The underground corridors of V Stadium had started feeling less like a building and more like a war zone.
Smoke crawled across the floor.
Emergency red lights blinked endlessly through the darkness.
Somewhere far away, alarms screamed like wounded machines while footsteps echoed from every direction.
And inside those shadows, boys moved silently.
Fast.
Precise.
Dangerous.
Ram's order still echoed through their earpieces.
"Krish. Dev. Shiva. Now."
No hesitation.
No questions.
That single command was enough.
Dev moved through the corridor like a shadow slipping between darkness itself.
Silent footsteps.
Sharp eyes.
Controlled breathing.
Unlike Krish and Shiva, Dev never enjoyed violence. He never needed dramatic entries or loud fights to prove himself. Precision was enough.
One unconscious guard near the door.
Another near the wall.
Both dropped before they could even react.
Dev pushed the metal door open slowly.
And stopped.
The room was freezing cold.
White lights flickered above.
Chains hung from the ceiling.
Blood stains marked the floor like broken memories.
And there…
Saraswati sat chained to the chair, head lowered, wrists bruised deep red from struggling. Her usually cheerful face looked pale under the dim lights.
Strands of hair covered parts of her face while dried tears remained near her eyes.
For the first time since entering the mission…
Dev's expression changed.
Because he recognized her.
The same girl.
The same cheerful girl who had hugged him at the restaurant without even realizing who he was.
And now…
She looked broken.
Something inside him felt strangely heavy.
Why does seeing her like this feel wrong…?
A dangerous silence filled the room.
The men standing nearby noticed him instantly.
"Who the hell are yo—"
Before the sentence finished, Dev moved.
One hit.
Another.
No wasted motion.
No anger visible on his face.
Only efficiency.
Like he had erased people instead of fighting them.
A man rushed toward him with a knife.
Dev grabbed his wrist, twisted it hard enough for the crack to echo through the room and slammed him into the wall without even looking back.
Everything became silent again.
Only Saraswati's uneven breathing remained.
Dev walked toward her slowly.
The closer he got, the more clearly he could see the injuries on her wrists.
His jaw tightened.
They chained her this badly…?
Without speaking, he broke the chains one by one.
The metallic sound echoed softly.
The moment her hands became free, Saraswati collapsed forward weakly.
Dev caught her instantly.
And that's when it happened.
Even unconscious…
Even drugged…
Her trembling hands suddenly clutched his shirt tightly.
Tears slipped from her closed eyes.
"Papa…"
The word came out broken.
Painfully small.
"Please don't leave me…"
Dev froze.
For the first time during the entire mission…
His hands shook slightly.
Not from fear.
Not from exhaustion.
But because the cheerful girl who smiled so easily outside…
Was now crying in his arms like a child terrified of being abandoned.
Saraswati moved closer unconsciously, fingers tightening around his shirt desperately as if afraid he would disappear too.
Dev looked down at her silently.
Something sharp twisted inside his chest.
Anger.
Cold anger.
Not because of the mission.
Because someone had made her cry like this.
He carefully lifted her into his arms.
She instinctively curled closer against him.
Dev lowered his head slightly near her ear.
And for the first time…
His voice softened completely.
"I'm here."
Saraswati's trembling eased a little.
Her hold on him tightened again weakly.
"Don't go…"
Dev closed his eyes for one second.
Then answered quietly,
"I won't."
And strangely…
He meant it.
He adjusted his grip protectively and walked out of the room without another glance behind him.
Like darkness itself had come to take her away from hell.
Meanwhile…
Three corridors away…
Complete chaos had already begun.
"Hold her properly!"
"How is she still fighting?!"
"This girl is insane!"
The room looked destroyed.
Broken chairs.
Blood on walls.
Two unconscious guards near the corner.
And in the middle of it all…
Durga.
Even after the drugs injected into her system…
Even after the beatings…
Even while barely able to stand…
She was still fighting.
Wildly.
Furiously.
Like her body refused to surrender.
One guard grabbed her wrist.
Durga headbutted him instantly.
Another tried holding her shoulders.
She kicked him straight into the table.
Her vision was blurry.
Everything looked distorted.
But giving up?
That was never part of Durga's personality.
The metal door suddenly burst open.
A figure stepped inside.
Black clothes.
Black mask.
Dangerous aura.
Before the guards could react, Shiva entered the fight.
And absolute destruction followed.
One man crashed into the wall.
Another flew across the room after a brutal kick.
Shiva moved like a storm unleashed after being trapped too long.
And then he saw her properly.
Bruised knuckles.
Blood near her lips.
Barely standing.
Still fighting.
Something dark flashed across his eyes.
How much did they hurt her…?
Durga could barely see him clearly.
Only a dark figure fighting in front of her.
Enemy.
That was the only thing her drugged mind understood.
So she punched toward him immediately.
Shiva ducked at the exact second.
Her punch landed directly on another guard behind him.
The man collapsed instantly.
Shiva blinked.
Actually blinked.
"I'm helping you, woman!"
Durga tried punching him again.
"This idiot won't stop fighting even now?" Shiva muttered.
This time Shiva caught her wrist mid-air.
Firm.
Strong.
He pulled her slightly closer before another attacker could reach her.
"Calm down."
The deep voice cut through the chaos.
For one second…
Durga's blurry vision cleared slightly.
She could finally see him closer now.
The black clothes.
The sharp eyes behind the mask.
And near his wrist…
A tattoo.
She couldn't understand what it was.
But strangely…
Her body stopped resisting.
Like some exhausted part of her had finally realized she was safe.
And the next moment…
Durga completely gave up fighting and fell straight against Shiva's chest.
Shiva stiffened instantly.
Warm.
Too warm.
He could literally feel her shaking.
And suddenly all the anger inside him became worse.
She fought this long alone…?
Before he could process anything,
another man rushed toward them with a weapon.
Shiva's expression darkened instantly.
Without releasing Durga, he kicked the attacker so hard the man crashed across the room.
"Don't you dare touch her."
The room went silent.
Durga's fingers were still tightly gripping his wrist.
Even through the gloves, her nails left marks against his skin.
But Shiva didn't move her hand away.
Didn't complain.
Didn't say anything.
He only looked down at her furrowed brows and trembling breathing.
Then silently…
He pulled her a little closer.
"You're impossible," he muttered quietly.
Durga's grip slowly loosened as if her body had finally accepted the warmth surrounding her.
Shiva looked at her for another second before lifting her carefully into his arms.
And for the first time since entering the mission…
He stopped looking angry.
Only protective.
And somewhere between the smoke, blood, broken chains and trembling breaths…
Something changed forever.
The Queens, who had always fought alone, were carried out of darkness by the very people they once considered rivals.
Not as first-rankers.
Not as legends.
But as the ones who arrived when everything was falling apart.
For the first time in years, the underground world's strongest team did not come to win a mission.
They came to save lives.
And none of them realized yet…
that this single night would become the beginning of a story powerful enough to shake the entire underground world.
Because after V Stadium, first rankers andQueens were no longer strangers connected by coincidence.
Now they carried each other's blood, fear, secrets and scars.
And somewhere far away, hidden behind screens and shadows…
someone smiled watching it all unfold.
The game had finally begun.