10 years later, a few months before the present day.

A female humanoid gerbil with lifeless eyes exited a portcullis, into an arena filled with hundreds of spectators.

The girl had a prosthetic leg and arm. They had been cut off at some point before and replaced with a mechanical component, but aside from the creaking of the machinery they functioned smoothly as if they were a real limbs.

The cheers for this girl could be heard from miles away.

"Fina! Fina! Fina!!"

However, there was not a single response from the girl.

Everything she wore was made from leather, from her jacket to her high cut shorts to her gauntlets to her gloves. Only her shirt underneath was made from cloth.

She wore a cap on her head which her short cut hair stuck out of, and a pair of goggles made from what looked like a bronze metal.

"Target located.", she said- her voice that of a robot.

"Elimination commencing."

Flicking out her hands, blades extracted from her gauntlets as she sped across the landscape of the arena.

In front of her was a bear.

"Vital points have been pinpointed."

The woman did a flip in the air above the beast, which stood up to claw at her. With expert timing, she sliced away at the hands of the animal, and they fell to the ground with the splatter of blood.

"Possible attack pattern eliminated. Proceeding with vital point targeting."

She crouched down to get a boost and jumped outwards towards the bear, slicing away at it's gut, dancing around it as it tried furiously to chomp at her.

The bear was howling in pain, however since it's paws were now sliced off, it was incapacitated and unable to rush forward. It stumbled to the ground, desperately trying to get up as Fina continued to slice away at it.

"Target is weakening."

The bear used its legs to push itself forward in a desperate attempt to attack Fina, but she was moving too fast for it to react to. By the time it moved forward, she was already behind it.

"Further weakening can be performed through removal of legs. Commencing."

At this, Fina dug her blades into the legs of the bear, dragging them through it like a knife cutting butter. The legs fell to the ground as the beast continued it's ear piercing roars.

"Incapacitation has been completed."

Fina continued running around the beast, slicing it's side so that innards would spill out of the animal. Eventually, the beast stopped howling, and lifelessly dropped it's head to the ground.

"Life signs are no longer being detected. Victory conditions enabled."

And with this, Fina held up her hand in the shape of a V, while still remaining cold and void of emotion.

The crowd went absolutely wild at this.

"Fina!!!!!!"

"She won!!!!"

"That's our little arena fighter!!!!!"

"We'll miss you!!!!!!"

The announcer then came onto the intercom, speaking to everyone in the arena.

"And that's it. Ladies and gentlemen, your winner- Fina. She has fought in this arena for 10 long years, and not once has she lost. She is truly a champion of champions, and with this final fight, her contract has been completed and she will no longer be fighting here. Please give her one last round of applause. She has provided us with so much entertainment over this time, and she deserves a warm send off. How many of us still remember her first fight when she deceived that young boy into thinking that she would save him, only to kill him off at the last moment? What a display that was. It was a moment that the sponsors of the arena will never forget."

And with that, the crowd burst into a frenzy of clapping, crying, laughing, and cheering.

However, Fina did not respond to such cheering.

For she only had one purpose.

Win.

Survive.

Protect.

If she died, her sister would be subject to this place.

If she lost, it would mean the death of her sister.

No matter how many lives she had taken, none of them could add up to the life of her innocent little sister.

She didn't even remember what her sister looked like.

It had been 10 years since she last saw her.

Her purpose was engraved into her mind, but she barely even remembered the emotion which created this purpose.

She had at once point loved her sister more than anyone else in the world.

But right now, she could not say that there was any 'love' within her.

Only the programmed desire to fulfill the purpose she had given herself.

She did not question her own purpose, or her own motives at the time. Such a thing was useless. She merely followed the directions that had been coded into her very being.

As if she were a computer.

She took lives left and right, extinguishing them like the flame of a candle.

All it took was a small burst of air.

And now, her time was fulfilled.

Her fighting in the arena was over, and she was due to return to her father soon.

'One last party. I must attend it.'

