Ch 295: Bullied Mikoto.
It started with a bullet striking the left temple of one of the island's administrators, killing him instantly. His four bodyguards reacted professionally, immediately pulling him under cover as they scanned their surroundings and alerted the Island's security services, but the shooter was already gone.
There were no signs of the culprit being from the supernatural side, but since Natsuki had informed the administrators about the likely presence of a terrorist group within the Island, they relayed the information to her within minutes.
…
"The tea had gotten lukewarm. You should do something about it, my maid." smiled Misaki Shokuhou, setting the cup back on its saucer. She was sitting on a comfortable, padded chair, in her apartment, dressed in the school uniform of Saikai Academy, while Mikoto standing behind her wore a black and white maid uniform. A uniform with a skirt was a little shorter and frillier than social norms demanded.
"Yes, Misaki-sama." replied Mikoto with clenched teeth.
Misaki chuckled softly at the extreme reluctance in her rival's voice. Mikoto used Item Creation to make another cup filled with hot tea before taking the previous one and going to the kitchen to empty it in the sink. She returned to stand on Misaki's right, one step behind.
"My shoulders are stiff, my maid." said Misaki a moment later.
She could actually hear Mikoto's teeth grinding against each other!
"Please let me give you a shoulder massage, Misaki-sama." said Mikoto with a carefully controlled voice.
"You may." gracefully nodded Misaki.
She was having the fun of her life!
Misaki felt Mikoto's hands on her shoulder, starting to massage her with maybe a bit more strength than required, but it was fine with Misaki.
After a few minutes, she sighed.
Mikoto had seven more days in her sentence before she could be freed from the consequences of losing her bet. Misaki was trying hard to push her to blow up and get a few more days out of it, but Mikoto was obviously aware of it and determined not to fall for her trap again, and she was managing to reduce her sentence gradually.
Should she order Mikoto to give her a foot massage as well? No, she would reserve this for the next day. For now, she was in the mood to bully her reluctant maid in another way. She gestured for Mikoto to stand by her side, and she warily obeyed.
"Lift your skirt and show me your panties, my maid." grinned Misaki.
"Yo-! …Yes, Misaki-sama."
There! She almost got her with that order, but Mikoto, blushing fiercely, obeyed, revealing cute white latex panties with a green frog's face imprinted on it.
Misaki smiled as she started running two fingers in and around the panties, with Hands of Nirvana active.
"Keep this position until I tell you to stop, my frog-loving maid."
"Y-Yes, Misaki-sama." replied Mikoto, the anger and embarrassment in her voice starting to be mixed with just a little bit of anticipation and lust.
Misaki kept rubbing, listening to Mikoto's breathing pattern, her sharp intakes of breath, then pushed the latex panties aside and inserted her index and middle finger into Mikoto's wet entrance, wriggling them slowly as she stared at Mikoto's blushing expression.
Misaki slowly pumped her fingers, moving them inside and scratching around her G-spot, slowly bringing Mikoto closer and closer to the edge. The hands holding the skirt were trembling, and Mikoto couldn't stop the gasps and soft moans from escaping her lips anymore.
"You know what will happen if you come without your Mistress's permission, right, my needy maid?" teased Misaki.
"…Three more days… as your maid, Misaki-sama." gasped Mikoto.
"That is correct. So, what should my maid say?" grinned Misaki.
"M-Misaki-sama… please… please allow your… your naughty …p-personal maid Mikoto to cum!" asked Mikoto, her voice full of reluctant need.
"But if I allow my naughty maid to cum, I will expect her to return the favor and kneel between my legs and put her tongue to good use." mused Misaki, a finger tapping against her cheek as if she was pondering an important matter.
"It… It would be my pleasure, Misaki-sama." squealed Mikoto, her body almost quivering. She was so close now.
"I guess I will allow you to cum on my fingers then, my slutty, lewd maid. Cum for your Mistress." nodded Misaki, suddenly increasing her rhythm and going deeper.
"Nnnnn…" gasped Mikoto as she came, squirting her juices on Misaki's right hand.
Misaki kept moving, prolonging Mikoto's orgasm, and the brown-haired girl swayed for a moment, almost falling over.
When Mikoto came down from the orgasm, Misaki handed her a wet hand towel.
"Clean your naughty juices from my hand, my cute maid, and then from your crotch. And when you are done, you know what your next task will…"
Her instructions were interrupted by a sharp knock on the door.
"Misaki? Mikoto?" asked Jinah through the door.
"Give us a minute. Is it urgent?" asked Misaki, disappointed at the disturbance.
