by disrupting the carefully laid out plans of the Leader of the Illuminati. Yet, this loyal subordinate was desperately out for the blood of Moonbyul.

Byulyi simply seethed in anger. She was the successor to the Illuminati, what was wrong for Hwasa to swear her loyalty to her? Master was just upset that Hwasa had wrecked his plans!

The future leader knew that she did not have much time to figure out this mind control. Seulgi and Wheein would be convinced to attempt to rescue them if this lethal bout continued. Without slipping into her feral state, the silver-haired alpha was not as rapid, strong and enduring as the younger Hwasa who was in feral state.

Byulyi found herself at a disadvantage, bleeding profusely in several areas, mainly her limbs. The wounds had started to sting due to the sweat from her exertion as she continued that lethal tango with Hyejin, trying to force the younger alpha into a certain position. She was simply grasping for straws to execute the next step of her plan.

The future leader had barely hesitated for a spilt second and that had costed her dearly. Hyejin was brutal in her attack, stabbing her liver adroitly after pulling a false move. The older alpha only had the time to dodge slightly, using her palm to strike at her right wrist. Despite her attempt to deflect and dodge, the dagger knifed into the side of Byulyi’s abdomen, barely missing her vitals.

Her sapphire eyes darkened slightly, a sign that Byulyi was dropping into a feral state from taking such a brutal blow. She blinked for several moments and her eyes reverted to its original shade. She stilled and firmed her core muscles to keep the knife in place. Byulyi threw all caution into the wind, gritting her teeth as she grabbed the hand holding the dagger with a vice-like grip, holding Hwasa against her.

The right wrist of Hwasa was swollen after suffering an attack from Byulyi.

Without a warning, Byulyi sprinted towards the wall at the end of the hall, slamming the temporarily immobilised younger alpha against it hard. The raven-haired alpha hissed in pain as she soaked up the impact from their velocity.

Hwasa glared at the stubborn woman who had pinned her against the wall at a greater cost to herself. The raven-haired alpha blinked owlish, bewildered. She frowned hard as if she could not comprehend the behaviour of her foe, staring at the dagger that she was holding with her injured right hand. The blade had completely disappeared into the lithe body of her silver-haired opponent as the latter bled even more copiously. The lodging of the blade locked them in closer proximity and Hwasa expected a fatal attack from her foe.

The attack never came. She was even more confused when Byulyi gave her a scrunched-nose, lopsided smile. She blinked owlishly at the sincerity of that smile—so full of mischief and affection. She knew that smile. When the Indian dimples appeared on Byulyi’s face, Hwasa knew that Byulyi was truly delighted.

Moonbyul could have burst out dancing from joy when she saw the changes of Hyejin’s expression. She closed the distance between them even more, concealing the raven-haired alpha from view. It gave the older alpha a brief window to speak to Hyejin in private. “Jinie-ah,” smiled Byulyi, meeting her gaze. “You have my permission to marry your Heart if you snap out of this.” Her gaze became gentle. “Wheepup is waiting for you. Don’t you dare to let her down.”

Hyejin’s face contorted briefly in pain. She blinked owlishly again and life was restored in the mocha eyes of Hwasa as she stared at the face of her adversary blankly. She clutched her head with her free hand, wincing. “Byul?” She staggered backwards and pressed against the wall. She rubbed her temple and shook her head again, looking confused. It took her a while to focus her attention on the bleeding silver-haired alpha before her.

“Byul?” Hyejin echoed before she gasped, dropping her hand from the blade. What happened? Why did she attack Byul Unnie? The nauseating metallic smell of blood filled the air. “W-What happen?”

Moonbyul simply smirked, knowing that she had won this fight.

Silence lengthened in the hall when they realised that Hwasa had broken free from the manipulation somehow. Master had lost his composure at once, trembling, when he realised that Hwasa had somehow broke free from his control.

How?

How was this possible?

Sweat beaded on the brows of Master as he quickly tried to troubleshoot this issue but he came up blank. He had no idea what had happened in the fight that led to his loss of control.

The arrogant smirk from Byulyi’s face faded. She gritted her teeth once again and gripped the hilt of the buried dagger.

“Unnie, don’t!” Hwasa yelled as she lurched forward, trying to halt her.

It was too late.

Byulyi took a deep breath and exhaled, yanking the dagger out of her body with all her might. Fresh blood spurted out from her wound and sprayed the ground. Instantly, there was a menacing and suffocating pressure that weight them down, sending shivers down their spines.

Moonbyul hissed softly, her eyes obsidian black. She stowed the bloodied dagger into her utility belt, completely alert of her surroundings. The massive haemorrhaging was slowing down, a sign that the alpha’s superior healing had kicked in. She spun with lethal elegance to face Master once again. Her pale cherry-shaped lip curled in a mocking sneer.

“Master, did you say you wanted to put me in my place?” She asked silkily, prowling towards him like an apex predator, ready for the final kill. The goosebumps on Hwasa’s skin stood at that disturbing presence of Moonbyul, a powerful aura that was birthed from walking over the bodies of her enemies.

