Ch 263: Sakura loves cooking.
"A sword that can erase everything from existence? Even the Heroes?" wondered Sakura, sitting on her throne with Medusa on her right, and Shuuko on her left. In front of her stood the four Hellzectors in the forefront, and the Dark heroes behind them. Uiko now wore an almost identical version of her previous white and red hybrid shrine-maiden slash monk outfit, but colored back instead of white, and Alice wore a black and white, frilly maid outfit with a black leather collar around her throat.
Two sessions as a girl, and as the Demon Lord's pampered pet, had been enough for Alice to be happy with her new station, and Sakura had decided she could be trusted without a slave harness during the upcoming trip. She would still wear one as part of her normal attire in the castle, though, but only because Sakura liked how the leather harnesses looked on her pets.
Megu and Ageha, both wearing black latex bodysuits and the slave harnesses, as well as leather cuffs on their ankles and wrists, were standing on the right of Uiko, Naru and Ichinon. They still deliberately stayed as far from Leonhart as they could. Leonhart himself didn't need the slave harness either. The petite (but very busty) succubus maid quietly standing by his side had proven to be a more effective means of controlling him than any physical restraint.
"This is what the remaining members of the 2A guild believe, Rin-sama." replied Medusa, finishing her report. "To counter this threat, they are even seriously considering the possibility of a temporary alliance with Infermia."
"That's interesting." grinned Sakura. "This Demon Lord wonders, will those heroes still oppose us when they learn how well Leonhart and the female heroes are treated? I am looking forward to seeing how they will react."
"If they know what is good for them, they will fall in line quietly, Rin-sama." nodded Adora. his admiration for the Demon Lord Rin had increased even further when Forneus and Anna told him the details of her fight with the fake Demon King.
"We will go right away." decided Sakura. "Grasha, Adora, You will be in charge of Infermia's defenses until we return. We will take one of your vampires with us. If this Demon Lord decides to make a trip to the Elven lands before returning, the vampire will return to inform you."
"Yes, Rin-sama!" nodded Adora. "We won't let any enemy breach our walls, no matter who they are."
"I know I can count on your diligence, Adora, Grasha." smiled Akeno. "Shuuko, you will come as well. This trip might be a way to expand your horizons and give you some more experience."
"Thank you, Rin-sama." nodded Shuuko, happy at the opportunity to leave Infermia for once.
"Satanachia, Forneus, Leonhart, gather close to the castle's gate. We will join you in a few minutes."
Sakura brought the rest of the girls back to her room. Once there, she took a few items from the cabinet, as well as bought others from the game's store. A pair of black latex opera gloves, a set of black latex underwear, a white t-shirt, figure-hugging black leather leggings, and a pair of knee-high black leather boots.
"Change into those, Shuuko." said Sakura, and Shuuko nodded gratefully.
"Thank you very much, Rin-sama."
"And us, Rin-sama?" asked Megu with hesitation. "Can we please change into something else? I do not want the others to see me like this."
Ageha was also looking at her with hopeful eyes.
After a few seconds, Sakura nodded. "…You have both been more obedient these last few days, so this Demon Lord is willing to reward you."
She gave them the same outfits to wear that she had just given to Shuuko, but with a red t-shirt for Megu, and a blue one for Ageha. Anna removed their cuffs, only to reapply them on they were done changing.
"For this trip, I will allow you two to change your slave harnesses for these collars." said Sakura. "You are not allowed to remove them, and when we are back in the castle, the harnesses will be back."
"Yes, Rin-sama." replied Megu, and Ageha nodded.
"I do not think this is necessary, but just in case, this Demon Lord will promise you this. If you attempt to run by killing yourself, I will instruct Anna to hunt you down while I will invade the city of Calvart and wait near the altars. And when you revive…"
Ageha and Megu shuddered, as they knew Rin was quite capable of making good of her threat.
"I will not try to run, Rin-sama." promised Ageha, and Sakura nodded. She didn't need to warn Megu, as she was confident the blonde girl was very close to accepting her fate now.
Once they were all changed, Sakura led them to the gate, and they headed for the nearest portal stone. Their group far outnumbered that of the remaining 2A guild members, with Sakura herself, Medusa, Satanachia, Forneus, Shuuko, Naru, Ichinon, Uiko, Alice, Megu, Ageha, Leonhart, and his succubus maid. Sakura had deliberately brought the maid along to act as bait for the remaining male heroes.
Thanks to Asuka's latest information on the heroes, it didn't take them long to locate the group of six heroes, farming a pack of two-headed wolves. Ririko spotted them as they emerged from the nearby woods and shouted in alarm, a distraction that caused two of them to be bitten by the wolves, and they cursed as they hurried to finish the monsters.
Sakura and her group closed the distance as they did, and the two groups faced each other.
…
Ririko's emotions spiked like mad when she saw that hateful woman emerge from the woods, followed by even more people than the last time, and she shouted.
"The Demon Lord is here!"
"Oh shit!" cursed Tahuya, turning to look at the enemy group approaching, his face going pale. They all did, and the distraction caused Yamada and Akira to be bitten by the wolves.
Choosing the deal with the most immediate threat first, they did their best to dispatch the wolves as quickly as possible. The two-headed wolves could run faster than them, and would kill them if they tried to flee. Even though dying and reviving in Calvart seemed to be an attractive option right now.
When the last two-headed wolf collapsed, the Demon lord, displaying a confident smile, was only ten meters from them. And at that time, a scream changed everything.
"Ehhhhh!? Aikawa-san?!" shouted Kakeru in utter disbelief.
