Yukikaze was the first to reach base camp. She was alone, exhausted from running. The shopping mall had been a slaughterhouse and the days after hadn't been better. Oboro had taken it with ease, police and Taimanin driven off without resistance as she captured hundreds, slaughtering more.
As she collapsed onto her old military bed the flashes of those walls ran in her eyes. Walls she'd known as a girl. Walls that had once meant joy all those years ago. As the lights above flickered in and out of consciousness the blood, arms, legs and bodies dashed across her eyes. Oboro's cold laugh echoing through forsaken halls.
"She was a Taimanian once," Asagi had told her and even though Asagi would never lie to her she still couldn't wrap her head around it.
Yukikaze didn't remember falling asleep but woke up with a jump. They'd been forced to hold out in a neighboring bar for days. There was food and running water when they got there but they'd been pinned down and unable to restock. Forced to watch as demons dragged soul after soul into their layer. After day four Asagi had begun rationing their meals.
They had no means of contacting headquarters, no means of reinforcement. No means to send aid to those in need.
The day after Asagi came forward with a plan. They ate well before she split them up into teams of two. Yukikaze and Rinko, Murasaki and Asagi. Asagi's team was to exit via the back, Yukikaze out of the roof. There Asagi could play as their primary target while Yukikaze provided cover and Rinko and Murasaki covered them.
Rinko was the first out on the roof. It took a while to remove the barricade they'd set but once it was done she gave Yukikaze the clear.
The sun hurt her eyes. Blinding her. The day was warm and clear, a swelling heat cut nicely by a strong breeze. Yukikaze scanned their surroundings. A block down a parade of defeated men, women and children were being lead to the mall in chains. Orc and gargoyle alike lined either flank as to prevent an escape and bands of goblins dragged in stragglers. Fresh servants to the demon world. Yukikaze's fists clenched in anger but in seeing how far they were from them she let her anger boil past and gave the signal. A bird call she'd mastered as a girl. Before the demons came.
Asagi and Murasaki moved silently, back to back for the first block. It ended in a wide four lane road and Yukikaze would have to descend from the heights. Asagi's team hid in the adjacent alley and Rinko went first. She made it down easily, scaling near sheer building with ease, dropping from windowsill to windowsill sword in hand.
Yukikaze wasn't one to fear heights but staring down at what she knew she must descend she swayed. Her head felt dizzy. She tried to swallow back her fear but it didn't help. The shadows below made the drop look even further. She stood up to her full height to get her bearings when from somewhere behind her she heard a call. A demons call.
A gargoyle.
Yukikaze turned on a dime and before the beast could breach her rooftop fired straight through its skull. The beast crimped up, crashing down hard into the rooftop. For a second she felt relief. Then its massive frame bounced up off an imperfection in the tiling. She tried to duck but its wing grazed her.
She was swept off her feet, barely catching the edge of the roof. In a moment of panic she cried out for Asagi. And at the sound of her name a swell of demon calls rose from the surrounding blocks.
"Rinko make sure she gets down safe. We'll meet you at the barrack," Asagi commanded, a calming urgency to her voice.
Yukikaze looked down to see if her feet could find anything to hold. There was nothing.
"Yuki!"
She almost slipped off at the call, snapping her head right to face its source.
Rinko had scaled most of the way back up to her. She'd fastened her grip to a windowsill and extended a hand. "You're gonna have to jump."
Yukikaze looked down again. She would in the best case scenario break a leg if she fell and she didn't have the strength to pull herself up. She could hear the cries of demons closing in around them. In the distance Asagi's sword whipped from its sheesh followed by the blood curdling screams of orc.
"Now!"
She shut her eyes tight, swung back, and flung herself in Rinko's direction. Rinko caught her for a second.
Then, under the weight of both of them her grip failed and she slipped. The two fell hard to the ground, Yukikaze landing near perfectly on top of her fellow Taimanin. When she got up her eyes clouded with tears.
