The Hero Became a Succubus, and the Only Way to Level is to… What?!

The collapse left behind wounded Ortesian knights and Rotandrix dragoons that had accompanied Gold. She and Esta's brother, Darren, didn't seem particularly concerned about their safety. Edina went around pulling the unconscious out of the rubble. They were going to serve as good drain fodder later.

"Damn! These uppity high elves wear real gold. Who does that? Kanae, look! I can smelt 'em down to make ingots… Hehe… I'm going to piece a nice seat out of them." Edina cradled a helmet and summoned undeads to strip the empire's infantry of their armor.

"Elizabeth's report left out the part where your friend has a habit of taking things…" Lani said, joining Kanae by the obelisk.

"Don't worry. She won't steal from you as long you aren't dead or haven't crossed her. But I think we have more important things to worry about. Like this altar belonging to the devil, Varren the Prideful. It was underneath this Necro Lord's tomb the entire time. We came here before but had no idea it was down here," Kanae explained.

Someone's muffled cries reached their ears. It was coming from a pile of stone and debris next to Edina. She snapped her fingers and ordered a few undead over to dig them up. When finally moved all the rubble away, Edina picked up the head of Necro Lord Cantu.

"Oh, thank goodness! All that stone was putting pressure on my skull. I thought I was going to be squished like a grape between an ogre's fingers!" Cantu cried.

"Hold on, you're looking a little bodiless. Lemme help you with that." Edina popped the skull off one of her skeletons and screwed the mummified, bandaged-wrapped head of Cantu onto the body.

"I was wrong about you, necromancer. Time around these corpses must have rotted your brain! How is this supposed to help me? I don't have control of the body, you fool!" he complained as the body felt around felt around Cantu's head.

The squirreling rubbed her chin for a few seconds. Kanae, Lani, and Chappy watched in befuddlement as Edina swapped Cantu onto the body of a death knight instead.

"And for the finishing touches…" She plunked the gilded helmet of an Ortesian knight onto him.

"Edina, that doesn't change the fact that Cantu's still in a body he can't control," Kanae tried to explain.

"Oh! Oh, ho, ho! Now I feel powerful! This body is much more suitable to me even though I can't control it!" Cantu bellowed happily.

"That's what you were more concerned about?!" She put a hand to her face.

The hulking death knight approached the altar, each step leaving cracks in the ground.

"It's true," Cantu began as he kneeled down next to it. "My duty was not only to oversee the inhabitants' long punishment. It was also to ensure no one discovers this altar. Lord Charron originally built this tomb for me to keep would-be madmen like that elf earlier from coming."

"Can't it be destroyed?" Kanae asked.

"If that were possible, we would have done it years ago. The altar is indestructible. We've tried everything. It's imperative that you keep that relic out of that bitch's hands. Lest you wish to see your Commonwealth consumed in hellfire," he explained.

"Chappy, is there anything in your pages with knowledge on destroying this?" Lani yanked the living grimoire from out of her battle robes.

"Nope." Chappy made a X with two tentacles. "These things are beyond your mortal comprehension. Forget about using that sex bot with meisterium in her chest, too. This ain't magic that you can just anti-magic. It's made of pure brimstone from the three hells. That One-Eyed Cross in the Knight of Gold's hand? Contains traces of steel from the three hells, too. When struck together, they generate such extreme heat to create hellfire."

There was also the problem of who the empire was trying to ressurrect. Why Saint Rue? In the end, the only way to ensure Gold wouldn't come back was by taking the crossguard. They needed to steal it while her guard was down in Rudura. Hopefully…

"We don't have time to go back to Ehmvier. Let's regroup with Minestra— if she's alive— and head straight to Rudura Village. We'll ambush them and take the crossguard and resurrection tool," Kanae said.

"All aboard the undead dragon express!" Edina summoned the mighty skeletal beast to bring them back to the surface.

Those undead carrying an empire soldier hitched a ride on the ribcage. The rest disappeared one by one.

"Hey, wait a minute! What's going to happen to—" Cantu vanished along with the other undead before finishing his sentence.

They stared at the empty space where the death knight was just standing. His head was gone, too.

"Edina… Where exactly do your undead go?" Kanae asked.

"Ahh… There's a place in limbo called the Land of the Dead. I-I'm sure Cantu's going to be fine! I think…" Edina muttered unconvincingly.