"Took you long enough to recognize me, Doumeguri-kun." replied one of Demon Lord Rin's followers with a bossy voice, a beautiful woman with golden eyes, long black hair in a ponytail, and a glamorous body. She wore a strange leather harness on her upper torso highlighting her large chest, her white t-shirt straining to contain them, and had her arms crossed in front of her.
"Kakeru, you know her?" asked Akira, confused.
"I told you I had a part-time job with NNT, right?" replied Kakeru in a low voice. "She's my boss. And she's a tyrant! She would blame me for wasting her precious time and reduce my paycheck if I sent her my work even just five minutes late!"
"Am I hearing you badmouthing me, Doumeguri-kun?" frowned the woman. It seemed Kakeru hadn't lowered his voice enough. Of maybe she knew him well enough to guess what he was saying.
"No, Ma'am! You must have misheard!" flinched Kakeru with a panicked expression.
"Is she really from NNT?" asked Ririko and the others to Kakeru, and he nodded.
"Rin-sama, could I talk to them in private for a minute, please?" asked Ichinon.
"You may. The faces they are making are entertaining for this Demon Lord." nodded Sakura.
"Rin-sama, are we not capturing them?"
"Not right now, Forneus." replied Sakura, patting her head, and the angel girl nodded, watching curiously.
Ichinon walked to the group of heroes.
"You guys, let's have a little talk. You need to know something extremely important!"
"You better tell us everything, because I'm confused as hell. Why are you even fighting for the Demon Lord? Is she a NPC, or a real person?" retorted Ririko.
"She's here to help us stay alive." replied Ichinon in a low voice, so as not to be heard by Forneus and Satanachia. "This whole mess is the result of a deliberate internal sabotage within NNT, and Shuuko Aikawa thinks that the culprit is trying to murder her by using us. Her character account isn't like our own. If she dies, she won't get to resurrect, and her consciousness will be erased."
"Murder her?" frowned Ririko, looking over her shoulder at Shuuko Aikawa.
"Shuuko's account is special, as I said. She can't send messages to her colleagues at NNT, the culprit made sure of that, but she can receive messages, and she got one telling her that she must do everything in her power to stop us from reaching the Hell's Gate. Because if one of us does, we all die, her included."
"What do you mean, we all die?" demanded Akira.
"The software that will allow our consciousnesses to return to our bodies after the game ends is missing. NNT is working hard to recreate it, but they need time. If we touch the Gate before the software is ready, the game will end and eject our data from its servers, but our consciousnesses will be unable to return to our bodies!"
"If you were wondering why we switched to Infermia's side so fast, What Aikawa-san told us is the reason. We're trying to save everyone."
"So the culprit would use us to kill Aikawa-san when we touch the Hell's Gate, and also kill ourselves at the same time? That's quite vicious." mused Asuka.
Ichinon gave her a slightly exasperated look as she knew Asuka was acting, but nodded.
"We're not absolutely certain that Aikawa-san is the culprit's target, but at least, that theory makes a lot more sense than someone with access to NNT's servers aiming at a classroom of students in a random high school for some unknown reason."
"I guess." frowned Akira. "But what about Demon Lord Rin? Kakeru says she isn't part of the original game."
"She was given the mission to protect the Hell's Gate from the Heroes. And since she knows that Heroes can't really be killed and will eventually grow too strong for the Hellzectors to contain, she came up with the idea of enslaving some of us to fight off the rest. That is all I can tell you about her without her permission."
"Is she a real person, or a NPC that was added recently?" insisted Kakeru, but Ichinon didn't answer, much to Ririko's frustration.
"You guys need to make a choice. Cooperate with the Demon Lord and willingly join Infermia's side, or… she will capture you and convince you to join anyway."
"I don't feel like joining, but I need to know more and speak with Aikawa-san." said Kakeru. "Do you think she will be open to a temporary ceasefire, maybe even a temporary alliance?"
"You need to ask her. The Demon Lord is pretty reasonable, when you don't come at her waving your sword."
"Nonnon! Was this a dig at me?" retorted Ririko. Ichinon had been directly staring at her when she said those words. She was dissing her!
"Are you done with your private talk, Ichinon?" called out the Demon Lord.
"Ah, Yes, Rin-sama. Thank you for indulging my selfishness." nodded Ichinon as she returned to stand among near Shuuko Aikawa.
"Ahem. Demon Lord Rin." said Kakeru with a hesitant tone. "We would like to speak about something before you try to enslave us. Would you be willing to wait a little?"
"You have this Demon Lord's interest." smiled Sakura. "What do you wish to speak about? Maybe the living conditions I offer to those who submitted to me? They are quite generous, this Demon Lord can assure you."
"Ah, hum, it would be nice to know, but there is a more pressing matter. There is a group of five rogue Heroes, who decided to try to permanently kill all the other Heroes. They created a cult called the Orzelia Order, and they are searching for a sword called Ragna Bringer that can permanently destroy anything it hits."
"Why would they attempt to kill you? Do they hold a grudge for something you did in the world you come from?" asked Sakura.
"Their leader is a lunatic who can forcibly control the people of this world." replied Ririko with a glare. If looks could kill, Sakura would be a pile of ashes right now. "He wants us dead because he can't control us and consider us a potential threat to his rule."
"…You had this Demon Lord's interest, not you have her attention. Do they wear masks shaped like birds?" asked Sakura.
"Yes. It seems you have heard of them." nodded Kakeru.
"And this Demon Lord assumes that you want Infermia's help to deal with them?"
