Ch 257: The Knights’ downfall.

Akeno, dressed in her Kyuubi outfit, and maintaining her Ghost Walker ability, flew at a leisurely pace around the Eiffel tower, taking in the scenery.

In this timeline as well, Paris was a beautiful city.

Too bad it was only on the surface.

Her smartphone made a sound, and Akeno smiled as she saw the message. Da Vinci had just informed her that the fourth Mk3 had just passed the pre-deployment tests. With the Mk1 and the Mk2, the wZERO squadron now included six Hakens, and all of them had been retrofitted with energy wings, as well as beam rifles and Maser Vibration Swords.

As for the pilots to field them, Aside from Akeno herself, Izumi, Kasumi, and now Ayano, she currently had two enhanced engineers, Cécile and Da Vinci, and three unenhanced talents, Kallen, Haruka and Akito.

For obvious reasons, Akeno was unwilling to risk Cécile and Da Vinci on the battlefield if she could avoid it, but at the current time, the massive advantages offered by Noah's attributes, as well as their intimate knowledge of the Hakens, made them even better pilots than Kallen and Haruka, although not by a huge margin.

Once she was done with Paris, Kallen and Haruka would be next on her to-do list, then Sakura and Sakuya, then Kaguya and Leila herself. And then there were the three cute engineer girls, Ferilli, Hilda and Chloe.

And she shouldn't forget about Jean, the captured Britannian officer, either. She still hadn't gotten around to dealing with her.

She stifled a yawn. Her whole adventure since she had been chosen to represent Noah had been plenty of fun and given her many memories she would treasure, and she had met and gotten intimate with a lot of interesting people, but the relentless pace she had imposed on herself was still taking its toll, and she felt tired.

[I think that you could use some down time in your soul space. Come visit me tonight, Akeno.] said Albion in her head.

[It does sound like a lovely idea. But no sex this time.]

[Yes. You're having too much of that planned in the near future already. I will give you a nice lap pillow under that great tree. It will be quiet and peaceful, with only a slight breeze, and the sunlight warming you up while I keep your head in the shade.]

[Deal. Thank you, Albion.] smiled Akeno.

[You do not need to thank me for taking care of you when I can. I do not have many opportunities to lend you my power since you have grown so strong already, but I can at least help with your mental state. Also, it should be about time.]

Akeno checked on her smartphone again. 10:58. The legislative assembly of the URE should be as full as it was going to get today.

It was time to bring the hammer down.

Still maintaining Ghost Walker, Akeno flew a few kilometers to the parlement, another grand and majestic building. She had no issue passing the security checkpoints, despite them being heavily guarded.

It seemed those fools had at least some awareness after all.

Once she was certain she had the correct room, she spent a second knocking out the four guards, and entered. But she didn't deactivate Ghost Walker right away. Maybe Zero's showmanship had infected her, but she wanted to make a more memorable appearance than just slipping through a door like a normal person.

A lot of heads turned in her direction when they saw the door open, but lost interest when she closed it, assuming the guards had just stopped someone from entering.

Behind the podium stood a middle-aged woman in a blue designer suit, talking about something related to banking regulations. Akeno didn't bother paying attention to her words. She only cared that she was Christine Montelieu, one of those who had been the most vocal against Akeno's proposal, arguing that Akeno would keep fighting off Britannia without needing for them to concede anything.

Akeno spread out her fallen angel wings, positioned herself floating two meters above and behind the podium, and deactivated Ghost Walker. She also activated the second skill of her Phantom Mistress class, Aura of Domination.

The reaction was immediate, as gasps of disbelief and fear instantly spread among the three hundred or so members of the parlement, and Christine froze mid-word, glancing over her shoulder to see why she suddenly felt a chill down her spine. Her face lost all color when she saw Akeno floating, her face hidden behind the white kitsune-shaped helmet.

Akeno glanced at the dozen cameramen between the podium and the benches.

"You cameramen will keep recording everything that happens in this room no matter what, or I will end you. And the same goes for your superiors in the news networks. If they interrupt the transmission, I will pay them a visit in the near future. And they do not want for that to happen. Understood?"

The cameramen gulped but nodded. They had little choice, between Akeno's charisma, her active aura, and the supernatural abilities she openly displayed. She wasn't anywhere near Lilith's level of casual coercion, forcing people on their knees before they even realized, but most normal people wouldn't even think about disobeying.

"Good. Now we can begin." smiled Akeno, looking down at Christine. "You pathetic failure of an human being, return to your place among that crowd of repugnant, shortsighted fools."

Akeno saw her wince, her outrage fighting her preservation instinct for a second. Her preservation instincts won, and she hurriedly returned to sit among the circular benches.

Akeno floated down to stand behind the podium.

"I am Akeno Himejima, although some people know me as Kyuubi, the one who recently gave Britannia a few doses of humility. And I came here today to deliver one to you as well."

"I am an Envoy representing several Deities, sent here to save humanity from an extinction-level threat you have yet to even notice. I do not need your cooperation regarding that matter, so I will not expand on it, and you can just ignore it."

Some people tried to enter the room, and Akeno put a light shield to block the access.

"But since I had a few months to kill before dealing with that issue, I enlisted as a private in the URE army, to do some good on the Eastern Frontline while keeping a low profile. And what did I experience? Refugees half-coerced into enlisting, being given woefully inadequate training, and being sent to the frontline with suicide charges strapped to their cheap Knightmares. And then the politicians do not even have the basic decency to add them to the casualty numbers communicated to the public."

The three hundred politicians gathered in front of her cowered at her anger, amplified by her aura and charisma. She wouldn't be surprised if some had stained their pants.

"Then, when circumstances resulted in me gaining some attention, I proposed to the URE a trade that would have been very favorable to you, asking little in return but for this rotten country to treat the refugees with decency. And in your foolishness, you refused."

"I am not here today to lecture you. Most of you, both inside and outside of these walls, are already lost causes. I am here to tell you that there is judgment after death, before you are allowed to reincarnate, and that every sin you committed during your life, every lack of empathy from your part, will come back to hurt you."

"And I am not here today to propose mutually-profitable cooperation anymore. That ship has sailed. I am here to dictate terms."

"You will, as fast as humanly possible, let all war refugees out of the ghettos or internment camps, and give them temporary citizenship and financial support for two years. You will criminalize the way Britannians and other dumbass racists call people from other nations. I do not want to hear anyone referring to other people by a number. You will create a monument in Paris, where the names of everyone who died in the defense of this rotten country, regardless of their nationality, will be displayed. And in return, you will get nothing."

