Chapter 265 – Getting the Target

*** Yuki ***

"What do you want?" the wife asks, studying the chains that lock her limbs.

"Your pain," I say. "Your pain is all I need." I swipe my sword across her belly, opening a great gash.

"FUUUCK!" she screams out after I take her hand. Blood pours out of the stump.

"Be happy I have so many more of your wives to torture. Otherwise, this would be so much worse for you," I say before taking her other hand.

She struggles to speak. Tears pour out of her eyes almost as fast as the blood leaves her body. "They'll kill you."

"No, I'm going to get what I want this time." I give her belly another cut, letting her guts meet the outside world, the chains holding her tight so I can watch them fall out. "You can watch me from hell, bitch."

"I'll," is all she gets out before her body goes limp. Victoria takes her head for good measure, and I pick up her storage ring. Victoria gets the maid's ring, and we head out.

We don't run into any more wives on our way to meeting up with Nakuma in the entranceway. Just a few maids were walking around for us to clean up.

"I got one," Nakuma says. "Did you get one?"

"Yes," I say. "There should be four more besides the male and head wife."

Nakuma gives me a nod, and we head up the stairs. I stop first, on the second floor, while they continue up. I'll need to try to capture one of them to help persuade Mrs. Ashmark to put the slave collars on herself and her husband.

I move through the floor in the same way as on the first, carefully opening each door and killing anyone inside. A few maids are walking around, looking for me to take their heads, but most of the rooms are empty. The rest have just contained maids.

But they aren't all empty of wives.

The current room has just a wife, with no maid watching over her, so I can set up for this without issue. Her limbs are just moments from being bound, the chains resting at the ready. I should have one or two more women left to deal with on my floor, so I won't be able to take my time with them yet. It depends on how they've spread them out. But I can make her death painful.

The chains snap forward, clamping down around her ankles and wrists. Then they pull tight, startling the noble awake.

"Hello, number two," I say. "Blame your wife when you get to hell."

"I'll meet you there," she says. I'm forced to roll to the side as a knife comes shooting at my back. "FUCK!"

She's severed her own leg right, just above the ankle. I let out a chuckle before taking her other leg.

Acid sprays out from her chest without a care for where it lands. Her body burns and boils under the assault fueled by her own mana. Some of the drops reach me, burning my skin, but I manage to block most of the acid rain with my mana and random furniture I throw in front of myself.

I didn't do much of the torture this time, yet it was even worse than the first woman's death. The acid slowly eats away at her body until she is more of a skeleton than a woman. I still take her head, just in case, and move on. My wounds aren't bad enough yet to waste a healing potion on them.

I've still got the other half of this floor to get through. And while most of the rooms are empty or just have a maid inside, I have to clear them all carefully so I don't get ambushed. Thankfully, everything is still quiet. The alarms have failed to alert their ladies to our presence, and the loss of their wives will elude them until they join them in the afterlife.

I enter another study, which has a small desk and some books on the wall. A window looks out at the backyard, where you can almost make out some of the dead guards. I slink back out into the hall and move to the next door, but then the manor shakes.

I try to block out the sound, but the fact that we've stirred the nest is undebatable. I quickly run back out into the hall, hoping to find out if any of them are looking to run for a tunnel. I don't have the barrier potion, so I'll have to quickly kill any of them who try to leave. Nakuma has it instead due to her extra movement.

Whispers are all I can hear, but they give me a direction to run towards. I keep my illusion up as I dash through the halls, past the paintings and statues that will soon be destroyed.

I catch what must be the last noble on this floor trying to run with her maid. My illusion keeps them from seeing me as I dart up behind them. My blade sinks into her maid first, striking her heart. The noble pulls out her own short sword and starts to swing wildly, hoping to catch me in the narrow hallway.

Taking her alive would be nice. But how?

"Come out, fucking coward!" she shouts. "Fucking come out, Bitch! How many of us have you gotten? Damn Kitsune! Stay in your own realm!"

"You tried to kill my future family," I say, throwing my voice to the other end of the hall.

"Fucking asshole!" she says. "Fuck everything! Stop playing with me, Yuki. Fuck this world, let me at least see my killer. Let me see if I can get my blood on your stupid tails!"

"Not yet," I whisper into her ears, cutting her calf muscles off. "I want to take some of you alive to hand over to my fiancé, and a strength mage is a great gift."

"Fucking ass!" she screams out, falling to the ground.

"My ass is beautiful, and Alzi is allowed to fuck it if she wishes. Thank you for noticing. I'm glad cutting off your calves hasn't hurt your brain."

My captive doesn't give me an answer; it just groans in pain. I cut off her ring hand and drag her to the stairs. The pain is enough to keep her from fighting me.

I find Nakuma already at the entrance with Leena Ashmark, the spymaster's feet nailed to the floor.

"Did you shake the house?" I ask, dragging my own woman down the stairs. I hope she doesn't bleed out before I'm done with her.

