Ch 303: Amber’s demise.

Amber expertly caught an upward wind current to regain some altitude, then let her wind glider carry her toward the small forest a few kilometers north of Mondstadt.

As she aimed for a small clearing, she thought again about Lumine's request. The Honorary Knight of the Favonius Knights had found her walking in the streets of Mondstadt and asked her to investigate a rumor about something strange happening in the area. Lumine herself was about to check another rumor elsewhere, and Amber had instantly agreed.

Landing gracefully, she folded her Wind Glider and opened the magic pouch tied to the left side of her waist. She took her bow from it and put the wind glider inside. She opened the small leather case tied to her right side, containing various kinds of arrows.

She was now ready to face whatever potential threat she would find. Or so she thought.

Moving with the ease of someone who used to move and hunt in the wilderness, she started exploring the area in a spiral pattern. She didn't find anything strange at first, but after maybe 20 minutes, she heard something.

A faint sound. It sounded like a moan.

Frowning, she walked in the direction of the sound, paying attention to minimizing the noises she made.

As she got closer, she heard another sound. A sharp impact sound, followed by another moan.

As she arrived to a small ridge, barely two meters tall, and was able to look down, she froze in absolute shock, unable to believe her eyes.

A man stood there dressed in typical villager outfit, a brown leather vest and black pants. Even seeing him only from the side, she could tell he was very handsome, but it was the other person who stole her breath away.

Crawling on her elbows and knees was a young woman with long crimson-red hair. Amber wasn't able to see the color of her eyes, as they were covered by a black leather blindfold. She was gagged by something red and round that filled her mouth, kept in place by black straps. On a closer examination, Amber found out that the blindfold and gag were part of some kind of black leather harness tightly gripping the woman's head.

But the woman's bondage wasn't limited to only her head, far from it. Her neck was encased by a wide black leather collar. A leash, held by the man, was connected to it.

A gleaming, black leather corset was squeezing the woman's waist, with straps linking it to the collar. Around the hips of the woman was also some kind of thick panties who reflected light like metal. The most outrageous parts, however, were the four… sleeves? Sheaths? Whatever they were, the black leather restraints covered most of the woman's legs and arms and kept her limbs tightly folded, forcing her to walk on her knees and elbows. It had to be very uncomfortable.

She couldn't use her hands either, as they were confined inside black leather mittens whose ends were connected to a metal ring of the leather corset between her shoulder blades.

The man flicked a riding crop with his left hand, smacking it against the woman's butt, and she moaned again, her huge breasts heaving.

For a second, Amber felt an irrational burst of jealousy at the sight of the woman's swaying breasts, who seemed almost as big as her head. Compared to her own modest size, she felt like the woman had robbed her of her fair share.

But the thought was gone in an instant as Amber realized how ridiculous it was, and she had to put a stop to the woman's mistreatment!

She took from her leather case an arrow with a blunt head, as one of her principles was to avoid killing even evildoers.

"You! In the name of the Favonius Knights, surrender yourself!" shouted Amber, her arrow nocked the bow drawn, ready to loose.

He looked up at her, and Amber unconsciously lowered her guard a little as she took a good look at his face. No villain had any right to look this good. It was… distracting.

"Ah? Who are you? Just go away. Can't you see I'm just walking my dog?"

"Y-Your d-dog?!" repeated Amber, outraged. "You scum! Get on the ground now! If you resist, I will beat you up!"

She had some rope in her magic pouch, precisely for those kinds of circumstances. Once the man surrendered, she would make him lay flat on the ground, tie up his hands, free the woman, and return to Mondstadt with the captured bandit to find some clothes for her. She wouldn't be able to lend her one of her spare clothes, as their chest size was just too different, but…

With her course of action already decided, she jumped down from the ridge, still threatening the man with her bow.

"You think a little girl like you can make me surrender? Let's see you try!" exclaimed the man before releasing the woman's leash and walking toward her.

Amber released her arrow, and it impacted the man's chest with a loud 'thud'.

"Hugh!" exclaimed the man with a grimace of pain, his momentum gone. "You'll pay for this, you…"

The second arrow struck his belly, cutting him off. Amber's specialty, aside for fire manipulation, was rapid fire, and she landed arrow after arrow on the man, until one impacted his forehead, and he fell backward, unmoving.

He would wake up with a hell of a headache, but that was what he deserved for resisting, and for doing something so perverted to that woman.

