The rabbits tiheir slow, aimless wandering, oblivious to the crosshairs trained ohe garish, bloodthirsty music roared unabated from the tent’s massive loudspeakers, filling the square with a pounding cacophony. To Daemons inside, all seemed normal—just another day in their mockery of existehen, five mier, Kayvaan's voice crackled through the unicator. “I’ve successfully infiltrated,” he reported, his toeady.

  Elizabeth exhaled slowly, f herself to remain calm. “What’s the situation inside?”

  “It’s... chaotic,” Kayvaan replied. “Hard to describe in words. I’m establishing a video feed. Stand by for visuals—you’ll want to see this for yourself.”

  Moments ter, Elizabeth received the feed. Through the lens of Kayvaan's mongles, the interior of the massive red tent came into view. At first g resembled an ordinary circus. The ter of the tent held a circur stage, its edges bordered by tiered seating that rose in tric levels, giving the audience a clear view of the spectacle below. Every seat was filled, the spectators eagerly leaning forward to catch every moment of the show. Oage, an animal trainer dressed in an eborate, gaudy e stood holding a long whip. The r heavy metal music served as an almost absurd backdrop to peared to be a performan progress.

  The star of the show was a massive golden lion. Its mane shimmered like sunlight, and its powerful body exuded an air al authority. It moved with deliberate slowness, head held high, as if basking in the adoration of the audies roar rolled through the tent like thunder, momentarily drowning out even the bring music. Then, the music stopped abruptly, signaling the beginning of the act. The trainer snapped his whip with a sharp crack, the sound eg through the tent. Without hesitation, he shed the whip across the lion’s back, the barbs tearing into its flesh and leaving a vivid gash that dripped crimson onto the stage.

  The lion’s face twisted in pain, a low growl rumbling from deep in its throat. It seemed ready to sh out, yet it held its ground, motionless save for the tremors running through its massive frame. The audieed in cheers and frenzied ughter, their inhuman voices rising in a cacophony of gleeful malice. Enced by the rea, the trainer cracked his whip again, this time striking the lion’s back even harder.

  Another bloody wound opened on the lion’s golden hide, and it let out a deafening roar of pai, inexplicably, it remaiationary, enduring the punishment without resistahe trainer, emboldened by the crowd’s enthusiasm, began to whirl his whip above his head. The barbed length spun faster and faster, the air around it vibrating with the force of its motion. Finally, with a dramatic flourish, he she whip horizontally across the lion’s face.

  The impact was siing, a wet crack that silehe crowd for a moment. Then, to everyone’s shock, the lion stood upright on its hind legs, its enormous body t over the trainer. “What a fool!” the lion bellowed, its deep voice reverberating through the tent. “It hurts so much! And it feels so good!”

  The trainer froze, his panting breaths visible even from the camera feed. “Now es the most thrilling part of the performahe lion decred, its voice dripping with mockery. “Will this hapless trainer survive? Stay tuned, my dear audiehe lion crouched slightly, its massive jaws parting to reveal rows of dagger-like teeth. “Go on, human. tihe show! Don’t keep me waiting.”

  The trainer’s entire body trembled as he approached the lion, his movements stiff and meical. The drumbeat of the apanying music grew louder, faster, driving the tension higher. “Be bold!” the lion taunted. “Show some ce! Don’t be afraid—I promise not to eat you. Not yet, anyway. It’s all part of the act, isn’t it? e on, my jaw’s starting to ache from holding this pose.”

  The trainer hesitated for a moment, but uhe lion’s unyielding gaze, he had no choice. Slowly, he k and, with a trembling hand, guided his head into the gaping maw of the beast. The lion’s voiow muffled by the trainer’s head is mouth, rang out again, jubint and theatrical. “Ladies alemen! Behold the bravery of this fool! See how he risks his life for your eai. Isn’t this the most daring act you’ve ever witnessed? Isn’t it worthy of your appuse?”

  A burst of ughter erupted from the audience, followed by sporadic appuse. The rapid drumbeats reached a cresdo and abruptly stopped. The animal trainer, visibly trembling, nearly colpsed to the ground in relief. "Very good," the lion said, its deep voice dripping with mockery. "You’re quite brave. Now, withdraw your head from my mouth." The trainer plied slowly, pulling his head out of the lion’s massive jaws. The lion closed its mouth with a grin that seemed almost too wide. "The performance was a success. The audience cheered for you. They appuded your bravery. But don’t rex just yet. Turn around and accept their praise—it’s your moment in the spotlight."

  The music softehe heavy basslines repced with a strange cacophony of sounds from the audience: angry growls, disgruntled murmurs, delighted screams, and sparse g. The trainer finally began to rex, vihe act was over and his life was safe. He turo face the audience, bowing deeply to aowledge their appuse. For a fleeting moment, relief washed over his face. But as he straightened, all he saw was a blood-soaked maw desding toward him.

  The giant lion lunged from behind, swallowing the trainer whole in a sie. The audieed into thunderous appuse and gleeful ughter, their excitement palpable. "Ha! This fool thought he’d live!" the lion roared, rearing onto its hind legs like a triumphant boxer. Raising its paws in the air, it basked in the adution. "Did you see his face? I lied to him! Hahahaha!"

  “All the spectators here are Daemons,” Kayvaan whispered over the unicator. “The performers in this circus are higher-ranking Daemons, and the others might be local residents forced to py their roles—or something worse. Every so-called animal performer here is a Daemon in disguise. And that liohe ringleader. The stro of them all.”

  Through the feed, Elizabeth could see the grotesque show tinuing. A white-haired poodle trotted onto the stage, holding a whip in its mouth. Following behind it were several humans crawling on all fours. Metal colrs encircled their necks, and their tongues lolled grotesquely from their mouths. The poodle cracked the whip with surprising force, pelling the humans to perform degrading acts: rolling over, jumping through fiery hoops, and bowing deeply to the audience. Each act elicited uproarious ughter from the Daemonic spectators. Elizabeth gritted her teeth, her disgust bubbling inte. She turned away from the feed, addressing Kayvaan. “What’s the pn?”

  “You’ve seen the inside,” Kayvaan replied. “This pce is a hellish fortress. There are too many of them. Even if we stormed in with heavy ons, it’d be nearly impossible to take them all down. But I brought plenty of explosives. Let’s start with a bang and work from there.”

  Elizabeth raised an eyebrow. “Go on.”

  “I’ll pnt a remote bomb to cause maximum chaos,” Kayvaan expined. “The explosion will create panid Daemons will rush toward the gate. That’s where you e in. Position your team at the entrance. When they bottleneck, unload everything you’ve got.”

  “What if they break through the tent itself?”