Jeno isn't doing good at all.

His pulse is slowly fading, and his breathing has slowed down a lot.

It didn't help that we had to take our time to get back to the ship either.

I may have restored my strength so Jaehyun didn't have to carry me, but Kun had to slowly walk down all of the stairs as to not hurt Jeno any further.

But after a while, we finally made it outside. But what we didn't expect was for Yoonho to come out the ship.

"Brother~! You did it~!"

He exclaimed, with his arms open wide to engulf me in a hug.

I smiled at his cute enthusiasm, but it faded when I felt a familiar malicious presence.

I ran to Yoonho once I realized who it was.

"YOONHO!! GET BACK IN THE SHIP!!!"

I yelled, but it was too late.

Xander appeared and struck Yoonho on his neck, knocking him unconscious. He caught him by his hair before he fell, and raised him up.

"You took one of my own, so I'm taking one of yours. Come and find me in forty eight hours. Bring my teammate back, and maybe I won't kill the angel"

"What do you mean we took one of your own?! Give Yoonho back!!"

"Playing dumb won't get you anywhere. See you in forty eight hours, Huang Renjun"

He levitated off the ground, and began to fly away with Yoonho.

I felt my rage build up until an electrical aura surrounded me. The world felt like it slowed down, and my only focus was on my brother.

"LET HIM GO!!!"

The moment I started running, I felt my stamina and speed increasing the closer I got to them.

'Velocious Vulpes: Full Steam!'

I launched myself at the speed of lightning, and propelled myself off of the ships and the tower to get to them.

I managed to successfully grab his leg, arousing confusion in him.

"You're a quick one aren't you?"

"Give my brother back!"

"An arm for a leg. Give me back my brother, and I might return yours"

"I don't know what you're talking about!!"

"Then no deal"

He frowned, kicking one of my arms off.

I suddenly felt something grab that same arm.

I looked down to see that Kun had shapeshifted into the same bear from before, and grabbed my hand to weigh us down.

"Golem Arm!"

I heard Jay yell.

She cast a spell to form a huge Golem arm that grabbed onto to Kun, to pull all of us down.

But despite all of our efforts, Xander was still pulling away in his direction.

To try and combat his resistance more, I used a technique Levi taught me a while back.

I used my plant manipulation to transform half of my arm that was holding on to Xander into a grass arm.

It grew the more I struggled, and soon grew vines that latched onto and wrapped around his leg.

"You really are a pest"

Xander growled.

He snapped his fingers and a spark lit up on my leg, engulfing my arm in his purple flames.

But I was prepared.

I used my green fire to overpower his flames.

Not only did it put out his flames, but my flames engulfed my arm to make it stronger. Luckily, the grass on my arm was immune to the flames, so it won't burn.

"...Not bad. You're quite an interesting fellow. Maybe I underestimated your power a little too much. However, I've had enough of this little charade"

He snapped his fingers again, and a purple energy slash sliced me where the grass ended on my arm.

The slash made the grass begin to unsnap from my arm. I tried to hold on to the grass arm from the inside, but I suddenly couldn't feel my actual hand.

The force of Xander pulling away, as well as the force of Kun and Jay pulling back, only added to my problems as the grass arm unsnapped from me, severing half of my arm off completely.

Jay quickly summoned another golem arm, and caught both me and Kun before we hit the ground.

Kun was worried about me, but I asked him to focus on getting Jeno into the ship.

Jaehyun was worried too, but before he could say anything he was interrupted by Zuho calling for me worriedly.

"Brother!!! What happened!?!? Where's Yoonie?!?!"

He panicked when he saw my arm, and when he couldn't spot Yoonho around anywhere.

"Yoonho...... Xander took him.... We tried to save him, but he got away with him..."

"......"

"Zu...., I'm very sorry.... I really tried to get him back......"

He stayed silent, and he just hugged me.

Despite how calm he seemed, I could feel an intense anger within him. Not only that, he started to change.

He left go of me, and orange flames engulfed his entire body until I couldn't see him anymore.

Moments later, the flames disappeared, and Zuho had changed.

His eyes turned red, his teeth got sharper, he had a new dragon tattoo on his left arm, he grew a new singular white horn on the left side of his head, and the tips of his hair were now turquoise.

His clothes had changed too, matching his new look.

His power feels very familiar, despite this sudden change being a complete shock.

"Zuho.... Did you...?"

He nodded, knowing what I was about to ask.

Out of his rage from Yoonho being kidnapped, he went full demon.

That's why his power was so familiar to me. It's the same power from when I went full demon.

"We should get back in the ship before something else happens"

He grabbed my hand, and we all followed him inside.

-

Back on the Ship

-

Kun gently rested Jeno in a huge empty room on the ship, to keep him from sustaining any further damage.

Thankfully though, everyone that was unconscious had woken up and recovered well.

And I was able to heal Mark, Levi, and our other hyungs as well. And luckily, Xiaojun was able to unparalyze Donghyuck so I could heal him properly.

Although, I had to take extra time to heal Taeyong's back, since it was broken so bad. But sadly, the only one that needs serious help is Jeno.

Even if I tried to heal him, only his wounds would disappear. His body still won't return to normal, and he won't wake up.

On top of that everyone is worried about my arm, except for Levi.

"Why is it that you two are so calm about this?!"

Leiyong shrieked.

