Doctor Demon

The demon was knocked backwards by the punch. He staggered and snarled at Hobin who was under a hallow like light. Sungki peered his eyes and glared at Hobin with hatred but the overwhelming powers from the latter scared him. 

There was something about Hobin which was too much to bear. His breath was shallow and short while his heart was in immense pain. Sungki's body was flowing with power but it was nothing compared to the energy Hobin was emitting.

From his pinned position, Magrod's eyes widened in shock. He gaped at the new entrant and he could not believe his luck at all. Hobin's aura had amplified in the ceremony Bomi was trying to conduct and he was overpowering whatever barrier or protection which was put around him.

"What's that?" Magrod yelled at Jina.

"That's Hobin!" she yelled back. "Siwan's brother and my boyfriend!"

"No no no!" Magrod said impatiently. "I mean WHAT is he? He's not human! I know he's not but I never saw him around!"

"Huh? He's always hovering around me! But why are we talking about that now?"

Around her? How? Magrod was sure he never saw Hobin around her. Unless…

His mind went back to the times when he caught the family members talking to someone invisible. Magrod assumed humans were just crazy in that way but now it made sense. They were talking to this man!

"He looks exactly like the Prince," he muttered. "But why couldn't I see him?"

Jina was struggling to be freed while the others were doing the same. Meanwhile, Hobin was hitting the demon with all his strength. He stood between Sungki and Jiwoon, not letting the demon reach her.

"Doctor Ohm, your brother is still in there!" Jiwoon exclaimed. "He's struggling to come out!"

"I know," Hobin gritted. The demon was giving a good fight but Siwan was trying to take over. They were in an internal battle which was evident to Hobin. He pinned the demon to the ground, overpowering the monster. 

In his anger, Hobin did not realize that red sparks were erupting from his palms which made the demon squeal.

"What the hell are you?" he growled in pain. His wrists were twisted to his back while Hobin kept him tackled to the ground. Jiwoon aided him to keep Sungki under control. The power of the demon on the others broke and everyone was released from their invisible binds.

Minyoon ran towards the unconscious Baekha while Jina and the others rushed to help Hobin.

"Prince, you must find the object!" Magrod yelled. Hobin was momentarily distracted by the silhouette of a small creature but he could not see him properly. 

Suddenly, something around his neck was burning and he almost let go of Sungki but Jina pressed her hands on his, not letting go.

"Hobin, the spell is affecting you!" she screamed.

"Sis, we can't keep this demon captive for long!" Yoonmin shouted as he tried to keep Sungki under control. The demon was too strong for them, even stronger than the one they faced earlier at Duho's house. 

Magrod noticed Hobin's pain. Something silver gleamed from Hobin's neck and a star shaped locket came to view.

"Son of a bitch!" he cursed. "That's the thing which made you invisible to me?"

WIthout much thought, Magrod used his tail to wrench the locket off of Hobin's neck and threw it aside. 

At once, Hobin's discomfort vanished and his heartbeat was normal again. The pain vanished and he blinked in shock. To add to his confusion, a furry little creature was watching him with concern. 

A three headed dog? Was he dreaming?

He looked down and almost yelled in fright. The demon...he was not holding his brother's body but a reddish man who looked a lot like Cho Sungki. Sungki was strong but Hobin's strength was even greater than his. 

Suddenly, Sungki's memories rushed into his head and he saw it all. He witnessed the atrocities Sungki committed on his wife and how he cheated on her with several women. To his shock, he also witnessed the murders Sungki committed. The fear those women felt was apparent in those memories. Their screams were echoing in his ears.

"Please let me go!" one of the women was begging him. "I have a child! I'm not Jisoo!"

But did it matter to the demon? Sungki's cold laughter resonated in the memories, horrifying Hobin.

"Priestess, we must find the object which is tying the demon to the living world!" Magrod told Jina. "We can't hold him for long!"

He was more worried for Hobin who was being tortured by the memories of the demon. Unlike other demons who could only see the memories of the bodies they possess, demon princes could see the memories of anyone they touched. For a half human like Hobin, the memories would eventually get overwhelming and might even drive him insane if he was not trained.

"What object?" Jiwoon demanded, trying to keep Sungki down.

"It must be something this guy used a lot when he was alive!" Magrod yelled. "Something which was precious to him and he wouldn't part from it! Could be anywhere. I didn't sense it in his room!"

"It could be anywhere!" Jina groaned. 

"We have to find it!" Hobin added. "It has to be something which he's fond of. Something he couldn't live without! Just like how that painting was important to Beezan! It kept him tied here."

But Jiwoon was thinking hard and she realized what it was. 

"I know where it is!" she claimed. I might be wrong but I'm sure it's there!"

"Jina, go with her!" Hobin ordered. She did not need to be told twice. 

