Aranea gasped for air, leaping to her legs back in the cell. She looked around, noticing Yuki and Sly doing their best to bandage Kaleb and Kate. Several tight bandages covered Aranea's arm and torso as well.

"You woke up. I was worried," admitted Yuki. "When they brought you in, you hallucinated and howled for at least half an hour. I never even knew we could be affected by drugs so much."

"Guess it's because I ate something foul, that's all." Aranea stood up, assisting her soldiers. Kate remained unconscious from deep shock and panted with difficulty. Kaleb blinked, waking up from the agony. "Where did the medical supplies come from?" Aranea asked, observing her own cleaned-up cuts.

Yuki nodded at the bag and buckets of food near the entrance. "Can't be certain. After the guards dragged you in here, the medical kit and bottles of clean water appeared out of nowhere. Sly checked them; they're fine. Later, the guards gave us meat. Whatever these sick bastards want to do to us, at least they don't want us to starve. Thank the Spirits for the bandages; Kate was bleeding out. Badly."

"She'll not die. Can't." Sly licked his lips, tending to the leg stump. "The rest doesn't matter. Limbs can be replaced. A mental state can be improved. Morale will be boosted. The only important task is ensuring their survival. Everything can be fixed as long as you are alive." He repeated these words like a mantra.

Kate let out a long moan, opening her eyes wide in shock. She looked around; the disbelief in her eyes changed to a slow realization that she couldn't move. Her shortened limbs trembled, trying to lift her in a futile attempt, and then she took a deep breath, calming herself.

"Aranea," she asked. "Is Kaleb fine?"

"Yes, I am fine," Kaleb whispered, sitting through the pain so Kate could see him. "You stubborn cusack. Why did you pull it off?"

"What? What did she do?" Yuki asked.

"We were strapped to a strange machine that fed us… I don't know. Pure pain. Meat hooks bit into my every joint, pulling me apart. Blaguna explained it as a game. If one of us maintained silence until the end, we could go home." He let out a hoarse laugh, taking a sip of water from Aranea's palm. "We all knew she was lying to us. She warned us that the first person to scream would lose a body part as punishment. When…"

Kaleb gulped, grabbed his knee, and paused. "I screamed. Blaguna sawed off my leg. Then, she put us back in the machines and started removing the 'shirt' from Kostya. Kate insulted her repeatedly, irritating Nokto enough that she stopped the procedure to punish her. Eventually, Kate lost her limbs and her conscience. Then, Nokto offered Kostya a choice. One was to lose his 'shirt.' It was up to him to choose who, and Kostya volunteered to be the victim."

"Shirt?" Sly said.

"Blaguna makes a cut around your waist. Then she grabs your skin and pulls it up. While you're still alive." Horrified, Kaleb looked ahead. "The bitch skins you alive. The only reason Kostya even survived for so long was because Kate kept distracting Nokto."

"It doesn't matter!" Kate tried to sit and fell into Sly's paws. "Aranea! Please, I beg you, murder me! Kill me now!"

"Kate, I will get us out of here…" The wolf hag tried to calm her down. She had trouble believing this statement herself. Perhaps the scout was right, and they should deprive the degenerates of satisfaction.

"It doesn't matter, you idiot!" Kate shouted, spilling drool. "I need to die, don't you get it? If Kostya is still with them, then it must be because of me! If I still breathe, then he'll die!"

"Kate, cut the bullshit," Kaleb said, snapping out of his stupor. "Our situation has nothing to do with you or your curse." He let out a pained chuckle.

"It does, you moron! Don't deny it; you saw it acting during battles. When I hurt myself, things turn around!" Kate yelled, thrashing on the floor. "Kaleb, Aranea, Sly, Yuki. Please, please, I beg of you. I'm sorry for everything vile I ever said or did to you, but you must listen to me now! If my heart still beats, then it means that the curse had forced Kostya to take my place. He will be made to pay the price unless I die!" She stopped as the door opened and armed guards in full combat gear stormed inside.

Giving no commands, they shot darts at Aranea, Yuki, and Sly. Aranea sidestepped the first projectile, caught the second, and tossed it back at an attacker, but it bounced off his suit. The next four found their marks, and an unusual dizziness spread through her body, numbing it. The captors took them by the armpits and dragged the group out, ignoring Kaleb.

Her claws scratching the floor, Aranea noticed the prisoners shaking and trying their best to go unnoticed by the guards. The corpse of the woman she had killed disappeared, and the passageway, ruined by Yasen, stood barred. A little while later, Aranea managed to utter a single word, and the vision cleared of murkiness. She closed her left fist. The right still refused to obey her, but it was enough.

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The guard holding her gasped, wheezing rather than screaming as the claws pierced his side. A rifle's butt crashed into Aranea's temple, but not before she vengefully twisted her claws, pushing them in as far as possible.

Before she could attempt anything else, the guards dragged her into an unfamiliar room. A single lamp cast a dim light on the walls and ceiling, stained with fresh and dried blood. Yasen stood by the door, smirking and welcoming the prisoners with a mocking salute. He gestured for his minions to take away the corpse. With pale eyes full of animal horror, Geldi tried to blend into the wall, pressing a hand to her mouth. In the corner, a clean, shining silver terminal transmitted what seemed to be a journalist report.

"…And look at the promises of the Reclaimers!" an enormous figure clad from head to toe in dark red armor plates yelled from the display.

