The liquor arrived accompanied by a Cat Thiren girl with tan lines.
She kept her head down, her black hair cascading freely. Even wearing high heels that were a good seven or eight centimeters tall, she still wasn't as tall as Nicole. After entering, she stood by the door, unwilling to take a step further, until the server who brought the drinks pushed her before leaving, forcing her to walk towards Ignis.
She seemed unaccustomed to the high heels, stumbling awkwardly over the short ten-meter distance, and finally fell directly into Ignis's arms. If this was some kind of feigned retreat tactic, it was far too masterful. But after Ignis caught her, the girl sprang back as if on a coiled spring, falling to the floor again.
Ignis reached out to help her up, but his hand was slapped away.
"Don't touch me!" She scrambled back a few steps, but Ignis's reach was longer. He grabbed her and pulled her upright.
"I said I mean no harm. Do you believe me?"
"You, the one who had someone come wearing this, say you mean no harm?"
The girl was wearing what could be called a reverse bunny girl outfit. Her long, slender limbs were sheathed in black stockings and gloves. Her torso was bare except for three small patches covered by stickers, and a bow tie around her neck.
Damn it! I seem to have messed up by pressing buttons randomly!
She had tan lines from a racing swimsuit and had been deliberately anointed with oil; her cinnamon-colored skin seemed to gleam under the flickering candlelight, highlighting her well-proportioned figure. While her chest couldn't be called ample, compared to her toned, muscular build, it was certainly noticeable.
The girl's eyes welled with tears, a mix of shame, resentment, and frustration swirling within them. Light makeup on her face only accentuated her youthful delicacy.
"First, please believe me, I have no ill intentions." Ignis pulled her to sit down beside him. "What is your name?"
"Is it important?" She wiped her tears, forcing herself to stop sobbing, and pointed to the tag on her ear. "Number K647. That's the number they gave me."
"You are not livestock. Something like that cannot be considered a name. What is your own name?" Ignis pinched the tag between his fingers, feeling profoundly uncomfortable.
His words seemed to sting her. The girl shot to her feet, shouting, "What else could you want me here for? You surely didn't come here to discuss life and ideals with me, right? Let's be direct. You pin me down, I grit my teeth and endure it, and you have your fun!"
As she spoke, she began to pull off her stockings.
"Don't take off the stockings!"
"You prefer them on? So you're that type?"
Her question made it hard for Ignis to keep a straight face. What does she mean, 'that type'? Just because you have long legs doesn't mean you should say things like that.
"Fine... leave them on then..." She said, then moved to tear off the stickers. "What position do you prefer? Should I be active, or you?"
"Stop!" Ignis grabbed her hand, preventing her from going further.
"What is wrong with you? Why are you even here?!" she screamed again, her voice breaking into a sob at the end. She tried to break free from Ignis's grip, but the grip strength of a Primaris was not something a young girl could overcome.
"Just use me like a toy! I've accepted my fate! Stop tormenting me!" She beat against Ignis with her other hand, but it was useless.
"Calm down!" Ignis used his other hand to grip her shoulder, holding her steady. He hooked a finger under the bow tie around her neck.
There were finger marks beneath it. Although hidden by the bow tie and concealed with some makeup, the bruising was still visible. The finger impressions were deep, clearly made with considerable force.
"Who did this?" Ignis took a deep breath, the fire in his chest gaining yet another bundle of tinder.
"What's the use in saying? Here, I am just K647, an animal for appreciation, a toy for amusement!"
Her words were fierce, her emotions high, her body flushing with blood. But the next moment, the girl's body suddenly went limp, as if her bones had been removed. Ignis quickly caught her, holding her close.
Then she began to convulse violently, sweating profusely. To prevent her from biting off her tongue during the seizure, Ignis could only wedge a finger into her mouth.
Fortunately, the sudden convulsions didn't last long. The girl soon calmed down, but she was drenched from head to toe, as if pulled from water. "Are you alright?" Ignis asked as he saw her eyes reopen, removing his finger.
"You... what kind of person are you? Why did you come..." Her voice was suddenly weak, her hair plastered to her skin with sweat, all traces of her earlier bravado gone.
"You... are you from Public Security..." She forced the words out with great difficulty, her chest heaving violently as if she were drowning.
"I am not."
"But you were right… you are not a bad person... you meant no harm..." She slowly sat up from the crook of Ignis's arm. "What did you come here for..."
