The Hero Became a Succubus! - Chapter 197 (Patreon)

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Chapter 197

A smile creased on Kanae's face as she stepped into the portal. It was like the sounds of chaos amidst the city were bidding her farewell. They vanished all at once after the party entered a pitch black room where their footsteps echoed— and walked right into a trap. The metal bars slammed shut behind Claudia, who strutted ahead alongside the ritualists to join a demon woman, dressed in Eliza's robes and witch cap, hunched over an operating table. A minotaur was lying on it. When Esta gripped the bars, red electricity coursed agonizingly through her body. She let go and backed away.

"Welcome to my humble laboratory, succubus. I would offer to shake your hand to congratulate you on your victory, but my hands are preoccupied at the moment," the woman said.

"I presume you're Seer Yesenia?" Kanae asked, coming no farther than a few inches from the cage.

"Indeed, I am. You must be—" Yesenia turned around and recoiled. "Would you… put that away?"

The others followed the seer's gaze. Kanae glanced down and went red. Her giant, erect schlong was still flailing about because she had forgotten to switch it off.

"Oh, uh… oops." Kanae toggled off Futanari, vanishing both her dick and the Cock Ring of Hardening.

Good to know the ring went along with it. Having to take it on and off would have been a hassle.

"That's more like it. After all, two demon sovereigns should be more presentable when they meet." Seer Yesenia peeled back her hood with a bloody hand, revealing a blindfold over her eyes woven with strange symbols. A coif of thick crimson dreads cascaded down her chest. Countless webs of wrinkles upon the wizened yet arrogant face marked a long lifetime of scheming.

"You're no sovereign, witch!" Aisha snapped. "The only sovereign anyone recognizes in Artaggon is Lord Charron!"

The demon crone clapped her hands. Ceiling lights illuminated an enormous chamber furnished with more cages than the one Kanae and her party was in. They were occupied, too. Not with prisoners like themselves, but with all manner of vicious dire beasts. The stitched-up monstrosities had been blemished with curious sigils and brandings that glowed with magical energy.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Not for long. My partnership with Underqueen Zariah shall ensure that I become the next Demon Lord of Artaggon. Thanks in large part to the esteemed Mistress of Pain here." With one arm across her chest, Seer Yesenia bowed graciously in Claudia's direction.

"I guess working with cattle isn't beneath you." Kanae shot a glare at the Queen-Mother's giggling daughter.

"Ahaha! Like inflicting pain, the joy comes from their true visceral reaction. I adore bending and twisting an intact mind. Charming them takes away that fun, and unlike my sisters, I find allowing cattle to frolic as they please to be entertaining. However, I'm not all play. The Queen-Mother wants her ex-husband, and Amby wants her daddy back. Ahhh~ Amby will love me so tenderly and painfully if I succeed. I want her to hurt me so bad~" Claudia said, drifting into fantasyland.

"That one is touched in the head," Moira whispered.

Esta and Aisha nodded.

"Why does the Queen-Mother want Lord Charron back so badly?" Kanae asked.

"Why? You want to know~?" Claudia teased in a playfully sadistic manner. "After fucking me so well, I think you deserve an answer. Because Lord Charron is a deified entity. The Queen-Mother is on track to deification and only needs to defeat one more contestant to attain it. Do you know what happens when two deified entities mate? Their children are born crowned. Moreover, a union between a deified succubus and deified high elf? Amby is already so powerful, imagine an army of them! We of the succubus race shall blot out the sun with our wings!"

"And I will be in their good graces when it inevitably happens." Yesenia smirked.

Kanae shuddered. The Queen-Mother was close to deification? Did she also know that… No, not possible. Gretchen Redbaron was also on the path to deification, but Kanae hadn't known until after defeating her.

"Wait, saying is one thing… How do you plan on defeating Lord Charron? The guy who's ruled Artaggon for centuries and christened the Demon Lord by the world?" Kanae walked a little too close to the bars until Esta pulled her back.

"It just so happens that an ancient, long-dead race left us with the means to do that. What a serendipitous moment to have it fall into my lap. Perhaps the gods are favoring me after all these years!" Yesenia howled in laughter.

