The Slaughterhouse

Her biggest priority had to be getting the soul fragment that was offered as a reward; it would save on eof her friends, and his son. Even if it meant fighting in front of the crowd in... this.

No. It wasn't like they'd pull out anything particularly strong, she could go in, win the battle and be out quickly. No problem. And it had the added advantage of not needing to wander around all day.

Lightning stiffened, glanced out of her inadequate hiding place, and quickly gauged the location of the nearest inn. There were places like that all throughout the remaining world; here they were likely meant to give places for people who'd tired themselves out at the nightly parties to recover. They were a place to sleep for as long as she wanted but, more importantly than that, they were a shelter.

She just had to cross the street first. Lightning swallowed, but still moved out of the doorway.

She kept her eyes on her destination, doing her best to ignore just how much air she could feel on her skin. Of all things, why did she have to be trapped in this glorified bikini? She'd never choose to expose this much skin.

Her pace quickened, trying to forget the fact that even at this early hour Yusnaan was one of the busiest places in the world.

"I need a room," she said brusquely as she reached the inn.

Her cheeks went hot as she waited there. Woefully indecent panties tight against her ass, with her bra visible against her bare back to confirm that, yes, she really was wearing so little. It wasn't even a proper bra, no shoulder straps; it only stayed on by being secured tightly around her chest.

It felt like far too much would pop into view if she so much as breathed wrong.

Flushing, Lightning ducked past the innkeeper the moment she could.

And then she had her own room. Well, technically not a room, but there was a curtain she could draw as a divider so thankfully no one could see her.

Now she just had to wait, and pray she could somehow shift to a different garb.

Night fell, and Lightning was left still in her awful armour. A choker, boots, gauntlets... But on all the important parts of her body she was exposed, little more than a black and red metal bikini as clothing.

She didn't know what the garb was worse at being, armour or even just regular clothing.

Flushing, she tried to move out of the inn as silently as she could. It didn't meant much; the moment she opened the door to slip out the music and noise of Yusnaan at night blasted through.

She didn't stay to see who'd looked up at the sound, didn't want to know who'd been treated to a parting glimpse of her pantie-clad ass.

And that was another thing; it was tight enough to outline every little contour of what it was meant to cover. Lightning swallowed, then swallowed again as she saw the crowd.

Ok. Best to just get this over with.

She hurried to the Slaughterhouse. The soul fragment was still up as a prize, she had to prioritise that. Focus on who she was helping, not on the fact that she was hurrying past hundreds of people in what could only charitably be referred to as underwear.

She spoke to the organiser, far too conscious of the fact that most of her chest was displayed, and at the very least managed to get entered into the fight.

Any other time and she'd have counted that as a victory. Now, though?

At least she'd see if this garb really qualified as any kind of armour. It had better have some serious power behind it.

Lightning faltered at the entry to the arena. She could hear the roar of the crowd beyond it, the strong reminder that oh, yes, these battles were known for having spectators. A lot of spectators; she'd fought in here before to train, and she remembered seeing the stands packed.

She tried to steel herself. Get in, get out, get it over with as quickly as possible and they wouldn't see much.

Oh god, who was she kidding? Wearing as little as she was, she could be in there for less than a second and they'd still see too much.

Cheeks hot, Lightning strode into the arena, pursing her lips to keep from making an undignified sound at how it felt to be the centre of attention.

No. Don't focus on that, don't focus on the hundreds of people watching you, focus on the enemy. A draconian serpent... thing she'd seen around before, though this one might have been more dangerous. No, ok, she could deal with that.

Lightning started running, arcing around the beast. maybe if she moved fast no one would be able to focus on her?

It was almost the only hope she had. She ducked in closer, slashing; then realising she might be giving too much of a view of her ass, she moved away.

She'd started backflipping a surprisingly amount recently; she was capable of it with ease, and it was a good way to back away from an enemy without just going in a straight, predictable line. It was always harder to hit a moving target.

That, and sometimes she could fire off a bit of magic as she moved. That was her plan at least; whirl through the air, away from the creature before it could strike back, fire a spell.

That wasn't what happened. She was midway through her first flip, her back flexing-

And her bra tore. The motion alone was enough to turn it from inadequate to non-existent, the scrap of metal and fabric falling to the arena floor uselessly, the lack of even shoulder straps meaning it didn't even try to stay on.

"Ahh!" Lightning didn't get a spell out, hurriedly stopping her flips to crouch down, one arm on her blade and the other over her now-bared chest.

Oh no, no, no. Gauntlets, boots, a choker, and panties. She was basically just wearing panties in full view of a cheering crowd.

"Don't see that every day!" the announcer said, spurring on more cheers. Lightning's cheeks burned.

Hurriedly, she stumbled back, well aware she was still in a fight.

Ok. So long as she could get through this one-handed she'd be fine, there was no way she was going to move her arm. She was not going to flash her tits to the crowd. She just wasn't.