Rinko's right leg had been completely crushed beneath their weight and her left arm was broken. She cried out in agony and at the sound Yukikaze watched as a band of orc strolled out of the alley, fanning out around them. Before she could check on Rinko's arm they charged.
"Die!" She cried, firing through each and every one of them, lighting up their downed corpses until she knew they were gone. She gasped as she felt her feet lift off of the ground. The thin straps of her uniform yanked upward violently as a rush of air shot down over her. She didn't need to look to fire upward. The familiar cry of a gargoyle filled her ears and the two of them careened into a store front across from the downed Rinko. Yukikaze didn't wait to see if she'd killed the beast. Four goblins had surrounded Rinko and more were coming.
Rinko swung her sword hard with her off hand, slicing straight through the leg of the nearest one. She dragged her broken body over to the wall as the goblins danced around her. Cornering her. Yukikaze moved to fire but a sharp pain in her ankle made her miss, firing wildly up into the air. She spun back to see the gargoyle pulling her in, fanged teeth barred wide.
She fired once into its open mouth, then again, and again.
The first goblin leapt at Rinko, brass claws on each hand. She cut her sword deep into it, lodging them both into the brick wall. She tore it out, dashing her goblin victim to the concrete as she swung back around, decapitating another. The last of the four Smashed her unbroken arm into the brick, her sword clattering helplessly to the ground. It took her down with ease, throwing her violently onto her back. Rinko's vision clouded with nearing goblin fangs when it burst. Yukikaze had got it.
"Is that all you got?" She scoffed, hobbling back against the wall, sword in hand.
But more were coming.
Yukikaze scrambled to her feet but collapsed before she could move a step. Her ankle was sprained, badly, and swelling by the second. She fired into the first horde of goblins as they turned the street corner towards Rinko.
"Behind you!" Rinko called and when Yukikaze turned her heart sank. "Run," she said, her voice wrought with resignation.
"No I-"
"I said run!"
Yukikaze went cold. The world seemed to slow. How could this be? In spite of everything she'd done, everything she'd given up. This is how it is?
Rinko hopped a step away from the street corner and swung again. She sliced deep into the goblins chest, lacing her purple uniform in red, then she fell. Her sword flew just a foot out of reach and as she clawed forward the first goblin got to her.
Yukikaze had only heard legend of what goblins did. And she only saw the part where its claws tore open her uniform in one cut from the back but it was enough. No, too much.
Rinko's cries sang with the choir of goblin howls as Yukikaze forged her way through the horde. Even when she reached the military's barricade she didn't stop. Covered in the blood of goblins, hungry, cold.
Shivering and alone in that bed one thought crossed her mind. The senator. She dialed up the radio and called Ikenami. It rang through so she tried it again, then again. Then-
"Hello?"
A mans voice. Breathing hard. "Um, h-hi, I need to speak with Ikenami immediately it's-"
He laughed. "Ikenami is unavailable at the moment."
What day is it? Ikenami had lost track. Almost two weeks since her first day. Friday. Yukikaze wasn't answering her phone. She hadn't in a while and within the walls of Okobu's compound the days seemed to blend together.
Before her assignment she couldn't have imagined the awful things she'd done. She'd seen the goblins grow bolder as the weeks passed but without the heart to tell Okobu and with Asagi and Yukikaze out of reach she kept quiet, a slow dread building within.
Okobu had begun bringing his 'friends' over sometime in that second week. He'd always let her shower before they came over and make her wear either her swimsuit or her Taimanin uniform. Once there they'd bind her, taking their turn doing whatever they wanted. Sometimes they didn't even bother to take turns. The first time it happened she'd asked them for help. By the third she knew the drill. If she was being honest it helped take her mind off of the goblins. Off Yukikaze, Asagi and whatever might be going on out there. Out there something was amiss, she could feel it, but within these walls Ikenami had a job to do.
