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

The skies weren’t any less dangerous than being on foot. Bravost’s army had their own airborne infantry. Harpy soldiers swarmed Kanae, Claudia, and Alicia, doing everything they could to prevent them from getting to the Emerald Palace. Beating wings drummed loud enough to draw attention. Citizens watched from below, aghast at more fighting in the city.

Two harpies grabbed Kanae from behind. They purposefully became deadweight, intending to take her down with them. Kanae inflicted Necrotizing Touch on one, and the searing pain of festering flesh made him let go. She headbutted the second away with the impact of Titanic Blow.

”Do not let them reach the palace!”

”For the sultana!”

Fallen harpies recovered and regrouped to launch another counterattack.

”Argghh!” Claudia growled out of frustration. ”They’re so fucking persistent! Can I use Project Agony to deal with ’em all at once? I’ll keep them at bay! You go on ahead with my sister, Kanae. Her stealth only affects one other person anyway.”

”Good luck, and don’t push yourself!” Kanae nodded as Alicia held her hand and wreathed them in Magical Stealth.

They flew far enough away that when Claudia struck herself with the paddle, Project Agony didn’t reach them. Instead, her skill dropped a whole horde of harpies. But more ascended back into the sky to meet her in battle.

The former Mistress of Pain revelled in the thick of it. Claudia was more slippery than a bar of soap. She side-stepped a harpy’s slash to end up behind them, spanked their ass, and sent them plummeting. Another, she whipped until their body was covered in lashes. Every strike that landed on Claudia made her cackle even louder, to the point where the attackers hesitated and wondered if they were even doing anything.

Kanae peeled away from the marvelous sight and beelined it for the Emerald Palace with Alicia. They entered from an open moon window on the ceiling of one of the many spires. It turned out to be a smoking lounge and smelled of mind-tingling fumes. Affluent members of Sultana Dudula’s court laid around the circular room, pulling from hookahs while voluptuous women in belly dancer garbs and veils performed next to them.

”Oh, ho-ho! Come closer, my sweet. Bring that pair of yours closer,” one man said, beckoning to a dark elven woman. Giggling, she straddled him and pressed her breasts to his face. He motorboated into them just as Kanae and Alicia ended the effects of stealth.

”S-Succubi! RUN!”

Everyone except for the pair ran out screaming. When the two looked up, the dancer got off of him and made a run for it but paused behind the door. Kanae winked, and the dancer bit down on her lower lip before her friends came back to pull her away.

”W-W-What do you want? Money? I have plenty!” The terrified human tossed a bulging pouch of gold at their feet which spilled coins all over the ground.

”Kanae, his crest.” Alicia gestured to the four-pointed star brooch on his chest.

”What are members of the East Saviran Trading Association doing in the Emerald Palace?” Kanae kneeled down and charmed him.

”Sultana Dudula paid us to be here,” he answered obediently. ”Premier Migo Kudagu and Sultana Dudula worked out a contract. Bravost’s gold for the association’s private army and resources.”

”Wouldn’t be surprised if Bravost goes broke at this rate… Get up. Lead us to the sultana,” she ordered.

The man rose to his feet and began walking out the door. Kanae and Alicia followed close behind while invisible again. However, word was already spreading of succubi making it to the palace. Guards raced up and down the hall. Panicking guests locked themselves inside rooms.

”You there, association merchant! Did you see where the succubi went?” One guard stopped them in the middle of the corridor.

”Yes, behind the way I came! Hurry!” He pointed back to the spire.

They raced past without question, none the wiser that the succubi were in stealth right in front of them. The halls were brightly lit. No one could have hid otherwise if it wasn’t for magical invisibility.

Kanae thought she and Alicia were being misled when they headed towards another spire. It looked just like any other, like more association members and dancers would be in there. The one thing that tipped her off that it was the place were the heavily-armed guards in full silver lamellar. They crossed a short yet wide bridge under the night, only to be confronted by spears. Up close, Kanae recognized the same crest on them that was on the merchant. These guards were employed by the association.

”Sultana Dudula and Premier Migo aren’t taking any visitors. Back the way you came. Now!” an imposing guard shouted.

”So, the sultana is here after all?” Kanae asked.