As they climbed onto the undead dragon, Lani blew up support pillars all around the chamber. Everywhere around them started rumbling like it was hit by an earthquake.

"What was that for?!" Kanae panicked as the floor above them crumbled.

"To buy us some time if they ever come back. They will have to spend weeks digging all this up. Now hurry and take us out before we're buried along with it!" Lani shouted.

Edina compelled the dragon to fly them out of the tomb. they found Minestra barely standing and the horde of succubus going to town on the captives. Most of the Ortesian forces were gone. Their mostly empty camp remained. Those that didn't or weren't able to leave with them had been thrown to the wolves. 

Lilith's Sisters in Black and Claudia's dominatrixes toyed with those left behind. Two succubus were sucking the dick of an unconscious but fully erect high elf. Another used her tail to whip the ass of a drakeling. A female elf was pinned to the ground as a succubus ate her pussy and a second rode her face.

"Th-Th-This is s-s-so despicable! How could you do that to them?" Lani stammered, but her squirming showed how she really felt.

"You wouldn't starve a lion to save a dear, would you? Besides, they won't kill them. At least I don't think so… Feeding time is over! We're going straight to Rudura!" Kanae ordered.

The succubi groaned in unison, but they ultimately obeyed.

"Don't… Don't mind me! The dragoons did a number on me, but I'll recover eventually as a non-succubus would…" Minestra gasped wearily, so tired that she couldn't so much as lift any of her arms.

"I'll help you up as long as you don't grope me the entire time." Kanae went over to give the herzulith a shoulder to lean on.

"Ah~ Are you a cleric? Because your healing touch has me seeing the light… Hm? I notice the drakeling isn't with you. I can't imagine the Knight of Silver perishing so easily," she said.

"I sent her back. Esta's pregnant, and I didn't want her pushing herself against someone like Gold."

Especially for the inevitable battle that laid ahead.

They traveled to Rudura in haste. The languisteed have never galloped faster. Edina's undead dragon cut through the skies like a bullet. Kanae sucked in a deep breath, watching the passing emerald landscape before them. It had been moments away from being consumed in hellfire. It still was.

"Amethyst!" Lani hollered from the shoulder of the dragon.

Kanae soared down to the Saint Priest's level and saw that she had Chappy opened. Upon closer inspection, it was on the page revealed the location of the resurrection tool she had saw before. The mark was on top of Rudura.

"She's already there?" Kanae gasped.

"They must have a Viviren creating portals for them. If Ortesian forces can jump from place to place so quickly, we'll never catch them. This might be our only chance to disarm Gold of the One-Eyed Cross and the resurrection tool. We can't afford to fail, so to that end… I'm going to fight with you," Lani insisted.

"Am I hearing this right?" Chappy put a tentacle around their shoulders and drew them in. "You two are getting along? I might get to fuck both of you at the same time!"

"Don't do it on my dragon. If I have to clean your guys' nasty juices, you're gonna have one angry necromancer on your hands!" Edina warned.

The flight to Rudura took the entire day. Minestra and their cavalry of succubus on languisteed weren't far behind on the ground. It helped Kanae had birthed them all, and they inherited Titan's best trait, his di— speed. Kanae shook the horny thoughts away and focused on the task at hand.

"We're getting close to Rudura. I can see the long single street of the village leading up to the resort. Take us down so they don't spot us," Kanae urged.

Edina landed them down behind an rocky outcrop. It didn't appear as though anyone spotted them. It also helped that the languisteed's dark fur blended them into the dark.

"Why have we stopped? Can we not use the element of surprise to attack them head on?" Minestra asked.

"I'm with four-arms. We'll drop down on them from my dragon. You and the succs can fly in, too!" Edina flapped her arms to mimic wings she no longer had.

"Sure…" Kanae sighed heavily. "But they also have a member of a high elven family with magic to portal them out at the first signs of danger. We need to do this inconspicuously. I'll sneak in and try to steal what we're looking for. If things go wrong, I'll send a single."

Minestra and Edina exchanged glances.

"With what?" both of them asked.

"I-I have Flashbang from my Piercings of Impurity and Scorching Ray from the ring Mitty gave me! You guys just don't trust me. Just say it," Kanae said.

