Seeing the scythe resting in Seokjin's hand brings back the memory of the moment she was nearly killed in front of people she grew to care for, and Reine tries to stand tall as he slowly advances on her.

Goosebumps erupt on her skin watching his gaze bore into hers, but she refuses to look away. She refuses to die as a coward. She knows she can't run from them. She knows they will only create chaos in her kingdom to find her. She knows she needs to stand up to them right here and right now, even if she has nothing except the suit of armor on her body.

"I may not be able to beat you," Reine says in a steady voice while she tries to hide her trembling hands, "but I will not give up so easily."

Seokjin shrugs as he takes his scythe in between his hands, gripping the wooden handle tightly as he smiles at her. "I could use the exercise."

Slowly, his smile fades as his face transforms into one of determination, and Reine can see the darkness filling his eyes as he steps closer to her.

Before she can even react, Seokjin moves quickly, swinging the scythe in her direction as she tries to move backward out of its reach. As she moves back, however, she falls against something behind her as something else simultaneously comes out in front of her and metal meets metal.

Reine's senses finally come back to her, realizing that she has fallen right into Jungkook and he has moved his shield out in front of her while holding her against his chest.

"Performance issues, Seokjin?" Jungkook teases as his arm muscles strain under the weight of Seokjin's scythe pressing against his shield. "It seems you can't land a single blow when I'm around."

"Seokjin," a voice filled with fury says from behind him, and all three of them see Yoongi slowly walking forward as he grips his sword in his hand. "I want him."

Jungkook grins, pulling Reine behind him as he straightens himself, Seokjin pulling the scythe away as he side steps.

"You want another scar on that face of yours, Yoongi?" he taunts, pulling his own sword from its sheath as he swings it around in his hand. "Or maybe one across your throat?"

"The only thing that kept me sane inside that box," Yoongi growls, his muscles tense as he stares at Jungkook , "was imagining the things I would do to you when I got out of it. You will not leave here alive, Jungkook. I will make sure of it."

Jungkook rolls his eyes before turning to Reine.

"Stay safe," he whispers, his eyes softening as he stares into hers. "Please."

Reine nods, watching as Jungkook turns back to Yoongi, his face contorting into something she has never seen in him before.

In a sudden move, Jungkook hurls his sword straight at Yoongi, who barely dodges its blade as it buries itself into a nearby bookshelf. Before Yoongi can even take a breath, Jungkook rolls into his momentum, coming to Yoongi on his knee as he slams his shield into the Horseman's stomach, causing him to double over.

As soon as Yoongi's head is down, he drops his sword and digs his hands into Jungkook's shoulder guards, using his own momentum to flip himself over the kneeling Archangel so he lands behind him.

Once he is on his feet, he immediately reaches behind him and grabs Jungkook around the neck with his arms to pull him over his shoulder, sending him hurling over Yoongi and crashing into a smaller bookcase that collapses beneath his weight.

"Reine," a voice sounds and she turns to see Hoseok and Namjoon standing there at the entrance to the tunnels. "Stay back and we will do our best."

"Hoseok," Reine says, reaching out to place a hand on his arm. He looks at her with his golden eyes shining. "Be careful. I do not wish for anyone else to die for me."

Hoseok nods, sending Reine a smile as he brushes past her, his skin glowing even more brightly as he approaches Jimin with an eerie grin on his face.

"Jimin," Hoseok says, tilting his head as he pulls his sword from his waist.

"Hoseok," Jimin says, his eyes shifting to Reine for a moment before turning back to him.

Not another word is spoken between the two. Jimin pulls his bow off of his back, and Hoseok deflects arrows with his sword as Parish shoots them at an inhuman speed, his dark eyes more focused than Reine has ever seen.

She's never seen him with so much speed and precision, and she realizes that he had been weakened by using his connection with her to gain information. Without that, he has gained an immeasurable amount of power and he is now at his strongest.

Reine's heart pounds in her chest watching the four fighting, bookshelves collapsing and shuddering as arrows and swords clash, bodies being thrown like ragdolls as yells of frustration echo around the large room.

"Here," Namjoon says, Reine's attention being pulled back to the man behind her. She sees him holding out one of his golden daggers, and she looks at him with furrowed brows.

"You need that to fight," Reine says, holding her hands up as she gestures to Taehyung, who is standing beside Seokjin.

Seokjin is watching the fighting with an almost bored expression, not even paying attention to Reine.

But Taehyung's eyes won't leave her.

"I can fight with one," Namjoon says, pushing the blade into her hand by the handle. "You need a weapon."

"I need the weapon," Reine says quietly, staring at the intricate designs on the handle of the dagger.