Amber already had another arrow nocked as the approached the man. She prodded him with her feet, but he didn't move. Satisfied, she turned him over, grabbed his wrists, and quickly tied them against each other with her rope.

The bandit neutralized, Amber gathered her arrows before walking to the woman, who was whining in apprehension.

"It's okay, you're safe now. Let me release you from those bonds." said Amber with a reassuring tone.

Thankfully, none of her bonds were locked, and Amber simply unfastened any strap she could see. She removed the head harness, and blushed as she noticed that what she had assumed to be a red ball filling the woman's mouth was in fact an imitation of a man's… thing. She wanted to throw the lewd object far away and not touch it for even one more second, but someone would eventually stumble upon it if she didn't confiscate it, so she would have to bring it back with them for destruction.

And she would interrogate the bandit to find out which craftsman had created those perverted items.

"Thank you." said the woman in a low voice, her blue eyes blinking as they got used to the light, while Amber worked on the rest of her restraints.

In a minute, the woman was completely free, and completely naked. Amber blushed a little as she saw her glamorous body, and the woman didn't seem too bothered by her naked state. She had a strange tattoo under her navel, shaped like a butterfly, and Amber found herself staring at it, mesmerized for a few moments.

"I am sorry, but you'll have to remain here for a little while until I come back with some clothes. I am Amber, an Outrider of the Favonius Knights. Can you tell me your name?"

"It's Rias." smiled the woman. Her expression was so radiant and dazzling that Amber felt a wave of pleasure spread from her spine. "You are my hero. And you deserve a reward!"

Before Amber knew it, Rias was embracing her and kissed her, inserting her tongue into her mouth!

Amber's brain short-circuited. By the time she was able to think again, she was now laying on the ground, with Rias's body pressed against her, kissing her even more intensely.

"Wait… No…" protested Amber, but her words were muffled by Rias's insistent tongue.

Amber started struggling weakly, her body somehow starting to respond to Rias's advances. When she tried to push her away, Rias grabbed her hands and held them above Amber's head with one hand, kissing her more as her free hand started removing Amber's clothes.

"Please… You can't…" protested Amber, but Rias ignored her.

Amber's mind was in turmoil. She didn't understand why being molested in such a way felt so good. She tried to resist a little more forcefully, but Rias was surprisingly strong and kept her pinned. She was beet red, and her body was growing hot. Amber knew her body was growing horny, and Rias seemed determined to keep going.

"Rias, you must st…" tried Amber before being interrupted. Before long, she was just as naked as Rias.

When Rias snaked her hand on her crotch, Amber tensed and closed her eyes, her body burning with desire. Without being really aware of it, she started returning the kiss and stopped struggling to get her hands free. She wanted Rias to finish what she had started.

And her hands felt so good, that… wait, didn't Rias have too many hands on her body right now?

She opened her eyes and looked past Rias's head and her curtain of crimson hair obscuring her view, and she was shocked when she saw the bandit kneeling beside them. He had folded her left leg and pulled the black leather sleeve over it.

"What? Stop this!" shouted Amber as the bandit fastened the straps as tight as they would go.

"Help me, Rias!"

"Sorry, Amber, but that isn't going to happen." smiled Rias. "I am very fond of you, but our Master wants a new pet."

"You're his accomplice! Help, someone!" shouted Amber, only for her cries for help to be muffled as Rias gagged her with her free hand.

"Just relax, Amber. It's going to be a lot of fun for you, I promise. Master will take good care of you." smiled Rias between kisses as Amber's right leg was also captured and forcibly folded, then encased in another leather sheath.

Amber struggled desperately. She even tried to draw on the power of her flame Vision to burn them, but her Vision was well out of her reach. Rias had made sure of that when she stripped her.

When the bandit was done binding her legs with the leather sleeves, he took her left arm and forced her hand into one of the leather mittens Rias had worn just minutes ago.

"It will be fine, Amber." smiled the man. "In case you were wondering, Rias has been my devoted slave for well over a year now, and the little play we were doing was a trap to lure you."

"Mppht!" shouted Amber into Rias's hand.

Amber's right hand met the same fate as her left one, and soon, both of her arms were folded, held in position by the leather sleeves. She had never felt so powerless, and she hated it.

Rias forced her mouth open, and the revolting gag, still wet with Rias's saliva, was forced into her mouth, filling it. The straps were fastened around her head, pressing the blindfold part of the harness against her eyes.

