The Hero Became a Succubus, and the Only Way to Level is to… What?!
Chapter 404 – Assault on the Cultist Temple

They waited until nightfall to begin the operation to infiltrate the Cult of Lust and Depravity's floating temple. Several more attacks had hit The Claw in the meantime but were easily repelled. It helped that there were only a limited number of Queen-Mother succubi in the city, probably two hundred at most. The rest were back up north.

Denying access across the land bridge had severely impacted their attempts to seize the district. That didn't stop them from trying to send a ground force anyway. Thankfully, the trolls and ogres they had sent earlier now fought for Kanae's stead. It seemed a good pussy served as a really effective motivator.

"Fight for mate! Waaagghhh!" a troll roared as he swung his massive club into an Ortesian phalanx.

"Succubus promise blowjob if me do good! Outta the way, puny sharp-ears!" An ogre picked up a Saviran soldier and tossed him off the district.

"Go, sweeties! You're all doing so great! I can't wait for you to gangbang me again later!" Kanae cheered from the back.

"How do you even take their violent mating?" Rasheena asked, sounding slightly disgusted yet intrigued.

"Very easily." She winked.

The Avanessi resistance was doing well now. Even if the trolls and ogres were defeated, Petyr and Renya planned to stay behind to bolster their defenses here. However, they could only be in so many places at once. Sometimes, a succubus slipped through and made off with a captive. They also regularly plucked citizens off from The Commons. It drove home why dealing with the temple soon was necessary.

Alicia had hoped her Mistress sisters would have come to take care of things themselves. Taking out even one of them would be a boon. They proved to be smarter than that though.

Night stretched across the deserts, and the whipping canopies intensified from dry gales and a full moon. Kanae and Rasheena returned to the inn to begin the operation. Their group was going to consist of the two of them, as well as Alicia and Praijya. It was also supposed to include Edina, but she was still missing.

"Damn it, Edina. Just where are you?" Kanae groaned into the night.

"The necromancer. Is it possible she is a turncoat?" Rasheena asked.

"No chance, but Edina went looking for the Necronomicon and—"

"Kanae!"

Speaking of the devil, the squirreling descended from the sky and landed in front of the inn. She was immediately met with swords, spears, arrows, and whatever else the resistance members were armed with.

"Well, shit. That's some welcome back committee you guys got here." Edina raised both hands in the air.

"Stand down. She's one of ours!" Rasheena shouted, and they lowered their weapons in relief. "You're going to have to forgive them. We've been fighting succubi all day. Wings, horns, and a tail is what they saw."

"If you hadn't noticed, my tail has more fur than Regallis' backside." She swung the big tail, which was the only thing that didn't change when Kanae transformed her.

"Edina, you had me worried! Where were you this entire time?" Kanae asked.

The squirreling scratched the side of her cheek and sighed.

"I'm sorry. You probably guessed right. I was looking for Riben and the Necronomicon all day. Found some information you guys might wanna hear though. Dude's got undead everywhere. I mean, undead warriors patrolling the streets in the open, undead birds on rooftops, and undead rats in nooks and crannies. Everywhere!" Edina explained.

They felt a chill run up their spines. Rasheena scanned the dark alleys and corners of the block. Kanae and Alicia eyed the upper perches of each building. Edina's revelation meant that Riben Crow heard all of their whispers and plans, and he was on Sultan Cerberus' side.

"Knowing that, do you still want to assault the temple?" Alicia asked.

"I do." Rasheena balled both hands into fists. "We should. Even if it's a trap, this is worth the risk for what we gain by downing that thing."

"Aw, shit. We're going up to that thing? Maybe I shouldn't have come back…" Edina frowned.

They put their plan into motion. The four of them took a secret underground passage below the inn that led around to the front of Avanesse. Flying up to the temple from within the city was suicide. Any succubi that saw them would immediately recognize who they were. It meant that their only way into the temple was from above.

Shoddy bridges built into the cliff face swayed precariously over the rocky surface. Occasionally, a critter scurried past their feet. Kanae feared they might be undead, and that Riben was following their movements. Edina assured them those little animals were very much alive. They eventually made it to the entrance of the city, where the edirashem caravans were parked. From there, the group ascended under the cover of night.

Kanae and Alicia lifted Rasheena up, each holding one hand. They rose until they were at the top of the canyon's upper surface, a smooth stretch of earth that shrouded Avanesse in a natural barrier. They could only see the city through fissures. The temple wasn't much farther now, but faced with battering winds and freezing temperatures of a desert at night, it might be tougher than they bargained for.

