Chapter 52: Monstrous Machines and Mechanical Mayhem

Legend’s breathing hitched, a tremor running through her sweat-slicked limbs. She was confused; her mind skipped a few seconds. But she was brought back to reality by the sizzling sound of burning flesh, followed by Little Legend’s scream.

The stench of charred skin filled the air. The word “whore” stood out in angry crimson welts, the skin around it already blistering.

“T ... thank you ... Daddy,” Little Legend said with a smile as her mind fell under control again.

The next day.

“I don’t get why we’re continuing the course today instead of next week,” Zara muttered, slumping tiredly on the bench. Her fellow pupils were gathered with her in the park, all looking varying degrees of excited.

“Aritimi said we need to speed things up,” Akemi replied. “HQ wants us to finish before the end of the year so they can fully focus on Artemis and the Festive New Year Hunt. She also mentioned her team might visit Crowsend, so HQ wants all hands on that.”

“Well,” Zara sighed, letting her head fall back, “at least the course will end sooner. Something for something, I guess.”

“Ah, everyone’s gathered,” Aritimi’s voice rang out suddenly as she appeared in the middle of the park. “Good morning, pupils!” She beamed and gestured to the swirling portal beside her. “Follow me.”

The portal opened into a place that looked like a hybrid between a laboratory and a robot slaughterhouse. Metal limbs hung from racks, sparks crackled from open panels, and half-assembled machines lay scattered across worktables. Everything hummed, whirred, or leaked something suspicious.

Zara didn’t need to guess whose domain this was. They were unmistakably in the Zhao quintuplets’ lab.

They were greeted immediately by five identical Chinese women, all wearing matching safety goggles and techware.

“Welcome, kids,” Qian said brightly.

“Why did you mention me first?” Welcome asked, but they ignored her question.

“Today, we’ll show you what the Tech Division is capable of,” Qing added.

“We’ve been working on several new machines,” Qiu continued. Zara’s interest dipped sharply.

“By which we mean: combat applications,” Qianhui clarified. Zara’s interest shot right back up.

“And some of you will receive special training with our new battle units,” Qingmei finished.

Aritimi turned to Zara. “You’ll be one of those trainees, Zara. I’ve already selected your team: Tünde, Titanilla, Undine, Welcome, and Valeria.”

Qian continued. “We’ll accompany Timi and these pupils to make sure everything stays stable. The rest of you will be supervised by my daughter.”

Right on cue, another familiar face emerged, Qinglan, whom they had met during the open day.

“Hi, girls,” she said with an easy wave.

Zara and her assigned team followed the Zhaos into another chamber, one that looked far more like an arena than a testing lab. The floor had scorch marks. The walls were reinforced.

“Oh, before we start, let’s get one thing straight,” Aritimi said, “The losers will get punished, so you better not lose.”

“Of course. Why should we have a low-stakes challenge? It would be boring.” Zara thought, rolling her eyes.

“Alright, the twins will start,” Qian announced, pointing to Tünde and Titanilla. Then she gestured toward the spectator seats. “The rest of you will wait for your turns over there, in relative safety.”

“But first, clothes off,” Aritimi added as she stepped forward ... already naked. “You need to be unclothed for combat. It awakens the ancient warrior within you.”

The twins took this in stride and neatly folded their clothes into two tidy piles.

Tünde and Titanilla looked stunning: curvy, toned, and perfectly synchronized, their conjoined inner pair of breasts lifting in unison as they breathed.

“The reason we chose you two,” Qian began, “is because you wield opposing elemental forces: light and darkness. The machine we selected for this test also channels two contradictory elements. So it should be a fitting matchup.”

“What kind of opposing elements?” Tünde asked. “Fire and ash?”

“Or ice and snow?” Titanilla tried.

Aritimi blinked. “Those are not opposing elements.”

The Zhao sisters collectively looked like they instantly regretted this selection.

“Alright,” Qing cut in, “here is your opponent.”

The massive segmented steel door at the far end of the arena opened.

Something huge slithered out.

A four-meter-long robotic mermaid hauled itself across the floor with grace; its metallic tail segments clicking, glowing fins humming softly.

“My pride and joy: Kexin,” Qing said, pointing proudly.

“Oh! Thanks, Mom,” said a cheerful feminine voice from within the machine.

Tünde raised a hand. “Why did the robot just call you Mom?”

“Kexin is my daughter,” Qing revealed. “She’s piloting the machine.”

Titanilla frowned. “And ... why does it look like a mermaid?”

“Because we augmented it with the abilities of two creatures: a Magma Mermaid and a Snowball Sylph.”

Titanilla’s eyes widened. “It can swim in magma?”

“Yes,” Qing confirmed, nodding.

Tünde pointed at the floor. “But ... why doesn’t it have a walking mode? There’s no magma here.”