“I’m…I’m your Master! How dare you bite the hand that feeds you!” The terrified older man fired back, trying to maintain some composure. Moonbyul might be defiant and grumpy, but she had never tried to kill him. He could see his demise in the dark abyss of Moonbyul’s eyes. Sweat beaded on his brow as he tried to find a way to get out of this situation alive. “K-kill—” He pointed a trembling finger at her. He stared around the hall in vivid surprise when the guards did not obey his order, instead they fell on a single knee before her, paying homage to the powerful and fearsome alpha.

Moonbyul closed the distance boldly until the tip of his trembling pointer finger touched her sternum. She smirked, a crazed gleam in her eyes. “My banishment, the final undertaking to prove that I’m deserving of the mantle of leadership in the Illuminati, is complete. I’ve risen from the dead. I’m Moonbyul, the new leader of the Illumanti.”

There was a moment of silence before the guests hidden in the shadows started to applaud, welcoming her into their hallowed ranks. It was obvious that they had recognised that she had completed their sacred ritual.

Master dropped on the ground, blood drained from his face completely. “How did you—"

“—How did I know that the criterion of succession is eclipsing the former leader?” Moonbyul cocked her head slightly and looked at him innocently. She smiled sweetly at him. “I found ancient transcribes from the archive in Yale.”

Master’s eyes widened in shock. He shook his head in disbelief. “No, it can’t be. You can’t be the leader. You don’t have the support of—”

“—The fraternities of the Illuminati perhaps?”

Moonbyul smiled faintly at the voice of Bear. This barrister always loved to make a grand entrance. She shrugged absently as Hyejin stood behind her, watching over her back.

“It sounds like a voice from heaven,” chuckled Hyejin when she looked around and did not spot the lawyer.

Byulyi mirrored her smile.

“The 322 fraternities of the Illuminati have recognised Moonbyul as the new leader.” A deep voice with a heavy American brogue spoke. “I represent the Skull and Bones fraternity. We recommend the arrest of the Serpent for performing prohibited experiments on our own members, our venerable Leader.”

That was the signal for them to wrap up so that they could finally return home to rest. Seulgi and Wheein had came through by transmitting the feed live to the fraternities of Illuminati. Both Kang Seulgi and Jung Wheein were headhunted by the different fraternities of the Illuminati while they were studying in college. Neither of them joined the secret society of elites but did not lose contact with them. When Seulgi went to the US, she had also sought them out to garner support for Byulyi, a critical task to become a officially recognised successor to the secret society.

Moonbyul nodded. “Serpent, you’re arrested for the crimes against the members of the organisation…”

There was an ear-piercing explosion. Well-armed teams of mercenaries burst into the heart of the lounge, pointing their rifles around, screaming at them to get on their knees.

“Hand Mr Park over now!”

The kneeled guards immediately took up defensive positions and opened fire at the armed team. The new adversaries took cover behind structures. Byulyi and Hyejin moved by instinct, throwing themselves behind a pillar before the standoff commenced. The silver-haired alpha shared a glance with her subordinate and nodded, agreeing that they ought to hold this position since their enemies were obviously here to rescue Master.

The gunfire echoed as bullets whizzed past and shattered glass. The mercenaries found a foothold and tried to advance to secure Old Park who was huddling behind a pillar. Somehow, two teams managed to rescue Master and they hastily beat a retreat out of the lounge.

“Don’t give chase. Stand down now,” commanded Moonbyul coldly, stepping out of cover when she was certain that they were now safe. The security detail of the Moonlight Lounge lowered their weapons at once and stowed them.

Moonbyul looked unimpressed, her hands on her hips in akimbo. “A little snake.” She had expected her Master to escape but not so quickly. Now, they had far more important things to see to. “Let’s put our house in order first, Jinie-ah.”

Hwasa sighed, rubbing her face. “Yeah, that’s a problem. I’ll order them to disarm first and get themselves to the medical bay.”

Byulyi nodded at once. “What the medics supposed to look for is a device no bigger than fingernail implanted on the main artery on the right wrist. I disabled yours when I injured your wrist. Everyone needs to be checked. In batches.”

The raven-haired alpha nodded, agreeing with her order. “What about him? Are we going to hunt him down?”

The leader shook her head lightly, amused. “Why should we? We have bigger fishes to fry. I believe in the natural order.” Her blue eyes gleamed impishly.

The voluptuous alpha tilted her head to the side. “What natural order?” She was befuddled by her cryptic answer.

“Not important. See to your subordinates at once. I’ll need to get in touch with the other fraternities as soon as I can,” answered Byulyi, feeling a headache coming on. She had always disliked responsibilities, now she could not shrink them away since she had assume leadership.

Hwasa patted her shoulder and attended to taking control of the situation to speed up the efforts. There were a lot to do like triaging the injured and sending all personnel for a check-up. The premise of Moonlight Lounge looked like a war zone, with bullets lodged within its walls, collapsed roof and broken furniture. It would take a long time for the Moonlight Lounge to be ready for business again.

Now that the excitement was finally over and Byulyi had completed her mission, relief swept through her body. She started to stagger on her feet, surprised by her sudden weakness. Her skin felt unusu