No Escape from the Tiger

Even fleeing led to the pitch-black prison before the tiger. Amid the lively noises filtering in from outside, Karni opened her eyes. It was a cell made not of iron bars, but thick bricks and an iron door. In that place where not even a sliver of light could be found, Karni began groping around her surroundings.

"A-Are you a-awake?"

"...Nia?"

"Y-Yes, n-no, uh-huh."

Once her eyes adjusted somewhat to the darkness, Nia's figure started to come into view. She was leaning against the wall, breathing a little roughly. Karni moved closer to her side.

"What happened? Where... is this?"

"W-What else... I a-ate something f-from a stranger I s-saw for the first t-time, and that's h-how..."

"...A trick even a kid wouldn't fall for."

Karni scratched her head and muttered. From childhood, she'd heard it drilled into her endlessly: 'Don't eat anything given by a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠stranger.' Every time her parents warned her, she'd proudly declared, 'No kid would fall for that.' So now, the shame hit her even harder.

"Have I gotten too complacent...?"

"I-It'd been o-over a week of th-that... M-Maybe it's n-natural...?"

"...Yeah?"

Nia still awkwardly mixed polite and casual speech as she continued. Karni nodded heavily in agreement. Fair enough—she'd spent more than a week being toyed with, body and mind alike. Time drowned in nothing but pleasure. A foggy brain might just be inevitable.

...It had to be, Karni thought to herself. If she'd fallen for this even in her right mind, she'd die of embarrassment.

"Can you get this off?"

"Um... I c-can do one th-thing. But... I'll p-pass out after..."

"So you can do it."

"Y-Yeah."

Nia shot her a look that said, Should I undo it? Karni pondered for a moment.

"Yeah, do it."

"O-Okay. Come cl-closer."

Karni drew even nearer to Nia. Their faces were nose-to-nose, lips almost brushing if they leaned in just a bit more. They could feel each other's warm breath.

"D-Don't stare s-so much..."

"Oh, sorry."

Nia glanced at Karni with flushed cheeks, then placed her hand on the chain collar around her neck. The cold metal touch mingled with the distinct artifact hum brushing her fingers.

"A-After this, I'll... probably pass out."

"Got it."

"...Go wild and f-finish 'em all off. Y-You got this, right?"

"Yeah. I will."

Mana began to flow slowly. Like water trickling from a faucet, it poured out steadily, glowing blue as it wrapped around Karni's chain collar—

"...Nia?"

"S-Sleepy..."

"Rest up. I'll be back soon."

"Mmm..."

Karni carefully laid the slowly slumping Nia down on the hard stone floor and stood up. Circulating her mana steadily, she expelled the aphrodisiac deeply embedded in her body. Drip, drip—pink liquid seeped from her fingertips.

"I'm off."

Whispering softly to Nia, who seemed deeply asleep, Karni placed her hand on the firmly shut iron door.

"Hnnngh—!"

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

WEE-OO-WEE-OO—!

WEE-OO-WEE-OO—!

A shrill alarm blared from the communication artifacts embedded deep in their ears. Soon, one by one, the guards and mercenaries securing the underground auction house began to move out.

"Captain."

"You're here."

Hans, the low-rank commander of the underground auction house, hurried to his superior's side. His breath came ragged from rushing at the assembly order amid the piercing alarm.

"What's the situation?"

"Nothing major. One of the slave girls escaped."

"...So that's her, the escaped slave?"

Hans peered down the long corridor, looking uneasy. Corpses embedded in the walls, floor, and ceiling. Mangled wounds that looked more like beast attacks than human work. The gruesome sight alone churned his stomach. Swallowing bile, he turned back to his superior.

"Captain."

"It's senior commander, not captain. You can't shake that bandit habit, so while the others get promoted, you're stuck as low-rank."

"Is that really important right now?"

Hans glared at his superior, who cracked jokes even in this mess. Trembling, he pulled a premium cigarette from his inventory and lit it.

"What the hell did you capture? Royalty."

"Who knows. Guess she doesn't care about consequences anymore."

"Damn it..."

BAM! BAM! BAM!

Something was returning, shattering solid walls as it came.

"Here she comes."

"Shields up front, spearmen behind them on standby. Archers! Nock arrows!"

The highest-ranking captain took command of the reinforcements. Shields and spears to block, arrows to strike—a basic, reliable, and effective formation.

Hans turned to gaze down the corridor. It was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠narrow to begin with, now even more clogged with corpses, blood, and debris. Dozens of shieldbearers and spearmen formed a long wall, artifact-equipped archers drawing their bows. Finally, the mage cast reinforcement spells over the entire force, forging them into a solid fortress.

"..."

Why was this...?

"...Will this be enough?"

"...No."

A sense of wrongness crept in.

Thud. Thud. Footsteps echoed.

Familiar stride.

"...What the hell."

"Damn."

Did the captain feel it too? Hans stared at the figure ahead. Orange eyes, rusty-orange short hair chopped at the shoulders. Soft-looking gaze. No similarities.

Not a single overlap.

Yet an unshakable chill crawled up his spine. Like the Grim Reaper with her scythe looming behind.

"Ah."

It pierced through.

The woman ahead had already assumed position. Or rather, it was too crude to call a stance—like a child wildly swinging a sword. But the pressure it exuded was suffocatingly heavy.

"Sh-Shieldbearers!!"

The captain bellowed, shattering the heavy silence. The shieldbearers gripped tighter, bracing for impact. Motions drilled thousands of times, reborn from grueling training.

Normally, it'd be a proud, reassuring sight.

But why? Why did it feel pierced already?

From afar, she took her stance.

"She's coming."

"Thrust, right?"

"Probably."

"...Her stance is so sloppy though? Why..."

Muttering in a daze, Hans. The captain shoved him behind and activated every defensive artifact on his body.

"You know it too."

The captain's voice trembled.

"For powerhouses like her, 'stance' isn't even a factor anymore."

Against equals or superiors, maybe. But for those clearly inferior, no need to bother.

Dozens of seconds stretched eternally.

The attack launched.

■■■■—!!!!

Arrows and spells loosed a beat early. A colossal thrust shattered them all, wiping out the steadfast shield and spear line, along with the archers and mages behind.

Impact too much for reinforced steel blades. The corridor devolved into gore, flesh, and wreckage again. Only ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the captain, with all defenses deployed, and Hans behind him survived.

"Tough."

"...! Wh-When?!"

"Thought you looked familiar. You're from that bandit crew that hit the territory back then."

"...!"

The wrongness. Finally, he realized the source of that spine-chilling familiarity. The gait, the beast-like gashes. Clues everywhere.

His brain had just refused to accept it.

"Ah, ahhh..."

Terror froze him solid. The tiger grinned.

"No running this time?"

KABOOM! KABOOMCRASH! CRASHCRUNCH!

Even blunted from the prior thrust, it tore through dozens of defense-focused artifacts. Before the unbelievable sight, Hans froze, unable to move, awaiting his turn while watching the captain's back shred apart.

That ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠winter day years ago. The reaper he'd barely shaken off stood before her now.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

After casually clearing nearby forces, Karni returned to the cell with Nia. She found Nia sleeping on the saintess's lap—Eli, who had arrived unnoticed.

"What the—when'd you get here?"

"Just now. Got the collar off, huh?"

"Coulda come sooner."

A bit whiny, Karni sidled up to Eli. Eli stroked her head with a soft chuckle.

"Where's Kairan?"

"She did a lap around. Felt something off, so she's investigating a bit."

"Oh?"

Karni grinned under Eli's pets. Until Kairan returned, she'd soak up all the headpats she could.