Ch 380: Meeting some hybrids, and killing them.

After losing his pursuers, Noah headed South for a little while, staying away from the main roads, and contacted Xiao Qi, asking her to join him.

[Noah, we had a lot of fun watching.] said Lilith in his mind with a decidedly pleased tone. [You made me win a major bet with Hecate. She will be my 'guest' for a whole month. At least a month. And Loki was particularly pleased as well. To the point that he decided to reward you, in a way that won't affect the rest of the Great Game. You, your girls, and the women you intend to conquer, will be granted the 'Safe Play' perk.]

[Oh. I am very thankful to you and Loki-sama.] grinned Noah. [And I am happy that you are happy. I wish you plenty of fun with Hecate-sama… To sate my curiosity, what does Hecate-sama look like?]

[Eh! You are really asking so you can conjure some mental images of me dominating her, but I do not mind.]

A picture appeared in Noah's mind. A picture of an incredibly beautiful goddess with long, straight black hair, green eyes, and a black lipstick, wearing a green-trimmed, black frilly dress.

As for the Safe Play perk in his Yin-Yang store, it was something that Noah intended to obtain one day after the end of his participation to the Great Game. It had no combat application that Noah could think of, aside maybe from making it easier to survive hostile environments like space without constantly healing himself. Its whole function was to allow for extreme sex plays without having to worry about health complications.

No more blood circulation issues when tying someone too tightly, or risks of dislocating a joint when binding someone in extreme positions. No more risks of choking someone to death when filling their mouth with unreasonably-large dildoes, or tearing anal walls.

He already knew that some of the girls would love it. Kallen, for one, would take it as permission to challenge herself with even larger toys. A few of his girls had told him they wanted to be choked while he had sex with them, but this was something he was very careful about.

With this, he could choke them all they wanted, and they would experience the euphoria without ever losing consciousness.

Safe Play was both a good and a bad thing. The advantages were obvious, but the lack of risks could also give birth to recklessness and bad habits. He would have to be careful about that.

It made Noah think about 40k's lore, and the way the Aeldari have given birth to Slaanesh.

As Noah waited inside a wooden grove between two small hills, he was surprised to see an old man slowly walk in, dressed in a silver-trimmed, light blue tunic. Noah used Scan on him.

[Zhuan Yu]: Type: Human. Grade: Celestial. Class: Heaven Secret Sect Elder. Level:54. HP: 4 270 500. An Elder from the Heaven Secret Sect. The members of this elusive sect travel so rarely that some people believe their sect to be extinct. But they still hold a lot of sway among the rulers of human territories.

"Greetings, Elder." said Noah with a polite nod, observing the newcomer with caution. It made no sense for a NPC of this caliber to appear here.

"Greetings, young hero from another world." smiled Zhuan Yu as he returned the nod.

"Is there anything I can do for you?" asked Noah, wondering if the NPC had come to give him a quest.

"Indeed, there is." nodded Zhuan Yu. "I have been granted a revelation. Please transmit this map and this invitation to your friend, Miss Su'er. She has the qualifications to become a disciple of the Heaven Secret Sect. The fate of our world depends on this."

Noah nodded, taking the two items Zhuan Yu gave him.

"I will." frowned Noah. "But can you tell me why her joining your sect is so important, and why you didn't seek her directly?"

"Going to her openly would have attracted unwelcome attention to her." smiled Zhuan Yu. "And the reason she must join is related to you. The revelation told me that Su'er, after becoming a disciple of our guild, would be able to direct you toward some of the things you need to save our world."

"…I see." nodded Noah. "I will contact her right away, and even escort her to make sure she arrives safely."

"Thank you, young hero." smiled Zhuan Yu. "I would wish you good fortune, but I already know you will succeed. Oh oh, you do have an enviable future ahead of you."

With another chuckle, he turned and left.

"This has Lilith-sama's fingerprints all over." smiled Noah.

"I wouldn't have guessed." replied Qi Yue with a deadpan tone.

