Chapter 14

Dae Hwan sat cross-legged in the gym as Kei instructed him.

“Try to meditate and clear your mind. Concentrate your mind.” Dae Hwan closed his eyes and tried to concentrate. Kei waved his hand to call Fether. He whispered, “Release some of your magical energy around him, as much as possible.” Fether understood what he planned to do and did as he ordered.

“Feel the air around you, try to imagine it entering your body.” Kei softly spoke.

With just those vague instructions, Dae Hwan managed to absorb the magical energy as a vortex appeared with him in the circle.

[You just found a genius. Though you, yourself is more of a demon.] Remy remarked from inside his head but didn’t say the second part.

“Fuck, I just found a genius. Even if he doesn’t have any good ability, he can make up for it with magic.” Kei exclaimed loudly and grew more excited.

Fether smiled and also became excited. He no longer doubted Kei’s decision to add Dae Hwan to the team.

Dae Hwan opened his palms and looked at his body. He stood up causing the vortex to disappear. “What is that?” He was confused and asked Kei for an explanation.

Kei tried to calm down and answered him. “That is magical energy. When you’ve absorbed magical energy, the energy will circulate inside the magic circuit.”

Dae Hwan asked another question. “So, does that mean I have an ability?”

‘Fuck, I don’t know how abilities awaken normally.’ Kei panicked in his mind but thankfully Fether came to help.

“When you have gathered enough magical energy, your ability should awaken. At least, that’s what the angels did to me. They forced energy into my body causing my ability to awaken.” Fether taught Dae Hwan.

[He is half correct. Humans awaken their innate ability if they satisfy all three conditions. First would be obvious to have an innate ability. The second is to gather enough magic energy and lastly, the body needs to be used to having magic energy and being surrounded by it.] Remy explained inside Kei’s head. Kei repeated her words.

Fether’s eyes grew wide and looked at him. Kei noticed his shock and explained that Remy told him. Fether’s shock subsided and he nodded.

Fether’s phone in his pocket suddenly rang. He went away and answered his phone. “Hello? Is this Mr. Fether?”

“Yes, who are they?”

“This is Park Jin-Hye. Are you free this afternoon? I’d like to talk with you.”

Fether explained to Kei and asked him if they have any plans. Kei shook his head.

“I’m free today.”

“Good, let’s meet up in front of the Hunter’s Building at noon.” Fether checked the clock to see that it was already 11:00 am.

“Alright, do I go alone, or is Kei invited too?”

“Oh right, I forgot. You need to bring your leader too.”

“How can you forget about the important person?” A different voice rang out from the phone.

“Sorry.” Fether heard Park Jin-Hye apologize to the voice.

Fether hang up and told Kei about the meeting. Kei agreed and went to Dae Hwan.

“Take a rest. Change your clothes, we’re going somewhere.” Kei instructed Dae Hwan before leaving with Fether.

“Isn’t it too early for him to come?” Fether questioned Kei’s decision.

“What’s wrong? It’s just a meeting.” Kei answered casually.

…

They arrived at the Association Building early and chose to wait in front of the building. After waiting for some time, Park Jin-Hye arrived in an expensive-looking car and parked in front of them. He opened his window and told them to get in.

Dae Hwan looked shocked and stood there with his mouth wide open. He stood there just looking at the car and didn’t move. Kei and Fether were already inside watching his reaction, “What are you doing? Come in.”

Dae Hwan closed his mouth and moved but still hesitated to enter, though in the end still went in the car. He sat properly with his back straight while the other two were laidback and felt at ease. They drove for some time before parking in front of a huge mansion.

“Welcome to Holy Flames Guild.” Park Jin-Hye introduced the building to them.

Dae Hwan seeing the building became dumbstruck again. Kei seeing this smacked him in the back and told him. “Get used to it.”

Dae Hwan nodded and followed them inside. Inside the building, Park Jin-Hye lead them to the lobby and sat on a sofa. Kei saw various people sitting on the sofa. A total of 9 people were inside, excluding Kei’s group.

“With this, there’s 12 of us gathered here.” Park Jin-Hye counted them and spoke.

A butler entered the room to announce. “Please follow me, the guild leader has called for you all.”

The people in the lobby all stood up and followed him. Kei also followed him, walking side by side with the others made one particular individual stick out due to his height.

They entered a grand dining room. As the guests saw him, their eyes darted towards the handsome man sitting at the end of the dining table. “The leader of Holy Flames!” A person gasped.

The man just smiled and told them to sit down. A butler came and spoke to Kei and his group. “Sir, this young man over here has not been invited and thus don’t have any spot in the table. I’ll bring him to the waiting area.” He spoke respectfully and took Dae Hwan away from the group. Dae Hwan stared at Kei to which Kei just nodded his head and agreed.

The leader smiled and spoke after the butler closed the door behind him. “As I’m sure all if not, most of you already know who I am. My name is Seo Kwang Seok, the leader of the Holy Flames Guild. Take a seat.” He introduced himself before pointing at the chair. Everyone including Kei and Fether sat, Kwang Seok softly clapped his hands before maids entered the room carrying trays upon trays of food.

