A BURNING PHOENIX WAS approaching them. Then a few seconds later, it landed in front of the Demons and the Arcs. When the fire was gone, the figure was now visible, and it showed Kharon the Third, the Demons' mentor.

     "The school's priest is your mentor?! I should have known that was coming!" Woohyun shouted from shock as he stared at Kharon's now demonic figure.

     "Kharon!" Minhyuk excitedly greeted as he was about to run towards him, but Sungjae quickly grabbed his arm and stopped him.

     "That's not your mentor anymore," Sungjae stated, confusing the Demons.

     "What do you mean? That's Kharon. That's our mentor!" Minhyuk defended.

     Sungjae slowly let's go of Minhyuk and explained further, "He might have been your mentor...before he was being controlled by your king."

     "W-what?" the Demons asked in confusion.

     Jihoon pointed at Kharon's face, "His eyes are half black and red. It only means he's being controlled. He's still inside his own body but...your king is still stronger than he will ever be. He's also the one who stopped time. He's no longer the mentor you once knew. I'm sorry."

     Everyone was shocked as they stared at Kharon staring back at them with an emotionless expression.

     "Wow, you know so many things about our kind more than we do," Jiyong commented with a chuckle.

     "Of course we do. We studied about you guys," Seunghyun coolly answered, and then everyone gave their attention back to Kharon.

     "The Seven Deadly Prince of Sin. The Seven Betrayers of the King," Kharon stated, his voice sounding like a thousand dead souls were speaking at once.

     "You have ruined your fate and your destiny. So as instructed by the king, WE MUST DESTROY WHAT HE HAS CREATED!" Kharon now shouted, making everyone cover their ears by how loud it was.

     The ghouls started to run towards them and started attacking.

     The battle finally begun. Fire and thunderbolts would be seen everywhere. You wouldn't expect it but the combination was beautiful.

     Hyunseung would stare at the ghouls and use his Audible Inundation. With this, the ghouls would stop attacking and start feeling lust and ecstasy. So while the ghoul would be in complete pleasure, Hyunseung would slice their head off with his Demonic saw.

     Minhyuk, on the other hand, would simply strangle the ghouls and drain their energy and power. When the ghouls fell, he would stab them with his sword right after. Of course, just to make sure they die completely.

     For the third son – Suho – He just used his fire and demonic hammer to kill the ghouls since his demonic power wasn't like his other brothers who have the ability to inflict pain. But Suho was smarter than just attacking. He was a con artist so he had the skill and the brain. He used his teleportation to attack ghouls multiple times in different locations, making it hard for the ghouls to attack him back.

     Smart? Yes. So when Taeil saw this, he did the same thing.

     Sunggyu was no exception. He was walking around and attacking while his whole body was on fire. These were ghouls, not Demons, so they weren't immune to fire that the Prince's produced. No one could even move close to him while he was killing the ghouls with his saw-like sword weapon.

     Jackson, as the second strongest, wasn't even moving. He would make illusions on a group of ghouls and make it look like he was attacking them, but in reality, they were the one's killing each other. And for the ones who would walk in front of him, he would just effortlessly attack them with his Demonic claw.

     And lastly, for the strongest son, Jiyong. Jiyong had the power of Empathy, so he has the ability to copy anyone's power. But the problem was, the ghouls didn't have any power that was worth copying, so what Jiyong did was copy his brothers' powers instead. He used Hyunseung's power of Audible Inundation, Minhyuk's life draining, Suho's Knowledge absorption, Sunggyu's fear amplification, and Jackson's Illusion Casting. Because of how powerful Jiyong was, he controlled everything and made it into one powerful and indestructible power.

     It was like in movies, when the protagonist was simply walking and everyone in his path was dying. Jiyong was exactly like that.

     The Arcs was just dumbfounded as they saw the Demons do their thing. All they could think of right now while fighting the ghouls was that they were glad they don't have to fight them anymore.

     The Demons were surely terrifyingly powerful.

     "Kill them all! Spare no one!" Sunggyu continued to shout as the ghouls fell one by one.