"Yes." said Akira. "We wish to set aside our… differences… until after those guys have been dealt with."
For a few seconds, Sakura didn't speak, simply observing them. Asuka was having fun watching the show from the side. Ririko was angry. Akira's and Kakeru's faces were showing wariness, but also a bit of hope. Tahuya was busier staring at her breasts than concentrating on her words, it seemed.
The she smiled.
"Are you not worried that telling this Demon Lord about a weapon capable of permanently killing the Heroes might cause her to want to use it against you?"
The Heroes stiffened.
"…We considered the possibility." admitted Akira. "But It seems you are more interested in us being alive."
"This is correct… A few days ago, a previous Ruler of Infermia, the Demon King Satan who should have been long dead, tried to invade us, and this Demon Lord dealt with him. Before dying, he mentioned having been woken up from his long sleep by a man with a bird mask, and was given by him an armor cancelling all magics. Satan was also able to bring two of the Hellzectors under his control and tried to do the same to me, although I resisted it."
"It seems to this Demon Lord that Satan was sent by the Orzelia Order, and thus, this invasion attempt constitutes a declaration of war by the Order against Hellandia."
"In addition, this Demon Lord has developed an attachment to her pets, and someone trying to kill them is utterly unacceptable. I will help you deal with the Orzelia Order. I will also seize this Ragna Bringer sword and put it away, not letting anyone use it. As for capturing the rest of you… This can wait until later."
The heroes relaxed.
"Hum, thank you, Demon Lord." said Akira with a short hesitation.
"According to this Demon Lord's information, the headquarters of the Orzelia Order are in the human city of Laguna, about five days of travel from here. Do you know where the Ragna Bringer sword is?"
"No, we do not know where it could be." lied Akira.
Sakura nodded, not surprised that they would try to hide this information from her. Most of the others didn't show any sign of being aware of the lie, except for Forneus who seemed like she was about to vent her indignation. Sakura patted her head and rubbed her scalp, distracting her, and bringing a dopey smile on her face.
"We should go immediately, then." nodded Sakura, starting to walk. "Follow this Demon Lord to Laguna."
The Heroes hesitated, exchanging a glance, then shrugged and sheathed their swords, following. They used the opportunity to start talking with Shuuko and the members of class 2A who had thrown their lot to the dark side. After maybe fifteen minutes of walking, Ririko gathered her courage and approached Sakura.
"Demon Lord Rin, can I convince you to remove this collar? It's driving me mad!"
"You already know the condition for the collar to come undone, Hero Ririko. Even this Demon Lord cannot remove it from your neck." replied Sakura with a gentle tone.
"…And you put such a thing on me? Why?" asked Ririko, her hopes dashed.
"…This Demon Lord heard that you are the leader of the 2A guild."
"We do not have a leader." frowned Ririko. "We act as a collective, and everyone's opinion matters equally."
"This Demon Lord has many eyes and ears among the human cities. Are you not the one who contributed the most to convince the others to form a guild? The one who did the most work to prop up their morale? Who keeps encouraging them to work hard? When you initiated the fight last time we met, they followed your lead. You are the leader, even without the title, and they look up to you."
"…And that is why you put that collar on me?"
"In part. Seeing their leader suffering would be most effective in reducing the others' morale. But I also did it because I find you cute, with your honest and direct personality. You will make a good pet, once you give in."
"I will never give in and surrender to you." glared Ririko.
"Resist this Demon Lord as much as you want until you are satisfied." smiled Sakura. "But you should be aware of it, the stronger you become, the greater the effect of the collar's curse. Trying to endure longer will result in the permanent curse of the Slave Crest becoming more intense as well. It is an interesting dilemma that this Demon Lord gave you, to surrender now and limit the long-term consequences, or to be stubborn, and pay for it forever."
"We will leave this world before I give in!" insisted Ririko.
"…We shall see. Maybe you will prove this Demon Lord wrong." nodded Sakura.
Sighing, Ririko slowed down, falling behind with the rest of the group. She listened to the conversations between the others. Lara, the little demon maid accompanying Leonhart, was gushing about the way she served him, from waking him with oral service to helping relieve his stress when he returned from training to feeding him her cooking, providing lurid details, much to Leonhart's chagrin and embarrassment, and she mentioned that there were fifteen other succubi waiting in the castle for more male heroes to join Infermia's side and serve them. Akira and Kakeru were keeping poker faces, but they were blushing intensely, and Yamada and Tahuya seemed ready to jump ship right away!
Then something she heard caught her attention.
"What, Alice? You're really a girl now?" asked Asuka.
"Yes. Rin-sama gave me a special item that could let me change my appearance or gender, and my character is now a girl. I feel much better." smiled Alice.
"Congratulations, then, Alice. I am happy for you." smiled Asuka.
"Thank you. Even if it's just for a while... I'd almost not want to return to the real world, but I can't stay here forever either."
"Rin-sama, Forneus doesn't understand some of the things they are talking about. What is a software?" complained Forneus.
"They are probably mentioning some of the things from their own world, Forneus." replied Sakura with a pat on her head. "Just ignore what you do not understand. It does not matter."
"If Rin-sama says so." nodded Forneus with a smile.
By the time the Demon Lord decided to stop for the night, choosing the shore of a lake, the Heroes had coaxed enough details from Ichinon, Naru, Uiko and the others to have a pretty fair idea of their typical days as pets of the Demon Lord, and the girls were too embarrassed to meet their gazes anymore. And some of the boys had a hard time walking with a tent in their pants.
