The moment that Ember acknowledged her mistake, Lucarad fell into the churned earth right beside her.
"Oh, My Lord!" Helen rushed to the High Priest. "Please conserve your strength! She is not worthy of your attention. Oh, you're bleeding again!"
"Ptfu!" Ember spat out some earth before standing up.
"See what you did, 'coin-slut'!?" Helen shouted at Ember. "Get out of here before you cause any more harm!"
Visibly cross about the insult that now grew traction, Ember nonetheless found the power within her to remain silent, and after throwing a glance at Helen that suggested that the two better not meet up alone in a dark alley, she moved past the love-crazed priestess.
"Shouldn't we help them hide somewhere safer than at the end of an open runway that can be seen for miles?" Beatrice asked. "Won't the Queen send her soldiers after them?"
"A 'runway'?" Ember asked but shook off the unknown term. "Either way we don't need to bother. Nobody will expect for the High Priest to remain here in the open like an idiot so this will be the last place they look."
"See? We're safe here, so rest up, My Lord!" Helen said as she stroked Lucarad's head.
"That makes very little sense," Beatrice said, but when she saw Lucarad go into another coughing spree, this time with blood too, she concluded that the High Priest might be in no condition to be moved for long distances through uneven terrain anyway. And it wasn't like Olivia would just be sitting around waiting for them.
"Don't worry, My Lord! I'll make you all better!" Helen said and straddled Lucarad before leaning in closer to him and bending her neck, exposing her clear, soft skin right at Lucarad's lips. "Use my body to keep you alive!"
Lucarad opened his jaw wide, exposing his sharp fangs, and bit into Helen's neck. Helen moaned and rolled her eyes from the pleasure. And as Lucarad sucked on Helen's neck, the priestess moved her hips up and down on Lucarad's crotch, grinding against him. It wasn't long before she needed more and reached with her hand to the area where they connected through their robes.
"Aaand we're going!" Beatrice announced and pushed Olivia further along, away from the kinky healing.
Even while pushed forward, Olivia still looked back with a captivated gaze, but Beatrice insisted—she remembered Lucarad's warning that it was dangerous for Olivia to be involved in sexual activities. Who knows if even watching something like this could be enough to trigger that Taint in her? Beatrice worried.
As for Beatrice, for better or worse after the defeat in her "duel" with Queen Merillia, Beatrice's Arousal Points were thoroughly depleted several times over. Beatrice brought up her Arousal Points tab to confirm it.
Arousal Points
39/435 (+0.01/sec)
Yep, that should keep me out of unnecessary trouble for a while, Beatrice thought. The last thing the succubus needed was to get uncontrollably aroused in a middle of a fight and start fucking Olivia or Ember or one of the Purple Capes or all of them at the same time.
Ember was far less interested in Lucarad's and Helen's "healing" so she gladly followed closely behind Beatrice and Olivia until the healing duo was completely out of sight.
"So, what's the plan, 'Savior'?" Ember asked cheekily.
"There's nothing to it—we're going straight for those 'Pits' that soldier told us about," Beatrice said. "You'll show the quickest way, right?"
"Aye, aye, Savior" Ember saluted Beatrice and walked quickly past her to lead the way.
"Oh, and we'll also need to collect a couple of people along the way," Beatrice added.
"Sure thing," Ember said, having an idea of what Beatrice had in mind.
For once, the night journey through the Shadow Woods was astonishingly uneventful and within hours the trio was back on the rocky edge overlooking the actual city. And in the distance—the Iron Peak. One of several fortresses that stood far elevated above the rest of the unimpressive city buildings. Belmot's fortress, however, stood out even amongst the other fortresses, as its peaks reached even higher than the colossal walls that surrounded Klapsus in a ring.
"Since both of you have slept like babies through the day, it might actually give us some advantage in a nighttime operation," Ember said.
"What about you?" Beatrice asked.
"I caught a nap while you were dead out," Ember answered. "Don't worry—I don't need nearly as much sleep as the average humans do."
"Let's go then!" Olivia said and hurried down.
"Y-yeah, just one quick thing…" Beatrice said and looked at Ember.
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