"What was that just now? An illness?"
The girl tried to sit up, but she was too weak and couldn't support herself, falling against Ignis's chest.
"It's... the drugs... Yesterday was my first time... serving a guest. I wasn't cooperative. He forced me to take the drug." She recounted her experience with a calm tone, as if talking about someone else. "Then he kept choking me until I passed out..."
The brand on his face began to burn, a faint pain that nonetheless caused Ignis anguish. This girl is beyond saving. She has been contaminated.
"Who did it?" Ignis took a deep breath, adding another bundle of dry timber to the rage in his chest.
"How funny... you ask that, could it be... you want to avenge me?" She offered a tragic smile. "I heard someone call him Francis... a short bastard..."
Good. This debt can be settled together.
"I will avenge you."
"Mister... who are you? Am I hallucinating..."
"Someone who plans to burn this place to ashes." Ignis took off his sunglasses, his crimson eyes burning with hatred. He could no longer wait to retrieve his power armor; he would tear this damned place apart today.
He laid the girl down on the bed, making her comfortable. Then he picked up the two cases of liquor, drew his combat knife, and cut the bedsheet into strips. He bundled the liquor bottles three together, then uncorked one bottle from a set and stuffed a cloth strip inside. A simple Molotov cocktail was complete.
"Tell me about yourself." Ignis spoke to the girl as he continued making the incendiary devices.
"Me? What is there to say?"
"You must have your own name, your own past. You are definitely not just some livestock numbered as K647." Ignis said, turning the bottle in his hand upside down to let the cloth wick soak up the liquor.
"You want to know how I ended up here?" The girl had recovered some strength and managed to sit up. "It's simple. My father got hooked on drugs, then borrowed money from loan sharks and couldn't pay it back. My mother and I were captured and brought here to settle the debt."
"What are you doing?" The girl watched Ignis tying the bottles together, somewhat curious.
"I said I would burn this place to ashes, so I'm making some Molotov cocktails." Ignis finished another one as he spoke.
"You really are a man of action. Others have tried to resist before, but they failed. The leader was flayed alive right in front of all of us." The girl said, reaching out towards Ignis. "Can I make one?"
Ignis handed her three bottles and a few cloth strips. The girl's movements were slow but determined. She poured her remaining strength into it, tying the three bottles securely and finishing with a bow knot.
She tried to turn the bundle over but lacked the strength, so she just pushed it towards him.
Ignis took it and completed the assembly.
"You said you were captured with your mother. How is she?"
"I don't know. I never saw her again. Maybe she's already dead." The girl's eyes grew dim. Addicted, trapped in this den of daemons... even if this giant destroys this place today, where could I go?
Her family was shattered, and she herself could find no shred of hope. She silently watched as Ignis bundled all the liquor together. Eight homemade Molotov cocktails were now complete. "Do you know where the others are being held?" Ignis asked her.
"No. I was blindfolded when they brought me here." The girl lowered her head. "You want to save the others? By yourself?"
"Have to try." Ignis memorized this girl's thermal radiation signature. He could use it to find his way later.
"Tell me, can you kill me?" The girl suddenly uttered these words, stunning Ignis completely.
"Why?"
"I have nowhere to go. Even if you save me, where could I go? And now they've forced this addiction on me... my life is over!" The girl spoke, lowering her head again, just as she had when she first entered.
"I don't want to live so filthily. If you truly want to help me... then grant me release... At least now my soul is still clean, not twisted." Ignis saw resolve and courage in the girl's eyes.
"I..." Instinct made Ignis want to refuse this request, but he understood the girl had been tainted by Slaanesh. Granting her release now was perhaps the kinder option.
At least she won't have to watch her body mutate and her will warp. She can die as a human.
"I understand." Ignis stood up. "I will try not to let you suffer."
He reached out and took hold of the girl's bruised neck.
"You still haven't told me your name."
"Iori." The girl was no longer crying. Instead, she showed a smile. She was truly beautiful, probably a skilled swimmer with an athletic build. The kind of girl popular in school, secretly admired.
Her life should not have ended in a place like this, on a bed in a den of demons.
But this was all Ignis could do for her.
"I will remember your name. And I will burn this place to ashes in your name." Ignis turned his face away, unable to look at the girl's face.
"..."
The Primaris applied force instantly. Muscles enhanced with tendon coils snapped the girl's slender neck, severing and destroying the nerves.
Ignis bit through his lip, blood dripping down.