The Hero Became a Succubus, and the Only Way to Level is to… What?!
Chapter 409 – Evening Assault

The fighting mostly subsided by nightfall. Pockets of battle continued to take place across Avanesse, but they were localized and ended faster than they started. Even a city amidst a civil war needed to rest. Its people, even more so. Moonlight replaced the sun's rays in reflecting off the giant glinting ruby embedded into Isha Palace. Flickering lights within the many spires was evidence enough that the inhabitants weren't ready to call it night.

Neither was the resistance.

Kanae peeled away from the window, having wasted enough time lounging. The warm bath and a change of clothes perked her right up. Rasheena had brought her a red light red tunic and leather pants, but their fabric felt weird on her skin. Didn't show enough skin, that must be it. A deep dark tan from being naked under the sun for a month was all she came back with from the Rift. Well, that and an enchanted weapon. She grabbed her new sword resting against the wall. The Blade of the First Temptress responded with a hum of energy. Alicia was standing to the side of the door when Kanae emerged from her room.

They traveled down to the first floor ballroom downstairs, which had been converted into a hospital to tend the many injured. The luxury hotel, Dashim, used drapes and curtains to create makeshift medical booths. It was practically unrecognizable as a ballroom, what with all the pained groans and running around.

A child's crying brought Kanae to a stop in front of a booth. When she peered inside intending to offer whoever they were some healing magic, Petyr was already on it. The paladin hovered a hand over a little dark elven girl's shoulder, where a nasty burn blemished her skin.

"Hold still." Petyr clicked her tongue. "Mana's precious right now. If I miss this heal, I'm not going to cast it a second time."

"But it huuuuurts!" the girl wailed.

Healing magic engulfed the wound in a bright golden light. When the radiance petered out, the little girl's burn was all but gone.

"It doesn't hurt anymore?" She gasped.

"Run off back to your parents," Petyr said.

"You're not mean like the other light-skinned elves. Thank you!" The dark elf child threw both arms around Petyr's neck, then skipping out of the room with a spring in each hop.

"Must be the first time someone's ever called you 'not mean'." Kanae snickered and earned a chuckle from Alicia.

"I don't need your patronizing. The runt's sniveling merely bothered me, so I came to rectify the nuisance." She turned her nose to the air and huffed.

The three made their way to the back of the ballroom. Several resistance members stood guard around a section that had been partitioned with heavier curtains for privacy. They peeled back the drapes for Kanae and her companions to enter a space dimly lit by candlelight, occupied by Rasheena and resistance officers discussing their next move.

"Finally. You took your sweet ass time in that bath," Rasheena said.

"I had dirt and jizz stuck in places you wouldn't believe. Water's a luxury in the wilderness, and the Rift was nothing but that." Kanae shrugged.

"And you came back with a peculiar weapon. Is it useful?" Petyr asked, eyeing the sword in Kanae's hand since she didn't have a scabbard for it.

"Yep! I managed to defeat Jhene with this. I wouldn't have stood a chance against her before," Kanae explained.

The leader of the resistance beckoned them over to a large, round table that used to be a dinner table for the ballroom. Instead of food, it contained a map of the city. That didn't stop servants from serving alcohol, particularly an Avanessi favorite— spirits made from cactus fruits. A servant nervously poured some for Kanae, Alicia, and Petyr. It must have been awkward because they were exactly the same race as those in control of Avanesse.

Kanae was about to drink some until the same servant dropped a severed lizard's tail into the earthen cup. Blood quickly discolored the spirits red.

"Uhh…" Kanae lifted her gaze to Rasheena and the others, whose drinks were also bright crimson from a reptilian tail in them.

"It's from a yudu, a species of horned lizard that contains enzymes that break down poisons. For when you really want a drink and can't be too careful." Rasheena winked.

"I think I'll pass then…" She pushed the spirits away.

Rasheena filled them in that every black dot was where fighting took place. Past tense. A red X on top of a black dot denoted a battle that ended in the resistance's defeat, and there were a lot of them. Some short lines over city blocks indicated a stalemate where both sides continued struggling for control. The only reason they weren't immediately overrun was thanks in large part to two people who weren't here at the moment. Renya Rown and Romira.

According to Rasheena, they were working together to throw the cultists into disarray using guerilla ambushes. It was working for now.

