Ch 159: Interlude 3: Gunboat diplomacy.

"Noah, Colonel Kikuoka has come to deliver the report you asked for. He's waiting in the first living room." said Rias as she came to find him in his bedroom.

"Tch!" complained Naruhime.

"Sorry, girl, it looks like our session is at an end." smiled Noah. Naruhime was laying on the bed, her head resting on Noah's lap. Her body was completely covered from the neck down by black bondage tape.

She squirmed slightly, the tape making soft noises as it stretched.

"Looks like it. Well, mummification play is fun. I'll ask for it again soon."

"Sure, as long as I am available. And if I'm not, there are many who would be willing to assist you."

"Yes, you only have to ask." smiled Rias.

"Yes, but with the others, it's not quite the same." sighed Naruhime as she stared straight into Noah's eyes.

"Careful, girl. You might find yourself wearing a collar and dressed in a maid outfit before you know it."

"Maybe it wouldn't be so bad… I'd get more bondage sessions if I lived there."

"You only have to ask, cute Naruhime. Now please excuse me, I have work to do."

Noah touched the black bondage tape and forced it into his inventory, instantly revealing a fifth of Naruhime's naked body. He had used five rolls on her. In seconds, Naruhime was naked and free to move. She sighed again as she left the bed and headed to the bathroom to take a shower.

Noah quickly put on fresh clothes and followed Rias to the palace's main living room. Colonel Seijiro Kikuoka was having tea while speaking with Alice, Hisui, Rui, Yui and Hikari. Noah had invested in two artificial bodies for them the day before, and they were very happy with their new corporality.

The colonel was trying not to stare at Hisui's cat ears and Rui's tanuki ears, and the two girls teased him by making their ears twitch and move more than usual.

"Hi, Colonel." smiled Noah as he entered. "What do you think of my home?"

"Hi, Noah. It is quite extraordinary. Alice-san here was saying that I'm not on Earth anymore, and the whole island is yours?"

"Yes. The island was gifted to me after I completed some objectives Lilith-sama set for me. It is in its own dimension, in part because I oversee several worlds, and there are supernatural existences who would love nothing more than an opportunity to nuke my home. But they can't reach this dimension, so we can relax."

"Supernatural existences?" Frowned Kikuoka. Noah noted that he carefully avoided glancing at Hisui and Rui as he spoke.

"Devils, Magicians, and so on. You do not need to worry about Japan, though. Only myself and my subordinates can cross over."

"…You have many more subordinates than you introduced during your press conference."

"I have been quite busy while your world was in stasis. Considering my responsibilities, and what I intend to do, it only makes sense that I would need more than a handful of subordinates. That being said, what is the Japanese government's stance on everything's that's happening? I mean the private one, I already know about the public declarations."

Kikuoka's face became somber.

"Behind the scenes, things aren't going very well. The Prime Minister and the few officials who were present during the press conference are determined to cooperate with you as much as possible, but our diplomatic posture is suffering greatly. We are being openly accused of having stolen all of the world's WMD, however preposterous the notion is, and there's talks of economic sanctions. Never mind the fact that simultaneously stealing all of the world's MWDs just isn't feasible short of a divine intervention, which is exactly what happened. And there are plenty of politicians and bureaucrats quietly trying to oust the Prime Minister, thinking he has gone mad, or not caring and just jockeying for advantage."

"Yeah, some things just won't change so easily. Us having healed over a thousand patients over the last few days doesn't seem to really count yet." nodded Noah. He had spent some time reading news of the internet, and the vast majority of the world still believed it was all a hoax, that Lilith didn't exist, and so on.

"…Hopefully, things will start being different very soon. They will have to, when things will happen closer to home. Yui, Hikari, have you finished with the task I gave you?"

"Yes." nodded Yui. "It was easy. Just a bit of social engineering to get a few passwords, and we were in. Apparently, no one taught them not to use the same password for everything. One director's password was 'Passw0rd!', can you believe it?"

