|THE CURSED FOREST|

58

Naera carefully presented the swords to Yeonjun.

"These are truly powerful weapons, crafted from both wood and silver," she explained, her voice carrying a weight of seriousness. "With this, even a misplaced thrust from the heart can end a vampire's life. But remember, it can only be used against blood vampires-not against me, not against you, and certainly not against Taehyung. Give these to Sunghoon and his four vampires.

Yeonjun nodded, accepting the swords as Naera turned to retrieve other weapons.

"Why aren't you joining us?" Yeonjun inquired as he gathered the weapons in his arms.

"I have no desire to lower myself to the level of fighting mere vampires," Naera replied, her tone resolute. "Also if Taehyung saw me outside, he would know I am with you guys and then that maniac is totally unpredictable."

"And even this help I am doing for you, Yeonjun," Naera called after him, her voice echoing with a hint of warning. "Just remember our discussion from last night and give me your answer soon."

Yeonjun sighed, ignoring Naera's words as waited for her.

Suddenly Naera's breath hitched, her eyes widening in horror as she couldn't find a specific weapon at its designated place.

"Yeonjun..." Naera's voice tremble with fear as she looked around at Yeonjun,

"What happened?"

"There is a sword missing from here."

"You've already mentioned the important ones. Why are you so scared?" He asked, his brows furrowing as he observed the fear etched on Naera's face.

"It was a sword designed to kill a psychic, Psyonix. Even a slight scratch from its blade causes the psychic to lose their powers, reverting them to being human," Naera confessed, causing Yeonjun's eyes to widen in horror.

"Yeonjun..." Suddenly, Sunghoon, who had been waiting outside the fort for Yeonjun, barged in, sensing the prolonged silence. "What happened?" he demanded, noticing the dread on their faces.

"Sunghoon, the Psyonix is missing... Taehyung must have taken it to kill Eunjae," Sunghoon's breath hitched as he stumbled backward in shock.

"No..." Sunghoon muttered to himself before bolting out of the fort. Reacting to his panic, Yeonjun swiftly followed him outside.

"You forgot to take this." Yeonxjun said, presenting the sword to Sunghoon, those were the swords that were crafted for the prince in the first place.

Sunghoon nodded, swiftly gathering all the swords from Yeonjun before turning to face Jake, Jay, Heesung, and Jungwon, who stood poised and ready.

"Take these," Sunghoon commanded, distributing a sword to each of them. "It doesn't matter where you strike, just thrust it across the vampire's body."

"THERE IS SOMETHING YOU SHOULD KNOW!" Suddenly Jihyo's loud voice pierced across the forest as she came running to them catching up her breath.

"What?" Yeonjun asked, his brows twitching in worry seeing the Jihyo in tension.

"The football players... not all of them are vampires. 20 players and extras are trapped in the Minerva prison brutally injured in the worst way possible." Jihyo revealed, breathing in panic, "We healers won't be able to go Minosan anytime soon... if any second late someone will end up dying."

"So Sehun was lying?" Sunghoon muttered in irritation,

"No. He thought Taehyung was making them into vampires but turned out it was his way to distract you all and keep us healers busy." Jihyo explained and turned to Yeonjun, "You guys should head to Minosan quickly and prevent any attack because it'll take time here."