The Ugly Truth

"Calm down, everyone! Please go to the other hall immediately!" The staff tried to calm the customers, but they were all too busy saving their lives. 

Titania and Sylvester looked at each other and nodded; it was their cue. Alger and Blaze must be leading the other knights in raiding this place and scaring all the people. If they knew that the Archduke was behind this, they'd surely freak out. 

"It's alright now. We've taken care of the intruders." One of the guards announced that he looked like he was the best knight guarding this place, which made the people feel at ease as if they weren't panicking. 

The host took back his mic, "Now, everyone on to the second hall, please. We're doing a live show." 

Titania nudged Sylvester's arm because she couldn't understand what was happening, but the Archduke ignored her and just held her hand as they walked with the crowd towards the second hall. 

There's something different with the second hall. It's a close stadium, but it's not that colossal compared to what Nina usually sees back in her original world. And the centre part is also smaller, more like a circus. 

They placed the cage with a red cloth in the middle. 

"Now, who's excited about this live torture show?" 

Her forehead creased as the people screamed in excitement like nothing had ever happened before. 'Live Torture show?' she couldn't believe her ears, Nina thought that the world she came from was already ugly, but it seems like there's far uglier than what she sees outside. 

"Let's welcome the lady in the blazing red dress." 

The light pointed to Titania, gaining all their attention. Sylvester nudged her as a gesture for her to act well. And, of course, she didn't need to be told that. 

She confidently made her way to the centre without knowing what she needed to do. All eyes followed the beautiful lady with the gorgeous attire that could swoon every man out of their feet.  The host gazed at Titania with indecent looks, "What shall we call you milady?" 

She smiled, making them focus on what she was about to say, "Red."  That short answer made the men fall in love with her. Even the host couldn't help his desire to touch the young woman's waist, although she quickly swats his hand as she looks at him up and down and makes him feel small. 

"N-Now, shall we begin this event?" 

Loud cheers filled the whole stadium as they brought out a table full of weapons, the whip in red caught Titania's attention right away.

'Is this how I think it is?' she thought as her gaze shifted to the Archduke who went missing as soon as she got on the centre of the stadium. 'He must be doing his mission already.'

"Lady Red would have to choose something to use on her cute slave." 

The audience kept throwing words to Titania on what she should choose to make the show even more exciting. But her eyes are already fixed with the whip. 

Without hesitation, she picked up the whip. It made the people thrilled with what she was about to do. With her appearance, they could expect that attention is a must for her. The staff now removed the red cloth above the werewolf's cage. 

One of the guards pulled the werewolf out of the cage. With shackles on both of his arms and legs, he couldn't walk properly. Titania let out loud sinister laughter, which caught all of them off guard.

Astra also modified her and Sylvester's voices to make their disguise unbreakable. "What are you still doing? Get out of here." She told the guard as he kicked him off of the centre. 

The audience stayed silent until one of the men cheered for how hot and sassy she looked when she kicked that guard. "Shall I start now?" She licked her lips, which took aback the host, and he nervously nodded. 

Titania checked out the whip that was in her hand. Ugly memories of the time in the Viscount's manor came back into her mind. Making this creature in front of her experience such pain is making her feel repulsed. 

But if she didn't start now, there wouldn't be enough time for making distractions. 

Titania brutally whipped the young werewolf with all her strength. It came to the point that the viewers are getting scared with how she is laughing while hurting the poor creature. 

That made the people realize that others are more sickening than they already are. The sound of the whip landing on the poor werewolf's body traumatized the audience, but the werewolf didn't react at all. 

As if it was nothing, he kept his head on the ground and continued receiving it. 

"L-Lady Red, please don't kill him in front of the people." Titania chuckled after hearing that from the host's voice. 

"Kill?" her laugh grew louder, echoing all through the stadium.  "Wasn't it these people enjoy killing these creatures? Selling them, torturing them, and treating them as slaves? And now that I am showing you a wonderful show, you want me to stop?" 

The eerie aura coming from the lady terrified the nobles who were watching her turn into a psychopath. 

"Hypocrites. I thought you loved these live torture shows? Aren't you going to hype me some more?" They responded with silence. It left Titania all alone in the bright light with a whip in her hand. 

"Don't talk too much, and just do it!" The man with the blue mask shouted, garnering their attention. 

