Lusamine was currently flying around the city.
Helios' hellish pressure had yet to leave her mind, causing her to become restless and a bit on edge.
'In my entire life, I've never experienced anything like that. The stories aren't made up at all.'
Despite her nature as a sex demon, Lusamine prided herself on being strong willed and a capable warrior.
The number of times she'd been defeated in battle could be counted on both of her hands and the number of enemies she'd run from was even fewer.
However, in front of the legendary golden dragon, she was reduced to no more than a mere child.
'Not even the demon king of pride can make me feel that helpless...'
Lusamine was suddenly snapped out of her melancholic attitude when she sensed a presence she knew very well.
While flying around absentmindedly, she seemed to have arrived at the sacred tree in the center of the city.
Leaning casually against it was the dark elf Eris. She appeared to be so embroiled in conversation with someone that she did not even notice the arrival of her oldest friend.
"Eris? Who. are you talking to?"
The beautiful dark elf looked up with a mildly surprised expression that sound turned into pure excitement. "Lusamine, I can hear her!"
"Hear who?" Lusamine landed on the ground and Zheng appeared next to her from her shadow.
Eris lovingly patted the bark of the ancient tree she was sitting under. "The tree... she's so kind!"
Zheng and Lusamine both felt their eyes widen.
They knew better than anyone that their friend had a not so secret inability to communicate with nature.
It was one of the things she was most insecure about after all.
But now she was saying that she could understand this tree perfectly fine? And that it was apparently nice to her?
"What have the two of you been talking about?" Zheng suddenly asked.
"Ah, well mostly just our backstories. For the past few hours she's just been complaining about how thirsty she is though." Eris said as she eyed the gluttonous little tree.
"Thirsty? For what?" Lusamine asked suspiciously.
Eris' plump lips formed a subtle smirk.
"Blood."
A subtle look of curiosity passed between the succubus and the one before Zheng nodded and disappeared in a flash.
He returned a few moments later with two humans slung over his shoulder.
These were the humans the sex demons had collected to drain their essence and vitality.
Despite their frail appearance, they were in otherwise good health.
"Shall we see what happens?"
-
Bekka awoke with an audible gasp.
Her hand immediately went to her chest and she let out a sigh of relief when she felt no holes in her body.
She stood up wearily and took in her surroundings.
She was in a land that seemed to be devoid of all color except for black.
In the distance, she could hear the loud roars of demonic sounding creatures and reflexively shuddered.
The roars imbued her with such an indescribable feeling of dread that it made her regret coming here.
She shook off her fear and instead focused on the large gate in front of her.
Beyond the obsidian bars, she could see an enormous gothic style castle that made even the one in Antares look like a mobile home.
She tried to make out more details but unfortunately her surroundings were covered in a dense fog.
Suddenly, the dark gates creaked open and Bekka could hear the sound of footsteps approaching.
"There's one at the door."
"There's one at the door."
"There's one at the door."
A deep, demonic voice suddenly cut through the mist and caused the hairs on the back of Bekka's neck to stand up.
Stealing her resolve, Bekka waited patiently for the mysterious entity to be fully revealed.
The figure that cut through the fog was unlike anything she'd ever seen.
A large grey skinned creature in the shape of a man sauntered forward.
It stood at a menacing eight feet tall, with a ripped torso covered in old wounds.
On its head was stringy gray hair that was beginning to fall out in some places, making the creature look bald.
It's mouth hung open to reveal sharp teeth that were varying shades of yellow.
In it's head was a single black eye that seemed to see through her entire existence.
The monstrous cyclops came to a stop a few feet away from Bekka before turning around in the direction it came from.
"The one follows."
"The one follows."
"The one follows."
Bekka was still wary about this whole thing, however that did not mean she could just stay here at the entrance.
If she wanted to leave here and return home she had to follow this thing wherever it was leading her.
The hellhound trailed behind her one eyed guide for a long time.
The road to the castle was littered with bones of unknown monsters and rusted weapons.
