Episode 11

Death was prevented to claim another life when Fate favored the little chance of being saved.

The Rogue Vampire couldn’t fathom how the situation turned against her before she could even end the life of the Elite in front of her. At first, she was on the verge to her success of eliminating the Elite archer. Then all of a sudden, she was forcefully pushed back as she used the dagger for defense against a much superior weapon.

A blinding and burning heat of a black and white flame covered katana almost took the Vampire completely off guard. The rage and power could be felt by just the blazing flame.

She didn’t want to admit it as she continued to deflect each swing and swipe, the speed and agility of her opponent was up to par with her kind’s level; not to mention the power exerted on the blade. Her dagger was sure to break in the next impact.

As expected, when the Vampire lunged at the same time her opponent did—her opponent that she has yet to identify due to the bright odd flame—her dagger shattered and she was forced to retreat back before the katana could touch her. Her feet dragged on the ground to stop her from sliding further away from her original weapon.

While the Rogue Vampire took hold of the handle, she stood up and anticipated who prevented her from claiming the life of Elite.

“Taehyeon.”

Kim Tae Hyeon finally looked up and his faded hazel brown eyes met crimson red ones. Those eyes shone bright yet it was dark with the murderous intent after the owner of these deadly eyes scanned his body and saw the severity of his condition. He couldn’t help but feel a cold shiver go down his spine as those eyes focused on him.

“Junhyun—”

Jeon Jun Hyun dispersed the flame from his katana and towered over Taehyeon. Hearing his name being uttered with such weakness and tone of relief only fueled his anger over the situation. His posture tensed up even more whilst the dark marks patterned on his hands and arms, slowly spread up under his clothes up until his exposed neck. His grip on his katana almost shook from the rage he could barely contain.

“Did she do this to you?” Junhyun snapped, his tone ice cold.

Taehyeon didn’t know what good it would do if he dared to answer. He knew it would only trigger the deadly persona within the Demon into a killing rampage. It was always difficult to pull Junhyun’s mind out of that state of darkness if anyone dare hurt someone the Demon deemed to be of great importance to him.

“Hyung, don’t—"

“I could have done more if you hadn’t intervened,” the Rogue Vampire scoffed and her sadistic smile made its way to her red blood lips, barring her fangs.

“You are the Jeon Jun Hyun of the Jeon lineage of Elites?”

The Vampire pointed her large rectangular broadsword at the Demon as if challenging the latter into a duel. She now recognized the Demon and her blood thirst only doubled because of the opportunity to take on the Demon Elite.

As if sensing the Demon’s dark questioning gaze for her inquiry about his identity and clan name, the Vampire smirked and went ahead with the conversation.

“It’s an honor to be in the presence of the infamous Demon of Supremus Imperium,” the Vampire swung her large blade to the side and mockingly bowed.

“Rogues are far beneath the concept of honor.”

Junhyun glared and calmly berated the Vampire. The Demon warrior swung his katana to the side too and in an instant, the Jeon’s iconic superior black and white flame covered the entirety of the blade.

“For choosing the path of the rebels, you are a disgrace to your own kind,” Junhyun convicted without so much of an ounce of consideration that he didn’t know the Rogue.

The Vampire only smirked at the perception of an Elite warrior towards Rogues and bravely retorted:

“Just as much of a disgrace you are to your family?”

Junhyun suddenly charged with the sole purpose of killing the Rogue that dare disrespect him and his family.

“Did I strike a nerve?” the Vampire taunted darkly as she hit Junhyun’s katana head on with her own broadsword and pushed the Demon back.

Junhyun only sent a fierce glare that if looks could kill, the Vampire would already be dead.

The warrior took his power and agility up a notch despite his being already being drained from earlier's punishment, just to match up his opponent’s innate speed that supports the impact of her large blade. But Junhyun had sparred with his hyung that had a similar weapon. So, the warrior just knew how to deal with it.

“There’s talk that you have found your redemption to make up for your pathetic loss,” the Vampire suddenly threw in even though she was already out of breath from the difficulty brought about by her opponent.

“Why the fuck you Rogues care about that matter?” Junhyun growled and narrowly dodged the deadly blade by tumbling back when the Vampire swung at his legs.

From the corner of the Vampire’s eyes, she saw how the archer pushed himself to stand up. But with the blood loss he was still experiencing, the young Elite failed to do so and ended up stumbling. And the Rogue didn’t miss how the Demon’s body tensed up, as if wanting to go to the younger Elite.

Junhyun dangerously eyed the Vampire when he saw how she smirked at Taehyeon’s direction.

“Why—to kill him of course.”

And that did it.

The Rogue just crossed the line she didn’t know existed.

If there is anything that could completely trigger the Elite Demon into the infamous dark murderous persona, it would be threatening to take away—or worse, to harm—the only person he was protective and possessive of: Kim Tae Hyeon.

The Demon simply despises the thought of any more loss on his part.

The Rogue Vampire’s eyes widened at the shock when Junhyun diminished the distance between her and him once again in just a blink of an eye. She underestimated the killing drive of the Demon Elite. It didn’t take long when she realized that she was at a disadvantage; with the intensified flame, the sharpness of her blade was wearing down by the second.

The inhumane speed that both possessed in their attacks and defense tactics were incredible. Sparks flew as blades clashed with the utmost force from each opposing side. It further fueled the flame much to the Rogue’s increasing disadvantage whilst decreasing the chances of winning against the warrior.

The black patterns on Junhyun’s bisque skin extended up to his face, particularly to the corners of his eyes. All he saw now was red at the threat that was directed towards the person he possesses with his emotions, heart, and mind; He intended to show no mercy for that.

