- Lee Jongsuk's POV -

THE SHOPPING DISTRICT. MY turf, my kingdom, and my source of income. As I scan the area, I saw 2 unaware men walking towards my direction. One was wearing a suit and tie with a coat, while the other one was wearing casual clothes.

      "Kei, Rei." I called my 2 ghouls, "Distract the two men and I'll do the rest." I ordered, and they quickly obliged.

     Kei and Rei went towards the two men and distracted them by offering to look at some products. I scanned the male who was wearing casual clothes and saw that his wallet was at the back of his pants. I took a piece of wood and went towards them. Then I 'accidentally' bumped into him, and with my fast hands, I took the wallet and replaced it with the piece of wood.

     "Gomen'nasai," I said as I bowed down and walked away from him. Kei and Rei followed me after and we immediately went to one of our hideouts.

     "Look at that money," I said as I was staring at the wallet. Then I looked at Kei and Rei. They just looked at me with a sad smile, which ruined my celebratory mood completely.

     "What's wrong?" I asked them.

     "Crocell and Adramelech are dead." Rei suddenly answered.

     "And also Tayo, Adramelech's ghoul," Kei added. I slumped down on the wall and looked at them.

     "What's the plan Jongsuk?" Rei and Kei asked in unison.

     "Let's just be cautious for now. Battling Adramelech will at least wound them badly compared to Crocell. So it will give us a lot of time to plan." I said, and my two ghouls nodded.

      Before we start, let me introduce myself. I'm Astaroth, but in this world, I'm Lee Jongsuk and I am the infamous criminal here in the shopping district that's well-known in Tokyo. If I need to brag, nobody knows who I am because I move like the wind and disappear in the shadows. And if they do happen to know me, well, I'll just have to take another body. Like I always do.

- THIRD PERSON POV - 

"Illusion cast him?" Suho asked, and everyone quickly looked at Jackson - the only demon inside the room who could perform such a complex power.

     "I need to see the person before I illusion cast him though." Jackson pointed out.

     "I know, that's why we placed a GPS in Kai's wallet," Taeil explained, and Hyunseung scratched his chin and asked further, "So how are we going to catch him? Just follow him?" 

     "Since Sinner three is a demon from the Greed Realm..." Taeil looked at Suho and continued "You and Jackson will walk the streets as rich-looking as possible. And once I tell you that the person is the Sinner, illusion cast him as fast as you can with Suho, and Kharon will again stop the time so that people would not be weirded out about what you're going to do next." Taeil explained.

NOTE: When Jackson casts an illusion on someone, he and the person being cast will be staring blankly at each other, that's why people might be weirded out, or even move their bodies, causing the illusion to break.

     "Okay, but how about his ghoul? How can we deal with that? I bet they already warned him of our arrival too," Minhyuk reminded them.

     "Yeah, the second sinner was warned about us and we just pulled it off because we concealed ourselves," Sunggyu added, and then Suho joined the conversation and said, "And we got lucky that it was humans that we were battling with, not ghouls."

     "Kharon battled the Sinner's ghoul for you guys though." Hyunseung pointed out.

     "Kharon, how many ghouls does this Sinner even have?" Taeil asked, and the rest of the Princes, the SOL's and Tamo & Kai looked at Kharon the third, waiting for the answer.

     "I'm not sure yet, but I'll be with Prince Suho and Prince Jackson so that I can scan the area before we commence the plan," Kharon answered.

     "We need to be there as well, just to be safe," Sunggyu added, and the sons nodded as an answer.

     The SOLs also told them that they're ready to be of use if the sons ever need anything. The same goes for Kai who was thankful for what they did to him. The least he, and even his lover Tamo, could do is assist the Demons and give them the resources that they need.

     The Demons were thankful for the help that they were receiving. But at the same time, Kai's words reminded them of the Arcs, and the atmosphere immediately changed because of that. So Jiyong cleared his throat and told everyone, "Alright, no need to treat us like actual princes."

     "Don't worry, we're not. Even though it's your mission, assisting you is not a way for us to show that we respect you as princes. We're here to help for the betterment of this world, which is enough reason for us to do what we do," Kharon said as he looked at his now kids.

     The brothers looked at each other and smiled, no really grateful for everyone in the room.

     "Then let's finish this together and kill that fucking king," Suho said enthusiastically, and everyone looked at each other and raised their fists high, "yeah!"