…
"We will stop there." decided Sakura, finding a relatively flat area of flat ground covered in grass, on a lake's shore and with woods on the other side.
"Anna, please gather some wood."
"Yes, Rin-sama." nodded Medusa, entering the woods.
Shuuko had told her that in this game world, a campfire could be used not only to give some warmth and cook food, but also to establish a temporary safe zone to keep monsters away.
She bought sixteen tents from the store, each large enough for two people, and one three times larger for herself, and dumped the small ones in their packaged state on the ground before installing the big one close to the spot being prepared for the campfire. Naru, Megu and the others thanked her before taking a tent from the pile and choosing a spot.
"Demon Lord, Rin, are you allowing us to use those tents?" asked Akira.
"Yes." smiled Sakura. "You all need to be well rested to keep up with this Demon Lord tomorrow."
"I understand, thank you." nodded Akira, picking one as well.
"Why did you have so many tents in the first place?" asked Ririko, frowning.
"This Demon Lord believes in being prepared. I have a lot of things in my personal dimension. Kakeru."
"Huh? Yes, Demon Lord?" asked Kakeru, surprised.
"You said that the leader of the Orzelia Order could take control of the people native from this world. What are the conditions for it? Does he need physical contact?"
"No. I have seen Souma do it several times, and he only needed to talk to them."
"Did he have to designate them by name?"
"…No." frowned Kakeru, thinking hard. "But he was looking at them while he was doing it, and… turned them one by one. I am not sure he can turn several people at the same time, but once he do it to one person, that person stays turned, possibly indefinitely."
"This Demon lord understands." nodded Sakura. "Since that person is a Hero and can resurrect, dealing with him will either require this Ragna Bringer sword, or some extreme confinement measures."
"Please, Demon Lord, we would prefer for Souma to be confined." immediately asked Akira. "Eventually, we will return to our world, and he will have to answer for his crimes then. But we do not want for any of us to die."
Sakura stared at him for a few seconds, then nodded, and the Heroes breathed a sigh of relief.
"We will capture him, then. And we will secure him at the bottom of Infermia's dungeons. Only the Heroes who swore Loyalty to this Demon Lord will be allowed to visit him and bring him food."
"But, are you not afraid that he might bring you under his control?" asked Yamada, and Sakura shrugged.
"This Demon Lord experienced Satan's power of domination before and shrugged it off easily."
"As expected of Rin-sama! Forneus tried hard to resist it, but Forneus still failed in the end."
"Yes, and that is why, when we attack Laguna and fight the Orzelia Order, Forneus, I want you and Satanachia to observe from afar, too far away to hear any scream."
"Yes, Forneus understands." muttered Forneus, feeling down. Sakura patted her head again with a soft smile, and she felt better.
"And Black Knight Anna?" asked Ririko.
"She easily resisted Satan's influence as well. If necessary, this Demon Lord will capture her."
Satanachia returned from the woods, a dead deer on her shoulders.
"I found us fresh food, Rin-sama." nodded Satanachia.
"Good job, Satanachia. This Demon Lord will do the cooking today."
"You will, Rin-sama?" asked Yamada, surprised.
"Yes." replied Sakura. She made a little snort at their expressions. "Is it a surprise that this Demon Lord is multi-talented? It has been a while since I cooked anything, so I may as well brush up my skills."
Sakura cooked more often than the Heroes suspected. She cooked schemes! And she had one in the works right now.
The Heroes watched her with amazement as Sakura used both her natural hands, a few pieces of furniture brought from the store to form an improvised field kitchen, and her shadow limbs to quickly dismember the deer and prepare the meat, add vegetables, butter and other ingredients and prepare two dishes. Everyone would start with a deer steak sizzled over the fire, with a side of grilled vegetables, and follow with a rich deer stew. It only took her 10 minutes to get the heavy pot of stew over half of the fire, and when Sakura decided the timing was right, she started cooking the steaks.
"That was very impressive." breathed Megu. "It was like you had eight arms."
"This Demon Lord has trained for years to master her control over her shadow. And you know very well some of the things I can do with it." finished Sakura with a suggestive smile, and Megu blushed fiery red.
"Y-You don't need to mention it!" retorted Megu as she flailed her arms in a panic.
Sakura watched the steak on the grill with satisfaction, keeping an eye on their state as she wanted them medium rare. While the Heroes had been impressed by her shadow limbs, their hands instantly turning from pincer to hands to knives as she needed, they hadn't paid close attention to the spices Sakura had put into the stew, and one of them was a slow-acting aphrodisiac.
It wouldn't be obvious, but it would definitely contribute to make them in the mood.
After thanking Rin and Satanachia for the meal, they all started eating, and the heroes obviously liked the food. Some asked for a second serving of the stew, which Sakura allowed as long as they didn't expect her to serve them herself, and when they were done, they washed the utensils and cooking implements using the lake's water before giving everything back to Sakura.
It was time for the second part of her little scheme, and she was definitely going to enjoy it.
"Shuuko, Uiko. You will both accompany this Demon Lord tonight." ordered Sakura with a smile, and the two girls blushed fiery red, not daring to look at anyone as they silently followed Sakura into the big tent.
"Forneus is envious!" pouted Forneus.
…
Ririko, using the tent and sleeping bag that the Demon Lord had given her, shifted from one position to another, unable to remain still for more than a minute.
The reason for her discomfort was the sounds coming from the Demon Lord's tent!
The pants and moans were heard by everyone in the camp, and they had been at it for hours! What kind of insane stamina did the Demon Lord have?