That day he'd invited a whole party of his political allies and friends from church over. She remembered them getting there. Some had been with her before but most she'd never met. Politicians, lawyers, even officers, the ones that seeing her dressed in her Taimanin uniform should've registered in their brains that she was their ally but of course it didn't...
The cop in some perverse compliment to her training took the lead, giddy with excitement as he'd put her in crooks handcuffs. "Get on the ground," he hissed.
Ikenami's mouth dropped in shock. "But sir you're a police officer can't you see that-!?"
"Shut up." He said, relishing in the Taimanin's despair as he muscled her onto her knees.
"Sir!" She'd exclaimed, still aghast. Still hopeful. She let him put them on her, blue eyes begging, lips trembling as he forced her back onto her feet and dragged her upstairs. At the foot of Okobu's bed he forced her down to her knees once more. He undid the handcuffs briefly by Okobu's bed-frame and Ikenami felt a surge of misguided hope. She stood up quickly and put a free hand to his chest. She looked as far into his eyes as he could, hoping to find some spark of humanity. "You don't have to do this," she whispered.
He grabbed her by the hair and pulled her ear to his lips. "I know," he hissed, licking her face before he cuffed her to the bed-frame and before she could beg, kissed her. She jerked her head to the side in disgust but his hands stilled her head and she drooped to the floor as he tasted every part of her lips. "Please sir!" She cried as he took in a breath.
What happened next she could barely recall, not that she wanted to but from the aches in her body she knew it had been awful.
"Rise and shine!"
Instinctively Ikenami sprung to her feet but the familiar pinch of handcuffs kept her down. Her head was a fog, she felt weak. Her legs were free, cold night air sending goosebumps all up and down their length. She was in her uniform. She struggled up to her feet against the pinch of police handcuffs. Okobu's hand clapped down hard on her thigh. Ikenami pulled it forward and kicked back at him hard. Her heart sank as it sailed harmlessly through the folds of his robes. His stench was inescapable.
She pulled hard at her cuffs. The again. As the world revealed itself to her she saw herself bound to the leg of his bed.
"Bad girl," he teased and as she pulled again, fell to her knees.
She couldn't see him but out of the fog that same officer's silhouette emerged.
"Now that won't do," Okobu teased.
"Please sir," she begged the officer. "H-help m-!" In her daze she hadn't noticed him unzipping his pants and when his cock went in her mind went blank. He was hard, and it tasted as though this wasn't the first time that day. With his cock embedded deep within her throat she gurgled, "save me."
He laughed. "You do it," he commanded and she did, trying as hard as she could to take all of it in every back and forth motion.
It took all of her strength not to bit down when Okobu's cock flew in like a battering ram, throwing her all the way down to his base. She gagged, struggling to break free.
"Assaulting a senator," the officer crooned, taking both sides of her head in his hands, thrusting as far into her throat as he could. He laughed, a cold laugh. "You can see it!" He chimed, tickling at the point in her throat where his cock had breached.
Okobu undid the handcuffs, taking hold of both of her hands in order to ram as far as he could into her. The cop pulled hard on her hair, taking every root as his own, moaning as she gagged violently. "God you're so fucking hot!"
Someone save me....
Okobu and the cop finished almost in tandem, giving each other a crisp high five over the downed Taimanin.
An older man and Okobu's lawyer were next. The older one dragged her out into the hallway by her hair. Ikenami didn't have the will to fight, she didn't even have enough to stand.
At the end of the hallway lay the balcony. She looked longingly out into the crisp night air as the lawyer threw her back into the wall. Ikenami stood tall. He looked like a creep. Fitting, she thought, relishing in the moment.
"Kiss me," he commanded, pressing his arms into the wall beside her.
Ikenami swallowed both her disgust and her pride, closed her eyes and parted her lips. But before she could her senses tingled. She was surprised they did given all other stimulants but on the balcony the unmistakable image of a goblin dropping off and into the night gave her a renewed strength.