Ancient, long-dead race had to be the dwarves. Lapis…

"While I'd love to stay for round two of our pain game, Yesenia and I have work to do. Uncle Charron will be arriving soon. We have a welcoming party to set up for him." Claudia turned to leave and waved her tail on the way out.

When Yesenia followed suit, Kanae slammed into the bars. Painful shocks surged through her body. They were like needles plunging repeatedly deep into her flesh.

"Yesenia! The love of my life is gone because of you! This cage isn't going to hold any of us for long. Once I break out, I'm coming for your ass!" Kanae shouted.

"They call me Seer because I was once able to read the future. Not anymore sadly, so I'd like to see you try. Until then, do enjoy my gifts. Consider them royal tributes, Demon Queen." Yesenia, along with Claudia, entered a portal of her ritualists' making.

Something began to crank violently. The door to their cage rolled open— as did the others in the chamber.

"Oh!" The seer popped her head back through the portal. "They are all akin to mindless undead, so don't even bother trying to charm them. Good luck!"

"You bitch! I've been fucked by bigger things than anything you can throw at me!" Kanae lunged for the portal, but it closed before she got there.

The giant hoof of a hulking, furless minotaur slammed down in its place. His cock, hard from rigor mortis, swung between two trunky legs. Symbols carved across his chest emitted a faint light.

An undead?

Kanae leaped away too late. A pair of thick hands lifted her off her feet.

"Master!" Esta rushed to her aid until more monsters jumped out of the darkness.

"Stay with Aisha and Moira!" Kanae ordered.

The drakeling stayed put. She cleaved the body of a hound in half, then bashed a serpent flat into the ground. The hobgoblin and goblin pair stuck close to her.

Meanwhile…

"Well, I haven't had minotaur dick in a while." Kanae purred as the hard cock bumped against her pussy.

These runes on his chest though… What did they mean? It could be more of Seer Yesenia's dark magic. Now wasn't the time to get caught up in sex though. Kanae toggled on Futanari again. The harder-than-diamond dick sprung out and uppercutted the minotaur from beneath his chin. He let go, and Kanae landed back down on her feet.

Warchief Gabrul had the right idea using this massive thing as a weapon.

"Size really does matter," Kanae mused.

The minotaur reeled back. His body began to bubble and blister. Kanae gaped in disbelief as it melted into a giant, cube slime. A dick wasn't going to do any good against that. Slimes were physically and magically resilient monsters. Good thing she had just the thing.

Kanae lashed out with Lust. Each hit knocked chunks of slime from the body. Her whip's ability to ignore defenses and armor made it the perfect counter. Victory seemed all but assured until the pieces of slime changed forms into countless spiders.

"Oh, god! Oh, god! Not spiders!" Kanae shrieked.

"Not on my watch!" Esta's breath of fire swept across the ground and incinerated them.

"It's no good!" Aisha shouted while swatting a swarm of fiery wisps with a mace. "We can't fight them all"

They regrouped and ran to one side of the chamber. The monsters were many, and an exit was nowhere in sight. Claudia and Yesenia were able to get out. There had to be a way.

"Sweetie, the portal! You're a witch doctor!" Moira, who was still clinging to her daughter's back, grabbed a handful of Aisha's hair and yanked her around.

Where the ritualists had previously opened a portal, the faint etchings of a magic circle were just barely visible on the floor.

"I'm going to need some time to replicate their spell!" Aisha exclaimed.

Kanae and Esta nodded to each other. They put themselves between Aisha and Moira from the incoming horde of Frankenstein-like monsters. Esta cut through dozens of them at a time. On the other hand, Kanae did what a succubus does best. She stripped down to her birthday suit and let them have at it.

"Mmm! Yes, fuck me! Harder! I love it!" Kanae cried as a stitchwork ogre pistoned into her pussy. A dire wolf with three dicks stuffed them all down her throat. She choked helplessly on their knots.

More and more creatures joined in the monster gangbang until a clawed hand yanked Kanae out.

"Aisha was ready twenty minutes ago!" Esta yelled.