Hikari took a thick stack of papers from a drawer and passed it to Noah. On each sheet were the first and last names of ten men or women, a well as their pictures and job titles.

"What is this list for?" warily asked Kikuoka.

"There is this nation in the Middle East who had behaved very badly for decades, but who recently crossed all kinds of red lines, doing genocide and stuff. My press conference didn't just make them pause and reconsider as I had hoped, but seems to have made them increase their efforts instead. And I am. Beyond. Pissed. Almost 'kill them all and salt the land' level of pissed. Which is pretty dangerous, considering I have the power to raze a city within a minute. A small city, admittedly."

"So, I asked Yui and Hikari to infiltrate their military's and government's human resources system and get the identity of all of their officers, notable bureaucrats and lawmakers. 48 hours from now, that country will have no more senior lawmaker or official, and no more military officers above the rank of Second Lieutenant. I will also wreck all their fighter jets and tanks."

"You're going to plunge that country into a civil war. And that's assuming none of the neighboring nations decide to do some land grab." observed Kikuoka.

"Yes, and they deserve it. Half of the civilians support the ongoing genocide, the other half do not, but they also don't do anything to stop their insane president. That makes them guilty, because there is no such thing as a dictator who rules without the support of at least part of the people under him. I cleared it with Lilith, too. She is fine with making an example of this country."

"Still, this seems a little extreme."

"It is. Because genocide is also extreme."

"How about capturing some of the politicians and delivering them to the ICC instead?"

"To have the United States pressure the ICC into delivering ineffective slaps on the hand and let the culprits delay their judgment for years?"

"That would still be the legal thing to do."

"Colonel. I am a Goddess's Champion, not a politician vying for reelection. I do not give a damn about following processes or gaining favorable opinions. I care about results, and an immediate and merciless purge will be a better deterrent than the perspective of maybe facing prosecution, if you don't die of old age first."

"I can't disagree that it would be much more effective." nodded Kikuoka. "Even just spreading awareness among the high and middle-ranked officers and bureaucrats that their lives might brutally end if they contribute to committing atrocities will have a chilling effect on the heads of state who might be tempted."

"And speaking about politics and war, I had another reason for visiting, aside from delivering the information you requested. The Chinese are gathering troops and warships in the port cities of Quanzhou and Fuzhou."

"Do you have information about their intentions?"

"Our intelligence services think that the US not having nuclear weapons anymore is giving them ideas about Taiwan. Maybe even Japan, if our image deteriorates further enough and they imagine the rest of the world won't try to stop them."

Noah frowned for a moment, then nodded to himself.

"Girls, do you know where… Raynare, Rinne, Rikimaru and Seiji are? They are off-duty today, right?"

Noah and the girls had quickly set up a schedule for rotating two harem members in six hospitals spread all over Japan. One healed the patient, while the other was there for security. And when the first started feeling tired, they switched roles. There had been two attacks already, one by a madman with a knife, and another who had put a hand on Rias's butt while pretending it was an accident.

Both had been delivered to the authorities with their arms shattered, and Noah had heard from a trusted source, one currently sitting right in front of him, that the Japanese legal apparatus was going to yeet the book at them. And Japanese prisons were no joke.

Those incidents had done nothing to stop the girls' determination to keep treating patients now coming from all over the world, and even the coldest members of Noah's harem softened when they heard the grateful thanks and tears of relief of people freed of terminal cancer or recovering a missing limb.

"Yes, Master." replied Rui. "I think they'll be somewhere in the second basement. Do you wish for us to fetch them?"

"Yes, please. They are to put on their combat uniforms and join us asap."

…

Colonel Kikuoka looked a bit anxiously at the twins that Noah had tasked to protect him. Seigi and Rikimaru were beautiful, wearing an ornate black armor that both reminded him of a medieval plate armor and a modern Kevlar and carbon fiber outfit. An outfit completed by swords hanging from their waists.

