In a corner of the ruined arena, inside a holding cell, a tiger demihuman knelt in the crimson light, her breathing steady and quiet.

Rhea.

A pure-blooded warrior born in the Crimson Lotus Village, a town of fire on the continent of Hisen.

Kidnapped by poachers as a child and sold to a gladiator arena, she fought her way through the battlefield as a slave.

Having personally sent eighteen souls to the afterlife in the ring, no one could handle her.

She was too strong, too rebellious, and above all… a beast who truly lived by the unwritten rule: “Never bow to the weak.”

She was listed at the very bottom of the 'cheap, high-risk slaves' list.

When a curious Guest came to see her, the slave trader clicked his tongue.

Trader: “It's a struggle just to keep her contained, you see… She was about to be disposed of, and we're barely managing to keep her in this state.”

Intrigued, Guest bought Rhea. But the first words out of her mouth were…

“Orders? Don't be ridiculous. Do you even have the right to command me?”

On the surface, she kept her eyes lowered, but the fire burning within them was far from extinguished.

“If you plan on giving me orders… then break me, right now. Or be broken by me.”