"If you oppose this, I will just kill you, and whoever will replace you will hopefully learn from your example. Now, let's proceed to an open vote. Those who oppose my terms, lift your hand now. It will be the last thing you do before your head rolls on the ground." declared Akeno, manifesting a dozen light swords around her.

Without much surprise, no one lifted their hands.

"Those in favor, lift your hand now."

Thy all did in a hurry, aside from a particularly old man who simply glared at her, but Akeno let it slide and nodded.

"It is good when a representative democracy works as intended!"

…

Akeno left Paris, feeling happy that she didn't have to kill anyone after all. She wouldn't have minded ending some of those corrupt politicians, but that would have implied some kids seeing the footage, and that wouldn't have been great.

She had left the exact details, such as determining the value of the stipend the refugees would receive or the amount of the fine for calling someone by a number, to the politicians. But not without making it clear to them that if they played their usual games, she would pay them another visit.

She was flying at near supersonic speed, about to cross the former border between France and Germany, when she felt her smartphone vibrate powerfully in her suit's pant pocket.

She immediately stopped and frowned, as that vibration intensity was signaling an emergency.

"Yes?"

"Akeno, This is Leila." said Leila, her voice precise and clipped like she always was in her tactical mode.

"We just caught something with a high-altitude observation balloon. Britannia is headed our way, and they're bringing all the guns. About a thousand Knightmares on aerial carriers, and those leading them… It's the Knights of Rounds. All of them."

"I understand. ETA?"

"Eighty-two minutes at their current speed for the aerial force, less if the Knights charge ahead of the rest. Their Knightmares all seem to be quipped with a Float System and booster combo."

"I'll be back in less than thirty. Since the Knights of Rounds are coming, please tell Da Vinci that we are going with the Asset Collection option."

"As expected of you. A good thing the castle isn't lacking holding cells. And thanks for your restraint earlier." added Leila, her voice softer.

"Yes, it went better than expected. I'm ending the call, going hypersonic."

"See you soon, your Haken will be ready."

Akeno put the smartphone back in her pocket, created a needle-shaped light shield around herself to reduce air drag, and accelerated like she never had before.

…

Akeno managed to reach the castle just a little over twenty minutes later, removing her helmet as she landed. The Hakens were lined up in the courtyard, and the pilots were gathered in a loose semi-circle around Leila, who had a datapad in hand.

"Welcome back, Akeno." nodded Leila, her eyes tense.

"Thank you." replied Akeno, nodding to her squad mates.

"Things have gone worse since I called you. The Orders of Michael and Raphael are also moving, totaling about four hundred more Knightmares."

"Makes sense, I suppose." sighed Akeno. "Which bring the question, do we fight them head-on, or do we evacuate to bite their ankles later? I could stuff everything important in the Sanctuary, then launch an attack elsewhere." suggested Akeno.

"Tempting, but we can't let such a force unopposed on the Europian border." said Leila as she shook her head. "If they don't find us, they might decide to go straight for Paris."

"So, we fight." nodded Akeno. "Da Vinci, do you think the six Hakens can take such odds?"

"As far as ammunition and fuel are concerned, we should be able to, as long as the pilots don't miss too many shots, and don't take too many hits on the shields." said Da Vinci. "Fortunately, we built them with long fights in mind. However, I do not advise using any of the manned Alexanders. There are simply too many enemies for them to survive."

Akito, Toru, Masaki and the others who didn't have a Haken to pilot were making guilty expressions. They wanted to participate, even if they were aware that it was pure suicide.

"I agree." said Leila. "I want to divide the squadron into two forces. Akeno, Izumi, Kasumi, Ayano, Cécile and Da Vinci with the Hakens to fight them off or, if it isn't possible, make them chase after you, and everyone else will be ready to evacuate the castle and hide in the woods after setting demolition charges."

Akeno lifted her head and watched the white and red Haken, ready for action. Da Vinci had painted a large logo on its chest, with a stylized fox head, surrounded by nine stylized tails.

She wanted to climb into the cockpit, and settle into the same focused mental space she was in when she fought Antares, or the various dungeon bosses she had previously faced. But it wouldn't be the most optimal way to use their forces.

"…I won't pilot my Haken." decided Akeno. "I will fight directly. Who wants to use it?"

Akito, Haruka and Kallen lifted their hands first.

"Kallen, you're up." decided Akeno.

"Thank you." nodded Kallen with a determined expression.

"If you guys depart within three minutes, you should be able to have at least five minutes to deal with the two Orders before the bulk of their forces can reunite with them." frowned Leila as she checked her datapad. "They either made a mistake in their coordination, or they aren't aware that the Hakens can fly far faster than them."

"Then we should go right away, and teach them not to mess with us." replied Akeno.

"Good luck. I will keep you updated on any development." nodded Leila.

"Akeno, if you aren't going to be inside a cockpit, I have something for you that you will find useful." smiled Da Vinci, taking from her spatial ring a white kitsune helmet looking very similar to the one she had just removed.

"Thank you?" asked Akeno, taking it and examining it more closely. These last few days, Da Vinci hadn't focused all of her attention to creating Knightmares, or the monotony would have driven her mad. At least, that was what she was claiming. Akeno knew that Da Vinci's spatial ring now contained a lot of side-projects, from customized tools to bedroom toys.

"It has a rudimentary AI and incorporated com system and HUD." explained Da Vinci. "Just tell the AI who you want to reach or squad channel to use, and it will do the legwork."

"That will be very convenient, thanks." nodded Akeno gratefully, putting it on. The HUD interface was very basic, keeping the clutter to a minimum, and there was a small map overlay on the bottom right corner where she could see a group or green icons

With a last nod to each other, the pilots entered their assigned Hakens, and seconds later, they were underway, adopting an arrowhead formation around Akeno.

As they flew, Akeno decided to test the Ai.

"AI, please connect me to Cécile." asked Akeno.

"Connection established." replied a feminine voice, and Akeno sniffed with a small smile. Da Vinci had used her own voice as a template.

"Akeno-sama?" asked Cécile.

"Well, Cécile, this happened. Are you certain you are okay with firing upon Britannia troops? I didn't plan on ever making you do this when I decided to get my hands on you."

As she spoke, Akeno glanced to the side at the black and gold Haken following in formation.

"I won't hesitate, Akeno-sama." replied Cécile firmly. "For things to reach that point is unfortunate, but even setting aside my personal reasons to want to fight by your side, with the demonic pillar threatening us all, I will be protecting Britannia's civilians by stopping Britannia's soldiers from killing us."

