Ch 183: Cutting ties.

Lina sighed as she saw the news articles about Angie Sirius being ‘dead’. She hadn’t wanted to believe it.

“Believe me now?” asked Akeno from the side.

“…Yes. It actually hurts more than what you are doing to me. I’ve devoted years of my life to my country. For its sake, I have done some things I really am not proud of. And this is the reward. To be dropped like a dirty sock.”

“Yes. At least, they’re throwing you some state funerals. They could have claimed you turned traitor.”

Lina nodded, acknowledging Akeno’s point. It made her feel just a tiny bit better.

She had signed a soul contract, in order to be allowed to leave the crystal ball. She wouldn’t be allowed to tell anyone just what was happening to her. How she was being trained to be a sex slave.

Clara and Rachel were still inside and would be for a long time, as Akeno said she just wouldn’t allow them out until their maid training was complete.

There was no mention of them at all in the news reports. This made Lina angry, to see their existence erased like this. Both had been recruited from an orphanage, and they had no known relatives. Soon enough, even the members of Stardust who were their colleagues would forget about them.

“They might try to kill me. I know some of their secrets. The USNA will lose face if the public learn I am still alive.”

“You agreed to be allowed to return to school in exchange for behaving yourself. Are you having second thoughts?”

“No. I’ll behave, don’t worry. It’s not like I have much choice anyway. I’m just saying this because they might send agents after me.”

“We have the Valkyries now, and they are very good at watching their surroundings for enemies. I think it’ll be okay. Still, it may be a good idea for you to send a message to your former superiors. Do you have a way to contact them?”

“…Yes.” nodded Lina. “It’ll be a video call. Do you want to be off camera?”

“I don’t care. They know about me and Rin by now.” shrugged Akeno.

Lina turned back to the screen and start typing on the keyboard. After a minute, a video call opened, and a young woman wearing a dark blue military uniform appeared.

Her bored expression turned into shock as she stared at Lina, obviously recognizing her, then wariness as she saw Akeno sitting beside Lina.

“Why are you calling?”

“Hello, Maria. I’d like to speak to the Colonel.”

“…I’ll see if he is available. Please wait a moment.”

A waiting screen replaced the video feed.

After a long moment, it left place to a middle-aged man in uniform, who seemed very unhappy.

“Colonel.” said Lina without saluting.

“Who are you?” he asked with a flat tone.

“…I didn’t call to try to trap you with a recording, Colonel. I can’t say I appreciate how you’ve abandoned us, even if I can understand your reasoning. I only wanted to make a statement, to avoid future misunderstandings.”

“Proceed, then.”

“I am not going to try to pursue revenge for what happened, and they won’t, either.” said Lina as she glanced at Akeno, who nodded. “I want a clean break. But if you attempt to kill us, we will have to do something to make it stop.”

The colonel didn’t say anything, and only moved his eyes to stare at Akeno.

“You already know who I am.” smiled Akeno. “What you do not know, not yet, is what I am capable of, what my purpose is, and who is behind me. If you did, you would have sent a diplomat, not done something as stupid as trying to kidnap some of my friends. This better not happen again."

"Are you threatening us?"

"No. I am only point out that as Lina said, as long as you do not try anything else, I am willing to let bygones be bygones."

"…I still do not know what kidnapping attempt you are talking about, but if you do not initiate any hostile action toward the UNSA, the status quo is fine."

Akeno rolled her eyes hard.

"Sure. As long as we understand each other. And I'll throw you a free bone as a gesture a goodwill, because telling you won't have any negative consequences for my side or Japan. Your nation is soon going to experiment with creating an artificial black hole, to get an unlimited amount of magic power. Gravity is the barrier that separate the material world from the dimension magicians draw energy from, and you think a black hole will allow you direct and permanent access to it. And you are right about that. But that's a terrible idea. You shouldn't try it."

"And why shouldn't we?"

Akeno shrugged and stood.

"The issue when you open a door to a new dimension for the first time, is that you never really know what's on the other side. If you create that black hole, even for only a few micro-seconds, you will end up with a spiritual parasite problem. The contagious kind of parasites."

Akeno left the room, not giving the Colonel an opportunity to express his disbelief or denial, and Lina sighed.

"It's time for me to go, Colonel. Please tell my former colleagues that I'll miss them, even if things turned out this way. Goodbye."

The colonel made a very small, plausibly deniable nod, and Lina ended the call.

