Chapter 292 - Outburst-II

Min Hyuk held to the rein with his hand next to her sides, the stallion gallop even faster than before, causing dust to fly when the horse's hooves dug the ground. Haneul could hear another sound of swish coming from their left, her eyes narrowed when she realized it wasn't aimed to them instead to another participant of the hunting game she guessed.

Her heartbeat quickened in a rush of action, with growing time, Haneul felt her ears filled with nothing but her heartbeat. "Haneul!" Min Hyuk called her name. Only after the third time did she looked at him, nodding.

"Are you okay? Did you hurt yourself anywhere?" Min Hyuk asked when he felt he had made enough distance with the people who attacked her earlier. 

Haneul shook her head, instead more than her safety, she was worried of the ability and power that suddenly come from her palm, releasing to the arrow. She didn't want to believe it but Haneul could no longer run from the truth that her power was genuine. She was a dark witch. But how? It doesn't make sense, she was a human, her mother and father was. Unless... she was not their daughter?

The surprise and fear turn to a large hole of scare and concern that swallowed her raw. With more distance, Min Hyuk caught her by her waist, pulling her tightly to his embrace, "Don't worry no one saw us. Only me and those who aimed for us."

Haneul didn't worry about if others had been the one to found her power, she feared more that Min Hyuk knows about the extent of her power but so far, he didn't seem to find her ability as a threat. Haneul couldn't express how relieved she was to see him speak with her like usual. 

"I don't know..." Hanaeul said after a while, worry creeping from the corner of her heart as she kept her eyes away from their surrounding when she didn't feel anyone near them any longer. "I don't know if I would be able to hide my power forever. Those people saw it..." she whispered.

"I will kill them," Min Hyuk announced suddenly, surprising Haneul. While looking to her eyes, his red eyes peered down with a certain flicker and a cold glint, "As long as they die, no one would know about your power," and saying this, he strained the rein on his hands, stopping his horse. With one jump, he climbed down the horse, "My horse will bring you back to the open ground. If there is danger he would be able to sense and avoid them. He is my pride and I know he will protect you."

"No, where are you going?" Haneul took a hold of his hand before he could leave, "You are not telling me to leave you here, are you?" Min Hyuk didn't answer but stare at her with his eyes changing color from black to red, and that was his wordless agreement, causing Haneul to be thrown in startle. "Are you sane? No, come back, we don't need to find them. I have been hearing more noise from the forest, they are not alone!" Panic and concern laced Haneul's voice.

Min Hyuk looked at her, widening his smile, "I will protect you, Haneul. Believe in me, I will come back safely," was all that the vampire said before he raise his hand and sent across his horse to hurtle away from the forest. 

Min Hyuk continue to watch the horse that brought Haneul away from the forest leave until he could no longer see the figure. An arrow flew toward him, Min Hyuk pulled the sword he kept on his left side of his hips. Before the sharp end of the arrow's blade could catch him, the sword caught and divided it into two.

"Come out," Min Hyuk ordered for the people who hid behind the trees, "I guess you are all humans here. It's going to be an unfair fight but I will not allow you to leave the forest."

One man walked out from the tree, followed by the rest that had been hiding around the place, setting aside the arrow and unsheathed the sword, "We might be humans vampire, but even with numbers we can overcome a simple vampire like you."

"A pureblood," Min Hyuk added, seeing that with his word, the men took a step back, taken aback and being more cautious than before. "Enough for the words, I'm in haste," said Min Hyuk before he charged forward to kill the person who had witness Haneul's secret.

Meanwhile in the open ground, the Queen sip her tea with a relaxed smile, "How is it going?" She asked when she saw from the corner of her eyes the man she ordered earlier came back to her side.

The man bowed, obliging and report, "It should be going well, my Queen. I came for a moment to the forest and saw that they have been in action, the archer we hired from the next kingdom are very skilled in their mission. You can expect that they would never miss a single arrow or let the target leave alive."

"Sounds great," The Queen chuckled happily with how things work on her favor, "I would be happy if the catalyst could come from the first batch, though that might be too much of my wish. You have made sure everyone in this town is here, don't you?"

"Yes, everyone is present here according to the Yellow witch's description of the catalyst's possible age range. I am sure the catalyst would be amongst the youth who entered the hunting game. But I should stress again how I could never expect this, My Queen. It's not an easy task to come up with such a thorough, clean and time-saving plan to lure the catalyst by putting them in danger. I cannot express how happy I am to know how our kingdom is blessed to have such a wise and intelligent Queen like you."

The Queen was satisfied by the praise her subordinate gave, her smile widening, "The yellow witch told it herself that the catalyst would protect themselves in case if danger and peril ever come to them. This will work. We can't disregard how there will be many sacrifices with this plan, but sacrifices are always needed for a kingdom to prosper," The Queen simply said without feeling a speck of remorse after putting her own people in danger and death by sending skilled archer. 

Since the moment the Queen had entered the hunting ground, she had planned to kill the people who agreed to hunt in the game in order to find the catalyst amongst the people of the town which would save her time rather than having to check each townsfolk personally.

"HANEUL!" A loud scream suddenly echoed from the forest ground, below the place where the Queen was seated at. The Queen narrowed her eyes, frowning, she looked at the horse that came out from the forest with a person riding on it, and her eyes quickly shifted back to the man who stood behind her. Both of them looked dumbfounded with Haneul's arrival that they didn't plan.

"I thought I told you to kill them all so no one could escape until all participants have been sent?" The Queen asked with a raise of her sharp drawn eyebrows.

The man turned worried upon seeing Haneul leaving the forest with a horse. "I-I am not sure what is happening, but the archer should have killed and followed your instruction, My Queen."

"Then who is that am I seeing?!" The Queen slammed the teacup to the table, her eyes were focused on Haneul who climbed down the horse asking for help as Min Hyuk was still inside the forest, fighting the people who wanted to harm them. 

The concern the man had turned wider when seeing Haneul requesting for help, ,I-I will quickly do something to salvage this mistake-"

"No wait," the Queen interrupted, "Tell the archer to leave the forest. I have found it. The catalyst," said the Queen after seeing the girl with another look, she noticed how Haneul was save from any injuries and she was alone without any protection or sword to protect herself either.. That could only mean one thing. The girl had protected herself using the catalyst power!