by Iliev, Neven
He turned around and looked them over. Of the eleven captured prisoners, six were female. Although this ratio was nothing special as far as adventurers were concerned, the Imperial army was overwhelmingly male. In fact, there was not a single woman within this entire five-thousand-strong detachment. Even if that weren’t the case, it would be doubtful that they’d have the sort of attractive figures that female adventurers seemed to cultivate.
“I’ll say,” murmured his colleague. “The tall one with the black hair is totally my type too.”
“The abs are a turnoff for me. Much prefer the green-haired one on the right. She’s got some commendable ‘mana tanks,’ if you know what I mean.”
Of course, being made prisoner meant the vast majority of their possessions had been taken from them, leaving them in just their undergarments. Not only that, but the fact they had MP-draining collars around their necks and enchanted steel bindings around their wrists and ankles only seemed to fuel certain fantasies. In short, the sight of those women was like spotting an oasis in the middle of a desert from the perspective of the common Imperial soldier.
“Still, that Simmons sure is something to take our joke to the baron himself.”
“I’ll say. Gotta be careful what we say around that guy.”
The common Imperial soldier also had far too much discipline and decorum to do something as unsightly as forcing themselves on these women just because they felt bitter or pent-up. Not only was it amoral, illegal, and unprofessional, but also a potential security risk. Admittedly, such incidents occurred regardless, but they were extremely uncommon and the perpetrators were severely punished by their own superiors.
The Ishigar Republic’s propaganda stated otherwise, of course. The elven government spent many decades subtly convincing their citizens that the Empire’s military was full of bigoted, warmongering rapists. The underhanded smear campaign had been largely successful, too. Most elves would instantly believe it if someone told them an Imperial soldier had either sexually or violently assaulted them for no reason.
Incidentally, this same mentality had also helped a certain shape-shifting box better blend in with elven society.
“It really is a huge shame though,” the first guard repeated after a few minutes.
“Hey, come on, you’re better than that,” his colleague reminded him.
“Easy for you to say. I haven’t had a chance to do it in months, and then we got sent out here.”
“I know, and I feel you, but you heard Simmons. The elves are not to be touched.”
“So, it’s okay as long as it’s not the elves, right?”
“What?”
The guard nodded his head towards the cage at the far end—the one that had only a single occupant in it. It was a redheaded beastkin girl with feline ears and a tail. She had her own cage since she had made quite the unfavorable impression during the battle. More than a few people could identify her as the culprit responsible for torching most of their supplies with those weird arrows of hers. Her crimson hair and tanned skin stood out immensely, even in the heat of battle.
“You can’t be serious,” the second man exclaimed.
“Why not?”
“She’s a prisoner. Also, she’s basically still a kid. Not to mention she’s a freaking cat.”
“A cat is fine too.”
“I can’t believe we’re even having this conversation!”
“Have you actually taken a good look at her?”
The sensible one rolled his eyes, but had to admit he hadn’t actually done so. He ended up almost unthinkingly staring at her exposed body. Of course, the prisoner could hear them perfectly, and she glared daggers at them while curling up to cover up her features with her hands and knees. That did little to conceal her unearthly charm, however. The guard found himself momentarily captivated by the sight of her slim-yet-feminine body as the light of the surrounding torches danced around her. Even that unpleasant expression of hers—halfway between fear and disgust—radiated a fierce kind of charm.
“Okay, you might have a point there,” he consented after a while.
“Look,” whispered the other guard. “We can just take her in for ‘interrogation.’ Nobody has to know, right? The other lads can all have a turn. It’s the least we can do to pay her back for all she’d done earlier.”
The other man found his resolve wavering. They’d all had an exceptionally grueling day, and were then unlucky enough to pull guard duty for most of the night. To say he felt stressed out would be an understatement. Not to mention that he couldn’t get the image of that near-naked catgirl out of his head, no matter how hard he tried. All these factors made it so that, despite his better judgement, he went along with this clearly immoral plan.
