THE SEVEN DEMONS WERE panting heavily in the middle of the soccer field of the school that they entered earlier. The 7th and final finally had now been defeated, and the brothers couldn't believe it themselves.    

     "So Jiyong...how does it feel?" Jackson asked with a grin as he looked at Jiyong who was oozing with great power. Jiyong looked at his brothers and started laughing, "It's fucking amazing!"

     The rest laughed with him.

     "Who would have thought that we'd be doing such a thing right?" Minhyuk asked, and Hyunseung hugged him tightly.

     "I thought you'd fucking die you, idiot," Hyunseung stated, still hugging Minhyuk. Minhyuk hugs his best friend tighter and said, "I can't die you know. Who else would scare away the boys whose stalking you?" The two finally broke from the hug and looked at the rest of their brothers.

     "So, when are we going to plan for the execution of the King?" Suho asked as he looked at their master planner, Taeil. But instead of Taeil, Sunggyu answered and said, "For now let's rest. If God can rest on his seventh day, why can't we?"

     The brothers looked at each other and smiled widely.

     "But first..." Suho stated, then everyone looked at him confusingly. Suho grinned and shouted, "Another group hug!"

     Everyone hesitated since they've been hugging each other since earlier, but they did it anyway. Jiyong, who was now twice as prideful, didn't join the hug anymore. So Sunggyu, who was twice as evil now, glared at him, making Jiyong flinch with just that.

     "F-Fine", Jiyong said as he finally joined his brother. Jackson grabbed his brother tightly and told everyone, "Good job brothers...good job."

*****

Christmas Eve was getting closer, but that's not what the sons were worried about. What they're thinking of right now was that their encounter with the King of Hell is getting nearer and nearer, and everyone is nervous and anxious about it.

     "We're a few days down for our final battle. You guys nervous?", Minhyuk asked while he, his brothers, Kharon, the SOLs, Kai, and Tamo, were eating at a private restaurant Tamo knows in Japan. Of course, the SOLs had to just sit quietly on the side since they don't eat human food.

     "A little," Taeil answered as he continued eating. Then Suho nodded and said, "Yeah, the thought of actually facing him just gives me the chills."

     Kharon looks at the two and says, "You shouldn't be. If you're feeling nervous now then what will happen when the actual battle happens? You gonna piss your pants?"

    "Come on Kharon-nim. Give the guys a break. It's just normal to be nervous." Sunggyu defended for the sake of his brothers. But he knew Kharon was somehow right about the whole thing.

    Sunggyu then looks at Minhyuk and Suho and reassured them, "All of us are nervous okay? And that's normal. But remember that the rest of us are right behind you, and no one will be left behind no matter what."

     "Don't baby them Sunggyu, they won't grow," Kharon suddenly stated without even looking at Sunggyu, so Sunggyu quickly looks at their mentor and bickers back, "Degrading them and making them feel scared will make them weaker, and that's not what my brothers need right now."

     Kharon was going to say something, but shuts his mouth and decides to remain silent.

     "Okay, can we have a normal lunch even for once? We just finished killing the Sinners, I don't want you killing each other next." Hyunseung advised, and no one wanted to be against him.

     "If everyone is anxious then shouldn't we train while we wait for the day we open the gates?" Taeil suggested, and Kharon and Sunggyu finally agreed at the same thing.

     "Damn I still feel weird after killing that bobby kid. I don't know if it's a good feeling, or a bad one." Jiyong suddenly stated, finally changing the topic.

     Kai looks at him and says, "Maybe your body isn't prepared for the sudden power yet. You're already strong, and suddenly being an even more powerful full0time Demon made your body feel weak instead."

     "Kai's right." Kharon stated, making Jiyong and the rest look at him, "Your body is still adjusting to the power. It will be used to it soon, but it still needs time. So for now you'd feel weak."

     "Then we really do need to train first," Minhyuk stated. Jiyong was their strongest. If he's weak, the whole team would fall.

     "Damn, I suddenly remembered the time with the first sinner. I felt more pain than my mission," Jackson stated, making everyone remember the scene as well.

     "Sorry man," Hyunseung stated with a chuckle. Then Kai joined in the conversation and said, "My favorite part was with that Yakuza guy."

     "Dude, you guys almost died at that time," Suho stated as he looked at his old friend who was excitedly telling his story. Kai laughed and said, "I already died Suho."

     Tamo hits Kai's head and said back, "Let's not talk about that again. You've been telling me your adventures in hell every night!"