Upon exiting the arena, Fina walked down the corridor to see the familiar face of a guard, smiling at her.

"Congratulations, Fina!! You've finally made it this far. I knew you always had it in you. You can go back to your home now! Isn't that great?"

"If it will allow me to better protect my sister, then it is a preferred condition."

"Always so stiff. Sometimes you scare me a bit, Fina. I really hope there's some humanity left in you. I get it. You had to harden yourself to make it through the arena for 10 years. But that's all over now. You can return to who you were before. You don't need to keep your heart hardened any more."

"Your request is unspecific. I fail to understand."

At this, the guard merely laughed and put his hand on Fina's head, rustling the hair as he moved her cap around.

"Just make sure to find your sister and be with her. I'm sure once you see her again, you'll remember everything."

"Understood. Temporary goal has been set. Locate sister. I must attend the afterparty first."

"Gotcha. It looks like I won't be seeing you again, so I hope you find what you're looking for. I may be neutral for the sake of my work here at the arena, but I've always been rooting for you, Fina. Don't let this city or this life beat you down. Things can get better. You've shown me that just by surviving, that there is some light in this world. I always thought that everything was completely hopeless. That there were no heroes in this place. That we were all just forsaken. But look at what you've done. To me, you've become a real hero."

"No."

"Hm? What do you mean, no?"

"I said, no. Your words still resound in my head on that day so long ago. 'The only one who can save you is yourself.' You were right on that day. At that time, I relied on the hope that a hero would come and save me from this place. I realized that day that nobody would come to save me at the last second. There are no heroes. Only people who wish to save themselves. That is all."

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

With this, Fina turned from the guard, walking away into the halls.

"No Fina. You're wrong. There may not have been a hero to save you.... but you became one on your own, and saved me."

----

In the ratmen village, the three factions served to defend their respective territory. People of each race were automatically aligned with their respective faction, and disobedience or betrayal was not forgiven.

The mafia was essentially a police force in each respective sector of the city, and the citizens worked in compliance with whatever rules and regulations the mafia set.

The discovery of a certain mineral near the ratmen village was what led it to the current state.

This mineral, when refined, would create a pure substance that resembled cheese with similar nutritional value. It was an artificially produced food, and as a result of it's possibility to increase the overall food supply, factories to refine this mineral popped up across the landscape in no time.

However, the refinement of such a mineral produced a byproduct which tainted the land. A tarlike goop.

The tar was dumped and the soil became tainted. The exhausted fumes from the production filled the air around the city, thickening as a smog.

As a result of the contamination, many died. Others gained a relative resistance to the polluted air, and lived on.

The soil contamination spread around the city as a result of the increasing number of factories, and it came to the point where plants could not grow within the city at all.

Farming stopped. It was impossible to grow anything.

Livestock died. Without plants to feed them with, it was impossible to raise them.

Thus, the factories became all the more important- despite being the very things that destroyed the ability to produce other types of food.

Mining increased and production of the artificial cheese skyrocketed. The mafia factions formed as a result of the increasing importance of these factories, and those who owned factories aligned themselves with these factions.

This led to street wars over the factories, which were now the only source of food in the entire village.

People were not allowed to leave the village on their own. Doing so would mark you on a blacklist, and if you were to ever return to the village, there was a possibility of being hunted down. This depended on the leader of the mafia faction, however.

Not to mention that in this monster realm, there would be nowhere to go. Monsters of different races rarely ever worked with one another, and being taken in by another village was extremely uncommon. For one who was born here. leaving the ratmen village would be the same as becoming a wanderer in the wilderness, surrounded by beasts and all other sorts of dangers. Therefore, many did not bother to try and leave the city. Instead, they accepted the protection of the mafia and lived out their lives, hoping they would not get caught in a fight.

The people who owned the factories became known as 'The Sponsors'.

While the people who were truly in charge were the leaders of the mafia factions, the sponsors were equivalent to nobles in this city. Because they owned the factory, they had the right to decide how it's products would be divided among the people of a given sector.