“I guess… We wouldn’t technically be violating our orders… What about the other lads, though?”
“You’re right, I’ll go have a chat with them.”
The other guards stationed there were then quietly let in on the scheme. There’d be repercussions if they were found out, and it was a clearly stupid idea. Yet they all eventually joined in with a shared promise of keeping what they were about to do a secret between ‘the lads.’ Sure, the prisoner might say something, but it would be her word against theirs.
Thus, in the middle of the night, when they were sure everyone but the perimeter guards were asleep, the two ‘masterminds’ quietly carried off the heavy cage with the catgirl in it. She had fallen asleep, but woke up when she felt she was being moved. Fearing what was about to happen, she rattled her chains in a blind panic. She opened her mouth in an attempt to scream, but the magic collar on her neck prevented her voice from leaking out. Her resistance was cut short when one of the guards pointed a blade at her throat, sending a very clear message—just because they couldn’t kill her didn’t mean they couldn’t make her suffer.
The redhead broke down and sobbed silently as she was brought inside a small tent in the darker section of the large camp. One of the guards unlocked her cage and started taking off the lower portion of his armor. The other one remained just inside the entrance to the tent as a lookout. He was going to make sure nobody disturbed them while also keeping in an eye on the prisoner in case she tried anything stupid.
It was thus that the beastkin girl’s lower garment was thoughtlessly ripped off as the man forced himself inside her. He was then instantly overwhelmed by a wave of pleasure far greater than anything he’d expected. He would’ve probably drowned in it if his buddy didn’t snap his neck while he was distracted. The seemingly traitorous soldier then took off his glove and transformed his index finger into a key, which he used to unlock and remove the prisoner’s bindings.
“You said you’d let me have my fun,” the catgirl-shaped succubus complained. “I was really getting into the role-play too.”
It had been far too long since she’d wringed a man dry, and this ‘raped while bound and gagged’ thing greatly appealed to her masochistic tendencies.
“I changed my mind,” her master replied. “We wasted too much time on this part of the plan, so shut up and get ready for phase three.”
“Yes, Master.”
Though the succubus had reservations about this hastily concocted scheme, she had to admit it went off better than she anticipated.
It started when Boxxy had underestimated the Imperial scouts that chased its team during the messy retreat following the hillside ambush. Realizing that it wouldn’t be possible to get all of them out of there without compromising its public persona, the shapeshifter decided to use this opportunity to infiltrate the enemy’s ranks. To that end, it had Xera take over its role as Keira without Lola, Jules, or even Purupururin noticing. The succubus then used the beastkin’s authority as the team’s leader to convince them to surrender before they were caught and killed.
While team Three-One was being taken into custody—aside from the ivory succubus, who was killed on the spot since Axel’s Taboo didn’t extend to magical servants—Boxxy enacted phase two of its plan
. It used the Broken Reflection Skill on a random soldier. The man’s pilfered memories made Boxxy’s job a lot easier as it infiltrated the humans’ ranks and scouted out their camp. From then on, it was a simple matter of finding out where the prisoners were and secretly replacing one of their guards when they went to take a bathroom break.
This was when it encountered a minor snag, as it had taken a fair bit of time to separate Keira from the other prisoners in preparation for the next part of the plan. Though it had initially promised Xera she could have her way with the poor sap she enticed into ‘raping’ her, a succubus’s lethal intercourse session could take anywhere from ten minutes to a half hour. The other men guarding the prisoners would most likely realize something was going on if their colleagues took that long to return. Letting the succubus ‘have her fun’ simply wasn’t worth risking the entire plan.
One could argue that Boxxy shouldn’t have promised her anything to begin with, but it was the sort of argument that would end with someone getting their face bitten off.