But the coldness in their eyes when Noah told them what he was going to do, made Kikuoka believe that those two could kill someone without hesitation.

"Ready?" asked Noah.

The four girls and Kikuoka nodded. Seigi placed a hand on Kikuoka's arm, and a second later, the Colonel was in another location.

Gasps erupted all around them as a dozen Chinese officials recoiled in stupefaction. He recognized a few senior generals and members of the Chinese Cabinet, as well as the Chinese president himself.

Seigi stayed close to him while Rikimaru, Rinne and Raynare burst into motion, almost instantly disarming the guards at the door and securing the access to the conference room.

"President Xiang Tian." said Noah with a smile. "I am Noah Enfield. It is nice to meet you."

"Y-You! H-How did you enter this place?"

The guards beside the door were already calling out for reinforcements, but Rinne and Raynare seemed content to let them do it.

When noise came from the hallway, Raynare lifted a hand and created a yellow translucent barrier to block the door.

Noah pointed a thumb at his torso.

"Demi-god, remember? There is no place where I cannot go. I visited you because I heard some disturbing news. News about you gathering soldiers and warships for something you really shouldn't do."

All the cabinet members paled as they glanced at Kikuoka and Noah in turn. Noah suddenly held a sheathed sword in his right hand, and his left one wasn't far from the sword's hilt. Something that the officials didn't miss.

"Now, I am sure this rumor is a misunderstanding. Surely you are only doing a military exercise, one that will happen far away from Taiwan's territory." suggested Noah.

"Y-Yes. It is a military exercise. We are a peaceful nation, and the PLA only exists to defend it."

As if to contradict him, sounds of gunshots came from the hallway, and slight ripples appeared on the yellow barrier blocking the door, but it showed no sign of breaking. Rinne grinned as she created another layer. The two guards inside the room didn't dare try to fight them, as they didn't want to risk provoking Noah and the others into violence.

"I see. I am glad that this misunderstanding has been cleared, then. Although why you would want to waste taxpayer money on maintaining a large military is beyond me, now that there's a Champion to arbitrate regional conflicts. Lilith knows that you will need a lot of money soon. China needs a lot of reforms."

The Chinese officials relaxed slightly as the perspective of an imminent death went away.

"Yes. We will take that advice seriously during the next budget negotiation."

"That's great. Well, I won't bother you anymore. Farewell."

Noah disappeared, and Seigi seized Kikuoka's arm again, teleporting them back in the living room. Raynare and Rikimaru followed a second later.

"That was fast." grinned Hisui. "No bloodshed?"

"None." smiled Noah as the sheathed sword in his hand disappeared. "I'm a bit surprised, actually. I heard the Chinese were big about face, but Xiang Tian folded immediately. Colonel,  ask your government to keep an eye on the situation."

"Of course. If they sail close to Taiwan, we will make sure to keep you informed." sighed Kikuoka. He hoped the Chinese wouldn't target him for witnessing their humiliation.

"I'm thinking I'll need to have some social media presence, too. I want to be able to make declarations without having to go through the Japanese government. I do not want the other nations to think I am playing favorites. Even if I am, just a little."

"That would be helpful on the long term, yes. It could be argued that part of the reason we are being blamed for the missing WMDs is due to that. Not that I regret being your liaison, mind you."

"Yes, I'll see to that by tomorrow. And I'll start studying the report you gave me."

Kikuoka understood that this strange meeting was coming to an end.

"Thank you for your help, Noah. I'll be sure to report what happened to the Prime Minister."

"Thank you for your time, Colonel. I appreciate your visit. Please convey my thanks to the PM as well.

Noah extended his hand, and as Kikuoka shook it, he was teleported, in front of the castle in Japan.

…

Noah woke up in the middle of the night, due to a mental notification.

