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

Vizier Duran visited Kanae and her party at the inn they were staying at later the next day. He had a few choice words for how they handled the situation at Silk and Velvet. Although he was grateful for them having rooted out both Ortesians and agents of the Harpy King, he wasn’t happy with the hefty repair bill for all the damages to his city.

”I’m having second thoughts about whether you were the right choices…” Duran pinched the bride of his nose and sighed.

”Well, we’re already here. Either you bring us into Savir, or we’ll be going there ourselves. This necromancer over here will take every opportunity to show off her undead dragon.” Kanae thumbed over to Edina, who waved back to the vizier with a grin.

”Now, now! You still have my gratitude— and my ire for taking away the relic. My own preparations are complete. If yours is as well, then we’re ready to depart. I understand you wish to make the journey on foot? A prudent choice. The only port into Savir on this side of the continent is Elusis territory, which means the Harpy King’s minions will be watching closely. With tensions rising, I can’t risk myself setting foot there. Our only course is to make landfall at the coastal border between Savir and your city-states, then through the Arkesian Wastes. ”

Kanae felt like she had heard that name before. Weren’t William and Analise Bellevue Arkesian? There must be other humans like them living in those deserts then.

Their journey recommenced first on one of Vizier Duran’s vessels, much to Claudia’s dismay over the prospects of being seasick again. It was a smaller ship than the Songstress, intended for speed rather than luxury or transportation. They loaded the Rown carriages onto this new ship and had to tie them down with a significant amount of rope on deck.

Renya, not one for being a passenger, politely commandeered the ship and captained it herself. That almost caused a fight to break out between her and the vizier’s men, at least until he told them to stand down. They sailed for a day and a half through relatively calm waters. Fog rolled in from the open sea, but not enough to reduce visibility. Occasionally, Duran tensed up at the sight of another ship in the distance. He was convinced they belonged to the Harpy King.

They approached land in the mid-afternoon of the following day. Kanae flew up to the helm, where Renya steered the ship in the direction of a derelict stone wharf. A small, abandoned town sat adjacent to it.

”What do you think, Renya?” Kanae asked.

”As a pirate or as a legitimate sailor? I don’t like it. You don’t leave a port, big or small, empty. Hells, the capital of Ortesia is one giant port. Don’t quote me on this, but if I was still living my piracy days, this is a prime spot for an ambush. Either our tiny friend is leading us into a trap, or he’s just that stupid,” Renya explained.

Kanae fully trusted Renya Rown when it came to this sort of thing. At the moment, Vizier Duran looked completely nonchalance, even a little eager to be on land. That could mean anything though. He might just be glad to finally send Sultana Dudula help.

”Claudia, Alicia. You two fly to shore ahead of the ship and sniff out any ambushes. Edina, soar behind us and check if there’s any ship tailing us,” Kanae ordered.

”Aye, aye!” Edina leaped off deck only to land on her undead dragon, veering off in the direction they had come.

Meanwhile, Renya called all hands on deck to raise half of the ship’s sails. As the vessel slowed, Claudia and Alicia beelined it for the port.

”Color me impressed.” Petyr climbed up to the helm, eyes fixed on the sisters closing in on shore. ”For all of DeSalle’s inadequacies, he did know all there was to seafaring. During the onset of the invasion, we didn’t know for sure how Port Kandis and Radevic would respond. He answered that by sending smaller ships with our strongest knights ahead to clear the landing. Snuff out any ambushes. Can you imagine if we neared port and faced a volley of cannon fire?”

”I guess I’ll keep that in mind the next time Ortesia invades,” Kanae bantered.

”What’s going on? Why have we slowed?” Vizier Duran rushed over in a huff.

Right then, booming explosions and snapping wood sounded off in the distance from the stern side of the ship. Edina’s cackling laughter followed suit. At the same time…

Renya pulled out a large, fancy spyglass for herself and offered Kanae a much simpler-looking one. Both of them peered into the device towards the port. Claudia was in the middle of paddling a couple of asses, and Alicia had charmed nearly twenty people to sit on their knees. Renya’s hunch turned out to be right on the money.