Then came the wide collar, cupping her neck from its base to her jawline and reducing her range of movement.

Finally, her captors had her sit up on her folded legs, and the corset was put around her waist. It was laced tight, its straps connecting it to the collar, and they tied the ends of the mittens to it so that Amber couldn't even move her wrists around.

"All done and prettied up." said Rias, patting Amber's head. Amber couldn't see her anymore, but she could hear the smile in her voice.

"Mmphtt!" growled Amber, more furious and embarrassed by her current state than scared.

"Thank you for your help, Rias." said the bandit. Amber heard the name of them kissing.

"Anything for you, Master. Are you sure you do not wish for me to help with her training? She's so cute!"

Amer shuddered. She had an idea about what Rias meant by 'training', and she didn't like this one bit.

"…Come in half a day with our two friends. I want to spend some time alone with her first."

"Great. Have fun, Master." replied Rias.

Amber felt his hand on her body, and she struggled to no avail. He put her over his shoulder.

"Mmphpht!" cried Amber, straining against the leather holding her captive.

"Let's get you into my little hideout, my pet. We'll start your training right away… But don't worry, you won't be separated from your friends for long. Eventually, most of the female Vision holders of Mondstadt will be mine."

Amber froze in horror for a second, before she snorted disdainfully. There was no way he would succeed. Soon, her friends would realize that she was missing. They would search for her, find this scum's hideout, and free her.

…

'Why haven't they found me already? It's been weeks!' despaired Amber. She kept her teeth clenched to keep herself from moaning endlessly.

Noah, as she had learned his name was, was standing just behind her, hugging her from behind, his hands roaming all over her body.

"Just say the words, pet." said Noah, promising her toe-curling pleasure. A pleasure she wanted so badly that she felt she was going mad.

"No…" gasped Amber.

This time, Noah had bound her to a wooden frame with leather cuffs linked to it by short chains, leaving her body exposed, completely open to his touch. He had made her wear this black, glossy, clingy material that he called latex all over her body save from her head and blindfolded her.

Once again, he played with her body as he wished. The blindfold made her body more sensitive, and his devilish hands brought her so much pleasure… And yet, she couldn't go over the edge. He had engraved some kind of symbol in her body that prevented it, and he would only remove it and give her relief if she begged him and called him 'Master'.

And it scared her. What scared her was that she was starting to envision a future where she would surrender completely. She knew that her willpower was wavering, that she couldn't endure as long as she did at the beginning anymore. If she wasn't rescued soon…

The hands on her body paused suddenly, and he stepped away.

"We have visitors, pet."

Amber suddenly felt a surge of hope as he removed her blindfold and stood to steps away, waiting.

She looked around, still panting from the torment. They were in a large, square room whose floor and walls were made of dull gray stone, very similar to some of the elemental Domains she had explored before. She supposed it once was one, but had been abandoned and was now used as a hideout by this bandit.

A half-dozen pieces of furniture were in the room, devices meant to restrain a person, and she had experienced them all over the last two weeks.

It was strange that this bandit seemed to be operating alone. Usually, bandits were working in groups. But she wasn't going to complain about this. She had plenty of things to complain about, but not been molested by a dozen bandits wasn't on her list.

As she strained her ears, she heard footsteps coming in, from at least three people, and she waited with trepidation.

The stone door opened with a rumbling sound, and Erin and Lumine were the first people Amber saw, causing her to feel an intense surge of relief. Lumine had been an enemy for a long time, but she recently had reconciled with Aether and forced the Abyss Order to stop causing trouble, and Amber got along well with her. Walking behind them someone she had never seen before, was a white-haired woman with fox ears and a tail, dressed in a white and red outfit, and… Rias.

"Lumine, Erin! Be careful! Rias is with him!" shouted Amber, wanting to warn them as the stone door closed.

But she fell into confusion when Erin and Lumine simply nodded and smiled at her. Worse, they didn't seem shocked by what they were seeing, between her and the bondage devices.

"Hi, Amber. You look great in this." smiled Erin, and Lumine nodded. So did Rias and the kitsune.

The realization struck Amber like an out-of-control dragon falling from the sky, and she gasped as Lumine walked to the bandit and kissed him, putting her arms around his neck.

"I missed you." said Lumine as she broke the kiss.

