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

The Duststorm Tabernacle was key to finding Rasheena’s missing resistance members and the Priesthood of Three. People entered the massive mosque and returned as fanatic adherents to the Cult of Lust and Depravity. The problem was that some didn’t come back.

So far, Kanae hadn’t seen any other succubus around except for themselves. The appearance of succubi didn’t really faze anyone though. Either their presence was a common enough sight to become accustomed to them, or most people here were charmed.

While Alicia and Claudia continued gathering information from clergy inside the cathedral, Kanae felt a voice calling to her from the statues. Three demigods, Regallis, Glentir, and Threcia stood in all their glory within the recesses of the wall. Just like the statues outside the city, people had left tributes at their feet. Most gave gold and others flowers. A shortsword emanating with some minor magical enchantment rested on Threcia’s pedestal. Someone gave Glentir a basket of small charms and fetishes. As for Regallis, a large roasted shank of meat went untouched in front of him.

Seeking their blessings, Kanae dropped a few coins into each of the demigods’ offering plates. She pressed both hands together, closed her eyes, and prayed. A cool wind caressed her cheek, which was odd considering they were inside an enormous cathedral.

”Hmmm. Do my eyes deceive me? You may be the youngest candidate ever to chase Deification,” a gravelly voice spoke.

”Eh?” Kanae’s eyes snapped open to a large lupine beastman staring down at her.

The seven-foot tall figure appeared to be the spitting image of Regallis. Kanae recalled that statues depicted the beastman without any old blemishes. His muscular body was covered in coarse, black fur broken up by many scars along the arms and shoulders. A particularly gruesome scar ran down his cloudy right eye. He wasn’t without equipment either. Sleeveless leather tunic, crossbow and dagger, and potions hung from strings at his waist side.

”Wait!” She shook her head. ”I’m not young! A berinath’s magic just temporarily transformed me—”

Something growled nearby. Kanae took her eyes off the beastman and whipped around. An oddly bleak forest surrounded them, dark gray and mostly colorless. Trees didn’t sway or rustle from the wind, and the grass beneath her feet crunched like old parchment.

A haze of mist jumped out from the foliage, too fast to be mere mists. Regallis hoisted Kanae up like a satchel and leaped away. She blinked one moment, and the mist turned into a hulking beast with razor sharp fangs. Another blink, and it reverted back to an amorphous blob of smog.

Regallis fired several bolts into it. The beast took form again and seemingly perished. He let her down with a pat on the head.

”W-Where are we?!” Kanae gasped.

”Why, we’re in the Realm of Eternal Rest!” Regallis brushed aside the shrubs to reveal they were on a forest cliff, overlooking a vast, desolate landscape just as gray as the immediate area.

”Am I… dead?” She gulped.

Ha!” The demigod threw his head back and guffawed. ”No. I heard your prayers. Your minor divinity must have brought you directly to me. Sort of an inopportune time. As you can see, I’m in the middle of work. My shift doesn’t end for another century.”

Regallis yanked the crossbow bolts from the ground, since the beast he had killed was no longer there. Killed? Did things even die down here if they were already dead?

”It’s gone? What was that thing?” Kanae asked, eyes darting from bushes to trees.

”Souls of beasts.” Regallis flashed a toothy smile. ”Mortals like yourselves aren’t the only ones that can pass away with lingering regrets. When enough beasts, monsters, or what have you die, their souls sometimes amalgamate into wayward spirits. My job is an eternal hunt to free them from those earthly bonds and emotions. I’m having the time of my life here! But you…” He noted her shaking. ”Are not. You prayed and came to me seeking guidance, yes? Actually, I seek your help instead.”

”If it has anything to do with hunting in the afterlife, count me out!” She made an X with both arms.

He shook his head. ”Perhaps it is sheer coincidence that you are where you currently reside. But I have a Rift that needs completing in Vanuis. There are no takesies-backsies when it comes to Rifts. They exist in one place until someone conquers it. For some reason, maybe due to a lack of worthy challengers, that Rift has gone uncompleted for decades! My colleagues speak highly of your accomplishments. Find it, complete it, and claim my rewards.”

Kanae readily agreed to step up to the task. A Rift always had incredibly powerful magical equipment. But if it was in Vanuis, where was the portal? Before she had a chance to ask, the world had color again. She was back in the cathedral.

”Kanae.” Alicia came up from behind her. ”Claudia and I have learned all that the clergy here know, which unfortunately, wasn’t much. What’s our next move?”

”Let’s not waste time. We’ll go straight to the mosque to find out what’s going on,” Kanae said.

