Around him, the rest of us gathered, looming over his prone form like silent executioners. No escape. No chance of reinforcements.
It didn't take long for him to break. Not long at all. In fact, it didn't even take more than three seconds.
The lionkin warrior let out a heavy sigh as his body relaxed in reluctant defeat.
"I choose the easy way…" he muttered with a hoarse voice, thanks to the knowledge that he wasn't long for this world.
Darius crouched, resting his thick forearms on his knees as he gave the lionkin a measured look. "Then start talking. What's going on in Emberfang?"
The captive swallowed hard before replying, "Leohtar Sunfang ordered us to fortify our position… but because of the attacks from the bearkin, tigerkin, wolfkin, and foxkin invasions further north, a lot of our war beasts had to be relocated. We still have some left, but we had to send many away to reinforce the border up north."
Vex followed up with a question of her own. "How many warriors and beasts are left defending the city?"
The lionkin shook his head. "No one knows the details except the higher-ups. Scouts like us aren't given sensitive information since we could be captured and interrogated… but I can tell you that there are still plenty of warriors and beasts left to defend Emberfang."
It made sense. The lionkin weren't so careless as to leave their city defenseless, even with the ongoing war. Just because they were struggling to hold the north border didn't mean they should abandon the other parts of the border. Doing so would set them up for total failure, letting us converge on them from all directions.
It was my turn to ask. "What about a dogkin mother-daughter pair? Slaves. Have you seen any brought into Emberfang in recent months?"
His ears perked at the question before he scoffed with dismissal. "If you're looking for slaves, you're asking the wrong person. Any valuable stock gets sent straight to Lionheart. Big auctions happen there, not here. It's not worth selling them anywhere else in lionkin lands because most of the rich folk who are interested in having slaves live there, or know to visit when looking for slaves."
That wasn't exactly the answer I wanted, but it aligned with what I already suspected.
"When does your shift end? What is your name? Where is your home located? How…" Kitsara began barraging him with innumerable questions required to perfect her impression of him.
Once done, she glanced around. "Anyone else got a question?"
Silence.
No one spoke up, so I turned toward Blossom.
"This was your kill. We just kept him alive for a little longer."
Blossom nodded in understanding before stepping forward. The tension in her shoulders told me she had been waiting for this moment all this time.
The lionkin barely had time to react before she struck, mauling him to death with a sadistic glee in her eyes. He thrashed for but a brief moment before it was over.
"What now, boss? The Chieftain said we should use guerilla tactics until the main forces arrive, but if the damned lions holed themselves up in the city save for a few scout parties wandering about, doing so will be impossible," one of the two team leaders said, looking at Darius for guidance.
The dogkin prince grimaced, knowing full well the captain was right. Or would've been under normal circumstances. Darius wasn't a dumb brute: he understood why Kitsara asked the lionkin so many questions.
She planned to infiltrate Emberfang by pretending to be one of them.
"Sister… This is too dangerous. Father will skin me alive if he learns I allowed you to risk your life on such a gamble. We wait for the main army to catch up and lay siege to the town. In the meantime, we'll be using Ghosty's sense of smell to catch the other lionkin scout parties."
"Hehe! It might be risky, but not as much as you believe!" she giggled, using her usual feminine speech pattern, which made everyone cringe involuntarily.
She then sent me a dismissive gaze and scoffed with the kind of attitude only a girlfriend mad at her lover for one reason or another could, "My man—who seems to be only interested in my body, not what's inside—is more amazing than you know."
Ignoring her jab, I nodded, accepting her silent request. I would use [Overlord's Eyes] to monitor her. Should she get in trouble, I could open a [Warp Gate] at her location and send the buff doggies in to get her out.
I didn't plan to display any such abilities—I've been deliberately hiding my Primordial Subjugator stuff from Vex—but the dogkin were my greatest beastkin allies, thanks to my relationship with their adored princess. Furthermore, I didn't have to explain my ability to my audience… I could just spout something about it being a primordial BS or simply remain silent.
As such, I used [Earth Manipulation] to send any signs of scuffle deep underground, burying all corpses and other remains much more than six feet under.
Then, after Kitsara somehow made Darius go along with the plan, we retreated a few miles toward the direction we came from, intending on evading the other scout parties, and I seated myself on the ground in a fortable, cross-legged position before casting my spell. ℞𝖆ꞐO͍ᛒЕⱾ
My consciousness left my body that was surrounded by dozens of strong entities, traversing to Kitsara, sharing her senses.
I asked, getting a big smile from her.
I didn't need to ask what offer she was talking about, because she'd just spent 24 hours strapped to my sex dungeon for insinuating this exact same thing.
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