The Hero Became a Succubus, and the Only Way to Level is to… What?!
Chapter 411 – Kanae’s Gamble

Kanae stared in disbelief. All this time, another contender for Deification was right under their nose. And it was one of the worst possible people to become a deity, too. Queen-Mother Zariah and Ambrosia. This world was going to be in for a bad time if two succubi, hell-bent on turning everyone into cattles, were deities. That wasn't a world Kanae wanted for her children, loved ones, and friends.

A look of certainty brightened Ambrosia's demeanor. A look from someone knowing that they were close to victory.

Down below, Alicia had vanished. She was somehow able to move again? Kanae needed to buy time then.

"Is enslaving the world really all you care about?" Kanae asked.

"All I care about?" Ambrosia shook her head. "No. My baby Vanressa is the most precious thing in my life. Unfortunately, not all mothers think the same. My mother didn't always favor me, you know? She treated me and the rest of my sisters as tools. For vengeance, for war, for entertainment. But being crowned a Hypnotist has granted me certain… advantages, even though she far exceeded my power. A quiet little suggestion repeated over decades, and one may begin to believe it whole-heartedly. Such as making me her favored daughter. Now, I will do what all mothers should— give the world to my child."

"Man, I am so tired of dealing with people who have parent issues. Vanressa isn't even old enough to understand wanting the world. Your baby is still a baby!" she groaned.

Ambrosia didn't remember to bind Kanae again after releasing her. A breeze blew past them, which she recognized as an invisible Alicia. They attacked at the same time, Kanae with Cockcalibur and Alicia with her envenomed daggers.

The Mistress of Desire smirked. She stretched both arms out to the sides, and they couldn't move a muscle anymore. In the briefest of moments, Kanae caught sight of thin glimmering strands against the sunlight— then hidden by the canopy's shroud.

"Alicia, wait there and watch as I defeat Kanae. Kanae, worry not. I still want you as my concubine after I've defeated you. Together, we shall produce a little sister for Vanressa. First…" Ambrosia put her mace away in a sling and mimed holding Cockcalibur in front of herself.

Kanae couldn't help but follow every single movement, including when she pulled her own pants down and aimed Cockcalibur at her pussy. Right then, she realized what Ambrosia was about to do.

"W-Wait a minute! At least defeat me in another way—"

Ambrosia slammed Cockcalibur deep into Kanae's pussy. It currently took the form of Titan's cock, since his was large and thick like a club to use as a clobbering weapon. However, she was now using it to clobber her pussy.

[Skill Drain has temporarily acquired the skill Coat of Conflagration.]

"You kinky bat!" Ambrosia laughed heartily. "What a face to show when you're about to fall."

"What do you… expect my expression to… look like… if you stick a fat… dick like that… inside… me." Kanae trembled as her dreadmourn's member throbbed within.

"Hmm. I think we can have more fun than this." She flipped through her spell tome and muttered an incantation that took Alicia out of Magical Stealth.

"What are you— ah!" Alicia flew forward, imitating Ambrosia to face Kanae and position in front of her Futanari cock.

Slowly but surely, the two of them connected. Kanae entered Alicia's tight pussy. They shuddered from the pleasure, unable to fight back against Ambrosia and her magic.

"I'm sorry, Alicia… I know you wanted to wait until we rescued Claudia… but I might cum at this rate…" Kanae winced.

"Kanae, no… not here… not in front of Amb— nnnh… mmmmhh!" Alicia convulsed intensely, and in turn brought Kanae to climax.

[Skill Drain has temporarily acquired Magical Stealth.]

They came at the same time, much to Ambrosia's laughter and delight. Kanae shot her a dirty look until a thought came to mind.

"You look so cute right now." Since they were so close to each other, Kanae took the chance to kiss Alicia deeply and applied Bond to her.

"Mmm… I'm so full of your seed. It's like you want to impregnate me…" Alicia might have caught on, or just went with the flow, and reciprocated with some tongue.

Ambrosia stopped laughing. One of her eyes twitched.

"In your own little world, are you? Stop it. Stop! I'm the one who will bear the Demon Queen's child next!" Ambrosia forced them both apart by moving herself, and Alicia went with her.

Something on the surface of Kanae's skin snapped off. The sensation was so subtle, she couldn't have noticed it the first time. With the strings gone, control of her own body had returned.

"It's distance!" Kanae yelled. "Ambrosia's skill can only work in close range!"

"Curse you!" Ambrosia growled.

Kanae yanked Titan's dick out of her pussy, pointed it at Ambrosia, and gave him a good tug. He fired out loads of spunk. Ambrosia and Alicia dodged in unison, but enough showered onto them to reveal the puppet strings that connected the two.

"Really? Me, too?" Alicia pouted.

