Ch 291: Forged Iron Needle.

The twin vibrators filling her started their cycle again, gently pulsing, and Kasumi groaned quietly, straining once again against her bonds. But the leather cuffs and chains holding her spreadeagled against the x-shaped cross were just as unyielding as before.

She moved her hips without thinking, something that was starting to become a conditioned reflex. When she realized what she was doing, she forced herself to stand still and tried to regulate her breathing.

At this moment, she was thankful for the blindfold. That hateful man often made her wear shameful clothes, then forced her to stare at her reflection in a large mirror, and he had not bothered remove it from the last time. She already knew how she must have looked like from another person's perspective.

This time, he forced her to wear a parody of her black and blue, leather kunoichi bodysuit. The obscene garment, made of thick silicone, was more glossy and so much tighter, giving her a strong feeling of oppression. Worse, the chest area could be removed, giving access to her breasts, and the same was true with the crotch panel. Worse still, the crotch piece included the two vibrators that had tormented her for hours now.

The vibrators were slowly ramping up in intensity, giving her unwanted pleasure. Kasumi had counted the seconds during the third cycle and determined that they would slowly ramp up in intensity over fifteen minutes, stay at their peak for five minutes, and then abruptly shut down. Kasumi would have ten minutes to recover before the new cycle would start.

She hated the effect the training had on her. She had stubbornly refused to acknowledge it when she started to feel her body changing, but after a few more days of denial, she couldn't pretend anymore. Her body was changing, becoming more sensitive. Craving the next orgasm, or the next denial.

And craving the feeling of his hands on her body.

The one good thing about it was that he had decided not to rape her. He had told Kasumi that she would need to beg him to take her, before he did.

She had scoffed at the very idea back then, confident that it would never happen. But now, she wasn't so sure.

The anger she felt at that man, was a little less each day. That was what was worrying her the most. If this continued for too long…

And it seemed inevitable. That man was thorough, and she didn't have any opportunity to escape. She was always restrained, and he certainly knew how to make his bonds inescapable. And thinking about those…

"Mmfft." softly groaned Kasumi, her mouth filled by a gag that looked like a red ball gag from the outside, but filled her mouth almost to the back of her throat with a rubber cock.

Thinking about her restraints unsettled her as well, as she was growing comfortable being tied up. Too comfortable.

She knew just enough about psychology to understand that this was the result of her mind associating the bondage with the pleasure from the relentless edging she was being subjected to. But the awareness of how it worked didn't stop this mental trick from being effective on her, in the same way that a ballistic expert wasn't immune to bullets.

As she was contemplating about her predicament, she heard some noise coming from the door of the dungeon she was now quite familiar with. After being left alone for hours, someone was coming.

Kasumi didn’t turn her head, refusing to acknowledge his arrival. She did so, however, when she heard the clinking of chains and shuffled steps aside from his own.

"Mmmfft!" exclaimed the voice of a young woman.

It seemed like Noah was bringing in another of his slaves, an unwilling one this time, and Kasumi steeled herself. He had done so once already, making one of the clone maids lick her. After she was done, the clone had demanded that Kasumi reciprocate, with that hateful man’s permission, and Kasumi had been forced to use her tongue to give the clone an orgasm. She hated doing this so much.

Kasumi heard the two people walk closer and stop in front of her. She felt hands touching her head, unfastening the strap of the dildo gag.

Kasumi didn’t say a word and worked her jaw open and close, then licked her dry lips.

The hands returned, and the blindfold was removed this time. Kasumi blinked as her eyes became used to the light, first seeing Noah’s smug smile, and…

"Ayane!" blurted out Kasumi, simultaneously shocked, happy, and sad. Shocked and happy to see her little sister. A little sister she had buried a year before her own alleged death. It seemed Noah really could revive the dead after all. But sad that Ayane was there in the first place, naked save for the red leather cuffs around her ankles and wrists, as well as a matching red leather collar and red ball gag.

Ayane nodded to her, her cheeks flushed in embarrassment.

"I went ahead and revived your sister." smiled Noah. "I have left you mostly alone these last few days while I was giving Ayane her first training sessions. From now on, I will train you both together, and you will have plenty of opportunities to show me your gratefulness for getting your sister back later on."

"You monster! Release her! If you do, I… I'll accept being your slave!"

"Mhhoph!" exclaimed Ayane, vehemently shaking her head.

"You both will. This isn't a negotiation, Kasumi." denied Noah. "Even if I accepted your deal, once you truly became my slave, you would subdue Ayane and offer her to me. Not just because you would want to please me, but also because you would have realized that becoming mine is the best thing for her. And you would want to share with her the pleasure of being my slave."

"You're crazy!" denied Kasumi.

