By nightfall. I was healed enough, and the queen composed enough, to present me with the Queens Cup Trophy. First, she handed it to Victoria, the previous years' champion, who proudly presented it to me. In addition, I received a green orb. I knew what that was for, although I wasn't sure yet whether I would need it. Still, it was worth holding on to just in case. I gave it to Alice and asked her to add it to her bottomless bag. Having a bottomless bag and a mini castle sure was convenient. Magic rules!
"So impressive, Luka!" Ilias gushed as we walked through the castle hallways. "You are really starting to become the hero and protector of your goddess that I always envisioned you would be!"
"Thanks… I think?"
Ilias had certainly made a lot of progress, but there were times when I wondered about her. Then again, that had been an issue in the last world I was in. She'd always seem to take a few steps forward, and then she'd remind me that at her core she would always be a self-centered, egotistical goddess who believed the whole world revolved around her whims and desires. But I learned to live with that over time. What mattered was changing that cruel streak. What mattered was curing her of her bigotry. That had been a process that lasted centuries. Given that I'd only been on the road with this Ilias for several weeks, I had to admit that she was making progress. The missing ingredient had been living as a human. I'd weakened my Ilias, but she remained an angel, experiencing how the mortals lived only during her brief vacations on Earth, which she kept as short as possible due to not enjoying how it felt when she stubbed her toe or got sick to her stomach from eating too many cinnamon rolls. Being trapped in such a form, rather than being able to leave it at her option, accelerated Ilias' change of outlook.
"So, how should a goddess reward her chosen hero for a job well done?" Ilias asked, a not so subtle hint of seductiveness in her voice. Which was entirely ineffective given that it was coming from someone who looked like an eight year old girl. She recognized my lack of reaction and touched my chest, using my power to will herself into adult form, whereupon she asked the question again.
"You could give me a million dollars?" I asked jokingly.
"A million what? Is that a form of currency?"
"Yes it is."
"Ugh… You want money? Fine. When I have my power back, money you shall have. But what can I do for you now?"
"Just keep doing what you're doing, Ilias," I said. "Learn from being mortal, empathize with people who share this condition with you. Become the kind of person who doesn't destroy all life on the planet."
"Oh," Ilias responded, ashamed. "And this is a reward for you?"
"It's the best reward you could possibly give me. A peaceful, happy world with you as its benevolent goddess would be a great place to live."
"Oh," Ilias said again. "Well if you don't want to have any fun with me, I understand. Thanks for making me big. I'll just go down to the basement and spend some time with my new monster friends."
"Ilias, it's not that…."
Before I could finish, Sonya poked her head out of a doorway. "Ilias! Luka! Come see!"
Curious, given how excited Sonya was, Ilias and I entered the room, yet another room that I had not yet explored. Stepping inside, Ilias gasped in surprise. Somehow, right in the Monster Lord's castle of all places, there was a cathedral to the Ilias faith!
"How?" Ilias wondered.
"It was my idea!" Sonya said excitedly. "Do you like it?"
"Well, it may not be the San Ilia Cathedral," Ilias said critically. "But it's an adorable little chapel. How did this tiny zone of sacredness come to be in this den of iniquity?"
"Like I said, it was my idea!" Sonya replied. "I just felt that I was getting a bit too familiar with you and it was sorta gnawing at me. I mean, you're the Goddess! So this was for you, but also for me. I wanted a place to come and pray, even if in that form you can't hear me."
"Well, I can hear you just fine if I'm in the same room," Ilias said, ascending to the pulpit. "So if you wish, you can pray to me here and I'll just… I don't know, I guess I'll just stand up here in front and listen."
"So you did this all by yourself, Sonya?" I asked. The chapel was no rush job. It wasn't as if Sonya could have simply moved furniture from other rooms to create this island of the Ilias faith in a castle that was otherwise dedicated to glorifying monsterdom.
"I'm a hard worker, but this is way beyond me!" Sonya answered. "Many of the monsters helped out, of course."
"The monsters….?" Ilias asked, confused. "Why would any of the monsters do this… for me?"
