Arknights: The Red Tiger Beside the Golden Lion

(Arknights x Limbus Company)

Lei Heng, a Level 4 Fixer from the Thumb in the City and the possessor of the Star of Heavenly Retreat, met the end he’d expected in a brutal struggle to seize the position of head of the H Corp Nest.

But the darkness that followed his shattered skull wasn’t eternal. When he became aware of the world again, he drew in air thick with coal smoke, dampness, and unfamiliar dust. Before him lay the heavy, ancient Victorian alleys he’d never seen before.

There were no absolute rules laid down by the Head, no watchful eyes keeping tabs on him, not even the faintest trace of the City. There was only a sprawling metropolis called Londinium, breathing slowly amid steam and intrigue. Having clawed his way back from the brink of death, Lei Heng dealt with the minor problem before him on instinct, then realized he was free, but utterly lost.

Meanwhile, amid the tangled shadows of the city, Alexandrina Vina, the young leader of the Glasgow Gang, was leading her followers through the narrow space between infighting nobles and foreign infiltrators, struggling to survive and shoulder the heavy responsibility of her bloodline.

An undignified street brawl and the sudden whistle of a patrol drove the ill-fated star and the exiled monarch, who should never have met, onto the same path of escape.

“I can lend a hand,” said the dust-covered man carrying a strange weapon, his tone casual, as if they were discussing dinner. “But don’t count on too much. The last time I helped someone seize a position like that, I nearly lost my life.”

When the gravely wounded tiger lay amid the ruins and was mistaken for dead, with a white sheet thrown over it, all he wanted was to throw it off and tell everyone: I’m not dead yet!