     "Why not? Can't I share my excitement with you?" Kai asked as he looked at his lover.

     "How the hell was that excitement?!" Tamo shouted back. Everyone laughed as they looked at the two bickering at each other.

     "Speaking of hell, Kharon, what's the plan when we enter Hell?" Suho asked. Kharon looked at the SOLs and answered, "We need to head to Lucifer first so your father could absorb them, and so that he could have his full strength again."

    Jaejoong and the two agreed.

     "Looks like this will be the last days that we'll be with those three then," Tamo stated as he looked at the SOLs too. Junsu laughed and answered, "I know. Should we go on a drink while we're still here?"

    "But you can't drink right?" Minhyuk innocently asked, making Jiyong chuckle, "Sometimes I doubt that you're a smartass Minhyuk...of course he was just joking."

     "Ah, I see...", Minhyuk stated, feeling down, making the rest laugh from his cute reaction.

     "Don't worry prince, we can still drink. Just hand us some blood and it would look like normal wine." Yoochun stated as he winked at Minhyuk. Minhyuk laughed and looked at Sunggyu and Kharon, "Cool! But can we?"

     Sunggyu laughed and looked at Kharon. Then Kharon smirked and nodded, "Fine, a few hours of forgetting about shit would be okay."

     The others cheered while Sunggyu and Kharon laughed. Things have been too serious lately, and somehow the seven have been waiting for this kind of break.

     "I know a place," Jackson suddenly stated, shocking the others.

     "Don't tell me it's the bar where you and Gain went to," Suho asked as he looked at Jackson with shock and excitement. But Jackson shook his head and answered, "No. Actually, it's the bar Hyunseung and I went to that day."

     The 12 arrived at the bar and sat down. They ordered a whole case of beer, and of course, Kharon sneaked in the blood wine for the SOLs.

     "Oh! Matsumoto!" Hyunseung shouted as he saw the barista from their last visit. He was cleaning some bottles and waves and gives Hyunseung his famous flirtatious smile. The demons looked at Hyunseung and asked, "And who the hell was that?" Everyone asked in unison.

     "Just a friend," Jackson answered instead. The rest were still confused by his answer, but they didn't ask any more questions about it.

     "So, about our plan. Shouldn't the SOL's return now before anything bad happens to father Lucifer?" Minhyuk asked as everyone started drinking. Jiyong looked at Kharon, expecting him to answer.

     "We still need to prepare before we do go to hell. Your body is still adjusting to the power. Going there now would mean suicide", Kharon explained.

     "But my father-" Kharon cuts Jiyong off and says, "Ruler Lucifer can wait. We need to prepare first so his sacrifice won't go to waste."

     Sunggyu looked at Kharon with a tired expression and asked, "We're going back to the training grounds aren't we?"

     Kharon grinned and answered, "What did you think?"

     The seven sons whined.

     "Come on guys, it's for the best anyways," Tamo stated, trying to put the kids at ease.

     "But, when are we going to talk to the Arcs again?" Jackson suddenly asked, and everyone became quiet. The seven sons haven't talked to the Arcs even after their missions. They gave the Arcs the fake plan so they wouldn't know the real plan that they would execute. But little did the Demons know, the Arcs had their own plans as well.

     "After the mission," Hyunseung answered, but he wasn't looking at Jackson when he said it.

     "After we defeat the King, we'll tell the Arcs everything." Hyunseung continued, then Jiyong suddenly added, "Why are you so confident that we could defeat him?"

     "I'm not confident." Hyunseung quickly answered, now looking at Jiyong.

     "Well, it looks like you are. Have you forgotten? You're one of the useless ones here, aren't I the one who'll be doing most of the work?" Jiyong said to Hyunseung with no hesitation, leaving the rest shocked on his hurtful comment.

    "Hey! Kwon Jiyong, why the hell are you suddenly so cocky?" Minhyuk asked, now looking angrily at Jiyong as well.

     "Well it's true, isn't it? That every one of you is expecting me to do the final blow. That every one of you is expecting that since I'm the most powerful one here, you'll all be alright as long as I become the frontman." Jiyong continued to say.

     "Jiyong that's enough-" Sunggyu tried to say, but Jiyong ignored him and added, "You guys wouldn't even stand a chance against the King if it weren't for me."

     "I said that's enough!" Sunggyu shouted as he stood up and grabbed Jiyong who was just sitting right in front of him.

     "You don't know what you're saying Jiyong. Without us...you wouldn't even be here in the first place." Sunggyu stated, but Jiyong suddenly pushed him away effortlessly. It looked like a soft push but Sunggyu quickly fell. Jiyong was stronger than before; no doubt about it.