"I think you're making friends, Ilias," I said proudly. "While this may not be home, as nothing can match the grandeur and beauty of heaven, this is the next best thing. It's your house. A house of worship, dedicated to you. Sonya, I wish you'd brought me in on this as well."
"Are you kidding? You couldn't keep a secret if your life depended on it!" Sonya exclaimed.
"They built me a chapel…." Ilias said, not quite seeming to process this strange reality.
"So do you like it?" Sonya asked eagerly.
"I did say it was adorable," Ilias responded, still looking around, taking it all in. The artwork on the walls was rather impressive. At least one monster had an artistic bent I didn't know about. The pews were superbly made, indicating that another monster or two must have been skilled at woodworking. "And the Monster Lord allowed this?" the goddess asked.
"She did," Sonya answered. "I was exploring the castle and noticed that this room was a little big and yet didn't seem to have a purpose yet. That's when I got the idea. I asked Alice's permission and she granted it without hesitation."
"The Monster Lord let you build a chapel in her castle," Ilias said listlessly.
"Technically it's just her Pocket Castle," Sonya said. "It might have been a harder sell in the real deal. But then again, maybe not. She seemed surprisingly enthusiastic about the idea."
The look on Ilias' face told me that she couldn't decide whether she was dreaming or being pranked. I decided to help her out.
"Ilias, this is what it means to have friends," I said. "Not sycophants, people you created who have to love you because you created them to love you. You earned those monsters' friendship."
Ilias simply stared at me. Finally, she found her words. "I'm having the strangest feeling," the goddess said. "I've never felt this way before. I'm not sure how to describe it."
"Are you feeling loved?" I asked.
"No, I know what that's like. Even if people were forced to love me, it was still love. No, this is different. It almost feels like…. I feel….. I think I'm feeling humbled."
"Humbled?" I asked in disbelief. "You!?"
"Luka!" Sonya whispered, jabbing me in the arm.
"Yes, humbled," ilias continued. "As if… I don't deserve this."
"You're growing, Ilias," I said proudly, mouthing a silent thank you to Sonya. Sonya had done more to help Ilias become a real person than anything I'd ever done. I was humbled as well. Humbled that I hadn't had the idea to build Ilias a chapel myself.
Ilias' demeanor suddenly changed. Had I said something wrong? She faced Sonya and me with a stern look on her face.
"I don't think I like feeling humbled," Ilias said, an edge to her voice, as if she was angry and at the same time near tears. "Kneel. Praise me."
Sonya immediately dropped to her knees and bowed her head until it touched the floor, beginning to sing a hymn to Ilias. I remained standing.
"Luka, I said kneel!" Ilias said threateningly.
"Ilias, our relationship has never been one of goddess and worshipper," I replied.
"You dare disrespect your goddess!? Do you want to incur my divine wrath?!"
"Are you being serious right now?" I asked, wondering if Sonya had made a grave miscalculation and also wondering if perhaps there was only so far Ilias could go before rebounding hard to her old ways.
Ilias' face changed again, this time showing an expression less of anger than exasperation.
"No, I'm not being fucking serious!' she huffed.
"ilias, this is a holy place!" Sonya admonished.
"Shut the fuck up and keep worshipping!"
"Yes, Goddess," Sonya replied quickly and resumed her hymn.
"You're confusing me, Ilias," I said. "Are you being serious or not?"
"No, I'm not being serious!" Ilias exclaimed. "I'm coping, okay?! I'm being hit with a lot of emotions I've never felt before and this is how I deal with emotional turmoil! So you can humor me by worshipping me, or you can humor me by taking your punishment like a man! Your choice!"
"I could just leave….."
Ilias gestured and the doors to the cathedral slammed shut.Stalking down from the pulpit, she gestured again and I was knocked flat on my back. Since I'm no expert on magic, I had no idea if her emotional turmoil as she put it was increasing her power. Perhaps causing doors to slam and knocking people down doesn't require much power. But it sure seemed impressive the way she was doing it. I'll give Ilias one thing, she sure knew how to sell wrath, even if there was more bark than bite behind it.