"Am I, now?" smiled Noah, and Kasumi shuddered as he started kneading her breasts through the silicone bodysuit. Somehow, its thickness didn't lessen the pleasure she felt from his hands.

"How many orgasms did you get yesterday? Have you even bothered to count?"

"Hnnn…" gasped Kasumi as her whole body tensed. The combination of his hands and the vibrators still going were about to make her cum.

He suddenly stepped away, and the vibrators stopped.

"No!" groaned Kasumi before she could stop herself and clamp her mouth shut. She glared at Noah, who only smiled.

"It's only a matter of time until you submit to me, and we both know it."

The gag reappeared in Noah's hands, and when Kasumi refused to open her mouth, Noah simply pinched her nose until she relented. The now familiar rubber cock and ball filled her mouth, and Noah turned to Ayane, who flinched, then steeled herself.

"I'll take care of Ayane first before I give you an opportunity to earn a few orgasms, Kasumi."

Kasumi could only watch helplessly as Noah slipped a finger through the D-ring in front of Ayane's red collar and guided her toward the leather-padded furniture Kasumi had learned was a bondage bench. He forced Ayane to lay on her back over it, tied her limbs to the bench's legs, and blindfolded Ayane.

Noah then molested Ayane's body, touching her everywhere, generally with his bare hands, but also sometimes with feathers or vibrators. Before long, Ayane was squirming, obviously struggling to remain still, and failing horribly. Kasumi didn't hold it against her, as she knew how fiendishly effective Noah was at giving a woman pleasure.

Kasumi experienced four full cycles as Ayane moaned and mewled into her gag, squirming endlessly, before Noah stopped and returned to Kasumi. He untied her from the cross before cuffing her wrists behind her back and replaced her gag by another one an ominous model that had a rubber cock on each side of a leather panel. Kasumi was forced to put the smallest one in her mouth, and the strap was fastened tightly, causing the leather panel to stick firmly over her lips and cheeks.

Noah smiled with satisfaction as he forced her to kneel in front of Ayane's spread legs.

"Mmpho!" protested Kasumi, but he ignored her, forced her head forward until the head of the rubber cock entered Ayane's drenched pussy, and used a very short chain to lock her collar to the bondage bench, preventing her from completely pulling out.

"Get to work, Kasumi." declared Noah. "I'm only untying you from that position after Ayane gets a few orgasms, and then I will give you your own reward."

Ayane was blindfolded, but she must have guessed how Kasumi was bound from the noises, the object entering her, and Kasumi's breaths near her crotch, and she shook her head in denial, but was soon too distracted by Noah's hands resuming their devilish work.

Kasumi looked up at Noah's face, seeing no signs that he would relent, then sighed and started moving, her cheeks red in embarrassment.

…

"Cooking pans? We're using those for Ki training?" asked Song-Yi, incredulous, as she stared at the dozen cooking pans hanging from the tree's branches, all at chest level.

They had all risen early, eaten breakfast, and gathered in the garden behind the Natsume house as the sun was rising. It was a Saturday, and they intended to spend the whole weekend to Ki training.

"Yes." smiled Maya in her adult form. "Look carefully."

Maya positioned herself in front of one of the pans, took a deep breath, and punched it. The punch was fast, but not excessively so.

Akeno wasn't certain of what she thought was going to happen. Would the pan shatter? Would its center be pierced? Surely it wouldn't just swing around. That really happened still surprised her. The pan Maya Natsume had struck barely moved a centimeter. However, another pan two meters away, more or less aligned with the first, swung abruptly as if it had been the one being struck.

"Being able to do this is the first step to learning a technique called 'Forged Iron Needle'." smirked Maya, enjoying their shock. She could get a little bit of payback after all the Magecraft things they had surprised her with the previous night.

"Okay, that's impressive alright." said Heejin after she got over her shock. "You somehow managed to fully transmit the energy of your strike through the air, and without disturbing it."

"Yes." nodded Maya. "Forged Iron Needle is a technique created to deal with enemies who have a hard exterior by targeting their insides. But it can also be used to attack from a short distance, up to ten meters. But I won't show you the full Forged Iron Needle here, because it would wreck the garden."

"Please teach us, Maya-sama." replied Akeno with an eager expression, and Maya grinned at the honorific.

"The first thing you need to do it to learn how to feel the Ki inside your body. Some people compare it to one's lifeforce, but this isn't quite the same thing…"

…

"You guys aren't magicians. You are monsters…" sighed Maya as Artoria made two cooking pans move violently after striking a single one, and Akeno chuckled.

Akeno had been the first to manage a partial success after two dozen tries, and got the hang of it after another dozen attempts. Heejin and Song-Yi had learned it within half a day. Finally, as the sun was setting, Artoria got a partial success.

