Hmm...

What to do now...?

It seems like I'm surrounded by a lot of people.

They are all armed and the look in their eyes definitely can't be called friendly.

Ugh...

It seems like someone saw me mercilessly knock out the curse guy and Spectre.

Moreover, their screams attracted even more people.

...

Well, damn.

I'm all out of mana, exhausted and still a bit depressed.

The correct way to handle this would be to talk myself out of it...

But look...

There are two unconscious injured kids near me with faces twisted in fear.

And then there's me with my tired expression and cat soul turned on...

Even if nobody saw me do the deed...

From an outsider's perspective, I must obviously seem like the villain here.

There's no helping it, right?

...

No no no...

Give me a break!

Come on, me!

Talk yourself out of this!

"Wai-"

"Heavenly slash!"

Argh, they won't even let me talk.

One of the adventurers yelled out his special skill move.

It's really just a forward jump accompanied by an overhead slash...

In other words, the most telegraphed attack in the history.

Side step it.

Place one hand on top of his sword and the other one below his stomach.

Aaaaand... there you go.

A beautiful somersault.

You should work on your landing though.

Crashing into your friends with your body upside down won't net you ten points from the judges.

"Wh-?! Be careful! She's stronger than she appears!"

Oh come on...

Can we stop this already?

Just this night, I had to fight so many people...

And I even used both tiger soul and panther soul.

It takes a toll on me, you know?

"Can we pl-"

"""Arcane bindings!"""

Still won't let me talk...

Argh!

I'm so tired, I heard the same thing from three different directions now!

...

Wait...

There actually are three of them.

Are they sisters?

Triplets?

Near the three kneeling mages, vine-like purple ropes sprout from the ground and head straight for me.

I pull out my claws and flex my body while clawing at the ropes.

I forgot about this, but the Kat slippers have a perk of making me very flexible, don't they?

Who would have thought it would come in handy in such a situation?

Well, it still feels like playing a bullet hell game...

"N-no way!"

Yes way.

But, please don't do that again.

It's a pain to deal with.

Still...

I didn't expect to cut these magical ropes so easily...

...

Hmm?!

Oh, come on!

While I was busy dodging, they 'rescued' Spectre and the curse guy!

Damn...

This is all wrong!

They are the bad guys here!

Don't tend to them now!

What if they wake up and go crazy on us?

"Stop! You'll get cursed!"

Oh, there we go.

I finally forced my tired self to yell at them.

Good job, me.

That ought to solve everything, right?

...

Hey, Mr. knight...

Why did you just look at the black marks on their bodies and then turned at me with an angry expression?

I think you misunderstood something.

"You... vile monster!"

What?

There's a monster nearby?

Sounds dangerous.

You should all run away and leave me alone already.

...

No, stabbing that huge lance at me isn't running away.

You're doing it wrong.

Ah, well...

Not like an attack of this magnitude can hit me, can it?

I just have to move my head out of the way and-

"Ignite!"

Huh?

The tip of the lance just burst out in fire.

What a cheeky trick...

But then again, there's no way such a flashy move can hit me.

Since all of its firepower is concentrated on the lance's tip, all I have to do is run toward the knight.

A nice pat on his belly with my fist should pacify him.

...

But there are still too many people here.

This used to be a secret underground base, you know?

Isn't this a little too pitiful to have so many outsiders in here now?

"Ken! What do we do against this monster?!"

"Kgh... prepare the Grand seal! I'll distract her!"

"U-understood!"

...

You know that I can hear you, right?

How do you plan on distracting me when I know you are going to try to distract me...?

Well, never mind.

It seems like it's impossible to resolve this peacefully.

...

What?

I didn't try very hard?

Shut it, me.

When I'm this exhausted, talking takes even more action points than dodging an undodgeable binding spell, you know?

And even then, they wouldn't listen anyway.

Look, they all seem very eager to defeat me.

And it's not like I'm in that one story about ninjas where the enemies love talking to each other before their inevitable battle to death.

...

Argh!

Screw this.

Let's just grab those two and run.

"Heavenly sl-aaaargh!"

After watching this guy do another amazing somersault, of course.

...

Well then...

I approach one of the mage triplets, who tended to the curse guy and Spectre, and gave her a light punch into the stomach.

Of course, she couldn't react to it at all and my hit successfully stunned her.

After dealing with her, I grabbed the two over my shoulders.

People around me tried to stop me with everything they had.

Arrows, swords, magic spells...

Well, luckily, this place has surprisingly tall ceilings for a base that's supposed to be used by small cats.

Tall enough for me to jump out of the way and over everyone.

Very convenient.

"She ran! After her!"

Ah, yes.

Come chasing after me.

I'm not trying to mislead you or anything.

That's right...

Right this way...

Away from the prison area.

And when I inevitably lose all of you due to the difference in our speed, I'll circle around and head back there.

Well, I'm not very familiar with the entire layout of this place, but I can more or less guess which way to go.

This place is very interconnected, after all.

...

"She went over there!"

Yes, I went over there.

Shoo, shoo!

Ah, there we go.

Finally, a straight path to the prison area.

And most of them are still searching in the opposite direction.

Good good...

Now I can just place these two in a cage and be done with it...

...

Not.

What's up with this?

Why are you guys here already?

Didn't the bloodthirsty me of the past tell you I would return with that guy's head?

...

Come on...

I get why Ignis, Cana and Deliah are avoiding eye contact with me...

But why do even you look so nervous, Mable?

"Meow!!!"

"Hey... I got'em."

A thumbs up signifies mission complete.

...

You can stop with your stares any moment you want...

...

T-the sooner the better...

...

P-please?

"Meow! Meow!"

What is it Kuro?

Are you mad at me too?

Huh?

Pointing at the cage over there?

Do you want me to put those two inside?

Sure, I can do that...

...

Hmm...?

Oh, hey.

You already put the blue cat and the others back in their cages.

That's good.

Wouldn't want her escaping, now would we...?

I walked over to the cage Kuro pointed me to and opened the door.

I stepped inside and put those two down when suddenly...

Clank.

The cage door closed behind me.

"Huh...?"

"Meow!"

H-hey, what are you doing?

You're supposed to lock it after I walk outside.

W-why does everyone look so serious all of a sudden...?

Am I being punished for earlier...?

As I grab the cage's bars and plead with my eyes to let me out, the wires running along the cage's bars suddenly light up.

I feel something weighing down on me and I drop on my knees.

It's as if all my strength left me.

W...

Wh-

W-w-w-w-what?!

Wait, no!

Am I being betrayed right now?!

N-no way!

T-that's not happening, is it?!

I looked up at everyone in panic.

I-Ignis!

Do something!

Mable?!

...

D-deliah...?

...

I'm scared...

Why...

Why is this happening?

Was I too naive to trust everyone?

Is this what I get for acting so carefree?

"... it's not working."

Huh...?

Did Veras say something?

"Well... sorry for the abruptness, I guess."

W-what?

What's happening?

"It's... based on the blue cat's skill. It's supposed to seal all your magic and skills... but it's not working."

I...

Don't understand...

"Sorry Nina! This guy said this can disable that scary skill of yours... It's not like we were planning on keeping you here as one of the prisoners!"

...

Is that...

So...

"Wh-?! She's crying! Why is she crying?! Hey, you! It was your idea! Apologize to her!"

Ah, what am I doing...

Isn't this a total overreaction?

Maybe not...

Being betrayed and imprisoned by my friends would be...

Ugh...

"Stop dodging! Bow down your head and properly apologize, you jerk!"

...

Uhh, but...

Didn't panther soul run out already?

Why would you still need to seal my magic and skills?