She sighed as she followed Akeno to the living room. A new week was starting. She would leave the apartment with Akeno, do martial arts training with her under some monk's tutelage, then attend classes. And after that, she would return here and be forced to return into that place, where time flowed faster. She would have to endure several days and nights of being trained as a bunny-themed plaything. Then they would get ready for a day outside, exit the crystal ball, and the cycle would repeat, over and over.

…

Back inside Sanctuary, Rachel groaned lustfully, and the penis gag and the thick latex hood covering her head did a good job stifling her groan. She was half naked, wearing long latex gloves and stockings, and that accursed belt relentlessly teasing her. Black leather cuffs locked on her wrists kept her hands bound in front of her, but her ankles and a chain connected to her collar kept her laying on the mattress.

Akeno had fed and watered her before putting the hood on her and leaving for the day, and explained to her the rules of the game.

There was a button on the front panel of the metal chastity belt she wore. If she pressed it, the two vibrators impaling her would switch from teasing to burst mode for five minutes, ensuing she would get at least one strong orgasm.

But she would have to resist the temptation. If Rachel managed to hold on until Akeno returned, Akeno would make her into a latex maid, her uniform free of restraints aside from the collar, and cuffs around her wrists and ankles. But those cuffs wouldn't be connected to each other and would only serve a decorative function, unless her Mistress decided to play with her.

Each time she pressed the button, however, a digital counter on the belt would increase. And when Akeno returned, she would have to pay for the total number by choosing restraints or toys to add to her uniform.

A leather corset, chain linking her wrists or ankle cuffs, a dildo or butt plug, or a passive chastity belt would be worth one point each. A gag or ballet-shoes would be worth two points. An active chastity belt or armbinder would be worth three points.

To make things worse still, Rachel and Clara had both been kept in strict bondage and edged for days already before the game started. She would likely have orgasmed when Akeno replaced the chastity belt if she hadn't somehow prevented it.

Rachel groaned again as she lifted her hips repeatedly in frustration, but the darkness enforced by the hood contributed to remove any distraction she could use to try to ignore her burning desire. The awareness that she could easily gain the pleasure she craved for days, that all she had to do was reach for the button, made her torment so much worse.

She lifted her hands to the collar locked around her neck, inserted her right index through the D-ring fixed to its front, and closed her hand, trying hard to pretend that as long as she kept her right hand closed, she could ignore the button's temptation and pretend that her hands were chained to the collar.

Trying to pretend that the mental image of herself held in tight leather and latex bondage didn't somehow make her so aroused by itself, even without the belt's vibrators teasing her. That being kept helpless and horny, eager to do anything for an orgasm, didn't actually sound so bad.

And she failed.

Eventually, with her willpower wavering, Rachel convinced herself that by giving herself an orgasm only once, the relief would help her withstand the rest of the day.

As soon as this notion came to her, it took a hold of her reasoning, and before she could really consider if it was a good idea, her hands reached for the belt, and she pressed the button.

…

As Akeno and Lina were headed to school, Rin was busy in one of sanctuary's rooms. She laid in the middle of the bed, naked, as Olrun rode her in a reverse cowgirl position, moving her hips up and down on Corruption's shaft. All the Valkyries were squirming and moaning softly as they formed a pile of flesh and limbs around Rin. Olrun barely had enough space to move, but she was a Servant and had more than enough strength and stamina to manage.

Rin thought that the way the Valkyries shared each other's pleasure was both a boon and a curse for her. A curse because they fed each other pleasure in a self-sustaining reaction, and once they got started, they just didn't stop. They couldn't calm down individually when feeling from the others the equivalent of being fingered or fucked, and the increased libido provided by the Crest didn't help.

It took a direct order from Rin for them all to stop simultaneously and start calming down.

Their mind link was an advantage when it came to the Crest, however. When Rin used it for the first time and came as she thrust into Hildr, the Crest had appeared on the backs of every Valkyrie.

Without that, Rin wasn't sure she would have survived those six Valkyries. No, those six unsatiable succubi!

As she came against into Olrun, and the green-haired girl smiled as she was pushed aside by Irs who took her spot, lowering herself on the glistening shaft with a pleasant sigh, Rin got an idea. She waited for Irs to finish, then left the bed.

"Master?" wondered Hildr, smiling sweetly. "Are you out of stamina?"

"Are you sure you girls aren't lust demons in disguise?" asked Rin with a deadpan glare.

"We're having a lot of fun, but we're not doing this only to refill your mana. If you girls want to learn Shunpo and everything else, I need to make you all submit properly."