Near the tree was a pile of hundreds of destroyed cooking pans, most of them shattered or with fist-sized holes in their center. Some of them had been sliced into tiny, tiny pieces after Suzuka had vented her frustration with her lack of progress. With Akeno's permission, she had gone on a stroll to cool off and explore the city a little.

"It took me almost two weeks to do what you have done in half a day. And Aya still hasn't managed it yet." complained Maya, and Aya stuck her tongue at her sister.

"I focused on training with a sword, Akeno-sama. Forged Iron Needle is a technique for unharmed combat." said Aya as she looked at Akeno.

"We do not really deserve all that much credit, to be honest." shrugged Akeno. "I can without false modesty claim that I am smarter than average, but the increase in intellect we received when we became Agents is doing most of the heavy lifting. Vague concepts become clearer and easier to understand, we have a near photographic memory, and we can multitask more efficiently."

"Is this a disguised attempt to make us accept becoming Agents as well? I told you I haven't decided yet." said Maya.

"I'm simply stating the facts." smiled Akeno. "And I am willing to give you and Aya time to think about it, because I am confident that in the end, you will choose to follow us."

"What makes you so sure?"

"Aside from the perks I already mentioned yesterday? I do not know you all that well so far, but you do not seem to have many reasons to stay. Aya is your only close relative, and I don't think you have any romantic interest toward Masataka."

"Of course not." snorted Maya, rolling her eyes at the very idea. "…You may be right about my relatives, but I have friends. Even if our current relationship is… complicated."

"Friends in the Enforcement Group, right?" asked Heejin with a gentle expression.

"Yes." nodded Maya with a wistful expression, her eyes staring at something only she could see. She shook herself and looked at Akeno.

"At the rate you're going, you may be able to use the complete Forged Iron Needle within a week. This infuriate me so much! To repay me for making me feel so inadequate, make me something delicious to eat for dinner! Udon noodles!"

"As you wish." snickered Akeno.

…

"Respected Mentor, Laufen has collapsed!" cried Wendy.

Cara further soured as she stopped her march through the snow and looked back at her companions. She was already in a foul mood, had been for days, because of that accursed seal blocking her power. She couldn't wait to reach Taquila, the city of the witches mentioned in the book, to get it removed.

And now, it seemed something was causing another delay.

She joined the fifteen other witches who had gathered around Laufen, writhing and gasping on the ground in pain.

"Laufen, talk to me! What is wrong?" asked Wendy, but she already knew. She only hoped she was wrong.

"I’m burning all over!" cried Laufen, confirming every witch’s suspicion. Laufen’s Day of Adulthood had started.

The witches that survived the Day of Adulthood saw their power increase significantly. However, many didn’t, and some even exploded!

And considering how much pain Laufen seemed to endure, her chances of survival were… bleak.

"Isn’t it what those two fake witches warned us ab…?" started Lightning, only to flinch at the venomous glance Cara sent her.

"That doesn’t prove anything." Stated Cara. "Anyone could predict that in a large group of witches, some wouldn’t have passed the Day of Adulthood yet. It was just an attempt to manipulate us. Don't fall into their trap."

"They were able to predict my arrival in Border Town, Respected Mentor." objected Nightingale.

Cara glared at her. "Silence, traitor! You are the one who brought those fake witches to us! The one who caused me to be in this… condition! Be ready to be judged for your crimes once we reach Taquila!"

Nightingale sighed and lowered her eyes before the judging gazes of many of her friends.

"Respected Mentor, we have more urgent things to worry about right now." reminded Wendy.

Cara snorted. Wendy may have a point, but she also spoke to divert attention away from Nightingale and her crimes, and Cara knew it. Wendy and Nightingale were very close.

"…We'll rest here for a while. Wendy, blow away the snow around us. Leaf, make us a shelter. Scarlett, heat up the stones again."

"Yes, Respected Mentor." replied all three witches. Wendy used her control over wind to blow the snow away, revealing the hardened soil. Leaf put her hands on the ground, and plants sprouted all around them. First was a thick layer of grass, offering some insulation from the cold ground. Then, Leaf made thick roots and creeper plants grow around the area, using each other to form a web, then a semi-circular vegetal wall, protecting them from the wind.

Lastly, Scarlett touched for a few seconds each for the two stones every witch carried to keep their hands warm. They would remain pleasantly hot as long as Scarlett's magic lasted.

"Respected Mentor, even if those two are fake witches, they aren't normal humans, since they could do things like resist your poison and seal your power. Maybe they can really help Laufen. Please allow me to try to bring Laufen to them." insisted Lightning.