*****

Jackson and Suho walked the streets of Tokyo, and yes, like what Taeil had instructed, they wore clothes that made them look rich. Technically they just had to copy Jiyong's style and act like a total douche. They did it to insult him, but the prince of pride took it as a compliment.

     "Jackson, Suho. Can you hear me?" Taeil asked through their earpiece.

     "Yeah," Jackson answered. "Loud and clear," Suho added.

      "Good. Our guardian and the Souls of Lucifer are already at their position," Taeil stated, and Jackson and Suho looked at the building at their right and saw 4 figures standing at the rooftop watching them.

     "Tamo and Kai are waiting in the car," Taeil then added.

      "How about our brothers?" Suho asked as he pretended to look at some stuff from the windows of the stores so that he can blend in.

      "Hyunseung and Minhyuk are 7 feet in front of you, and Sunggyu and Jiyong are just behind you. But don't look, people might notice them hiding." 

     Jackson nodded and looked at Suho and asked, "You ready?"

     "I am, but I'm a little nervous." Suho honestly answered as he fixed his clothes. He looked uneasy, so Jackson patted Suho's back and assured him, "Don't worry, it will be worth it afterward." 

     The two rich-looking sons walked the streets as if they owned it. They kept on going inside branded stores and would even stop to look at their expensive phones, just to lure in the Sinner. Kharon and the SOL's followed them by going from roof to roof. Tamo and Kai did their best to stay in incognito, and the rest of the Demons followed their brothers in sync with their movements.

     "Guys, the Sinner is near your location."

     When Taeil said those words, the two Princes immediately stopped, and so did the rest. Jackson scanned the area and saw 3 males on the side of the store. Jackson was about to do an illusion cast, but Taeil stopped him from doing so.

     "It's too early Jackson. Many people will be in the illusion if you do it in that range," Taeil explained, and Jackson nodded and realized the risk that Taeil was pointing out.

     "Proceed with the plan," Taeil ordered.

     "Alright."

     "Kharon, how many?" Taeil then asked. It was silent for a couple of seconds before someone finally answered, "Two."

     "Only two?" Suho asked again, just to be sure.

     "Yes, Kharon's right. It a male and female ghoul," Junsu explained further.

     "Don't worry about anything you two, we'll handle the 2 ghouls. We'll do everything we can to give you time," Sunggyu added on the other line.

     "Then let's go," Jackson said to Suho, and everybody, even Kai and Tamo, nodded their heads even though no one was going to see it. The two Princes were walking towards the Sinner and his ghoul. And as expected, the two ghouls went in front of them.

     "Just like what happened to us," Kai whispered to Tamo, afraid that the sinner would hear him even if they were far away from them.

     "Be ready Jackson, the next person will be the Sinner." Tamo alerted Jackson. And as Tamo warned them, a guy went beside Jackson. With months of hard-core training, Jackson immediately grabbed hold of the Sinners' hand. The Sinner was shocked, so were his ghouls. While the ghouls were dazed, Suho pushed them away from them and shouted, "NOW!"And without hesitation, Kharon stopped the time. 

     Suho quickly grabbed hold to Jackson's hand, and he and the Sinner were now inside the illusion that Jackson had made. The ghouls were on the ground and confused at what happened, but they finally got a clue when they saw the eyes of the two rich people.  It was red; bloody-red. It was no doubt an eye color of a strong Demon.

      "No way." Kei said with shock while he and the other ghoul was down on the floor thanks to Suho pushing them earlier, "We need to pull Jongsuk away from them." He then instructed. 

     Rei stood up and was about to grab Jongsuk's shoulder, but a hand appeared and grabbed hold of her arms instead to stop him.

     "What the hell?" Rei looked at the owner of the arms. And soon as she did, hers and Kei's eyes widened as they saw that four men were guarding Jackson, Suho, and Jongsuk.

     "We don't want anybody interrupting them," Sunggyu said as he pushed Rei away. She stumbled back, but Kei quickly caught her before she could fall.

     "How did you find us?" Kei asked as he looked at the Demons, fear present in his eyes.

     "Connections." Jiyong simply answered as he smirked.

     "You can't defeat us, especially that two of my brothers are already real demons," Sunggyu tells them.  Rei and Kei looked at Hyunseung and Minhyuk. And without any warning, the two showed them their demon self with the horns and tail.