Gritting her teeth in frustration, Ririko gave up on trying to sleep, and started masturbating, again. She already had done it twice since Rin, Shuuko and Uiko had started going at it, but those sounds, coupled with the collar's effect, were making her unbearably horny. At this rate, she would soon run out of towels to clean herself and avoid soiling the sleeping bag.
She brought herself to her third orgasm, then laid exhausted, trying hard to distract herself as she covered her ears with her hands, but to little effect.
Eventually, the sounds stopped, and Ririko sighed in relief, even in the relative silence of the night's life, she had a hard time finding sleep, her mind filled with lewd images of what Rin might have been doing with Shuuko and Uiko.
…
"Wake up, Ririko! We're having breakfast." called out Ichinon without entering the tent, and Ririko groaned. Thankfully, this seemed to satisfy Ichinon, and she went away.
It took a minute for her tired mind to remember where she was, and everything that had happened yesterday.
With a sigh, Ririko changed into a fresh set of clothes, grateful for the fact that sweat and body odors weren't a thing in this game, and took a brush from her inventory to get her hair under control.
Once satisfied, she took the sleeping bag in her inventory and left the tent.
Most of her classmates were already gathered around the dying campfire, eating what seemed to be some porridge.
And they had tired expressions, as if they, too, hadn't gotten a good night's sleep. Uiko and Shuuko were seemingly very interested in the contents of their bowls, but from her position, Ririko could see their ears being red.
Ririko sighed, thinking that she would go mad if she didn't do anything to rein in the Demon Lord's excessive lust.
"Hum, Rin-sama, could I please talk to you in private for a minute?" asked Ririko.
Sakura nodded and walked into the woods, too deep to be seen from the others in the camp. She turned, a soft smile visible through her veil, waiting for Ririko to speak, and Ririko's heart skipped a beat.
"This… how to say it…" hesitated Ririko. "…Demon Lord-sama, your activities last night have… been an issue. We couldn't get proper sleep. Could you please tone it down, a lot?"
"Oh? You ate the food this Demon Lord prepared. You slept in the tent I provided you, in the sleeping bag I gave you, and yet, you presume to tell this Demon Lord what she should and shouldn't do?" asked the Demon Lord, sounding more curious than offended.
"Please understand, Demon Lord-sama." weakly protested Ririko, suddenly feeling ungrateful and small-minded. "We are thankful for what you have done for us, but we also need to be able to have enough sleep to function."
"…This Demon Lord will agree to stop, but on one condition. If my pleasure is to be denied, it is only fair that yours is as well."
"W-What do you mean by that?" asked Ririko, suddenly wary.
"I will have you wear a chastity belt." smiled the Demon Lord, and Ririko gasped in shock.
"Do not worry, it will not be a cursed item like the collar, and this Demon Lord will give you the key to remove it before we part ways."
"…No." breathed Ririko, shaking her head.
"What are you so scared of?" asked the Demon Lord, her voice now mocking. "Do you want to touch yourself so much that the idea of not being able to do it for a little while has become intolerable? Have you already fallen so far?"
Ririko bristled at the Demon Lord's words, anger flaring. Anger both at the Demon Lord, and at herself. After they reached Laguna in about four days, the Demon Lord and the others world return to Infermia and leave the guild 2A alone for a while.
And she and her companions would travel to the Elven Kingdom to search for the Ragna Bringer. Why was she dreading four days of abstinence so much? Was the Demon Lord right, in saying she already had fallen so far?
"…Can I see that chastity belt? There are no… things inside, right?" asked Ririko.
The Demon Lord shook her head as the dreaded object appeared in her hands. It looked like black panties, made of leather, with a steel locking mechanism in the front needing a key.
Rin turned it for her to clearly see the inside.
"As you can see, there are slots to add inserts, but they aren't part of this agreement."
Ririko nodded and sighed, thinking that four days of being unable to make herself cum might actually be beneficial to her. She needed to masturbate less often to avoid falling further, and she didn't have the willpower to resist without help.
At the very least, having her crotch covered would reduce the teasing from her clothes brushing against it.
"You will keep your word, right?"
"I will." nodded Sakura. "As long as you wear this, This Demon Lord will refrain from her nightly sessions with her pets."
"…Fine." sighed Ririko. "I'll wear this damn thing."
Rin handed her the black leather chastity belt, and Ririko put it in her inventory. Using her interface, she unequipped her panties, then equipped the belt.
The cool leather hugging her hips felt strange, but looking down, she couldn't see any panty line or bulge that would betray its presence. As long as no one got a glimpse under her skirt, her classmates wouldn't notice.
"You need to lift your skirt so the Demon Lord can lock the belt, Ririko." said Rin, a small key in hand, and Ririko sighed, her face reddening as she raised the hem of her skirt.
At least, the Demon Lord didn't say anything as she inserted the key into the lock and turned it.
"Good." smiled Rin. "You should hurry and eat something while you can. We will depart before long."
Ririko nodded, watching the back of the Demon Lord as she walked toward the camp. She opened her inventory and read the description of the belt, not finding anything strange, but the unequip button was grayed out. It seemed that without the key, she was stuck.
…
Someone knocked at her door, and Satellizer L Bridget already knew who it was. She opened with a smile.
"Good morning, Satella-chan!" grinned Chisato as she hugged Satellizer.
"Good morning, Chisato, Takina." replied Satellizer.
"Morning Satella." smiled Takina behind Chisato. "how are you doing?"
"Pretty well." nodded Satella. "We're starting to learn body strengthening today, right?"