When the ship pulled into the docks, Claudia and Alicia welcomed their landfall with a large group of prisoners under the effects of charm. Both of them flashed triumphant smiles.

”They were lying in wait inside the town! I didn’t even know there were any until Alicia sniffed them out. Ahhh~ Watching my lovely sister go to work on them has got me so wet…” Claudia panted.

”They also confessed that three ships are under their employ,” Alicia added just as the necromancer returned.

”Three? You mean five ships?” Edina asked.

Kanae and Duran broke out in cold sweat, wondering if Edina had destroyed two innocent ships in the crossfire.

”Ahaha! I’m just screwing with you. There were only three. Roughed up the ships enough that they won’t be sailing anywhere,” she explained.

”I can’t believe there was an ambush waiting for us here… I’ve used that port to move goods to and from Savir for years…” Duran deflated like a balloon.

”Alicia questioned them about that, too.” Claudia lifted the chin of a captive to face her. ”Your pal the Harpy King has been paying them to keep tabs here. Their orders were never to act unless they see you, Sultana Dudula, or something important being transported.”

”That monster has spies everywhere… What hope does my cousin even have?” The vizier shuddered, his fine tan fur standing on end.

”Snap out of it!” Kanae slapped him across the face. ”The difference is, we’re here now. I’ve foiled him at every turn, and that’s going to keep happening.”

”Well, okay then… You didn’t need to hurt me to tell me that. I have ears!” He rubbed his cheek and frowned.

They carefully brought the carriages down from the ship using old cranes on the docks. Fortunately, the rickety contraptions held up. The party was ready to commence their journey into Savir at last. As for the captives, Alicia ordered them to jump into the ocean before ending the effects of Mass Charm. Whether or not they were able to swim to safety wasn’t their concern anymore.

Since languisteeds and marsteeds weren’t suited for traveling through the deserts, Renya had exchanged them out for large bull-like beasts when they were in Kandis. Their tough, leathery gray skin insulated them from the heat, and four-pronged hooves enabled much easier travel over sand and dry ground.

On their way out of the abandoned town, Kanae eyed north. A vast savanna stretched behind them, and beyond that were the many villages and townships under Radevic’s rule. South, where they were headed, was a series of looming canyons and deep valleys.

It reminded Kanae of the canyons she had seen in magazines before, when she was still living on Earth. The Grand Canyon being among them. However, the Akesian Wastes didn’t used to be a gorge. She had recalled reading about this in one of the many books Dalu had given her. This used to be a massive tributary like the Devil’s Veins in Hellfire Badlands.

The Arkesian people, a human ethnic group, once made their homes here when it was a forest. Countless years of erosion and Savir’s deserts gradually creeping north turned it into the Arkesian Wastes. Some of those humans moved north for new, fertile land. Some stayed and adapted.

Kanae awoke in the morning sticky with sweat. The carriage she was in jostled every now and then, likely from rolling over rocks or uneven terrain. She opened the window and winced at the dry winds blowing in. The sun felt closer than it did back in the Commonwealth. Its searing rays scorched the landscape.

Few living things thrived here. A lizard crawled out of a cluster of desert grass, stuck its tongue out a few times to taste the hot atmosphere, and then returned to the comforts of shade. An ribcage from what used to be a gigantic monster, the bones bleached white from the elements, was slowly being claimed by the sand. Occasionally, the shrill cry of carrions in the sky echoed from canyon to canyon. Rocky outcrops, half-buried in sand, cast some shadows over the road. It provided some semblance of relief whenever they traveled underneath them.

Kanae dared not open her mouth to yawn for fear of losing any moisture from her body. A grain or two of sand flew into her eyes, and she retreated back inside.

”Savir sucks. Why would anyone live here?” Kanae groaned, wiping the sweat from her face.

”Hey, not all of Savir is like this. It isn’t entirely a desert. I would appreciate it if you didn’t make ill-informed comments about my homeland,” Vizier Duran said while fanning himself.

