No....

It can't be true...

"Then.... Y-You're Leiyong's father..."

"Indeed I am. However, he was of no use to me when Zhenya attacked me and his mother"

"Wait! How are you brothers if you don't share the same name?"

Chenle questioned.

"The same way the seven of you call each other brothers. We're adopted family. Zhenya took me in when I had nothing, but then stripped me of everything, ironically so. But, thanks to that fool Xansho confusing me for Zhenya, he revived me by accident. That was the perfect opportunity for me to take control over him, and use his body as a host to regain my lost strength"

"Just like a parasite..."

Jisung mumbled.

"Then..., why did you revive my parents? And..., why would you take the souls of our family???"

I questioned him, hearing him sigh as he sat down.

"You still understand so little. After I heard of the legend, it hit me. Luoyang was pregnant at the time, when I was mercilessly killed. If they managed to kill me, even in their weakened state, they would definitely manage to find a way to keep their child alive. Then, when I saw you with that weakling of a god, I knew you were the one. I felt a power that none of you were able to"

"Taeyong-hyung...is not weak"

Mark angrily stated.

"Hey now, don't get me wrong. Even though he was weak, I still wasn't a match for him. But, every time I saw him, saving kids he knew nothing about, it only aroused my anger more and more. So, after a few years, I decided to act. That was when I took control over that poor lost owl, and used him as my monster pawn"

"Aristotle..."

"That's right Renjun. He was indeed one of your minions that you would inherit, if he hadn't stumbled across me. So, I hid myself in the woods when you came to rid him from Earth. I saw for myself, just how much power you were hiding"

"But..., it was my first power..."

"I know that. However, none of you could feel or see the demonic aura and power that I could. And as time went on, that power only got more intense. I was so sure that little Zuho would get the job done, but that damn angel brat had to interfere"

"Y-You were there too??!!"

"Obviously if I'm talking to you about it. Also, did you really think I was behaving myself for these past two years? Every day, I was watching, listening, analyzing you and your so called family. I saw when you trained, when you fought, when you grieved, and when you were happy. But, I also saw your progression as a Nephalem. I'm quite impressed with how you turned out thus far. You're far more impressive than that weakling boy of mine"

We all went silent.

In that time..., I remembered that I always felt an aura similar to his in those two years.

But..., I always thought that it was me...

"But..., there's still things we don't understand!"

Xinyi just sighed.

"I'm listening"

"Why do you want the worlds destroyed?!"

Jeno asked.

"Why did you settle on getting revenge on your brother?!"

Jaemin inquired.

"Why didn't you just kill us all those years ago when we were weak?!"

Mark interrogated.

"Why..., are you doing this to me? To us...?"

I sadly asked him.

"I'll start with the worlds. Zhenya always talked about wanting to leave our realm, to help others on different worlds. It's unacceptable for a demon commander to want such a thing. That's why we fought. I was only trying to talk him out of it, but he was dead set on his dream, especially after he met Luoyang on that damn battlefield. So, I want to destroy everything, so that he'd have nothing and no one to save"

"So that's why..."

"As for my revenge, I'm known to hold grudges. He betrayed me, so I'm only settling the score, with something far worse. Using him as my pawn was the best idea I ever had. He wouldn't be able to fight back under my control. However, Luoyang has a Demon Immunity power, so that's why I locked her up, to keep her from interfering"

So, he must've given that power to Xander. Probably even his Monster power too.

Was he powerless before at one point???

"As for why I didn't kill you as kids, I'm a demon with standards. There's no sense in killing someone when they don't know or understand what you're killing them for, especially children. So, I waited until you were older, when you'd all became wiser and be able to understand things like these. And also, there's no fun in trying to kill someone if they can't put up a decent fight"

We should've seen that last part coming...

"And finally, I'm doing this for a simple reason. I took their souls to give myself more power, and to finally reveal my true form. But in time, they'll die inside of me after I drain them of their life force completely. Additionally, if I take your power, then I can finally destroy everything without the help of those useless monsters I recruited. And besides, we're family. We should be together, as demons~"

"Forget about it"

"What did you say?"

He seemed to get annoyed.

"You keep going on and on about us being demons. Just shut up already! It doesn't matter if we're family! No true uncle of mine would do this to me! You keep leaving out a very crucial detail about me! I'm not just a demon! I'm an angel too!!!"

I yelled.

"..."

"I'll never let you get away with any of this! This is my family that you're tearing apart, regardless if it's mostly adopted or not! We'll just have to kill you before you kill them!! We're not going down, and we're taking our family and our home back!!"

The others prepared to attack him, standing by my side, no matter who he is.

"So, it's gonna be like that huh? Alright then, nephew. Have it your way"

He glared at us, and I felt my body freeze in place.

It wasn't because he used a power, it was because of fear!

Out of nowhere, the two Oni heads flew over to mom and dad, and picked them up in each of their mouths.

"MOM! DAD! NO!"

I tried to stop them, but I couldn't move.

The heads returned to his side, with my parents inside of them.

"LET THEM GO, PLEASE!!"

"Tempting, but no. You haven't noticed yet, have you?"

Huh???

Noticed what??

"Never let your fear overtake you. It'll blind you from your horrifying truth"

He pointed down to the ground.

I looked down, and all of my brothers' bodies were on the ground, their souls rising from them...

"No..... N-No no no no no... P-Please n-no......."

Jisung's was made out of water...

Chenle's was stripped like a tiger...

Jaemin's was made out of sharp rocks...

Donghyuck's was made out of fire...

Jeno's was navy blue, and had a ninja headband across it...

And Mark's was made out of ice...

Before I could save their souls, they all flew towards Xinyi, but they stayed hovered above him.

"W-Why....?"

I felt my tears leave my eyes, as I brought all of their bodies close to mine.

They were so cold..., with no life left in them.......

This can't be happening......

"C-Come b-back.... P-Please don't l-leave m-me......."

I'm all alone now...

There's no one else here with me in this fight...

Alone..., I'm powerless......

"So, the legend was right"

I looked up to see Xinyi standing in front of me.

"There's another legend, about Nephalems. If they have nothing or no one by their side, to give them purpose, they become powerless"

So that's why all the other Nephalems before me were powerless and died.

Though they were powerful beings from the start, they had nothing and no one to give them purpose.

"Have you noticed it yet?"

"...?"

He knelt down to look me in the eyes.

"Your powers are gone"

"...?!"

"Go ahead. Try using one"

I tried using my green flames against him, but nothing happened...?

"W-What...?!"

I tried using my decomposition against him, but nothing happened?!

I tried using all of them...

But nothing happened........

I'm back to the way I was before.......

Powerless.........

"Poor little Renjun"

He suddenly grabbed me by my throat and lifted me up, choking me.

I tried to pry him off, but I have no power....

"Don't even try to resist. Without your strength, you can't do anything to stop me from taking that gift of yours~"

Gift....

Gift!

My final power!!!

I have to find out how to use it!!

But I don't know ho-

"Don't even try it, you nuisance"

He impaled his hand into my chest.

He let go of my neck, but I was floating???

I looked down, and I could see my soul in his grip.

It was half black and half white! Not only that, it was an upside down heart, that had demon horns and angel wings!

He slightly pulled on it, and I instantly felt weaker.

I felt cold...

I felt like.....I was dying...

"I think you know what happens from here  on out. You did well on your journey, but you failed in the end"

He's right...

I failed everyone...

I failed my family...

I failed the worlds...

I...., failed myself...

"Goodnight, Huang Renjun. Rest well"