[Two intruders have scaled the outer wall. Activate non-lethal counter-measures? Yes / No. Activate lethal counter-measures? Yes / No. ]

Noah frowned as he dressed up. Under the notification appearing in his vision was a visual of the intruders in question. Two beautiful, black-haired women had used a ladder to climb over the three-meter-high wall, and were in the process of lifting another ladder over the wall to safely descend. What really confused him was their outfit. black leather bodysuits, black leather belt from which hung a torchlight and some pouches, black leather gloves and knee-high boots with rubber soles and no notable heels.

The boots made sense, as high heels weren't exactly suited for a walk in the forest, and for walking silently on hard surfaces. But the bodysuit was bonkers. Either someone had watched the Avengers a bit too literally, or someone was offering him a disguised bribe, offering him two women for a future favor.

Noah was by principle opposed to taking bribes. But in that case, he would have no choice but to accept, to know who was behind it. Nothing forced him to return the favor anyway. And there was always the chance he might be entirely wrong. Yes, to be sure, he would have to capture those two and, convince them to tell him everything.

Satisfied with his moral justification, Noah chose not to activate any counter-measures, whatever they were, and left his room. He could deal with them manually. He walked to the one Kaede and Suzu shared and knocked on their door.

Seconds later, a bleary-eyed Suzu opened the door. She was dressed in black latex underwear and nothing else.

"Master?"

"Morning, Suzu, Kaede. Sorry to wake you up, but something interesting is happening in your world."

"Do we need our combat uniforms?" asked Kaede as she left the bed.

"The maid outfits should be fine. There are two women trying to infiltrate the castle. They're in the back garden."

"Thieves? Assassins?" asked Kaede.

"That will be for us to find out!"

…

"So far, so good. Too good, really." whispered Miki to her partner as they slowly progressed through the garden. Their advance was very slow, as they were wary of possible cameras or motion sensors. They only progressed from one cover to another after carefully observing their surroundings. But she still felt uneasy, like she was being watched.

Miki longed for some night-vision equipment, but it would go against their cover as thieves. So, they had to make do with the moonlight. They specifically chose this night to have a near full moon and a clear sky.

Katsumi nodded.

"There is no visible security. It's too fucking easy."

Miki sighed as considered what it meant. Either the security systems were well camouflaged, and there was no way to tell if they had already been spotted despite their cautious approach, or the owners of this castle were overconfident. She strongly suspected it was the former.

The spies crept closer and closer, no seeing any sign of activity. None of the castle's lights were turned on.

They reached the back of the large structure, and as they examined one of the doors, Miki's eyebrows shot up.

"No keyhole or magnetic card reader or keypad."

"Do you think, maybe a fingerprint sensor in the handle?" whispered back Katsumi.

"Let's check the other doors." suggested Miki.

They had hoped to find a door access that would be more… more normal. Some lock they could pick. But the other doors were just like the first one, and the windows were locked shut.

Katsumi sighed and pointed to the nearest door.

"We can't scale those walls, unless we go fetch the ladder. The second floor's windows are all closed. Do we try the door?"

"…Yes. It's that or going back empty-handed."

Katsumi put her hand on the handle and slowly started turning it, dreading the sound of an alarm. Nothing happened. And the door was unlocked. It only increased her alarm. She slowly opened it, expecting a creaking or grinding noise, but none came.

Katsumi and Miki quickly slipped in, straining their senses to search for any potential ambush.

But the only sound they heard was the soft crinkle of their own bodysuits as they moved, and their breathing.

The room they were in was almost pitch black, the only sources of illumination being the moonlight coming from two windows.

Miki reached for her torchlight, pointing it to the ground and activating it only at its lowest intensity setting.

And the instant she did, hands seized her, and she was thrown to the floor. She barely had time to gasp as her arms were forced behind her back and steel cuffs were slapped on her wrists.

So much for infiltration.

"What are you doing? Let me go!" protested Miki loudly as she turned her head toward her fellow spy. She couldn't see clearly, as the torchlight was now on the ground and pointed away, but from the sounds of it, Katsumi, too, was being forced on the ground by an unknown number of assailants.