Enraged, Ambrosia incanted a slew of spells from the magic tome. Kanae used her newly-gained skill from Alicia and entered Magical Stealth to escape the volley. She hesitated to attack Ambrosia right away. Every single time Alicia had gotten close, the puppet strings always managed to catch her.

Kanae considered returning to Dashim in The Commons to get help while invisible, but the chorus of battle drew closer from every direction. They glanced back, where Petyr fought against Ortesian knights, undead, and the royal army. Farther still, the wall between both districts rumbled. Something was breaking through the earthen repair job Grahib had done on the hole.

It crumbled entirely. Miners from the edirashems lifted their pickaxes and cheered. An army of their own came through. Rasheena stepped over the rubble and howled into the sky, leading her resistance into battle.

"Gifts? For me? In the form of cattle at that. Oh, Kanae. You shouldn't have~!" Ambrosia exclaimed gleefully.

Shit. Now was the wrong time for Rasheena to attack The Royal Grounds.

"Rasheena, get out of here!" Kanae yelled at the top of her lungs. "All of you are just going to—"

"Look into my eyes, cattles. Mass Hypnosis." A gigantic projection of Ambrosia appeared above them, swinging a pendulum with a single eyeball gazing down.

The resistance suddenly turned their weapons on Petyr and Praijya.

"Are you fucking kidding me? I have it hard enough over here already!" Petyr groaned aloud.

A million different plans flitted across Kanae's mind. If she didn't act soon, everything would end here. But she came up with nothing. Maybe that was just fine. Kanae didn't need to be the one to do it all. She wasn't alone. Ambrosia was.

Time for the biggest Hail Mary of her life so far. Kanae squeezed the handle of the Blade of the First Temptress, then unbuttoned her tunic with the other. She launched herself at Ambrosia in a burst of speed, and the succubus spun to her with a big grin.

But Ambrosia couldn't have seen what came next. Still invisible, Kanae opened her tunic. The Piercings of Impurity flashed exceedingly bright. She even saw the whipping puppet strings around Ambrosia, like the tendrils of a jellyfish.

Kanae swung her sword in a wide arc, only to be caught in the stingers. They bound her body from head to toe. She shielded her eyes as Ambrosia did and opened slowly to meet each other's gazes.

"And what did you hope to accomplish with that? I always thought you were more intelligent than that. We can only pray our child inherits more of my traits." Ambrosia sneered.

"Sometimes… being smart is knowing when I've done enough." Kanae returned a smirk of her own.

Ambrosia cocked her head before glancing left and right. Alicia was missing, the strings seizing hold of her severed by the Blade of the First Temptress. When Ambrosia whipped around in panic, Alicia slashed her across the chest with one dagger. She cried out in pain. The Mistress of Desire winced, but not from a bleeding wound. She clutched her head with one hand, seemingly afflicted by something. The puppet strings snapped from Kanae's body, too.

The effect became apparent when Grahib and Sofisa screamed, themselves also clutching their heads. Earthen golems crumbled back into sand and sediments. Slicing tornados waned into a light breeze.

"What did you do?" Kanae asked.

"Magebane. Courtesy of Romira." Alicia brandished both knives dripping with viscous crimson liquid. "It disrupts casting and concentration. I've only used it once to test it out in secret, but the venom truly lives up to the name."

Not just the two Dervishes, but others who had fallen under Ambrosia's hypnotic magic fell to their knees. Some were Ortesians and Savirans. But the grand majority were the resistance members, who came back to their senses to back Petyr up instead of fighting her. High elves watched on in shock, especially Arnault Pyrelle. Beastmen warriors mauled his troops. Harpies lifted them up to drop from a height.

"What are you doing? Keep them in control!" Arnault shouted.

"Silence, cattle! You do not speak to me in such a manner. Damn you, Alicia… Take away my thralls, and I'll take away yours. Snap!" Ambrosia uttered a spell and snapped her fingers at the same time. It was much louder than a finger snap. Space distorted and reality shattered in two. Rippling magic, like a wave of water passing by her submerged, pushed everyone back.

The crack in space clicked back together. Kanae felt a connection break and realized what it was immediately. She whirled around to Praijya, who was hunched over. Ambrosia had somehow destroyed both the Cursemark of Horniness and Enthrall, which bound the harpy to Kanae's will.

"KANAAAAEEEEEEEEEEEE!" Praijya screeched from far.

"You broke her free? How?!" Kanae gasped.

"Without Praijya under our control, we won't be able to save Claudia!" Alicia cried.

"We'll defeat Ambrosia and make her do it!" she exclaimed and brandished her sword at the Mistress of Desire.