     "Even though you have two demons, we can still kill you," Kei dared to say.

     "Yeah? You and what army?" Jiyong fired back, not expecting anything from the ghouls But as soon as Jiyong said those words, ghouls appeared out of nowhere. In the alleyways, in the roof, and even in the sewers. And then a man appeared in the distance, a man that Hyunseung knows.

     "Nagi," Kharon said from above the roof of a building.

     "So you didn't kill him huh?" Jaejoong asked as he looked at Kharon, and Kharon didn't look nor answer Jaejoong.

      "Well if that's the case..." Jaejoong looked at the two Souls of Lucifer, and they nodded and jumped off the building. The 3 Souls of Lucifer landed in front of the Princes and said, "We will do our best to neutralize the ghouls."

     "Okay, we will attack everyone that goes near Jackson and Suho," Sunggyu added, and the Demons nodded as an answer. They then summoned their weapons to get ready for the battle.

     "Let's go," Jaejoong ordered, then the three SOL's vanished. But then the Demons noticed that the ghouls were falling one by one like they were being attacked by an invisible force.

     "Let's go, brothers!" Minhyuk shouted, and everybody attacked the ghouls that were in front of them. Hyunseung and Minhyuk attacked Rei and Kei because they were the only ones who can defeat them. Then the rest attacked the lower ghouls.

     "Where's Nagi?" Hyunseung asked as he tried to dodge an attack from Rei.

     "I don't know," Minhyuk replied as he strikes Kei in the chest.

MEANWHILE...

     In the rooftop where Kharon was watching the mayhem, someone appeared behind the phoenix and approached him in silence. Kharon didn't even look back as he asked, "King's orders I suppose?"

      "Even though I made a pack with you the Third, I still got my previous orders from the King. Both of us know we can't disobey that," Nagi explained.

     Kharon finally looked at him and asked, "Is that all the ghouls Crocell has?"

     Nagi looked at all the ghouls who were fighting the Demons and answered, "Yes."

     "Then you have no more orders to follow, and the only orders you need to follow now are mine," Kharon said with authority in his voice, and Nagi bowed his head as an answer.

     Kharon looked back at the battle that was taking place below them. And as Nagi waited, Kharon took a deep breath and told him, "Go and do what I ordered you to do. And remember, my princes have worked hard for their plan to be a success. I will not tolerate any form of failure from a mere ghoul like you."

     "Yes, the Third." 

     With that said, Nagi vanished and Kharon looked back at the chaos that was happening below the building that he was on. He lifted his hand, and one by one, the ghoul's screamed in agony.

BACK TO THE ILLUSION...

     "Where the fuck am I?" Jongsuk asked himself as he saw that he was in the middle of an enormous maze, "How did I get here?" he continued to ask as he looked at his surroundings, "One moment I was at the shopping district doing my thing, now I'm here in this fucking maze?!" 

    Jongsuk looked confused and terrified at the same time. But while he was looking around and trying not to panic, someone suddenly talked in a very loud and voice, "Good, you're awake."

     "Who the fuck are you?!"Jongsuk shouted as he looked at his surroundings.

     "Should we tell him, brother?"

     "I guess we should. After all, he's going to die anyway." A new voice answered.

     When Jongsuk heard about the last statement, his eyes widened, and with no hesitation, he quickly ran away. But before he could get too far, chains were suddenly chasing him. The chains eventually caught him, then it pulled him back at the center of the maze and shackled him in place.

     "You're not allowed to move yet," said Jackson as he and Suho were finally in front of the chained Sinner.

     Jongsuk saw the two men. He was shocked to find out that the two men that were in front of him were none other than the Princes of hell. Jackson and Suho looked down on the Sinner with their eyes red as blood and aura as dark as the night.

     "You're the Betrayers," Jongsuk said as he looked at the two men in front of him.

     "Betrayers?" Suho asked back, looking at Jackson who just shrugged his shoulders.

     "Maybe that's what they call us in hell now." Suho pointed out, and they looked back at the chained Sinner again. Jackson and Suho knelt in front of Jongsuk, and Jongsuk looked at them straight in the eyes.

     "Since we're already betrayers..." Suho stated, "Then there's no problem if we kill you."