Whoever had put handcuffs on her turned her over, removed her belt, and then her boots. A woman, guessed Miki from the vague silhouette she saw and the feel of her hands. But whoever this woman was, she had a strong grip. Miki felt like she was being handled like a child.

The lights were suddenly turned on, and Miki closed her eyes as her night vision was ruined. It took her a moment to see clearly.

Her assailant forced her into a kneeling position alongside with Katsumi, who had also been cuffed and had her belt and boots taken off.

Now seeing them clearly, Miki recognized Suzu and Kaede Aizawa, two of the girls that Noah had introduced during his press conference. They were dressed in identical maid outfits that revealed a bit more legs and chest than would be proper, without appearing vulgar.

But she only glanced at them for an instant, as most of her attention was on the man standing in front of them.

"Nicely done, Kaede, Suzu." smiled Noah.

"Thank you, Master." grinned Kaede.

"Oh God, please don't call the police! We didn't take anything, I swear." pleaded Katsumi, with the proper amount of panic and appeal in her voice. Her eyes were going teary, and she started to hyperventilate. Miki would easily have been fooled by the performance.

"Why did you intrude on my property?"

"We… We were looking for valuables to sell. I'm so sorry. Can you please just let us go? We'll never come back." sobbed Katsumi.

"Were you trying to rob me, dressed in leather bodysuits?" asked Noah, doubt evident in his voice.

"Well… we have debts, and robbing rich people is a quick way to pay them back." muttered Miki. She was playing her pragmatic and cool-headed persona, while Katsumi was going for emotional and pitiful.

"What are your names?" asked Noah.

"…Naoko Sachi." lied Miki, her eyes lowered as if in shame.

"I-I am… Chise Takeda." said Katsumi between two sobs.

"I see." smiled Noah. "So you're both here to rob us blind. Why are you dressed like that, then? Not a very practical outfit for the job."

"Oh… please do not call the police. I beg you! If my parents saw me wearing that…"

"It's, because it's more exciting this way. If we have to do this to survive, we may as well have some fun doing it." said Miki.

"Hum, I can accept this reasoning. Although in fictions, that kind of outfit is more generally associated with spies. Are you a spy?"

"No." lied again Miki.

"You didn't intend to harm or kill anyone tonight, did you?"

"No, of course not." sobbed Katsumi. Miki reflected that she should form the habit of calling her Chise mentally, to avoid slipping later.

"Finally an honest answer. Do you have children? Maybe a lover or spouse?"

"N-no. I'm single." said Miki. Deep inside, she was praising the guys of the agency who did the psych evaluation. Asking that question would only make sense if Noah was considering keeping them but had moral qualms about breaking up families.

Kats… No, Chise also replied by the negative, toning her sobs down as she made sad puppy eyes at Noah.

"Last question before I decide what to do with you. Have you ever killed an innocent person?"

Miki's good mood crashed down as she warily considered. That question indicated that he didn't buy the thief act, or at least wasn't a complete fool. He would surely do a background check on them.

"No." said Miki as she shook her head. It was a lie. There was that one time where two scientists had achieved a breakthrough. The MI6 had heard about it and gotten an agreement with the first, but the second one refused. Miki had been sent to deal with the loose end. She had made it quick and painless, a bullet in the head from behind, and gotten rid of the corpse. He was still considered a missing person to this day.

Chise said she had never killed anyone. Miki knew it was a lie, too. During their previous mission together, she had killed a few guards to infiltrate a building and steal corporate secrets.

"…I see." smiled Noah, staring at them for long seconds.

"What do you think, Kaede, Suzu?"

"I think this one could win an Oscar, Master." chuckled Kaede as she patted Katsumi's, no, Chise's head.

"We will wash their mouths with soap, Master." promised Suzu. "Let us deal with them, and we will make them honest in no time."