She broke free of him in one fluid motion and raced to the balcony. Staring out into the night she could see a posse of scouts retreating out from the compound. Damn it! That's right Ikenami, the mission. Focus on the-! The older man was angry. She'd disrespected him and the lawyer and influencer were laughing and for once not at her. Her hands were torn from the balcony rail as the sweet feel of the lawyer entering her broke her trance. From the trees beyond the goblins watched. This is bad. She tore her hands out from his but as she took a step towards the rail he took hold of her hips and he threw her back into him, as far as he could go. Her head rolled back in ecstasy and grabbed her neck in both hands. No....
"You like that?" He hissed, licking the veins of her neck as his greedy fingers slowly coiled tighter around it.
"I...."
He lifted her off the ground by her throat, setting her down on his cock. Only when she bounced upwards could she breathe. Only then could she see the goblins. So she fucked him. Hard as she possibly could.
"Oh yes!" She cried. It felt almost as if she was flying, the Goblins like birds of the day disappearing into the night. In one strong motion she tore herself out from his grip and took hold of the railing, scanning the dark as she reached a shaking hand out to them.
"Hey!" He screamed. He threw her to the ground, forcing her to watch as the goblins moved closer. As they laughed, pointing to each-other and at her as the older man sunk himself down into her from above.
"You can't...." she wheezed as his hands coiled firmly around her neck. Her strong legs splayed out against the marble ground to ease his passage.
"Watch me?" He used his full body weight to slam into her with as much leverage as he could.
Her eyes rolled back up into her head as she groaned with pleasure. Every time he pulled out she saw the goblins laughing, every one of them doubled over, pointing at her. Laughing at her. Her face flushed with anger, embarrassment, joy. Every time she tried to get up he plunged back down. Slamming her hard into the balcony floor. "Oh!" She moaned. My voice...no. She put her head down and pushed up, lifting both of them as she fought to at least take this inside. She pushed hard. Her muscles shook from the soreness of the week but they were working. It was working. Maybe some shred of dignity would....
The man pulled back and slammed her down as hard as he physically could, burying his cock as deep into her as it could go. She splayed out defeated on the ground, sweat and cum seeping off of her as her tongue slipped out in pleasure. "Take that!"
"Fuck yes...."
***
Her goblin scouts had spoken true. Ingrid watched alone from a car as the senator's Taimanin guardian was lead by collar into another man's mansion. She knew what that nights purpose was. The senator was to inform politician, military and law enforcement alike of the news. Oboro's diversion had delayed this meeting longer than expected and Ingrid knew what to do. As fond as he was for her Edwin Black wouldn't tolerate another slip. After all it had been her whose plans had made it into the ear of a human senator.
Bakal had wanted to join her and sitting in that stolen BMW, watching the young Taimanin crawl like a dog in through the gate she wished she'd let him. He'd get it. He knew how she'd been turned. She'd been near blackout drunk when she'd told him but even Edwin Black didn't know that. At any point he could've told him, become his servant with all its perks and titles as opposed to hers but he hadn't.
"Kill them all," Edwin had told her. Whispered it into her ear.
"Th-the girl too?"
Edwin nearly doubled over in laughter. It was fair to assume it was a joke. She was a Taimanin after all but she was still a girl. Barely 20 and seeing her crawl with her head down, dressed in that uniform which must've so recently been the source of such pride she felt her chest tighten. She eyed her sword for an answer. It was well hidden, a long black sports coat covering any part of it. Yet, as usual it was silent.
"Return with her head or I feed you to the coliseum," Edwin had hissed.
"But sir I-!"
A gentle finger to her lips had silenced her. "You do remember what it was like there, yes?" His eyes bore the same mockery as Oboro's cackling laughter behind him. "We wouldn't want that now would we?"
