The sky was aflame the night they met again.

Felix stood on the scorched battlefield, his dagger dripping with demon blood, but none of it was Hyunjin’s. Not yet. The prince descended like a meteor, the ground cracking beneath his boots.

"Back for another failure, shadow-rat?" Hyunjin sneered, fire flaring around his fingers.

"Only need one shot," Felix whispered, vanishing in a puff of smoke — and reappearing behind Hyunjin with his blade at his throat. But Hyunjin grinned. "I was hoping you'd come."

The battle between them tore half the battlefield apart. But just before either could land a fatal blow, an ancient curse awakened — one forged by their ancestors. A spell that bound the souls of their fiercest warriors... together.

Chains erupted from the ground, fiery and dark, snaking around them and snapping tight. Hyunjin’s wings slammed shut. Felix gasped as the chains wrapped around his chest and waist, pinning him against the prince. They were chained — physically, magically, and emotionally.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Felix hissed. Hyunjin stared at him, wild flames reflecting in his eyes. “You think I wanted to be chained to a Noctar?”

Felix snapped back, “You think I want to smell like brimstone 24/7?” They tried to break it. Fought each other, cursed, nearly kissed once by accident during a scuffle — both immediately threatened murder. But the bond grew stronger.

The more time they spent, the more they realized that hatred wasn’t the only thing binding them.

Hyunjin noticed the way Felix went silent during storms — a childhood trauma from watching his people die in a lightning raid. Felix discovered Hyunjin’s obsession with art, the way he carved intricate sculptures out of cooled magma just to calm his rage.

Their insults softened.

Their nights grew quieter.

Then one night, during a blood eclipse, Hyunjin looked at Felix across the fire they made — together — and whispered, “Why does it hurt when I think about you dying?”

Felix didn’t answer. He just reached over, touching Hyunjin’s burned hand with his cold one.

When their clans found out about the curse, they demanded blood. Hyunjin was ordered to kill Felix to break the bond. Felix was told to stab Hyunjin through the heart during a false truce.

They didn’t. Instead, they ran.

Through lava pits, cursed forests, the bones of giants — they fled. Together. Until Felix was captured by the Infernians. Hyunjin was told to deliver the final blow.

In front of his entire clan, Hyunjin stood over Felix, sword in hand.

“End him,” his father roared. “Break the chain. Prove your loyalty.”

Felix bled from a thousand cuts but never looked away. “Do it. At least then you’ll finally be free.”

But Hyunjin threw down the sword.

“I’d rather burn with him than live without him.”

The flames around him exploded, swallowing them both whole.

The chains did not break.

They glowed.

And the magic reformed — not as a curse, but a bond. A bond forged by love strong enough to defy destiny. The clans saw it. And they feared it. Because in that moment, the most feared warriors of both realms had become unstoppable — not just because of their power…

…but because they were in love.