     After a few long minutes, the battle was over. Hundreds of ghouls were now dead and scattered everywhere on the ground. A few minutes later, the grounds started to rumble again, and the ghouls started to vanish on by one.

     When the ghouls were gone, the sky became clear once more.

     The battle was over.

     "We did it!" Sunggyu shouted as everyone cheered (But they didn't cheer long since they were tired as fuck).

     The Arcs and Demons summoned their weapons back. Everyone was covered with black blood but no one cared.

     Mark ran to Jackson and hugged him tightly, both of them were happy that no one was hurt. Junhyung on the other hand ran to Hyunseung and started checking his body.

     "Are you alright? Are you hurt somewhere?" he asked.

     Hyunseung stopped Junhyung and held his hand tightly, "I'm fine." Then he smiled and moved closer to give Junhyung a kiss. The Demons and Arcs quickly looked their way with a shocked face.

    "He finally did it," Seunghyun stated as he was looking at the two new couple.

    "Look at you guys. You look horrible!" Lay shouted as he went out of the bleachers while assisting Jiho.

     Suho, who was now standing beside him, wiped the blood off his hand on Lay's shirt and said, "Oops, my bad." Then everyone started laughing.

     "Hyung!" Taeil shouted as he ran to where Jiho was. He took him from Lay's hand and hugged him tightly.

     "Thank you for guarding him," Taeil stated as he looked at Lay, and Lay just nodded as a reply.

    Jiho removed his hands from Taeil's shoulder and forced himself to stand straight. Then he forcefully held Taeil's cheeks and said, "This lazy bum was actually a prince of Sloth. Who knew."

     Taeil just chuckled, but cried once more as he held Jiho's hand.

     "I-I'm so sorry for leaving you Taeil. You know that I never wanted to leave you. Believe me. All I wanted was for us to have a better future. A-all I wanted was...all I wanted was for you to finally tell me that you're proud of everything that I'm trying to do in my life. No one supported me...you and Jackson were the only ones who accepted me. When my dreams failed all I wanted was to go back to Korea and find you but-"

     Taeil held Jiho's cheeks back and quickly cut him off, "I forgive you Woo Jiho...I'm very proud of you Woo Jiho...and I love you very much...Woo Jiho."

     Jiho paused and didn't say a word. Then he started crying as he gave Taeil a tight hug.

     "Thank you...thank you so much. I love you more Taeil," Jiho said back, tears pouring out of his eyes.

     The Demons and Arcs were looking at the happy couple. Glad that everything was ending well.

     But...

     That's what everyone thought.

     "Something's not right here," Jihoon stated as he looked at their surrounding. Everyone looked at Jihoon confusingly, so he explained what he was worried about, "Time hasn't started yet."

     "What do you guys mean?" Hyunseung asked with a confused look.

     Everything was silent. But then, Jihoon's eyes suddenly widened from shock.

     "Taeil!" he shouted as he pushed everyone in front of his way and pulled Taeil away from Jiho. He and Taeil fell on the floor as Jiho looked at them, eyes wide open as well.

     "J-Jiho?" Taeil confusingly asked as he looked back at his lover.

     "I-I love you..." Jiho forcefully said as blood started to flow out of his mouth.

     "W-What are you-" Before Taeil could even finish his sentence, Jiho started to cough more blood, shocking everyone.

     Jiho slowly lifted his hand and started reaching out for Taeil like he wanted to hold him for the last time. But then he suddenly lost balance and fell on his knees, revealing Kharon, standing right behind him...

     ...holding Woo Jiho's heart in his hand.

     "H-Hyung..." Taeil said in shock as he looked at Jiho, then to Kharon, then back to Jiho.

     Kharon, who was holding Jiho's heart, started to cry blood. Forcing his true self to come out, everyone heard the real voice of Kharon as he said, "I-I'm s-so sorry k-kids...P-Please f-forgi-" But before he could finish, something from the ground started pulling Kharon.

     "Ah!" Jackson shouted as he ran towards Kharon to stab him. But before he could even get closer, Kharon vanished, and the time finally continued. All Jackson could do was drop his weapon on the floor and fall on his knees as blood tears fell from his eyes.