Ingrid tried to shake his words from her mind and exited the vehicle. She knew what the security would be. She'd had time to study it. Two on the roof, ten inside, four at each entrance. She'd take the roof first, then the back, the garage, and then they'd let her right in the front door. A second Taimanin, she'd played the part before. Underneath her sport coat lay Oboro's old Taimanin uniform and as much as being associated with let alone wearing anything of hers disgusted her it had come in handy before. And tonight it would again even if she planned on removing it before her final act.
"Faster," Okobu commanded. Ikenami was struggling to keep up, crawling up almost two flights of stairs. Even pulling on her leash wasn't working.
Ikenami felt him pull against her collar and slipped, catching herself quickly on the marble stairs. She nearly fell when he spanked her. Commanding her to hurry.
The inside of the mansion was lavish. Marble pillars hoisting a polished oak structure three stories high. A white spiral staircase made up the centerpiece of the house.
Worst of all Ikenami recognized the man descending the stairwell towards them. He was a friend of Asagi's, a general, but by the way he licked his lips at her she knew this was no rescue mission. She stopped to study what emotion belied his odd expression but a hard smack to her ass forced her up the stairs towards him. Spiraling towards her fate.
Inside the meeting room there were a dozen men all gathered around a long wooden table. The general assumed the head and took the leash from Okobu.
Ikenami immediately stood up to meet his gaze but the general threw her swiftly onto the table. "General!"
He put one finger to her lips, the other hand clamping down tight around her neck. "Shhh" he whispered.
Once he was sat at the head of the table he commanded Ikenami to suck before beginning the meeting. "Now!" He said and when the girl hesitated, pulled hard on both her hair and leash. "Okobu what exactly was overheard?"
Ikenami slowly unzipped his pants. With no underwear his hard cock flopped out against her face. It stunk but she knew not to hesitate so she started easy. She placed her tongue at the base and traced all the way up to his tip.
Okobu cleared his throat. "That Hell Knight," he began. "The night she claimed our minister of foreign affairs I was in the building."
"I'm aware," the general said coolly.
"Well, she wasn't alone that night. I didn't see who it was but she told him of the prime minster's whereabouts that coming week. I guess she'd gotten that out of him before she murdered him but she also said mentioned that Kyoto and western ports were their next targets."
Ikenami hadn't yet mustered the courage to take in his whole girth so the general did it for her, shoving her throat all the way down to his base. She gagged and the room laughed. As embarrassing as it was there was an odd comfort in it. She knew she could take them if she had to and they all wanted her.
"Did she say which?"
Okobu shook his head. "No, well, I'm pretty sure they did but I couldn't hear it through the wall." He got up and handed him the map they'd been using.
The general eyed it with suspicion. "Interesting," he said.
"Isn't she great?" Okobu asked and for the first time that night the general smiled.
"You know what boys," he said. "Let's think about it over some dessert shall we?" The crowd erupted and he bid Ikenami stop sucking and lifted her head. "That's you sweetheart," he said, kissing her, savoring every long second he could of her lips.
Ikenami was handcuffed by the chief of police the second she stood up. The general kicked the back of her knee, taking her down the ground with ease. As hard as she tried she couldn't keep up with him without her hands. And every time he needed to pull the leash they spanked her. Hard.
By the time they were in the master bedroom her ass felt raw. She could feel it was red. Okobu was lying on the bed, big cock high in the air above her. Ikenami strained to reach the tip let alone take it in.
"Here," the chief of police laughed, "let me help you!" He stood her up and stuck his cock hard into her.
Ikenami felt her legs buckle at his strength, forcing Okobu's cock even further in, choking her. She struggled back up but each time he penetrated her thighs failed. Even still Ikenami soldiered on.
"I'm gonna fuck you so hard you'll never walk again," another senator whispered into her ear as she strained to keep her lips pursed around Okobu's dick. She shook her head in defiance and the chief of police spanked her so hard she jumped. Then again. And on the third one she fell.