"Yes, Master." replied the Valkyries with a single voice.

After getting the full explanations from Akeno and Rin about what had happened to their world, as well as their mission, the Valkyries were determined to help. They had agreed to do whatever it took to become stronger, including swearing their eternal loyalty to Akeno and Noah.

And yet, despite signing the soul contracts, they didn't obtain Noah's shared abilities immediately. Thy found out that the reason for it was double. With their Master being Rin, they didn't feel all that loyal to Akeno or Noah. After all, they barely had seen a picture of him so far. And as proud warriors, they weren't naturally inclined toward submission in the first place.

Using corruption, she already had put on them all the Bondage Bunny curse, giving them all a liking for bondage.

But she had yet to bind any of them, so they weren't aware of it yet.

In order to accelerate their submission, she needed to do something about it.

"Here's what we'll do, girls. I am going to take a quick shower to freshen up. When I return, I want you to designate one among you. We will rotate every two or three hours, so you will all have your turn."

"Understood, Master. One on one is also good, it will be more lovey-dovey." smiled Rindr.

As for the other five, you will be placed in bondage while we do that. It will help you feel more submissive."

The Valkyries nodded doubtfully.

Rin entered the bathroom and took a quick shower. She dried herself up, smiling as she thought that she wasn't going to stay clean for long, and returned to the bedroom, finding that Rindr would get the first turn. Once there, Rin put stop runes on every Valkyrie and redressed them.

When she was done, every Valkyrie was dressed in latex bodysuits and leather corsets, and placed all of them save Rindr into bondage sleeping bags, fastening the many straps extra tight. She finished by blindfolding them.

"Master, how is this going to help?" wondered Ortlinde.

"Girls, as I play with Rindr, you will all feel pleasure. As you do, I want you to imagine that Akeno is the one making you feel good, as a reward for being good girls."

It was more than a little disrespectful to ask them to think about another girl, but Rin prioritized survival and saving her world above all else, and making the Valkyries stronger faster might make the difference.

And there was also the matter of dealing with all the disciples eager to learn Shunpo. Akeno and Rin would need help training the girls.

"Ah, I understand, Master. We'll try that." nodded Hildr.

Rin nodded and laid them all on the room's bed, then moved with Rindr to another room.

She blindfolded Rindr as well, then hugged her and kissed her gently. Between the five other Valkyries getting aroused by their bondage and Rin's ministrations, Rindr quickly melted in her arms.

…

Zhou Gongjin respectfully kneeled in front of the raised dais. On it was a gilded throne, and a desiccated corpse dressed in ceremonial attire sat on it, most of the bones being exposed. An eerie yellow light glowed in the skull's eye cavities, seemingly staring at him.

"Zhou Gongjin. I have a task for you." came a voice from the corpse.

"I am at your disposal, Master."

The corpse didn't move. It couldn't move, since it was only a corpse. The light came from an electronic box placed inside the skull. A power cable ran from the box along the spine and disappeared behind the throne.

A screen appeared between the corpse and Zhou Gongjin. It showed a conversation between Colonel Canopus, leader of the stars, and two young women. Zhou Gongjin listened with rapt attention and deduced from the timing that the blonde girl most likely was Angie Sirius, the supposedly dead ace of the USNA. Moreover, they would never let her go with the CAD allowing her to launch her strategic-class magic. The other girl, however, was a complete unknown.

Once the recording ended, Zhou Gongjin was about to ask for information on the girl with violet eyes and long black hair when the screen displayed information about them before the words left his mouth.

He studied the information for a minute with a frown. He felt like at least part of it was a fabrication, and was not anywhere near as complete as he would have liked.

"I had planned to send Chen Xiangshan and Lu Ganghu in two months for the next operation, but this is too good an opportunity to ignore. They will reach Yokohama the day after tomorrow. You are to assist them and capture those two girls, then bring them to the mainland."

"It is an honor to cooperate with Ghost Walker and the Man-Eating Tiger." smiled Zhou Gongjin.

"I expect complete success. Just in case of something unfortunate happening, however, your men will wear USNA uniforms and equipment, as well as suicide bombs."

"I understand, Master. We will secure those two."

"Good."

With this word, the lights inside the skull's eye cavities faded away.

Zhou Gongjin rose to his feet, bowed to the corpse, and left the room. He had things to prepare. As he walked away, he idly wondered how Jiedo Heigu had managed to obtain this recording.