"Renjun and I knew this would be the outcome if he used his plant manipulation this way. He's only able to do this because I helped him merge his body with magical plants from the forest Judah came from. Having those plants in him gives him the ability to regenerate any part of his body at will, as well as creating a plant-based makeshift form of any part of his body at will"

He explained.

I proved his statements by initiating the regeneration process.

My arm started to form plant-like tentacles that were green in some places. The tips of them glowed as my arm regenerated.

"Oh my goodness...."

Taeyong was in complete awe at what he was seeing, as was everyone else.

The tentacles began to merge together, and soon wrapped around each other to reform my hand and fingers.

Soon my arm was completely regenerated, as if nothing had ever happened to it.

Suko poked my arm to see if it would feel like a plant, and she was surprised to see that it felt like actual skin.

"But back to the task at hand. Who's the person you were talking about earlier hyung?"

I asked Doyoung.

"Oh yeah! Johnny-hyung, could you bring him out please~?"

Johnny nodded and rushed off, soon coming back with a stranger.

"Don't freak out Injun, but this is Vexx"

He informed, confusing me, Mark, Hyuck, and Levi.

So this is what Xander was talking about. We did have one of his own after all.

Although, he doesn't look the way he did the last time I saw him.

"Did we miss something???"

Donghyuck questioned.

"I'll keep it brief. After Chenle beat Jaemin, Jaehyun, Hiss, and I found Vexx in a questionable state. I broke his mask and his look completely changed into this"

He informed.

"We think Xander might've done something to him a long time ago. He might not have always been evil like we once thought"

Jaehyun continued.

He had fallen asleep while they were explaining, so I healed him some more and woke him up.

"Sorry to wake you, but what can you tell us that you know about this whole situation?"

I interrogated.

"...My real name is Vexxen. Xansho is the one that did this to me and Seiki"

"Xansho???"

"Seiki???"

Jaemin and Jisung questioned.

"That must be Xander's and Seifer's real names. Am I right?"

I questioned, and he nodded.

"He used his mind control on me and Seiki a long time ago, after we refused to do his bidding. It was around twenty years ago I believe"

"Twenty years.... That's around the time Renjun, Jeno, Jaemin, and Donghyuck were born..."

Taeil calculated.

"I remember Xansho saying something about a demon and an angel, and how they would supply a very important asset that would be useful to us"

"Was it a child by any chance?"

Jungwoo inquired.

He thought about, and finally nodded.

"So that's why you three continued to pursue Taeyong and Renjun after that day. Xander must've known that Renjun was the one he was looking for after he felt his power, even if his powers hadn't surfaced yet..."

Johnny concluded.

"But why try to mess with the majority of us too??"

Jisung pouted.

"Probably because Xander knew that either me or Taeyong would come to help one way or another. He was trying to get to Renjun through us"

"That would confirm the theory about that owl being Aristotle. So that must mean that he's controlling Syndell too..."

Nakamoto analyzed.

"He gives his victims new identities, as well as a mask if need be. The only way to break that connection to him and return them to normal, is to destroy the masks and expel the dark power within them"

Vexxen explained.

"That reminds me. How do we turn Jeno back to normal? We destroyed all of the mind control devices on him, but he still hasn't changed back"

I informed him.

"That's very tricky. His monster power is far more complicated than his mind control. That power's energy seeps through the victim's entire body, while the mind control only effects the brain. That being said, even if the devices were destroyed, that power would still have effect over the person's body, until it's expelled directly"

"I see..."

So if we had expelled the darkness out of Aristotle, he probably would've survived...

"And that's when it gets even more complicated. Since it effects the victim's body directly, the only way to reverse the effects is to defeat the one who inflicted that damage in the first place"

"...Xander"

He nodded.

That's suicide. None of us have the power to defeat Xander.

If I couldn't even save Yoonho, what chance do we have at trying to beat him...?

"However, there is another possible solution"

"What is it?!"

Everyone yelled.

"I remember that a couple years ago, we were able to resurrect two of some of the most powerful beings in the universe. Xansho was planning to use them as a potential trump card against you all as a last resort"

"What about them?"

Xiaojun asked.

"One of them conveniently has the power of Purification. If we take your brother to the place they're being held, they can possibly restore his body to its regular size. This would be your best bet instead of risking your lives trying to defeat Xansho"

"One other thing. My brother Yoonho was captured by Xander earlier. So, if this being can possibly help Jeno, can they help us get him back too?"

"Absolutely. You'd need as much power that you can get in this fight. A being that powerful is your best bet"

He informed.

"Vexxen. I'm asking you, not as just anyone in need, but as a friend in need. Will you please help us save my brothers? It would mean a lot to me"

"I'd be happy to help. It's the least I can do for all the trouble I've caused you. I know the exact place where the being is locked up, so I'll be able to get you there in no time"

"Thank you so much~. And if we do get them back, I promise that you'll have a spot on our team, if you want it"

I smiled, and he smiled back.

"It would be an honor to be of service to you"

"Well then, it's settled. You can help me and Taeil-hyung pilot the ship to our next destination. We have forty eight hours, so we need to be quick"

Johnny assigned.

"I can get us there in twenty hours at the least. We'll be in and out before you know it"

Doyoung informed the High Five and everyone on their ship about where we were heading, and we finally set a course to find this powerful being.

Everyone else went to relax and get some rest before we arrived. But, there was one thing still on my mind that I just couldn't shake.

Why am I so important that Xander is still trying to get to me...?