     "Why the hell is Jiyong suddenly acting like this?" everyone asked as they looked at Jiyong with shock.

     The bouncers inside the bar were about to go to them, but Kharon quickly snapped his fingers to stop time. He stood up and helped Sunggyu up. Jiyong angrily looked at everyone and said, "I don't know what I'm saying? You guys have no fucking idea what I'm going through. Your fathers aren't the one who's dying. You're not the one with the most burden, and you're not-"

     "Sleep," Kharon commanded, and then Jiyong fainted, shocking everyone. Hyunseung quickly went to Jiyong to help him up, then he looked at Kharon and said, "W-What the hell just..."

     "Jiyong's powers are taking over his body like what happened to you guys when you first absorbed the sinner's soul. Since the real Jiyong now has a better nature than before, merging his new power with his body is having its effects. It's like mixing bad water that has a larger portion than the clean water. Let Jiyong rest for now." Kharon explained and everyone finally understood the situation.

     "Then I'll just leave him here," Hyunseung stated as he points at Jiyong's chair. Then Kharon and Sunggyu sat back down. Hyunseung lifted Jiyong and placed him at his chair. Jiyong rested his head on the table and continued to sleep silently.

     Kharon snapped his hands again and the bouncers who were about to come near them looked confused. So they left instead since everything looked normal.

     "But what Jiyong said...I think that was his inner-self talking." Jackson stated and everyone nodded in agreement. Then Kai added, "I think your friend here has been trying his best to be nice to everyone that he's hiding all his pain instead. It must have been hard for him."

     "Jiyong wasn't really nice to anyone. But after all this, he just became a better person..." Suho explained.

     "I can say I'm kinda proud of him too," Sunggyu added.

     "But Sunggyu...will Jiyong be alright? I'm kinda worried, I just have this feeling that-" Kharon quickly cuts Taeil off and said, "He'll be fine. For now, it's best that you worry about yourselves. Jiyong is capable of a lot of things and doesn't need to worry about himself if he just puts his mind into it. But for the rest of you, you still need more training."

     "How powerful is this guy anyway?" Tamo asked.

     Junsu, who was sitting in front of him, answered, "Let's put it this way. Prince Jiyong's half-blood power is just as strong as Prince Hyunseung and Prince Minhyuk's full demonic powers combined. Now imagine if Jiyong is now a full-time Demon."

     "He'll be twice as powerful as all of the Demons combined?" Tamo asked, and surprisingly, the SOLs nodded.

     "Well, not really twice as powerful as everyone. Maybe if you combine it from Hyunseung to Taeil, that would be it. Sunggyu alone would be strong, and so would Jackson, so Jiyong really doesn't have to worry about doing everything." Kharon explained further.

     The boys didn't talk after that and just drank by themselves. Everyone was quiet, but their minds were all occupied with different things. Some wanted to return to Korea to see the Arcs, some wanted this to be over, and for the others, they were thinking of their future.

     What would happen if they finish this? What would happen to them? What comes next?

*****

Hours have already passed and everyone was drunk, excluding the SOLs of course. Some were already sleeping on the table, and some were just trying to sober up by scanning their phones. Sunggyu, who wasn't as drunk as the others, stood up and said, "Let me just go out for a second. I need some fresh air."

     The SOLs looked at him and nodded.

     Sunggyu went out of the bar and saw the moon shining brightly. His head was throbbing and spinning, and everything felt like a dream because his vision became drowsy. It was already so late and they were still at that bar. Sunggyu decided that they should go home once he goes back inside. He stretched his arms and was about to enter the bar again when suddenly he saw someone familiar.

     "Wait a second-" Sunggyu said as he rubbed his eyes to confirm it, "N-Nam...Nam Woohyun?" he said in shock.

     The man paused and looked at Sunggyu's eyes, but continued walking anyway.

     "Nam Woohyun!" Sunggyu shouted again, but this time, the man didn't stop walking.

     "W-Why are you here?!" Sunggyu shouted as he quickly ran towards him, but it was more difficult than he thought since he was still dizzy.

      "W-Wait! What are you doing here?!" Sunggyu shouted again as he finally grabs hold of Woohyun's coat. The man who Sunggyu claimed as Woohyun finally stopped and looked at him. And as expected, it really was Arcs' very own, Nam Woohyun.

     "Don't execute your plan." Woohyun suddenly says with full power in his voice as soon as he faced the Demons' leader.