"Did I tell you to stop sucking!" Okobu roared.
"I'm sorry master," she pleaded as the police chief threw her into her back and plunged down into her, spreading her legs and pulling them around his waist as to go as far in as he could.
Ikenami took it all. Senator after general after policeman after lawyer. She tried her best to please them. To make it easier on herself.
Asagi's friend, the head general was last. He wanted her for himself and threw her limp body onto his bed. From between the general's thighs she could just make out a pair of black boots. Hell Knight boots. Her eyes slowly ran up over his waist and when they reached his stomach, the tip of a sword poked out where a bellybutton should have been.
Soon blood burst out over her cum stained uniform. Ikenami struggled back into the headboard and then off of the bed but someone pushed her forward into the dead man's feet. Crashing headfirst into the corpse veiled the assailant once more from her and again she struggled up to her knees. She watched in horror as the Hell Knight cast the man's naked corpse to the side, sword sliding cleanly out from his body.
Ikenami toppled off of the bed on instinct, a sword crashing down through the mattress at Ikenami's side. She spun hard into the far wall out of reach of the following swing.
Shit. Think Ikenami think! Her daggers were in the bathroom, just a few feet away but her handcuffs.....
As she rose on uneasy legs her weakened body shuddered and the Taimanin had to lean back into the wall to stand. She watched as the three men surged into the bathroom, slamming the door before the Hell Knight could catch them. Two tried to flee for the exit behind her but the Hell knight was faster. It cut the faster one clean in half and sunk her sword straight in through the others eye. It unsheathed it from his skull before he could die, relishing in his screams as he collapsed into a pitiful heap on the carpet. She stuck her sword through both knees before sauntering over to the bathroom.
Hearing them still fidgeting with the lock it plunged its sword through the door and after a muffled scream, tore it back out, a trail of crimson in its wake.
As the Hell Knight moved to the handle Ikenami realized this was no ordinary Hell Knight. As her thighs buckled and she slumped to the floor Ikenami looked up on Ingrid herself. Ikenami had known it was a possibility she'd show up and as Asagi'd said, she always showed up at the perfect time. As she studied her she noted that she wasn't quite the beauty Asagi had described. In person she looked normal. If it wasn't for her uniform and distinctive sword you would've thought her a human. She was strong, long red hair whistling down down from her sculpted face, narrow chin and serious eyes. Even Ikenami could see she was gorgeous.
Though her wrists were cuffed and her daggers behind the door, Ikenami charged the Hell Knight. There we're important men still alive in there and two still in the room with her. Ingrid turned, swinging her sword down with both hands. Ikenami stopped its fall by the chain that bound her wrists and as the Hell Knight muscled the sword down her chains broke and the sword sunk deep into the ground between Ikenami's feet. But before Ikenami could strike a Hell Knights boot shot hard into her stomach.
Ikenami stumbled back, diving out of the way of an upward swing. Ikenami tried spinning to her feet but her aching body buckled and the Hell Knight sent a boot once more into her head.
Ingrid sent the sword down again, slicing through the far edge of Ikenami's forearm as the Taimanin struggled back up onto her feet.
Ingrid could tell she was weak and exhausted, backing her methodically up against the wall, herding the collared taimanin with her sword.
Ingrid swung with one hand at her head. Ikenami blocked it with her handcuffs and the sword plunged into the wall. Ikenami tried to duck under and up but her thighs buckled and as Ikenami fell to her knees the Hell Knight kneed her in the underside of her chin. The taimanin grabbed desperately at the handle of her sword, lodging it further into the wall so Ingrid resolved to take her by the hair, throwing her head into the wall beside it. When the Taimanin didn't fall she threw her over the bed and onto the floor.
When Ikenami rose Ingrid kicked her straight through the bathroom door. As the sound of men's screams echoed from the bedroom Ikenami struggled back up to her feet. Okobu was still alive in there although only two others remained. Ingrid must've slaughtered the rest when they went outside. After they'd had their fun. "My daggers!" She hissed and for once Okobu handed them to her without hesitation.