"Maybe? Someone had been killed, and we suspect it to be our troublemakers."
Misaki stood without delay, taking another hand towel to clean her hand herself.
"We'll resume right where we stopped, Mikoto." warned Misaki with a glance at Mikoto, who nodded as she cleaned her tights and crotch.
Fifteen seconds later, they were done and left Misaki's apartment, gathering in Natsuki's.
"Tiné and Saika are with Avrora, Yukina, Reina and Nagisa. Mash and Gudako are with Asagi. Sayaka, Yuiri and Shio are patrolling the bridge's area. I sent them all a message to warn them." said Akeno as soon as they arrived. Natsuki, Astarte and Touka were present, as well as La Folia.
"Who was killed?" asked Mikoto.
"One of the ten Administrators of Itogami Island." sighed Natsuki. "A high-caliber bullet fired from a rooftop."
"Someone you knew? If so, you have my condolences, Natsuki-sensei." replied Mikoto.
"I didn't care for him. He always talked down to me as if I was a moody teen. Well, I shouldn't speak ill of the dead." shrugged Natsuki.
"Are we certain Tartarus Lapse is the culprit?" asked Misaki.
"No. But considering the timing, this is likely."
"Did they get any imagery of a suspect?" asked Jinah.
"No. And that is strange in itself. There are a lot of surveillance cameras in the central section of the island." sighed Natsuki, and she glanced at Misaki and Mikoto. "Just before you came, I had asked Asagi to investigate this issue."
Natsuki's phone rang. Seeing that the call came from Mash, she activated the speaker as she accepted it.
"Natsuki-chan, there is trouble!" said Mash.
"Call me Natsuki-sensei! What kind of trouble?" frowned Natsuki.
"A massive digital offensive, according to Asagi. She's working on it right now." said Mash.
"Whoever it is, they are damn good! They bypassed my firewalls somehow." came Asagi's voice from the background. "I'm working on circumventing the attack and isolating the most critical parts of the island's infrastructure, but the hackers already got access to some files and systems."
"Can you locate the source of the attack?" asked Jinah.
"No. I'm too busy defending right now for more than a few basic tracing moves, and they've been countered… Ah, wait! The administrators have just shut down all outside communications. The attack is stopped, at least until the hardware is turned on again, but I can't trace it back. I'll start doing damage control and recovery and try to find out just how the hell they got through the island's defenses. And I'm sure they must have inserted some viruses or created backdoors."
"Thank you, Asagi. Please do your best." sighed Natsuki.
"I'll keep you guys updated." replied Asagi.
"I have nothing more to report at this time, Natsuki-chan." said Mash. "I'll hang up if there isn't anything else. I am sure you have things to do."
Natsuki glared at the smartphone, as she ended the call and took it back, then transferred her irate gaze to Jinah.
"Why the hell are you girls insisting on calling me Natsuki-chan so much? This is bullying! You're bullying your teacher!"
"…Fine, I'll ask them to tone it down with their teasing, and I'll do the same." nodded Jinah. "Natsuki-sensei, can you give me a list of the locations that would be the most valuable targets for terrorists to hit? I will place a few Shadow Soldiers around them. Touka, do you want to come with me?"
"Yes. I am your Observer after all." nodded Touka.
"Mikoto, how about you join Asagi? You're good with matters related with Hacking." said Misaki.
"Yes. I'll go change and join them." nodded Mikoto, sighing in relief as she left for her own apartment.
Hopefully, by the time Misaki forced her back into her maid role, she would have forgotten about the oral service thing.
Although deep inside, she already knew she wasn't going to be so lucky.
…
"So why are we headed for the central area again?" asked Gudako. She and Mash were accompanying Asagi on her way to the giant skyscraper at het center of the island.
"With the lockdown in place, my bandwidth to the mainframe is very limited. I need direct access." patiently said Asagi. She was in a foul mood after the attack, that she took very personally. The island's firewalls had been vetted and improved by her.
Her pride as the 'Cyber Empress' and part-time job as security consultant were on the line!
Gudako and Mash remained vigilant as they walked, scanning every rooftop, every open window, every civilian walking near them.
And because of her vigilance and enhanced perception, Mash saw the sniper on a rooftop four hundred meters away just as the bullet was leaving the rifle's barrel.
"Senpai!" shouted Mash as she created a half-dozen layered shields. The bullet, on a direct trajectory to Asagi's head, impacted the first layer and was stopped, the shield barely weakening.
"Asagi, you come with me!" exclaimed Gudako, taking Asagi in her arms and diving for the entrance of the nearest building before Asagi could really understand what had happened.