"Dragon time?" Edina asked.

"Dragon time." Kanae nodded.

The necromancer called forth her terrifying undead dragon. Rasheena staggered back when a large skeletal hand sprung from the abyssal portal first, the claws drawing marks on the stone as it crawled out. As soon as they climbed into the ribcage, succubi were already coming this way.

"Since we know it's a trap, let's make sure they know we don't give a crap. Fly, my darling dragon!" Edina ordered, yanking both the Scythe of Soul Reaping and Pillar of the Damned from a portal.

With a tremendous beat of its tattered wings, the dragon lifted into the air. They flew dead ahead for the flying temple. However, the succubi cultists had a thing or two to say about that. A volley of magical fire lit up the night sky like falling meteors.

Edina's dragon could only dodge so many. They pummeled the undead beast, charring the skeletal frame black not at all detering its flight. One blast nailed the dragon's right shoulder and rained cinders on them from inside the ribcage.

"We can't keep taking these attacks! An unlucky hit might blow us all out!" Kanae warned.

"I was hoping to save this for later, but fiiine. Hey, Kanae. Say hello to your old friend!" Edina, who was riding on the head of her dragon, plunged the scythe into the empty space and carved open a gigantic portal. A familiar hulking eel monstrosity slithered out and wreaked havoc on the succubi cultists. Kanae's jaw dropped. The leviathan was all bones now, but she still recognized it from the day it transformed her.

"A berinath?!" Rasheena choked on her spit. "Those ancient things exist deep under Savir. Just… what are you people?"

Her surprise was palpable. Anyone would be if they laid eyes on that creature, and it was certainly sending the succubi into disarray.

"D-Does it still have magic?" Kanae asked nervously.

"Nah. I wasn't good enough to preserve its magic. Maybe if I had the Necronomicon. It still makes for one helluva siege weapon though. Go, Beri! GO!" Edina yelled.

The berinath ran through succubi like a bowling ball into a bunch of pins. Every magic spell and attack they threw did little to stop it. Edina ordered the leviathan to ram its skull into the side of the flying temple— and so it did.

A thunderous boom erupted at the moment of impact, but the temple didn't budge an inch. Glimmering energy rippled across it. Some kind of barrier covered the entire structure.

"Shit! We can't get through!" Edina shouted.

"Let me try!" Kanae flicked a Dispel, removing only a tiny portion of the shield that quickly reformed.

No dice. They needed Praijya, but she was too precious of a trump card to risk falling into the cultists' hands. More succubi were coming from the city, joined by harpy races charmed to do their bidding or fighting on the side of Sultan Cerberus. Kanae chewed her thumb in thought. It was going to take a large enough spell—

Wait.

"Edina, ram the temple again and bring us close enough to jump in!" Kanae exclaimed.

"Are you crazy? We're not getting through it!" Edina countered.

"Just trust me!"

Edina had the berinath put some distance, then dive head-first for the temple. Kanae casted Dispel into her earrings. Doom first, to store the spell. Just as the monster was about to make contact, she unleashed Dispel through Gloom and made it cast as an area of effect.

The berinath's skull caved in the temple and wrenched out, leaving behind a modest opening. They didn't hesitate to dive through as the barrier was beginning to regenerate. Kanae grabbed Rasheena and furled her wings to pick up speed. The group crash landed inside the dimly-lit temple corridor made of sandstone. Behind, the barrier had closed shut. Edina's undead berinath and dragon continued battling succubi outside.

Wherever they were, it appeared to be a walkway that stretched the length of the ziggurat's wall. Burning sconces illuminated the hall. The hum of magic reverberated gently in the air from no discernible source.

"That… was a hard landing…" Rasheena croaked.

"Sorry. Had to make it in as fast as possible." Kanae offered a hand and pulled her up.

"This place… I don't like it. I feel like I'm back in the sunken temple. Kanae, if it is anything like the one I was imprisoned in, then the engine room must be on a lower floor," Alicia explained, her shoulders tense and eyes darting at every shadow.

"If we still had Petyr, we could pummel our way down. No going back now. Keep an eye out for secret entrances," she said before leading the way down one end of the corridor.

The differences between the two temples were night and day. Literally. The sunken temple's architecture was dark and its stonework faded. Here, the sandstone was freshly cut. The colors were vibrant. Magic teemed in the air like moisture in a humid jungle.