“No one touches him nor threatens him,” Junhyun claimed, voice dripping with anger and possessiveness.

“No one can ever claim his life,” Junhyun tightened his hold on his katana.

“He’s mine.”

With that, the black and white flame blazed and strengthened the superiority of the weapon. Then, for the final weild, Junhyun charged with such swiftness and agility to change stances that would enable him to maximize his Demon powers on his katana. Finally, the katana cut through the large broadsword with ease.

Once the Vampire was completely disarmed and the fear became prominent in her face, Junhyun’s eyes brightened in a sadistic way as a smirk formed on his lips. His other persona always fed on the fear of his enemies.

Taehyeon watched in dread and as he practically felt how the cold, heavy and murderous aura of Junhyun doubled and oozed out. Everything felt cold despite the burning sensation of his wounds. He needed to do something or else, Junhyun will be in so deep that rage that he won’t distinguish his sanity and morals from his thirst for blood and murder.

The Rogue Vampire dropped her now defective weapon, clearly shocked at the power. She desperately tried to defend herself by evading the blade at all cost with her inhumane speed. But the Demon suddenly dispersed the flame of his katana and swiftly sheathed it back into its scabbard.

Still blinded by rage, Junhyun once again conjured the black and white flame. This time, it appeared on the palm of his hands before it completely covered his entire arm.

Thus, every punch the Vampire attempted to block with all her might, her skinned burned and bled until it was too painful to move her arms.

Junhyun finally had enough and took hold one of the Vampire’s wrists in a bone-crushing grip and twisted it behind her; in a way that caused the bone to break. The ear-piercing scream only caused Junhyun to smirk deviously as he pushed the Vampire down to her knees and then held her jaw and the top of her head.

“You’ll regret getting involved.”

The Vampire’s eyes widened at the repeated statement. Before she could beg for mercy and plead for her life to be spared, Junhyun twisted her head; even decapitating it, ending the Rogue’s life.

To Taehyeon’s horror, Junhyun didn’t stop there even though the enemy is already dead. His eyes remained the murderous crimson red whilst the dark marks on his skin remained. The obvious violence lingered since Junhyun empowered the flames in his hands; then clawed off and burned the body to further satisfy his need to draw blood.

Seeing this, Taehyeon forced himself up and ran towards Junhyun.

“Hyung! Stop—she’s dead! Enough please!”

Taehyeon got behind Junhyun and wrapped his arms around the Demon’s chest. The archer pressed his body against the warrior and held onto the enraged persona. He was desperate to have his Junhyun back.

“Junhyun!”

The desperate tone and the obvious fear in Taehyeon’s voice got Junhyun to snap out of his dark and violent persona. The archer’s voice echoed loudly in his dark mind and it was like the light that suddenly flashed his vision back to reality; giving back his self-control and own consciousness.

Junhyun was breathing heavily, almost gasping for air, as the black patterns in his skin started to recede into his skin. His eyes also slowly turned back to its normal dark grey color.

“Stop. I’m here—I’m here, hyung,” Taehyeon breathlessly comforted but hoped that his sincerity and worry reached Junhyun.

“Taehyeon,” Junhyun turned around in Taehyeon’s arms and caught the archer before he could fall back from the blood loss.

“Fuck—I’m sorry. I—I wasn’t myself,” Junhyun carefully sat Taehyeon down as he knelt beside him. He then proceeded to put a temporary seal on Taehyeon’s wounds to keep it from bleeding further. He frantically placed his hands over the serious wounds and injuries and desperately chanted:

“For the time being, enable healing, with this sealing.”

“Damn it all—I almost lost you—I am losing you now! I wished I got to you sooner,” Junhyun inwardly cursed at himself as he did his best to incorporate his last strength to the spell and make it more effective.

“You’re here—I’m here. You still go to me, Junhyun. That’s all that matters,” Taehyeon managed a small smile despite the numbing pain from what he’s been through.

“Like always,” Taehyeon whispered.

“Always,” Junhyun repeated as a promise.

Taehyeon leaned more onto Junhyun’s warmth since the pain and lack of strength made him feel so cold. Slipping into unconsciousness was very tempting and Taehyeon couldn’t help but submit to the numbing darkness.

“Just hold on—Don’t close your eyes, Taehyeon—"

As Taehyeon’s head leaned on Junhyun’s shoulder, Taehyeon looked back, over Junhyun’s shoulder, to see the Wolf that defended him against the Rogue Vampire, shifted back to its human form.

Once the Werewolf stood up despite the obvious limp on his left leg, Taehyeon somewhat recognized the person from earlier at the flower shop. He knew for a fact that the Werewolf was a Rogue from his ragged clothes. Before he could take a good look of the Rogue’s face, the Rogue Werewolf covered the lower half of his bloodied face with the grey scarf.

“Hyung, I can’t—I’m sleepy,” Taehyeon sighed with a small pout.

“Shit—Taehyeon, stay with me,” Junhyun saw the cut on the side of Taehyeon’s head and knew that the seal was too weak to numb that wound.

Panic surged in Junhyun’s mind when he saw Taehyeon’s brown eyes were in a dazed and his eyelids were slowly blinking, almost closing until it finally did.

“Yah—Taehyeon!”

The last thing Taehyeon saw before Junhyun picked his body up into the warrior’s strong arms and took off from the field; before his eyelids finally closed for him to fall into unconsciousness, he saw the Rogue placing his hand on his chest, then slightly bowed down at him.

Then the Rogue disappeared into thin air.