Standing over me haughtily, she gestured a third time and my clothes flew off of my body, leaving me naked on the floor of this supposedly holy cathedral. I was pretty sure this was sacrilege, but then again, I'd grown up in a Judeo-Christian world. Ilias had different standards.
"As punishment for your blasphemy, I sentence you to three orgasms!" Ilias exclaimed, her body glowing and her hair flying back as if wind was blowing in the cathedral, even though I could feel no wind. Like I said, Ilias could sell it.
"Wait, what's going on here?" Sonya asked nervously. "Is this really all right in a holy place?"
"Of course it's all right!" Ilias declared. "I am the Goddess, and this sinner needs to be punished! Three orgasms! But he's not worthy to experience anything but my foot!"
Ilias stomped her bare foot on my penis, which instantly became hard from contact with her heavenly body, even if it was just her foot. Crushing my penis between my belly and her foot, she rubbed it, twisting her foot around as if she was squishing a bug. The look on her face told me that I was that bug. I'd never been much for humiliation, but somehow the haughty and condescending look on Ilias' lovely face got me excited.
"All that pathetic twitching, just from this!" Ilias exclaimed. "You're a miserable pervert! Typical of a sinner! Be grateful that I'm a merciful goddess! This could be so much bett… I mean, worse!"
As if to drive home the point, she pressed down with her soft foot even harder. She looked over to Sonya.
"You can stop worshipping now!" the goddess ordered. "Come over here and sit on this sinner's face!"
"Are you serious?!" Sonya asked, looking up.
"Do I need to do all the disclaimers about how I'm just pretending here for my own mental health, and you don't actually have to do anything you don't want to, but I know you want to because you snuck into his room as a fucking rat a few weeks ago so I know you do want to?"
"Oh," Sonya said. "Well when you put it that way…."
Removing her own clothes, Sonya did as Ilias ordered, covering my face with her already moist pussy. I tentatively probed her with my tongue, ready to stop immediately if she didn't want that. She must have wanted it a lot, because as soon as she felt my tongue she began grinding into my face. Meanwhile, Ilias continued to rub me with her foot.
A few minutes later, Sonya froze and began crying out in ecstasy. Clear liquid splashed into my face. Oh my, I thought. Sonya's a squirter! In turn, that caused me to squirt as well, Ilias pressing down even harder with her foot as I humiliatingly released all of my semen onto my own belly.
"Look at you, all soiled!" Ilias crowed. "Let that be a lesson to you! I feel much better now! I think that I'll be going to my quarters! Sonya, please clean up that mess and finish carrying out my sentence against this sinner!"
"Yes, Goddess," Sonya replied submissively, as she bent over and began licking up the semen from my belly. Ilias wached in satisfaction, enjoying herself immensely by the looks of it. When Sonya had finished cleaning me with her tongue, she moved down a little further and took my penis into her mouth. As she sucked lightly, she resumed grinding her crotch into my face. Ilias sounded quite amused, praising Sonya for her loyalty. I heard the doors open again and close as Ilias walked out, probably to go get her own horniness taken care of downstairs.
"It's okay, Sonya, she's gone," I said, muffled by her body.
"Mmmhmmmm…." Sonya mumbled, still sucking me.
"Sonya, you don't have to do this if you don't want to," I repeated.
"Shut up," Sonya said, taking her mouth off of my penis long enough to say that, then going right back to work.
As Sonya quickly began to approach orgasm again(I'd had centuries of experience pleasing women), she began sucking more insistently, her tongue focusing on the head of my penis in ways that were actually pretty uncomfortable since she wasn't a monster. I began squirming, which caused her to hug my legs tightly to keep me still as she tortured my most sensitive part in ways that it really shouldn't be stimulated by a human. I screamed into her crotch as I came, her tongue mercilessly bearing down on my glans while I orgasmed. She came as well, excited by my screams. Truth be told, now it actually was starting to feel like punishment.