"That is a good point. Sorry for questioning your determination, Cécile."

"It is fine, Akeno-sama. I would have done the same, and I know you are worried about me."

"Yeah. I'll end it there, need to talk to the twins next."

"Connection established." replied the AI, and Akeno raised an eyebrow. She would have to ask her to fine-tune the AI to be a little less literal and give her time to say goodbye properly.

"Akeno-Onee-sama?" asked Izumi.

"Izumi, Kasumi, how are you two feeling?"

"Not that great, honestly." replied Kasumi. "I hope the jitters will be gone by the time the battle starts."

"Yes. That is one hell of a trial, for your first timeline. I need to give you both a painful order, Kasumi, Izumi. When the battle starts, there will be many, many enemies. And aside from dealing with the Knights of Rounds and Valkyries, we won't have time to act nice. That is why I want you to shoot center mass."

"I understand, Akeno-Onee-sama." nodded Izumi. "We cannot afford to be merciful today."

"Exactly. Expect a big cuddle when we are done."

"Yes." nodded the twins, and Akeno ended the call.

After a few minutes of flight, Leila updated the target list, and Akeno's helmet displayed the balloon footage from every enemy Knightmare. The Knightmares belonging to the Knights of Rounds were easily recognizable, and Akeno tried to remember everything Noah had told them about their capabil… She suddenly narrowed her eyes at the video of a particular Knightmare. It had a float unit with short wings and boosters like the knights of Rounds, but the gold painting visible on its limbs tugged at her memories, and…

"Ai, switch to squad channel."

"Already on the squad channel." corrected the Ai.

"Everyone, there's a mostly gold-colored Knightmare tagging behind the Knights of Rounds. Can you see it?"

"…Yes." said Kasumi. "Wait, isn't that this Rolo guy?"

Now that Kasmi said the name, Akeno remembered what Noah had told her about him. Shirley's murderer in the original fiction.

"That's it. Kallen, during the fight, you need to stay well away from this golden Knightmare. Its pilot is likely a Geass user. Leave him to the rest of us."

"Roger. A dangerous one?"

"If you're in his range while he activates it, you will zone out without realizing it." said Akeno. "The good news is, he's omnidirectional and can't differentiate between friends or foes, so maybe we can exploit that to our advantage to get a few easy kills."

"I understand. We want to goad him into activating his Geass and take shots at his allies while he chases us around." said Ayano.

"That's what I have in mind, yes." nodded Akeno. "If he's smart, he'll stop using it when he realizes we're immune to it."

"You will reach the Order of Michael in five minutes." pointed out Leila. "The order of Raphael will be four kilometers south of them. And it looks like they have spotted us. The Knights of Rounds are accelerating and leaving the bulk of their forces behind."

"Understood." replied Akeno and the other members of the squadron.

Since she needed to pace herself, Akeno decided she would attack with only a single beam of red light for now.

…

[Get a damn grip, girl!] thought Cornelia to herself as she tried to calm her nerves, but she couldn't. She hadn't been this jittery since her first real battle.

"To all units, the primary target has been spotted, flying toward the Orders of Michael and Raphael on a direct vector from their base." announced the tactical officer back in headquarters, her voice tense. "She isn't in a Knightmare herself, but is accompanied by what looks like six Hakens, I repeat, six Hakens."

Cornelia's lips twitched in displeasure. Six. It was fortunate that Britannia had taken this threat seriously and gone all out. If they had been given any more time…

"They are using an unknown propulsion system looking like glowing wings, and they're fast. Calculating their speed… They will reach the Orders several minutes before the main force do."

"To all Knights, and Joker, we're going ahead. Push those throttles to their limit." ordered Bismark.

"Yes, my Lord!" replied the Knights of Rounds, and their Knightmares accelerated as one, including the one Rolo Haliburton used.

Cornelia wanted to follow them, but there hadn't been enough Floating Systems to equip her Glaston Knights, and her own Knightmare was docked to a U-shaped carrier plane just like the thousand behind her. Those planes were meant for range and fuel efficiency more than speed, and it showed. They were already going as fast as they could.

Cornelia hoped it would be enough.

A few minutes later, battle chatter started to be heard on the channels reserved for the Orders, and listening to it, her heart sank.

…

Gino gritted his teeth as the old adage about plans and enemies proved its wisdom once again.

The operation had been carefully timed to allow the main force to unite with the Orders of Raphael and Michael before Akeno and her bunch could do anything about it. But the Hakens' demonstrated flight speed had caught them flatfooted.

They weren't supposed to even be able to fly in the first place!

In retrospect, that had been a stupid assumption. Whoever had built them clearly could compete with the best engineers of the Holy Empire.

When the Knights of Rounds finally reached visual range, the battlefield had already become a scene of hell. There were burning Knightmares wrecks everywhere. Six large Knightmares with glowing wings were flying above what was maybe eighty remaining Knightmares, raining murderously accurate fire on their heads, judging from the speed at which the Order's Knightmares exploded.

"Choose a target, and engage!" ordered Bismark.

Gino did, deciding on the green and gold one first.

His Knightmare, the Tristan, was brand new, and the only one who could transform from flier to Knightmare mode, and have a Float System directly integrated to its structure. In its current flier mode, he could only attack with two gatling guns, but speed and maneuverability was more important than firepower in an aerial dogfight.

The first shot from the Knights came not from him, but from Anya, as her Mordred aimed its four Spark Hadron Cannons to fire a single beam of pure destruction. She managed to hit the white and red Haken, although it got out of the beam's way without any visible damage. Its shield had probably taken a beating, however.

The enemy instantly stopped harassing the grounded Knightmares of the Order and instead headed toward the Knights, using wild evasion patterns that caused more shots from the Hadron-equipped Knights to miss.

Then the Hakens returned fire, their weapons firing quick flash of blue light who seemed even faster than bullets or railgun penetrators.

With a wild roll, Gino managed to evade a shot, although with a lot less margin than he would have liked. As the distance between the two forces quickly shrunk, evading would become harder, and…

A shot from the blue and orange Haken hit him, and the Tristan lost its left arm and part of its left wing. Gino swore as he hurriedly switched his machine to its Knightmare form and tried to stabilize his fall. With his current altitude, landing feet first probably wouldn't do it any good, but it was still better than an uncontrolled spin.

Then he felt shocks spread across the Tristan's frame, followed by a sharp deceleration, and saw through the rear camera that one of the lilac-colored Knightmares of the Valkyrie Squadron had used its Slash Harkens to grab into Tristan's right arm and torso, turning his fall into a controlled descent.

