Once upon a time in God's playground-Chapter 98 - 97 : Chase and Clash

[Han Ji-a’s POV]

Ye-jun’s last words still rang sharp in my head.

Time for the bird to carry the spider. Go.

Damn idiot. He said it with that half-grin of his, like charging straight into hell was some kind of hobby.

Roger swooped, feathers brushing my arm as shadows beneath my feet coiled like chains, pulling me forward. I let the darkness swallow half my body, slipping into the walls, vanishing from the line of sight.

Behind me, boots thundered. Su-Bin’s men shouted:

"Get her! Don’t let her reach the cages!"

"She’s with the freak—cut her down!"

The first one lunged from the corner. A jagged machete arced down at me. My katana was already there. Steel rang, sparks burst. I pivoted, sliding past, my blade barely kissing the fabric of his sleeve. His breath hitched when he realized I could’ve cut his arm clean through.

I wasn’t here to kill. Not unless I had to.

Another came at me, a chain whistling. I ducked low, shadows flattening me to the floor like liquid. The chain cracked against stone where my head had been. I rolled, snapping my blade up. The chain fell in two pieces.

"She’s—she’s a ghost!" one of them stammered, stumbling back.

Not a ghost. An assassin.

Every strike they threw skimmed past me by inches, every thrust parried aside. My katana tapped nerves, wrists, ankles—never deep enough to kill, just enough to disarm, enough to make them stumble, cry out, curse.

"Block the tunnel!"

"She’s heading for the cages!"

I dissolved into the wall, sliding forward, lungs burning, heart hammering. Roger’s sharp cry above guided me like a beacon.

Then—the air shifted.

The tunnel widened into a cavern. Lanterns swayed from rusty hooks, throwing long, trembling shadows. Cages lined the walls—dozens of them. Faces pale, eyes hollow, hands gripping iron bars with desperate hope.

And there—at the center—

"Hyori..." My throat tightened.

Lee Hyori sat slumped, hair tangled, but her eyes snapped up the moment my voice broke the silence.

"Ji-a?" Her voice cracked, disbelieving. "Ji-a—it’s really you?"

The lantern-lit cavern was a graveyard of chains.

Everywhere I turned—faces. Hollow, sunken, desperate faces pressed against iron bars. Not just Hyori. Dozens. Maybe more.

My stomach dropped.

They weren’t prisoners. They were livestock.

"Ji-a..." Hyori’s whisper cracked like glass. "You shouldn’t be here. He’ll kill you—he’ll kill all of us—"

Her words drowned beneath the sudden roar of boots thundering down the tunnel. Su-Bin’s dogs were coming fast.

I gripped the bars, knuckles white. My mission was simple: find Hyori, get her out. A clean snatch. But looking into all those eyes—fear, hope, despair—something inside me cracked.

I hissed under my breath.

"Fuck it."

I wasn’t leaving them here. Any of them.

I slammed my katana against the first lock. Sparks flew. The steel dented but didn’t break. A growl tore from my throat. Shadows coiled tight around my arms, sharpening my grip. With a second strike, the lock snapped, shattering across the floor.

The prisoners gasped. A girl clutched her mouth, tears streaming. "She’s—she’s opening the cages—"

"Go!" I barked. "If you can run, run. If you can’t—stay behind me!"

The first goon barreled in with a spear. I spun, shadows dragging me low across the floor. My blade flashed, severing the spear’s shaft in one stroke. My elbow smashed into his jaw. He hit the ground out cold.

Another swung a club. I ducked, shadows bursting from my back like wings, propelling me forward. My katana’s edge kissed his leg—non-lethal, but enough to collapse him. He screamed, weapon clattering.

They kept coming. Ten. Fifteen. Too many to count.

"Don’t let her free them!" one of them roared. "Boss said *no survivors*!"

My chest flared with rage. Shadows rippled around me, responding to it, forming a black veil across my skin. My movements blurred, half-shadow, half-woman. Their blades whistled through empty air, their bullets cut only smoke.

