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

The ground rumbled from a violent earthquake. Tall totems erupted from the ground across the arena, bigger than when she faced Joap. Teana flew backwards and landed behind a rocky hill. Already, Kanae noticed a shift in how she approached the fight compared to the last one. The eldest daughter played defensively at the start.

However, Pan wasn’t going to let her older sister do that. She brought the skull helmet down over her face, then brandished the half-staff to the sky.

”Mystic Eye!” Pan boomed. A large eyeball appeared in the sky. It scanned the arena from a bird’s eye view, zeroing in on Teana’s position. She lifted a grasping hand as if trying to pull something down from the heavens, only for dark swirling clouds to form overhead. ”Call Lightning!”

Teana dove out of the way as bolts of lightning crashed down on her position. She flew elsewhere, but the clouds lingered over the entire arena, and Mystic Eye saw everything from the sky. Pan might have Teana outmatched, but… the latter was more focused on escaping rather than fighting.

”Grr… What the hells are you doing? Fight back! I know you can!” Pan growled.

Kanae understood now. Teana was going easy on Pan. The fact of the matter was, between her and Mitty’s daughters, Revah and Teana were the most combat-oriented of the four. Her eldest daughter held back. Why?

However, just as Kanae thought that, Teana grinded to a halt. She grabbed a javelin from her back and flung it into Mystic Eye, dead center through the pupil. Pan’s spell shattered, but the crowned Shaman wasn’t out of tricks yet. As soon as Teana dove out of cover to launch a counterattack—

”Primal Grasp!” Pan pointed her staff to the earth and clenched her other hand.

Two earthen hands sprung from the ground to grab hold of Teana. Immobilized, bolts of Call Lightning pummeled her repeatedly. She cried out after each thundering blast. Pan was relentless, to. Lightning continued to fall until the hands of Primal Grasp fell apart from repeated strikes.

Teana fell to the ground. Her smoking body had been charred from the constant lightning. The audience gasped. After all, she was the favorite to win. Kanae couldn’t believe that her eldest daughter would lose so easily. As she was about to declare Pan the winner, the would-be victor had something to say.

”Is that it? Are you serious? You’ve got some nerve to throw the match, Teana! If you don’t get up right now, I’m never talking to you again!” Pan yelled.

”I just don’t like it when we’re fighting… We all used to be so close, but then you and Revah decided to grow so distant. Fine, Pan. You want me to take this fight seriously? Don’t hold it against your big sister then.” Teana reached behind her waist to grab a troll’s skull, consuming its power for her own.

Kanae had encountered enough trolls to know what it was for. Troll Regeneration kicked in, and Teana’s injuries healed on their own in no time. The crowned Headhunter rose to her feet, good as new.

”Now we’re talking. Elements, heed my call! Lend me your strength from the Primal Planes— Ascended Cast: Call Lightning!” Pan levitated into the air as the swirling clouds darkened.

Static rippled across Kanae’s skin. She glanced down at her arm, and the thin hairs stood erect. Crashing lightning didn’t fall at random. They targeted the tall totems.

Teana absorbed the power of two more skulls. Her tail transformed into that of an earth wyrm’s, longer, reptilian, and thick. All four limbs formed rough bark-like sleeves for armor. The Headhunter leaped into battle. The electrified totems discharged a nova of lightning that would have fried anything nearby. Not Teana. With Troll Regeneration still active, she stampeded through the storm.

Recognizing that the battle would be over if Teana makes this a slugfest, Pan flew into the sky amid the safety of lightning raining down all around. Kanae watched in awe as her eldest daughter threw caution to the wind, flying into the sky as well. A totem shot out from the ground. When Teana looked down, devastating lightning crashed down from above and slammed her against the totem. Primal Grasp emerged from the totem face to hold her against it, and the ensuing thunderous nova rocked the arena with an explosion.

Kanae shielded herself from the rain of debris.

”Now, it’s my win.” Pan grinned.

When the dust cleared, however, Teana was still standing on the top of the totem. She held two javelins staked into the head, sparking with electricity. Before Pan could react, Teana pushed off the totem and crashed into her. Both of them descended like a meteor to the earth, and the explosive impact left behind a large crater.

The dark clouds dissipated. Totems collapsed back into the soil. Wind cleared the cloud of debris from the crater. At the bottom, Teana carried an unconscious Pan in her arms.