Their invisibility faded. Six guards thrusted their spears forward, but Alicia charmed them to stop. They walked past unimpeded into the spire and heard talking from within. Kanae and Alicia pressed their backs to the wall, quietly listening in.

”Did you hear that outside? Those succubi intruders must have found us!” Sultana Dudula’s frantic voice exclaimed.

”Nonsense, Your Majesty.” The one who sounded so self-assured must be Migo. ”We are protected by the association’s best. You are safe here. As for the traitor…”

”I am no traitor! Sultana Dudula, please. I’ve served you faithfully for years. Migo and the East Saviran Trading Association will bleed Bravost’s coffers dry. They want a war, so that you can fund them. We can find allies in Avanesse and in the northerners. I’ve spoken to their leaders. They— Ahh!”

A heavy thud cut short the rest of their sentence. It sounded like Archmage Donnu. Someone must have hit him pretty hard.

”Enough of this, cousin!” another familiar voice shouted. ”Dudula, I can’t sit quiet any longer. Hurting your own archmage is madness! We’ve known Donnu for years as a trusted advisor!”

That was, without a shadow of a doubt, Vizier Duran. So, he hadn’t left Bravost yet. Kanae had pegged him as a bit of a coward. He could have gone back to Kandis, where things were stable and quiet. But the man decided to stay. Whether out of patriotism for his country or familial obligation, it spoke to the honor of his character.

”Be quiet, Duran. I’m putting you in that chair if you keep talking. Migo is right… Donnu is the one who came back with our enemies. At our door steps, too… The archmage has outlived his usefulness. Send him back to the sands,” Sultana Dudula demanded.

”With pleasure, Your Majesty,” Migo said.

”That’s enough!” Kanae stepped into view and subtly motioned to Alicia to go around. The succubus draped herself in Magical Stealth, then quietly entered the room unbeknownst to everyone.

Archmage Donnu was bound to a chair in the center of the room, blood dripping down his chin and face covered in bruises. Sultana Dudula, Migo, and three large beastmen surrounded him. The trio of muscles had bloodied knuckles, probably from beating on Donnu moments ago. Pleading to their side was Vizier Duran, whose small stature as a fennec beastman could do little to stop them.

”K-Kanae!” Duran gasped.

”She… She’s here! Stop her!” Sultana Dudula yelled.

”Get that bitch,” Migo ordered his goons.

A minotaur, horseman, and centaur picked up heavy weapons and cautiously approached Kanae.

”Any other time, and I’d love to take all three of you on if you catch my drift. But I have my own orders.” Kanae lifted the Blade of the First Temptress and casted Sleep through it.

All three beastmen collapsed on the floor. So did Migo’s jaw. Alicia cut Archmage Donnu free from the chair and picked him up. Before anyone else could react, Kanae darted up to Sultana Dudula, grabbed her by the scruff of her neck, and flew out an open window with Alicia close behind.

”Wait, what about me?!” Duran ran up to the window and shouted.

”You stay put!” Kanae replied.

”No! No! Let go of me!” Sultana Dudula kicked, thrashed, and cried.

It would be bad if all that struggling made her fall. Kanae put her to sleep with the same spell, and the sultana’s body went limp.

”Where… are we going? And what will… you do with Sultana Dudula?” Archmage Donnu asked, wincing from his wounds.

”That’s up to Archbishop Patrice now,” Kanae said.

Bravost and the association’s combined forces were completely inept against the barrier. They staged ineffective attacks that barely scratched it. Meanwhile, Edina’s undead army harassed them from all sides, keeping the attention off the edirashem.

When Archbishop Patrice saw Kanae coming back from a hole in Misiah’s mansion, she willed an opening in the barrier for them to enter through. Rasheena and Sultan Cerberus had been waiting impatiently, too.

Kanae and Alicia landed in a messed up room. The furniture and carpet were charred. A landscape painting had fallen from the wall. An explosive bola had likely hit this section. She set Sultana Dudula down, and Alicia did the same of Archmage Donnu.

”I almost forgot Sultana Dudula was as short as I am,” Cerberus came up to her and said.

”Keep your distance.” Rasheena yanked him back to her side.