Kanae thought she was walking in a pyramid back on Earth in Egypt. Not that she had ever been to them. But if one traveled back in time to their glory days, this must be how it felt walking through their vast network of corridors.

They reached a spiral stone staircase at the corner of the ziggurat. No one and nothing had come to stop them yet. It descended down into the bowels, much deeper than the temple seemed to appear from outside.

Suddenly, without even a breeze to blow past them, the torches on the walls snuffed out one by one until they were enveloped in darkness.

"I spy with my little eyes intruders in Her sacred temple. Among them is a dear sweet sister of mine," Elaine's taunting voice echoed from every direction.

"Give me Claudia back, and I'll promise to use the less lethal venom on you!" Alicia shouted back.

"Ufufu~ Ahahaha!" Her deafening laughter assailed them loud enough to press their ears shut. "I'm oh so terrified. Whatever shall I do? Claudia isn't here, and I won't be for much longer. I have a wedding tomorrow, remember? I must have my beauty sleep in order to look my best for the complete and utter subjugation of Avanesse, then all of Savir. Good night, sister. And Kanae? Give my warmest regards to Jhene. She will take care of your punishments."

The shadows vanished. Torches reignited. They were no longer on the stairs, but in front of a large and empty chamber with a gate ahead of them as the only passage forward, or back the way they came.

"This has to be a trap, right? There's no way we're stupid enough to walk in there," Edina said.

"I agree with Edina. This room serendipitously appeared after Elaine finished speaking cryptically to us. We should double back," Alicia suggested.

They did exactly that, returning to the upper floor with the hole in the wall. However, the other end of the corridor led directly back to the same empty chamber. Although they didn't want to split the party, curiosity got the better of them. Kanae went with Edina, and Alicia went with Rasheena. Both groups traveled down the opposing corridor, somehow ending right at the stairs leading to the chamber they ended up in previously.

"Any bright ideas? You're the specialists," Rasheena said.

"I got it!" A bulb lit in Kanae's sex-filled brain. "They're probably hoping to trap us all at once. What if we go one at a time, reach the gate, and the next one goes next?"

"Allow me then." Alicia wreathed herself in Magical Stealth.

None of them so much as heard a footstep as the crowned Assassin traversed the stretch of the chamber. Her invisibility dropped the second she touched down on the other side.

"There appears to be a three-forked corridor down this way!" Alicia waved.

The remaining trio shrugged. Rasheena went next, followed by Edina. Once they crossed to the other side, Kanae entered casually seeing as the rest of them managed to without incident. The second she stepped inside though, both entrances slammed shut. 

"Of fucking course!" Kanae raced to the other side and beat her fists against the gate. "Alicia, can you unlock this?"

"There is no lock! It is simply a slab of stone," Alicia's muffled voice came through worriedly.

"Step back. Let me see if I can destroy it," she said.

Again, this would have been a piece of cake for the likes of Petyr to break through. If Kanae still had Cockcalibur, she might be able to Skill Drain a useful skill or spell from a past partner, too. Unfortunately, her hunch to leave it behind proved to be the correct choice. They wanted it. She was going to let them have it.

Kanae clenched a fist and infused her punch with Titanic Blow. She attacked the stone blockade with all her might. The impact caused the room to shudder, but the gate didn't cave in. As expected, she wasn't strong enough.

"No good. I think you guys should—"

Slats opened at the top of the chamber. A gas poured into the room. Kanae slapped a hand to her mouth and nose, but it was useless. The strange fumes filled the place up in seconds. Her eyelids grew heavy, her mind foggy, and the strength in her body began to leave. The faint shouts of her companions became more distant.

Fresh air started blowing in from above. Vents sucked up all the gas until the chamber was chilly and whistling from escaping winds. The gate on the far side from where they had entered opened, but Kanae was powerless to even crawl. Not enough to lift her gaze though, and see a tall succubus woman with hobgoblin features stroll in. She used her feet to turn Kanae around facing up.

"Jh… Jhene…" Kanae muttered.

"Lookie here. I caught myself a succubus queen." Jhene sneered, then kneeled down to swing the shrunken head of a scorpion. "Skippia. A dire scorpion species native to Savir. They don't sting, because they don't have stingers. Instead, they have gas sacks on their tails that spew out when in danger. Puts you riiiiight to sleep."

Kanae's eyelids were too heavy to keep open. An eager smirk was the last thing she saw before passing out.