Win No Matter What

CHAPTER 37 - BLOOD, SWEAT AND TEARS

In the middle of a large crypt, a body is found laying on what looks like a closed tomb. The sleeping body is surrounded by the familiar beings in red cloaks. There are around a hundred of them repeating the incantation in eerie synchronisation. Lord Luciferous can be found standing next to your limp body which is hovering over Ji Min's. Hak Kun is standing at Ji Min's head ready to act as needed.

Lord Luciferous uses a thin blade to cut your thumb. He then catches the drop of blood in your locket which he has in his hand. He passes the locket to Hak Kun who places it into Ji Min's one.

"The blood of the two souls destined together will free the Demon King," Lord Luciferous recites.

"The blood of the two souls destined together will free our King," repeat the rest of the congregation.

You are dropped on the floor with a thud and an ominous noise, like the sound of a bone breaking. Lord Luciferous replaces Hak Kun's position in front of Ji Min and says, "It shouldn't be too long now before his wings start to emerge. Once they are out in their full glory, his ascension to the throne will be complete."

"What shall I do with Rumi?" asks Hak Kun.

"Leave her, we have no need for her now. When she eventually wakes up, she will have to wait for the new King to decide her fate. He would have certainly forgotten all about her by then." Lord Luciferous sighs deeply, content that all is going to plan. All he has to do now is wait for a few more minutes. He looks down at Ji Min's face which is grimacing as his body twitches. The wings are trying to break free.

Suddenly he hears a noise and looks up to see what the commotion is. The demons at the back are ducking trying to avoid getting attacked by the talons of a large griffin.

"What. Is. Going. On?" he bellows. He instructs Hak Kun to stand guard over Ji Min while he goes over to where the bird is swooping over the demons injuring them severely. The griffin then flies to its left drawing some of the demons to follow it. With most of the congregation now having left in the room, and Lord Luciferous drawn away from Ji Min, a smaller Bangtan crew rush in. Seok Jin, Ho Seok, Jung Kook, Tae Hyun and Jung Kai cast spells at the demons closest to them causing them to heavily stunned, tied up or immobilised. A good few of the demons suffer at the hands of Taekwanjudo maestro Jung Kook. The guys then block the entrance with a huge firewall, thus preventing anyone else from entering. The whirlwind surprise attack has worked in halting most of the demons.

Lord Luciferous quickly turns to check on Ji Min and sees Yoongi standing where Hak Kun was, carefully pouring a healing elixir into Ji Min's mouth. Tae Hyung kneels down protectively over you, tending to your injuries. Soo Bin, Beom Gyu and Yeon Jun surround the rest of Ji Min's body, ready to take on Lord Luciferous.

"Get away from there!" he yells in fury. Looking around he says, "Hak Kun, where are you? You're supposed to be guarding him!" But Hak Kun is nowhere to be seen.

"Looks like your minion has run away," Yoongi smirks. He tries to remove the lockets from Ji Min, but their enchantments are too powerful to overcome. He has no choice but to leave them as they are. In the meantime, Seok Jin, Jung Kook, Tae Hyun, Ho Seok, Jung Kai and Nam Joon all approach the other side of Lord Luciferous, looking a bit worse for wear. Nam Joon is holding his arm in discomfort.

Seok Jin says, "Nam Joon, I have something that will help your arm," but Nam Joon shakes his head. "It's ok, it's just bruised. It's been a while since I've transmorphed into a griffin and my wings hit some of the demons pretty hard."

Looking at Lord Luciferous, he says, "Let's end this."

Looking around at the gathered Bangtan and TXT boys, Lord Luciferous scoffs, "Are you sure you want to go up against me? You are all mere weaklings. You have no power to fight me! All you've done is delayed the inevitable by a few minutes. Ji Min will still fulfill the prophecy."

"The prophecy is not set in stone," a faraway voice replies. Lord Luciferous and the others look around to see who has just spoken. Their eyes on a familiar person; Principal Bang has arrived.

"Principal Bang!" exclaims Jung Kook. "How did you find us?"

"A very faithful friend told me where you were. Lord Luciferous, your treachery has run its course. As I said, prophecies are never set in stone. They simply state the most likely outcome, but not necessarily the only one." With that, he raises his wand and points it at Lord Luciferous whose eyes are now red with rage.

Whilst the exchange between Principal Bang and Lord Luciferous is happening, you wake up, hand nursing your throbbing leg. What's going on? Why is everyone here? Where's Ji Min? You run to him when you see him lying motionless.

"Has it happened?" you whisper in desperation to Yoongi. He shakes his head, "Not yet, we managed to stop the process, but Ji Min hasn't woken up yet. And I can't remove the lockets."

Ignoring what's going on around you, you place one hand over Ji Min's weakly beating heart and one hand on his cheek. "Come on Ji Min, you're safe now. Please wake up, it's Rumi, I'm here," you whisper gently in his ear, tears in your eyes. Almost as if the last few words were what he was waiting to hear, his eyes slowly open and he looks straight at you.

He says weakly, "Rumi. Are you ok? Did they hurt you?" He struggles to lift his body, but somehow manages to sit up, leaning on one arm.

"Ji Min stay still, I'm fine. The guys managed to stop the ascension in time, but we need to deal with your father". Looking at Yoongi, Ji Min says darkly, "Do whatever it takes to stop him."

"Awww your reunion is so touching. Shame it won't last long." Lord Luciferous points his hand towards you, but someone shouts, "Stop!"