"Yes. I'm going to have my hands full in a few hours, with the bloody business in the Middle-East, and I'd like to get a bit of sleep before that. These two are lying, murderous spies, so I'm afraid it's the Bad Girl treatment for them, and you don't need to rush it. Keep them separated from each other for now, and I will visit later today."

"Yes, Master." grinned both maids.

Miki was frowning, wondering why they seemed so certain that they had lied. They did, but Miki was confident in her own acting. Her short introspection stopped when Noah suddenly disappeared without a trace. And suddenly, her surroundings changed. Suzu Aizawa was still keeping a firm grip on her arm, and her fellow spy appeared a second later near them. They were now in a long hallway, dimly lit. Miki could see stairs et the end of the hallway.

"On your feet, both of you." ordered Kaede.

"Sis, you take this room?" asked Suzu as she pointed to a heavy wooden door.

"If it's not already in use, yes."

"I'll take the next one."

"Okay."

"H-How did you bring us here?" asked Miki with a confused voice.

"By teleportation. What else could it be? Oh, and by the way, you aren't even on Earth anymore, so give up on any idea of being rescued by whoever sent you." said Kaede.

"No one sent us, we are just thieves." protested Miki, trying to do her best performance.

"Less lying, more walking." said Suzu as she forcibly marched Miki toward another door. Miki turned her head to exchange a glance with her partner, and they wished each other good luck.

They knew they were likely about to be tortured, possibly sexually, and after enduring enough to be credible, one or both would start speaking about the MSS.

The door opened, and Miki's eyes widened. It wasn't her first time seeing a sex dungeon, but this one was lavishly equipped.

"W-What are you going to do to me?" she asked with a feigned note of nervousness. She was no stranger to BDSM, and none of the tools or restraints in sight seemed designed to cause injuries or great pain.

Suzu released her arm and eyed her coldly for a few seconds before replying.

"What is going to happen is something it already knows. It should drop the act, before it makes things worse for itself."

"It?" asked Miki, a little offended, but also worried that she didn't seem to be able to lie to this girl. That was highly unusual. It was as if she was plugged to a lie detec… Oh God. They could teleport. Could it be conceivable that they would be able to tell when someone was lying?

"Yes. As of now, it is less than a slave. It is not a person. It is livestock." said Suzu as she forced Miki to turn and uncuffed her.

As soon as the cuffs were removed, Miki felt an urge to strike Suzu's throat, or sink an elbow in her solar plexus. She knew how to kill someone with a single strike.

But when she stared at Suzu, Miki somehow felt certain that she would lose.

"It will undress." said Suzu, with a tone that suggested she would tolerate no back talk or disobedience.

Remembering how strong Suzu's slender and feminine frame actually was, Miki slowly removed her black leather catsuit, then the black silk underwear she wore under it.

Suzu nodded, walked away to open a cabinet, and took several things from it.

"It will put this on." said Suzu as she gave Miki a black latex bodysuit. As she examined the garment, she realized that it had cutouts for the breasts and crotch. With an exaggerated sigh, Mike unzipped the back and inserted a leg inside. The suit didn't seem to be lubricated but was surprisingly easy to put on.

After the suit came a black leather waist cincher. Miki didn't move as Suzu laced it tight, but not exaggeratedly so, then hid the laces under a flap that she zipped shut and added a padlock to the zip. Miki wasn't getting out of it without the key.

Suzu fastened black leather cuffs on Miki's wrists and above her elbows, and fastened them together. She added a black leather armbinder to further restrict her range of movement, lacing it tight and added padlocks to the straps.

As part of the Bad Girl treatment, excessive and redundant bondage was in order, and the padlocks added to the psychological effect.

Miki's legs were next on Suzu's agenda.

"It will sit on the bed."

Miki, strained her arms against the tight confine of the armbinder and cuffs as she sat on the edge of the bed. She wasn't getting out of these by herself. This girl obviously knew what she was doing. She wondered for a moment if she had been that way from the start, or if Noah had changed her.

