The Hero Became a Succubus, and the Only Way to Level is to… What?! Chapter 500 – Bedlam Folly

The party returned to Ehmvier using a teleportation pellet. Kanae was still worried about the simulac— Art, but she already made her decision regarding giving him a chance to live. Him, Terra, and the other goblins waved as the magical device activated and flashed brightly. They appeared inside the Arcen room of Eliza's tower to the quiet humming of stressed tal pipes.

Titan and the devil mutts, who weren't used to traveling this way, flopped over on the floor from being disoriented. The sa was true for Mitty, whom Kanae offered a hand to stay steady.

"I'm sure you would prefer so ti to rest, Athyst. I'll be here when you're ready to leave. The Arcen is powered and ready to go, as well as fully stocked with another load of crystallized mana for our return," Eliza explained.

"Yeah, I'll do that." Kanae was about to leave with Mitty but paused at the door. She turned around to see the sorceress taking a wrench to loose bolts on the pipes. "Hey, Eliza? I'm going to go see Alicia and Dawn. Why don't you co up with ?"

"You know what? I'd love to." She smiled warmly and put down the tool.

Kanae, Mitty, and Eliza ascended to the upper floor of the tower. On the way, Kanae peered out of the window. People were still sick from Charlotte, the Mistress of Excess' plague. With any luck, Gretchen's search for her was going well, and Rosaline's foray into Toadstool Forest yielded the ingredient she was looking for.

As they neared Alicia's bedchamber, it looked like they weren't the only ones coming to see the baby. Inside, half a dozen Sisters of Sin surrounded a fellow Sister who cradled Dawn in her arms, eager to get a turn.

"Kanae." Alicia made herself known from the foot of the bed. "If you want to play with Dawn, you're going to have to wait in line."

"Lucky for , I'm the boss around here. Sisters, give my daughter," Kanae demanded.

They erupted with a round of disappointed groans. The Sister holding Dawn relented and passed the infant girl to her mother.

"Hi, Dawn. Did you miss ?" Kanae gently bounced her and elicited a giggle. "There's soone I want you to et. This is your Uncle Mitty." She kneeled down for him to see. "You have a lot more sisters, who want to et you."

"Wow. Her horns are different from you and Alicia. Is she really yours?" Mitty asked.

"About as mine as the other girls are." She nodded.

Eliza stood by the door away from the rest of the group. Kanae lifted Dawn up to her, taking the sorceress by surprise.

"Go on. Hold her," Kanae insisted.

"I shouldn't… Infants are fragile little creatures. I've only ever held animals before." Eliza hesitated, and it wasn't until Kanae snatched the staff away with her tail did she give in.

With no other choice, the sorceress awkwardly picked up Dawn from Kanae's arms, much to the Sisters of Sin's envy. At first, she was completely petrified. But as Dawn wriggled and grabbed ahold of her curly black locks of hair, Eliza's walls started crumbling.

What Kanae didn't expect though, were the few drops of tears that flowed from the sorceress' eyes.

"Eliza, are you alright?" Kanae asked.

"I'm fine. Here." Eliza returned Dawn to Kanae's arms. "Just overco with emotion. It's only now co to my attention that this is the first ti I've held an infant, despite how many years I've lived. I quite like the feeling."

"And you're welco to see Dawn any ti," Alicia said from the bed.

A sudden gust of wind kicked hair and curtains into a violent flutter. The force knocked Mitty into the wall, and the Sisters huddled together to withstand it.

"What's going on? The windows aren't even open!" a Sister cried.

"I know what this is…" Kanae cursed under her breath.

When the localized storm subsided, the visage of the elental lord Elirashj lood over them. The bottom half of her body was connected to the magical oil lamp which hung from Kanae's waistband.

"I have awakened to collect what is owed to , and I see you have a succubus to give. Or do you plan to deny again?" Elirashj bood.

Kanae backed away with Dawn, and Alicia ca to their defense with both daggers in hand.

"My daughter is not your gift," Kanae said.

"Have you forgotten our arrangent?" The elental lord arched a brow, her dark red skin taking a deeper and seething shade.

"I'll find you another unique beast. But if you so much as think about touching a hair on Dawn, I know a deep dark place to throw your lamp into," she warned.

"Threatening , are you? And I thought we had beco friends after spilling blood in Savir together— ARGGHH!" Elirashj doubled over and collapsed to the floor, the storming form wavered trying to keep itself together.

Kanae noticed then that Eliza's staff was missing from her tail. Because the sorceress had taken it back.

"I believe this is our first ti eting, Elirashj. I've only heard about you through Athyst and Red," Eliza said, eyes and staff sparking with arcane energy.

"And who… are you?" Elirashj growled.

"Your antithesis. You must be feeling helpless right about now, wondering just what it is that's affecting you. Allow to explain: I am a crowned Sorcerer. One of my Legacy Skills is Bind Planar Entity. Elentals, lord or otherwise, happen to fall under the definition of 'planar entity'. You will not touch Dawn. You will wait patiently for Athyst to provide you what you are owed." She swung her staff, drawing the visage of Elirashj back into the oil lamp.

Calm returned to the room. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Dawn started wailing, so Kanae rocked her baby side to side in her arms.

"Eliza, that was amazing! I don't know if I can thank you enough for what you just did. Even if Elirashj is going to be a little pissy from now on." Kanae laughed nervously.

"Truly, I'm in your debt." Alicia bowed to her.

"Think nothing of it. I invited you into my tower to protect both you and Dawn. How negligent would I be to let soone kidnap your daughter?" Eliza grinned.

Unfortunately, for the ti being, they needed to leave the tower for a short ti. The Sisters of Sin, Mitty, and Alicia departed with Dawn. Both Titan and the devil mutts, too, after recovering from their daze.