Noah nodded and opened his chat interface, asking Xiao Qi to bring Su'er with her.

He also examined the map. Luckily, the Heaven Secret Sect was relatively close to the Vermillion Bird City. It wouldn't be a big detour.

…

"Hey, Qi Qi, Su'er." grinned Noah as the two masked girls rode into the grove. They dismounted, and Xiao Qi ran to him to hug him.

"Noah! You have been so naughty! That was so great!" exclaimed Xiao Qi with a laugh. "Hi, Xi Ling, Little Grey."

*Ruff*

Xi Ling nodded to them, smiling.

Noah returned the hug and extended his right arm to Su'er.

Su'er hesitated an instant before accepting the invitation and joining the hug, blushing.

At least, Noah guessed she was blushing. He couldn't be sure as she had her mask still on.

"I may have been a little excessive, but this was too good an opportunity to pass on." shrugged Noah. "How are things in Azure Dragon City?"

"The chaos stopped, but the members of the Yan Huang Alliance have either secluded themselves in their building or have left the city in a hurry." snorted Xiao Qi. "After such an humiliation, they can't stand being looked at with sympathy by everyone else!"

"They know that many who commiserate with them are secretly enjoying their misfortune and mocking them behind their backs! And I heard about the One-Inch Young Master from three different people already!"

"One-Inch Young Master?" blinked Noah.

"Yes. You know, Long Tian Yun, when they all got resurrected naked or near naked? It seems only Gold-Grade equipment and above survived what Xi Ling did to them."

"Oh… I wasn't aware that Xi Ling's flames would destroy equipment." frowned Noah. "This wasn't part of my plan."

"I do not care." sniffed Xi Ling. "This is what they get for bullying Big Brother Noah!"

Xi Ling splendidly ignored the minor fact that Noah was the one who started it.

"Yes. I won't pity them either. And this is working to your advantage, I think." nodded Xiao Qi. "They may want revenge all they want, but from now on, any Player will think twice about attacking you if it may result in them losing all their stuff and being seen naked in the Resurrection Hall."

"Yes, there is that." smiled Noah. "I must have a terrible reputation at the moment."

"Hum, I wouldn't say terrible." shrugged Xiao Qi. "You were admired for your power before, and now, you're also admired for your guts, daring to create mortal enmity with the largest organization in China. But you are also feared, that is for sure. No one will want to offend you now."

"I can live with it, as long as you girls don't start to fear me." shrugged Noah.

"We won't." nodded Su'er. "You are doing all this for Sister Meng Xin and us. We are happy that you are willing to go this far."

"Yes." replied Xiao Qi. "When you messaged me to tell me Su'er was going to accompany us on our trip South, I was a little angry, you know? I love her, but I didn't want to share my extended date with you. But when you told me why, my anger went away. I'll do anything I can to help."

"Yes, me as well." nodded Su'er. "I am happy that I can help you with something so important."

"Thank you, Su'er, Qi Qi. I am really thankful to Meng Xin's brother. He is the one who allowed us to meet." smiled Noah. He held them for a few more seconds, then stepped away.

Noah put on his mask and his hooded robe, hiding his wolf ears.

"I am considering publicizing the way to reach the Northern Continent." said Noah. "I stand out too much at the moment. But let's get on our way first. We have a long road ahead of us."

Su'er and Xiao Qi nodded, and they climbed back on their horses.

…

Noah sent a message to Shuiruo and Liliana before logging off. They previously agreed to return to the dorm in Cassell College and have dinner with everyone there, and it was about time to go.

He opened his eyes and lazily stretched, taking care not to disturb Liliana and Shuiruo who were lying down near him.

He watched them with a smile, but they didn't move, and Noah assumed they couldn't stop what they were doing right away.

As he waited, he took his smartphone and watched the news, wondering if his latest antics would already be reported. That was the case, and Noah smirked as he opened an article titled "From Glory to Hell, China's Largest Alliance Humiliated.", describing the incident with a carefully neutral tone.