His Tristan dangling from the wires now linking the two Knightmares, Gino promised himself that he would demonstrate his gratitude with interest, assuming they all survived this.

With only one arm, and a currently immobilized one at that, his Tristan was already out of the fight, and all Gino could do was watch helplessly as the fight turned into a chaotic furball.

Rolo's Knightmare exploded under his eyes as it was cut down from head to hips by a beam of red light. Its source was that freakish monster, Akeno Himejima, who didn't seem all that bothered by Bismark and his Galahad chasing her around. She seemed to take pleasure at remaining just out of his Excalibur's range, and whenever Bismark tried to use his finger-mounted Slash Harkens to ensnare her, she suddenly disappeared to reappear somewhere else.

He saw her do it again. This time, she reappeared right behind one of the Valkyries, used one of those golden swords to break the hatch open, disappeared inside for an instant to kill the pilot, then left. The Valkyrie's Knightmare fell down, rendered into a useless lump of metal.

Gino frowned suddenly. Why would this monster take the time to open the cockpit and kill its occupant, when she could simply do it by slashing through it? That behavior didn't make sense, unless…

He remembered what Cornelia had said about Kyuubi abducting one of Britannia's top engineers right from under her nose, and somehow stealing the Lancelot without them understanding how she had done it, and the realization hit. He didn't know where she stashed her victims, but he was sure of it.

"Akeno is abducting our pilots!" shouted Gino on the coms.

"What?" exclaimed Dorothea.

"Took you long enough to figure it out! I got three already." replied an unknown voice with a chuckle.

"Our coms have been infiltrated. Maintain radio silence and keep fighting." said Bismark.

Gino could feel the deep anger and frustration in his voice.

"Do you understand it yet, Bismark?" mocked Akeno. "Why you can't exploit your Geass properly against me? I'm giving you more time to figure it out before I kill you."

Akeno disappeared again, and the Valkyrie who had just disengaged her Slash Harkens after Gino's Tristan hit the ground was abducted as well, with barely enough time to shout in both anger and dread.

"There, my Valkyrie set is complete." laughed Akeno.

"Damn you, you stealing bitch!" shouted Luciano, unloading his shield's missiles, then opening his hip-mounted Stark Hadron Cannons. Before he could fire them, two golden swords impacted them and made them explode, causing the Percival to become legless, and the missiles exploded before reaching her target.

"Rich of you, who loves to brag about stealing other people's lives."

Before Luciano could reply, Akeno created another red beam and pierced through the Percival, killing him.

And that was when Akeno made a mistake. She had taken just a little too long to deal with him, didn't have quite enough time to evade completely, and Bismark's Excalibur reached her at last, severing four of her right wings.

"Ahhhh!" shouted Akeno with a most satisfying scream of pain.

Gino saw Bismark execute a follow-up strike, but she was already gone.

"Do you know how sensitive my wings are? Try to evade this!"

A dozen beams of red light targeted the Galahad from above, following it despite his frantic evasions. The Galahad was equipped with a Blaze Luminous shield generator on its left arm, but it wasn't large enough to cover all of its body against such bombardment, and whatever those beams were only took a second to overwhelm Galahad's shield anyway.

The Galahad, impacted by multiples beams strafing into it like red-hot wires into butter, exploded, and the Knights of Rounds felt despair.

…

Monica screamed in frustration when the proximity alarm rang, immediately followed by the sound of torn metal behind her back. Before she could turn her head, her surroundings changed, and she fell on her butt.

"Monica-sama." cried someone, and she turned her head to see the four Valkyries, guns in hand, as well as Dorothea.

"Where are we?" asked Monica, looking around uneasily and drawing her own weapon.

They were in what looked like a flat area on the flank of a snowy mountain, surrounded by mist. A large wooden house stood at its center, and the whole left part of the flat area was occupied by heavy machinery. None of it was active at the moment, but Monica could deduce from its form that it was some kind of Knightmare assembly plant. Probably the place where the Hakens had been made.

"We do not know, Monica-sama." replied Selesia with a stressed voice. We were fighting, and suddenly, we were here…"

Dorothea was headed for the house, ready to fire at any suspect activity, and tried the door, but it was locked.

She fired twice on the lock, without any apparent result, then fired again at a window this time. The window didn't even crack.

"Should we try sabotaging that factory?" asked Angelise.

"That would be a good idea." agreed Monica, but before she could walk to the consoles, Anya appeared out of thin air.

"Anya, are you okay?" asked Monica.

"…I am, I think. Where are we?"

"We don't know. The house is locked, and even the windows are bulletproof." sighed Dorothea, walking to the consoles.

Monica and everyone else came closer, wary of any enemy who might suddenly appear.

"Of course there's a password." sighed Dorothea.

She took a few steps back, and fired at the base of the console, carefully choosing an angle to send any potential ricochet away from them.

This time, the bullet pierced a hole through the panel, and something sparked inside. The screen shut down.

Satisfied, Dorothea emptied her gun onto the two consoles, disabling them.

"Judging from the sun's position, we should be somewhere in Russia or the Chinese federation." suggested Marika. "Since we can't enter the house, should we try to descend the mountain?"

"Good idea."

The girls nodded and walked to the edge of the visible area, where the strange white mist seemed to be blocking the view.

"Should we hold hands to avoid losing each other?" asked Liliana, and they agreed.

Only, when the first person entered the mist, something very strange happened. As they stepped into it, no matter how much they walked, they were only just barely inside the mist. It was like they were walking on slippery ice, not making any progress no matter how much they moved their legs.

Despite many attempts, they had no idea about what was happening.

"Oh my, someone's going to be really angry with you." said a voice they were quickly learning to hate, and they turned to need Akeno standing near the smoking consoles. The four wings she had lost during the fight had already grown back.

As one, the Valkyries, as well as Anya and Monica herself, aimed their guns at her and pressed the triggers.

Monica had time to get two bullets out before her weapon was suddenly cut into two parts, along with those of her comrades.

"Why is nothing working out!" cried Marika in absolute frustration.

"Because you're a normal human, while we are… more." shrugged Akeno. "The fight is over, and you lost."

"What do you mean, the fight is over? There's still our main force coming, and half of your Knightmares are badly damaged!" growled Dorothea.

"They are." nodded Akeno. "You guys certainly did a number on them. You do justice to your reputation. Fortunately, all of our pilots are safe, so it's okay."