Moments later, the table was full of food. “Let us all eat first before talking about serious matters.” Kwang Seok spoke and smiled then started eating.

Everyone was confused but just followed suit and also started eating. Kei grabbed a lobster and reveled in its taste.

Sounds of eating rang from the room, some guys were eating very obnoxiously while the others ate very quietly. Some time passed and everybody finished eating.

“I hope you’ve enjoyed the food.” He spoke as he cleaned himself with a towel. “Let’s go back to business.” As he said that, his eyes suddenly turned serious and his previous carefree and kind demeanor suddenly changed.

Everyone paid attention to him except for one small guy who kept using his phone.

Most of the guests looked at him hoping that he’d notice the situation in the room. And clearly enough, he noticed. He smiled before putting his phone back in his pocket.

“I invited you all here today for two reasons. I’m sure you all know about the increased appearance of devils in the Gates. The angels told us there are three prophesied events that will happen after the Month of Cataclysm. First will be the awakening of humans with abilities or innate ability users. This has already happened. The second situation will be Devils invading Earth, and the last event is the appearance of the King. We still don’t know anything about the last event or what the King means, but we are now in the second event.”

Everyone’s mood suddenly turned serious and the happy news that they were hoping for, didn’t appear.

The guy playing with his phone earlier then spoke. “So, how’s the second event connected with you calling us here?”

Everyone asked the same question in their mind and Kwang Seok answered it. “My first business with you all is to invite you to make a team that is prepared for the sole mission of subjugating these devils. You will not need to join my guild, let’s call this a partnership. You are all talented individuals with huge potentials. My second business would be to invite you to my guild, I’m sure you all know that Holy Flames Guild is the largest and strongest guild in Korea and is in the Top 10 in the world.”

Everybody nodded and contemplated seriously. Kei then spoke, “I agree to join the subjugation team but not joining your guild, is that alright?”

“Completely alright, how about everybody else? What’s your decision?”

Fether followed Kei’s decision. Everybody agreed to join the team while only half agreed to join the guild.

Kwang Seok was particularly happy that the tall guy joined the guild. After settling down, Kwang Seok announced another thing.

“There is various information you need to know about the devil, but these will be taught by this guy.” He shouted, “Dectre!” A guy with a sword on his waist entered the room. “Sir!”

“Tell them all you need to know about the devils.” He then left after saying those words.

“Follow me.” Dectre went to the backyard and called the butlers to bring out the training tools.

The 12 followed him and stood out there in the sun. Some guys were annoyed that they had to stand in the heat but they didn’t complain.

“The first thing you need to know when fighting a devil, not just a devil but all enemies are to always aim for their weak spots. For a devil, that would be their heart and the root or base of their wings. You always aim for this spot.” He pointed at his left chest area.

“If you see a devil with wings that can cover the sky, get the fuck out of there. If you see a devil with two or more pairs of wings, get the fuck out of there.”

“If you think you’re strong enough to fight a devil with two pairs of wings, you need to have the power to destroy a city within minutes. If you can’t do that, you need to fuck off and run.”

“Have you ever fought a devil?” The tall guy raised his hands and asked.

“Yes, I’ve fought a devil with a single pair of wings.” He proudly answered the question.

“Did you fight it alone and won?” The guy who kept playing with his phone also asked him.

“I did not fight it alone, I fought it with my team, and yes we won. Killing a devil, no matter the rank is a huge accomplishment, and taking its core will give you a lot of money. Who here has experience fighting with a devil? As I thought, no on-“

Kei and Fether both raised their hands which shocked Dectre.

“You!! You both are the guys who went to the hospital after fighting a devil and rescuing civilians, am I right?”

Fether weakly nodded, Dectre patted them both in the back and commended them. “I admire your courage and wish that all people with abilities are just like you. You survived a fight with the devil with just the two of you.”

“What’s the big deal about surviving when they can’t even kill a single devil?” A snarking remark came from the side.

Kei saw that it was from a buffed guy. ‘Why do all macho men have to be so stupid?’

Dectre laughed at him and asked. “Are you that strong that you can destroy a building within a matter of minutes?”

“Yes.” He answered proudly.

“We haven’t even asked what type of devil and what rank it is.” Dectre spoke sternly. “Can you describe the appearance of the devil?” He asked the both of them and they both contemplated.

Kei answered shortly, “He had a face as ugly as him.” He pointed at the macho guy.

“YOU!!” He pointed back and veins appeared on his forehead.

Dectre just laughed and corrected himself. “Not that, describe his wings and what power he used.”

“Oh, that.” Kei also laughed and added, “He had a single pair of wings and used ice to fight us.”

“Hmmm… so a rankless Ice devil. That’s still stronger than the one I’ve fought. I’ve fought a rankless devil without element.”

“You’re both weak, how about I show you the strength that can make those devils cry.”

The macho guy suddenly challenged them to a fight.