In conclusion, despite a strong initial attack, the civil war wasn't going in favor of the resistance at all. The Cult of Lust and Depravity might have lost their flying temple, but there were still over a hundred succubi to control people with, Sultan Cerberus commanded the royal Avanessi army, and Arnault Pyrelle led a capable cell of Ortesian knights.

Things were looking dire.

"I do have some good news," Rasheena started and pointed to a block in The Royal Grounds bordering The Commons. "Odika and another edirashok are free from enthrallment. They and their edirashem warriors are holding out against an attack here, in the Aspir Ward. Alicia, you may be interested to learn that your hypnotized sister leads the attack."

"Claudia?" Alicia gasped.

"Let me guess: this is the perfect chance to free the two edirashoks and Claudia?" Kanae asked.

Rasheena nodded.

"I want you three to help them. We'll need to punch a hole through the wall there between both districts. The gate is far too fortified now with undead and the royal army," Rasheena explained.

"Consider it done." Petyr propped her warhammer onto one shoulder.

"Before we go, I want to go grab Cockcalibur. I left it behind on Odika's edirashem for safekeeping, but I've been without most of my equipment. We're going to need every edge we can get," Kanae said.

"Go quick," the hell hound woman implored. "The longer we delay, the greater the risk of losing Odika and the others."

Kanae didn't spare a second longer and took flight towards the entrance of the city. The mood was different this time around. She spotted thieves and gangs taking advantage of the chaos to break into edirashems. One man tossed a brick through a window and jumped in. Others tossed rope to climb up to the wagons. The few guards left behind to defend their precious edirashem had a hard time keeping peace.

A group picked the lock of the manor Kanae and her companions had stayed in on Odika's edirashem. They hurried inside. Fearful that they could steal Chester with Cockcalibur in it, she descended quickly to stop them and entered through the second floor balcony.

However, Kanae's worry proved unfounded. Chester gorged himself on the bottom half of a thief's body, while the other two were desperately pulling him by his hands.

"WHY WOULD THERE BE A MIMIC IN HERE?! WHOSE CRAZY HOUSE IS THIS?" the human man being eaten cried.

"Damn, you're really stuck in there. This ain't working. Go around and stab at the thing from behind," a beastman told the other.

"Oh, no you don't." Kanae charmed the three of them still.

"And… a succubus, too… This can't get any… worse…" The third thief, a harpy, groaned.

Chester spat the human out and rubbed itself against Kanae's legs. The happy mimic panted like a dog, happy to see her.

"I don't have my Collar of Domination, and you're still loyal. Did I accidentally domesticate you or something? Oh, well. Chester, I need Cockcalibur. Can you spit it out for me?" Kanae asked.

The mimic burped the enchanted dildo right into her hands. It was coated in warm slobber. Prestidigitation required a wand, which she didn't have right now, and the Blade of the First Temptress was a spell casting instrument not a focusing element.

Frowning, Kanae pressed the dildo back into her pussy. At least the mimic's saliva made it go in easily. The thieves, who had been watching this entire time, sprung an erection.

"So… Th-This is the part where you drain us, right?" the human asked, trying not to show his excitement.

The other two stared at him in disbelief.

"What's wrong with you? J-Just take him and let the rest of us go. We won't mess with this place again!" his beastman companion exclaimed.

"You three can make it up by standing guard in front of the mansion." Kanae shooed them away. She was about to leave and head back to the others until Chester followed her to the window. The mimic hopped up and down as if eager to go on a walk. "I'm sorry, you can't come with me. It's dangerous out there. Be a good mimic and stay here, alright?"

Disappointed, Chester returned to its spot in the bedroom and appeared inanimate again. Kanae flew back to Dashim just as the others were getting ready to leave. The team comprised herself, Petyr, Alicia, Praijya, and a squad of resistance members.

Rasheena flagged Kanae down before she left again. A tiny, skeletal rat sat on her shoulder. The resistance leader wasn't at all amused that it was there.

"Kanae, this thing suddenly leapt onto my shoulders asking for you. It has Edina's voice. I'm not exactly fond of undead, and I'd like to get back to directing my people," Rasheena said nervously.

"Oh, sorry…" Kanae gingerly took the undead rat off her. "Uhm, Edina? It's Kanae speaking."

"Hey, I found your stuff. You coming in to get it?" Edina asked.

"Coming in? We're nowhere near The Royal Grounds anymore. It got overrun with Riben's undead and Ortesians. The rest of us escaped to The Commons," she explained.

Silence filled the air.