”Be careful, High Priestess!” The newly-minted succubus, Quinnsera, shouted.

When Kanae followed the voice to the pews, several parishioners were gangbanging the priest. They surrounded Quinnsera in a circle. She stroked two men off and sucked a third. Others waited impatiently while beating their meat. The clergy, clearly troubled by this but not wanting to fight a succubus, shook their heads and glared from afar with some choice words.

”You just became a succubus, and you’re already going mad with lust?” Kanae put a hand to her face and sighed.

”Forgive me! This body you have blessed me with is too horny… I needed an outlet! Fear not, High Priestess… We fornicate in your name— ahh!” Quinnsera cried as someone ejaculated all over her face.

Kanae hurried Alicia and Claudia out before she got horny watching them. It was still bright out. The blistering sun wasn’t so bad underneath the cliff shade. Kanae eyed the Supreme One’s church on the other side of the city and wondered how Petyr was doing, and if Riley was still giving her a hard time.

They would have to come later. For now, the Duststorm Tabernacle demanded their attention. The question was, how to get in? If Jhene, Elaine, and their succubi were present in Sthe city, heading there out in the open was going to cause problems.

Claudia directed their attention to the stone building blocks piled up outside the tabernacle’s courtyard. Laborers carted in the hefty materials regularly. Whatever they were constructing inside must need a lot of stone. Expanding the mosque maybe?

A large wagon transporting similar stone blocks rolled into the city. They had a heavy tarp over the back, fastened with rope. The coaches stopped in front of a tavern, wiping the sweat from their faces before heading in… as well as leaving the wagon unattended.

”Are you guys thinking what I’m thinking?” Kanae asked.

”We… bust in and beat everyone up for answers!” Claudia suggested.

”No! We do this quietly. You can beat up everyone if things turn south. Hurry!” She ushered them into the back of the wagon, then hopped in herself.

Stone blocks were cut roughly two by three feet. They stacked five high, filling the entire bed of the wagon. The coaches returned a few moments later sounding refreshed and a little tipsy. After a few cracks of the whip, the wagon started rolling. Sand and dust trickled down from the stone stacks as they moved.

”Listen up. When we get to the tabernacle, Alicia and I are going in with Magical Stealth. Claudia, you stay out here in case anything goes wrong, and we need you to find Petyr to fight our way,” Kanae explained.

”No fair. I wanna go in, too! Why do you two get all the fun?” Claudia pouted.

”Because if something does happen, there’s not many things that can stop you. There’s also nothing that can stop Petyr. Hopefully it doesn’t come to that though…”

They eventually reached what Kanae assumed was the pool of water in front of the Duststorm Tabernacle. The wagon lurched to a stop. A few guards walked up to the wagon to lead the coaches over. It must be a spiritual thing to bathe before entering. Once they were done, the wagon was on the move again.

The short ride finally came to an end when another man halted them. Whoever it was directed the wagon to park, and for the drivers to get lost. They were likely in the courtyard next to the mass of stone blocks now.

Pacing footsteps went around the wagon and stopped in the back. A bored man in glasses threw open the flap, coming face to face with Kanae and the two sisters. The clipboard and pencil dropped from his hands.

”Sorry about this.” Kanae placed him under a charm before he could call for help.

The three descended from the back of the wagon and into a maze of construction blocks stacked higher than their heads. Other transport vehicles sat in wait to be unloaded. On the other side of the wall of stone, laborers hoisted the heavy blocks into carts.

Kanae gave Alicia the go-ahead, and she cloaked them both in a shroud of invisibility magic.

”Sundown,” Claudia said. ”If you guys aren’t back by then, I’ll get Petyr.”

”Thanks, sister.” Alicia smiled, only for her younger sibling to turn away in a huff.

They flew for the Duststorm Tabernacle while laborers and clerics were none the wiser. No one took notice as they entered the grand circular vestibule. The polished stone floor depicted a magnificent shining star, and a mural painted on the domed portrayed the full moon. From here, the chamber forked into five different corridors. One large passage directly across from the entrance led deeper into the mosque, presumably to the worship hall. Two smaller passages on each adjacent side led to who knew where.

Laborers and ronoas pulling carts of stone blocks headed through the central passage. A trail of sand proved as much. Clergymen sweeped the floor with every cart that passed, ensuring that the sun beneath their feet remained pristine.

The people of the cloth in Duststorm Tabernacle dressed in pale green and yellow robes. Loosely-bound turbans wrapped around their heads. All of them wore pendants of the sun that hung in open display atop their chest. Some, however, possessed pendants that had more rays than others. Alicia surmised that it was likely how they denoted rank, so Kanae flew down to an elven priest dusting a row of ancient earthen vases, whose pendant boasted many rays.