Mash was already using Shunpo and Light footholds to close the distance.
The sniper, a brown-haired therianthrope girl with cat ears holding a rifle as long as she was tall, gasped in mixed surprise and dread. She jumped away from the rooftop's edge, aiming at Mash with her rifle, and fired again, only for Mash to use Shunpo and land on the rooftop on the girl's right. She grabbed the rifle, tearing it off the girl's hands, and swept her feet to break her balance, forcing her to the ground, and pinning her with a knee.
"Get off me!" screamed the girl.
Mash grabbed her hands and slapped metal handcuffs around her wrists, securing her hands behind her back.
"Carly? What's happening? Carly?" came a young woman's voice from a small radio near the ledge.
"I've been caught!" shouted Carly. "Don't try to rescue me! She's too strong!"
"No! Hang in there, Carly! We'll find a way!"
Mash let her talk as she patted the girl for weapons, finding a sidearm and a combat knife that she stashed in her inventory.
"You, whoever you are! Are you listening?" asked the person on the radio.
"I am." nodded Mash, scanning her surroundings she didn't see any of Carly's allies.
"You better not touch a hair of my friend! Or…" The young woman paused, as if she hadn't yet thought about a good threat to make.
"Your friend just tried to kill my friend." said Mash, and Carly looked at her sheepishly.
"Argh! Hang on, Carly! We'll find a way to save you, I promise!" replied the girl, and the communication was cut.
"You are part of Tartarus Lapse, right?" asked Mash as she picked up the radio.
Carly didn't reply, but the shocked expression crossing her face for a split second was answer enough.
Mash, keeping a firm hand on the struggling girl, looked around, searching for additional enemies, but didn't spot any. She put the girl over her shoulder, picked up the rifle and placed it in her inventory, then used light footholds to come down the rooftop and join Gudako and Asagi.
"It seems she was alone. She was talking to one of her friends on the radio, a young, female one." said Mash, setting Carly on her feet but keeping a hand around her arm.
Asagi stared daggers at her. She wasn't a violent person by nature, but for someone who had just almost murdered her, she was willing to make an exception.
"I'm calling Jinah. We'll put her in Medb's hands, and she will make her talk." said Gudako, taking her smartphone.
"No need, I'm already here." said Jinah as she landed near them. She held Touka in her arms. "Beru in Asagi's shadow warned me immediately."
"Great." nodded Mash.
"Why? Why did you try to kill me?" demanded Asagi, walking close to Carly.
Carly looked into Asagi's eyes for a few seconds, then sighed. "It's nothing personal, okay? We just needed you out of the way."
"How can it not be personal when you almost killed me?!" asked Asagi, outraged.
Natsuki teleported near them.
"I heard reports of shots being fired. Is everyone safe?"
"Yes. This is Carly, the sniper, and member of Tartarus Lapse. She was in radio contact with her companions. They know we caught her." said Mash.
"Which is all the more reason we need to get answers out of her fast. Mash, I am sending you two to Medb." said Jinah, and Mash nodded.
"You can torture me all you want, but I won't talk!" said Carly defiantly, just before she and Mash disappeared.
"I still need to reach the mainframe." sighed Asagi, and Natsuki nodded.
"I will bring you there directly. Jinah, Gudako, please pounce on the rest of Tartarus Lapse the instant you have their location. They can't keep the initiative."
"That's the plan, Natsuki-sensei." smiled Jinah.
…
"Where are we?" asked Carly, still defiant, but with a bit of apprehension creeping in her voice as she stared at her surroundings, a living room. She heard movement, and two people entered from another room.
But the way they were dressed! Bondage maids, gagged and chained! And one of them had pointy hair!
"Do not mind those two. They are being punished for having kidnapped one of our friends.
"That's perverted!" cried Carly, suddenly afraid for more than her life. "Are you going to do… that… to me too?"
"That's not impossible." smiled Mash with a cold tone. "Although with your ears and body size, I think you'd be better as a pet than a maid. Anyway, we have more urgent things to do. You go downstairs with me."
"Help me! Somebody!" cried Carly. Her cries for help fell on deaf ears as Mash dragged her down the stairs.
"You're wasting your time, Carly. They can't free themselves. There is no way they can free you."
Carly's nightmare only deepened was she saw the basement, with three more people inside. Two young, naked women, a brunette and a blonde were bound by leather straps, facing each other while straddling some kind of padded furniture.
A third women with long pink hair, wearing a red latex bodysuit, was sitting on a wooden chair, watching them.
"Oh? A therianthrope girl?"