The writer had posted three pictures to illustrate the text. Long Tian Yun holding the Guild Creation Token above him with pride, then his furious face as he ordered his men to chase after Noah, and lastly, a picture of Noah smiling and waving.

There were no pictures of the naked incident in the Resurrection Hall, but the article did expand on Noah and his pet Crimson Spirit slaughtering over fifty thousand members of the Yan Huang Alliance, including Long Tian Yun, Sword Emperor, and Flame Emperor, before escaping.

He browsed the comments under the article. About a quarter was full of hate for him, another quarter was mocking the first quarter, a third quarter was debating whether Universe Corporation, Mystic Moon's developer and publisher, should patch the game to prevent more naked incidents, and the last group had devolved into a flame-war between Noah's fans and Eve's supporters to determine who was the strongest.

Noah closed the article and opened another from a financial media, where they were discussing the incident's consequences on the Long Group's stocks, and a few shareholders were already talking about lawsuits.

He stopped reading when the girls stirred and opened their eyes.

"Sorry for the delay, My Lord." smiled Liliana. "We needed a bit of time to escort Amiya and her group to a safer place."

"Thank you, Ruo Ruo, Bunny." nodded Noah with a grateful smile. "I hope it didn't inconvenience you too much."

Since Noah had to escort Xiao Qi to Vermillion Bird City, and Amiya wanted to take samples from the areas around Azure Dragon City, Noah had asked Shuiruo, Erica and Liliana to act in his stead.

"No, they are pleasant to be around, and it's just for a few days." smiled Shuiruo. "They told us a lot of things about the northern Continent. I'm eager to go explore it."

"This may hurt your ranking, though." nodded Noah.

Shuiruo looked at Liliana, and they shrugged.

"We do not care about it. Our main goals are to help you and Meng Xin, train ourselves, and have fun inside Mystic Moon." replied Shuiruo.

"Alright." smiled Noah, extending his hands to them. They didn't need to touch him to teleport to the College, but they still took it as they returned his smile.

Noah teleported with them to faction's dorm's living room. He was slightly surprised to see that no one was there and heard muted sounds coming from outside. The sounds of blades clashing.

"Is someone fighting?" blinked Liliana.

Noah walked to the nearest window, and saw some of his girls, their backs facing him. They were watching something just out of view, and Noah used Promise.

Luo Hao, dressed in her usual green and white Chinese qipao and a metal sword in hand, was fighting Seifuku, wearing her gold-trimmed, silver armor, also armed with a blade. Both were smiling.

"Ah, Luo Hao and Seifuku are sparring outside, and everyone is watching them. Even the Principal Anjou, for some reason." shrugged Noah as he headed toward the door.

Liliana's and Shuiruo's eyes widened and they hurriedly followed. They, too, wanted to watch. They heard Noah mention Seifuku a few times before but never met her.

Noah left the building and joined the watchers.

"Ah, you're there, Noah-sama, Bunny-sama, Shuiruo-sama." smiled Karen with a small curtsy, the first to notice them. Ariana followed suit, then the rest of the girls and the Principal.

"Hi, everyone. I see we were missing out." smiled Noah before watching Seifuku and Luo Hao.

Seifuku's fighting style was not his own, nor was it something he had ever witnessed before. She fought with a large double-edged sword that she held with both hands, and as she smoothly flowed from one graceful move to another, Noah felt a strange 'heaviness' in her blade, as if it had the inertia of something weighing hundreds of kilograms.

Despite Luo Hao moving faster, Seifuku was managing to fend her off. She was exploiting her longer reach to keep Luo Hao at bay, and the very weight of her sword as a counterweight to move her own body.

Noah was suitably impressed, and watched carefully in silence for a few minutes, until they both decided to stop the spar.

Noah didn't know who was the first to clap, but in an instant, everyone did.

"Where did you learn this style of swordsmanship, Seifuku?" asked Noah.