Alicia did the honors of seizing control of him and whispered, ”Take us to where you hold captives, quietly and without drawing attention.”

”As you wish.” The priest put the duster down and obediently escorted them down the leftmost passageway.

Too bad. Kanae had hoped they could investigate where all the stone blocks were being delivered to, and what they were building over there.

Clergy lower on the religious hierarchical rung bowed their heads as they passed by the senior priest. He paid no mind to them, and that seemed perfectly normal. Unbeknownst to the others, he was completely under Alicia’s control.

The doorways along the corridor were tall. Some had been left ajar. A glimpse inside a few revealed studies, living quarters, storage closets, and smaller prayer rooms. Still no signs of any succubi yet. If Kanae hadn’t already known this place was suspicious and compromised by the cult, she would have thought it just another big cathedral.

But even the largest, god-fearing organizations hid dark secrets. A wide stairwell at the end of the corridor led into the underbelly of the Duststorm Tabernacle. No one passed by them here anymore, and torches on the wall barely lit the way.

At the very bottom, the priest grabbed the sun-shaped knocker and struck it against the heavy iron-reinforced door. Metal echoed up the empty stairs, and Kanae was sure anyone in the hallway could have heard that.

The door swung open. A burst of stale air erupted outwards, and fresh air rushed in. They entered an extremely hot and dry dungeon, a place that the pious clerics shouldn’t really have down here to begin with. There were too many to count, but Kanae guessed nearly a hundred prisoners languished in their cells. Others were crammed into a single cage made to stand and… and…

Squelching?

Kanae and Alicia followed the sound to a row of cells containing moaning maidens. People were definitely inside being sexually tormented. Fluids seeped out from the bottom of the human-sized iron container, quickly drying out from the arid heat. In another cell, female prisoners sat shackled to chairs with metal devices repeatedly plunging into their pussies. Possibly the most painful torture device was the rack. But instead of pulling on limbs, the victim lying face down had their nipples clamped down and tugged by weights.

”These are sex toys designed by the dwarves. I should know, since I had some made after finding their schematics,” Kanae whispered.

”It seems the clerics of Duststorm Tabernacle also came into possession of such schematics. But where are the prisoners we’re looking for?” Alicia asked.

Just as they thought to search, four guards who were having their way with a prisoner pulled up their pants and rushed to the priest in panic.

”Father Malik! What brings you down here?” one guard asked.

”W-We were just disciplining some misbehaving prisoners,” a second quickly added.

”I’m here to further question the rebel captives. They may still have pertinent information on Rasheena’s whereabouts,” the priest named Father Malik explained.

The guards exchanged nervous glances.

”Uhm… Father Bashj had ordered them through the portal yesterday. Didn’t he tell you? B-But one stayed behind. The prisoner is apparently pregnant, and Father Bashj thought it too cruel to send her in. Please, right this way!”

Kanae and Alicia followed the retinue to a farther cell. A lone, short-haired dark elven woman laid on a cot inside, her stomach swollen from pregnancy. Despite being pregnant, they certainly didn’t bother sparing her any comfort. She had to be a few months away from giving birth.

When Father Malik shooed the guards away, they hesitated to leave at first. He shot them a glare that finally sent them walking. Though, they didn’t leave the prison and instead plopped down at a table to play cards.

”Psst!” Kanae whispered, causing the elf to snap upright. ”Don’t react. Father Malik is under a charm right now. There’s two of us invisible. We’re here at Rasheena’s request to break you out.”

”Lady Rasheena? Sands… I thought we had been forsaken… I don’t know who you are, stranger, but I will welcome help. The others, they took them somewhere upstairs. I’m not sure where. I’ve been down here for weeks. Do you… have any water to spare?” the pregnant woman asked, licking her parched lips.

Kanae looked down the end of the prison where the guards boisterously played poker. She carefully took a flask off her person. The invisibility wore off from it because the item was no longer attached to her person. As soon as she passed it through the metal bars, the elf snatched it and gulped the entire thing down in seconds.

”Kanae, we should hurry. The guards keep throwing glances down this way,” Alicia whispered.

”I’m sorry.” Kanae apologized to the woman. ”We can’t break you out yet. Just tough it out for a little while longer. I promise that we’ll get you and your baby out.”

”I… I believe you. Thank you. Before you leave, there’s something you should know. There are succubi here. More than one. A violent succubus with hobgoblin features has been throwing orders around,” she explained.

Alicia clenched her jaw and mouthed Jhene’s name. So, the Mistress of Subjugation was in Vanuis after all.