"YOU JUST LEFT ME HERE?" Edina yelled at the top of her lungs.

"I'm sorry! Everything happened so fast!" Kanae replied apologetically.

"Ugh. No wonder undead that weren't mine started attacking. Well, fuck. Me and some of the resistance are stuck in here still fighting succubi. Those bitches are doing their damn best to reclaim the temple, but we're giving 'em one nut-spanking fight. Maybe I can sneak your shit out, but don't hold your breath for it. I'll leave this little guy around to keep in touch," the necromancer said.

"Thanks, and stay safe in there." She put the undead rat down, and it scampered away into Dashim.

The group boarded wagons bound for the wall behind where Aspir Ward was located. On this side of The Commons, it was a sand park where children often played in. Unfortunately, there were no children frolicking outside. The streets were barren. Citizens of Avanesse wanting nothing to do with the fighting holed themselves up inside their homes, barricading the windows and doors.

Two naive boys were playing kickball at the sand park. Orphans, maybe. They didn't seem to mind the commotion going on. Petyr walked up to them and said something that sent the pair hightailing it away.

"Of all the things I expected you to do, scaring them away wasn't it," Kanae joked.

"There's a time and place for everything. This isn't one of those times. It's also about to get very loud, very dangerous." Petyr dug her heels into the ground and primed her warhammer with a smite.

The rest of them braced for impact.

Petyr's hammer slammed into the wall with such force, the earth shuddered. Cracks and fissures snaked outward from the point of collision. The blowback knocked a few resistance members off their feet. Those still standing stared with their jaws hanging wide open. Sandstone and rubble collapsed. Some of the rubble had blown inwards, burying some soldiers within the corridor.

"We're under attack! Sound the—"

"Your fortifications need work." Petyr picked the soldier up by the throat and tossed him aside.

"Cover Petyr while she breaks down the next wall!" Kanae shouted.

Resistance members poured in to do battle. Kanae, Alicia, and Praijya pounced on the reinforcements rushing down the hall. Meanwhile, Petyr winded up for another hit. She pummeled through to the other side with ease, revealing the beautiful townhouses of Aspir Ward in The Royal Grounds. Some citizens glanced back in utter shock before fleeing in terror.

Farther down the road, an army of undead, Avanessi infantry, and Ortesian knights marched east. A succubus flew into view, drawing a sharp gasp from Alicia. Claudia took one look at them and sneered.

"Sister! Kanae, we have to catch up to them. This might be our one chance to free Claudia!" Alicia shouted and bolted ahead.

Kanae felt the winds picking up unnaturally.

"Alicia, wait!" Kanae yelled.

Shredding gale winds swept across them and knocked Alicia backwards into Kanae. A dozen small cuts marked her arms.

"Did you think we would simply allow you to pass, warriors? Not while I, Sofisa, the Dancing Dervish draws breath!" Sofisa came in like a tornado to stop them in their tracks.

As Petyr stepped forward to deal with her, earthen elementals emerged from the ground to attack. The centaur Grahib, the Unbreakable Dervish, galloped past them and up to the broken wall, where he sealed it in stone before the remaining resistance members could come through.

"Praijya, you're up!" Kanae shouted.

The harpy dive bombed Grahib from above. He didn't know what hit him. Although covered in an armor of stone, Praijya brutally tore off pieces until she got to his face.

"Spell Nulli—"

A devastating blast of magic blew them both away from each other.

"I have to give credit where credit is due. The Mistress of Desire said you would come when news of the traitorous edirashoks' predicament reaches you. A little false whisper in the open and voila! I'm only slightly disappointed Rasheena isn't here," a haughty and flamboyant voice said.

"Pyrelle. You should have worn some red pants, because you're going to shit blood by the time I'm done with you." Petyr snarled.

Arnault Pyrelle, wielding a crescent magical staff, and a legion of Ortesian knights filled the entire right road in a phalanx formation. To the left, an undead horde shambled in from behind every building, alley, and block.

"Oh, Kanae. And dearest sister. Did you really think I would have sicced Grahib and Sofisa on you without assurances?" Ambrosia asked from above, like an angel descending in the night.

"Ambrosia… I have a venom with your name on it!" Alicia hissed.

She smiled. "I'd like to hope so, sister. I'm touched that you would think of me. Your victory over the temple was small and insignificant. It can be repaired. But you two, Kanae and Alicia. I may not be able to reach you with my magic because of that damned tattoo, but I will take my time to break you irreparably."