"Mother shared it with me." shrugged Seifuku as the heavy sword in her hand was replaced by a pair of small towels, and she gave one to Luo Hao, then used the other to wipe the sweat from her forehead. "It was the one she developed before ascending, even if she rarely used it. She was more a caster than a warrior."

"I see." nodded Noah.

"It's an interesting one." grinned Luo Hao. "You were constantly changing your sword's inertia."

"Yes." replied Seifuku. "That will be a useful skill for Noah to learn. Some of the opponents he will have to face eventually will wield greatswords weighting tens or even hundreds of tons."

"How is that even possible?" asked Rin Tohsaka, shocked. "Those swords would have to be the size of buildings. Or…"

"It's a matter for the cluster world Mother will send him to." shrugged Seifuku. "Over there,  most metals are much stronger than those found on this planet, but they are also heavier. Anyway, Noah, Principal Anjou has an urgent request. Mother mentioned it before sending me here. You should accept it. You can settle it before the day is over."

"…I see" nodded Noah before turning to the Principal. "A request?"

"Yes." sighed Anjou. "Would you mind accompanying me for a few minutes?"

"Sure." nodded Noah, and they started walking away.

"Is it related to Nidhogg?

"Not him, but some of the Elemental Kings' descendants." nodded Anjou. "I mentioned to you once, I believe, that the Cassell College was a branch of the Secret Party."

"You did." nodded Noah.

"We received a call for help from another branch, operating in Japan. The Yamata-no-Orochi. They are a collection of eight clans specializing in clandestine operations, although each of those clans have also adopted various people with potential over time, so you would find people with dozens of different family names. You know one of them. Mai Sakatoku has trained among the Yamata-no-Orochi for years before going independent."

"I see. A bunch of ninjas, then?" asked Noah with a raised eyebrow, and Anjou snorted.

"You could describe most of the Yamata-no-Orochi this way, although the official name is Taimanins, but there is also a clan of battle-trained shrine maidens called Exorcists."

"They fight the hybrids descending from the dragons who saw humanity as nothing but slaves."

Noah kept his face neutral at the mention of the name 'Taimanins', but he recognized it. It was the name of a famous franchise in his world, featuring many women scantily clad in ninja-themed outfits, fighting demons and their human accomplices.

Fights that all too often ended with the Taimanins being captured and subjected to all sorts of lewd tortures until they somehow overturned the situation, fell into sexual slavery, or even joined the dark side.

"And something happened?" asked Noah.

"Yes." sighed Anjou. "The strongest Exorcist currently alive is Touka Kenzaki. Her two daughters, Kasumi and Karin, departed two days ago for Edogawa district in the Eastern part of Tokyo. The investigators found a credible pattern of disappearances that weren't reported by the local law enforcement organizations, with descendants of the hostile Sacred Beasts being involved, and the Secret Party started to suspect that the police officers were either corrupt or had been brainwashed."

"Kasumi and Karin had been sent to investigate on their own, and contact with them was lost almost immediately. Less than a day later, their mother Touka received a video of Karin and Kasumi being… raped by a particularly nasty and cunning hybrid named Magura, one who had been injured by Touka before and holds a grudge against her."

"He declared that they would become his sex slaves, and their wombs would give birth to a new generation of powerful hybrids with Exorcist abilities. The video was an obvious bait, but it worked. Touka left her village almost immediately and went to search for them herself. That was one day ago, and we haven't found her, either."

"The hybrids are very clever when it comes to hiding themselves, and they have many accomplices among the human population. And then, someone over there remembered that I mentioned your far sight ability. They requested for me to ask you to join the search, Noah."

"Alright." nodded Noah before asking Lilith.

[Lilith-sama, would you prefer for me to search that part of Tokyo manually, or to directly use teleportation?]

[Do as you wish. The interesting part for me isn't the rescue itself, but what will come after.]

[understood.]

"Can you find me pictures of the missing Exorcists?" asked Noah. "There are surely many people in Japan with those names, and I need to narrow it down before I can teleport to them."