"And princess Cornelia has the overall command of that force, right? I recognized her Knightmare on the balloon's feed. We used your com channels to upload a virus to her Knightmare, locking her out of coms. She's unable to transmit anything while her radio is blabbering about fruit paste recipes, a private joke between us. Meanwhile, the rest of your troops have heard Cornelia's voice ordering them to retreat, and they are following what they believe to be her legitimate order. She must be so pissed right now!"

Monica could only agree with Akeno's assessment of Cornelia's likely mood, reluctant as she was. If Akeno and her companions truly had managed to do as she had just said, then by the time the troops realized they had been fooled, Cornelia probably wouldn't order them back on the battlefield.

Not after their morale would have been crushed after witnessing the defeat of the Knights of Rounds, and without first securing their communications, which could take days. Even the planes would need refueling.

The Holy Empire had lost today. Lost very badly. And it would embolden their enemies all over the world.

"It's funny, really. the mighty Holy Empire of Britannia, with its crushing military power, being so vulnerable to something as simple as hacking. Going into your coms was child play for the person who created the Hakens." shrugged Akeno.

"So what happen to us now? Did you kidnap us for ransom?" bitterly asked Liliana.

"No. You guys will join my side and help us free Japan from Britannia's occupation."

"Never!" exclaimed Selesia. "We won't betray His Majesty!"

Akeno shook her head slightly, as if not wanting to argue, and her wings furled into her back before disappearing, as if they had never existed in the first place.

"Anya, I know what is causing your memory issues. And I am going to help you."

"You know about it?" asked Anya, surprised.

"Yes. Simply put, there's an evil woman who hijacked you. The parts you do not remember are when she takes over control of your body. I'll get her out and send her to the afterlife where she belongs."

Monica frowned. It was ludicrous, and something she would have discarded without a though only a few days ago. But then, her confidence about what was possible and what was not had taken a sound beating over the last few days.

Anya didn't move when Akeno walked closer, but when only a meter separated them, she burst into motion, a knife hand aiming at Akeno's throat.

"Damn you!" growled Anya, with a tone most uncharacteristic of her, trying to attack Akeno with complex martial art moves Monica wasn't aware Anya could execute. "We were about to help humanity transcend into immortality! We were so close to our goal, but you had to come and make a mess of everything!"

"You call that immortality, Empress Marianne?" snorted Akeno, and Monica and the others flinched in shock. All of them had heard about the former Knight of Six, the murdered wife of Emperor Charles. Her skill as a pilot had been famous.

And Akeno just implied that she had been hiding in Anya's body all this time?

"Trying to fuse all humans into a single consciousness is no different from genocide, and your so-called immortality is nothing more than eternal stagnation. True immortality is granted by the Gods as a reward for serving them, not something humans can just take for themselves. Anya will be immortal, while you, will be… gone."

Monica saw Anya blink, and she stopped straining against Akeno's grip.

"What happened?" asked Anya with a more normal voice.

"I just expelled from your body that evil woman. This was the last time you experienced any memory loss, Anya." smiled Akeno, releasing her and stepping back.

"I'll will leave you alone for a little while as we return to base and decide exactly how to deal with you. Try to behave yourselves." said Akeno, disappearing.

…

Akeno left the Sanctuary, and put it back into her inventory, trying not to disturb Izumi.

With two people inside a cockpit meant for one, things were cramped, but they could manage.

She stared at the displays showing the Hakens flying in formation. The first of the Mk3 series, the white and red one piloted by Kallen, had some severe burn marks on its dented hull, and held the heavily damaged remains of its right arm in its left hand. They didn't want to leave behind anything for Britannia to seize and analyze if they could help it.

The single Mk2, used by Kasumi, was missing half of its right leg. The second Mk3, white with blue accents and piloted by Ayano, had all its limbs attached, but the badly burnt right arm was unresponsive, and her rifle had been destroyed, limiting her offensive power to one small-caliber beam cannon in the left forearm and one MVS sword.

They could still, probably, have faced the thousand Knightmares of Britannia's main force if Da Vinci's last minute improvisation hadn't worked, but Akeno would have had to do most of the work.

"How did it go, Akeno-Onee-sama?" asked Izumi.

"They haven't started killing themselves of anything, and I destroyed their guns. Not before Dorothea unloaded her clip into the factory's consoles, though."

"She did what?!" shouted Da Vinci, outraged.

"Well, in hindsight, I could have dumped them all into the two cells in the basement, but I was a little distracted, sorry about that."

"It's… fine. I'll fix the consoles. So, how many new 'assets' did we just acquire? I too was a little too busy to keep count."

"The four Valkyries, Anya, Dorothea and Monica. That idiot Nonette saw me coming and decided to shoot herself before I could get to her." sighed Akeno.

During the previous days, Leila had compiled as much information as she could on the Knights of Rounds and their Knightmares. The wZERO squadron had come prepared.

"Hum, that's certainly a good harvest, and we will soon be able to proceed with Japan's liberation." nodded Da Vinci.

…

Once they returned, and before they celebrated their successful operation, Akeno transferred her seven new prisoners into the castle's holding cells, taking them out of the sanctuary one by one, then gathered Da Vinci, Izumi, Kasumi, Cécile and Ayano into her room.

"Enjoyable as it is, I now have too many girls to train." bluntly started Akeno. "So I will do what every good leader does, and delegate a little. What would you girls think about training your own slave? As long as they are happy in the end, you can use any method you want."

"Oh? Are you sure? I have a training device I'd like to try on an unwilling subject." grinned Da Vinci.

"Our own slave, Akeno-Onee-sama? Can I make mine into a pet cat?" asked Izumi with a growing smile.

"A puppy would be better, Sis." objected Kasumi.

"No, cats are more cute."

"I… my own Britannian slave girl..." muttered Ayano, looking lost in thought.

"Ayano, be careful not to let any prejudice you might feel, however justified, lead you down a dark path. Or I won't allow it." warned Akeno.

"…Yes. I won't let my anger guide my actions. I will make you proud of me, Akeno-sama."

"Good girl." smiled Akeno, and Ayano felt a burst of happiness as a conditioned response to Akeno's words.

"I'm glad you all seem to like the idea, and you can mold your slave however you want." said Akeno. "As the one who suggested it, I have first pick. I chose the redhead among the Valkyries. Also, Anya is off limits. I will take care of her after the redhead."

"We can't train six or seven girls in the Sanctuary's basement, however." frowned Da Vinci.  "Give me one day inside to repair whatever damage Dorothea did to the factory, two weeks to get the six Hakens back in shape, and then a week or two to create a few training rooms, tailored for your individual preferences. I think their training can start about two days from now, in the real world."