"You removed Beatrice's hood?" asked Mash with a raised eyebrow.
"Yes. After weeks as a toy, I am giving her a chance to be promoted to sex slave status. If she messes up, the hood goes back on. So far, it seems she's learned her lesson."
"I see. Medb, this is Carly, a member of Tartarus Lapse we just captured after she tried to snipe Asagi. We need to know about their motives and her comrades ASAP."
"I see." nodded Medb, standing and walking toward them.
Carly was terrified and would have made a run for it if Mash hadn't kept a firm grip on her.
"Don't worry, it won't be painful." smiled Medb.
"Don't touch me, you pervert!" shouted Carly as Medb cupped her face, forcing the therianthrope to stare into Medb's eyes.
Carly visibly relaxed, and just stood there, staring at Medb with blank eyes.
"Why did you come to Itogami Island?"
"To destroy it."
"How?"
"With the Roses of Tartarus ritual."
"What is this ritual? How does it work?"
"By using the demons as a power source. Rahn put a virus into the bracelets each demon wears. When the time comes, the bracelets will drain their demonic power and channel it to the ritual."
"I see. How many of your friends from Tartarus Lapse are there? Where are they located?"
"Docking section, ninth warehouse. December, Rogi, Rahn, and Takehito-kun."
"Okay. What are their abilities?" asked Medb.
"Rogi can control fire. Rahn can connect herself to computers and control them. December has a Progenitor familiar. Takehito-kun uses feng shui." replied Carly.
"That's enough for us to work with." nodded Mash. "We can always ask her more questions later. For now, can you please make her forget about what she has seen inside the Sanctuary?"
"You wouldn't be asking me to do that if you intended to keep her here for me to train. A pity, she's cute." smiled Medb.
Mash nodded. She didn't really have a plan right now, but she wanted to keep her options open, and having Carly possibly blab to her friends about what happened inside the Sanctuary might close some of them.
"Done." said Medb after a moment. She'll regain awareness in about fifteen seconds.
"Thank you." nodded Mash, teleporting out of the Sanctuary with Carly.
"Welcome back." nodded Jinah as they reappeared near her.
They were now inside a building, with Asagi typing at lightning speed on her computer, linked to a computer bank.
"Asagi, look for a virus that would have been injected into the identification bracelet every demon wears. Tartarus Lapse intends to use the demons to power a large-scale ritual to destroy the island." said Mash as Carly blinked and looked around.
"I see. So that's why they were after me. I'm the one most likely to find out about it or disable the bracelets." muttered Asagi.
"Carly has four accomplices, docking section, ninth warehouse. One pyromancer, one specializing in hacking, the girl from the Kaleid blood, and one feng shui user."
"Feng Shui? The Chinese form of geomancy?" asked Jinah.
"Yes." frowned Natsuki. "I'm starting to understand how they could put an area on lockdown. With Feng Shui and a local leyline to draw power from…"
"Well, we have their location, so we should pounce soon. Natsuki-ch…sensei, can you teleport me close to that warehouse? I have a plan to minimize the collateral damage, but I need a change of clothes." said Jinah, and Natsuki nodded.
"I'm coming with you." said Touka, silver spear in hand. Natsuki nodded, and the three young women disappeared.
Carly was staring at Mash, too horrified to speak, and Mash shrugged at her.
"We just put you under hypnosis, although you do not remember that, and you answered our questions readily enough. You don't need to worry about your companions, we want them alive."
"How can I not worry? You monsters. Because of me…" replied Carly, a tear escaping her left eye.
…
December fought to hold back her tears as she stuffed her few belongings and rations into her backpack. She could only imagine what kind of tortures Carly would be subjected to, to make her speak. Maybe they had already started on her.
She knew the girl was brave, and she would likely hold on for hours, but everyone had their limits, and… They need to relocate to their secondary hideout first, then they would try to infiltrate the central tower. It wouldn't be easy, especially since they had no idea where the might imprison Carly, but they couldn't just aban…
She heard the sound of something crashing on the ground, shattering.
A shiver of dread spread from December's back, and she turned to the door. It was probably just something having fallen due to someone's clumsiness, or maybe Rogi had thrown something at a wall in frustration, but…
December warily opened the door and looked down the short hallway. This part of the warehouse had been converted into several offices, and…
December felt something hard and heavy closing around her neck. With a yelp of surprise, she whirled and punched by reflex, but her punch was caught by something invisible. Then, a figure appeared, covered in a tight black leather suit and wearing a black helmet.