"You can teleport to their location? Without knowing where they are?" asked Anjou with a raised eyebrow, and Noah nodded.

Anjou directly took his smartphone and ordered someone to send him pictures. Less than a minute later, he received them and showed his screen to Noah.

Noah nodded, took from his inventory his sword and shield, and chose Touka as his target.

The large room Noah teleported into was dimly lit, and it took a second for his eyes to adjust. He suddenly leaned back to avoid being pierced by a pair or tentacles, each ending in long, black stingers.

"Hum? Who are you?" asked the hybrid who had just attacked him. A three meters tall, jet-black, vaguely humanoid being with two legs, four arms, and six long tentacles sprouting from his back. His head was shaped like a wedge, covered in smooth chitin, and had seven eyes, one in what passed as the hybrid's forehead, and three on each side. He had a long maw full of fangs and an absurdly long tongue.

Overall, the head reminded Noah of what a fox head would look like, if the fox was an insect rather than a mammal.

The hybrid was naked, and his erect penis was the size of a horse's. And it was half buried in the naked body of Touka Kenzaki.

Noah didn't answer immediately and took a moment to look around. Two more hybrids of similar size, one looking like a blue-skinned man with a horse's head, and another like a red-skinned minotaur, were busy raping Kasumi and Karin.

The air stank of sex.

Noah sighed and answered the hybrid's question by taking from his inventory his newest weapons, four ki-infused flying swords. Those meter-long swords possessed straight, double-edged blades, no guard, and the handles were replaced by a shorter blade.

Noah used Flicker, the new ki-enhanced technique replacing Shunpo, to appear behind the main hybrid, his sword arm turning into a blur as he severed the tentacles and arms, beheaded him, and carved deep gashes into the torso for good measure. Meanwhile, Noah sent his flying swords toward the other two demons along curved trajectories, piercing through their heads and hearts before they could react.

The three demons collapsed instantly, with Noah using Light hands to push the bodies away before they could fall over the girls and crush them against the hard stone floor.

Touka and her two daughters collapsed on the floor, conscious but too exhausted to do more than twitch and moan.

Noah put his weapons back in his inventory as he knelt beside Touka and put a hand on her right shoulder.

"Help is here, you'll be okay now." said Noah as he used Greater Healing to get a diagnostic. There was some kind of powerful aphrodisiac in her bloodstream, and a magic tattoo over her crotch. Noah neutralized the aphrodisiac and purged the curse, then reinvigorated her.

Touka blinked for a few seconds as she became clear-headed and looked up at him.

"Are you, Noah Enfield?" asked Touka with a hoarse voice.

"Yes, that's me." nodded Noah as he kept working, expelling the hybrid's seeds and cleaning her up with a simple demonic magic spell. He also used Greater Healing to restore her loosened holes to their previous tightness.

Noah then used Item Creation to create a white kosode and a red hakama, the traditional Japanese shrine maiden outfit, and Touka gratefully took them.

"I'll treat your daughters now, then I will bring you to a safe place."

"Thank you." nodded Touka.

Noah gave Karin and Kasumi the same treatment, also removing the metal collars around their necks and heavy piercings on their nipples, cleaning them up, and giving them identical clothes.

He politely turned toward the single door as they dressed, then turned to the three women once they were done.

Touka had blue eyes and long brown hair styled with a folded ponytail, their tips sprouting from a small chignon, with two longer bangs hiding her ears and ending shortly past her shoulders.

Kasumi had dark amber eyes and a bob of semi-long, dark blue hair ending just past her shoulders. A blue ribbon was tied around her head as a headband.

Karin was the tallest of the three, with blue eyes and long light brown hair stopping at her butt, styled in a ponytail, and with a red ribbon.

All three of them had breasts whose size exceeded even Akeno's or Rias's. They were so large that Noah wondered if the demon had inflated them with some drugs, but he hadn't found any sign of this during his examination.