”Winner, Teana Toyomi!” Kanae shouted, and the spectators boomed back with raucous cheers.

Up in the booth, Nelly, Mikki, and the rest of their family were on the edge of the guardrail. Kanae touched down next to Teana and placed a hand on Pan’s forehead.

”You two did great,” Kanae said.

”That didn’t feel good to win.” Teana sighed, looking down at her sister.

”What matters is you gave Pan a good fight. She would’ve hated it a lot more if you went easier on her.”

Clerics came over to take Pan. Despite being completely uninjured, Teana followed after them instead of going up to join family and friends in the booth.

In the next match, Runald faced off against another star student in Knights’ Academy. His victory came swift and decisive over a crowned Rogue, moving him into the semi-finals. The only ones left now were Nelly, Teana, Runald, and Tess. The gaur woman’s sheer raw strength made her an indomitable force to be reckoned with even though she wasn’t crowned. And since she matched against Teana, they were surely what the audience wanted to see the most.

Unfortunately for them, Runald and Nelly were going next to kick off the semi-finals. Academy spellcasters used the Plant Growth spell to create a forest around the arena for the next match, which featured another high elf and dark elf match-up, one that the audience seemed to be eating up. Nelly, being one of the more popular boys in Knights’ Academy, appeared to be the clear favorite among peers. Runald, on the other hand, enjoyed cheers from the faculty, Silver Hall where he was a part of, and high elven colleagues that viewed him as an extension of themselves.

Something about seeing the two facing each other before battle stirred pride in Kanae’s chest. Nelly wasn’t even her kid. Runald was still a boy who was head over heels for her. Yet she was friends with them both.

”Looks like you’re feeling a lot better, huh, Runald?” Nelly grinned.

”Debatable. When you have someone like Petyr Stormcloud training you, I think I need to redefine feeling ’better’. But yeah. I’m feeling pretty good. So, you don’t need to hold back.” Runald leveled his sword at him.

”Wasn’t planning to.” He responded by raising a hand crossbow.

Both of them had a change of equipment, likely to address the other’s skills. Runald wielded a long sword and tower shield. Nelly replaced his shortbow with the hand crossbow, a shortsword and dagger.

”Nelly, Runald, fight well. Begin!” Kanae shouted.

Unlike the past several fights that started off with someone making the first move, the two combatants here stared each other down instead. They walked in a circle, Runald holding his shield up and Nelly searching for an opening to shoot through. A cloud passed underneath the sun, shrouding the arena underneath its shadow.

Nelly took off running up a hill away from Runald, who didn’t expect him to do that. Giving pursuit, the high elf held his shield high as crossbow bolts rained down from above. As soon as he crested the hill, Nelly was nowhere to be seen.

”Eagle Sight!” Nelly’s voice rang out.

”Shit—” Runald swung around with his shield, blocking a blow from a shortsword’s thrust.

However, Nelly had already dipped right. He fired two shots past Runald’s guard, then raced back into the trees. A giant magical arrow appeared over his head. Nelly’s Hunter’s Mark had activated. The trees rustled, and Runald was prepared this time.

”Compel Duel!” Runald roared when Nelly neared—

Only for the dark elf to turn on one ankle, a few meters away from Runald such that Compel Duel didn’t reach. He fired another two bolts, and they plunged into his opponent’s chainmail. The combination of Eagle Sight and Hunter’s Mark made Nelly deadly. If he defeated Runald to face Teana in the finals, the fight might actually come close in spite of their difference in strength.

”Tch. I thought I’d bring a tower shield to block all your shots, but you’re obviously too fast anyway. Alright, then. I don’t need it.” Runald discarded his biggest defensive tool. Four crossbow bolts stuck out from his chest, but he seemed utterly unfazed.

Nelly didn’t take the bait and instead fired several more bolts. But Runald didn’t bother to dodge. He only shielded his head with an arm. The crowned Scout continued to shoot more, riddling Runald full of holes. Kanae winced at every shot landed. That was definitely Petyr thing to do ever she ever saw it. When Nelly began to rearm his hand crossbow, there were no more bolts to reload.