All the information she had received about Suzu Aizawa in her briefing was that she was a typical high-school girl before the SAO incident, almost always seen in company of her sister, and rarely speaking. She had almost no social media presence, and because the SAO incident had kept Suzu without any internet access for two years, and Japanese ISPs purged their customers' history after 24 months, Miki's handler had no internet search history to establish a profile.

Suzu took from the cabinet a pair of knee-high ballet boots, walked closer to Miki, and started putting them on her.

"How do you know my size?" wondered Miki as she thought the boot

Suzu stopped for an instant, placed her index and thumb on Miki's tight, and pinched hard.

"Ow!" yelped Miki. She was going to get a bruise for sure.

"It needs to learn to speak properly. Until and unless Master chooses to promote it to an actual person, it is livestock. There is no 'I' or 'My' in its vocabulary, only 'It' or 'Its'. Does it understand?"

"…It understands." fumed Miki. She was going to bid her time and get revenge on that girl.

"Good. Only through complete obedience and submission can it hope to be one day promoted to a person. To answer its question, Master has enhanced all the restraints and outfit of the room with magic. They will all adjust themselves to their wearer, slowly repair any damage over time so wear and tear isn't an issue, and clean themselves."

Miki looked down at her outfit in speculation. She had noticed that the suit seemed to fit her particularly well, but had attributed it to Suzu having good eyes for sizing a person and the latex being stretchy.

Suzu was done with tightly lacing the boot, covered the top laces with a leather flap and, once again, padlocked it. She repeated the process with her other leg.

"Did… did Master also turn you into livestock before?"

Suzu looked up, and Miki saw her smile.

"No. This training method is far too harsh to be used on just anyone. We reserve this kind of treatment for unrepentant murderers. Those who need to be completely broken down, before a good person can be built back up. Master was gentle with us, and made sure we liked every play or scene we did together."

"I am not a Oh!" Miki's protest was cut off by another pinch.

"…It is not a murderer!"

Suzu shook her head.

"Foolish former spy. Master is the Champion of a Goddess, a Goddess that has entrusted to him the task of, among other things, fighting corruption. Does it really think that Lilith-sama wouldn't have given her Champion, as well as all of his subordinates, a way to see through lies? We are all living lie detectors. So, it should give up on trying to fool us and become honest. There is no escape for it, and there is no deceiving its Master. All it can really do is decide how long its training will last before it submits."

Miki fell silent as Suzu resumed lacing the boot.

Since the sudden change of scenery from the living room to this hallway, she was starting to seriously consider that Lilith might be real after all. The apparent change of Earth position and seasonal shift had left her baffled, as well as the disappearance of the nukes and the rumors of people with missing limbs recovering them, but that still hadn't been enough to make her think Lilith might be an actual goddess. It was just too preposterous!

The second boot was locked, and Suzu added black leather cuffs around her ankles, then larger ones around Miki's thighs. She left to take yet another thing from a cabinet, and Miki recognized a black latex hood with a detachable blindfold and gag.

"Is it really necessary? It isn't going anywhere in this." pleaded Miki, trying to elicit some sympathy from Suzu. She knew that if she was masked, it would be easier for Suzu to keep objectifying her and treat her harshly.

"It is. And I suspect it knows why, since it was once a spy. It must have received all kinds of training. Once it becomes a good girl, it will surely share its experience and knowledge with the rest of us."

Miki didn't protest further as Suzu gathered her long black hair into a ponytail and stretched the latex hood over her head. The mouthpiece and blindfold were removed, and once Suzu was satisfied, zipped the hood shut. She then closed a black leather posture collar on Miki's neck, and of course, locked it.

"One last thing, and its attire will be complete." said Suzu.

Miki's eyes widened as she saw Suzu take from yet another cabinet a metal chastity belt. The ominous device had two black dildoes connected to the lower part. Their size wasn't excessively big, but she had no doubt that she would feel their presence keenly.