Turning around to face me, Sonya reached down and put my still hard penis inside her. "One more to go, sinner!" Sonya said with a sneer on her face. "While I'm fucking you I want you to think long and hard about how you disrespected your goddess!"
"Are you joking?!" I asked.
"Luka!" Sonya complained, punching me in the side. "You are so not fun! Play along!"
"Oh, sorry. I have been suitably chastened. I will treat the goddess with greater respect in the future."
"You sure will," Sonya said, rotating her hips. "Or else there will be a lot more of this in your future! I am the High Priestess of the Ilias Cathedral of the Pocket Castle! It is my duty to punish sinners! Now come!"
She slammed her waist down on me as hard as she could, causing me to penetrate deeper than I thought possible. I exploded inside her, in the first satisfying release of the day. Sonya just stopped, holding me tight, her naked body against mine. After a few minutes of just lying there in my arms, she looked up at me and smiled.
"So, that was a thing that happened," she said flippantly. "Wow, pretty weird, wasn't it? I guess that could have gone worse."
"Yeah, I was worried for a second that Ilias might do something inappropriate," I replied sarcastically.
Sonya and I cleaned ourselves up and got dressed. As a group, we'd actually been a bit directionless for the past day. I guess we were still processing the high of me winning the Queens' Cup, as well as absorbing the fact that other powers in the world were becoming increasingly aware of us. We obviously knew that we had to explore the Tartarus near Esta, as well as contract with Undine. I also wanted an excuse to go to Yamatai and see if Tamamo was there. I had good reason to believe, knowing Tamamo as I did, that if the Monster Lord was going in a direction Alma Elma didn't approve of, Tamamo would be even less likely to approve. It didn't hurt that I had her closest aide already on my team.
But for the day at least, no one had bothered to discuss with me what the next step would be. Undine, Tartarus, or something else? That surprised me, given how organized Alice usually was.
"How are you doing?" Sonya asked as we walked down the hallway, to…. Where? I wasn't even sure where I was going or why. I'd just been walking because Sonya was walking.
"Fine," I replied.
"You were amazing fighting those two Heavenly Knights!" Sonya gushed. "And you didn't even use your power! You just kicked their asses!"
"I had the help of two spirits, don't forget that," I cautioned. "Not to mention the advantage of knowing my opponents inside and out, while they knew nothing about me. I'm sure it won't be so easy next time. Heavenly Knights adapt and outsmart their opponents. It's what they do. I've seen them beat vastly superior opponents with my own eyes."
"You seemed happy to see them, though," Sonya said. "I guess given your long relationships with them it was a pretty emotional experience?"
I didn't remember how much I'd told Sonya about that, nor did I know how much Ilias had blabbed to her, so I simply nodded.
"You should probably stop hugging every powerful being you used to know in that other life," Sonya chortled.
"I know," I said wistfully. "It's just…. I missed them, you know?"
"Well, miss me no longer, Luka-boy!" I heard Alma Elma's voice say.
"Alma Elma!" I cried with joy, turning around to see the smiling queen succubus with Alice.
"You can hug her if you want, Luka, it's okay," Alice said, rolling her eyes.
I needed no further encouragement, rushing into Alma Elma's arms. She held me tightly, not even bothering to flirt, which was unusual for her. When I broke the embrace, Alma Elma looked me over appraisingly.
"Alice tells me you have quite the story to tell," Alma Elma said. "Well good news, Luka-boy! You're going to get the chance to tell it!"
"You're joining us?!" I asked excitedly.
"You aren't that lucky, Luka-boy," Alma Elma laughed. "The wind has brought me here only temporarily. I have a couple of jobs I need to do, and they are jobs that you might be interested in helping me with."
"Name them. Anything to spend time with you!"
"The first job involves you as much as it does me," Alma Elma explained. "That magical advisor manipulated both of us for reasons I don't understand. I learned that she operates a magical academy just north of Grand Noah. I'm betting that's where she keeps all of the incriminating evidence of her true agenda. What say we sneak in there and find out if there's anything interesting in her office?"
