The Hero Became a Succubus, and the Only Way to Level is to… What?!
Chapter 410 – Succubus Queens

Petyr looked up in time to witness Kanae body slamming Ambrosia and hurling both of them into the next block. Alicia flew after them in a hurry, leaving Praijya and herself to deal with the bulk of the enemies here. Typical. A pegasus and castle wasn't going to be enough to make up for all this.

The onslaught was ceaseless. No matter how many times she destroyed the earth golems, they reformed soon after. Sofisa's winds didn't so much as scratch the dragonscale armor but did make it hard to see. The harpy, Praijya, swooped into battle. Her sharp talons bore down on Grahib with relentless blows that shredded his stone armor. Sofisa retreated to help him, giving Petyr a bit of reprieve that didn't last very long.

An undead leaped onto her back. Petyr threw it to the ground and stomped on the head. She noticed a charging death knight too late. The skeletal monstrosity knocked the warhammer out of her hands with its greatsword. Growling, Petyr sidestepped a downward swing and ran in close to punch out the joint between the arm and shoulders. She picked up the undead limb, infused it with Smite, and shoved it into the chest cavity. Divine energies scorched the robbed soul back into the afterlife.

Volleys of arcane bolts shrieked across the night sky. Petyr kicked out the knees of a bone brute and used the torso to block the magical bombardment. When the explosions subsided, she picked up her warhammer and cracked her neck.

"Is that it?" Petyr shouted into the ear of an undead's skull. "The squirreling's Legion of the Dead put up more of a fight!"

"Brutish as ever, Lady Petyr Stormcloud. The Princess, they call you back home. Ha! They should be calling you 'the brute'! Surrender, Petyr. You're outnumbered. For all your strength and bluster, it will mean nothing once you're exhausted," Arnault taunted, coming no farther than a hundred feet and ordering a servant to provide him a stool to sit on.

"Fuck you. No amount of bodies is going to stop me from wiping that smug grin off your face. What do you even have to smile about? Your succubi masters needed a lapdog for their tits?" she snarled.

"Haha! And yet you fight alongside succubi yourself. A new era is coming to the empire, Petyr. Soon, my family will inherit the crown. Guillaume will become Ortesia's emperor, and every emperor needs an empress. Ambrosia promised us autonomy for our loyalty. After all, a ranch needs a rancher and sheep dogs."

Petyr was beginning to catch onto what was going on. Emperor Eugene and Emperor Danielle would never bow to demons, succubi, or any other race. There was no chance in three hells they sanctioned House Pyrelle to side with the Cult of Lust and Depravity to invade Savir. Guillaume Pyrelle somehow deceived them. But he couldn't send a sizable force here without his collusion with succubi getting out.

Not unless these Ortesians were charmed. Or hypnotized by Ambrosia, the Mistress of Desire. In addition to Savir being a reclusive country, it was the only way news didn't so easily travel up the grapevine. No, that wasn't entirely true. Something about the Ortesian infantry seemed… different than what Petyr was used to commanding and fighting with.

"Now, if you don't mind, be a dear and submit. I'd like to attend Sultan Cerberus and Lady Elaine's wedding looking my best. Soldiers, bring Petyr to her knees. Advance!" Guillaume ordered.

A hundred Ortesian and Avanessi infantry marched toward her. The vanguard phalanx unit guarded themselves with large tower shields. Meanwhile, the Avanessi rode out upon ronoas and let loose war cries at the top of their lungs. They wanted to box Petyr in and hit fast to disorient her. To anyone else, this might have worked.

Nothing worked against her.

Petyr hoisted the warhammer high above her head and brought it crashing down to the ground. An earthquake threw riders off their ronoas. The phalanx formation shattered. Even Arnault fell off his seat, which brought a smile to her face.

Soldiers picked themselves up and continued their advance. Petyr pummeled her way through them on the way to Arnault. Swords and spears broke helplessly against her armor. Arrows glanced off by the dozens. Magical spells were the only things she was concerned about, but the undisciplined Ortesian mages missed her and hit their fellows instead.

Clang!

Steel bounced off Petyr's pauldron. She spun around, intending to crack the head of a foolish soldier lucky enough to get behind her, but not smart enough to slip their sword between the gaps of her armor. However, her maul came within inches of a high elven boy, who couldn't be older than twelve. His armor was several sizes too big. The fasteners hung limp between the seams.

"A child?" Petyr gasped.