"W-Why did you tell me earlier?" Kanae stammered, coughing up a semen loogie.

"Because we were trying to fight our way through to you!" Aisha groaned and popped a potion into her mouth. The tattoos on her skin came to life as she filled with new magic powers. Black fog spilled out from both hands which gathered into an airy, circular portal.

The four of them jumped through it and landed in an observatory with a large telescope and seven tall standing mirrors. Esta kicked the hand of something still holding onto her ankle. It retreated back into the portal before it closed.

"Where are we now?" Aisha rubbed her head and winced.

"Probably near the roof," Kanae said while getting dressed.

Someone shuffled behind them.

They whipped around with weapons drawn. A dark, buxom woman moved from shelf to shelf putting books away. Kanae and Esta recognized the golden tattoos all over her body immediately. Elizabeth Bedlam.

"Eliza! Thank god, you're… eh?" Kanae grinded to a halt when Eliza turned.

The sorceress was mostly naked and blindfolded. A ball gag plugged her mouth. She wore a collar with the studs pointed inwards. In addition to the tattoos, her body showed signs of being whipped, cut, and toyed with. The belt harnessed around her waist was affixed with a large dildo that repeatedly penetrated her.

"Wouf you lif phfo fuck me ahain tohay, Mihress?" Eliza kneeled down and panted like a dog.

"I'll never look at her the same way again. Master, this looks like Claudia's handiwork," Esta said.

"There seems to be a charm on her. I can dispel it, but I don't think she's going to like the wake up call. As much as I'd like to take your offer, Eliza, it's time to snap out of it!" Kanae stripped for the third time today, activating Exhibitionist Spellcasting and raising her INT stat to SS. With a wand in her tail's grasp, she cast Dispel to remove whatever effects clouded Eliza's mind.

Eliza blinked absentmindedly. Color returned to her eyes. She ripped the gag from her mouth and chucked it to the other side of the room.

"Damn it aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaall!" Eliza clutched her head and cried.

"Aha! Are all your companions so funny, Kanae?" Moira asked.

"N-No, she's probably just extremely frustrated," Kanae said in defense of her mentor.

She sighed. "You're damn right I am. I can't believe I let Seer Yesenia get the better of me. Curses. I remember everything. They captured and brought me here, where Claudia, the Mistress of Pain was waiting. Judging by the looks on your faces, you already had the pleasure of meeting her. If you're here though, your foray into Gabrul's camp and Capillis City was a success, yes?"

Everyone hesitated to answer. Kanae especially held her tongue. They spent a few moments to recover and recount what had happened during Eliza's captivity. The news of Arenade's passing struck deep.

"Amethyst… I'm so terribly sorry," Eliza apologized. "It's my fault. Claudia charmed me into spilling all I knew, including your whereabouts…"

"The fault lies with me. I was too terrified to do anything at the time. I'm going to avenge her. We'll foil their plans to capture Lord Charron and out Yesenia as a traitor to Artaggon. There's already unrest unfolding in the city. We just need to find Lapis now," Kanae explained.

"You're the strongest student I've ever known. Very well, let us wreak havoc. Unfortunately, I am without my belongings because that crone stole them from me. I also do not know of Lapis' whereabouts. We were separated as soon as they brought us here."

The important thing was that they made progress. Kanae had almost lost hope after losing Arenade, but it wasn't going to happen again. She noticed Eliza throwing glances at their new tag-alongs.

"Oh, this is Aisha and Moira… my, uh… sister-in-law and mother-in-law from Mitty's side," Kanae introduced them.

"A pleasure to meet you both, though I wish it was under my fitting circumstances!" Eliza bowed to them.

"Pleasure's all mine, toots!" Moira flashed a toothy grin.

"Human, are you also a pervert like the succubus and drakeling?" Aisha growled under her breath.

"Aha, ha… Excuse me?" the sorceress answered with a nervous laugh.

Esta was nowhere to be seen. It wasn't until Kanae searched the room did she find the drakeling by the mirrors.

"Taken an interest in your appearance?" Kanae teased.

"Something is off with these mirrors. Danger sense has made my scales tense just being around these. I feel like I've seen one of these in Rotandrix and Ortesia before," Esta said, her brows knitted together trying to recall.

