In an unknown and dark corner of the kingdom, screams of rage and frustration could be heard along with the smashing of glass and rock.

"WHY!? WHY DID IT FAIL!? YOU SAID THAT ALL OF IT WOULD GO ACCORDING TO PLAN!" an angry and demonic female voice yelled.

"P-Please, calm down, my lady," another demonic voice said. "We have estimated everything correctly. The princess had a high chance of winning against her kin under the effects of the potion. If there was anything that could have strengthened the prince's power beyond its effects..."

The devil lady clicked her tongue. "Those dammed humans. Once I capture them, I will surely make them into a sacrifice for my love!"

"So, what do you suggest we do now, my lady?"

"Command the swarm and invade Suria Castle while they sleep. Capture those children and cease the forbidden knowledge. Fail me again, and I will devour you whole!"

"Y-Yes, my lady!"

🔸🔸🔸

It was nighttime. Helios was in his alchemy room researching on the black substance that was exorcised from his twin sister, Selene. He had taken a sample of it after his fight with her. He mixed chemicals here and there, heated them up to an optimum temperature before dropping the sample into the concoction. The prince examined the changes carefully.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. "Helios, may I come in?" a soft female voice said from behind the door.

"You may." Helios said. The door opened, revealing a young woman. She had light skin, long green hair, amethyst eyes and was dressed in a maid outfit. In her hands was a tray with a teapot and a cup on it.

"I've heard of what happened," the maid said as she set the tray down and poured tea into the cup. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. Don't worry," Helios said. "I'm more worried about those children than myself right now."

He sighed. "How unfortunate. All we want is to give those boys a rest."

The maid placed the cup of tea onto a small table and sat on a nearby couch. "So, what did you find in that strange liquid?"

Helios stared at the solution in his hand. "Based on the colour changes in the solution, it seems like this black substance was made using someone's blood as it's base ingredient."

"Blood?"

"Yes. As I saw with Selene, it had the ability to corrupt the minds of those who are injected with it. I guess the purpose of its creation was an attempt to control and brainwash others. And they decided to use my sister as a rat for their experiment."

The prince clicked his tongue. "Fools. Do they even know who they are messing with?"

Then, there was another knock at the door. The prince lit the green light. The person that was behind the door was Achilles.

"Hey, Prince," he said. He then realised that the maid was there. "Oh, sorry. I hope I'm not interrupting your little moment~."

"Achilles..." Helios said as he glared at the redhead. The green haired maid was blushing madly. Achilles let out a laugh.

"Just kidding! No need to take your master seriously. Anyway, the others want to see you at your sister's room."

"Alright. Just...let me finish Rhodus's tea and I'll be there."

"Okay." In his heart, Achilles was resisting the urge to squeal.

🔸🔸🔸

"I'm here. What's the situation?" Helios asked as he entered Selene's room. He saw the other bey spirits beside his twin who was laying in bed.

"B-Brother," Selene said weakly as she turned her head slowly to face Helios.

"How do you feel, Selene?"

"A bit...lightheaded, that's all."

"Do you remember anything from a few hours ago?"

"Well...at first I felt fine but the longer we battled, the more hazier things became for me. Next thing I knew...I woke up here with a...terrible headache."

"Helios, I assume you've done your research on that strange liquid," Hyperion said. "Would you care to tell us of your findings?"

Helios relayed everything he found in his little experiment to the others.

"I see...so what happened that night was..." Hyperion muttered. Little did he know, his son heard him.

Helios turned to his father. "That night?"

Hyperion froze. He did not intend to tell this to anyone.

"What were you hiding from me, father?" Helios's tone turned serious.

"I-I.." Hyperion wanted to make an excuse, but in the end sighed in defeat. "Alright, I will tell you everything."

The king told the truth about that night. The night he found his daughter unconscious. The spirits around him were dumbfounded. How could their king hide such an event from them?

"Why?" Helios asked, his tone filled with shock and frustration. "Why didn't you tell me this? We could've solved this from the very beginning and you chose to hide this matter from me, especially when it involves my own twin sister!?"

"I'm greatly sorry. I was hoping to solve the matter myself in time so that I wouldn't have to burden all of you, as well as assuring the safety of the boys. But...it seems like in the end...I've only endangered you."

"Father..." Eos uttered.

"You've put too much weight on your shoulders..." Selene said.

Helios sighed. "It's alright, father. I understand your intentions. Besides, the problem is behind us for now. But next time, please inform me if anything like this happens again. I know you can handle a lot of things but in the end, you're still a mortal and mortals have their limits. Don't worry about burdening me. If anything, I see it as a form of training to prepare myself when I become king."

