Chapter 23: The Chains Will Break
The silence of the cell was suffocating.
Kim Ji-ho lay on the stone floor, his breathing shallow, every muscle in his body throbbing from the relentless torture. His skin was branded with scars, and his mind, though battered, had not broken. Not yet.
Across from him, Ye-jun stared with hollow eyes. He hadn't eaten in days. The guards would taunt him, laugh at him, kick food just beyond reach. All for fun.
But Ye-jun didn't cry anymore. That boy—the gentle, shy one—was gone. In his place, something darker began to bloom.
Ji-ho shifted his body, groaning in pain, and looked at his brother. "You still holding on?"
Ye-jun nodded faintly. "For you."
That small voice sparked something in Ji-ho's heart. Not hope. Not peace.
Rage.
A flicker of black and crimson light danced at the corner of Ji-ho's vision.
The pendant.
Even in the deepest pits of despair, it glowed—its presence pulsing like a heartbeat. Only he could see it. Even here, chained and broken, it remained with him. Watching. Waiting.
And then, the voice returned.
> "How much longer will you be a puppet of a broken world?"
The devil's voice echoed inside his skull, oily and smooth like velvet soaked in blood.
> "You tried saving them. You bled for them. But what did they give you in return? Chains."
> "Let me free you."
Ji-ho clenched his fists. "I don't need your power."
> "No…? Then why does your hatred burn brighter each day?"
His breathing quickened. Images flashed in his mind—Seo-oh's begging screams, the betrayal of the neighbors, the President's laughter, the society's silence. His body shook violently as the devil's voice deepened.
> "They rejected your truth. Let them suffer your vengeance."
Suddenly, the cuffs snapped. The magic suppressors shattered into dust.
Ji-ho gasped. His aura flared. Black and red energy poured from his body like a storm ready to erupt. The guards turned, stunned, as their control shattered.
One took a step back. "W-what the hell…?!"
Ji-ho's eyes opened—glowing crimson with pitch-black rings.
His Destructive Ray had evolved once more. With nothing but a flick of his fingers, the ray formed in the air, bending to his will. He didn't even raise his hand this time. It hovered beside him, crackling with raw, poisonous energy that burned the air.
> "You should've let us die in peace," Ji-ho whispered.
Then the screaming began.
The ray didn't just pierce flesh. It devoured. The guards exploded in bursts of red mist, the walls of the prison melting from the sheer destructive aura. Alarms blared as chaos spread.
Ye-jun watched, stunned, as his brother turned into a storm of fury and shadows.
"Ji-ho…?"
His brother turned. The rage melted slightly as his eyes met Ye-jun's.
"You're safe now."
Ji-ho reached out and broke the cell bars with nothing but a glance. He lifted his brother gently, cradling him like something precious. And even as fire raged and screams echoed, he held Ye-jun close.
The two disappeared into the shadows, escaping as the prison collapsed behind them.
And that night, the world would whisper about the escape of the cursed brothers—the ones who dared to stand against power.
But what they didn't know…
Was that the chains had been broken.
And the real hunt was about to begin.
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