"Good evening," Ingrid said from the doorway. "Am I interrupting something?"
Feeling the handle of her daggers in both hands Ikenami felt a sudden rush of energy. Hope. She swung wildly at the Hell Knight's head which was parried easily but her left hand swing forced the Hell Knight back out of the doorway. Ikenami struck again and again, parrying the Hell Knight back almost out of the bedroom.
Ingrid swung wildly for her head and Ikenami ducked it effortlessly. The Hell knight parried her attempt at carving open her abdomen, smashing her daggers to the floor but Ikenami used her momentum to throw the Hell Knight over the bed.
"Run! Now!" Ikenami screamed and all but Okobu obeyed. She'd barely had the time to turn her head back to Ingrid after picking up her daggers when she was shot back into the wall. Her head slammed a dent into it and Ikenami's vision went blurry.
Ingrid threw her sword straight through the back of the man in the doorway and the one still in the bedroom she took his head in both hands and squeezed. "What?" She whispered. Crack.
The man squealed like a stuck pig as she ever so slowly increased the pressure.
"I though you'd like playing with me?" His head burst, dressing Ingrid in red and sending bits of skull into the Taimanin's lap.
Ikenami rose unsteady once more, both daggers in hand. "I-I can't let you," she stammered.
"Step aside."
Ikenami shook her head. Her lip quivered under the Hell Knight's shadow. "Over my dead body."
Ingrid disarmed her in one swing. The Taimanin stumbled and she hit her as hard as she could in the back with the butt of her sword. The sound the girl made was pathetic. Winded, broken, defeated. Ingrid tore her off of the ground just out of reach of her dagger by her hair and sent her sprawling out of the door with a kick to the head. "You!" Ingrid bellowed, sword fixed to the bathroom door. "You did this."
In spite of Okobu's makeshift barricade, once she'd sliced off the knob it took but one swift motion to break it all down. He watched in horror as splintered wood and metal showered down on him.
"I'm gonna make this hurt," Ingrid hissed, her voice pure venom. He'd hidden beneath the sink which made Ingrid laugh a demonic laugh. She stuck her sword through his knee and dragged him out into the bedroom.
"Go to Hell!" Okobu screamed.
"I've already been," she whispered, slicing off one ear, then another. He tried crawling under the bed but Ingrid stuck her sword down through his pelvis and into the carpet. "Stuck around," she told him, snapping the necks of all she'd left breathing before returning to the cause of all this death. Once back she made sure to make it slow. Carving up every skin cell on his back with needle thin slices before removing his untarnished head clean.
Ikenami crawled to the very edge of the staircase. Her head hurt, her throat was sore, her body ached and both her stomach and ass burned. As the Hell Knight approached, Ikenami tried willing herself up off the ground but with a gentle shove of her boot, Ingrid sent the Taimanin hurtling down the stairs.
Ikenami's eyes opened to a world of hurt. Through blurred vision the base of the stairwell soon bid manifest. She tried to stand but a shooting pain in her left ankle brought her down fast. Soon the soft clip of boots down marble stairs rang in her mind. She glanced at her shoulder and found it was completely dislocated, her ankle badly sprained at best. As the foreboding sight of Ingrid's legs descended into view Ikenami struggled halfway up.
The Hell Knight pushed the young taimanin flat onto her back with a gentle kick and as Ikenami lay there, touched her blade to her throat. Ingrid loomed over the vanquished Taimanin, peering long into her eyes. Ingrid had been dreading this moment the whole mission long. There was a lot of herself she saw in those eyes. Well, who she was.
"Kill me," Ikenami whispered. She'd failed. She'd let that awful man use her like a toy and for what? For this?
As a tear traced the lines of Ikenami's face Ingrid didn't move nor let the girl see her expression shift. She rolled the girl onto her side and pressed her weight down into her dislocated shoulder.