"I will help you with the repairs and with creating the rooms." said Cécile.

"Yes, thank you." smiled Da Vinci.

"Thank you, everyone." smiled Akeno. Meanwhile, I will take care of Kallen. It's past time I delivered on the promise I made her. And I also remember promising a cuddle!"

…

Leila completed her report, complete with recordings from the observation balloon, read it again for spelling mistakes, and sent it to her superiors, suspecting that it would be her last.

She leaned back on her chair, sighing, as she considered the mess this day had turned into. Akeno's appearance this morning was all over the internet, and news of Britannia's disastrous defeat were bound to spread.

The Orders of Michael and Raphael were finished. They had gone all-out, emptying their bases, and taken over ninety percent casualties. The Knights of Rounds were dead or captives as well, aside from Gino Waldstein who left with his damaged Knightmare toward the end of the battle.

The thousand air-lifted Knightmares had first retreated deep into Britannia territory, out of range for the observation balloon to keep them under observation, then returned to occupy the Orders' former bases, probably to try to deter other URE troops from advancing over Russian land.

It didn't look like they wanted to have a go at it right away, and that was fine with Leila. Da Vinci and Cécile had assured her that the six Hakens would be repaired by noon tomorrow, thanks to the obscene time cheat the Sanctuary represented, but that there would be a few days without more of them coming out of their production line.

She had suggested helping, but in reality, there wasn't much she could actually do.

In short, despite the momentous event that had just transpired, she, the Lieutenant-Colonel in charge of this base, didn't actually have anything to do aside from managing the daily routine and sending the report.

Maybe she should get used to the idea of leaving the castle. She suspected it wouldn't be very long now.

…

When Akeno left the Sanctuary and her smartphone synced itself to the network, it vibrated to signal the reception of several messages and missed calls.

She smiled as she first selected Suzaku Kururugi with the time-zone, it should be late-evening in Japan, but she didn't think he would mind.

"Good evening, Suzaku-kun." smiled Akeno when he picked up the call.

"Akeno. You are the one who made that speech in Paris, right?"

"That is correct. And to anticipate your next question, I am also the one who seized the Lancelot and Cécile. She's doing fine."

"I want to speak to her."

"She is currently busy with helping repair the damage we sustained during that tiff with the Knights of Rounds. I'll ask her to call you back within a day."

"…I guess I have no choice but to be satisfied with that. You mentioned a threat against humanity. Is this about the Sakuradite warheads?"

"Something different. It's a long story, but if I simplify it a little, it's a matter of parallel Earths in separate dimensions, and there's this group of great demons who decided it would be fun to spread across six-dozen different Earths and blow them up."

"Those demons need to stay hidden for years before they can do any blowing up, and we can find them in months. Our teams destroyed about twenty of them already, saving just as many worlds. You do not need to worry about your own. Even if we somehow fail to stop the one in this world, another team of Envoys will be sent, or at the very worst, the Gods will intervene directly. They have a policy of not interfering directly, but they'll break it if it proves necessary to save a planet full of sapient beings."

"…It really doesn't sound like something I can poke my nose into."

"It isn't. Have you come to a conclusion about your own problems, Suzaku-kun?"

"I am still thinking about it. I am trying to convince myself that you are wrong, but I can't."

"…You are at a crossroad. Weak-minded people would perform some impressive feat of mental gymnastics to convince themselves that the outcome they want to reach is also the right one. But considering that you are strong enough to admit your doubts openly, I think you are also strong enough not to fall into that trap."

"Anyway, you can expect me to show my face at Ashford in the near future. Probably in one to three weeks. We can talk more then."

"The members of the student council have seen the video, too. Some of them are scared of you."

"…I can imagine why. The big bad half-fallen angel Eleven who threatened to kill a bunch of people right in front of live cameras. Are you scared of me, Suzaku-kun?"

"…No. I obviously do not know you as much as I thought I did, but if you were the kind to kill people without a good reason, Lloyd and I would have died that night. You are a fallen angel?"

"Did I not look the part?" chuckled Akeno. "Those wings are real, and I wouldn't mind showing them to you or others, now that the secret is out. My mother is a human shrine maiden from an exorcist clan. My father is a fallen angel. In the Earth I come from, there's a few non-human races like angels, devils or yokai. By the way, I saw the announcement. Congratulations on becoming Euphemia's personal Knight, Suzaku-kun. I think the two of you are great together."

"Thank you. You're still going to treat Ashford Academy as a neutral grounds, right? No violence?"

"No violence, unless Britannia brings it there. Before coming, I will tell Cornelia and others that if they dare disturb the peace at Ashford, I will go apeshit on them. I will also make certain the liberaton campaign stays away from the academy, and we do not intend to harm the Britannian civilians in the first place, or even force them to return to Britannia. If they stay, they'll be subjected to the new Japanese government's laws, but that is all."

"I am relieved to hear that."

"Great. I still have many things to do on my end, so I will hang up. Please tell Shirley, Milly, Nina, Nunnally, Lelouch and Sayoko I said 'Hi', and that I will visit soon."

"Yes. Goodbye, Akeno."

"Bye." smiled Akeno, ending the call.

Next was one to Lelouch.

"Akeno?"

"Yes. Can we speak in private?"

"We can, I am with CC."

"Have you heard about the battle earlier today?"

"Not in great detail. I know the Knights of Round and a lot of Knightmares were involved, and that Cornelia had a nervous breakdown and had to be hospitalized."

"Oh dear. Maybe I was a little excessive in my bullying." sighed Akeno.

"She'll recover. For all her faults, my sister is strong and resilient. What happened exactly?"

"They attacked us with a total force of about fourteen hundred Knightmares, plus the Knights, but they messed up their coordination and gave us an opportunity to fight four hundreds first, then the Knights. Due to the battle damage we sustained, taking on the remaining thousand, while doable, carried too much risk for our pilots, so we hacked into Cornelia's Knightmare, locked her coms out, and used an AI to fake a retreat order with her voice."

"…I understand why she was hospitalized."

"Yes. We captured three of the Knights and the Vampire's Valkyries. After I am done convincing them, they will join our forces. Has the Chinese Federation contacted you yet?"

"They did. Their first shipload of… you do not need to know about it."

"No, I don't. As long as you confirm that they respected their part of our deal. And I think they will, after what happened today."

"They would be foolish not to." agreed Lelouch.

