Chapter 696

Kat clenched her teeth as she dropped the fans in her arms, wrapping the newly freed appendages around the cable Kat yanked the end as hard as she could hoping to catch the smallest Thyme off guard. Sadly for Kat they simply let go of the cable letting it fall behind Kat after she was finished with it. Kat kept her eye on the nearby area, making sure nobody was approaching her as she tried to undo the cable restricting her breathing.

The cable itself was already digging deeply into her flesh and Kat couldn’t find a spot to slide her fingers between the metal and her neck without simply ripping into it. While that was technically an option, Kat didn’t want to risk the chance that they’d tighten the noose further causing all sorts of issues with her regeneration. Kat tried simply sliding it back but felt the cable catching. Running her fingers around the effected area revealed slightly staggered fraying that prevented her from just pulling the cable off that way.

Kat growled and tried to push the hole open wider by feeding it more rope but the metal was a tough one and she didn’t really have the space to use her full strength on the small circle, especially with no room to really manoeuvre. The lack of air wasn’t really getting to her yet but Kat wasn’t sure how she was going to get this thing off.

*Hmm... a tough choice I have here. I might have to try and take out the Thymes first. If I can get the space I might be able to pry up or push down those loose threads. I can’t believe I didn’t notice that shit when the lasso was thrown at me.*

Kat dashed forward, cutting her thoughts short when she heard something moving nearby. Taking no chances Kat just charged at the Thyme she could see. A good thing too, as another lasso had been thrown towards her previous location. Growling and the indignity felt rather worthwhile even as it reduced her available oxygen, Kat kept up her charge kicking the Thyme that appeared in the previous one’s place. This was her third Thyme trying to remove a Thyme from the room. She was just about to finish her kick when she remembered the last time she’d nearly destroyed the support.

Quickly changing her plan Kat bent her leg at the knee and shifted slightly to kick them forward into the back wall instead of the side. The Thyme made use of this change and managed to get a plate in front of Kat’s foot. What Kat wasn’t prepared for was that as her leg made contact with the plate, instead of holding up as the others did it bent around her foot, trapping it slightly, just long enough for another bundle of that damned cabling to get wrapped around her foot. Kat yanked her leg backwards causing the Thyme to stumble but some damage was already done. Her foot was now layered in metal and wrapped up slightly, unbalancing her.

Sadly for Kat, it seemed the other Thymes, now with their charges outside, were prepared to gang up on her. Kat’s tail reacted to an attack behind her trying to slap the Thyme away... only to get captured by another lasso behind. Kat looked over her shoulder just as three more sets of cables were thrown towards her. Kat tried to dash out of the way but her metal covered foot couldn’t find proper purchase on the ground, slipping and causing her to stumble. One lasso managed to wrap itself around her windmilling arm while the other wrapped itself around her horns, jerking her head to the side.

.....

Time wasn’t passing all that quickly but she was burning energy and oxygen. The tight grip on her neck and lack of breathing was starting to catch up to her. Thoughts were growing less distinct and the desire to burn everything with her demonic fire was bubbling up within her breast. What stayed Kat’s hand was more the fact that her team members were nearby and the room was made of flammable material then Thyme’s request not to use it at this point. Though Kat did spend a split-second wondering if that mattered considering her fire burned cold.

Kat strained against the bindings trying to thrash around but the strength of multiple Thymes seemed to be enough. How much of that was the additional bodies, the lack of oxygen, the limiter bracelet, or just plain escalation on Thyme’s behalf, Kat didn’t know as soon more lassos managed to make their way over Kat. Binding her arms to her sides properly before a veritable wave of cabling started to cover her from toe to head, completely eliminating her movement. The wrapping continued until it covered her completely, so completely she couldn’t move at all nor could she see outside. Kat let out an annoyed hiss as she was picked up and felt a slight tug on the lasso that was around her neck.

Kat strained to fight back, doing anything she could, even biting into the cables that ended up in her mouth. Alas, her jaw strength was not sufficient for the task. Kat couldn’t tell where she was being carried as her thoughts got fuzzier and fuzzier. Kat knew she could hold on to herself for a bit longer, and if she started to really circulate her demonic energy around her lungs, perhaps her issues could be staved off for longer. Alas, Kat wasn’t really in the right mind to think about it at all... and perhaps some of the drugs lingered, for she decided it was a good idea to sleep...

—

Kat awoke with a start trying to move and finding that she was still the only wire that had been removed was the one around her neck. Kat breathed in deeply, basking in the glorious oxygen. She knew, intellectually it must have been removed some time ago, but that was immaterial. She was awake now and the oxygen was glorious.

*Now the only question remains. Where am I and can I escape somehow?* Kat could tell she’d be bound into a sitting position, her tail tied to the back of what felt like a basic wooden chair. Her legs had been tied around the two front legs and her arms were tied together behind her back. Her wings had been compressed down at uncomfortable angles because her torso was tied tightly to the chair back and the cabling left no proper allowances for her wings. Kat tried to shift her hands at all but found that they were bound extra tightly with a few extra wires both to each other, the chair back, and perhaps even the back legs. Her hands weren’t going anywhere.

That was when Kat heard a groan coming from behind her, “Did anyone get the name of the manticore that hit me? I think I need to return the favour...” grumbled a voice she recognised as Blue’s.

Kat shifted her mouth the best she could, feeling the skin pinch as the cables dug in trying to stay in place. Luckily there was enough slack to move her jaw but Kat new it’d take a good deal of strength and some careful articulation to not sound funny. “The food was poisoned,” adds Kat ‘helpfully’

“Ugh, dumb mistake. I didn’t realise we were actually still IN a round. I thought Thyme really had given us a break,” grumbled Blue.

“Yeah sorry, I maybe should have mentioned that,” said Kat awkwardly, both not quite wanting to admit she’d sort of known something was going to happen and because it was physically uncomfortable to speak with all the cables digging into her face.

“How did you figure it out?” asked Blue between grunts. Kat was guessing, based on the shifting and huffing coming from behind her Blue was similarly, if less extensively bound behind her.

“Lily, my... girlfriend? Familiar? Look we have a magical bond and I didn’t want to bring her into the tournament, let alone while she was sleeping so I asked Thyme to look after her. The fact that Lily wasn’t returned to me while I ate...” Kat trails off as a way to avoid further speaking.

“Yeah, that’s annoying. Not that I blame you, the food was good and the room was distracting I completely let me guard down. Though... how do you know it everything was drugged?” asked Blue while continuing her attempt at escape.

“It didn’t work on me, either because of my demonic physique being different enough to the other races of this world, or perhaps my regeneration as able to negate the effects? I’ve not really been poisoned yet actually. Experienced a lot of pain, but not all that much poison. Perhaps something to look into,” said Kat.

“Hmm...” mumbles Blue, “Well, what is the most painful thing you’ve regenerated from?”

Kat thinks back and shivers at one of her earlier demonic memories, “Well, there are some things that are more immediately painful... but falling face first onto gravel and having it cut into me as I rolled and then experiencing my body healing as it slowly pushed little pieces of gravel out of my body... yeah that’s got to be the worst one. Just basic pain is so much easier to ignore,”

“Regen seems a lot less cool now,” said Blue with a grimace. Kat disagreed, it was still very cool.