Orihime ran into the passage with a sadistic smile on her face. She was going to get her hands on that guy, no matter what.
She didn't bother getting a torch, as the man who ran ahead of her didn't carry one along with him. Besides, getting a piece of wood and setting it up as a torch felt like a pain, a task she also did not have time for. Thankfully, she was right not to have done so, as the walls of the passage also had fiery torches illuminating the way.
She ran until the passageway led to another open area. This made her wonder just how many hidden areas were in this cave and if she would be able to find the other adventurers after getting her hands on the man.
The open area was just like the last, except instead of four protectors, there was only one ahead of her. From what she could see, there was no other way out apart from the one before her.
"What?!" she heard a familiar voice react in shock. She looked up and saw that it was the same man she was chasing after. "You are still alive?" he asked angrily.
"What did I tell you?" asked Orihime. "Never understand a desperate woman! "Can we talk now?"
"The gods will have justice over you!" the man yelled at her from above. "I will make sure of it!"
"Why do you keep pulling the gods into this?" she asked. "What do those lazy fools have to do with me?" "And what do they know about justice?"
"You blasphemies will not go unpunished, woman!" he responded as he pointed at her, "I will make sure of it!"
"Trust me, if those "gods" you speak of need you to do their job for them, then they should not be worth worshipping, that's for sure," she replied to him.
"Keep blaspheming while you have the chance," he said to her while pulling a lever. It was connected to a large gear while she opened the large protector in front of her. She wondered why he opened the passage in front of her, and she deduced that it either had to be a trap or something dangerous had to be in there.
Orihime noticed there was another passageway, one high above the ground (where the man was standing), with a small platform at its entrance.
She wasn't aware of that exit, but luckily for her, the man had foolishly drawn her attention to it.
"Good luck, woman," he said as he went through the passageway above, "you are going to need it!"
"You stupid idiot," she said to him, "you have just shown me my way out of this mess."
She heard growling sounds coming from within the passageway, and she recognized them immediately. So she wasn't surprised when she saw three large tigers about to come out of the passageway, growling and roaring upon seeing her.
Knowing she had little time, she threw her shield at the lever on the high platform, hoping to move it to the other side, but even though it hit, it wasn't enough to move it all the way through. She caught it back and threw it again, this time with all her might, knowing she didn't have all the time in the world.
It hit the lever, but it was still not enough to push it back to the other side. The Tigers were beginning to close in on her, almost forcing her out of the passageway completely. It was then that she saw the chains, which were directly connected to the protector.
She then spun her entire body, giving her shield the momentum it needed before throwing it at the chains, and thankfully, it successfully cut through the chains, and the large metal protector fell on one of the tigers (the one that was halfway out of the cave), keeping it in place while it struggled to reach Orihime, roaring and growling in apparent frustration. The other tigers also did the same, roaring and clamping their teeth at her.
Orihime didn't have time to make fun of them, as she knew how powerful those creatures were. She knew that if given enough time, the one that was stuck in between would crawl out of its predicament.
So she looked up, wondering why her shield had not returned to her, and found that it had lodged itself into the wall. Luckily for her, one of the chains had fallen to the ground, giving her a chance to climb up to get her shield and also get through the open passageway on the high platform.
So she climbed up the chain to get her shield, after which she went on the high platform and resumed her hunt for the man who caught her eye.
The man wasn't far off when she had gotten into the high passageway, and she saw his eyes widen when he saw her.
"You killed those creatures as well?" "You monster!" he yelled at her.
"You give me too much credit, cute boy," she said as she ran after him. Unluckily for him, he was not as agile as Orihime, and in a few seconds, she caught up with him, tackling him down in an instant.
Unbeknownst to her, he had a weapon on him, and bringing it out, he swung it at her. She saw it on time, but she couldn't dodge it completely, and it cut past her cheek, just below her eye, as she pulled backwards.
Now having the space he needed, he kicked her in the gut, sending her falling away from him to the ground. She groaned as she clenched her belly and felt her blood slowly covering the left side of her face.
Knowing he could not outrun her, he pointed his knife at her, forming a fighting pose as if daring her to fight him.
"Do you know what you are asking for, cute boy?" she asked as she brought forth her small dagger, taking a fighting pose as well.
Then the man ran towards her with a loud cry and began swinging his knife at her. Not knowing his level of prowess in using the weapon, she decided to be on the defensive, dodging and blocking all of his attacks without striking back unless necessary.
She struck back whenever she found an opening, and she never missed. She continually poked holes into his body with her knife until he could barely stand anymore.
Then, she finalized the fight by pounding her boot into his face, instantly breaking his nose and front teeth in one hit.
The man groaned in agony as blood poured out profusely while he coughed. He almost choked until he coughed out one of his teeth. It's lucky he didn't choke on it.
Then Orihime grabbed him by the shirt and slammed him against the wall while he stared at her in bloodstained terror. "Didn't I tell you, cute boy?" she asked, "You didn't want to keep a desperate woman waiting."
The man breathed heavily, knowing his life was in her hands right now.
"Alright, here is how this is going to go: You are going to tell me what a helpless scum like you is doing in a place full of creatures that should have feasted on you in a heartbeat, and I will poke my dagger into your gut for every question answered wrongly!" she said to him as she drew her face closer to his, and he nodded several times in response out of fear.
"Well, then, start talking," she instructed.
"I... was put up to this," he said to her.
"Put up to what exactly?" she asked.
"Run. Running this cave," he answered.
Orihime widened her eyes, "You?... Running this cave?" "Are you messing with me, cute boy?" she asked, her knife slightly cutting into his neck.
"I'm... I'm saying... I'm saying the truth, I swear!" he said to her with tear-filled eyes.
"Then why are you at my mercy right now?" "Why can't you summon an army of goblins to kill me right now or something?" she asked.
"I already did!" he replied, "But you and your comrades slaughtered them all! "All the other creators you just encountered here were just spare sentients useful for almost nothing; that is why most of them have been starved for a long time."
Orihime sighed, "Alright then, humor me," she said to him, "who is this "person" that put you up to this?"
"It... isn't just any person," he told her, "and I'm not sure you could call such a transcendent being a person."
Orihime laughed, "What? "So a transcendent animal put you up to this?" she asked. "Give me a break, cute boy—are you trying to buy time or something?"
"No, I am telling you the truth," he said to her, and his body ceased to tremble. His sudden lack of fear convinced her that he was telling the truth.
"Okay, keep talking," she said to him. "Who put you up to this?"
"A deity," he replied.
Orihime frowned...
"What?" she asked.
"A divine being put me up to this," he replied, and Orihime almost cringed when she noticed a slowly forming smile on his face.
"So who is this deity you seem to adore so much?" asked Orihime, getting so sick of seeing him smile that she wished she had never broken his teeth.
The man's smile broadened even further to Orihime's disgust as he answered.
"Sarasa, the goddess of wisdom."