“She’s right,” Aritimi said, nodding thoughtfully.

A vein on Qing’s forehead began to throb.

The twins squared up as Kexin’s mechanical tail scraped across the arena floor, the mermaid-mech raising both arms.

“Let’s begin,” Kexin announced cheerfully.

A blast of molten magma erupted from the mecha’s right hand, while the left fired a rapid volley of glittering snowballs. The contrast was jarring: scorching heat on one side, biting cold on the other.

Titanilla reacted first. A thick barrier of swirling darkness surged up around them, absorbing the impact of both the burning projectiles and the freezing ones.

Tünde countered instantly, hurling concentrated beams of light that cut through the steam clouds created by the clashing temperatures.

Kexin laughed through the speaker system. “Okay! Warming up now!”

Her mecha’s limbs shifted, gears grinding as she prepared her ultimate attack.

A massive snowball formed at the end of one arm; glossy, perfect, and unnervingly smooth. But inside it, magma churned and glowed like a molten core.

“Uh oh,” Tünde breathed.

“Isn’t that too much for a training?” Zara asked.

“For my pupils? Hell no!” Aritimi chuckled.

Kexin launched it.

The snowball hit the ground and detonated in a spectacular splash of freezing slush mixed with streaks of searing magma, sending a shockwave through the arena. The twins braced behind a combined barrier: Titanilla reinforcing the darkness shield while Tünde poured pure light into it, stabilizing the edges.

Steam filled the arena in a thick cloud.

Titanilla coughed. “Okay. We’re doing that too.”

Tünde nodded. “Yeah. Let’s do it.”

They stepped together, hands brushing. Titanilla summoned a massive sphere of condensed darkness, dense and pulsing like a captured black hole. Tünde placed her hands against it, infusing it with brilliant light that threaded through the dark like glowing cracks.

“Ready?” Titanilla asked.

“Throw it.”

With a powerful swing, Titanilla hurled the fused sphere at Kexin.

It struck the mermaid-mecha dead center.

The darkness detonated first, creating a stunning shockwave that rattled the entire chamber and left the mecha momentarily paralyzed. Then the light burst free from within, flashing outward in a radiant explosion.

Kexin yelped. “Ow ... okay okay OKAY I give up!”

The mermaid-mech collapsed onto the floor, tail twitching dramatically.

“Good job, girls,” Aritimi nodded and then turned to Kexin. “Now it’s time for your punishment.”

“My punishment?” Kexin gasped.

“You lost the fight. You deserve to be punished.” Aritimi replied.

“She is right,” Qing nodded. “In a real fight, you would be dead by now. The punishment will motivate you to be better. What is her punishment, Timi?”

“Hm, since this simulation was about monster fights, the punishment should be something similar to what would have happened in a real scenario.” Aritimi then turned to the twins, “Girls, rape her.”

“What?” Kexin gasped again.

“And how?” Tünde asked.

“Unlike Zara, we don’t have the tools for that,” Titanilla added.

“Use your powers for that,” Aritimi instructed, “Be creative.”

“Hm, I got an idea,” Tünde said, and sparkling light particles gathered around her hands. They began to swirl and morphed into a small humanoid shape. A bright silhouette with a cock.

“Nice,” Titanilla let out a whistle and infused the light golem with her darkness. The humanoid figure was actually human-sized now. Its body was a mesmerizing swirl of light and shadow.

“Now take your punishment, Kexin,” Qing instructed.

She just nodded silently and undressed.

Kexin had a slender frame, skin glistening with sweat from the cockpit’s heat. Her body was whipcord lean, muscles taut like coiled wires beneath smooth tinsel skin that was decorated with the same circuitry-like pattern as the rest of her family. Small, pert breasts sat high on her chest, their pink nipples peaking from the arena’s chilled air.

“This golem doesn’t need lubrication, so we jump straight into action,” Aritimi instructed.

She got on all fours, presenting her behind to the golem.

The golem surged forward, its form rippling with unstable energy as it gripped Kexin’s hips with hands that burned and froze simultaneously. She gasped, her back arching as the construct’s cock, a shifting amalgamation of luminous plasma and inky void, pressed against her entrance. There was no gentle penetration. The golem slammed into her with a force that sent her sliding forward, her palms scraping against the arena floor.

Kexin’s scream was half-strangled, her body jerking as the golem pistoned into her without pause. The conflicting energies of its form made every thrust unpredictable, sometimes searing her insides with blistering heat, other times leaving trails of frostbite-like numbness. Her thighs trembled, her breath coming in ragged bursts as the golem’s grip tightened, fingers leaving glowing welts on her skin. “F-fuck! It’s too much!” she sobbed and moaned at the same time, but the construct didn’t slow.