To be honest, Kanae was a little anxious. Where or what exactly was Eliza planning to show her? She had no clue. After Eliza made sure that the tower was vacated, she kicked the Arcen into gear.

Kanae braced herself for a violent thrashing, or to be thrown across the room from the tower teleporting. However, that didn't happen this ti around. Their landing was gentle. Loose items jostled just a little.

"We're here," Eliza said.

"Where exactly?" Kanae asked.

The dry atmosphere hit her first. Kanae felt like her face was actively losing moisture. Grains of sand blew through the open windows, scattering across the Arcen room floor. Eliza, staff in hand, flicked once and shut them all.

"You will see soon enough. Co." Eliza beckoned Kanae upstairs.

All the way up, the sorceress magicked every window closed to keep sand from filling up her tower. Even shut, Kanae was able to hear how much sand battered the tower from outside. It sounded like they were in the middle of a sandstorm.

Eliza led Kanae one floor above where her and Alicia's bedchamber were. It was an attic up here. Countless crates and boxes filled the space to the brim. The sound of coursing sand was loudest just above them. However, when Eliza gestured to a ladder leading up, Kanae knew they were going to get sand in every nook and cranny of her body.

At the top of the ladder, a heavy hinge lock held the hatch shut. Eliza drew a wand to dispel a magical effect on it, then pushed the entryway open. Sand that had collected on the tower rooftop poured over them like a waterfall. They climbed up the rest of the way to the top, then pushed the hatch shut.

"Peh! Eliza, what are you trying to show ?" Kanae shielded herself with her larger set of wings.

"This will pass soon," Eliza assured.

As if on cue, the sandstorm subsided. Kanae furled her wings to the sight of vast unending dunes that stretched into every direction. Moving figures dotted the landscape. They weren't animals, but… people. Emaciated and mummified skin clinging to bones. These creatures were undead, and they all lumbered in a single direction— south.

"Who are they?" Kanae peered over the edge.

"My people, and my motherland," Eliza said, waving her arm across the desert. "Behold what lies north of Artaggon, beyond Hellfire Badlands."

Everything started falling into place now. If that was true, then these were the sa undead that trickled into the badlands and threatened Capillis City. But for all this ti?

"I don't understand. Why are there so many undead? Where are they coming from?" Kanae asked.

Eliza took a deep breath and sighed. "They are cursed, Athyst. Many years ago, there used to be a human civilization here called Alleia. They were an arrogant lot, whose pride was validated by their own genius. Mages, witches, sorcerers of all kinds built a kingdom of magic and study. My inventions are born from their golden era. You wonder why my flying broom, Arcen, teleportation pellets, and enchantnts aren't more commonplace? I choose to keep such secrets hidden."

"What happened?"

"Hubris. It wasn't as if they sought to usurp the gods or attain deification. They wanted immortality, to live forever and continue to accumulate knowledge. Their thirst, however, led them to tearing open a rift between our world and the Realm of Eternal Sleep. Malevolent wraiths and revenants spilled through, slaughtering countless. Today, their ruins lay buried underneath these dunes. Their corpses continue to rise," she explained.

Kanae gulped.

"Indeed." Eliza chuckled. "The Supre One wasn't happy with Alleia's folly. He didn't punish them. He let them reap what they sowed. Alleia's dead could not rest. Its people and all their descendants are dood to have their souls fall from that open tear over and over, and wander south as undead to find a final resting place, only to repeat the cycle."

"And… You are Alleian?" Kanae asked.

"Yes. Well, my ancestor is. Bedlam isn't even my last na. I adopted the synonym for chaos as a reminder that, even though my bloodline escaped Alleia's doom, we did not escape its curse. Which is why I had desperately delved into alchemy to concoct an elixir to grant eternal youth. I fear the beyond, and I wish to one day close that tear." Her hands balled up into fists.

Kanae rested a hand on one fist. "You don't have to go at it alone." She thumbed to herself. "I happen to have a good rapport with the gods. Maybe I can get them to owe one when I achieve Deification."

"For over a century, I was reluctant to ask every Grand Eye I served under for help. After all, Alleia laid beyond Artaggon. And my people incurred the Supre One's wrath. Your serendipitous arrival has changed everything. Thank you, Athyst." The sorceress bowed her head just as another sandstorm blew in again.

They quickly ducked back into the tower, but not before getting sand all over their hair. Eliza invited Kanae to take a bath with her on the bottom floor of her tower. She even popped open a fresh bottle of wine to share.

Kanae combed Eliza's hair from behind. Loose sand drifted on the surface of the steaming waters.

"I think your next invention should be an anti-sand barrier," Kanae teased.

"And miss the opportunity to have my hair brushed by you? Perish the thought!" Eliza laughed.

Feeling naughty, Kanae squeezed Eliza's breast and rubbed her clitoris. The sorceress leaned back, moaning loudly. She slipped two fingers in, and Eliza shuddered like her tower after every teleport.

"Ambushing while I'm naked and vulnerable?" Eliza glanced back and bit down on her lower lip.

"Is it working?" Kanae purred.

Eliza turned around. Their bare and moist bodies pressed against each other. Nipples stiff from the stimulation throbbing intensely. Kanae caressed the other won's shapely thighs and plump ass. anwhile, Eliza put a hand behind Kanae's head and pulled her closer. But before Kanae could taste those juicy lips, the sorceress exploded into a flock of ravens. She reford standing outside of the pool, wine glass in one hand and pipe in the other.

"If we start having sex, you won't want to stop until the next day. When you're done drying off, we have crystallized mana to start shoveling into the furnaces, Athyst." Eliza winked and made for the door.

"Oh, co on!" Kanae groaned, sinking into the water in disappointnt.