     Sunggyu looked at him confusingly. After that, he started laughing, "Oh my god, I really am drunk. You're an apparition, aren't you? The Arcs are in Korea so I'm pretty sure you're an apparition."

     Sunggyu laughed even harder and continued, "Damn, even in my apparition you Angels are still against everything we do."

     "You don't know what's going to happen to you and your brothers Kim Sunggyu," Woohyun stated, then Sunggyu chuckled and smirked directly at Woohyun, "Y-You...you're an asshole, do you know that?" Sunggyu stated, suddenly having hiccups.

     He pointed at Woohyun's chest and said, "You fucking tell your leader to leave us alone, you got that angel?"

     Woohyun doesn't say anything and just stared at Sunggyu. This made Sunggyu somehow angry, so he pushed Woohyun against a wall and cornered him, "You fucking answer me angel or I'll kill you," Sunggyu says with full rage. But instead of answering, Woohyun stared at Sunggyu's eyes and showed him a quick glimpse of the future.

  Note: Woohyun has premonition if you're not aware.

     Sunggyu saw chaos. He saw bloodshed, fire, and a lot of tears. But before Sunggyu could grasp what was really going on, Woohyun quickly blinked, stopping the vision.

     Sunggyu felt weak soon after. He almost fell on his knees, but good thing Woohyun grabbed him. Woohyun leaned closer to Sunggyu's ear and whispered, "Tell your brothers about the vision. Don't execute your plan."

     Sunggyu was about to say something back, but Woohyun touched his forehead, and Sunggyu quickly fell asleep.

*****

 "Woohyun!" Sunggyu suddenly shouted as soon as he opened his eyes. His brothers and the SOLs looked at him with complete confusion. Sunggyu looked at his surroundings and found out that he was already at Tamo's office with the rest of his brothers.

     "Wow, you're finally awake. We were legit drunk last night." Minhyuk stated as he gave Sunggyu a bottle of water.

     "Yeah, my head and body still fucking hurts because of it," Jiyong stated as he was sitting at another sofa beside Hyunseung and Jackson, (Jiyong doesn't remember that he fought with Sunggyu, he just thought that he was so drunk that's why he forgot about everything).

     Sunggyu looked at the window and realized that it was already morning. Then he quickly stood up and said, "Where's Woohyun?"

     The demons looked at him again. Seconds later they started laughing.

     "Uhm, at South Korea?" Suho answered in between laughs.

     "Why leader, you already missing our little angels?" Taeil jokingly asked, but instead of laughing with them, Sunggyu looked at his brothers seriously and said, "I was with him last night."

     "Last night we found you drunk at an alley. You fainted and we literally dragged your lifeless body here." Hyunseung clarified, but Sunggyu wasn't buying it. He knew what he saw.

     "I told you I was with him! And he showed me this..." Sunggyu stopped when he remembered the horrible vision that he saw last night.

     "Our prince, are you alright?" Jaejoong asked as he looked at Sunggyu with concern.

     "We can't do our plan." Sunggyu suddenly blurted out, making the Demons look at him with shock. Hyunseung quickly stood up and went towards the dazed leader, "What the fuck are you saying now Kim Sunggyu?"

     "I saw this...this vision. There was chaos...we were losing...and the King of hell...he...he..." Before Sunggyu could finish, Hyunseung slapped his brother on the cheeks.

     "Hyunseung," Jiyong stated as he was about to stand up as well, but Jackson stopped him.

     "What's going on with you Sunggyu? Are you fucking out of your mind!" Hyunseung shouted, but Sunggyu just clenched his fist, "I told you what I saw! Why can't you just listen?!"

     "It's because the Arcs are trying to ruin our plan! Woohyun...if it really was him that you saw last night...is trying to manipulate you. He wants you to stop our plans, he's trying to ruin everything that we've been planning since day one." Hyunseung stated, and finally, Sunggyu didn't argue. He sat back down and looked at the floor.

     "It felt so real." He says, his voice filled with pain.

     "It's not," Minhyuk reassured. 

    Junsu went towards the Demons and said, "Your fears are coming out, especially since the day of our plan is coming soon. This is what we meant when we said you need to concentrate. You can't let fear, pain, and doubt hindrance your plans."

     "Junsu's right. And we need you, leader. You can't give up now. Without you we'll fail," and this surprisingly came from Jiyong.

     Sunggyu took a deep breath and looked at his brothers, "Alright, I believe you." Then he stood up and continued, "We'll defeat the King of hell as planned...and no Arc can stop it."

- END -