"W-who are you?" demanded December, both hands trying to force open what she now recognized as an anti-demon collar. Such a thing might stop average vampires from using their powers, but she was one of the Kaleid Blood, and this trinket wouldn't stop her from summoning… except it did stop her from doing just that. With rising panic, she tried again and again, but her Familiar was unresponsive.
"Sorry about being so sneaky." said the woman in black leather. "But then, you guys are terrorists. You don't get to complain about how we neutralize you."
"What have you done to my companions?" glared December.
"I knocked out the two men. They aren't badly injured. As for the other girl, I am counting on you do disconnect her safely from those computers. I don't want to risk injuring her badly by just cutting them off. This way."
December, worried about Rahn and her friends, stopped trying to remove the collar and walked to another room, where Rahn was sitting on the floor, a dozen wires connected the back of her head and her nape to several jury-rigged computers.
Another young woman holding a silver spear was standing near Rahn.
"December, we got caught." sighed Rahn. As long as she was connected to the computers, she could not move her body.
"Oh, Rahn. I'm sorry." said December, crouching near her and starting to remove the cables.
Once completely unplugged, Rahn was able to stand, and they both faced the woman in black leather.
A girl in white frilly dress and holding an umbrella suddenly appeared near her.
December recognized her as the Witch of the Void, and her heart sank. It seemed they were going to be thrown into the dimensional prison, from which no one could ever escape.
"I already know the answer, but you do not want me to put those two in the dimensional prison as well, right?" asked the witch, confirming December's fears.
"No." replied the first woman. She removed her black helmet and looked at December.
"What happens now, if we aren't thrown into that prison? Execution? Torture?" bitterly asked December.
"No. Before I decide what to do with you and Carly, I have three questions to ask you, and I want you to answer truthfully. We will be more lenient with you if you do not lie. My first question is, what did the Chaos Bride tell you to make you go to Itogami Island?"
"…What makes you think the Chaos Bride told us anything?" asked December, alarmed.
"We have our sources, but I will not reveal anything about them."
"…They told us that you were planning to activate the Altar of Cain. That you were making preparation to revive the Sinful God." said Rahn.
December turned to her, not knowing if she approved of Rahn's admitting the truth or not, and Rahn shrugged.
"We lost. There is no advantage for us in hiding this, and the Chaos Bride was just using us. She doesn't deserve our loyalty."
December sighed in defeat.
"Reviving Cain is very far from our intentions. The Chaos Bride either misinterpreted, or she lied to you guys." said the Witch of the Void.
"I will pay her a visit latter to ascertain her intentions. Did they mention anything about Avrora Florestina, your sister?"
"Dodekatos?" frowned December. "No. Why should she say anything about her? My sibling is long gone."
"…I see. My second question is, why did Carly kill that guy earlier?"
"…for justice." said December.
"Justice?"
December nodded, and put her right arm around Rahn's shoulders for support.
"This man and his minions put into Rahn cloned neurons, sixteen times the number of neurons a normal person possess. This isn't something any living human can manage. So they killed her, modified her body, and then used necromancy on her."
"Is there anything wrong with a girl like that wanting to kill the man who ordered this done to her? To destroy the Demon District, the place where she was killed and reborn like this?"
The woman's face softened as she looked at Rahn.
"No, there isn't anything wrong with wanting justice. But there are over half a million innocents living on this island. You can't execute your vengeance or seek justice in a way that would put them at risk. Now, my third question was about your motives. Is there another reason for you to want to destroy Itogami Island? And why did you destroy Iresia in Europe?"
"…Rogi is a Homunculus created by Iresia. They performed many other disgusting experiments." said Rahn. "Killing only a few Administrators is meaningless. They would only be replaced, and nothing would change."
"Sounds like Academy City all over again." sighed the leather-clad woman.
"Academy City?" asked December.
"I'll tell you about it another time." shrugged the woman before she turned to the Witch of the Void. "I will take them in, Natsuki-sensei. Even the two men. I will seal their abilities and keep them under house arrest while we stay in Itogami Island. At some point, maybe here, maybe after we leave this world, the three girls will be trained to become Agents while the men will remain under house arrest."
"…As long as you are positive you can keep their powers suppressed and that they won't be any more of a nuisance. Still, they have a lot of blood on their hand. Iresia was much smaller than Itogami Island, but they killed over thirty thousand." said Natsuki dubiously.
"I am confident I can, and they will make up for it by saving over ten times that number over time."
"…Very well. I am going to teleport us back to our building." nodded Natsuki.
"Leave this world? Agents?" asked Rahn, frowning.
"Let's have this conversation when you guys are all together. It's a very long story." shrugged the leather-clad woman.