"Right." nodded Chisato as she released Satella, happily smiling at Satellizer's progress with dealing with her own issue.
She had made spectacular progress to be able to be hugged by Takina or Chisato, as long as she could see them coming, and it was them. The Magus girls hadn't tried to hug her from behind without warning, and wouldn't for a long time.
Satellizer locked the door of her room behind her, and they walked down the hallway of the campus's dormitory.
"Satella-chan, Miyabi had asked again for an opportunity to apologize to you properly." said Chisato with a soft voice. "Are you willing to humor her? It's fine if you aren't."
Satellizer sighed as she thought about the blue-haired girl who had tormented her. It had been a month since the incident with Miyabi. Since the start of the lessons, Miyabi had also attended classes, but deliberately stayed away from Satellizer, and rarely looked in her direction. She wanted to respect Satellizer's demand for space, and only asked Chisato and Takina once a week to transmit to Satellizer her request for an opportunity to present her apology.
"…I think I am ready to face her now without blowing up." sighed Satellizer. Seeing Miyabi's genuine contrition and now humble behavior had blunted her anger a lot already.
"I noticed Miyabi hasn't taken anyone as a Limiter to replace those she had lost as a result of the incident." remarqued Satellizer as they walked.
"Yes, and she won't. She's coming with us when we leave this world, and having a Limiter would make things more complicated." shrugged Takina.
"But she won't be able to fight Novas without one."
"Aren't you in the same situation, Satella-chan? You do not have a Limiter either."
"I don't, and that is one of the reasons I am not yet participating in Nova suppression operations. The other being that I'm a second-year, and only third and fourth year students are supposed to go. Not counting the alumni, of course."
"Here, Satella-chan." smiled Chisato, giving her a thin silver ring with a floral pattern engraved on the outer surface. The inner surface was engraved with a dozen small symbols she couldn't identify.
"It is a pretty ring, thanks, but knowing you, it is more than just an ornament, right?"
"Right. Notice the tiny runes on the inner side? They are the secret sauce!" grinned Chisato.
"What secret sauce?"
"We'd like you to test it against a Limiter and his Pandora, but this should make you immune to Freezing. We just made another for Miyabi, but she hasn't gotten an opportunity to test it either."
"That is a great gift! Thank you very much, Chisato, Takina!" exclaimed Satellizer, accepting the ring and putting it on her left ring finger. She knew what meaning rings on this finger usually had, but she didn't care what other people thought.
"Eheh, we aim to please." grinned Chisato.
The three girls reached the classroom, where most of the fifty Pandoras and Valkyries were already sitting.
After greeting each other and chatting for a few minutes while the last Pandoras joined in, Takina declared the start of the lessons.
"Alright. So far, we have given you all Magic Circuits, taught you how to circulate mana, how to reinforce your bodies with it, and how to use it to reinforce physical objects like your Volt Weapons. Now, we will teach you one offensive spell named Gandr. The blasts of reddish black energy some of you saw us using against those Novas were Gandr shots."
"After that, we will teach you how to create magic barriers before we show you more offensive or utility spells."
"Gandr is one of our favorites, because it is very flexible!" continued Chisato. "You can shot multiple projectiles in a cone like a shotgun, a single concentrated one, you can program it to curve, you can decide so supercharge it with more mana, and so on… The only thing you really cannot do with it is make it home in on its target."
"So to start with, you need to…"
For over three hours, Takina and Chisato explained the theory behind the spell, and they paused for lunch break. When they resumed class in the afternoon, they moved to a gymnasium where an entire wall was covered by layers upon layers of cheap, easily replaceable steel plates and ballistic absorbing material.
After a lot of trial and error, and, thankfully, no injury, about half of the girls were able to fire simple, basic Gandr blasts.
This was already an excellent result, but then again, the fifty girls in the class were all exceptional, and they were very motivated.
Takina and Chisato were coaching two students in particular when an alarm rang for a few seconds, followed by an announcement by the Headmistress.
"This isn't a drill. All first and second-year students are to gather into the armored shelters under the dormitories. All third and fourth-years are to wear protective equipment and take up your positions according to the defense plan. Members of the special class, please gather in the first briefing room. Move it!"
"An attack on West Genetic? Has it happened before?" asked Chisato to Chiffon as they started to run out of the Gymnasium.
"This is the first time, as far as I am aware." replied Chiffon. Her eyes were closed as usual, but her usual smile was absent.
Margaret, the headmistress, was already waiting for them as they assembled in loose ranks, and her face was grim as she started to show imagery from a reconnaissance drone.
She didn't waste time in greetings. "Four hours ago, Chevalier's surveillance systems located two nova signatures coming from the east, and East-Genetics sent four units of fourth years, thirty-two Pandoras and their Limiters, to take them down. When they made contact, there were in fact five Novas. Two S-type, two of an unknown type but of similar size and mass, and one human-sized Nova that Chevalier has temporary designated as a Pandora-Type Nova."
The images projected on the screen showed two S-type Nova flanking two Novas who mostly seemed to differ by having a more vertical head shape and longer spaulders almost reaching the ground. And on the ground between the two Unknow-type was a small shape, although all Chisato and Takina could see was a white and gray body with skirt-like appendages on the flanks and a head covered with long white hair.
"The Pandora-type Nova seems to be the most dangerous one, being able to move at a speed rivaling quad-accel. They captured all the East-Genetics Pandoras, assimilating them into the two Unknow-type's bodies before disappearing back into the sea. After a few minutes, we lost their signal."