Namjoon nods at Reine one last time before stalking towards Taehyung, who finally looks away from Reine to stare at Namjoon with disinterest swimming in his impossibly dark eyes.

"I got stuck with the most boring opponent," Taehyung sighs as he pulls his obsidian dagger from his waist.

Namjoon doesn't say anything as he runs forward, the two of them falling to the floor in a clash of armor and blades as Reine stands near the entrance to the tunnels and watches with Namjoon's dagger clasped so tightly in her hand that the handle's design is digging into her skin.

She has seen the Horsemen fight before; she knows how well they can hold their own and conquer on the battlefield. She has never seen the Archangels fighting before, but she can already tell that this fight is a nearly equal match.

Jungkook and Yoongi are equally vicious; they aren't afraid to go for any opportunity for causing the other harm, even if they hurt themselves in the process. Even though their fight has moved across the room, Reine can still see how much blood is covering their bodies already.

Jimin and Hoseok have similar fighting techniques, Reine sees. They are both elegant with their moves; they move as fluidly as water, as though their bodies know what to do without them needing to think about it. She can also tell that, at some point, these two were close. There was no mistaking the look that passed between them as they spoke each other's names.

They are brothers - or they were in another life.

Namjoon and Taehyung are also similar in their fighting styles, and Reine wonders if it is a coincidence that each fight is happening between such similar people. She can see that Namjoon fights like Taehyung; both of them think each move through and do not go into plans headfirst without thinking of all possible outcomes. She can see the gears turning in both of their minds as they each take in the stance of the other, neither able to land a solid blow on the other because they each anticipate what the other will do.

Reine leans back, the door to the tunnel slowly shutting from her weight as she watches the bloody scene in front of her.

She knows it goes beyond her; the Archangels and the Horsemen hold so much anger and hatred towards each other that deep down, she knows that they are glad to have a reason to let out all of their unresolved feelings toward each other.

That is easily proven in this moment right now; the reason the Horsemen are here is Reine and she is standing alone against the closed hidden door, forgotten as the Archangels and Horsemen try to tear each other limb from limb.

Reine's eyes see the slightest movement out of the corner of her eyes and she sees Seokjin standing to the side, much like her as he watches the fighting. He's not even trying to go after her in a moment where she is vulnerable.

The Archangels are occupied in their own fights. Jungkook has been thrown across the entirety of the library, sending a mountain of books falling on top of him as he falls to the floor. Jimin is shooting arrows as fast as he is retrieving them, Hoseok hitting them away with ease but not able to move into any kind of offensive position. Taehyung swings at Namjoon, causing the Archangel to stay in a defensive position, deflecting all of Taehyung's attempts to dig his blade into his skin.

Reine is left standing alone with a weapon that is not meant for her in her hand as the man who has made it his personal mission to murder her stands idly by, watching his brothers fight against each other.

He seems so calm; he seems like he has all the time in the world - like he is so confident that he will win that he is not even making haste of going after Reine. He is taking his time, enjoying watching the chaos erupting around him as he acts like his target isn't standing so close to him.

It infuriates her.

The calmness in his gaze, his darkened eyes watching as the fighting continues is something that is making Reine's blood boil.

He is not even looking to Reine as a threat. He is treating her like a useless object sitting in the corner of the room, waiting for him to pay attention to her when he grows bored.

Reine refuses to be used by another person. She is not a possession; she is not a doll.

She is a person with a life she wishes to keep and she will not let Seokjin treat her as anything less.

"This is all because of you," Reine says as she walks to him, watching as he glances over to her. He doesn't even give her his full attention. After the side glance, he turns back to watch the fighting.

"Is it?" he asks, his voice almost amused.

"Opening those boxes was my decision, and I accept any and all consequences that come from the choice I made. I knew what I was doing, and I take full responsibility for what I've done. But I uprooted my entire life to travel to the outer regions," she says. "I freed you and your brothers, and all I asked in return was that you helped me with what I needed. I almost died so many times in that process, but I endured. Not only because I needed the four of you, but because I grew to care about the men you are allowing to become bloodied and bruised for your entertainment."

Seokjin hums, his grip loose on his scythe as he still refuses to fully look at Reine.

"I put my life on the line for them so many times," Reine says, her voice growing as her anger does. "I taught them as much as they taught me. I thought of them as my friends, and I would like to think they felt the same way about me."

"They do," Seokjin says, nodding his head. "They feel the same way."

"So why were they willing to choose you over me?" Reine asks, her heart clenching at the words she has been too embarrassed to speak aloud. "Why? You don't seem particularly attached to them. You ordered them to hurt someone they care about. You are now standing here, smug in your stance as you watch them fight for you instead of with you."