"It's not that I don't trust you, buddy. I feel like you just wanna go in there to pork Gold. Maybe she reminds you a bit of Arenade, and you need to get your rocks off in there?" Edina nudged her in the stomach.

"No! Okay, a teensy bit of me wants to have sex with Gold, but I am trying to take this seriously here!" she groaned aloud.

Lani shot a hand up. "I'll go with Amethyst. It will be safer. Two people dilutes suspicion. Chappy, stay with the others and wait to go in with them."

The plan was set. Kanae and Lani would infiltrate Rudura Village. In the meantime, the rest waited on an opportunity to attack. After casting Human Form on herself, they snuck their way inside using the tall foliage as cover. There were few Ortesians patrolling the fields. Most were probably concentrated at the resort inn to protect their most important assets.

They made it to the back of someone's home and knocked softly on the back door. The residence, an elderly human man who was holed up inside with his wife, opened the eye-level slat on the door. Kanae explained to them what was going on, and the old couple gladly welcomed them inside.

"Queen Kanae! We knew you wouldn't abandon us!" The man flashed a toothless smile.

"We need your help getting inside. Can we borrow some clothes to disguise ourselves?" Kanae asked.

"Of course, dearie! Although, I'm not so sure my garments will accomodate your bust…" The woman frowned after pulling out a frock that looked tight around the bust.

While changing in another room, Kanae felt Lani's gaze burning into her back.

"Your people sound like they really love you. They haven't been charmed?" Lani asked.

"Did they look charmed? I didn't found a country to turn its people into my cattle like the Queen-Mother wants. I'm trying to protect them. It's the only reason I reached out to Lord Charron and Queen-Mother Zariah. The Grand Eye couldn't help, but they would. Thankfully, that includes you now." Kanae grinned.

"Hrm… It's hard to forgive you after what you did to me." She harshly reminded Kanae, wiping the smile off her face.

After changing, they thanked the old couple and quietly emerged from the humble house. The wide street was empty save for a couple of Ortesian forces standing guard. Stone lanterns with a fire going inside them lit the way through. It didn't look like the village put up a fight at all. Thank goodness. The last thing Kanae wanted was this place getting ruined. It wasn't really a fortified position to begin with.

They tried to act as natural as possible heading down the street and keep their head low. Unfortunately, that proved impossible. An Ortesian knight on an ivory horse stopped them.

"Halt! Turn back and return to your home. Any farther, and I'll have to use force to remove you," the knight said, hand on the hilt of his blade.

"W-What do we do?" Lani whispered in panic.

"Let me handle it," Kanae replied, then turned her attention to the knight. "Sorry, sir! We work at the inn. Our shift is soon, and we'd rather not be late. If you would just move aside and…"

"What's going on here?" A drakeling dragoon, characterized by their regalia of full plate and lance, joined his high elven colleague.

"These two claim they work at the hot spring Lord-Major Stormcloud is currently residing at. What do we do?" he asked.

They spoke to each other in hushed whispers. Kanae couldn't make out what they were saying. If this turned into a fight, the knights and dragoons she could handle. Losing a chance to take the One-Eyed Cross and resurrection tool, on the other hand…

"We're letting you through," the high elven knight said. "Hurry though. Apparently the place is short on hands. The Lord-Major isn't known for her patience."

Both stepped away for them to pass. Kanae and Lani breathed a sigh of relief.

"That was so thrilling! We were so close to being caught and making an impossible decision!" Lani squealed.

"Are you getting off to sneaking around? I need your head in the game! We're getting close to Gold." Kanae pinched the hare's chubby cheek and made her squeak.

They entered without the resort without issue. Already Kanae felt the humid embrace of nearby hot spring pools. Although there were more guards around, few paid them any mind. In fact, most of them were bored out of their minds, playing cards on the table, or rummaging through the pantry. Now to get to the hot spring…

Kanae beckoned Lani down the corridor and ran right into Jareth, the melon farmer-turned village head in charge of managing the hot spring resort.

"Queen—"

A quick charm shut Jareth right up, but an Ortesian infantryman standing guard took notice.

"Is something wrong here?" he asked.

"Oh, no! I'm just utterly relieved that my two best workers are here. Come along, this way to the staff room!" Jareth ushered them away under Kanae's control.

When they were finally out of sight and in the privacy of a separate room, Kanae released the charm on Jareth.