This led to a great disparity between the rich and the poor.

The arena was a place where those who were favored by the sponsors would gather together to witness entertainment. A large amount of the wealth in the city flowed through the arena.

However, on a certain day, a few months before Claire had arrived in the ratmen village, the sponsors were all eliminated in one fell swoop.

As if declaring war on the entire city itself, one girl who fought in the arena for 10 years honing her skills assassinated all 9 sponsors.

What followed was chaos.

The leaders of the mafia scrambled to gobble up the factories which no longer had sponsors in charge of them, and the wars on the streets intensified- eventually leading to the current state of things.

----

"Fina!!!!!! You did it, my little Fina!!! You made it all this way!!!! I..... I'm so proud of you!!!!"

The ecstatic woman in front of Fina was the lady who dressed up the combatants and presented them to the sponsors.

"My objective has been completed. I am now moving onto a new set of objectives."

"My little Fina.... what are you going to do from now on?"

"I don't find it necessary to reveal that information."

And with that, Fina walked past the woman without so much as a goodbye.

"Fina...."

She headed through the halls, up the clockwork staircase and into the VIP rooms.

When she entered, she was welcomed by a load of familiar faces.

The same smiling faces as always, behind which lied a demonic thirst for blood.

An irrational craving to see those below them struggle and suffer.

These people played with lives, throwing them into the pit of despair, forcing them to grasp at straws in the hope that they could live another day.

To Fina, the blood of the many she had slaughtered in the arena was not on her own hands.

Rather, it was on the hands of the very people who designed such a system.

Her father, who forced her into this arena, and these sponsors who set the rules here.

"Fina!!!! What a splendid fight you had today! My heart was filled with tension the entire time. I was quite worried for you. If you were to die in your last match...."

The ferret man stroked his mustache and fixed his monocle.

"I would have been crushed."

"That's right, Fina! I was terrified with worry when I heard that you would be fighting a bear. Other people are one thing, but to think that you managed to slay that thing like it was child's play...."

"Intelligent opponents are more difficult than a simpleminded beast. Regardless of how strong one is, if that strength doesn't have intelligence behind it, it can be easily redirected and defeated.", Fina explained in an icy tone.

"It's become common sense to bet on you in your fights.... there are very few who would bet on anyone else.", one man noted. "But, I suppose nobody really watches your fights for the profit either way these days. They watch them for the excitement. To see one of our kind without a single loss, take on astounding challenges. That's the romance behind it. Fina, you've become a symbol of this arena."

"Is that so?"

Fina walked through the hall, greeting and speaking to each and every one of the people.

Eventually, she came to the bar where many drinks were being served.

She poured out 9 glasses of scotch, one by one, and placed them all on a tray before heading to the center of the room.

"Fina, you don't have to serve us like that!! After all, you're the one we're celebrating today!!!"

"I insist.", Fina stated as she pushed away any disagreement.

"Well.... if you insist..."

Fina stood forward with the tray and lightly smiled, though it was a fake smile with not a hint of emotion.

"Please everyone, let us have a toast.", she said.

All the sponsors grinned and fawned over the girl, gratefully taking the drinks.

"You are too sweet, Fina!!"

"I will miss your fights greatly."

"Will you ever come back here to visit us?"

"Please drop by my factory at any time."

Fina didn't reply, and then poured a drink for herself, lifting it.

"Cheers."

"Cheers!!!!!"

The sponsors clinked their glasses to one another, all taking their own simultaneous sips.

"Ahh!"

"That hit's the spot!!!"

Fina however, did not take a sip. Instead, she put the glass down.

"Fina? Is something wrong?"

"I will be taking my leave now. Objective has been completed."

"Ehh!? You're leaving so soon!?!? Stay a little longer, will you dear?"

"There's no reason to rush out!! After all, this party is celebrating you!!!"

Fina turned back coldly with question marks above her head, and let out one final statement.

"It wouldn't be much of a party with only one person."