"I am their family," Seokjin says, his shoulders shrugging lightly as though he is having a conversation about something as mundane as the weather.

"I do not know you," Reine admits, "but I came to know them. They had always wanted to be reunited with each other. They had always wished to do anything for the others. Why did you not give them what they wanted? They wanted to stay with me, but you were selfish and you chose your own wants over theirs."

"I bow to no one, Your Majesty," Seokjin says, finally turning to look at Reine. "You saved all of us, and you have my gratitude, but you will never have my loyalty. We had a plan set in stone a long time ago that was uprooted by the angels, and I do not appreciate my plans changing. This world has so much potential, but it cannot live up to it when humans are crawling around on it like scum."

"Your brothers used to feel negatively about humans too," Reine says, "but I changed their minds as they spent more time with me. Like the people who murdered my family, you did not even give me a chance to prove myself or my cause. You saw your own vision of your life and refused to believe there was any other way."

"What would have happened?" Seokjin asks, his eyebrow quirking. "If we had stayed with you, what would be happening right now? We would have eventually found who you were looking for and drained them of their blood. And what? We would still be trapped here, bowing to our Master and waiting for our next boring, wasteful task. You would subject the lives of my brothers to nothing more than your slaves?"

"Of course not," Reine says, anger flaring in her voice. "I considered them my friends, Seokjin."

"And they are my brothers," he says. "That is why they chose me. You are not their family and they are not yours."

"I know that," Reine says, her voice much quieter now. "My family is gone, but you still have yours. So why are you watching as they fight against each other? Why are you letting your family slip through your fingers? You do not have three brothers, Seokjin. You have six."

As soon as the words leave Reine's mouth, she can feel the shift in the Horseman in front of her. Where there was almost a bored aura coming from him, there is now tension and pure darkness radiating from his skin, his towering form looming over Reine as she sees him take a step towards her.

"They are not my family anymore," he says, his voice so low she can barely make it out. "They betrayed us."

Reine hears someone screaming her name, and she glances over to see Jungkook running towards her, his eyes wide in fear as blood drips down his body. The power emanating from Seokjin is making her feel like the two of them are in their own world, Jungkook and the others merely bystanders as the darkness curls its fingers around them and encloses them inside the void.

Before Jungkook can reach Reine, Yoongi runs and tackles him, pulling him to the ground before using his moment of vulnerability to stab his sword into Jungkook's stomach as he keeps him in a choke hold.

Reine tries to scream, but it's like she can't even speak because the evil surrounding her is so thick and consuming. She can see Hoseok and Namjoon trying to get to her, but Jimin and Taehyung aren't letting up for a moment, holding them back as they watch with wide eyes.

Seokjin steps even closer to Reine, and she feels like she can't breathe.

"Do you feel that?" he asks, his breath landing on her cheeks as she stares at him. "That is what power feels like. It is so much more than a crown on your head or a throne under your body. This is what it feels like to take the darkness and accept it. This is what it feels like to conquer, Reine. You wanted to prove yourself so badly, nearly tripping over your own clumsy feet to show that you are worthy of the power that you did not earn. This power - real power - is something you have to sacrifice everything for. But you have nothing left to give, do you?"

Reine refuses to give Seokjin the satisfaction of her trembling voice giving away how scared she is. She refuses to speak, for she fears that if she opens her mouth, sobs will escape her throat as she begs for her mother.

"You will never be worthy," Seokjin whispers. "You are better off dead - for all of us."

The moment his scythe is raised into the air above their heads, Reine can hear the screams of the people around her.

She swears she can hear the other Horsemen screaming too.

They sound like screams of agony and sadness, but maybe she is hearing things.

Reine stares into Seokjin's eyes, not letting herself show weakness in her final moments. As much as she wants to run away, she feels like she can't move. Every muscle in her body is tense like she is about to take off running, yet she stands still as she watches the light catch on the metal blade above her.

As he brings the blade down, Reine feels a strange tingling in her body.

It originates in her fingertips and her toes, slowly moving until her entire body is tingling. Her chest feels heavy, as though someone has their fingers enclosed around her heart. Through all of the screaming voices surrounding her, she hears one more voice that she swears she does not recognize.

It feels closer, almost as if it is right in her ear, or maybe even inside her own head. Maybe she is hearing things again, but she swears the unfamiliar voice shouts "no" in her head as the tingling and the hold on her heart become more intense and the blade rips across her torso, leaving a deep gash in the black leather armor that was meant to keep her safe.

Reine's breath leaves her lungs as she feels the all-too-familiar crimson liquid seeping down her front, and she falls to her knees, her gaze becoming unsteady as she collapses, Namjoon's dagger slipping from her fingertips and clattering to the blood-soaked floor.