Patrice nodded to Kanae, who ended the effects of Sleep on Sultana Dudula. The beastman woman stirred to consciousness. She blinked a few times before realizing her situation.

”Damn you!” Sultana Dudula backed up into the wall and shot an accusing look at Donnu. ”You betrayed me after all. You were my friend! My closest confidante. I gave you everything, yet this is how you repay my generosity?”

Donnu exploded. ”It is because I’m on your side! You’ve spent a fourth of Bravost’s wealth buying out mercenaries. That is already untold fortunes. Now, you’ve given another fourth to the East Saviran Trading Association? By war’s end, the coffers of Bravost will be drier than Savir! Premier Migo will wring out every last coin to fatten his purse.”

”But he…” Her trembling knees gave out from under.

Everyone winced as Archbishop Patrice dragged two chairs across the room. She put one next to Sultana Dudula, then sat down on the second one for herself.

”We took you from the Emerald Palace not to kidnap you, but to give you your agency back. I suspect this Migo has been whispering in your ears for a long time. His whispers will not reach you here. If you truly wish to leave, simply ask. I’ll have Amethyst bring you back,” Patrice explained with a hand stretched in Kanae’s direction.

”How… How do I know you’re all not trying to trick me?” Dudula asked, wavering.

”Please, allow me to illuminate you.” Sultan Cerberus finally stepped up, much to Rasheena’s dismay. ”You may not remember me, Sultana. I am Cerberus dir Khalid. Do you remember my parents? When I was born, they brought me to Bravost. Apparently, we’ve met. You held me once. Swaddled me. My father spoke highly of you. Perhaps you recognize these words, ’given time, even the smallest grain of sand can make a mountain of difference.’”

”What? You would have been too young to remember. How?” She stared in confusion.

”Because my father wrote it all in a diary.” The boy produced a wrinkly, leather bound journal and flipped it to a specific page scrawled from top to bottom. He handed it to the sultana to read and continued, ”I’m called weak, frail… the Mutt of Avanesse. But thanks to your words, my parents never gave up on me, and I’ll not give up on myself.”

Sultana Dudula squeezed her eyes shut and sighed. She closed the journal shut, returned it to Cerberus’ possession, and slumped down into the seat Patrice had pulled up for her.

”How is it that someone so young can show more wisdom than an aged dog like me? I remember your mother and father. They were good rulers… Somewhere along the line, I stopped being a good ruler.” The sultana sulked.

”Your greatest mistake was setting aside the one good counsel you had for a snake. Isn’t that right, Archmage Donnu?” Patrice nudged the dark elf forward and urged him to speak.

”Your Majesty.” Donnu kneeled to be eye-level with the sultana. ”I have no ambitions other than to see Bravost prosper, and I believe our new allies will be that path forward. If you will have me as your advisor again, it would mean the—”

”Enough, Archmage.” She lifted a hand to quiet him. ”We will stand our forces down, open the gates to these guests… and bring Premier Migo Kudagu of the East Saviran Trading Association to face judgment.”

Archmage Donnu expelled a relieved sigh as a single tear streaked down his cheek. Together with Sultana Dudula, they descended from the edirashem. Not a moment too soon, because the spell scroll had run its course, and the barrier began to crumble.

Bravost’s mercenary army marched upon the caravan, only to meet Sultana Dudula and Archmage Donnu at the bottom of the forewagon. There was a very real chance they might not believe them, especially after the two were essentially kidnapped by succubi. A scuffle did break out.

Some association mercenaries tried Donnu’s patience, and they learned exactly why he was Archmage. The dark elf encased the upstarts in a tomb of ice. Everyone else decided now was a good time to be obedient again. Before long, the gates of Bravost groaned open.

Kanae joined Cerberus on the balcony and said, ”When you mentioned something your parents passed down to you, I thought it was going to be an artifact or some incredible fortune. Only, it turned out to be a diary.”

”I can only hope I’ve made my parents proud.” Cerberus smiled.

”I’m not your mother and father, but as a parent, I know I’d be very proud of you.” She patted him on the head.

”But I couldn’t have done it without you and your friends. Thank you, Queen Kanae! Avanesse owes you a debt that I can’t repay in this lifetime alone.” He grabbed the hand on his head to shake.