When the pair finally reached the door to the castle, the hulking brute pushed it open with a grunt and allowed Bekka inside.
He did not speak again and simply closed the door behind her.
Bekka prepared to start investigating the strange empty castle when a sickly green portal opened at her feet and she fell through it.
"What the hell!'
Thud!
Bekka hit the cold ground hard and immediately scrambled up looking for the source of whoever so rudely invited her here.
Standing in a dark throne room with her was a beautiful woman with staunch muscles and pitch black skin.
She was easily over six feet tall and she had a pair of thick horns protruding from her head of long dark hair that made her look even taller.
Her luminous golden eyes contained an amused glint as she stared down at the snarling furry girl.
"Who are you?! Are you the one who called me here?!" Bekka asked hesitantly.
She could feel that this woman in front of her was strong.
Very strong.
This only increased the unease she felt about coming here.
The woman smirked, revealing a mouthful of gleaming white fangs. "I did indeed have a hand in it."
Bekka relaxed a bit when she finally saw the face of the mysterious voice that had been plaguing her for months.
"Why did you-"
BAM!
Before Bekka could get some answers to her burning questions, the strange woman gave her a hard kick to the stomach that sent her flying into a nearby wall.
BANG
"Gah!"
Bekka wasn't one to cry out in pain, however a single kick from this strange woman made it feel like she'd been hit by a train.
The woman furrowed her brow in disappointment. "Your body is a lot weaker than I thought. I almost kicked your organs out of your back."
The hellhound could barely register the woman's words.
Her body was wracked by pain and to make matters worse, her mind was becoming muddled with rage.
"Grrr... you fucking bitch...I'LL KILL YOU!!!" Bekka roared as her body became more animal like.
She ran forward on all fours with her claws tearing up the ground beneath her.
Bekka lunged forward and prepared to pounce on her opponent, only to be caught by her neck in midair.
Unwilling to be caught, Bekka dug her elongated claws into the woman's forearm.
Black blood poured out from the wound, but the woman seemed not to feel any pain at all, only showing a wider smirk.
Bekka kicked, clawed and struggled, but the woman's arm did not budge an inch.
"That's good! Fight more! You will only find glory in pain!"
The unknown warrior then spun and brutally slammed Bekka into the ground, cracking the stone beneath her.
Dark red blood escaped from her lips and she felt her vision go white.
Visions began to flash through her eyes.
She saw her husband whom she loved almost as much as she idolized.
The smiling faces of her daughters that had taught her the joy's of motherhood even though they were not biologically hers.
Memories of the laughter that she'd shared with all of her fellow wives.
If she were defeated here, would she not lose all of that?
Her entire family would simply find her body down in that basement and they would never know what happened to her.
The thought was terrifying.
That lone fear was enough to cause her last thread of reasoning to snap and Bekka's body sank into the shadows beneath her.
"Oh?"
Her opponent could feel that she wasn't running, more like undergoing a metamorphosis.
Her hypothesis proved correct when a few moments later, a giant black wolf sprung up out of nowhere.
The woman's gaze hardened as she stared at Bekka's frenzied transformation.
With a roar, Bekka rushed forward with an open muzzle filled with razor sharp fangs.
The woman appeared to be unfazed except for some mild irritation.
She leapt into the air and delivered a perfectly executed spinning heel kick to the muzzle of the massive wolf.
Bekka let out a heart wrenching yelp of pain as her massive fangs were knocked clean out of her mouth and she was once again sent flying.
She hit the wall with a thud and immediately passed out.
Her body shrunk back down to her regular form and she remained on the ground, unmoving.
"Ah..." The woman's irritation vanished like a mirage. "Maybe that was a bit too much."
-
When Bekka finally stirred awake, the first thing she noticed was that the pain of her prior battle had yet to fully recede.
The next thing she noticed was that her head was lying on a soft yet firm surface and the rest of her was on the cold ground.
Bekka groggily opened her eyes to see the woman she'd faced before was currently giving her a lap pillow and staring down at her lovingly.
"Fufufu~ My daughter is so cute when she's sleeping."