Erin, the Kitsune, and Rias all took turns kissing him, then the bandit used some strange magic, and a table was created in the middle of the room. He then made six padded chairs as the kitsune walked over to Amber, grinning.

"Hi. This is our first meeting. My name is Saiguu! I'm from the Inazuma region. I would gladly shake your hand, but I can see you're a little tied up right now!"

"Are you one of his accomplices?"

"I sure am!" grinned Saiguu. "Not long ago, I was in your position, tied up and pleasured against my will. I hated it then, but now, I'm happy Master chose me to become one of his slaves. It's been so much fun!"

The kitsune lifted her hand to touch her neck, and a black leather collar appeared.

"Saiguu, you can untie her. Amber, do not try to run. The stone door is locked." said the Bandit.

In the short time that Saiguu had monopolized her attention, he had somehow put several plates full of food and a tea set on the table. Rias, Erin and Lumine had already chosen a chair to sit on.

"Yes, my Lord." nodded Saiguu. she crouched to untie Amber's ankles.

Soon, she was free, although still wearing this shiny bodysuit and nothing else, and Saiguu joined the others at the table. The bandit filled their cups with tea, including one obviously meant for her, and he sat down.

They all looked at her, obviously waiting for her to take the last chair, and Amber gulped, struck by the bizarreness of it all. Here they were, having a tea party in the middle of a torture room, and the torturer expecting his victim to join him.

But what choice did she have? Amber glanced at the door, sighed, and slowly walked to them. She warily looked at the empty chair, half-expecting to see hints of hidden mechanism that would restrain her as soon as she sat, but didn't find anything suspicious, and she gingerly sat on it.

She didn't touch the cup of steaming tea, however. Who know what was in it.

"Any news from Inazuma, Saiguu?" asked the bandit.

"Yes, my Lord. Ei has tentatively accepted your offer, but she wants to meet you before she agrees to become your concubine. And she insists that you revive Makoto first. I think she wants to scam you by giving the Electro Gnosis back to her sister and making her the Electro Archon again. So even after marrying her, you won't get much influence over Inazuma."

"Eh. Smart of her." snorted the bandit. Although, maybe 'bandit' wasn't the right word to describe him, if half of what Amber was hearing was true. Revive the dead? Negotiating with the Electro Archon? "But it doesn't matter to me which of the sisters is the Electro Archon. I will make sure Makoto becomes mine before she reunites with her sister."

"Just who are you? You can't be just a bandit." asked Amber as she stared at the man who had molested her for weeks.

"…I am not. My name is Noah. I'm…"

"Noah!" gasped Amber. She had heard that name before. He was the one who Erin had enlisted to help reform Lumine, and Erin's new boyfriend as well. Aether had been so depressed when Erin had broken up with him.

"I guess I owe you apologies, Amber. That scene we did before with Rias, about a female heroine saving an innocent person only to be betrayed by the victim and subdued, that was one of my fantasies, and I decided to use the opportunity to indulge myself a little. Thank you for your assistance. Even if you weren't exactly willing."

"You!"

"I know that what I did was evil. You can blame me all you want for that, and you'll be justified. Don't hate Rias or Lumine, however. They only did what I asked of them. But let's keep that conversation for later. Saiguu, what about the other two leaders of Inazuma, Yae and Kokomi?"

"I visited Yae before speaking to Ei. She is intensely curious about you and wants to meet you, my Lord. But overall, she has a lot of goodwill toward you. You revived me, after all, and will do the same with her old friends. As for Kokomi, she and Ei met during a parley. They both agreed to a cease-fire until after Ei meets you, and the Vision Hunt is suspended."

"That's great." smiled Noah.

"Eheh, do I get a reward?" grinned Saiguu, taking a snack from one of the plates.

"You deserve one, yes." nodded Noah. "Lumine, what about the Abyss Order and the Fatui?"

"I'd say 90% of the Abyss Order had been pacified by now. The remaining ones are too busy hiding to causing trouble. Because of that, and with many of the Sisters busy, we have a hard time locating them. However, once the captured Fatui have completed their training, we will have a lot more manpower available to search for them."

"Great. Thank you, Lumine. I don't suppose there has been any sign of the Unknown God?"

"I would have told you immediately if that was the case." shrugged Lumine. "And then I would have started hunting her down."

"Anything to report, Rias?"