     "No!" Jackson shouted as he slammed his hand on the ground where Kharon stood.

     Mark quickly ran to his lover and calmed him down. The place was quiet. Everyone was speechless and shocked. It happened so fast and unexpectedly. Everything was like in slow motion.

     When Jiho finally fell on the floor, the breeze became stronger.

     "H-Hyung..." Taeil softly called out as a blood tear fell from his eyes. He wanted to go to him, but Jihoon didn't let go.

     "Hyung!!" Taeil now shouted as he emitted a deadly aura. He wanted to run to Jiho, but Jihoon hugged him tighter from behind so he wouldn't be able to escape. Even if the deadly aura Taeil was emitting was hurting Jihoon, he still forced his body to hold onto him.

     "Woo Jiho!! Stand up! Stand up Woo Jiho!" Taeil kept on shouting, making everyone breakdown and start crying. Some were even looking away.

     "Calm down Taeil!" Jihoon tried to say in between Taeil's screams.

     "Woo Jiho! I said stand up!" Taeil once again shouted.

     "No!! No!! Woo Jiho!"

     Jihoon hugged Taeil tighter even more so Taeil could calm down and not destroy anything. Thankfully, it worked. The breeze calmed down, and so did Taeil.

     "Woo Jiho..." Taeil finally whispered as he turned around to hugJihoon back. He clenched his fist while holding onto Jihoon's shirt. Then he shouted with all his might, "WOO JIHO!"

*****

AT THE HOLY HOME

"May the Lord be with him and his spirit forever..."

    Park Dongmin - the Arcs' guardian - sprayed Holy water on the ground where they buried Woo Jiho. The Demons decided to bury him at the Arcs' home instead rather than in any cemetery because they knew that no one would believe their story on how Woo Jiho died.

     Seunghyun suggested that they search for his father and tell them about what happened to his son, but Dongmin insisted to keep it a secret instead because Mr. Woo's time was almost up. It was better for him to see his son himself in the Lord's Arms (Meaning: He was going to die soon. And Woo Jiho didn't have any other close relative other than his father).

    It was late and everyone was at the living room. Everything just happened in one day so everyone was exhausted. The Arcs and the Demons hadn't talked the whole time. Everyone was just silent. But right now, silence was what they needed so they could calm down and process everything.

    Everyone couldn't get over the fact that Woo Jiho just died a few hours ago and is now buried. Jackson still couldn't stop thinking of Jiho because he still hasn't apologized to his dear friend for not allowing him to talk to Taeil in a long period of time. 

     As for Taeil, all he could do was stare at the guitar pick Jihoon gave him earlier. He couldn't cry anymore because he's been crying for hours. Trails of dry blood were all over his cheeks.

     Taeil gripped on the guitar pick and broke the silence, "Now that I remembered him...they took him away from me. How cruel," Taeil stated, expressionless.

     "We're sorry for your lost Taeil. We really are. We tried our best and-"

     Taeil cuts Lay off and said, "What you did for him, for me, and for my brothers was enough. Even more than what we expected you to give. But nothing will happen if we just stay here and wait for someone to die again."

    "Lee Taeil is right," Dongmin stated as he entered the room. He went in front of the two groups and said, "I pimped our Holy mirror a little. With that you can contact any of your fathers. Lay can open it for you, but we need one more who can do Catoptromancy. I know that even one of you has that ability."

    Taeil stood up and said, "I do."

     "But would this be okay with our Fathers?" Sungjae asked with a concerned voice. He didn't want to look like he and his brothers were betraying their clan.

    "Don't worry. This was already planned...even before everything else started," Dongmin finally revealed.

     The Arcs and Demons quickly went to the holy mirror to summon their Father Lucifer who instructed them about the third parties. Lay went in front of the mirror, and then Taeil followed. The Arcs and the Demons were forming a semi-circle around the mirror as the two started with their summoning.

     Everyone was quiet as the two did their thing. And finally, something started appearing in the mirror.

     It was Jiyong's father, Lucifer.