"I will soon be done with Europia's eastern frontline. Expect Princess Sakuya to kick off the liberation campaign soon. I guesstimate for it to start in one to three weeks, depending on what the thousand Britannian Knightmares on the border does."

"I will make preparations. And I want to learn more about the Gods, what you do as an Envoy, and what Shirley's life will be like if you take her in."

"I will soon return to Ashford for a while, and now that I am completely exposed, I won't mind answering all your questions then."

"Understood. See you soon, then."

"Later." nodded Akeno, ending the call.

With this done, Akeno went to find Kallen, and found her in one of the cabins of the Haken simulator.

"Training again?" asked Akeno with a smile.

"I nearly died today." shrugged Kallen, ending the simulation and wiping sweat of her brow.

"Even if you had died, Noah would have resurrected you." shrugged Akeno.

"What?" exclaimed Kallen in surprise.

"Still, that would have been a bad thing. Noah is in another dimension right now and can't reach this one, which means that you would have been unable to return as well. It's your turn, Kallen, if you're still up to it."

"Of course I am!" nodded Kallen.

"Then follow me, please."

Akeno led her to her room, then into the Sanctuary.

Da Vinci and Cécile had already repaired the consoles and were working on the damaged Hakens. They both waved at Kallen, then resumed their work.

"Cécile, I had a phone call with Suzaku-kun earlier. Would you mind giving him a call? He's worried about you."

"Oh. Can I borrow your phone?" asked Cécile with a smile.

Akeno smiled and handed it to Cécile, who left the Sanctuary.

"We'll do it inside the house." said Akeno to Kallen, who nodded and followed.

In the living room, Akeno gestured to the sofa, and Kallen sat down. Akeno sat on the other sofa, facing her.

She created a NDA contract and gave it to Kallen, who read it carefully.

"Are you satisfied with it, Kallen?"

"I don't see anything wrong with those terms. There isn't invisible ink or small print anywhere, right?" asked Kallen with a half-joking tone.

"There isn't. The only purpose of this contract is to not leak the training method, and to make sure that once started, those who benefit from it will complete it. Half-done training is harmful for the person being trained." said Akeno, creating a small light knife.

"Hum, fair enough." nodded Kallen, nicking her finger without hesitation and pressing it on the contract.

"Now what do I need to do?"

"…That depends, really. Now that I can talk freely about it, I can tell you that the immunity to mental manipulation, the enhanced body, the light objects and so on aren't given by the Gods directly to their agent. They are abilities that Noah, the Demi-God who is one of Lilith's Champions, possesses, and that he earned the right to share with his subordinates. So, technically speaking, all you need to do is agree to be his subordinate, and sign another contract to make it official."

"Wait, I have to agree to follow your lover's orders? The one who's stuck in another world?" frowned Kallen.

"Yes."

"…Is that all?"

"That is all. But as people say, the devil is in the details. You have to mean it. I'll give you a concrete example. There is this little girl, called Nei, who's completely pure and innocent. Due to her having a special power, they found themselves belonging to the same demon-slaying team, and Nei asked Noah to make her stronger. Because Nei admires Noah a lot and sees him as a big brother figure, the loyalty she felt toward him at the time was already enough to satisfy the condition for the power-sharing, and after signing what Noah called a 'little-sister contract', Nei got them."

Kallen nodded slowly.

"It would be great if it could be that easy in your case, Kallen, but Nei's circumstances are the exception, not the rule. Few are as pure as she is. For the vast majority of people, they either fall in love with Noah first, like in my case, and have no problem swearing loyalty to him, or… they need a helping hand to reach that willingness to be his subordinate, from the bottom of their heart, like I did with Cécile, Ayano, Izumi, Kasumi, and many others."

"And I'm in that category, I guess." nodded Kallen, understanding. "I mean, you only told me good things about Noah and showed me a few pictures, he's handsome and all, but I don't really know him, so… I think that as long as it's business-related, and its about saving other people, I wouldn't mind following his orders. But… He's not going to give me perverted orders, is he?"

"By the time you leave this house, Kallen, you will want him to give you perverted orders." smiled Akeno, and Kallen flinched.

"Your training is starting now, Kallen. You will not try to harm me or leave this house without my permission."

"What the hell? Are you saying that you'll train me into a sex slave for your lover?" asked Kallen, alarmed, as she jumped to her feet, furious. She wanted to run to the door, but her body wasn't obeying her.

"Yes, and a most excellent one. Not only for Noah, but for me as well." nodded Akeno, taking from her inventory the deck of cards she had created some time ago, in another timeline.

"Sit down. You can speak, but do not yell."

Kallen had no choice but to sit on the sofa again, glaring daggers at Akeno.

"Is there even anything to speak about? It's clear that I can't stop you from laying your hands on my body."

"You can't." nodded Akeno. "Now, I am not without compassion, and as compensation for tricking you, I will let you choose what kind of sex slave you want to become."

Akeno put the cards on the table separating them, and Kallen's eyes bulged as she saw the illustrations.

"I am giving you a few minutes to decide, or you can even take several, if you feel adventurous. And if you have any questions about the kind of training this involves, I'd be happy to answer them."

Kallen glared some more, then snorted, taking up the Masochist card.

"I'm not a masochist, and you can't train me into becoming one. It's just pain. You said I would want Noah to give me perverted orders. Would it be just to avoid a whipping?"

"Not at all. And you would be right about it if we were normal people." said Akeno, taking from her inventory one of the special collars. "This collar is enhanced to promote the wearer's production of Dopamine and Serotonin, two hormones responsible for the feelings of pleasure and long-term happiness."

"This is our go-to item when we do not want for the training to take months. If I whip you while you are wearing this, you will start feeling pleasure along with the pain, and over time, you will come to associate the two. At some point, you won't even need the collar anymore to experience pleasure and arousal during a whipping. And you may as well start wearing it now, Kallen. Whatever option you choose, we'll speed up your training with it."

Kallen stared at the collar in horror as her own hands grabbed it, and her expression turned into anguish as she fastened it around her neck.

"…This is so wrong and humiliating." glared Kallen.

"You'll eventually stop thinking about the collar as something humiliating, and instead take pride in wearing it, as a symbol of your relationship with Noah." shrugged Akeno.

Kallen gave up on arguing and stared down at the cards, understanding that she couldn't escape it, and so should focus on making things less bad for herself.

Some cards, like Drone, Pet or Addicted, she discarded immediately. She wound up considering three. Bunny Girl Slave, Chastity Slave, and Doll.

"What about those three?"