"In your first world, the fabrication of artificial bodies for the people trapped in the Alicization server seems to have hit a snag, and we have been asked for technical help. I forwarded the request to Tabane, but she shooed me away, telling me she was busy. She's working on the Finality. And so are almost ten thousand of the Sisters. Have you seen that thing they are building, Noah? Forget about transporting a hundred tanks, Finality's main cargo hold might be large enough to carry an aircraft supercarrier!"

"I haven't seen it yet." chuckled Noah. "All I know is that they asked me to create a spatial ring with as much internal space as I could manage, and that they would need a second one for the six escorts cruisers they have planned. Have you tried asking Ernesta and Camilla?"

"They are also working on the Finality. They told me they would deal with it after they were done."

"I see… I don't think peeling one of them away from the Finality's construction would be too problematic. Ask Ernesta again, please, and tell her that when she is done helping them, I will reward her with an extended date. Since she already built most of an artificial body for Camilla before, she should quickly hit her stride."

"I will, Master." smiled Rias. "There is nothing else of significance to report. Everything is going reasonably well, and we are dealing with the minor issues that arise easily enough."

"I so love having efficient subordinates." smiled Noah.

"But not as much as you love having sex with them, I'm sure." chuckled Erin, making them laugh.

Amber was not laughing.

"Erin, Lumine, what about Jean, Diluc, Eula, everyone else? Are they not worried that I'm missing? What did you tell them?"

"They aren't aware that something happened to you." said Erin. She glanced at Noah, who nodded.

"Amber, this place isn't a Domain." said Noah. "I made it look like one, but it is different, and time flows more quickly here. Thirty times more quickly, to be accurate."

"Thirty…" repeated Amber, her eyes widening.

"From someone else's perspective, it has only been about twelve hours since Noah kidnapped you." said Erin with sympathy. "And with Lumine and me telling others if asked that we have seen you here and there or that you are away on a mission in Liyue or elsewhere, it's going to be weeks before our mutual friends really start to worry. You'll be one of us long before that."

It didn't take long for Amber to do the math, and it crushed her. She might experience over six more months in his hands before people started searching for her. She wouldn't be able to endure anywhere near this long.

"…Why?" asked Amber, a tear escaping her left eye.

"Why am I helping Noah?" asked Erin. "Because he is my Master, and I love him. Anything he wants, I will help him obtain. But this isn't actually a disservice we are doing to you. You love to fly, right? Once you swear loyalty to Noah and truly become his, you will be able to learn magic that will let you fly, not just glide. And you have seen how we are treated right now. Do we look like oppressed slaves?"

"You look like traitors." shot back Amber, and Erin winced.

"I can see why you would think that of me, but..." she stopped when Noah touched her arm.

"Just give her some time, Erin. She'll understand soon, and she will forgive you then. Maybe I will give her an opportunity to vent her frustrations on Lumine and Rias later."

"Throwing us under the bus, are you?" smiled Rias.

"I am shamelessly doing so." winked Noah. "And no, I am not volunteering myself… Tomorrow evening, please send Eula in my direction. Tell her you had asked Amber to investigate a rumored bandit hideout in the surroundings, and that she isn't back. Or something along those lines. By then, Amber will either have become mine, or I will train them both at the same time."

"Will do." nodded Erin. "What if she speaks with others, and they come together?"

"I still have control over this place. Depending on who comes, I'll either capture them along with Eula or kick them out, then relocate elsewhere." shrugged Noah, before turning to Amber. "You should really use the opportunity to drink and eat something, you know? In a few minutes, your training will resume."

Amber shuddered, her legs pressing against each other by reflex. She decided to follow his advice, as she was indeed hungry. She listened as they talked, trying to find anything that would help her, but whatever they were talking about was irrelevant to her situation.

But she wasn't optimistic. From the few things she was hearing, it seemed that Noah could have taken over Mondstadt by force if he wanted.

And before she realized, the conversation had stopped, and they were all looking at her.

"Do I have something on my face?"

"No." said Noah, shaking his head. "But it seems you haven't heard our question. I'm about to have sex with my girls. Do you want to join, or do you want to watch?"

"Neither. Just leave me alone."

"That's not an option. You can join and get some relief, or watch while one of us torments you like earlier and remain unsatisfied."

Amber shuddered, facing this impossible choice. Joining would mean him using more than his hands on her. Until now, he had only used his hands. But she didn't feel like she could take much more denial.

"…I'll join." reluctantly muttered Amber.