Author's POV

The sun has not risen yet. Darkness still envelopes the city of Seoul. Everyone is still in deep slumber and enjoying their adventures in dreamland. All are still sleeping except for the men in black who are roaming the streets of Gangnam-gu.

"Apgujeong is clear. Nothing to see here." Said the boys riding in the black Bugatti Veyron Short. The two men in the black Koenigsegg Agera R heard the other team's report as they were alighting from their vehicle.

"Copy that. We're about to go in an alley in Irwon bon. We got a report from one of our men. We're sending the coordinates to this place." The other team replied.

"Roger that. We're on our way."  The two men took out their weapons as they entered the long dark alley.

"I have a weird feeling about this. Why are they not here?" Said the man with black hair. The one with brown hair suddenly stopped as he stared at the sight in front of them.

"Aish! I knew it!" There were two dead bodies lying at the end of the alley.

"We have two men down here. It looks like they were burned to death. We got a report from them saying that there was some weird activity going on here. I guess we were too late." The black-haired guy radioed to the other patrol teams while the brown-haired guy checked the area for other evidence.

"What?! Find out as much as you can. We're putting the mansion on red alert. Return here right away after you clean up." Said the person at the mansion's security room.

"Ne!" They replied in unison.

The patrol team returned to the mansion as ordered. The sun has risen when the whole mansion heard of the unfortunate incident. The teams headed to the conference room for an emergency meeting. All of the High Council members where present in the room.

"Where are they??" The council head asked his secretary who replied instantly. "They are on their way sir."

Soon after, members of the Hae Dal Chi entered the room.

"My lords and ladies, I apologize for the delay. We had to organize the facts that we've gathered from the crime scene."

The warriors took their seats behind the council members while their leader stood in front of all them.

"Let us begin now." Said one of the council members.

Images from the crime scene were shown to the council members as well as images taken from the incident five years ago.

"Our patrol team received a report regarding suspicious actvities at an alley in Irwon Bon. By the looks of these, the same group is responsible for our men's death. The two victims were on their way to report for duty here. Unfortunately, they encountered whoever caused their deaths." The Hae Dal Chi leader said grimly. "The culprits cleaned up well. We were not able to find anything else."

The council members exchanged worried looks. The council head massaged his temples as he spoke. "Kim-gyejang, What are you saying?"

The leader continued. "Dr. Lee and his research team are still examining the bodies for more information. There was no sign of struggling at all. It seems that they were killed right away and did not have to suffer. The pattern of their deaths does not match with any records that we have of our enemies." Heechul said.

As he was about to speak again, Ryeowook entered the room, bowed to the council and stood next to Heechul. "I apologize for barging in but.." The doctor looked at the warriors with a worried look.

Lee Dongwook, the council head's secretary, was about to stand and the doctor out of the room. "Dongwook, let him be. Go ahead Dr. Lee." Said the council leader.

"All of you must know about our findings. We were able to trace high elemental energy from the victims' bodies. In addition to that, when we matched it with our records, it was and can only be generated by a Class A hwajae. My team and I are still doing further research but I believe this is really due to elemental fire. The pattern and level of energy is exactly the same as from the incident five years ago."

The room became filled with murmurs and gasps of fear.

"I have killed the hwajae who caused the incident last time. It cannot be the same person because I have seen with my own eyes how the masked hwajae disintegrated into dust when I stabbed him with my sword. Heechul and the rest saw that." Dongwook interjected. 

The Hae Dal Chi looked disturbed yet they maintained their composure as they listened and absorbed what they were hearing.

"Class A hwajae? With what Dongwook has said, it is impossible for the culprit to be the same. However, who is the hwajae who caused this? We all know that Soojin is the only Class A hwajae there is right now. We have closely monitored the progress of all elementals and no one compares to Soojin's capabalities. The rest are still at Class B and lower." Council Lee said with with an agitated look. "This is a very alarming issue. Kim-gyejang, make sure that you and the rest of the Hae Dal Chi get to the bottom of this. Find out who is this unknown hwajae and bring him to us. For now, make sure that everyone is ready in case of another attack. If our enemies hear of this, they will surely take this opportunity to cause disorder. Given the timing of our new enemy's attack, I am assuming he knows about Soojin. Make sure that she is well-protected. She needs to focus on her training..especially with the Harmonic Convergence fast approaching. We cannot let anyone hurt her. " Everyone nodded in agreement.

The High Council discussed the courses of action they would take in case of another attack. They have also tasked the Hae Dal Chi to find the unidentified elemental as soon as possible.

The Hae Dal Chi were the last to leave the room after the meeting as the council leader has asked them to stay behind.

"Soojin will be arriving here soon. Given the current situation, I trust that you all know what to do. Coordinate with the girls immediately after this. We must make sure that Soojin is safe. She is the Fire Clan's leader and the Hae Dal elemental. Her safety is our number one priority." The council leader said.

"Ne!" The Hae Dal Chi replied in unison.

Youngmin then dismissed the members except for Heechul.

When the boys have left the room, Youngmin sighed heavily. "Heechul, as the leader of the Hae Dal Chi, I know that you know very well that what your job entails." Heechul just listened to the council leader. "Like I have said earlier, Soojin must not know about this. We do not want to distract her. We do not want to cause unrest among our people. Find out who did this as soon as possible."

Heechul listened with an impassive face. "Ne, we will."

Youngmin walked towards Heechul and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I know what you are thinking nephew. It is impossible. No one survived that assassination except for Soojin. Do not let anyone know about this except for those who were part of the meeting."

Heechul simply nodded as a reply.

"Also, make sure that Lee Donghae does not do anything reckless especially with Soojin around. Again, Soojin must not be distracted. Understand?" Youngmin said as he stared intently at Heechul.

"Ne, I will uncle."

After the meeting, the Hae Dal Chi headed back to their headquarters.

"Wook-ah, are you really sure that it was caused by elemental fire? To add to that, it was caused by a Class A hwajae? How is this possible?" Asked Yesung.

Ryeowook sighed with tousled hair as he focused on the screens showing the images of the incidents. Heechul sighed as he slump in his chair. The rest of the team were still in shock after hearing the things that were discussed during the meeting.

"How?? " Eunhyuk muttered to himself.

"I really don't know how but we will find out. We have to find out." Replied Heechul. "Donghae.. Sungmin, what else did you find at the scene?" Heechul asked anxiously.

Donghae was deep in thought that he did not hear the question. Sungmin noticed this and answered for them. "We told you everything hyung. We searched the whole place ..but we really could not find anything else. We checked the phone that they used to contact us but it was clean." Ryeowook check his tablet and showed some test results to the guys. "We checked for fingerprints and other possible traces of the enemy on them, but there really was none." The others looked at him worriedly while thinking of the same thing.

"It could not be Soojin.. so who? Who could have done this and why??"