"Before I get you out of here, are there other hybrids to kill in this place, or captives to save?" asked Noah.

"…Yes." sighed Touka. "I was blindfolded when I was brought to this room, but I heard enough to be sure there is at least four more women and a lot of enemies."

"I'll deal with them as well." nodded Noah before sending them to his Sanctuary, in the back garden of his main palace.

For an instant, he wondered how things would play out, and how to deal with their traumas. He strongly suspected the three women he saved would end up in his harem, but the way to achieve that while keeping a good relationship with Anjou and the rest of the Secret Party…

Noah shook his head. Now wasn't the time to think about it. he had more girls to save. He used Promise to scan that was beyond the door, and was surprised by the scale of the compound they were in.

It was easily the size of a large hospital, even if two thirds of it was used only for storage. There were only two entrances, and Noah couldn't see past them. They reminded him of the entrance of the Underwater Temple, and he concluded that he was inside a pocket dimension.

There were a lot of holding cells, most of them empty. And many rooms that were definitely not empty, and the many women inside were experiencing hell.

In one room, four women, gagged and blindfolded, wearing thick iron collars and black leather harnesses on their bodies, as well as black latex stockings and gloves, had been bound to steel frames keeping them bound shoulder to shoulder. Transparent suction cups were fixed on their huge breasts, and the women were in the process of being milked. On their bodies were written demeaning words such as 'milking slave' or 'maso cow'.

The girls were surrounded by a dozen hybrids molesting them or drinking their milk. Most of them were child-sized green goblins-like hybrids with a sharp horn sprouting from their foreheads. The others were man-sized with two horns.

In another room, three women were lined up with aggrieved expressions on their faces, hands behind their heads, knees flexed and wide apart, completely exposing their large breasts and shaved crotches to a few watching goblins hybrids, while another minotaur hybrid, riding crop in hand, was performing some kind of inspection. Another hybrid, this one looking like a squid, was on the ground behind the girls, lifting its long, slimy tentacles to reach the girls' privates. Without warning, the minotaur slammed his riding crop into the middle girl's left breast, making her shake and yelp in pain, but she kept her strenuous posture. That seemed to satisfy the minotaur.

Another room as furnished like a small theater, with three dozen humans, mostly males, watching a chained, naked girl on a stage. As Noah watched, the goblin hybrid near the girl took a pencil and wrote 'sold' on the girl's back while the watchers clapped.

Yet another room furnished like a hotel's bedroom, and a child-sized man, or maybe a teen, was laughing as he shoved large beads on a string inside another woman wearing only black latex stockings and a collar, then strongly pulled on the string to get them all out at once, making the girl gasp and collapse on the ground with tears of humiliation.

Noah had seen enough, and he opened the door. He used demonic magic to erect sound-dampening barriers in the hallways, and opened the first room, the one with the four girls being milked.

…

It took him most of an hour cleaning up the compound, saving every captive, and killing everyone else, hybrid and human alike. he checked the two dimensional entrances. One opened to a clearing in a forest with a few buildings surrounding it, with many hybrids around gawking at him. Noah killed most of them, making the others run for their lives, then returned inside the compound to try the other entrance. It led to a moldy basement.

Noah broke out of the basement and took the stairs to the surface to determine the basement's location, then took his smartphone and called Principal Anjou.

"Noah, is everything okay?"

"Yes, Principal." sighed Noah. "The hybrids have a secret base. I will give you the address. It is in the basement of the Tashida building, on Ida street. You only have to follow the broken doors. Their base is in a pocket dimension, like with the Underwater Temple, and there is a second entrance leading to what I believe is deep inside the Land of Dragons."

"That explains the hybrid sightings that were reported." sighed Anjou. "Thank you, Noah. I will transmit the information, and we will raid the place and secure the passage to the Land of Dragons."

"You can raid it, but I already saved the twenty-three women who were being held captive and killed every human or hybrids inside. And quite a few on the Land of Dragons' side. I also took some documentation on their customers. The scums were trafficking their civilian victims."

