The putrid air hung with the smell of death and decay, a remnant of the recent crime. Eric Kim watched the last bit of life leave the eyes of the gumiho. He removed his mask, revealing a satisfied smile. Catching wind of the scent replaced his smile with a wide grin, painting menace all over his face. 

“Good,” he muttered.  He felt his lungs expand as a surreal amount of adrenaline ran all throughout his veins. The trace of murder was.. Intoxicating. 

“Hey, jerk!” 

A short length of pure electricity hit the back of Eric's head. He snapped towards his assailant and growled. 

“What!?” 

Taeyeon tossed Eric a green toad, which he caught with his left hand. 

Eric grimaced at the sight of the creature. His eyes narrowed out of annoyance. He held the amphibian by its leg and wiggled it.

“What the hell is this supposed to be?” 

“You mean 'who'? Say hello to your weapons specialist,” Taeyeon answered. In her lips, a sweet smile laced with sarcasm played. 

“Ribbit.” The toad croaked, as if to complain to his boss about the horror he was put through earlier. 

Taeyeon had barged into the mansion's underground chambers. She stood in the middle of the armory, the silk of her black dress gracing the floor. Her brows were furrowed in irritation, her arms across her chest, one over the other.

“Those monkshood bullets were supposed to wound but not kill, am I right?” 

The man bent over assembling a gun turned to the origin of the voice. 

“Yes, Miss Taeyeon,” he replied, a little fearful of the woman's dark eyes. 

Faint glows of the surrounding white lights touched Taeyeon's bare shoulder and cheek. 

“So who ordered you to make the bullets lethal? Why did you go against my orders?” 

“Well, Mr. Eric said—” 

She had heard enough. Taeyeon's gaze sharpened and bloomed purple as her blood began to boil. 

“Bufo morphio,” she chanted without remorse. 

Eric glared at Taeyeon whilst he kept wiggling the once-human toad. 

“I told you not to mess with me. I told you and I was clear. Don't. Touch. Yi Eun-yul.” 

Taeyeon's reiteration only made Eric scoff. “Oh, please.” In one swift move, he flung his former henchman towards his sister. 

Taeyeon greeted the toad with lightning weaving in between her fingers and palm. Smoke wafted as the charred remains of the dead amphibian produced a burning odor. 

“ Stand in my way one more time, and I guarantee you, I'll cut your tail off,” she warned, her eyes glowing purple with magic. 

“Your gumiho has more tails to lose,” Eric retorted with a taunting smirk. 

Taeyeon rolled her eyes. “Tss. Just give me the fox skull already. I need to practice.” 

Eric scratched his head and sighed in surrender. As soon as he turned his back, he mumbled, “Stalker.” 

“Maniac,” Taeyeon whispered in response, crushing the crisp toad to ashes. 

“I heard that,” Eric stated as he began walking towards the balcony. 

“I know you did,” Taeyeon muttered while she made her way to her room. “Bring the bone to me once you get it.” 

“Whatever.” Eric groaned and stretched before he jumped out. 

The pool below brimmed with acid and monkshood. As full as it was, the mixture it contained splashed, spilling outside and on Eric himself. 

Eric's skin burned at the acid's infliction. He let out a growl, his irises turning green and his pupils constricting. His nails threatened to turn to claws, as the deadly liquid soaked much of his body in a damnable stinging. 

The skeleton of the dead Hào Yi lay submerged in the chemical. Eric signaled a nearby man to drain the pool, after which he approached to collect the remains. He crouched down, reviving his amusement. How fascinating. The immortal fox was quite weak against the solution that involved a mere flower. 

Taeyeon heard the creaking of the door. 

Without warning, Eric poked his head in and exclaimed, “Catch!” 

Taeyeon's eyes remained in her book. She raised her hand, and caught the skull with ease.

“Can you do me a favor?” Eric asked with a cheerful tone. Taeyeon then threatened to close the door on him. So he placed his arm before his neck. 

“What do you want?” Taeyeon gruffed, irked by her brother's presence. 

“I need some more of those clovers.” 

“Well, you wouldn't run out of them if you stopped chewing on them!” Taeyeon grabbed a rotten apple and launched it, aiming for Eric's face. 

Eric deflected the apple with a punch, shattering the fruit. “Gross,” he uttered as a chunk got stuck in his furry arm. 

“Get out,” Taeyeon demanded. “If you eat all the flowers again, I'll pay your lovely vampire a visit.” 

Eric grinned, flashing his reddened fangs. “Don't worry. I'll have them farm it.” 

“You better. Now leave me alone.” 

Taeyeon took a deep breath after the door closed. She glanced around her room covered in soot before she focused on her book once more. 

With two incense candles and the fox skull in between, Taeyeon began chanting. 

“A Septentrione ad Austrum, ab Occidente ad Orientem,

Sanguis Sanguinem Invenit, Nulla Quaestio Finita.

Sanguinis Vinculum, Nex Quam Sequimur,

Per Terram Duce Nos ad Locum Eorum.

Rami Omnes Ex Una Radice Vetere Crescunt,

Cognati ad Cognatos, Filum Veritatis Teximus.

Sanguine Quaerimus, Sanguine Invenimus,

Visum Explicetur, Fatum Solvatur.” 

“What do you mean the bullet's hollow? Is that even possible?” Yerim could not help but raise her voice at Agent 93's revelation. 

Park Soo-young nodded her head and explained. “There's a spike made of aspen wood inside. Aside from the silver shell, the wood dispersed after the shatter is enough to kill a vampire.” 

Yerim rubbed her jaw. The other day, she had the unluckiest time after she got kicked out by the witch Irene. She shuddered and frowned, remembering the woman's purple eyes cutting through her very soul. The sight of her being mad would be more concerning than getting lost in Romania. Now this. Things had become tacky and she had not heard from Moon Byul since the incident. 

Out of the blue, a distinct sound caught Yerim's attention. She excused herself from her colleague to check the text that popped up in her phone. Her eyes widened when she discovered it was a message from Chief Park.