"We have located them again. They are somehow coming from the West this time and are headed straight toward West-Genetics. And the East-Genetic Pandoras seem to have been corrupted."
The next image showed a group of five Pandoras, running from their forward-leaning posture. They had oversized Stigmatas protruding from their backs like crystalline spikes, and their arms ended in blades, hammers or drills instead of hands. Whatever had taken the photos was too far away for Chisato or Takina to spot more details.
"They are advancing as the five Novas' vanguard, with about five kilometers between the two groups. At their rate of advance, the corrupted Pandoras will reach West-Genetics in about twelve minutes."
Chisato lifted a hand, and the Headmistress nodded to her.
"What happened to East-Genetics' Limiters? Have they been captured as well?"
"About half of them managed to flee. The Novas weren't interested in them."
"Headmistress, should we advance to meet the corrupted Pandoras, of wait for them to reach the campus?" asked Takina.
"I would prefer for you girls to fight away from the campus, but they are several wooden areas in their path where tracking them from the sky is difficult, and there is too much risk that they would slip by." sighed the Headmistress. "I told you all that we know so far. Your mission is to destroy the enemy and protect the campus. Be careful, everyone."
The girls nodded, headed for the west side of the campus. Chiffon and Elizabeth were already designating teams to defend the most obvious access points or wait on top of the perimeter wall.
Elizebeth turned to Takina and Chisato. "I don't know where you would be the most effective, so, do as you think is best?"
"…We'll take to the sky and try to spot them." suggested Chisato, and Elizabeth nodded.
Takina and Chisato climbed at a height of about two hundred meters. They didn't see anything coming from the woods that started five hundred meters from the campus, but they did see, far in the distance, the four huge Novas.
The two girls returned to the ground.
"We saw the four large Novas far in the distance, maybe eight or nine kilometers away. Should we engage them?" asked Chisato.
Elizabeth looked at Chiffon, who nodded.
"It would be better if those do not come close enough to risk self-destructing. But be careful, please. we can't afford to lose you." said Elizabeth.
"We'll take care and return as soon as possible." nodded Takina, and she used Shunpo and light footholds to head out, gaining some altitude. To save up on energy, she intended to cross most of the distance to her target by gliding on light wings.
Chisato was doing the same.
In barely a minute, they were getting into range.
"You take the left Unknow-type?" shouted Chisato.
"Okay, let's not get close first, we don't know what they can do."
When they were about two hundred meters from the four Novas, Takina and Chisato both started charging powerful Gandr shots, wanting to directly kill the two Unknown-Types.
However, they had to suddenly and drastically move their light wings to evade three particle beam attacks coming from the two S-Types and the human-sized one. Takina and Chisato still got their shots off, but frantic evasion caused Takina to miss a little, resulting in one Unknown-type collapsing, its whole chest exploding, while the other lost its long spaulder-like limb, with the many ribbon appendages hanging from it.
Chisato took her gun and fired a few times at the human-sized Pandora, but they were stopped by an energy shield looking like a bubble made of translucent blue hexagonal tiles.
"We stay in the air for now, Chisato!" shouted Takina, charging another big Gandr. If the Pandora-type Nova was as fast as the Headmistress had suggested, dealing with her would require their near full attention, and they first needed to deal with those larger Novas.
"Okay!" replied Chisato, doing the same as she kept harassing the Pandora-type with her gun.
Now that they knew what to look for and were standing on light footholds, ready to use Shunpo, Takina and Chisato had an easier time evading more particle beams and killed both S-types with accurate shots.
As the S-types collapsed, the Pandora-type screamed, and the bodies of the two Unknown-types, both the dead and the still living one, fragmented into clumps of stone-like matter.
"What the…" exclaimed Chisato as the clumps rippled and shook, changing shape. In seconds, hundreds of two-meter tall, rugged, white and gray beasts with oversized arms, smooth heads without noses or eyes, but wide mouths full of fangs, were standing behind the Pandora-type.
The Pandora type screamed again, and all the new Nova organisms broke into a run, fanning out in West Genetics' general direction.
Chisato shot a few with her gun, and those at least didn't have a shield to protect themselves.
"Chisato!" shouted Takina, and Chisato immediately jumped away from her current position, seeing the Pandora-type almost reach her in a mighty jump, with her hands turned into blades.
Before the Pandora-type could land, Chisato fired a few more shots at the running beasts, killing a few, while Takina appeared near her landing point, a light sword in each hand.
She clashed immediately with the Pandora-type, who managed to block the first few strikes, but it was clear in Chisato's eyes that Takina possessed a significant advantage in speed and skill. The Pandora type was only lashing out with her arm blades, as well as with her hair that she had transformed into sharp ribbons, but her reactions were more feral than controlled. When Chisato, armed with both gun and sword, joined in, the Pandora-type quickly fell.
The girls found the Pandora-type's core in its chest and shattered it, and only then did they turn to see the last of the humanoid beasts enter the cover of the forest. They would be able to cover almost all of the distance to West Genetics before leaving the woods.
"That's going to be a bother to catch them all." sighed Chisato, taking her smartphone and trying to call Miyabi. She didn't answer.
"Running after the beasts inside the forest won't do much good, Chisato." frowned Takina. "Let's return to West Genetics and wait for them."
"Yeah, We should support our friends if they are already fighting." nodded Chisato, and they both started returning to West Genetics, using the same Shunpo and gliding methods they had adopted on their way in.
…
The smartphone on her waist vibrated, but Miyabi didn't have time to care about it as a group of four corrupted Pandoras jumped over the wall near them.