"Your guess is as good as mine, Silver." Eliza had found a discarded black robe to put on and changed in front of the leftmost mirror. "During my charmed state, I sometimes see Yesenia up here conversing with them. The discussions seemed one-sided. It might just be that she is—"

"I'm telling ya, that demon wench is touched in the head!" Moira chimed in.

The mirrors were about fifteen feet tall and three wide. Hard, mahogany wood served as a sturdy frame. Each had a unique face carved at the very top. They appeared demonic, but the features had been too worn from time to make anything out. One of them looked familiar, but Kanae couldn't quite put her finger on where she had seen it.

The others were already on the way out when Kanae passed by one mirror and heard a whisper.

Claim the crown and become my champion…

Kanae paused in front of a mirror in which the statuette head at the very top belonged to a woman. It must have been very beautiful back in the day, but the finer details were long gone.

"Master, is something the matter?" Esta called back into the room.

"Nothing. I just thought I heard something." Kanae caught up to the rest.

They traveled along a corridor where the windows offered them a glimpse of what was unfolding in the city. Fires had broken out all over Aberron. Yesenia's enhanced monsters had been let loose upon the populace in an attempt to suppress the revolts. Even the guards were caught up in their stampede.

"Before we face Yesenia and Claudia, does anyone have any anti-succubus magic potions? I profess, I'm not keen on being charmed to do her biddings again. My rear end still stings," Eliza said.

Between Kanae and Esta, they had four in total. The potions went to everyone else except Kanae, not that she needed it to begin with. They pressed on to the end of the corridor. A set of large, ornate doors awaited them. Aisha and Esta pushed the doors open, revealing an adjoining stone tower.

Lapis, their long lost dwarven automaton friend, was shackled to the wall by her wrists. One of Yesenia's ritualists knelt beside her cracked-open chest, chisel in hand on the bluish crystal core within. His jaw dropped.

"Get away from her!" Kanae growled, but the ritualist didn't obey.

The anti-magic being emitted by Lapis was still in effect. That didn't stop her. Kanae stormed up to the man, lifted him off his feet, and slammed his head against the wall. He slumped to the floor unconscious.

Everyone crowded around worriedly.

"Lapis? Lapis! Wake up!" Kanae cried.

"Nnh… Kanae? Thank the gods… Hehe… I've been praying so much… that we would see each other again… That means they… answered this soulless metal husk's prayer, right?" Lapis whispered weakly.

"By the Supreme One's beard… What did they do to you?" Eliza gasped.

The crystal core had a deep trench where the ritualist was taking a chisel to. Up close, Kanae felt the familiar block from being able to use magic. That…

"Is that the meisterium?" Kanae asked.

"I think so… they keep chipping away at it. It really hurts…" Lapis whimpered.

Esta broke the shackles off and freed Lapis from the wall.

"Not so fast," a rickety voice said from behind.

Seer Yesenia.

"Wow! They somehow escaped your dungeon? It's in another realm, isn't it? Hi, Demon Queen! Looks like we might get round two after all!" Claudia waved like an excitable school girl.

"You leave that dwarven contraption right where it is. I need it, you see, in order to power these weapons. They will be my ticket to dethroning Lord Charron and finally obtaining the power needed to usher in another Hellfire." Yesenia sneered. She held an orbal capacitor humming with energy.

"H-Hellfire? You really are a crazy bitch!" Aisha snarled more ferociously than before.

"See? I've been telling y'all!" Moira huffed.

Their discussion was muted in Kanae's mind. She only registered the orbal capacitor. Anger welled up within her chest and bubbled violently to the surface.

"Yesenia!" Kanae unfurled her wings and charged, but a bone-shattering impact knocked her right out of the tower.

"Sorry, Demon Queen!" Claudia flew just above her and smirked. "I need Yesenia to succeed. Let's have a rematch!"

Kanae bared her teeth and lunged for Claudia. They spiraled through the sky, crashing through manor after manor. The affluent ran away screaming. Slaves seized this chance to attack their old masters. She tried to get up, but the Mistress of Pain landed on top.