I didn’t kill. Not yet. But every strike of mine left them crawling, crying, bleeding. My katana sliced chains instead of throats. Locks fell like broken bones.

One by one, cages burst open. People staggered free, weak, but alive. A tide of the forgotten.

Hyori’s cage was next. I slammed the blade down, lock snapping in half. She stumbled into my arms, thin and trembling.

"Stay close," I told her, voice sharp as steel. "I’ll carve a path."

Her fingers dug into my sleeve. "There are... more... deeper in. Children."

My breath caught. I glanced down the darker tunnel. More cages. More chains.

The pounding of boots grew louder. Dozens of goons now.

For a moment, I felt the weight of it. Too many enemies. Too many locks. Too much blood waiting to be spilled.

Then I shoved the fear down. My blade hummed in my hand. Shadows curled like wolves at my feet.

"Then I’m not done yet." I bared my teeth. "Let’s see how many bastards I can drop before the monkey finishes upstairs."

And I charged, dragging the darkness with me.

Then—boots again. Louder. Closer.

Time was bleeding out fast.

[Shin Ye-jun’s POV]

The moment Ji-a slipped away, the throne room exploded. Su-Bin’s men surged forward, blades, clubs, claws of stolen power flashing in the light.

I cracked my knuckles, tail slamming the ground. My grin stretched wide enough to show fangs.

"Alright boys. Who’s first?"

The first dumbass charged, knife raised. I grabbed his wrist mid-swing, twisted, and hurled him across the room. He crashed into two more, the pile groaning like a comedy act.

"Strike one," I muttered.

"Useless trash!" Su-Bin’s roar shook the walls. "Step aside. I’ll deal with this freak."

And then his body warped.

Skin rippled like boiling tar. One arm hardened into jagged stone, the other sparked alive with stolen lightning. Flames coiled around his shoulders, heat shimmering. His eyes glowed with a stolen fury.

He stepped down from his throne, each stride shaking the ground. "Let’s see what kind of monster bleeds faster—parasite or pest."

"Nice speech." I tilted my head, tail lashing. "You practice that in front of a mirror?"

He lunged, stone-arm crashing down like a boulder. I twisted, tail whipping up to block. The impact rattled my bones, throwing sparks off the floor.

"Damn," I muttered, flexing my hand. "You hit like my old gym teacher. Big swing, no follow-through."

He snarled, lightning sparking down his other arm. He thrust—bolts arcing wild across the room. I shot upward, claws digging into the ceiling, scuttling like a spider. The lightning scorched the spot I’d just been.

"You can’t dodge forever!" he spat.

"Maybe not." I dropped down, tail whipping across his chest. The blow sent him skidding a few steps, but his concrete skin cracked instead of breaking. "But I can piss you off long enough to ruin your day."

Su-Bin’s grin twisted jagged. More powers surged through him—flame, stone, lightning, muscle. Ugly. Wrong. Like stitched corpses forced to dance.

"I’ve taken the best this city had to offer. What do you have? A pet monkey?"

I crouched low, Junior’s pulse thrumming through my veins, every nerve singing with raw fire. My claws flexed, my fangs bared.

"No," I growled. My body warped, fur bristling, tail lashing. "I *am* the monkey."

We clashed.

Stone fists slammed against my claws. Lightning seared the ground, my tail wrapped his leg and yanked him sideways. Flames licked my skin, burning, but I tore back with fang and fury, carving trenches into his hardened chest.

He punched me square in the ribs. Pain detonated through my side, hot and sharp. I staggered, spit blood onto the floor—then grinned with it smeared across my teeth.

"Is that it, king of scraps?"

He roared, body surging, every ability screaming through him like wildfire.

And I dove forward, claws for his throat, tail snapping like a whip.

The chamber shook, dust raining from the ceiling. Sparks, fire, and fury clashed in a storm.

And through the chaos—faint, distant—I could still hear the ring of Ji-a’s katana echoing down the tunnels.

She had to reach Hyori.

I had to keep this bastard busy.

No matter what.