The taimanin squealed as it clicked sickeningly back into place and as she tried to stand Ingrid's foot stomped down on her chest, leaning into it as her sword resumed its poise at her throat. "What is your name?" She asked.
"Wh-what?"
Ingrid studied the girl for a second. "I didn't ask in Orcish again did I? What is your name, girl?"
"I-Ikenami," she wheezed. She'd heard Ingrid was noble but didn't believe it. An honorable demon? Bullshit. They were all murderers. Kidnappers. And what they did to women Ikenami knew too well.
Ingrid sheathed her sword, assuming a seat on the step above her foe. "You're new."
Ikenami rolled onto a side to better look upon her conqueror. "H-how do you kn-?"
Ingrid laughed, a shockingly pleasant sound. Sweet almost. "Asagi and I go way back," she said, visibly amused by her own jest. "How long have you been with the Taimanin?"
Ikenami dropped her head in shame. She'd been defeated, caught off guard and was now in no position to refuse this demon. Whatever it wanted out of her she would be forced to give. "This was my first mission," she said, scarcely holding back tears.
"Hey," said Ingrid. "You did do a lot better with your daggers." She smiled at the sight of the girl laughing with her but as tears continued to fall the Hell Knight stood.
"What are you going to do with me?" Ikenami asked, voice a fluttering whisper as she wrapped arms defensively around her body.
The Hell Knight knelt down beside her and unclipped her collar, turning back up the stairs with a look of disgust. "And they say I'm the monster."
Ikenami rubbed tenderly at the red mark on her throat. "Why are you doing this?"
Ingrid sheathed her sword and sat before the taimanin. "No one deserves that," Ingrid said, pointing her sword back at Ikenami. "A fate worse than death that is."
Ikenami tried getting to her feet but fell meekly to the ground at her ankles buckle.
Ingrid helped the Taimanin to the dining room table and poured them both a full glass of whiskey. "I can't just let you go," she said.
Ikenami nodded solemnly, eyes dipping to the table as hot shame coursed through her.
Ingrid took a long swig of whiskey and watched as the girl did the same. "Drink up," she told her. "A curse can hurt."
Ikenami swallowed another large gulp of whiskey, hoping for it to wash away both the taste of Okobu and the Lump in her throat. "What curse?"
Ingrid laughed, sensing the girls fear. "I'm not Oboro," she told her. "You won't be able to say my name and seven times I may call you, and seven times you will heed my command."
Ikenami finished her drink to an impressed look from the demon. "I will?" She asked, genuine confusion brewing on her face.
Ingrid finished her drink and poured them both another, offering an obliged toast to her vanquished foe. "You'll see," the demon said. "You won't be able to resist."
Ikenami felt the aches subsiding as the whiskey took effect. Ingrid motioned for her to drink more as a whisper of old Latin began unfolding out from between the demons stagnant lips.
Ikenami felt a fire rising inside her uniform, burning up through her legs and into her chest and skull as Ingrid's voice rang like thunder from within her mind. She downed the rest of her whiskey and felt both fires blend. She wanted to scream but a burning hold locked her every muscle into place.
Then it was over. Only the sways of whiskey in its place.
"See?" Ingrid chimed on finishing her second drink. "Not so bad, right?"
Ikenami stretched, checking to see that everything was as it had been. "Y-yeah," she answered. "Thank you."
Ingrid smiled at her again, moving to the front door with silent grace.
"Would you stay?" Ikenami asked.
Ingrid genuinely wished she could. The girl wasn't bad company. Better than most she'd be returning to and the thought of leaving the poor girl alone in that house brought back memories she could hardly bear. Her hair was thick with sweat and most of the bruises she could see hadn't come from combat. The Taimanin's soft blue eyes trembled with emotion and she reeked of semen even more than blood. "We'll meet again," Ingrid said, vanishing silently back into the night.