"You almost gave us away!" Kanae complained.

"I'm sorry, my queen! I'm just overjoyed to see you're alright. But what's going on? I knew a war was coming, but these Ortesians showed up out of nowhere earlier in the day. They took over the village in an instant and a big, scary high elf woman demanded we serve her," Jareth explained.

"That sounds like Petyr," Kanae and Lani said at the same time.

Jareth eyed Kanae's companion suspiciously.

"I'm Lanil Hammerthorn, Saint Priest. Kanae and I snuck in here like a pair of super spies. Hehe!" Lani was giggling like a school girl.

"We're looking for the Knight of Gold." Kanae pushed Lani aside to get to the point. "More specifically, where her equipment is located. We need what she has."

"You're in luck, my queen. If it's the haughty one you're after, she just entered the pool in your personal suite. I can have Robin take you there, but you will want to put on work clothes first. There is one problem. The changing room is guarded by an even scarier-looking drakeling." Jareth shuddered.

That couldn't be anyone other than Esta's brother, Darren. They hadn't seen him fight yet, but he was supposed to be much stronger than her…

Jareth went to find Robin while Kanae and Lani changed again. By the time they were done, the young boy barely in his teens had arrived and was ready to escort them.

"It's nice to see you again, Queen Kanae!" Robin beamed.

"Look at you! You're growing up so fast." Kanae ruffled his hair and smiled back.

"Dad says I have to bring you to the high elf woman named Petyr? I can take you there right now if you're ready," he said.

"We're ready. Once we're there, I want you and your dad to go to the farthest part of the inn just in case. Got it?"

The boy nodded.

Kanae and Lani picked up a stack of towels to look the part of employees. Together with Robin in the lead, they passed by the many solldiers in the corridor going up to the private pool. Standing in front of the doors like an unnmovable god before the pearly white gates was Darren von Cleisseldor.

"What is this? Lord-Major Stormcloud asked you to bring this many towels?" Darren asked, his growling voice like a drum in their chest.

"Sh-She said to bring as many as possible, so…" Robin trailed off, too scared to utter another word.

The imposing drakeling's piercing eyes studied Robin for a moment. His gaze shifted to Lani, then to Kanae. Neither of them could tell if he saw through them or not. Only a stack of towels stood between them.

"Darren! I asked that boy for towels twenty minutes ago! Where did he run off to?" Gold could be heard shouting from within.

"Why am I here…?" Darren sighed and moved aside. "Go. Be quick."

Robin bowed, and so did Kanae and Lani as they shuffled in with their heads down. When the door shut behind them, the air became a lot more stifling.

They were in the lion's den now. The modest antechamber was a small rest room with little cubbies to put belongings into. Beyond another set of doors led straight to the hot spring pool— where Gold was lounging, likely naked and unarmed. Judging by her equipment stuffed into storage box, this much was true.

Kanae nodded for Robin to go on ahead. He trotted past them and into the pool to deliver the towels. She and Lani started searching for the One-Eyed Cross and resurrection tool, starting with the pile of equipment.

"It's not here? I can't find it!" Lani frantically searched inside each gauntlet and greave.

"All I see are her armor… Maybe she left it with Darren?" Kanae wondered aloud.

A commotion and splash of water from the pool robbed their attention.

"Wait, Miss Stormcloud…!"

"Quit struggling, boy. Do as I say, and I'll spare your father and village!"

Robin was in trouble. Kanae and Lani shot each other a look. They flew through the door without hesitation.

"Robin, are you—" The rest of the words were caught in Kanae's throat.

Petyr Stormcloud, naked and dripping wet, was pinning Robin to the ground. She had a knee pressed up to his groin. She had one hand had slipped underneath his work apron. A bottle of wine laid on its side, spilling out its bright red nectar.

"And please, call me Petyr instead. Just let me take care of… you…?" Gold locked eyes with them and her jaw dropped.

"The Knight of Gold is a shotacon!" Kanae pointed accusingly.

"Wha— I don't know what that means, but it sounds offensive! Why are you here? How did you make it past the guards?!" She backed away holding Robin hostage against her bare chest, wielding a dagger she didn't have before to his neck.

"Kanae!" Lani was fixated on something at Gold's feet.

Lying on a towel were two objects— the One-Eyed Cross and a golden ankh. That was it. The key to Arenade's resurrection.