Titania's eyes twinkled as an idea came into her head, 'Sylvester told me to act right, but he didn't tell me anything about going wild.'  She smiled as she tried to hit the man with the blue mask with her whip, making him scared while getting off his seat. This imprinted fear to the people as they screamed out of panic while Titania clapped her hands out of amusement. 

"No one said I'm not allowed to hit anyone." The deafening screams of women mixed with Titania's laugh permeate the stadium.  People were panicking as they were trying to dodge her whip. The host even tried to stop her, but he was hit at his arm. They called the guards to get a hold of the lady, but the lights suddenly went out, causing more panic. 

"There's an ambush!" 

Ear-splitting sounds occupied the whole stadium; she wanted to laugh at these pathetic nobles trying to save their arses. And as the lights got back, Titania saw all the people running to the exit with their lives at stake. "Yeah, run for your lives." 

She rolled her eyes and noticed no one else besides her, no one but the young werewolf on the ground. She immediately pulled the young werewolf up and placed its arm on her shoulders. 

The lady thought it would be much easier if she was not wearing her high heels, so she removed them and tossed them aside. 'Sorry, Rosie.' 

"Where's the basement anyway?" 

She roamed her vision, but she couldn't even remember the entrance to this stadium, and she was the only one left behind. 

"T...That." The young werewolf did his best to say and pointed in the direction to their left. Although he's feeling weak with all that whipping and hitting. 

"I'm sorry." 

"It… is okay… You… save…" 

Titania felt a familiar feeling upon hearing those words. She couldn't seem to think of what it was and just continued walking down the dark and gloomy hall leading to the said basement, 'Why is it always the basement, though?' 

The two struggled to reach the prisons where all the creatures were locked up. It is visually like the one Viscount Wyman has in his manor but much bigger. 

"M…Moon?" 

Titania felt conflicted after the young werewolf said that. She didn't know what to say, that's why she chose to be quiet. As they walked, creatures from the cages screamed for help after seeing the unfamiliar woman in the red dress. 

"Hey!" Titania sighs as she notices a man behind their back, and he's probably screaming at her. "Stop right there." 

'There's no way we're gonna stop!' she pulled the young werewolf away, but the man ran after them, and being with an injured man didn't help them escape. 

They couldn't get away, and the two were caught by the big build of a man. 

"You, You're the lady in red." 

Before the man could even grab her by the hand, Titania used a technique that she learned as Nina from watching too much MMA on TV. 'My time has come!' 

"Round…house kick!" it hit the man's face making him fall to the ground while Titania's eyes widened in shock. She wasn't expecting it to be that successful. 

"Am I great or what?!" 

After celebrating her successful kick, she used a spell that Astra taught her when she listlessly asked him how to tie a person with an invisible rope. Astra didn't even wonder why she asked such an odd thing and just went with what she wanted. 

Titania clapped her hand as if rubbing off the dust and looked at the man on the ground all tied up, "Now where were we?" She snapped her finger upon remembering to unlock the cages to set the creatures all free. 

"How do I do it again?" 

Before the lady could even remember, she was hit by an unknown person causing her to lose consciousness. 

"Damn it." 

The Archduke tried to find the documents to prove the Marquess's corruption but got hold after the nobles escaped from the premises.  He had already reached the top floor without nuisances, but the seemingly quiet place made him feel uneasy; there were still no reports from Blaze nor Alger. It should be taken now if it's the two of them, but that doesn't seem the case. 

"What's taking them so long?"

He felt a presence behind his back and reacted quickly, dodging the person's punch. He noticed that it's the host at the Auction Hall and the ones who manage the Fantasia. 

Sylvester quickly unsheathed his sword and slashed the man without hesitation. 

"Master." 

Sylvester swings his sword to get rid of the blood, places it back to the sheathing, and faces Alger. "What took you so long?" 

"There's a little bit of a problem." 

Alger reportedly said that most of the nobles had escaped the premises. However, they've acquired the documents that will prove Marquess Byron's illegal trade; they couldn't accomplish it until they've freed the creatures from Fantasia's hand. 

"Where shall we take them, my lord?" pertaining to the creatures that they're planning to set free. 

"We shall take our leave for now. The news of vigilantes attacking this place would come out of the newspaper tomorrow, then we'll get back here to free all of them." 

Alger hesitated as he saw the Archduke's disguise is slowly coming off. "But the lady's missing with the white werewolf." 