"I'm coming as well!" Magrod piped up. Jina scrambled to her feet to follow Jiwoon while Hobin and Yoonmin tried their best to keep Sungki in check.

In one corner, Minyoon was bent over Baekha, trying to wake her up. She slowly stirred her eyes open and found him in front of her.

"Are you alright?" Minyoon demanded. 

"I'm fine!" she groaned. Her head was aching and she was weak but it was not the time to think about that.

"We need to help them!" she exclaimed and they staggered to help Hobin and Yoonmin. 

"This thing just won't give up!" Yoonmin yelled. 

"Where's sis?" Minyoon asked.

"She has gone to find the object which is tying him here and destroy it!"

While they kept Sungki under control, Jina was with Jiwoon and Magrod in the garden. Jiwoon was running around the mansion, looking for something.

"What are we looking for?" Jina asked.

"Hyacinths!" Jiwoon revealed. "Blue Hyacinths! Sungki loved them and was attached to his hyacinths' bed. It was here somewhere. I know that the Cho's would not destroy their son's favorite thing!"

"That explains why there were hyacinths at the murder scenes!" Jina realized.

"Yes," Jiwoon said in a bitter tone. "I hate those things."

Magrod was sniffing the ground. There was a strong scent of sulphur coming from somewhere and he followed the trail.

"Priestess, is that it?" he asked, pointing at a bed of hyacinths.

"Jiwoon are those the flowers Sungki owned?" Jina asked her partner.

"That's the one!"

Magrod hurried towards and sniffed the flowers. Jina and Jiwoon reached the bed of flowers. The scent of sulphur was evident there and Jina instantly felt a strong hellish aura around it. Thanks to her recent encounters with demons, she had been able to distinguish between the objects which were tied to a demon.

"This is it," Magrod told her. "This is his weak point. You must destroy it, Priestess! Only you can do it. If anyone else tries, the flowers won't burn. They hold the energy from hell and only someone who has the ability of a Seer and Transporter can kill a demon."

"We need a lighter!" Jina said.

"Here!" Jiwoon said. She threw a lighter at Jina. The latter was surprised that Jiwoon carried something like this.

"It's for safety," Jiwoon shrugged when she noticed Jina staring at her. "In case Sungki tried to harm me. Which he did."

Jina shook her head and lit the lighter and took a deep breath.

Inside, Hobin was starting to get weaker. The sparks from his hands were dimming and the demon was gaining powers again. Sungki knew that Hobin was weak and unstable because his power levels fluctuated a lot. 

"You can't keep me captive!" he hissed. "I'll kill you and your precious brother as well. How dare he take my Jisoo away? He stole her from me!"

"Shut it!" Baekha snarled and hit him on the head. "You know very well that Doctor Kang treated her with more respect than you ever did! You even threw Yeonjoo in the fire! You claim to love Jiwoon sis but you're just a pathetic loser who's crying over a toy. Nothing else!"

"And can I add that your songs are just terrible?" Minyoon taunted him. "I heard them and yuck! Terrible music."

"Those songs won't make a single cent," Yoonmin agreed. "You're really useless without a demon. In life, you made a deal with one. In death, you became one. How pathetic."

"Hell really needs a proper HR system," Hobin sneered at the demon. They were all trying to taunt and jeer at the demon because they knew he was obsessed with himself. Sungki was always regarded as the one who could do it all. Hearing such degrading stuff about himself was starting to irk him. 

The air around them was growing colder. Sungki's temper was increasing, their words hitting his sore point. But they did not stop.

"I sold more than five million copies of my debut album!" Minyoon went on. "How many did you sell? A mere five hundred thousand?"

"SHUT UP!" Sungki roared and threw all of them back. Everyone fell backwards on the ground, groaning in pain. The demon loomed over them, floating in the air.

"I'll kill all of you!" he swore. "I'll-"

Suddenly, he stopped talking and was choking. His throat constricted while a burning sensation gripped his heart. Something was pulling at him and suddenly, he was wrenched off of Siwan's body.

Siwan was falling to the ground but Hobin leapt forward to break the fall with his own body.

"Ugh!" he winced when Siwan fell on him. Yoonmin and Baekha also helped him, laying an unconscious Siwan on the ground.

"Is he okay?" Baekha asked. "What happened to the demon?"

But Hobin did not reply. He was watching the reddish figure which was floating above them, squirming in pain. 

Sungki's red figure was in agony and a fire was starting to engulf him. He was invisible to everyone except Hobin who was watching him in shock. 

Outside, Jina completely burnt down the hyacinth bed, not leaving a single flower out. Even the roots of the flowers were burnt off. She heard a faint scream and turned around.

A red smoke flew out of the house and evaporated in thin air, leaving behind a strong stench of sulphur.

"Is he gone?" Jiwoon whispered.

Jina nodded. "Yes," she replied. "He's gone.. Forever."