"If you choose the bunny girl option, You will wear most of the time a bunny girl or reverse bunny girl outfit while I train you to like bondage sex. You'll get used to having a 'carrot' stuffing your butt, and I will train you to add a "pyon" at the end of your sentences whenever you speak, at least during sex sessions."

"Chastity slave is as the name implies. You will wear a chastity belt that will keep you horny most of the time, and I will train you to only cum when being given permission, which you will not often get."

"As for Doll, the image is self-explanatory. Most of your training will be spent wearing a bodysuit and being used as a plaything, then left alone for hours. I will also sometimes use full-face masks on you, designed after various anime female characters."

"…How many slaves does Noah have already?"

"As of today, slightly over ten thousand." smiled Akeno, and Kallen's eyes bulged. "Yes, we're a big family."

Kallen nodded, feeling more than a little relieved. If that pervert already has ten thousand slaves, surely she wouldn't have to suffer his attentions too often. And maybe she could discourage him further. She knew that what perverts like Noah liked the most was to see their victims resist or beg, and what they hated the most was passivity.

She discarded the chastity card as it sounded much too torturous, then the bunny girl one, thinking that if she could make him feel like he was playing with a corpse, he would lose interest and leave her alone.

And she would find a way to get revenge on Akeno for tricking her into this, once she wasn't fettered with that NDA contract.

"I'll take this one." said Kallen with a glare.

Akeno nodded and retrieved the cards.

"Then follow me to the basement, my doll." smiled Akeno, standing.

Kallen had no choice but to follow, and paused as she took in the basement. The bathroom on one side, the cells on the other, the large bed, the nearly empty space from which hung several chains, and the many pieces of bondage furniture.

Akeno opened a cabinet and took a black latex bodysuit. A neck-entry model with integrated gloves and socks, that could be controlled with her smartphone.

"You aren't the first to be coerced by the NDA contract, so I'll give you some advice, Kallen. If you choose to go along with my instructions rather than try to oppose them, it is easier to tolerate. It gives you back some control, and you can slow down or speed up things, among other things. Now, remove your clothes, Doll, but keep the collar."

"Do you really have to call me that?" glared Kallen, her hands starting to move despite herself. After a few seconds, she decided Akeno's advice had value, and the contract let her move by herself.

"It is part of your training, Doll. Once you accept that you are one and won't mind being called a doll anymore, I can switch back to calling you by your name."

Kallen grunted in annoyance as she kept undressing, until she stood naked in front of Akeno. She felt tempted to use her hands to cover her nipples and crotch, but knew it would only please this pervert. It was better to pretend to be stoic. And to pretend not to already be aroused, thanks to that damn collar.

"Sit on the bed, Doll, and I will help you into your new suit. You'll be wearing it for a while." smiled Akeno.

"What a perverted outfit." grumbled Kallen as she sat on the edge of the bed.

"You'll grow to love wearing latex, the collar will make sure of that... I guess it would have been even more effective if I hadn't told you about its effect, if I had left you to wonder if perhaps, you were a closet submissive all along, but I decided to be honest with you, Doll."

"Thanks, I guess." retorted Kallen with a tone that didn't sound very thankful, if at all. Knowing it was inevitable, she lifted her right leg without waiting for Akeno's order, and felt the cool latex brush against her feet.

Akeno worked quickly, and in less than two minutes, Kallen's body from the neck down was covered in smooth, black, shiny, tight latex.

'You look great already, my doll, but you need a few more accessories." smiled Akeno, walking off to rummage into a cabinet. She came back two thick, black leather straps as well as leather cuffs linked to each other by a single link of chain, proceeded to fold Kallen's legs, using a strap on each to keep her heels pressed against her butt cheeks, and bound Kallen's arms behind her back.

"We're starting light on the bondage aspect, Doll, as I know the first time is hard enough already. You'll experience stricter restraints after that."

"Is that even necessary? I can't hurt you, and all you need is an order to keep me still."

"It isn't necessary to keep you still, but it is for your training. Noah wants for all of his slave girls to enjoy latex and bondage. I can't nurture in you a taste for bondage without first binding you, now can I?" smiled Akeno, dragging Kallen closer to the bed's center and pushing her down.

"And now, you can be a good doll and just enjoy your Owner's attentions."

Kallen retort was blocked with a kiss, then another, and she found herself running out of breath.

And before long, she forgot about her intent to keep still and passive and strained against her bonds as the pleasure became too much to ignore.

…

Hours later, Kallen softly squirmed, regretting her decision to choose the doll card, and not regretting it at the same time.

After molesting her into several orgasms, and robbing her virginity with that huge black and purple strap-on of hers, Akeno had, much to Kallen's vehement indignation, stuffed her ass with a butt plug, telling her with a smirk that thicker and longer ones would follow later. She had filled her pussy with a vibrator not much smaller than the strap-on, and secured both intruders with a black leather chastity belt that she locked with a padlock. Her head wasn't spared, as Akeno forced her to swallow a huge phallus gag that actually went down her throat. She would have suffocated if not for the flexible phallus being hollow and letting her breath.

Apparently, Akeno's clemency where severity of bondage was concerned flew completely out the window after the "first time" was over.

Akeno had completed her work with a wide blindfold, made of black leather, with a triangular hole for her nose that would stop her from dislodging it no matter how much she struggled.

Akeno had since then taken a relatively hands-off approach, letting the vibrator keep Kallen into the throes of pleasure. She sometimes reminded Kallen of her presence with a squeeze here, a caress there, but her touch always came as a surprise.

As she tried to bite down any lustful moan that threatened to escape her lips, Kallen reflected on her future.

If she was being honest with herself, something she was very, very reluctant to do in these circumstances, she would have to admit that this slave training so far had been pleasant overall. Aside from the gag and butt plug. That girl Akeno wasn't a fallen angel, she was an evil demon! Still, it was a far cry from the violent ordeal she would have to endure if she had been captured by Britannia.

If she was even more honest with herself, she would even have to admit that a future where such sessions would happen regularly didn't actually sound so bad. A small price to pay for Liberating Japan. Even the uncomfortable butt plug was something she could see herself being used to, and the absurdly large and thick rubber cock in her mouth and throat was slowly becoming more tolerable.

And maybe, maybe, Noah would agree to revive her brother Naoto, assuming Akeno hadn't lied about this. If he could really do that, she wouldn't mind repaying him by being his latex-coated doll. At least from time to time.

Irritated, she shook her head and tried to clear her lust-filled thoughts. This was the collar speaking, not her. She didn't want to be anyone's slave, and a thank you would be enough to repay Noah.