Something sharp and cold plunged an inch into her side. Petyr turned and grabbed the soldier by the throat, only to find that it was a girl in teenage years, whose helmet barely fit. The teen gripped a parrying dagger with two trembling hands, quickly drenching in blood. She shoved both of them away and clicked her tongue.

"Employing children in the main army? The empire really took a nosedive after my departure." Petyr pulled the dagger out and tossed it.

"Well, why not? There are plenty of urchins and beggars in the streets of Ortesia. Your legacy is also a success story that simply must be put into regular practice." Arnault smirked.

"What…?"

He laughed into the back of his hand. "Oh, you don't know because you're no longer one of us. Guillaume has convinced the crown to recommence grooming knights into weapons again. Same training, same regimen, same tutelage. We have three very promising recruits, in fact! Of course, we can't have them going rogue like you did. That is where our alliance with the succubi comes in. The promising ones will be enthralled and serve as the perfect, loyal knights. The ones that show little to no promise, well… the cult temples are always in need of slaves."

"You… Children… aren't… TOOLS!" Seething with rage, Petyr stampeded in Arnault's direction until a row of infantry blocked her way. Their young faces filled with fear and determination. "Who do you think you're protecting? Put your weapons down and get out of the way! Kids like you should be holding dolls, not swords and spears. You should be in school, not marching lockstep to military orders!"

One boy choked up but didn't falter and said, "I-I want to, but my parents will starve if I don't. I'll starve. The only way we stay fed is by joining the army!"

"That's right!" another agreed. "Most of us aren't from a big family like House Stormcloud. You don't know what it's like to not even eat bread for days at a time!"

"There… There are better alternatives. The Commonwealth will feed you if you're hungry. I've seen it with my own eyes. Lay down your arms and come with me," Petyr pleaded with them.

This wasn't working. None of them were moved by her offer. Of course not. They had family back in Ortesia. These poor youth had given up their childhoods for their loved ones. None of them were given choices, only ultimatums.

Petyr squeezed her eyes shut and thought of Riley. She and Riley came from vastly different statuses of wealth, but they were both of noble lineages. Yet neither of them had any choice in their youth either. The rich and poor were all pawns of the empire. Ortesia was a machine. One that must be dismantled. By force.

"I thought Riley was crazy to want to destroy the empire," Petyr began in a sullen tone, "but now I know she was the sanest one between us both. What kind of people are we to hammer children like iron and steel, all the while calling ourselves righteous and just? My hands are stained, and I can't wash myself of the guilt. But there is one thing I can do. When I'm done with you, Arnault, your brother Guillaume is next. I'll tear down every brick that makes up Ortesia, and he won't have an empire to inherit, no crown to wear, and certainly no throne to sit on." Her maul ignited with holy fire, and the flames scorched her bleeding wound dry. "I'm a fucking paladin. It's about time I do something right in my fucking life. Starting with bloodying you to a FUCKING PULP!"

"W-What are you all standing around gawking for? Seize her! Seize her now!" Arnault jumped from his seat and boomed.

At the same time on another block, Kanae and Ambrosia were locked in combat. The Mistress of Desire fired a barrage of spells from her grimoire. Kanae dodged the magical blasts and closed the distance, only to be met with the spiked mace in her other hand. She parried the blow with the Blade of the First Temptress, and Ambrosia took a moment to admire the new weapon.

"What a beautiful sword. We rescued Jhene earlier. She told me exactly what it does," Ambrosia said.

"Hopefully not everything. Magic Hand!" Kanae casted from the sword.

An enormous translucent hand clenched as a fist appeared above Ambrosia. It came down over her, but she narrowly escaped— right into Alicia, whose daggers were ready to sink into her back like a viper.

"Tsk. Tsk. Frost Barrier." Ambrosia incanted a icy shield around herself in a circle, and Alicia's steel failed to reach their mark.

Kanae clenched a fist, and Magic Hand did the same. They went in from either side and punched the barrier with Titanic Blow, shattering it into a hail of snow. But Kanae and Alicia's attack passed through empty space. Ambrosia had vanished and reappeared on a rooftop several houses down. Her lips curved into a wicked smile.

"That spell tome is our biggest obstacle. We don't know what or how many kinds of spells she can throw at us. But she's fought us enough to know what we can throw at her. If only I can get close…" Alicia muttered.