     "J-Jiyong? Sons? Is that you?" he asked weakly.

     "Father!" said the Demon in unison as they bowed in front of the mirror.

     The Arcs flinched as they saw the Demon's 'Father' because it was their first time to see an actual Demon in real life.

    "It's good to see you all well even after the King's attack. I'm glad that you all have mastered your powers. I apologize for not warning you sooner, but as you can see, the king trapped us. And I apologize for what had happened to Woo Jiho as well," Lucifer stated as he looked at Taeil.

     Taeil didn't say anything so he continued, "But I hope you understand that Kharon the Third did not want to do those things."

     Everyone nodded in understanding. Even if Lucifer didn't tell them, the Demons understood the reason why Kharon had done what he just did.

     "Well, I could see that you're in the Holy home right now. That's good."

     "What do you mean Father?" Jiyong asked as he looked at his Father closely.

     Lucifer looked at the Demons seriously and finally revealed their real destiny, "Listen sons... We were the same. We were humans like you too. We had normal lives. We went to school like you. We fell in love and had fun like every normal teenager would. But the difference is we followed our so-called destiny. My sons, don't end up like us. Follow your own destiny. Write your own fate. Team up with the Arcs...and defeat the King," Lucifer finally revealed, sending goosebumps to everyone.

     "F-father..."

     "You are not mistakes...you are gifts. Your fathers, Kharon, and I are all proud of you. You are not the Seven Deadly Sons anymore. You are now the Seven Prince of Sins who will defeat the King of Hell. Make us proud," Lucifer finished, making the Demons look at each other with determination in their faces.

     "As instructed Father. We will defeat the King," everyone said in unison as they bowed once more.

     "Good, but here's a hint. No one can kill the King but the Angels' god. Don't put your mind on killing him. Lock him up so he won't have the ability to hurt you or anyone else anymore. How you do it is up to you," Lucifer explained.

    "I'm sorry for bugging in but...if this works well, will the sins on earth vanish?" Woohyun bravely asked, trying his best not to look straight through Lucifer's bloody-red eyes.

     "I'm sorry young man but our presence alone emits sin on earth. And we cannot be killed because we are now one with Hell. You must destroy HELL in order to destroy US. The "gift" that the King had given us was actually a curse. We are immortals who are forced to do things we do not want to do, so tell your god that we apologize for still giving him problems," Lucifer surprisingly explained.

     When no one said anything, he looked back at his sons and said, "Sons, we want you to live the life that your Fathers wanted. If you also have plans on saving us, I'm already stopping you in advance because there is nothing you can do for us. But the only thing that I could say is...good luck."

     "Thank you father," said the Demons with a bow.

     "I need to go before the King sees me talking to you. Goodbye, my dear sons. Oh and Arcs, take care of these boys for us." Then he vanished and everyone's reflection was the only thing they could see.

     The room fell silent.

     "So that's what our Fathers wanted all along. To team up with the Arcs, when all we did was run away from them," Sunggyu stated as he was staring at the floor.

     "Kim Sunggyu," Junhyung suddenly called out as he went in front of Sunggyu. The Demons' leader lifted his head and saw Junhyung reaching out for his hand.

     "What the fuck is that?" Sunggyu asked with his right eyebrow raised.

     "Well, we had a rough start so I want to reintroduce ourselves," Junhyung stated with a smile.

    The Demons and the Arcs were just behind them trying not to laugh on how silly Junhyung was acting. Sunggyu wanted to ignore him, but he smiled back and nodded his head.

     "Fine," said Sunggyu as he reached out Junhyung's hand to shake it. Then Junhyung seriously looked at the Demon's leader. And like the first time they met, he said, "I'm Yong Junhyung and I'm the leader of ARCS. It's a pleasure to finally work with you."

    Sunggyu smirked and nodded his head, "Then I'm Kim Sunggyu, the leader of a group called DEMONS. And it's also a pleasure...to finally work with you."

     When the two leaders let go of each other's hand, Sunggyu looked back at the two groups and said with a grin, "Let's defeat that motherfucker."

- END OF BOOK I -