She walked out the door, and many people reached out, calling to her.

"Wait Fina!! What are you talking about! Come back and-"

The woman saying this suddenly felt an excruciating pain in her heart.

She grabbed it, falling to the ground and dying on the spot.

"Eh? What just happened?"

Another man questioned the sudden collapse before grabbing his own heart and falling in a similar manner.

"W-what's going on?!"

The others started frantically looking around, however they too would soon feel an excessive heat flowing through their veins, burning away at their life before it was extinguished.

The 9 sponsors were found dead that day in the VIP box.

The assassin, unknown.

Fina made her way out of the arena, and reached the cold streets- the ones that she had not seen for years.

The smog in the sky seemed to taint the air, and the ground itself felt corrupted.

But even so, it was a breath of fresh air compared to being locked in that dungeon for 10 years.

"Potential threats eliminated. New objective. Find sister."

----

Fina rushed through the streets, with only one goal in mind.

Find and protect her sister.

'What was sister's name again?', she thought.

'Unnecessary information. There is only one objective. To protect her.'

She ran through the towns.

On her way back, she happened to pass a fight.

Crossbow bolts, grenade like bombs, and the sorts seemed to be flying from one side to another, but Fina did not run away from the fight.

Instead, she rushed through the crossfire, using her heat sensing goggles to take account of the positions and aiming angles of each person, ensuring that a stray bolt or a grenade would not reach her.

"Oi!!! Get out of here, woman!!! This isn't your fight!!"

"Are you trying to die!?"

Fina simply ignored the cries of the fighting men, rushing through as if there were nothing going on, and continued her way through the town.

'I must find sister.'

Eventually, she made it back to a familiar place.

It was her old home.

'Location of interest found. Entering.'

Fina broke in the door, glancing from place to place.

"Wha!?"

"Who are you!?"

A number of gerbil men who were guards of the mafia were in the first room of the home, likely protecting the boss.

"Silence.", Gina stated. "I am a resident of this household."

The men looked at her strangely while pulling out their miniature crossbows, however upon looking at her face, they laid down their weapons.

"Could... could you be the daughter that the boss sent off to the arena?"

"He said that she would return sometime soon. And a fighter at that."

"Forgive our rudeness. The boss is on the second floor."

Fina walked through the home, up the stairs and into the room that she was guided to.

She opened the door, and entered alone.

Inside, her father was sitting in what looked like a throne with another group of men bowing before him.

"What is-"

Her father looked angry at first, seeing that he was being disturbed, but on seeing his own daughter, who he would never mistake for anyone else, he was overcome with glee.

"Fina.... Fina, is that you? You lot! Get out of here at once. I need to have a discussion with my daughter."

"Yes, boss."

The men filed out and closed the door, leaving the room empty with only Fina and her father.

"My daughter.... so you have finally come back. And the fact that you survived means that you are now an undefeated warrior. You will take over this mafia as soon as I am gone, and my legacy will live on forever. With a perfected warrior like yourself at the head, we will beat those other factions back and take the entire city."

"Threat to sister located. Commencing elimination."

Fina walked over to her father with not a single hint of love in her eyes, nor a single bit of hatred.

Instead, they were cold- as if they were looking at a mere object.

"What's wrong, Fina? Ah, I see... so fighting in the arena must have changed your personality quite a bit. Well, that was the goal in the first place."

Fina approached her father, walking behind him.

"Fina? What are you doing? Is there something you would like to say?"

Fina placed her gauntlet on the neck of her father, and flicked her hand so that the blade exited, piercing the throat of the man.

"Ugh!!! Blergh!!!"

'You turned out so perfect, and yet you've now thrown all that away!!! You became the perfect warrior!!! How could you do this to me!?!'

The man spit up a pool of blood as the blade was taken out of his neck, and Fina walked off to exit the room.

"Threat eliminated. Locating of sister commencing."

At that moment, a knock was heard at the door.

"Father? I've returned home. May I enter?"