     "But we'll make this a little fun." Jackson then added. and just like that, Suho and Jackson vanished in thin air, and Jongsuk was not chained up anymore.

     "Since you made this so fucking easy for us, we'll give you ten seconds to run as fast as you can as a head start." Suho's voice explained, making Jongsuk's heart start beating faster than normal.

     "And after that, I'll chase after you. But don't worry, my brother will not tell me where you are." Suho explained further, but then he chuckled as he continued, "But I'm not sure if my brother here will not intervene with our chase though." 

     When Suho finished, starving lions suddenly appeared. The lions looked at the Sinner. They growled and ran towards him, making the Sinner finally start running as fast as he could through the maze.

     "Run as fast as you can little rabbit," Jackson said with a smirk.

     Jackson and Suho were above the maze and could see that the Sinner was running for his life, not knowing that the lions had already disappeared. But for the Sinner, there are still lions chasing after him.

     "He's cautious," Suho said with worry in his tone.

     "Don't worry about it, I'll make him go to you," Jackson stated to assure his brother.

     "You ready?" Jackson asked, and Suho nodded as an answer. In a snap of Jackson's finger, Suho was in the middle of the maze with his weapon at hand.

     Jongsuk moved inside the maze with caution. Before he makes a turn, he checks it before moving forward. As he moved forward, Jongsuk saw a tail of a lion, so he backed away instantly as quietly as he could. On the other hand, Suho moved without caution because he knew that nothing is inside the maze except for him and the Sinner. And Jackson is also doing everything he can to lure the little rabbit to the real hungry lion, Suho.

     Jongsuk was about to make a turn, but suddenly he heard a roar of a lion on the corner of the maze, and without any second thought, he ran away from that sound. Suho did the opposite. He went towards the sound as fast as he could.

     Jongsuk was about to make a turn, but he immediately stopped as soon as he saw Suho now in front of him.

     "Finally caught you little rabbit," Suho said as he swung his sledgehammer-like weapon. But the Sinner dodged it as fast as he could. He lost his balance for a second and ran away from Suho again. Suho chased the Sinner, and Jackson once again manipulated the illusion. The Sinner and Suho were running, but not in the maze anymore. Instead, they were in a never-ending alleyway.

     Suho was right behind him, and when he was inches away from the Sinner, Jackson snapped his fingers, making a wall suddenly appear in front of them.

     Jongsuk stopped because he has nowhere to run anymore, and Suho was 5 feet away from him. When Suho was now close enough, Jackson snapped his fingers for the third time, and now, Jongsuk, Suho, and Jackson were inside an enclosed room.

     "That's not fucking fair," Jongsuk said as he looked at the Demons who were in front of him.

     "Yeah, we know." Suho said as he coolly rested his weapon on his shoulder, "But we're already betrayers so why not go all out." He added.

     Jongsuk just looked at the two Demons, trying to think of something that could help him escape.

     "I won't beg for mercy." Jongsuk bravely told them, making Jackson and Suho look at each other before looking back at Jongsuk.

     "We don't care if you beg or cry for mercy because we are not merciful." Suho taunted. Right after he said those words to him, the surroundings changed again. But this time, it was a place that the sinner was familiar with.

     "Welcome to the Abyss," Jackson said with a grin.

     Jongsuk gulped and clenched his fist. He was about to make a run for it, but he was stuck in his place. He looked down on his feet. His eyes widened when he saw his fellow sinners lying on the floor while his ankles were chained by rusted chains.

     "This place is a bit fitting to someone who will be thrown in here after he dies, right?" Suho asked Jackson as he went towards the Sinner who couldn't contain his panic any longer.

     "Say your prayers Sinner," Suho said as he raised his weapon, "if someone would even listen." 

     Suho lifted his hammer-like weapon and got ready to smash Jongsuk's head. The sinner didn't even scream or struggle. It's as if he had already accepted his fate. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. The action made Suho stop midway. When Jongsuk realized that he was still alive, he immediately opened his eyes back. But to his surprise, he wasn't in the abyss anymore. Instead, he was standing in front of an open meadow.

    For a while, he felt free.

    "Greed takes you places, but most of the time it's nowhere pretty. We heard you don't usually kill your targets. You only do so when it's necessary. You are the sinner of greed, but not wanting to take a life was beyond our expectations. So as your prince, let me give you my final present." Suho's voice stated.

