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

Kanae, Petyr, and Edina returned to Lograin with their lives, not yet willing to risk a fight with an ancient dragon. Especially not without the others. Back at Dead Man's Gamble, Edina served them up some drinks while waiting for Alicia and her group. An undead messenger had been sent to find them at the adventurers hall over in the religious ward.

"I haven't fought an ancient dragon before, but this should be interesting." Petyr's overwhelming confidence gave Kanae a peace of mind, but even the high elven paladin had her limits.

They were careful against Roshasha, the former Demon Lord of Artaggon. However, they managed to slap on a Debilitating Band. That wasn't an option this time around.

"The only thing interesting is that I'm going to raise that sucker as soon as we kill it. Don't break its head open too bad," Edina warned.

"You're not seriously going to let her raise an ancient dragon from the dead, are you?" Petyr turned to Kanae and asked.

"Of course, I am. Edina growing stronger means the Commonwealth grows stronger, too. Besides, we already gave Hax'gorah the boot from the staff," Kanae explained.

"You trust this necromancer too readily. In the past, years before the high elven race migrated to found Ortesia, a necromancer wielding the Pillar of the Damned laid siege to my people in Radevic. Fortunately, they repelled the undead threat and defeated the undead menace. Let me break her head open before it comes to that," the paladin insisted, glaring at the squirreling with murderous intent.

Edina threw her arms out in a 'told you so' gesture.

"See, this is why I'm working towards being a lich. You uppity high elves, that cowtits Arenade included, are always first to jump the gun on blasting my head off!" Edina complained.

"No one is blasting anyone's head off." Kanae got up and came between them. "You two are going to get along one way or another. We're part of the same order hall, and we need to act like it!"

Petyr and Edina exchanged glances, then turned the other cheek. Kanae almost wanted to charm them into getting intimate, but that would blow back up in her face instead. Fed up with the conversation, Petyr retired to her room upstairs and Edina went to the gambling floor.

With little to do until Alicia and the others came back, Kanae decided to get her injuries in order. She went around behind Dead Man's Gamble, where a hitching post and water trough were set up for beasts of burden. Glory and Titan were tied to each post, resting until the next adventure.

"Titan, I need to drain you to heal myself. What do you say about a quick go?" Kanae asked, stroking the obsidian mane.

The dreadmourn whinnied with approval. Kanae, chest throbbing and pussy salivating, braced one hand against the hitching post and used the other to pull her lower garment aside. Juices dripped down her inner thighs in anticipation. Titan lifted his forelegs up, and it took a couple of tries before they found steady purchase on the post. His massive frame shrouded her underneath his shadow.

Kanae glanced behind herself. The large dreadmourn cock grew erect, rising until it was level with her slit. Titan bucked his hips once, twice… and on the third, pushed deep into her soaking pussy. She felt it slide right up to the womb's entrance.

"Oh, fuck yes… Your dick fits me so perfectly, I love it!" Kanae moaned aloud and remembered to keep quiet because they were outside.

Slowly, Titan picked up speed. The wooden post that was creaking from every now groaned and cracked as he pounded into Kanae. His long strokes made Kanae feel every inch of it sliding in and out of her pussy.

"Harder, Titan! Fuck your mare! Aahhh! I'm cumming! Pour your dreadmourn seed inside me… mmh! Let's make more babies!" Kanae couldn't keep quiet any longer, howling like a bitch in heat.

The throbbing cock erupted like a volcano and spewed a thick load of fiery, demonic spunk directly into Kanae's womb. There was so much, her belly bulged from all the cum. It was hot like the hells, not that Kanae has ever been before. Her wounds, sustained from the rockslide earlier, began to close and disappear.

When Titan pulled away, Kanae almost didn't want it out. But his dick did anyway, and the tip flared out now that it wasn't stuck inside her. Gooey white ejaculate leaked from his member and her twitching cunt.

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

Coat of Conflagration: Wreathe oneself in an inferno, granting Fire Immunity to magical and non-magical fire for the duration.]

"I guess we can consider that a bonus," Kanae said, wiping the sweat from her face.

Titan was still hard. The cum dripping from his dick stoked Kanae's hunger. She dropped to her knees, got both hands on the massive thing, and opened her mouth ready to clean it when a heavy footfall interrupted them.

Petrified in this compromising position, Kanae locked eyes with Petyr, who was gripping the shaft of her own weapon until the knuckles turned white. She saw the whites of the paladin's clenched teeth.

"Uh. I can explain…" Kanae gulped.

"The only way I can erase this image from my mind is if I KILL YOU DEAD!" Petyr infused her felmetal hammer with a Smite, and Kanae hightailed it into the air to avoid her wrath.