She sighed in relied as Suzu took the time to coat the inserts with lubricant. Although she wasn't certain it would be a good thing on the long run. Sadists tended to be sloppy, as they did what they did to indulge themselves. But Suzu acted more like a professional dominatrix, focusing on efficiency rather than cruelty for the sake of it.

As expected, the dildoes entering her body felt much bigger than they actually were, and Miki felt quite full when the belt was locked around her waist. Then Suzu did something she didn't understand. She moved her index on Miki's latex-covered belly, under her navel, as if tracing something.

Suzu lifted Miki in her arms to place her in the middle of the bed and connected her collar to the headboard with a chain.

"That chastity belt is also imbued with magic. It will absorb and eliminate its piss and shit. The dildoes will vibrate, rotate, bend, extend and retract. I can use the belt to punish it with electric shocks.

Miki looked hatefully at the belt as Suzu left the bed, or at least tried to, as the posture collar wouldn't let her, and dreaded what she would come up with next.

She was pleasantly surprised when she came with a white board on a tripod, and Suzu started writing.

Rules:

"It will read the rules aloud." ordered Suzu, her smartphone in hand.

Miki apparently took too long to stare dazedly at those stupid rules, because she suddenly felt a strong electric shock from her ass. When it stopped, she glared at Suzu, who didn't seem to care and pointed at the whiteboard.

"It-It is not a person, but livestock, a tool…"

Miki repeated the rules, trying to get into the headspace where she could disassociate herself from what was happening. It was an effective tactic to use for these kinds of situation.

But then, the dildoes sprang to life, shattering her concentration.

Miki was made to repeat the rules, again and again. She must have gone over them at least a hundred times before Suzu was satisfied and allowed her to stop.

Miki's eyes widened as she saw particles of light appear above Suzu's left palm, and they formed into a bottle of water.

"It doesn't need to worry. It is pure water, there are no drugs inside."

Miki would vastly have preferred to drink water from a less suspicious source, but she didn't exactly have a choice, and her throat was parched. The water was refreshing and had no suspicious taste.

Suzu forced the mouthpiece inside Miki's mouth, securing it to the hood, and did the same with the blindfold.

"It has been satisfyingly cooperative, so it will now get a reward. It should not forget its rules. It will often be asked to repeat them."

Miki didn't attempt to resist, realizing the futility of it as Suzu folded her legs and used more padlocks to link the ankle cuffs to the corresponding thigh cuffs, depriving her of her ability to unfold them. Bound like this, even walking on those precarious ballet boots was out of the question, and she could only squirm as the relentless teasing from the belt drove her into an aroused state.

And she felt Suzu's hands on her body, fondling her breasts, running over her thighs. Miki had to admit that her touch felt good. Suzu obviously knew how to please a woman.

Miki squirmed and strained against her bondage, but she couldn't escape the pleasure of the belt, and Suzu's hands. She didn’t know how long it lasted. Then, the hands left her body, and Miki heard her captor walk away, open the dungeon's door, and leave.

And the belt was still active!

Miki tried to regulate her breathing and stop her struggle to conserve her stamina. This devilish setup was clearly intended to make her so eager for an orgasm that she would beg for it, and they would use her own sexual desires to make her obedient to their will.

And that was very bad.

She knew. Back in the training compound, her instructors had been clear on one thing. People usually broke under prolonged torture. For some particularly strong-willed individuals, their body broke before their spirit did. Miki and Katsumi had both scored high on pain tolerance. They wouldn't have been allowed to become field agents if they broke easily.

But the instructors had also said this. Pain was brutal, but pleasure was insidious, addictive. No one could resist pleasure indefinitely. It was actually one of the methods used by the MI6, when they had the time to do it.

Miki gritted her teeth, aware that she was on borrowed time. And with her ability to lie robbed from her, there was absolutely nothing she could do to get out of her predicament.