For once, fear gripped Ambrosia. Kanae and Alicia laid into her while she struggled to cast spells. Her only weapon and defense left was the mace with a hanging pendulum. They weaved through buildings. The steel of sword, mace, and daggers clashed together. It was clear who the better fighter was, and the succubus assassin made it known by forcing Ambrosia on the retreat.

No matter where Ambrosia fled to, Alicia was on her like a hawk. Even Kanae struggled to catch up to them. 

"I won't be defeated here… Not while I'm so close. Claudia, come to me!" Ambrosia shouted.

Like a dog made to answer their master, Claudia came quickly. Whip in one hand and paddle in the other, the former Mistress of Pain carried herself like a true dominatrix. The paddle came within inches of Alicia's face before abandoning pursuit to dodge.

"I'll free you soon, idiot sister of mine!" Alicia retaliated by driving her left dagger into Claudia's shoulder.

"Kuh! Project Agony!" Claudia bellowed.

A shockwave of pain knocked Alicia and Kanae from the skies, crashing into the streets below. One brave Ortesian knight tried to finish them off, but Kanae clamped her tail pussy on his face to drain him. She tossed aside his unconscious body and helped Alicia up.

"What about the traitor edirashoks?" Claudia asked Ambrosia, who was still suffering from the effects of Magebane.

"Forget the edirashoks. Buy time here, Claudia. I need to get to Elaine and Jhene." Ambrosia turned to leave for Isha Palace.

"No!" Alicia cried and was about to give chase until a large harpy woman intercepted her.

"Oh, shit. It's Praijya!" Kanae gulped.

"I remember everything that you did to me, you sex demon bitch! I'm not going to kill you. I'll torture the fuck out of you, slice by slice until you're only bones!" Praijya glowered menacingly.

"Come on, we don't need a three-way fight right now!" she groaned.

Or did they?

Praijya launched into a series of furious attacks with leg talons, braid scythe, and claws. A guillotine kick into a right hook, followed by a roundhouse kick accompanied by the scythe. Kanae unwittingly darted back into Claudia's paddle. It slammed into her ass hard, but she swallowed the urge to squeal in pain. And in pleasure.

Keener than most fighters, Praijya disengaged having sensed Alicia coming. The assassin's blades struck thin air instead. Kanae and Alicia pressed their backs together, facing their opponents.

"We'll bait Praijya to cast Spell Nullification at Magic Hand. Just keep frustrating her," Kanae whispered.

"Yes, Knight-Commander!" Alicia nodded.

Kanae used the Blade of the First Temptress to cast Magic Hand, summoning a particularly large fist with knuckle dusters on. She sent it after Praijya while Alicia bogged her down with repeated slashes.

Meanwhile, Kanae put Irresistible Seductress to work again. She activated the skill, causing any further pain to affect charmed thralls instead of her.

"You're not laying a hand on my sis!" Claudia whipped Kanae across the cheek, but it didn't sting.

Kanae threw a Titanic Blow into Claudia's gut, and she didn't so much as flinch. Both of them exchanged strikes that would have otherwise knocked out an average adventurer. However, Kanae withstood them all thanks to Lion's Pride, which raised her defenses while standing, and Irresistible Seductress' active ability, which transferred damage to others.

Every attack Kanae took, she felt another one of her thralls pass out. Claudia did hit hard, after all.

But Magic Hand was doing its job. Praijya already had both talons full fighting Alicia. An extra hand buzzing around infuriated her more and more by the second. Kanae took another punch and staggered back. She glanced behind herself, where Alicia swooped down with Praijya in hot pursuit. They were lined up now.

Gotcha.

Alicia veered off. Magic Hand took her place, ready to slug Praijya.

"I've fucking had enough of this! Spell Nullification!" Praijya incanted.

At that moment, Kanae dispelled Magic Hand and dove out of the way. Praijya clenched her talon around Claudia's head, and the spell went off. The harpy clicked her tongue and took a step back, realizing what had happened.

"Praijya!" Sofisa shouted from down the street. "We have to escape! We don't want to be here when the Avanessi regroup!"

"Argggh! I will slice you open one day, Kanae. Mark my words!" Praijya spread her wings and took off flying away.

Kanae collapsed to the ground and thanked the gods. Claudia had already beaten her silly.

"Kanae!" Alicia raced over to pick her up. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine… Just exhausted. More importantly, did we free Claudia?" Kanae asked.

"Yo… I'm good, too… But did Alicia stab me with something? I don't… I don't feel so hot," Claudia grumbled face down in the ground.

Alicia choked up. Kanae nodded for her to go, and the worried sister went to scoop Claudia into her arms.

"I thought I lost you forever! Idiot! Don't ever get yourself caught again!" Alicia sniffled.

"Hehe. Yep. That's exactly how I felt looking for you for centuries…" Claudia giggled and buried her face into Alicia's hair.