Fortunately, the paladin didn't pursue. Neither did it look like she was going to take her anger out on Titan. Kanae breathed a sigh of relief. Despite having Greater Holy Resistance from the Enchanted Ink, a bludgeoning hit from Petyr would have been a lasting bruise. For now, it might be good to stay away from Dead Man's Gamble until the high elf cooled down.

Kanae spotted a potion atelier below. They were going to face a dragon, so it might be prudent to stock up on some brews that Aisha might not have. She descended into a deserted alley to let all the spunk dribble out first, then recomposed herself before heading out.

Bells above the door chimed as Kanae entered the modest shop, stocked more with ingredients and alchemical reagents than potions and elixirs. One table had several crates of dried roots from different plants. Woven baskets hanging within reach from the rafters contained beautiful flora, likely freshly picked and cut.

Farther into the shop, a familiar hobgoblin woman was confronting the shopkeeper. An also just as familiar gaur woman accompanied her.

"No, you don't understand. I need an intact burk flower. That means the flower, leaves, stem, and roots are still connected to each other! Do you have one or not?" Aisha growled.

"W-What you see on the floor is all I have! All I do is follow instructions and separate the flowers into their parts!" The elderly gentleman shuddered in terror underneath her menacing glare.

Aisha clicked her tongue.

"I don't believe you. Let me in the back so I can check for myself." Aisha was about to climb over the counter until Tess stopped her.

"C'mon now. No need to get all feisty with the poor guy. If he ain't got it, we ain't gonna find none back there either," Tess said.

"Now this isn't a pair I expected to see," Kanae said, revealing herself as she came up from behind them.

"Ha! Aisha here wanted to buy some alchemy stuff." The gaur warrior patted a heavy hand on her companion's shoulder. "Vice-Captain Alicia told me to follow Aisha on account of her not being used to conversing with cityfolks."

Once again, Alicia proved herself to be a wise leader. Tess was certainly a good choice to rein Aisha in. If either Claudia or Hilde had been chosen, they likely would have charmed Aisha into obedience and caused some problems.

"What's this about a burk flower you need anyway?" Kanae asked the hobgoblin alchemist.

"It's a key ingredient in enabling me to turn elixirs of fire resistance into greater quality, thus improving effectiveness. Without it, well… better hope that dragon doesn't breathe fire." Aisha sighed.

Greater fire resistance did sound useful…

Kanae had just obtained a skill that made her immune to fire, but the rest of her hall was still vulnerable. The only other person who could acquire that skill was Hilde, who was also a Seductress.

"Shopkeeper." Kanae placed him under her Charm. "Do you really not have any burk flower in stock? Would you happen to know anyone in the city that might?"

"Not uncut burk flowers, no. We sell them in parts to make a profit. You might want to ask Rown Company, which conducts the shipping and transportation," he answered stiffly.

"Guess I know where I need to go. Appreciate it, Kanae." Aisha nodded.

They purchased some reagents for other potions before leaving, as well as to make up for troubling the atelier's shopkeeper. When they emerged from the shop, Tess hailed a carriage bound for Rown Company's office. Kanae wouldn't be going with them though.

"Oh, real quick before you go. Can you also make a Potion of Gigantism?" Kanae asked.

"You want to fuck the dragon, don't you?" Aisha squinted.

"Maybe…" She avoided looking into the hob's judging eyes. "Okay, yes! I admit it! That's a real ancient dragon, so it has to be extremely strong. Imagine how much stronger I'll become after draining it? Or, on the off chance that I subjugate it."

"Damn, Kanae. You're a bigger horn dog than Ichi!" Tess belted out a boisterous laugh.

Aisha wasn't happy about it, but she agreed to brew the potion. Gigantism wasn't an easy effect or cheap effect, and the costs associated were high and so were the margins of error. She and Tess returned to the shop to buy reagents for it.

Meanwhile, Kanae flew to Lograin's adventurers hall to meet with Alicia, Claudia, and Hilde to see how they were doing. According to Aisha, the three were grilling adventurers that might have encountered the dragon or seen it flying around. At least, that was what she had said. There was no telling if the trio were up to no good or what. They were succubi. More than that, they were raised to believe any other race was just livestock and cattle.

That worry, however, proved unfounded as soon as Kanae arrived. Sellica, the centauress, flagged her down when she entered the hall.

"Hello, Kanae!" Sellica waved enthusiastically from behind the counter. "Oh! My mistake. Is it the Streaking Dragonslayer? Would you prefer Queen Kanae or Knight of Amethyst? You've assembled quite the list of titles."

"Kanae is fine, Sellica. It's good to see you, too." Kanae shook her head and smiled.

"Hehe. It truly has. In what, seven years by now? You accomplished so much! It truly gladdens my heart to see how high you've risen," she said warmly.

