Women and girls. Maybe five or six of them, huddled together, filthy and terrified.

Oh, fuck.

Kyle's face went pale. "What the—?"

His sword dropped slightly, grip loosening as his brain tried to process what he was seeing.

I felt my stomach twist, bile rising in my throat.

Behind me, I heard a choking sound.

Kai stumbled backward, pressed his back against the tunnel wall, sliding down until he was sitting, knees pulled up to his chest.

Sira stood frozen, her axes hanging loose in her hands. Her jaw was clenched so tight I could see the muscle twitching. Her knuckles were white around the grips.

"Fucking goblins," she hissed, her voice shaking with barely contained rage. "Fucking monsters!"

Tobias had gone completely still, his flame spell flickering out. "They're..." He swallowed hard. "They're still alive."

Kyle took a shaky step forward, then another, his hand trembling as he sheathed his sword. "We have to, we have to get them out."

The women didn't respond.

They just stayed huddled together, pressed against the back of the cages.

One of them, a girl, maybe sixteen, flinched violently when Kyle moved closer, scrambling backward until she hit the cage wall.

"No... no, please," Her voice was barely a whisper, hoarse and broken.

Kyle froze immediately, raising his hands. "It's okay. We're, we're here to help. We're not going to hurt you."

She just kept shaking, her arms wrapped around herself.

I moved forward, crouched down near the nearest cage, keeping my distance and movements slow.

There were three women inside. One was curled in the fetal position, her breathing shallow and ragged. Another sat against the wall, staring at nothing, her face bruised and swollen. The third's stomach was swollen. Distended.

Oh god.

"Kyle," I said quietly, "The locks. Can you break them?"

My mana is depleted, can't edit them right now.

He nodded shakily, pulling out a small knife. "Yeah. Yeah, I can."

He moved to the first cage, his hands trembling as he worked at the crude rope bindings holding the door shut.

It took him three tries before he managed to cut through.

The door swung open.

None of the women moved.

"It's okay," Kyle said softly, his voice breaking. "You're safe now. We're going to get you out of here."

Still, they didn't move.

Sira stepped forward, her axes sheathed now, her expression hard but her voice gentler than I'd ever heard it. "Come on. We'll carry you if we have to. But we're getting you out."

One of the women, the one with the swollen stomach, finally looked up. Her eyes were hollow, empty, like something inside her had broken a long time ago.

She didn't say anything.

Just nodded.

Slowly, painfully, she started to move.

We freed them one by one.

Six women total. Three with swollen bellies. Some had broken bones, arms bent at wrong angles, fingers twisted. One couldn't walk at all, her legs too damaged.

Kyle and Sira carried her between them.

Tobias stayed near the back, his face pale, hands shaking as he tried to help one of the younger girls stand. She flinched every time he moved.

"I'm not... I won't hurt you," he stammered.

She didn't respond. Just let him guide her forward, her eyes unfocused.

Kai was still sitting against the wall, his head in his hands. He was shaking.

I crouched beside him. "Kai. We need to move."

"I can't," he whispered. "I-I can't—"

"You can." I kept my voice steady. "We need to get them out. And we need you."

He looked up at me, his eyes red. "How do you, how are you so calm?"

"I'm not," I said quietly. "But we don't have a choice. So get up."

He stared at me for a moment longer, then nodded shakily and pushed himself to his feet.

We moved slowly, carefully, guiding the women out of the nest.

Every step was agonizing. Some of them could barely walk. Others were completely silent, their faces blank, their bodies moving on autopilot.

One of them, a girl with dark hair matted with blood started crying halfway through the tunnel. Quiet, broken sobs that she tried to muffle with her hands.

Sira stopped, turning back. "Hey. Hey, it's okay. We're almost out."

But the girl just kept crying.

She pressed her hands harder against her mouth, her whole body trembling, like she was trying to stop but couldn't.

Sira's jaw tightened, but she didn't say anything else. Just stayed close, her presence the only comfort she could offer.

We kept moving.

Finally, we reached the edge of the breeding chamber, the main tunnel entrance just ahead. Sunlight filtered through from outside, pale, golden, clean.

Almost there.

Kyle stopped, glancing back at the group. "Should we... check the rest? Make sure there aren't more?"

I looked at the women. At Kai, who was barely holding himself together, his face pale and his hands still shaking. At the girl still crying, clinging to Sira's arm like letting go would kill her.

"No," I said flatly. "We head back. Now."

Kyle hesitated, then nodded. "Yeah. Okay. Let's get them out of here."

Tobias exhaled shakily. "Thank god."

We turned toward the exit.

And then we heard it.

Shrieking.

Not from behind us.

From ahead.

From the sides.

Multiple voices, high-pitched and frenzied, echoing through the tunnels.

Kyle's face went white. "No. No, no, no!"

The ground trembled slightly as footsteps pounded closer.

And then they poured out.

More than ten. Maybe fifteen. Coming from the side tunnels we hadn't cleared, flooding into the main chamber like a swarm.

"Fuck!" Sira snarled, drawing her axes.

"We're surrounded!" Kai's voice cracked, his spear shaking in his hands.

Tobias stepped backward. "There's too many!"

The women screamed.

Not all of them. But the younger ones... they screamed, raw and terrified.

The girl clinging to Sira's arm flinched violently, her sobs turning into panicked gasps. She pressed herself against Sira, trying to make herself smaller, her whole body shaking uncontrollably.

"No no, please... not again," Her voice was barely coherent, choked with terror.

Another woman collapsed to her knees, her hands over her head, rocking back and forth.

I stared at the girl clinging to Sira.

And something inside me snapped.

She's just...

And they!

They—!

My vision tunneled, the edges going dark.

I looked at the goblins pouring into the chamber, their yellow eyes gleaming, their crude weapons raised, their mouths twisted.

You did this.

My hand tightened around the axe.

No.

Not anymore.

"Kyle," I said quietly, my voice flat and cold.

He looked at me, and whatever he saw in my face made him go still.

"Get them out," I continued. "All of them. Sira, Kai, Tobias, get them to the exit. Now."

"Jin—" Kyle started.

"Now."

Sira looked at me, then at the goblins, then back at me. "You can't take them all alone."

"You don't have time to argue."

"Jin—"

"Get. Them. Out."

She stared at me for one more second, then cursed under her breath. "Fine. But don't you dare die."

She grabbed the girl clinging to her and started pulling her toward the exit. "Come on! Everyone, move! Now!"

Kyle hesitated, torn, but Tobias was already dragging one of the women toward the tunnel.

"Kyle!" I snapped.

He flinched, then nodded, his jaw tight. "Don't die, you idiot."

I didn't answer.

He turned and ran.

I tore a mana potion from my pocket, uncorked it with my teeth, and swallowed it in one go.

Warm and bitter liquid burned its way down my throat, spreading through my veins as the emptiness inside me slowly sealed shut.

Suddenly, one of the goblins broke from the horde, and bolted for the tunnel exit.

Straight toward Kyle and others.

"No."

My hand was already moving.

I snatched my axe and hurled it without hesitation.

[String Edit: Trajectory Correction.]

The weapon twisted midair, its path snapping into place like a rewritten equation.

The shriek was cut off as the axe slammed through the goblin's skull and buried itself deep into the stone wall behind it with a wet thud. The body jerked once, then hung there, limp.

Silence rippled through the tunnel.

My eyes burned, leaking a harsh blue glow that refused to dim.

I drew my sword.

Metal whispered free of the sheath as my gaze lifted to the remaining goblins, a couple of floating strings and panels flickered into view above them.

I stepped forward.

"Nothing here leaves."

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