"Is that all you got? You were fucking me so passionately earlier!" Claudia's attacks with her horse whip and paddle came like cracks of thunder. She was all smiles. One that looked crazed and on the verge of climaxing. However, after each successive hit, that smile waned until she stopped completely. "Hey… There's no fun in pain if you don't struggle or make noises."

"You… can't hurt me even if you tried…" Kanae squeezed tears from her eyes.

Claudia got off and sighed. "What did Seer Yesenia do to you?"

"She took away… someone I loved…"

Hot tears were coming again. Kanae had thought she resolved to see this through, but everything hurt too much to move. If only Arenade was around to heal her like always. Just a little. Even the warmth of her spell would be enough.

Claudia began to walk away.

"You're not going to… finish me off?" Kanae croaked, pushing herself up on both elbows.

"What's the point? Your head isn't in the game, so it isn't in the pain. You're right. I can't hurt you as you are now. I'd be wasting my breath." The Mistress of Pain returned and offered a hand.

Kanae wasn't entirely convinced it was a trick and took it. Claudia yanked her up, then wrapped both arms around her.

Warm, comforting… it was like being in Arenade's embrace again.

"Yeah, I can feel it alright. I used to have a sister I really loved. When I lost her to succubus hunters, half of me went with her. I never found the bastards that killed her. It's the one pain that I hate. It sticks with you and gnaws at you…" Claudia's voice started quivering.

"I'm sorry for your loss." Kanae returned the embrace her enemy had so kindly offered.

"Sorry for yours. So, in Alicia's memory, I'm going to give you a chance to take revenge. A chance I never got. In return? Your grief better be gone by the time we see each other. I want to inflict the sweetest… most delectable pain imaginable upon you, and for you to do the same to me."

"What about capturing Lord Charron?"

She shrugged. "It kinda pisses me off how arrogant the cattle Yesenia's gotten, so it would be pretty delicious to see her fall. Also, I'm not the Queen-Mother or Amby. Charron's just that weird uncle who had a fling with my mother."

They didn't even know the half of it. The family tree was a lot more complicated than anyone gave it credit for.

"I think, out of all the sisters, I might like you the best. You're… not so bad," Kanae said, parting from Claudia's arms.

"Oh, shucks! If you really want to sweet talk me, lash me with some insults and sharpen that whip next time~ I'll see you around, Demon Queen. May your revenge mend that miserable wound I know all too well of." Claudia spread her wings and took off.

Kanae stayed there to catch her breath and lament her own weakness. Even after leveling up to such an extent, the remaining three Mistresses were still so strong. This chance, however, given to her by a foe would not be wasted. She soared back to the keep. A large hole had been left behind when Claudia blasted her out.

Inside, Yesenia and her ritualists held the others captive in the stone tower. The orbal capacitor continued to rest in the palm of her hand.

"When Claudia returns with that upstart succubus, I'll have you all thrown into the deepest pits with my most gruesome creations. Ah-ah! I see you, drakeling. Don't move, or this will blow a hole through you!" Yesenia warned.

"It's over for you." Kanae landed behind them.

They whirled around. The ritualists immediately began incanting, but Kanae pummeled through them one by one. She lifted the last one with her tail and flung him away. Yesenia was all who was left.

"Y-You… You couldn't have possibly defeated the Mistress of Pain!" Yesenia cried.

"That's the thing about allying with a succubus. You never really know if she's on your side." Kanae smiled.

"That bitch. I still have this! I'm going to annihilate you and take Lord Charron's crown myself!" She powered up the orbal capacitor, causing it to vibrate madly.

"Master!" Esta panicked.

Kanae approached fearlessly. She grabbed Yesenia's wrist and pointed the capacitor up. A powerful beam pierced the ceiling and fired at the heavens, parting the cloudy sky above the keep. When the last bit of energy sputtered out, the mechanical sphere left her grasp and clattered to the floor. It rolled to a stop against the wall.

"Your reign in Aberron is over. Your dream of being Demon Lord of Artaggon will stay a dream. Don't worry though. Your retribution has only just started," Kanae said.