"…I see. Please share that documentation with us as soon as possible." replied Anjou. "We won't let a single one of them go unpunished, and maybe we can recover more victims."

"Will do... There is something else. I recovered Touka and her daughters, but also more Exorcists and Taimanins. From the short conversations I had with the girls while I was fixing their bodies, the hybrids kept them as trophies and only sold off the civilians. They have been through a lot, emphasis on 'a lot', and for most of them, for a long time. They are bound to have some deep traumas."

"…We will do everything we can for them, even if they never return to active service." sighed Anjou.

"Where do you want me to deliver the girls? I can fly directly to their village, or to a hospital, if you give me the location."

…

Fifteen minutes later, Noah, following the directions Anjou gave him, reached a village named Gosha, and Noah raised an eyebrow.

Anjou had called it a village, but it was more of a town by its size. All of it belonged to the Yamata-no-Orochi, and outsiders normally weren't welcome. Any civilian stumbling upon that area would be immediately shown the door, with violence if necessary.

Noah had no difficulty finding the hospital in the northern part of the village. It wasn't huge, but using Promise, Noah saw that it was lavishly equipped.

Noah slowed down, landed in front of the hospital, and entered the building. Three dozen people were waiting for him, most of them wearing white lab coats or nurse outfits.

"Greetings." nodded Noah. "I am Noah Enfield. I believe you were waiting for me."

"We were." replied a young woman as she stepped forward. She had long, straight, dark green hair and blue eyes. "I am Asagi Igawa, matriarch of the Igawa Clan. Thank you for helping us in this matter. But I was told that you would be coming with our missing comrades and some civilians."

Noah nodded, putting a hand on his pocket, and using the Sanctuary to transfer the 23 women he had rescued.

Touka, Karin and Kasumi blinked in confusion for a second at the sudden change of their surroundings, but they obviously recognized the place they were in, as well as some of the people waiting for them.

Some of the women, especially the civilians, started crying as they saw the doctors and understood that they were now truly safe. The empty place where they had been before, while much better than the demons' lair, had not really felt real nor safe to them.

The doctors hurried to them and started to lead the victims away.

The most severely affected women reacted badly at the sight of the male doctors, they gazes fixated on the men' crotches. Two of them knelt as they started removing their clothes and asked to service the doctors. Two more looked like they were about to follow suit when female doctors placed themselves right in front of them, blocking their views, and firmly grabbing their shoulders to get their attention.

Asagi sighed as she noticed Noah's wince.

"This… isn't the first time something like this happens. We generally can recover our missing operatives relatively fast, and they bounce back, but there are times when a complete recovery is impossible. Thank you, Noah. We'll take care of them."

"I see…" nodded Noah before asking a question to Lilith.

[Lilith-sama, am I going to interrupt whatever you have planned if I leave things as they are for now?]

[This is fine. The gears are turning. They will contact you later. If you play your cards right, the whole Yamata-no-Orochi will become part of Valhalla.]

"I hope they'll fully recover." said Noah with a nod to Asagi. "But if that isn't possible, please give me a call. I might be able to help."

"How so?" asked Asagi with narrowing eyes.

"For now, I am thinking about a reverse form of exposure therapy. Let's discuss this another time, if it proves necessary. It's been nice meeting you, Igawa-san." nodded Noah before teleporting back to Cassell College.

Asagi wasn't really surprised when he disappeared. Rinko Akiyama, one of the best Taimanins currently in active service, could also teleport. She frowned as she thought about the principles of exposure therapy. It consisted of slowly introducing a victim to the source of her trauma in a gradual way. The reverse would be…

If she understood correctly, he suggested treating the victims as sex slaves at first, then gradually switching to a more consensual form of BDSM relationship.

She carefully thought about it, about the Taimanins and Exorcists, and not just those they recovered just now. She was thinking about those whose minds were still locked into a slave's mentality.

…It might just work.