"We're the only ones that can fight her, too. Anyone else is going to get hypnotized by her magic. Just going to have to get creative then." Kanae pulled Cockcalibur from her pussy.

"There it is. Covered in all your lovely juices, too. Would you be so kind as to hand that over?" Ambrosia asked.

"No chance," she said.

Armed with a second weapon, Kanae launched into battle. Ambrosia parried a blow from the Blade, but Cockcalibur transformed into Titan's large dreadmourn cock. She blocked the bludgeoning slab of erect dick with another Frost Barrier. However, Kanae wasn't done yet and activated Futanari. A massive member, empowered by the Cock Ring of Hardening, tore through the pair of pants and broke the icy shield.

Alicia seized the distraction to come in from Ambrosia's side. She was about to stick her with a dagger until Mistress of Desire's eyes flashed red. Light reflected off the swaying pendulum hanging from the spiked mace's pommel. Kanae and Alicia couldn't move anymore.

"What… happened… We're supposed to be… immune…" Alicia growled.

"I… don't know…" Kanae replied just as confused.

"Your minds are, yes. Steel Mind protects you from just that. Your physical body isn't protected." Ambrosia lifted both hands up in a show of surrender, causing the other two to do the same. 

They mimicked her every move. Rather, she forced them to mimic her like a game of Simon Says. Ambrosia mimed raising a dagger up to Kanae's throat, and Alicia did exactly that.

"No… don't!" Alicia cried and teared up.

"Who do you desire more?" Ambrosia whispered into her ear. "Kanae or Claudia. If you slit Kanae's throat, I will let your sister go. Choose Kanae, and I'll keep Claudia forever. Oh, decisions, decisions. Decisions over one's own desires. Don't you just wish you could have it all? Life's greatest tragedy is that we're not strong enough to have everything we want. Well…" She shot a glance at Kanae. "That isn't exactly true for all of us."

"What…?" Kanae squinted.

Ambrosia exploded a fireball in Alicia's face when she didn't answer, sending her hurling into an abandoned carriage below.

"What about you, Kanae? What is it that you desire? Is it just sex?" Ambrosia asked, running a finger along the length of Kanae's dick and making her tremble.

"Unironically, yes. At least want is simple. Yours? Not so much. Why is it so hard for you to accept coexistence? What you're doing now is giving people an excuse to start another succubus genocide," Kanae reasoned.

"Oh, what I want is also simple. Allow me to show you. Here, direct your sword at me," she insisted and pointed directly to her own chest.

Suddenly, Kanae could move again. She raised the Blade of the First Temptress but hesitated. Nothing in her bones screamed that Ambrosia lied about letting her do it. But this was the daughter of the Queen-Mother. They weren't beneath schemes, deceit, and betrayal.

Having run out of patience, Ambrosia grabbed the sword and guided it into her chest. Sharp steel fazed into her yet didn't so much as draw a drop of blood. The succubus' eyes fluttered briefly from a satisfied orgasm.

Before Kanae could react, the world transformed. Countless succubi and their wings blotted out the dark red skies. On the ground, slaves and thralls marched out of a city in formation, shackled, ears tagged, and led into crowded pens like livestocks. No, not like. They were livestock.

Everything shifted again, and Kanae stood amongst hundreds of cheering succubi at the foot of a grand palace. Bright and gold like an Ortesian castle, but foreboding against the backdrop of crimson skies. Collared slaves unveiled enormous statues in her likeness. At the top of the steps, familiar figures kneeled in a line. Demon Lord Charron, Queen-Mother Zariah, and the Mistresses. The cheers grew to a fevered pitch when a single succubus descended from the palace, like an angel coming down from the heavens. It was Ambrosia, basking in their adulations and reverence. 

Far and wide, people chanted a single word, "Goddess! Goddess! Goddess!"

When the divine succubus glanced down and met Kanae's gaze, it suddenly all made sense. She blinked and returned to the real unblemished world.

"Did you see it, Kanae? Was it beautiful?" Ambrosia asked.

"You're… on the path of Deification," Kanae said.

"The Cult of Lust and Depravity didn't start as mine." She smiled tenderly as though given a gift. "But it is now, for the sole purpose of elevating me to a living deity. Their temples are mine. My own mother, a pawn to serve my interests. Over three centuries, I've curated followers and quietly sowed influence among Ortesia and Savir without drawing attention to myself. Now, there is only one condition left to fulfill— to defeat my last and final contender."