Kanae basked in the compliments. She could get used to this. A far cry from all the teasing and being poke fun of by her own subordinates.

"Say, did three succubi come by here? They probably had an air of superiority, thinking everyone is lesser than them. Not like high elf arrogant though. More like they see animals instead of people," Kanae said.

"You must mean Claudia, Hilde, and Alicia!" Sellica exclaimed with recognition. "They were arguing about something until the serious-looking one struck their heads. It made me laugh so much, I thought the trio were a band of jesters from the Commonwealth."

Well, they certainly made an impression.

"Those are the ones… Are they here?" Kanae asked again.

"Oh, yes. They questioned several adventurers until they fancied one in particular, then dragged him off to a room," Sellica said.

"Dragged him off… to a room?" she stammered, blood in her veins going cold.

"Mhmm! It sounds like you're acquainted with them, so I suppose it couldn't hurt to tell you the room number."

After confirming with the hall ledger, Sellica informed Kanae that the sisters and man were in room 14. She hurried over, afraid they might harm the guy. As she feared, the commotion inside sounded like someone was being tortured.

Kanae took a step back, then kicked the door open.

"Don't you drain that man to death!" Kanae yelled and stormed in.

Claudia and Hilde were playing a chess-like board game at the corner of the room, both of them looking bored out of their minds. Alicia, on the other hand, stood over a tied up elven adventurer lying on the bed with his ass, red from all the whipping, up in the air.

"Knight-Commander, we were just extracting information from him. Have you come to help?" Alicia asked.

"No! Let him go before we get in trouble with the adventurers hall and the city!" Kanae exclaimed.

"Uh… I, uh… I consented to this," the adventurer said.

Kanae stared blankly at them. Over at the game of chess, Claudia and Hilde nodded.

"Alicia knew you wouldn't approve of us using charm. She offered to fulfill this man's sexual fantasy in exchange instead," Hilde explained.

Suddenly, Kanae felt guilty for not trusting in them more. They were responsible after all.

"So, did you guys learn anything yet?" Kanae asked.

"Tell her," Alicia ordered the adventurer.

"But I haven't gotten off yet!" he complained, only for another strike to come down on his ass. "Ow! Yes, Mistress! First of all, the dragon you're after is very unusual. Like any quest involving incredibly dangerous monsters, it begins with a rumor. The hall then writes up a quest that calls adventurers to investigate. I was among the group who picked up the quest. All we needed to do was find out if it really was a dragon. We journeyed into the mountains not really thinking much of it. Sometimes, rumors turn out to be false, but we also get paid to confirm that. We… We stumbled into its lair, and… and…"

Kanae and the others swallowed hard.

"And what?" Kanae held her breath.

"The dragon invited us to a conversation!" the adventurer cried.

"Um… come again?" She squinted.

"No, you don't understand. He asked us all sorts of stuff relating to Lograin and Radevic's defenses, the number of adventurers in each city, and who the strongest bodies were. Obviously, none of us knew the answers to that. When we couldn't answer his question, he became enraged and tried to burn us with his breath of fire! Luckily, we had an illusion mage in the group who tricked him into thinking he killed us. We barely snuck out of there with our lives!" he explained breathlessly.

What a weird dragon. What did it have to gain by asking those questions? Was it looking for someone in particular? No, that couldn't be. It wouldn't need to know about the cities' defenses then.

Eventually, Alicia kicked the adventurer out of his own room. Kanae gave them the long story short about what happened and what she learned from her end. They agreed that the dragon was likely up to no good, and one of ancient age could actually threaten Lograin. But finding out that it could talk was the real surprise.

Maybe, just maybe the dragon could be reasoned with. If not, well… then they needed to take some precautions.

"What's the move now, Knight-Commander?" Alicia asked.

"We'll gather everyone and head out tomorrow morning to confront the dragon. This will be Amethyst Hall's second most important mission. The Eminence of Sin has a pretty big presence in Lograin, since the birth place was right here. That means most of my Sisters of Sin are here, too. How about a vekas?" Kanae suggested.

"Now you're talking my language!" Claudia shot to her feet.

"I suppose it would be a good opportunity to make use of Skill Drain. A prudent decision, Kanae." Hilde grinned.

Kanae glanced expectantly at Alicia, whom she had yet to have an intimate moment yet. Strangely, or maybe it was just her imagination, the succubus seemed to have been putting it off. What about this time?

"Is this merely an excuse to lay with me, Knight-Commander?" Alicia asked coquettishly.

"It's not an order, Vice-Captain. You're more than capable of making your own choice. Unless… You want me to order you?" Kanae returned with a coy playfulness.

"You need not order me." She crawled off the bed and grabbed Kanae gently by the hand. "It will be my pleasure."