Chapter 22: Time for Tickle Torture

The cold, slippery Shadow Tentacles slithered across Poppy’s restrained body, writhing like living creatures with their own will.

Sometimes they tightened, bringing a suffocating sense of restraint.

Sometimes they slid like poisonous snakes, transmitting a strange, hair-raising sensation through the thin Magic Attire.

“You… what are you trying to do, witch!”

Poppy’s voice trembled, mixed with anger and a hint of uncontrollable panic.

She could clearly feel the icy traces those inhuman things left on her skin, and the terrifying power within them that could erupt at any moment.

“Shh——”

Mu Ming raised a slender finger, pressing it lightly against her rosy lips.

Those crimson eyes sparkled with the excitement of a mischievous triumph.

“Now…”

Her voice lowered, tinged with undeniable mockery.

“…you’re the mouse.”

“Mouse…”

She deliberately stretched out the word, her red eyes narrowing dangerously.

“…aren’t allowed to ask questions.”

“Next…”

Mu Ming’s lips curved into a wicked, almost childlike arc, declaring,

“…let’s play a more interesting Game~”

As if receiving the command of their Master, the tentacles entwining Poppy suddenly became more active!

No longer just restraining, they twisted like countless cold, flexible vines, roaming and sliding recklessly over her body.

Some deliberately brushed against the sensitive side of her waist.

Some coiled around her long, tense legs, bringing waves of unbearable tingling and deeper humiliation.

“No! Stop! Don’t!”

Poppy screamed in terror, her body twisting and struggling in vain under the tentacles’ grip—like a moth caught in a spider’s web, the more she struggled, the tighter the restraint became.

“This…”

Mu Ming tilted her head, savoring the other’s fearful expression, pure childlike joy gleaming in her red eyes as if discovering a new toy.

“…isn’t up to you~”

She snapped her fingers lightly.

A slippery tentacle tip, agile as a finger, hooked precisely onto the fiery Red High Heel on Poppy’s left foot.

A gentle flick!

“Tap.”

A soft sound.

The high heel, symbolizing strength and status, was easily stripped away, falling to the ground and rolling into the dust of the Alley.

“No——!”

Poppy screamed in despair, as if losing vital armor.

Next, the right foot!

With the same nimble motion, the other Red High Heel was taken by another tentacle and tossed aside.

Her pale, now exceptionally fragile feet were exposed to the cold, filthy ground and the chilly Night Wind, curling slightly.

“Don’t! Let go of my feet!”

Poppy sensed something even more terrible and her voice broke into sobs.

Mu Ming didn’t answer.

She merely extended her own pale, cold fingers, filled with almost reverent curiosity and mischief, and gently scratched at the most sensitive arch of Poppy’s exposed foot with her fingertips!

“Ah——! Hahahahahahahahahaha!!!”

Like a powder keg set ablaze!

All of Poppy’s struggles and curses were instantly replaced by uncontrollable, hysterical laughter!

The intense tickling sensation raced through her body like electricity, making her convulse and writhe uncontrollably within the tentacles’ grip!

“S-stop! Hahahahahahaha! Don’t—don’t tickle me! It’s so itchy! Hahahahahahahaha!”

Tears burst from the corners of her eyes, twisted from laughter.

“Hehehehehe…”

Mu Ming watched Poppy’s tear-streaked, disheveled face, and couldn’t help but let out a crisp, bell-like, yet malicious laugh herself.

“How is it~”

She grinned evilly, dragging her nails lightly over the tender flesh of Poppy’s sole, admiring the stronger reactions.

“Look at your face now…”

“Hehe… so funny!”

“Don’t! Don’t tickle! Hahahahahaha! I’m—I’m going to suffocate! Hahahahaha! I can’t—can’t breathe! Hahahahahahahaha!”

Poppy laughed until her strength left her, her lungs burning with spasms, her mind spinning from oxygen deprivation, her vision going dark.

She had never felt death approach in such a ridiculous and humiliating manner.

Mu Ming seemed to be enjoying herself, not stopping but growing even more enthusiastic.

She even commanded a tentacle to join in the ‘tickling,’ its cold, slippery tip swirling gently across Poppy’s other foot!

“Hahahahahahaha——!!!”

Poppy’s wild laughter echoed in the narrow Alley, mingling with desperate sobs, creating a grotesque and humiliating symphony.

At the peak of this frenzied Game…

Mu Ming’s Abyssal-class Magic Power Perception, sharp to the extreme, caught a faint but rapidly approaching wave of Magic Power in the distant night sky!

Not just one.

Support from Other Cities… had arrived.

The pure, childlike mischief on Mu Ming’s face froze, vanishing instantly.

A trace of frustration and impatience flickered in her crimson eyes.

“Tsk.”

She clicked her tongue disdainfully.

“Your ‘little friends’ are pretty fast…”

Mu Ming’s voice returned to that inorganic coldness, tinged with regret at being interrupted.

She waved her hand dismissively.

The Shadow Tentacles that had been binding and tickling faded like illusions, melting back into the darkness beneath her feet.

“Goodbye~”

Leaving behind those airy words, Mu Ming’s figure sank silently into the deepest blackness at her feet, like ink dripping into water.

Not a ripple, not a trace remained.

As if she had never existed.

Only the cold Night Wind stirred the dust.

And—

Poppy, thrown hard onto the filthy, cold ground, her body smeared with dirt, clothes disheveled, long hair in disarray, feet bare, face streaked with tears and flushed with the humiliation of suffocation, coughing and gasping for breath.

She curled up on the ground, her body trembling from the wild laughter and overwhelming shame.