Global Awakening: Only I Can Respawn

"OW! What are you? A rabid dog!?" YuWon grunted in pain as Akari sank her sharp teeth into his free hand.

The sudden pain made him involuntarily shift his weight. As soon as he did that, Akari used all her strength to flip him over. The sudden force sent YuWon to the floor. Before he could react, Akari straddled him, sitting on top of him with a confident smile.

"You're a hundred years too early to defeat me, human," she laughed.

Sitting on top of him, Akari panted heavily. Her jet-black hair was all over the place. She no longer looked like the calm and composed queen she was before. But like an average club girl who had a rough night.

"Hundred years? What would you say about being defeated in a hundred seconds?"

The next moment, he tried to push her off. But before he could succeed, he felt a sudden tremor coming from underneath. Suddenly, the walls shook and the floor beneath them erupted.

Akari's smug expression disappeared in an instant as a tree burst through the floor. Meanwhile, the oni guards and attendants were cheering her on, completely misinterpreting the situation.

"She's taming him! The queen is taming her mate!" one of them shouted.

"It's about time!" another guard added.

"Praise the heavens for this blessing!"

But none of them realized that their queen's supposed efforts did not cause the tremor to 'tame' her mate. It was the arrival of someone else who was about to get pissed.

"Lysandra!?" YuWon called out.

Vines and tree roots burst through the ground, forming a throne on which Lysandra sat. At first, she was happy to hear his voice, but all that changed when she saw him pinned beneath a strange woman in a compromising position.

Moreover, Akari's clothes were torn, her hair disheveled, and with the way she sat on YuWon, it was all too easy to jump to the wrong conclusion. With a snap of her fingers, the vines moved to obey her command.

A vine shot out from the throne and wrapped itself tightly around YuWon's leg. With a gesture of her finger, she yanked him out from under Akari. YuWon yelped as he got dragged upside down, now dangling in midair.

Meanwhile, another vine wrapped itself around Akari. Before she knew it, the vine wrapped her up tightly, binding her arms and legs together like a mummy.

"Hey!" YuWon shouted, swinging back and forth. "Babe... can we talk about this!?"

"You want to talk, then talk," Lysandra rolled her eyes. "I haven't gagged you yet. But tell me one thing first. Why were you in that position with her?"

"That position...? Oh, shit!"

Lysandra raised her eyebrow and only then YuWon realized why she was upset. The position Akari was in when Lysandra found them was also the position the Dryad loved the most.

So much so that she forbade Gina from climbing on top of YuWon during their nightly adventure. Yet she found Akari in the same position and lost her cool. No wonder she was uncharacteristically angry with him.

"It's not what it looks like, Lysandra," he tried to explain, raising his hands in surrender even though he was still upside down. "I was on my way to rescue you, but Akari wouldn't stop fighting me!"

Unfortunately, his explanation only fanned the flames more.

"Already on a first-name basis, are we?" she said, narrowing her eyes. "And it looked like you were enjoying the fight, YuWon. Are you sure you're telling the entire story?"

"It's not like that!" he insisted. "I swear, I was here to save you. That bitch made things difficult for me!"

Lysandra crossed her arms, looking like she didn't believe a word. How could she, after knowing the horn dog he was? But then she glanced at Akari, her eyes locked on YuWon.

"Play along," she whispered so only YuWon could hear her.

Without saying another word, she moved closer to YuWon and helped him stand, so he wasn't hanging upside down anymore. Then she cupped his face and kissed him like there was no tomorrow.

YuWon's eyes widened in surprise, but Lysandra forced her tongue inside his mouth, all the while her gaze was locked on Akari. The Oni raised an eyebrow, wondering what the two were doing in front of her.

They weirded her out. But with Akari's face half-covered with vines, it was easy to mistake it as her acting jealous. Once Lysandra saw that look, she smiled inwardly and let go of YuWon.

"There," she whispered. "That's how you make it clear who belongs to who."

"I ain't complaining," YuWon mumbled back. "But why...?"

"You don't need to know that," Lysandra said, turning towards Akari. "You and I need to talk. Because no one, no one, touches what's mine."

"Forget about it," YuWon said.

Before Lysandra could say anything else, he grabbed her by the arm, pulling her close.

"We'll deal with her later. What matters is that you're safe, and that's all I care about right now."

Lysandra hesitated. She wanted to eliminate all the oni and take their base as her own. But after she had seen everything, she realized they needed more preparation.

"You're right," Lysandra finally said, nodding. "This isn't the time to get caught up with her."

"Now how do we get out of here," YuWon mumbled, looking around. "The door isn't an option. Not with her people waiting right outside."

"Leave that to me," Lysandra smiled and waved her hand.

A moment later, her makeshift throne rose, burrowing through the rocky ceiling above them. With one last look at the trapped Akari, they climbed through the opening, leaving her behind in the cave.

"Consider yourself lucky," Lysandra called out before disappearing above.