𝐨𝐫𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐜 • 𝐣𝐢𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐨𝐥

LI

"what do you mean?!" mingyu worriedly replied, out of his wits. jeonghan placed a hand on the taller's forearm, in an attempt to calm him down. "what's happening? what about seungcheol and the others?"

"they're back in my home." junhui answered, making jeonghan sigh in relief. "wonwoo said that he was going to distract kaehee, since his intuition said that kaehee would be interrupting the escape of the asylusians—"

"create a portal, junhui. i need to follow him." mingyu says. jeonghan furrowed his eyebrows, looking worriedly at the demigod. mingyu laughed when he noticed. "why are you looking at me like that? don't worry. i am an escapist. i can escape if i need to. i just need to make sure."

"if you insist." junhui shrugged, eyebrows furrowed as he started to make a circling motion using his fingers—creating a portal to earth. "maybe you should summon a weapon."

"i can't do that. i only have my elemental ability." mingyu replied, patting junhui's back. he turns to jeonghan, and smiles at him. "you make sure your lovers are safe. they've grown on me quite a little."

jeonghan replied with a smile, nodding. "of course i will, mingyu. i grant you safety."

"one more thing."

"yes, mingyu?"

"where do demigods go when they die?"

mingyu ran around a wreckage, looking for wonwoo.

it was not even a city anymore. the tall skyscrapers were now just scrap, the cars are forming towers of junk, shards of glass scattered around—and there was barely any noise to be heard except the agonizing screams of people mingyu would never know.

mingyu knew better than to scream the god's name. maybe a clone was listening nearby, or anyone under kaehee may be eavesdropping. so, mingyu continued for the pursuit of seeing wonwoo.

it was not long until he saw the god with a flashy sense of fashion, fighting someone.

(sometimes, mingyu was thankful that wonwoo dressed like a clown.)

the god of luck was jumping around in insane heights, avoiding small daggers that were being directed to wonwoo. on top of a wrecked car, there sat a boy with breathtaking features, wearing fancy clothes. he raised his finger and waved it around to make the daggers move. wonwoo didn't do anything for a counter-attack; he was only dodging.

how can this guy do that? is this another one of kaehee's absurd underlings?!

"oh?" his opponent had exclaimed, looking directly into mingyu's eyes. shit! he should've hidden somewhere! "you brought a guest?"

wonwoo got distracted, turning around—which mingyu quickly covered. the demigod makes a tall wall of fire between the opponent and them, pulling wonwoo away from hus previous position.

you were not supposed to turn around while in a fight. how inexperienced.

"wonwoo! what are you doing?! you can't turn around while fighting!" mingyu scolds, pointing at the wall of fire—where the opponent is emerging from. what's that?! another god!? demigod?!

"what are you doing?! aren't you supposed to be helping them with the evacuation?!" wonwoo whisper-yelled, side eyeing his opponent once. mingyu narrowed his eyes.

the demigod ignores wonwoo. "who're you?" mingyu stared the well-dressed youngster down. "a kaehee clone or something? a god?"

"i do not even resemble her, and i am far from a god. if anything, i am the opposite." he remarked, walking towards the two. "i work with ohrian energy, you see... and i was tasked to beat you by my master. she said you were disrupting her divine plans."

ohrian?! isn't that the same kind of energy seungcheol works with?! help. this is going to be hard. he would be hard to beat, if what he says is true.

"which is, kaehee?"

"as i remember, you were an ally, mingyu." the young man comments, proving mingyu's speculation about him being a kaehee underling correct. who was he and why'd he know mingyu? "i guess you've gone rogue. you can call me vernon, your replacement, betrayer."

the young man named vernon immediately indulged himself into swinging a dagger towards mingyu—but wonwoo flicks it away. from there, there was no rest between the three.

mingyu pulled vernon's hair, whilst making his hands heat up—which vernon did not like, causing him to slice a deep cut into mingu's forearms. wonwoo wasted no time and summoned his spear, whacking the flat side on vernon's head, making him dizzy for a short while. mingyu took his turn, stomping on the ground once, making huge flames that surrounded them.

"ah. ah. i am losing. i do not like this." vernon whined, glaring at the barrier of fire around them. there was no escape, so vernon quickly stole wonwoo's spear, hitting wonwoo's head with it. "heh. revenge."

"revenge?!" mingyu laughed, returning the hit by sliding down, pulling vernon to the ground to hit his head. it didn't do the job, since vernon surfaced back and flipped mingyu around, so now the demigod was below vernon. "this?"

"revenge is something petty and gloomy, so this is indeed it." vernon states, repeatedly punching mingyu in the face. wonwoo then got back up, pulling vernon away from mingyu, allowing the demigod to stand back up again.

"revenge is something more important, little boy." wonwoo says, throwing vernon over to the barrier of fire. mingyu makes the flames larger, earning a wince from vernon. the kaehee underling crawls away from the barrier slowly. "it's something that would cause deaths."

"filled with anger and vengeance, huh...." vernon states, tiredly plopping on the ground, eyes towards the empty sky. his clothes were burning, and so was his skin. "i understand if it's wonwoo. but for mingyu..?"

is this it? mingyu barely used the entirety of his abilities. vernon wouldn't be dying at the hands of a demigod. he should've died when wonwoo alone was fighting him. something was off.

"because it was not fair." mingyu replied, standing near vernon's head, looking down at him. mingyu feels the heat of the flames that devoured vernon. "i'm only a demigod. half a core. half of each race. half of each kind. that makes me special. and your master..."

"you expected that she would give you your other half, huh?" vernon laughed in mockery. wonwoo got defensive. "i was special from the start. that's why i didn't end up like you. i didn't need any other half... unlike a pathetic demigod."

"that's why i'm not dying like you."

"oh no, no. you're going to pay for this." vernon chuckled. "do you know what revenge truly is?"

an ohrian-imbued dagger goes through flesh.

it goes through the half-made core of a demigod's own, and through the demigod's heart.

"this is revenge. petty and gloomy. because i die... you die too!" vernon stood up, amusedly watching mingyu's reaction to his attack. "or i do not. i don't know. i'm not the goddess of death."