”Now, you have no choice but to fight in melee.” Runald pulled out nearly sixteen bolts and sucked in a deep breath. ”Second Wind!” Blood stopped trickling down from his wounds. He cracked his neck, gripped his longsword with both hands, and smirked.

However, Nelly maintained his distance. He understood his own disadvantage going up against a crowned Swordsman. Then, to both Kanae and Nelly’s surprise, Runald charged in his direction.

”You’re insane!” Nelly took a step back.

”If you don’t want me getting close, then start running!” Runald exclaimed.

Nelly almost did. But without crossbow bolts, being at range didn’t matter. He did the unthinkable and held his ground. Runald got in close and activated Compel Duel. In the blink of an eye, Nelly unleashed a flurry of attacks with his shortsword and dagger. They couldn’t cut through the Swordsman’s mail, but neither was Runald able to land a blow on the much quicker opponent.

”Didn’t think this through, did you?” Nelly smirked.

”I don’t need to hit you. I just need to hit close enough— Dragonbreaker Slash!” Runald overhead slammed the longsword into the ground and missed Nelly entirely, but the earth around them fissured.

A landslide carried both Nelly and Runald to the bottom of the hill. Runald got on top of Nelly before he could flee, knocked both weapons from his hands, and plunged the longsword into the dirt to the side of his head.

”You took us both down, you crazy bastard!” Nelly groaned.

”Petyr said, ’if you’re going to lose, at least make sure the other is dead’.” Runald shrugged.

Nelly erupted into a fit of laughter.

”Okay, I yield.” He lifted both hands up in surrender.

”Victor, Runald Aespir!” Kanae announced.

Runald rolled off Nelly and laid down next to him, exhausted beyond belief.

”I’m going to be honest, Nelly… I didn’t expect to win. I kind of wanted to lose, too.” Runald sighed.

”Considering who you might go up against in the finals, I don’t blame him.” Nelly picked himself up and offered his peer a hand.

Runald accepted, and they both rose to the audience’s cheers together.

”Well fought!” Kanae descended and patted both of them on the backs. Maybe she struck Runald a little too hard. He stumbled forward a few paces and returned a stare with knitted brows. ”Sorry, I didn’t mean to—”

Runald stormed up to Kanae, grabbed her face, and pulled her in for a deep kiss. The cheers grew louder. Her cheeks heated up. Nelly stepped away to give them room. When the two parted, he snatched the magical scroll from her hands.

”My name is Runald Aespir. I’d like to ask not the Empress of the Commonwealth nor the Knight of Amethyst, but Kanae Toyomi for her hand in marriage! Kanae…” Ears red, he fished into a pocket hidden inside his mail shirt and pulled out a small diamond ring. ”Will you marry me?”

Thousands of people were standing up in the stands to get a better look. In the VIP booth, her family watched with bated breath. Even Archbishop Patrice leaned forward against the guardrail of the royal booth with an amused expression.

Kanae took the scroll back and answered, ”Yes!” She tossed it aside, then pulled Runald in for another kiss.

Applause filled the stadium. Even Nelly clapped for them. When the clerics rushed into the arena, Kanae and Runald had to part ways. Especially since they needed to heal him before the finals later in the day. For now, a recess had been called to give spectators a break.

Archbishop Patrice beckoned to Kanae from her private booth. She appeared to be alone. King Turren and other guests seemed to have left already. When Kanae flew up to join the archbishop, she gestured to take a seat.

”Very clever of you,” Patrice said.

”What?” Kanae cocked her head.

”Runald Aespir proposing to you and you accepting. Wait. That confusion on your face. You… didn’t know?” She arched her brows.

”Know what?!”

”An imperial Ortesian delegation arrived last night to conduct the prisoner exchange we discussed before. Among them is the Aespir family head, Ronald Aespir. I had thought you and Ronald’s son conspired to announce your marriage as a political munition against the Ortesian empire. I was told he was very disgusted to see you and Runald kissing. Haha!” The archbishop erupted into knee-slapping laughter.

”I DIDN’T KNOW THAT! Ughhh. That’s so embarassing. Does Runald know his family is here?”

Patrice shook her head.

”Runald likely will soon enough. The Ortesians will be here for a stretch of time. The prisoner exchange shall be conducted at the conclusion of the upper tournament. We wouldn’t want them to leave without witnessing the sheer power of our strongest, yes?” Patrice smiled.