"No," Nakuma says. "They had extra traps on the fourth floor. Hard to blame Victoria, Love. Did I do well?"

"Yes, dear," I say. "Leena Ashmark? What do you think of my prize?"

"Fuck you."

"If Alzi wills it."

"Fucking hell, why did I give myself the hardest damn floor. Fucking shit!" Victoria yells out. A man's body slams down next to me with a terrifying crunch.

"No," Leena says. "No, honey, are you alive? Wake up, let me see your eyes!"

"Victoria, what the fuck is this?!" I shout. The fuck is still breathing, at least. He'd better make it.

I toss three collars to our future slaves. True slave collars, ones that will strip everything away from the wearer. No hope for freedom. Nothing will be theirs anymore. Not even their mind. The problem is that I need her to accept it willingly since I don't have a trial with the Goddess of Justice to force it on them.

My best chance is that Leena doesn't know about this kind of collar. Not many of them are ever used.

"You think I'm going to put this on myself or my husband?" Leena says. "Never."

"Oh? You're ok with your wife here dying?" I say. "She's already got one foot in the grave, but if you wish to bury her, please just keep holding it."

"Fuck you."

"Just put it on. I mean, your husband is going to join the rest of your wives soon anyway. Just end your family line right here."

"I have several kids."

"I'll find them. I have plenty of time to collect every member and put them in your family tomb. I mean, that is what you want, right? You wish for me to kill every last one of you? I can do it. No problem. Or you could put that collar around your neck. Well, Missy has already lost a lot of blood here. She won't be making it, anyway. Perhaps it would be better for you to join her. It's not like we have a single thing that could save her."

"Dear, please," the woman moans. Oh, I don't even need to fake her voice. "You promised."

This bitch is fucking perfect. I was going to have to hope for the love route, but this one already knew that they'd made a fatal mistake.

"I put this on, and you will heal Lierin."

"I'll give her what is needed," I say. She pauses for a moment, then puts the collar around her neck. "Put another on your husband. The Queen wants me to bring you two in for her."

"Lierin," the slave says, fighting the ever-increasing force from the collar.

"Obey your Mistress, slave," I say.

Her strength finally fails, and she puts the collar on the man. He doesn't seem to be in any danger, so I let my second slave be. I smile as I watch my first slave wait for me to act.

"My wife! That was the deal!"

"Wrong collar," I say. "That is a true slave collar that you put on willingly. Don't you just love the Goddesses? I can trick you into putting it on as long as you know it is a slave collar. I don't need this one. I just need you and the man. This is for making me come all the way out here. Watch your wife die because you didn't play your cards right. I would've had to heal her if you'd just held out. She was the only leverage I had to make you put that on, and you caved immediately. Watch your failure play out."

"I'm sorry, Lierin. I'm sorry. Please, Mistress. Please. I'll be a good girl. I'll put a collar on her without a fight; just let her live. It was my choice to attack Alzi, not hers. Please, let her live! I'm begging you. I'll be a good slave." Tears stream down her ugly face as she sobs uncontrollably. The nails through her feet are the only thing keeping her from kissing my own. "Please, Mistress."

"A war is happening. Healing potions are expensive, you know. I don't have any extras. You'll just have to watch the light fade from her eyes."

"Sedriresa! I have Princess Elora's maid on the fifth floor. A spy by her side instead. Please. I'm giving you this willingly. Heal her in exchange, please! She'll be a good slave, a worthy one. Please, oh please, help her. I'll- I'll-"

"Nothing. You have nothing for me. I can make you do anything, even slit your own throat."

"Please," my slave sobs anyway.

Nakuma runs up the stairs to go get the extra woman. I don't know why they would risk keeping that maid around. However, she will make a good gift for another wife. I do have to wonder what mistake Esiyae made that got so many women killed if these girls were able to switch out Elora's maid like that.

"Doesn't Alzi have a lust issue?" Victoria says, covered in blood.

"You, of all people, care to let this useless sack live?"

"I'm thinking about how I won't get pregnant. Give her two slaves to fuck endlessly. Heal her. She can hold Sedriresa, and I'll take these two."

"Fucking softy," I say. "Alzi will have plenty more slaves to fuck. Got a better reason?"

"I'm just thinking everything fucking through, something you can't seem to fucking do," Victoria says.

"We've cursed the grounds against teleporting," my slave says. "You'll have to travel a few days away to do so safely."

"Bitch trying to get her Mistress killed," I say. "Is that a good way to save your dear wife? Oh, looks like you're too late."

"No, no, no. Please, you have a few seconds," my slave begs. Her wife stops breathing, her body going limp. The last chance slips through her fingers.

"No, she's dead."

"I've got the maid," Nakuma says, jumping down the stairs.

"Well, then, time to loot and run. Slave, show me where all the good stuff is. I want to buy something nice for Alzi."