Sylvester clenched his fist as he sighed, 'What a pain!' "Where's Blaze?" 

The two weren't aware that the man on the floor whom Sylvester slashed was listening to their conversation. Although he couldn't do anything due to the pain he was feeling. 

The whole Fantasia is still in a state of chaos caused by the vigilante group that's wreaking havoc. They mainly were mercenaries hired by Alger from all over the Alynthia. 

They're called the Dark Knights because they're working undercover to reveal the Emperor's dirty deeds. Sylvester rushed to the basement, leaving the cleanups to Alger, 'What trouble did you bring now?' is what he thought as he examined the place. 

"H-Help." 

Sylvester turned around to see a helpless fairy inside one of the prison cells. He thought that this scene seemed familiar, like what happened to the Viscount Wyman incident. A woman also asked for his help back then. 

"M-My friend… Titania—"

His ears perked up as his eyes turned deadly. "Where is she?" 

After hearing the answer, he didn't hesitate to run in the direction of where the fairy pointed to. "Titania was hit in the head by a huge man, and then he brought them to the exit." He couldn't help but feel anxious about how things were escalating. 

As soon as he reached the exit near the woods. He saw a man with a massive build and a sack of rice on his shoulder. "Mind if I stop you for a minute?" 

He showed a calm and collected expression to the man who ignored him and continued placing the sack on his cart. 

Sylvester pointed his sword to the man's neck, "I said stop." The man violently placed the sack of rice on the cart as he tried to overpower the Archduke, but before he could even land a punch, his head was already blown away. 

Sylvester wiped his sword using the man's clothes. When he opened the two sacks of rice, there he saw Titania, who's unconscious, and the wolf boy. 

"Blaze." 

Blaze, who appeared as soon as Sylvester called his name, "Yes, Master?" 

Sylvester carried the young lady bridal style; since he used lots of his strength, his disguise is coming off. "Bring the wolf boy and the fairy locked in the prison cell to the manor." 

"What about the others?" 

"Tell the others to guard the whole Fantasia; we'll go back tomorrow to arrest all of them with the Emperor's permission." 

When Sylvester was about to take a step towards the carriage, Titania woke up and instantly punched him right in the face. 

This made the Archduke let go of her while he touched his face. It's the first time he got punched. "H-Huh? Sylvester?" 

"That's right, you idiot!" 

"Wait! Where's that guy who hit me in the head?" Titania saw the body of the man on the ground. She grimaced as she noticed the pool of blood. "You couldn't just control yourself, don't you?" 

"Wait!" Titania stopped Blaze from leaving with the wolf boy on his shoulder. "We're taking him." Blaze gazed at the Archduke. Waiting for his permission to let the wolf boy go with them back to the manor. 

"It's fine." 

Blaze brought the unconscious wolf boy to the carriage with Sylvester and Titania. "Why does he have to be in here?" The Archduke doesn't look pleased with the wolf boy sitting beside the fairy, who's currently healing all his wounds. 

"I'm guilty since I caused these wounds." 

"So?" 

Titania rolled her eyes and just ignored the Archduke's complaints. As she continued healing the wolf boy's wounds, he slowly regained consciousness and what greeted him was the Archduke's deadly glare with his arms crossed. 

The wolf boy felt scared out of instinct and clung to Titania's arm.  "Let her arm go, or I'll cut yours." 

Titania frowned as she stared at the Archduke, "What's your problem? Could you please chill and put that sword down?" The lady placed her hand on the wolf boy's shoulder, which irritated Sylvester more. 

"Anyway, what's your name?" 

"Who cares about his name." 

Titania shook her head as she rolled her eyes again, "Hmm?" waiting for the wolf boy's reply while ignoring the sulking Archduke. 

"Rune." 

"What a nice—" Titania couldn't finish her sentence because they instantly arrived back at the Archduchy without even noticing it.  She thought that the Archduke must have contacted Astra to make something for him that could teleport them back to the manor. 'He's that kind of a man..'

"Titania!" 

As they got off of the carriage, Astra greeted them with sweats and an unexplainable expression on his face. "I successfully created the Microlith." This caused a smile to form on Titania's face as she felt thrilled by the thought of going back to her original world. 

"But I noticed something weird." He gulped. "Your world… seems like it stopped moving." 

Titania blinked thousands of times as she didn't understand what Astra said. "What do you mean stopped moving?"