His hands ended in gauntlets that lacked spaces for individual fingers. They resembled excavator buckets more than proper fists, suitable for grabbing and crashing, but not for operating any machinery. Still, their size alone seemed to be enough to crumple a tank in a fit of righteous fury. Dark purple robes covered him from waist to toes, and long gilded horns protruded from the round helmet with lenses of different colors. One shone orange, and another had a solid black color. His voice thundered as loud as a sandstorm, full of undeniable charisma that drew in listeners akin to a tornado.

"They spin honeyed lies about restoration, peace, and unity! Now watch; see for yourselves the ruin wrought by their sinful hands!" The image changed to reveal the vast hole in the city destroyed by Blaguna. Its edges kept collapsing, hurling down entire districts. "I know there were doubts about my claims. Citizens, friends, comrades. I admit, even I had my doubts. My sole desire is to serve you, and I asked myself if, perhaps, by submitting, we could usher in a brighter era for our sons and daughters. No more. The sole unity the Reclamation Army offers is unity in death!

"Even now they creep toward our lands, planning to seize by force what does not rightfully belong to them! Let them try! We braved the horrors of our homeland and forced them to flee. We built vast cities and mastered buried secrets. You, every single one of you, are the backbone of our civilization! A beacon of hope! A multitude of nations and tribes, united by the shared goal of protecting our freedom! Through your hardships, through your sweat and sacrifices, we had broken the backs of the mad, the evil, and the corrupted! We, all of us, restored order and peace, and now they dare to expect us to bend over and let them have their way with us? Nay!"

The voice lowered, becoming caring and gentle: "My compatriots, I want to address you as a fellow countryman. I am aware that the enemy scares some. I know about incoming losses, for what war ends without tears? Yet we know, as no one else does, about the cost of freedom. It is never cheap, yet always worth it. Will we stand aside and watch our children lick the stomping boots of the self-proclaimed saviors? Are we to see our cities raided? Are we to endure our daughters whoring themselves to the invaders in exchange for scraps to feed their families?" The voice roared, full of renewed storm, rising to a crescendo of indignation. "To hell with them! We will see the pillagers dead, their fortresses toppled, and their treasuries plundered. We shall hang their corpses from our battlements as a lesson for their insolence! The Ravaged Lands are, now and forever, free! Hail to the Resistance! Long live freedom!"

"Heh, King is turning up the heat." Yasen grinned, hearing the thunderous applause coming from the terminal.

"Turn it off. We have a far better show ahead of us," a familiar voice told Yasen.

Two chairs occupied the center of the room, and a chain dangled from above them. To the right, liquid bubbled in a pot, kept hot by a simple stove. Rails ran from under the chairs to two round spheres at the far end. The place reeked of hopelessness and despair.

Dressed in black leather, Blaguna Nokto waited for the victims, toying with her knife by spinning, tossing, and catching it while humming a melody under her breath. Her damaged lips had healed, and when she parted them in a smile, goosebumps scurried across Aranea's back.

Blaguna looked angelic, even with her parchment-like, leathery skin around the mouth. She beamed with pure joy, welcoming the guests in her den of horrors.

"Not a second late. Strap the females to the chairs; the male is to be hanged from the chain."

Aranea tried her best to resist, but her arm was mercilessly twisted behind her back, a rifle's butt pressed hard against her neck, threatening to choke her as they shoved her into the seat, no longer taking any risks. Similar scenarios happened to her friends. Blaguna accepted the explanation about the lost guard and investigated the locks, checking them after the guards secured the prisoners.

"Pay his family the triple compensation and stay alert. Just because the prisoners don't have weapons doesn't mean they're harmless," Blaguna said. "As for this one, she'll pay in full for her actions. The wolf girl is injured." She touched Aranea's wrist. "Explain, Yasen."

"They are barbarians, Mistress. Savages, cannibals. I bet she got into a fight with one of her kind and got gnawed; that's all." The regulator's loud voice echoed in the room.

"Ah, is that so?" Blaguna said sweetly. "Good enough, satisfactory enough. You are to visit me tonight. Let's give you a healthy dose of 'drowning' to loosen your tongue and explore your hidden thoughts. And that is all," she snapped, ignoring Yasen's attempts to argue.

Blaguna approached Sly, touching him to test his muscles.

"Name and rank?" The right hand tossed the hooked knife, and the left hand snatched it from the air.

"Sly, male of the Wolf Tribe," Sly answered, moving his fingers to test his control over his body.

"How many scales does Wyrm Lord have in total on his body?" came the second question.

"How could I possibly know it…" Sly screamed, jerking in the chains as the knife sliced into him.

Nokto opened a long gash over Sly's ribs and inserted a metal tube into the wound, drawing a loud groan from the tormented Wolfkin as the Regulator ensured that the tube would stay still. Another swing created another laceration in the hide, and a second tube went in, widening the bleeding lips. Then she cut again. Without slowing down or any hesitation, the process repeated for the fourth time. Blaguna stepped back to survey her handiwork, then took the pot with her bare hand, oblivious to its heat.

"Why are you torturing him? He can't know the answer to your question! No one can!" Yuki shouted, pushing against her restraints. Aranea followed her example, not saying anything to spare her strength.

"That's the point." Blaguna shrugged her shoulders. "A leader can't punish others over nothing. It builds bad habits."

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