"No!" shouted Cara, her eyes bulging in fury. The witches were starting to grow unruly because she couldn't use her power anymore.

Lightning looked like she was considering disobeying anyway, when a voice called out from behind them.

"That won't be necessary."

Cara turned to see the two fake witches appear out of thin air, standing just fifteen meters from them. They wore strange clothes, completely covering their bodies from the neck down, but clearly made with cold weather in mind.

"You!" shouted Cara.

"Don't mind us, we're just strolling around in the area!" grinned the blonde one as they walked closer.

"As if anyone could believe such an obvious lie." muttered Scarlett.

"But since we're here, we'll check on your friend to see if we can help." said the other one.

"No!" shouted Cara, but the two hateful girls simply ignored her. None of the other witches really knew what to do, and none stopped the brunette one from crouching near Laufen, taking her right hand in hers. A blue glow appeared around them.

"Diagnostic, Takina?"

"She has something deep within her muscles and other organs that is somewhat equivalent to our mana circuits, but the energy inside is straining it, and is slowly increasing. Like cramming too much blood into a network of veins. And the veins are starting to break under the pressure. But that's fine, I'm healing and reinforcing them."

Laufen had stopped her unvoluntary squirming, and she didn't seem to be in pain anymore.

Cara felt irrational anger as the fake really seemed able to help Laufen. She knew that it was wrong of her to feel this way, but she didn't want the other witches' opinions of the fakes to improve. Laufen blinked at the fakes as she realized just who was holding her hand and jerked it away.

"You should be okay now. Your magic power is still increasing, but your body should be able to withstand it without further aid." smiled Takina.

"Are you the reason it doesn't hurt anymore? …Thank you." nodded Laufen, and Takina nodded.

"Why are you following us?" asked Wendy with a neutral tone.

"Because, while we do not care about what happens to Cara, the rest of you are, until proof of the contrary, good people. That, by itself, is reason enough to save you guys. But we also need you." said the blonde one. If Cara remembered correctly, her name was Chisato.

"Need us?" asked Red Pepper.

"Yes." said Takina. "It's a long story and we do not know every detail, but the great war between the Humans, witches included, the Demons, and the Sea Demons who turn animal into demonic beasts every year, is about to start again. The last time, Humanity was defeated, losing most of its territory and most of their witches. We currently are in former human territory, but that land is now under the sway of the Demons. It's only a matter of time before they find us."

"But the Demons are the witches' allies!" protested Ehre before Cara could.

"How can you be so sure?" asked Chisato. "You guys should know better than to believe something written in a book is always true, and cannot be misinterpreted."

Cara looked at the faces of every witch around her. Good, most of them were still doubting the fake's words. But Cara needed to reassert control of the situation before more started to believe their lies.

"Laufen, can you walk?" demanded Cara.

"I think so."

"Then we're leaving. Everyone, do not listen to their lies! We all know what truly awaits us in Border Town! Damp cells and gallows!"

Cara didn't give them time to think and left the makeshift shelter, confident that At least half of the witch would follow her, and the rest wouldn't dare split away.

And even if they did, it didn't matter. She would reach Taquila. She would prove that the fakes were lying whores. She would get that accursed seal removed. And then, she would have her revenge.

As expected, most followed her. Laufen, Nightingale, Lightning and some of the others didn't at first, but they still did, leaving the fakes alone. When Cara looked back a few minutes later, they were gone.

…

"…Is it really okay, Takina? We could have saved at least some of them for sure." softly asked Chisato as they watched them go. They had redrawn Light runes on their clothes and pulled up their hoods.

"It is. People do not like being proven wrong, Chisato, and we do not have any concrete proof. If we had insisted, they would only have become more entrenched in their beliefs. We need a proof they won't be able to deny, no matter how uncomfortable it will make them. It should be okay. We are really strong by this world's standard, according to Noah, and we're still on the periphery of the demon territory. The witches likely won't stumble upon any of the evolved Demons."

"Yes. Better to keep the witches in a single group for now… I wonder how the others are doing."

As Chisato and Takina followed the group from afar, using the sounds of their feet on the snow to remain close together despite not seeing each other, they used their phones to call Da Vinci and Ciel.

Da Vinci back in Border Town was scaling up cement production and laying the groundwork for a modest steel mill. One that would produce parts for a much larger one later on.

Ciel and Karen were in the Wolfheart Kingdom and had started visiting nobles to ask them about witches. And insisting, sometimes violently, for an answer. They were causing a ruckus already, as the nobles assumed for them to be witches themselves and had informed the inquisition, but they didn't care.

They had yet to find any noble who had bought a non-combat witch from Heidi, but they had barely started. And when their search provided results, some nobles would die, and the ruckus would reach a whole other level.