”Kanae, I’m hungry~” Claudia groaned. ”The tiny beastman doesn’t look appetizing, and Petyr won’t let me have sex with her…”

They had been traveling for days. Kanae was getting peckish herself. The same must be true for Alicia and Edina. Renya was the only one down for a good time, but she wasn’t enough to feed three true succubi and a half succubus. Maybe they should have kept some of the captives back at the port, but hindsight was 20/20.

”You can always drain from the burden beasts,” Kanae suggested.

”Don’t you dare, you perverse creature! They are how we get to Bravost!” Duran retorted.

Claudia shrugged and sighed. ”He’s right. Also, the rest of us aren’t into monsters like you and Hildy are!”

The carriage lurched to a sudden stop. Edina, who had been sound asleep, was thrown from her seat and landed on the floor.

”We’ve got company!” Renya exclaimed from outside in the driver’s seat.

A stampede of heavy footfalls surrounded the carriage. Kanae heard yipping and shouting all around them. Their carriage shuddered and shook. All at once, the shaking stopped. It sounded like, whoever they were, halted in unison.

Someone approached them from behind the vehicle and threw open the doors. They came faced to face with a bare-chested centaur man, whose body was marked with red and black paint. Behind him were other centaurs, minotaurs, beastmen of varying races, and some humans painted in the same pattern and colors.

”Alright, northerners. Surrender your belongings and no one gets—” The centaur took one good look at them and choked on his own spit. ”S-Succubi… Uh. Have a good day.”

He slowly closed the doors.

The four succubi burst out from the carriage and made short work subjugating their would-be raiders. There were a little over a dozen, and most of the commotion came from the four large beasts that had accompanied them.

Dinner had fallen into their laps, and they feasted to their hearts’ content. Kanae had her fill of a black minotaur man, whose fat cock made a mess of her pussy. She continued pounding their hips together even after he had already let out a massive load.

”Yes!” Kanae cried after he gushed into her again. ”Minotaurs are my favorite! Your people are as hung as a horse, and you have strong, thick hands to hold me with. Come on, squeeze my breasts! Harder! Aaahhh!”

”I… can’t… I’m… uurk…” The minotaur shot his final load and passed out.

”Whew.” She sighed in pleasure, but tensed up when a shadow loomed over from behind that glared with the intensity of the Saviran sun.

”I COME OUT OF MY CARRIAGE TO THIS?!” Petyr kicked Kanae off the minotaur’s dick and rolled across the ground, spunk leaking from her pussy.

It was then that Kanae realized Petyr had already beaten up Edina and Claudia— though Claudia looked like she was in a world of pain and bliss from the bulge on her head. Alicia was nowhere to be seen, likely having gone into magical stealth to avoid the paladin’s wrath.

”We were hungry! Did you want us to starve?” Kanae exclaimed.

”Yes,” Petyr answered curtly.

”Why did I even bother asking you? Listen, these are the first signs of people we’ve come across. They probably know somewhere we can stay,” she explained.

”Lucky for us, they do have a camp nearby.” Alicia had an arm around a human woman, whose glossy eyes were evidence that she was charmed.

They placed the rest of the raiders under their compulsion. Their huge beasts were oxens with protruding spines on their backs. Vizier Duran called them gorkanocs, or gorks for short. Crescent horns grew from the sides of their heads. Although fearsome, they were quite docile. One of them mosied away to munch on a shrub of desert grass.

With the charmed raiders’ help, Renya had them fix the gorks to pull on the carriages instead. She climbed onto one and gave a thumbs up. As their reluctant caravan began to move, Kanae noticed Edina was missing. The necromancer had skipped off to the enormous bones in an attempt to raise it from the dead.

”Edina, you know you don’t have the mana for that…” Kanae said as she flew up to her.

”A necromancer’s gotta try! If I just had the nigh-infinite pool of mana from the original Pillar of the Damned… Hnnngghhh!” Edina made herself look constipated trying to seize control of the skeletal remains.

After a few minutes of straining herself, Edina ran out of mana and fainted. The gargantuan remains were still inert and unmoving. Dust shook loose from the ribcage, but that was about it. Kanae hoisted the squirreling onto her shoulders and went to catch up with the others.