As for the reason why the juvenile doppelganger went through all this trouble, it was to give ‘Keira’ a plausible means of escape. Boxxy also secretly procured some important-looking documents earlier that afternoon, which it intended to bring back to its commanding officers. All of this would surely make its rookie Ranger persona seem like a genuine war hero. Boxxy’s alter ego would surely receive special treatment and perks from her peers and superiors if this plan succeeded. It would also go a long way towards advancing its Doppelganger Job progression, which was the whole point of the Keira thing to begin with.
“Ah, crap,” the shapeshifter realized something.
“What is it, Master?”
“I can’t leave without the other prisoners.”
“I suppose that’s true,” the succubus agreed.
Keira Morgana was supposed to be kind-hearted and fiercely loyal to her friends, so having her selfishly escape by herself would be both out of character and quite unheroic. Breaking all of them out of Imperial custody and successfully guiding the group back to base would doubtlessly be incredibly impressive, but also impossible to do without Boxxy revealing its true nature. After all, it was not the sort of feat a sixteen-year-old, Level 29 Ranger could pull off by herself. However, it would be entirely plausible if the harrowing breakout took place while the Empire soldiers had something a lot more important than escaping prisoners to deal with.
The shapeshifter’s hastily-concocted scheme was then replaced by an even less planned-out course of action.
Back at the other cages, both the stationed guards and the now-awake prisoners were getting restless, albeit for entirely different reasons. It was not a secret to any of them as to why Keira was carried off, but almost thirty minutes had passed since then. Just as the guards were thinking of doing something about it, they spotted something in the air. Something so surreal that it took them a few crucial moments to process it.
Blazing through the night sky was a Meteor, a destructive siege-type Spell available to mid-Level Pyromancers. Judging from the size of it, this one held quite a bit of power. Guards and prisoners alike stared in silent shock as the inexplicable thing crashed somewhere into the opposite end of the camp.
“Enemy attack!” someone shouted after the fact.
The thunderous roar and gigantic fireball instantly kicked the soldiers’ trained bodies into gear. The sounds of battle could be heard in the distance within the next few seconds as the Imperial army engaged whoever or whatever was attacking their position. The sounds of men screaming, Spells exploding, and metal clashing against metal all intensified as more and more awoken soldiers rushed towards the site of the disturbance.
The guards watching the prisoners wanted to join, but they couldn’t abandon their posts. The possibility of this being a distraction to free the prisoners was high considering the timing involved. It was ludicrous to think that this raid and their two colleagues going missing was unrelated, so they resolved themselves to stay firmly in place unless ordered otherwise. Much to their surprise, they soon realized they didn’t need to go to the battle.
Because the battle came to them.
Two towering figures, each of them well over two meters tall, made their way through the sea of Imperial soldiers in front of them. One was a four-armed, red skinned woman that sent grown men flying with each swing of her armored fists. The two metallic horns on either side of her wild green hair made it perfectly clear she was a demon. Her well-muscled body was covered in wounds oozing with black blood, yet they didn’t seem to slow her down in the slightest. In fact, judging from the ecstatic look on her face, she was having the time of her life.
The other figure was a heavy-set man wrapped in a plain, brown cloak thoroughly soaked in fresh blood. His face and hair were wrapped in a blue cloth, showing only a pair of yellow eyes glowing slightly from within. He held a sword in each hand, and wielded the twin blades with deadly efficiency. Every time he swung, a soldier lost his head amidst a fountain of blood. Every time he took a step, the very ground shook beneath his feet. Perhaps worst of all, every time he got hit, he just shrugged it off with a laugh.
And what a laugh it was.
“Shhhaah haaah heeeeh hah-haaah! Ahah! Ahah! Ahehehehahaaah!”
It changed in pitch and cadence at random, but nevertheless clearly carried itself over the sound of bloodshed around it. It was at once malicious and psychotic, but also dreadfully innocent and mocking. It sounded almost like a mean-spirited boy bullying something far smaller and weaker than himself because he didn’t know any better. Though the four-armed demon’s appearance was certainly formidable and intimidating, it was nothing when compared to the nightmare-inducing terror that practically radiated from that thing.