     The sinner was left speechless. He almost cried, but that was a feeling that the King did not gift them. So the only thing Jongsuk could do was bow his head and say, "Thank you."

    Seconds later, everything just stopped.

BACK IN THE REAL WORLD...

     "Good thing the Souls of Lucifer are here to help us," Hyunseung said as he wiped the blood and sweat on his face.

     While Jackson, Suho, and the Sinner were busy in the world that Jackson created, the rest of the Demons, Kharon, and the Souls of Lucifer were busy killing the ghouls that appeared.

     "I hope everything is okay there," Hyunseung said with worry in his voice before slashing another ghoul who was running towards him.

     Jiyong, who was right behind him, pierced his scepter on the ground, making a strong enough impact that would make the surrounding ghouls fall. He then looked over his shoulder and answered Hyunseung, "Don't worry. Jackson is a strong demon. His illusions have not failed us yet."

     The demons continued with their battle for a minute longer. It was too easy for them so it wasn't too much of an obstacle to anyone. Soon after that, the ghouls were no more, and Kharon and the Souls of Lucifer ended up cleaning the streets. Meaning: set the ghouls on fire.

     The rest of the Demons went to where Jackson, Suho, and the Sinner was standing. they observed their motionless body in silence. But as they were watching them, the Sinner started spewing blood from his mouth, making the demons move away from them.

     Jackson and Suho came back to the real world and pulled away from the Sinner who fell on the ground with a thud.

     The demons looked at each other. And when they saw that neither Jackson nor Suho were harmed, they immediately ran to them

     "You fucking did it!" Minhyuk shouted with enthusiasm in his voice.

     "Yeah, we did," Jackson said as he looked at Suho, then both of them did a fist bump.

     As the Demons were celebrating, Kharon - who finished cleaning up the ghouls - went to them and said, "My Princes, we need to go." 

     Everyone nodded their head in understanding. Kharon went to Jongsuk's body and grabbed it before teleporting themselves back to the headquarters. As soon as they disappeared from where they were standing, time started again.

     When the demons appeared at the office, Taeil immediately stood up from his seat and shouted, "Good job guys!" 

     "Yes, Good job my Princes." Kharon praised the Demons. He then placed Jongsuk's body on the floor and looked back at Suho. He didn't have to say anything for Suho to understand what he has to do next.

     He went to the Sinner's body and opened his mouth. He took a deep breath and transformed himself into a half-demon and chanted, "I, the Prince of Greed, the third son of the realms of hell, am commanding the soul of this key keeper to be transferred to me in the name of Mammon", after that, black smoke appeared from the Sinner's mouth and it transferred to Suho. Suho took a deep breath once again, and like Hyunseung, his eyes became black, his aura darkened, and a horn and tail appeared.

    Suho pulled away from the Sinner's soulless body and took a deep breath. "So this is what you guys feel," Suho said to his full-demon brothers.

     "I'm so fucking excited to possess that much power!" Jiyong said with enthusiasm in his voice.

     "Don't worry Jiyong, you'll get your turn." Sunggyu stated as he patted Jiyong's shoulder, "But for now, our tactician is next," he continued before looking back at Taeil. 

     "So what's the plan?" Jiyong asked as he stood beside Taeil to drape his arm around his shoulder.

     Taeil looked at his brothers and answered, "Before I tell you the plan, we need to wait for Tamo and Kai." 

     Everyone looked at Taeil with their right eyebrow raised.

     "What? I've been sitting in that chair for 3 days straight without proper sleep. I need to prepare my body for the battle," Taeil said as he pushed Jiyong's arm away so he could stretch his body.

     "Yeah, Taeil's right. We've been doing this for almost a week now and we need to rest until Tamo and Kai arrive." Hyunseung agreed as he sat on the couch with the rest of the Demons.

     "I guess you're right. We do need to rest a little bit." Sunggyu finally said as he sat on the floor beside Jiyong.

     Taeil kept on stretching and suddenly remembered something, "Oh yeah, Kharon, why didn't you kill the first Sinner's ghoul?" Taeil asked while looking at their guardian.

     The Demons and the Souls of Lucifer looked at Kharon who was standing in front of them. Kharon sat on the opposite couch and crossed his legs. He then looked at them seriously and answered, "Because something very problematic came up that might just change everything that we've accomplished so far."

- END -