Hyperion was surprised at his response, considering how hotheaded Helios could be at times. He smiled softly afterwards. "Thank you, Helios."

The king coughed a bit. "Now, back to the main topic. As Helios and I have said, on the night of the day our bladers arrived here, Selene was injected with the black substance that bled out of her during her purification. Based on how I found her that night, she was most likely injected by force. As Helios revealed, the substance was made out of someone's blood and it's likely purpose was to control as many living beings as possible under a single person."

"Blood, huh? It is a common catalyst in dark magic and rituals." Achilles said. "Since it's made to be injected into someone to corrupt them into mindless bloodthirsty servants, I can tell that whoever has this blood flowing in their veins is pure evil."

"Do you think that all of this is linked to that devil organisation that we've discussed before?" Dragon said.

The others pondered at this suggestion. The jigsaw pieces were slowly being put together.

"It's a great possibility," Valkyrie said. "We have encountered some devil related problems recently. First that wolf, then Selene getting attacked and corrupted. Plus, all of these scenarios seem to target our masters. It cannot be a small coincidence."

"If that's the situation we're facing, then we must not let our guard down. The safety of those children are our main priority. We must protect them at all costs!" Hyperion said with determination.

🔸🔸🔸

It was a quiet night. Almost everyone was fast asleep. Keyword: almost.

Helios was in his room laying on his bed. He had his blanket on, yet he couldn't shake the feeling that something was going to happen that night, something bad. Their were three things that were present in his mind now: Devils, the boys and Hikaru.

Before becoming a beyblade, the sun prince looked down on humans, seeing them as foolish creatures. They were weak without any special gift like the spirits' magic, yet showed a strong sense of pride for who they were. In Helios's eyes, their ideals and mindsets were all a mere delusion. He never understood why his ancestor, Amaterasu, looked up to mankind with such respect and admiration.

That was until he met Hikaru, and now protecting the boy became his number one priority, no matter the cost.

These thoughts floated around in the prince's head. Eventually, Helios realised that he wasn't tired enough to go to sleep. He got off his bed, put on his clothes and exited his room. He walked along the hallways aimlessly with moonlight shining through the many stained-glass windows and projecting the colours onto his being. As he walked, he saw a window depicting his father. He stopped, staring at the magnificent artwork.

In the art, his father was embracing Aether and its people under his robe, with the people looking up at him with joyful expressions. For Helios, the architect behind this stained-glass window did a wonderful job at portraying the type of person Hyperion was, a kind and just king who cared about the well-being of his subjects and a king who placed forgiveness over punishment. Helios looked away from the art, knowing that he could never be as merciful and loving as his father.

As the prince was about to walk away, a dark shadow flew across the window. Helios noticed this and quickly turned to look. Outside of the window, he saw what appeared to be a flock of birds flying in the air while casting their shadows on the prince. However, a gut feeling began to buildup inside the prince. To him, those "birds" weren't actually birds.

"Those shadows are too dark for it to be birds. It couldn't be dragons either," Helios thought. "Something's not right here. I need to go outside."

Helios summoned his sword and flew to the main entrance of the castle with his wings. He made sure to inform the Celestials to stay on high guard.

🔸🔸🔸

Unbeknownst to the bey spirits and their bladers, a swarm of devils were on their way to attack them at their most vulnerable. Lead by a raven-like devil, they flew over the forests like dark storm clouds ready to rain down lightning and hail upon the slumbering earth. When the evil army was nearing The Heart, a giant wall of blue flames suddenly appeared right in front of them! The heat from the firewall caused the devils to back away. While they were disoriented by the wall, a figure could be seen emerging from the fire. The leader instantly knew who it was.

"Prince Helios..." the leader of the army snarled, clearly dismayed by the prince's sudden appearance. "Out of all the spirits here, why must you be the one to be awake at this time?"

Helios did not answer the devil's question, instead glared at them with his turquoise eyes.

"You think I'd sit idly while you and your mistress attempt to terrorise our masters?!" he finally spoke.

"So you found out," the leader of the swarm said. "Bah, doesn't even matter. If you want us to go easy on you, then you better hand over those children to us! That is, if you wish to see this entire city in ruin."

Helios' hair instantly flared up. "NOT in a million years! I don't know what you intend to do with them, but knowing you devils, all you're up to is nothing but causing trouble. I won't let you touch them. I won't let you touch HIM!" His sword lit up with increasing intensity, a bright blue aura surrounded his being. "I'LL BURN YOU ALL TO ASHES!"

The swarm leader only laughed. "One against many? I accept the challenge, Your Majesty."

"FELLOW SLAVES OF THE SERPENT KING, ATTACK!!!"