The underwear-soiling fear that seemed to overcome the humans whenever they looked at this intruder wasn’t their own. Not entirely, at least. Much of it had been induced by the combination of Butcher of Humanity Perk and its newly-acquired Despair Aura Skill. The Empire trained its soldiers to recognize and resist mental attacks like this, but there was also the matter of the genuine terror one felt when seeing their comrades in arms slaughtered with such ease. It was a testament to the soldiers’ courage and spirit that they didn’t just instantly scatter in all directions.
Of course, it wasn’t just Boxxy and Kora running wild. A slim, vaguely spider-shaped shadow moved across the chaotic battlefield, reaping the lives of humans with silent glee. Drea happily impaled, stabbed, dismembered and took bites out of any soldiers she came across within her master’s vicinity. She had no idea a noisy place like this could be to her liking, but it definitely was. The way Boxxy’s terror-inspiring presence demanded everyone’s attention meant she was free to move around as she pleased. Some of those men didn’t even realize those standing right next to them had been suddenly robbed of their lives, and the ones that did only sank deeper into despair.
And as if to punctuate all this, another Meteor—the third one of the night—came crashing down on top of them. The resulting shockwave and flames quickly scattered the surrounding army, creating a lull in the battle. The prisoners, who silently watched the carnage unfold from the sidelines, shielded their eyes and faces as the wave of light and heat washed over them, their cages rattling from the impact. By the time they looked back at the masked intruder, he was the only one left standing amidst a sea of death, smoke, and flames. He looked straight at them, sending shivers down their spines.
Much to their surprise, he didn’t attack them, nor did he free them. He simply drank a few potions, re-summoned the mostly-dead fiend to replenish her strength, then disappeared. Several tense seconds passed before the sounds of carnage picked up once more from elsewhere in the camp.
“Guys! I’m here!”
It was at this point that a scantily-clad beastkin appeared from the shadows. Lola’s voice was silenced by the collar on her neck, but she still mouthed the words, ‘Keira, are you okay? What’s going on?’
> “I’m fine,” the redhead replied without skipping a beat, “and I don’t know, but we need to get out of here!”
She hurriedly unlocked their cages and bindings with a set of keys, then took charge of the ten ex-prisoners. None of them complained as she guided them through the desolate portions of the camp. They ran into a few small pockets of Imperial troops, but used whatever weapons they managed to pick up off the ground to fight their way through. Thankfully, the humans were far too disorganized to pay them any real mind, allowing the adventurers to successfully flee into the wilderness of the Clattering Plains. It was still the dead of night without a hint of natural light, but the group figured they’d be fine so long as they kept that burning camp at their backs.
It wasn’t until about an hour and several kilometers later that the group finally stopped running and took stock of their situation. They were cold, hungry, tired, and in the open with absolutely no cover, but they were free. The adrenaline rush of their rushed escape had long faded by now, leaving them with a vague sense of dread and unease. Most of them felt like throwing up when they thought back to that terrible bloodshed they’d witnessed.
Even the normally stoic and fearless Lola found herself dry heaving after her first real experience of warfare, though it was at least partially because she felt had overexerted herself. Jules and a dwarven Druid from another recon team had been slowing the group down, so she had taken it upon herself to carry both of them, one on each shoulder. The result was the abnormally athletic Warrior driving herself to total physical exhaustion, with rivers of sweat pouring out of her entire body.
Lola couldn’t ask any questions during the frantic run, but now that she finally got a chance to catch her breath, questions were all she had. A lot of them were about Keira, such as how she had managed to escape her captors and what was in that weird bag she was carrying. Some were directed towards more general concerns, such as where they’d find food and whether they’d be able to make it back to base without their gear.
However, looking at the distant glow of the still-blazing camp at the edge of the plains, there was only one question that Lola could voice first.
