Night fell swiftly. Prisoners were locked two by two in cells. Most had already drifted into exhausted sleep after the day’s battles. But from Tia’s and my cell, the bandits’ raucous feast echoed clearly.
*[Hahaha~~~ These idiots gathered the whole city’s fighters and still lost to us!]*
*[Exactly!! Three Gold-ranked warriors couldn’t even beat our boss!]*
*[I knew it! What "Gold adventurers"? They’ve never seen real combat—how could they match us?]*
*[Though we ran away too!~~~ Hahaha!]*
*[Anyway, the Kingdom’s getting crushed by the Empire. Peace won’t last. Better to flee and enjoy life than die pointlessly.]*
Their jeers drifted through the bars.
***THUD!***
Tia slammed her fist against the cell wall.
*[Scum!!]*
She glared out the window, teeth clenched.
*[Tia!! Calm down!]*
I rushed to comfort her.
*[How can I stay calm?! These traitors abandoned the front lines against the Empire to terrorize their own people!]*
Her voice burned with fury. Tia always wore a serious expression, but whenever the Empire was mentioned, her eyes hardened like flint.
*[Um… I’ve always wondered—why do you get so angry whenever the Empire comes up?]*
*[................Forgive me, husband. I shouldn’t show such weakness.]*
She smoothed her features back into her usual composure.
*[You don’t have to tell me if it’s private. I was just curious.]*
*[No secrets between spouses. My parents—my real parents—died in the Kingdom’s war against the Empire when I was a child. That’s why I hate them.]*
Her voice was steady, but grief flickered beneath the resolve in her eyes.
*[I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have dragged up painful memories.]*
*[It’s alright. Their memory fuels me now.]*
*[I see… By the way, why has this war lasted so long?]*
I shifted the topic.
*[Six wars total. The Empire always finds excuses to invade. Once evenly matched, the Kingdom now crumbles before them. This "peace" won’t hold. Soon, the Empire will swallow us whole.]*
*[I see…]*
I knew little of this world’s history. Her words washed over me like distant thunder.
***HELP!!! SOMEONE HELP MEEEEEEE—***
A woman’s scream pierced the night.
*[Lulu!! It’s Lulu!]*
Aerin shot up from the next cell, shouting through the bars.
*[Ahahaha~~ This one’s the cutest!!]*
A bandit’s laugh slithered in.
*[Yeah~~ She’s getting sold as a slave tomorrow anyway. Why not have fun tonight?]*
*[Hell yeah~~~ Nothing better than breaking a sweet little thing!]*
*[Enough talk! Let’s go!]*
***DON’T COME NEAR ME!!! HELP! HELP!!!***
*[Pupil!! Do something!]*
Aerin screamed at me.
*[Pupil! What do we do??]*
Tia looked at me, helpless.
*[Stay here. You’re unarmed. I’ll handle this alone.]*
I turned toward the cell door.
*[Alone?]*
Before Tia could react, I kicked the iron bars open.
No armor. No weapons. But with base strength at level 200, even a flick of my wrist could kill. That’s why I held back.
*[Pupil…………………]*
Tia’s stunned whisper followed me out.
*[Leave it to me.]*
I flashed her a thumbs-up over my shoulder.
I sprinted toward the screams. At the corridor’s end, the banquet hall sprawled before me. Nearly all the bandits crowded there. Four or five tore at Lulu’s clothes while others drank, feasted, and cheered.
*Vermin.*
My fists clenched. Lulu’s terrified struggles ignited a white-hot rage—but I held it back.
*(If they live, more innocents will die.)*
Aerin’s words echoed in my ears.
*[Rape her! Do it!]*
The mob chanted, drunk on cruelty.
*[Heh. Took me long enough to understand.]*
My inner judge sentenced every bandit to death.
I stepped silently into their view.
*[Hey!! Isn’t that the freak from daytime??]*
A bandit yelled.
*[Hahaha~~ Yeah! The dancer! Give us a show!]*
A turbaned man roared with laughter.
*[How’d he escape his cell??]*
A sober voice cut through the noise.
*[Craving the fun? Come on then! Perform well, or I’ll slit your throat! Haha~~]*
The leader shoved tear-streaked Lulu toward me.
*[Don’t worry. I’ll end them all now.]*
I pulled a coat from my inventory—the one the guard had given me—and draped it over Lulu’s trembling shoulders.
*[Wha… what?]*
Her eyes widened in disbelief.
*[We said rape her, dumbass!! Move!]*
The short bandit raised his hand to strike me.
In one motion, I drew a katana from my gear slot. His arm fell to the floor.
***SCREEEEEE—!!!***
He writhed on the ground, clutching the stump.
*[Where’d he get a weapon?!]*
Panic rippled through the hall.
*[Stay sharp! He’s just one man—kill him!]*
Another bandit barked orders.
*[You wanted a show? Here it is.]*
I raised the katana. My battle cry hung in the air.
These deserters sensed danger instantly. They braced—but it was futile.
***DRAGON’S DESCENT SLASH!***
Dragon-like energy erupted from my blade. I charged, a storm of steel. My speed blurred like a coiling serpent; the katana sang like a dragon’s roar. No escape. Bodies split where I passed. In seconds, the hall drowned in gore.
As I sheathed my sword, a gale-force punch slammed into my head. My body cratered halfway into the floor.
The blow didn’t hurt—physics did the rest. I pushed myself up from the rubble.
*[Is this a nightmare? How are you standing after my Hundred-Fist Barrage?]*
Hank stared, ghost-pale.
*[Want to try again?]*
I smirked.
*[I have no choice but to fight!]*
He lunged. Fist after fist tore through the air—*whoosh, whoosh, WHOOSH*—each strike faster than the last. The hall echoed with the sound of shattering wind.
*[Who… are you?]*
Hank gasped his final punch. I didn’t flinch.
*[Manners first. But I know you—the "Gorilla Captain" who fled the battlefield.]*
*[I’m no gorilla!!]*
His face flushed crimson.
*[Two meters tall, muscles everywhere, swinging fists like a beast? Only you and Aerin act like this.]*
*[So… there’s another gorilla?]*
Hank blinked, derailed.
*[You just admitted it.]*
*Seriously? That easy to distract?*
*[DAMN YOU!! WHO ARE YOU?!]*
Fury reignited in his eyes. His mechanical gauntlet whirred to life—electric currents crackled, steam hissed from shoulder vents, warping the air with heat.
*[Eat this before you yap again!! ROCK-SHATTERING MOUNTAIN SMASHER!]*
He moved like a hurricane. His fist rocketed toward me—
***CLANGGGGG—!!!***
My katana blocked the blow. The recoil sent him stumbling backward. In that split second of vulnerability, I drew the blade to my hip and unleashed it.
***IAI: SLASHING ARC!***
The shockwave cleaved the air. Hank took the full force.
Silence.
*[...So… I escaped the tiger’s den only to meet a dragon among wolves. I’ve never heard of you. Who are you? Where do you come from?]*
Hank’s voice was eerily calm.
*[If you must know—I am Pupil. From the Dungeon.]*
*[The Dungeon…? Never heard of it. Must be hellish.]*
He knelt. His mechanical gauntlet—and his body—split cleanly in two.