The instant they had emerged from the woods, the corrupted Pandoras had separated into several groups, almost half of them heading for West Genetics' main gate, where Chiffon, Charles, Su-Na, Kaho, Roxanne and Ingrid were waiting. But the remaining ones had started spreading out, intending to jump over the perimeter wall.
Said wall was intended to keep overly curious humans from interfering with the Pandora training inside, not turn West Genetics into a fortress, and those corrupted Pandoras would have no difficulty jumping over it or even breaking through.
Which was the reason most of the defending Pandoras, a mix of third and fourth years as well as the members of the special class, had been spread all over the wall and around the more critical parts of the campus.
As luck would have it, she was with Ouka Tenjouin and Lucy Renault, two members of the Valkyries. Ouka nurtured a not-so-secret crush on her childhood friend Kazuha Aoi, and had a low opinion of Pandoras in general, which Miyabi suspected was partly because Kazuha had left her home to become one.
Ouka was stubborn and confrontational, but the one that unnerved her was Lucy. The girl with deep blue eyes and long light blue, almost gray hair rarely spoke a word, but the way she looked at other people was cold and detached to the point of appearing almost inhuman. When Lucy looked at her, Miyabi sometimes felt like she was being judged by a higher being, and was found wanting.
Moreover, Lucy didn't use a Plasma Weapon like the other Valkyries did. Instead, she could somehow emit electricity from her fingers and even shape it like a blade.
Miyabi almost pitied the four corrupted Pandoras who had chosen this section of the wall to jump over. With Lucy here, some of them would probably die without a complete corpse. She took two of her Volt daggers in hand for self-defense, trusting the other four to be enough for offense, and was about to engage when she heard a distant shout coming from the gate.
"The stigmata in their sternum! Destroying it will break the possession!"
The corrupted Pandoras attacked, and Miyabi barely managed to block the first blow from an arm turned into a blade. She circulated mana into her limbs like her new Mistresses had taught her, and it helped a lot. The corrupted Pandora used double-accel to try to reach her back, and Miyabi barely managed to avoid being stabbed.
As she turned, she attacked with three of her daggers, aiming at the palm-sized rhombus half-embedded in the Pandora's sternum, and while the corrupted Pandora managed to deflect two of them, the third one struck home, creating a crack that caused her to freeze for an instant.
Seizing the opportunity, Miyabi stepped forward, seized the Volt dagger protruding from the stigmata, and pushed it further in, enlarging the crack. She plunged the other dagger she held into the stigmata from another angle, and it finally shattered.
The corrupted Pandora collapsed instantly, unmoving. Miyabi turned to face another opponent, only to find that there were no more opponents. Ouka had sent one corrupted Pandora crashing against a wall, and pierced the chest stigmata with her Plasma Weapon.
The other two were already inert on the ground, their chest stigmata severed by a single cut that also scorched the flesh around the wounds.
Miyabi winced. It was probably a good thing the two Pandoras were unconscious, as this kind of wound was very painful. Already, she could see the oversized Stigmatas protruding from their backs starting to disintegrate, and the weapons at the end of their arms were very slowly reverting to human hands.
"Do we spread to assist the other groups?" asked Ouka.
Lucy frowned as she stared at the wall, as if she could somehow see through it, and she slowly shook her head.
"Is there something wrong?" asked Miyabi.
Before Lucy could answer, Ouka lifted her head suddenly.
"Takina and Chisato are coming."
Miyabi followed her gaze and saw them as well, gliding on light wings. Takina headed toward the gate while Chisato flew along the wall, shouting.
"The two Unknown-types have turned into about two hundred horse-sized Novas! They are crossing the woods and will be here soon!"
…
After delivering their warning, Takina and Chisato both chose a forward defense, standing in the grass between West Genetics' wall and the woods. Chiffon and Ticy stood near them, and Elizabeth, one of the rare Pandoras able to attack from a distance, with her two floating cannons.
"What can you tell us about those enemies?" asked Ticy.
"We don't really know how strong or fast they are, but it doesn't take much to damage them, and they don't seem to regenerate." replied Chisato. "I shot maybe ten of them while we were dealing with the Pandora-type."
"Are they the only remaining enemies?"
"Yes." nodded Takina. "We took care of the S-Types and the Pandora-type, and those white beasts are all that remain from the corpses of the Unknown-types."
"I see. Good job, Chisato, Takina." nodded Chiffon.
"Thanks. And they're coming." said Takina, manifesting a half-dozen light blades as the first Nova beasts emerged from the woods.
Chisato had her gun out and lined one accurate shot after another. Some beasts only stumbled after being shot, losing chunks of their bodies, but none withstood more than three hits.
The beasts, as it turned out, were at most able to move at the equivalent of a single Accel, reaching short bursts of speed of up to 160m/s over short distance.
This kind of speed would be lethal against humans or Pandoras lacking combat experience, but against the two strongest Pandoras of West Genetics, as well as Chisato and Takina, they weren't really a threat, and their corpses started piling up.
When the beasts still coming from the woods chose to converge on them to try to overwhelm them, the other Pandoras and Valkyries observing from the top of the wall joined the fight as well.
In less than a minute, the corpses of about two hundred beasts littered the grass, and the members of the Special Class hadn't taken a single injury. Chiffon quickly organized fifteen pairs to enter the woods in search of stragglers, while the rest moved back to deal with the formerly possessed Pandoras, gathering them for Takina and Chisato to heal.
Some time later, when the pairs returned and didn't report any other Nova, the Headmistress declared the incident resolved, and Chevalier sent personnel to recover the Novas' remains.