"I have part of an answer for you," I said. "I competed in the tournament and faced you in the finals in this true history everyone keeps talking about."
"I wonder if that means Mephisto is in league with the succubus sisters?" Alice wondered. "I've briefed Alma Elma on some of the things we know: the sisters, the true history, what little we know for sure about it, chaosization, apoptoses, Tartarus, that sort of thing. So you don't need to go over all of that with her."
"Good to know," I said. "What's the other job?"
"I hear there's trouble in Yamatai Village," Alma Elma reported. "Actually, there's strange goings-on all over the area. Some minotaurs disappeared a few days ago, a whole minotaur village, actually. There's even trouble in Plansect after that Monster Lord contender forced a peace on them."
"A forced peace never lasts much longer than it takes for the one who forced the peace to leave," Alice noted. "While as Monster Lord I can't ignore a civil war between monsters, I'm not really sure what we can do about it right now. I imagine we have enough power to force them to stop again, but how long after we left would it be before they just resumed fighting?"
"It seems like we always have so much to do," Sonya groused. Alice wrinkled her nose.
"Seems like you two have been busy," Alice observed sourly.
"It wasn't what you think!" Sonya said defensively. "Ilias told me to do it!"
"She did, did she?" Alice asked, raising an eyebrow. "Forget it, it's none of my business. Just wash yourselves better if you don't want every monster in this castle to know every detail of your business. I swear, humans never clean themselves properly. Go see Cindy if you need to really get clean."
"Okay," I said, trying to change the subject. "So who is going on this first mission to the magical academy?"
"That one's for just you and me, Luka-boy," Alma Elma said. "It's infiltration, so the fewer people the better. Truthfully, I don't even want you there. I'm only bringing you because I worry that what's in there might be more than even I can handle, not to mention I'd prefer to get what i need without Mephisto being aware that I was ever there. I might need you for backup. Or for bait. That's a monsters only academy. A tasty smelling man like you trespassing would be all the excuse they need to not notice me waltzing in. I'm even going to dress the part."
"So let me see if I understand this brilliant plan, succubus," Alice said. "Luka's going to walk in the front door, get raped, while you sneak around looking for evidence of what Mephisto is up to."
"He doesn't have to get raped, but from what you tell me he doesn't like to use excessive force against cute little monsters, so he's probably going to get raped, yes."
"Yeah, I'm more than familiar with how that works," Alice grumbled. "What I don't get is how he can provide you with backup if he's busy getting raped by every student in the school."
"Wellll…. Unlike even you, Monster Lord, I can cure critical ecstasy. When I need him, I just go get him. I might not even need him. Maybe I get the evidence on my own. Maybe he uses just enough force to deter the students. Maybe the students won't even be hungry!"
"The word 'maybe' is doing a lot of work there," Alice noted.
"Oh, lighten up, Alice! What could possibly go wrong? In, out, nobody gets hurt! Assuming there are no nasty, unexpected surprises."
"Now the word 'assuming' is doing a lot of work."
"And you know what they say about making an assumption," I said.
Alice and Alma Elma looked at me, confused. "No, what do they say about making an assumption?" Alice asked, in a tone that said she really didn't want to know.
"Um…..you make an ass out of you… um… and… umption?"
"Are you really going to be all right taking Luka?" Sonya asked.
Since nothing Ilias or Sonya had done to me had caused critical ecstasy, there was really no reason to wait. The school wasn't far, and we'd be arriving shortly after dinnertime. That caused Alice to sigh loudly, as she noted that if I was gone during dinnertime, that meant my cooking would not be on the table that night. I was more concerned about being an after dinner snack for the students of the magic academy.
We were traveling on foot. Alma Elma explained that she had two reasons for traveling that way. First, she wanted to take the time to interrogate me. Second, she anticipated that if Mephisto had something to hide in the school, her defenses would be especially attuned to detecting the arrival of powerful monsters, who tended to travel by teleportation or flight. In fact, Alma Elma didn't even want to try teleporting anywhere near the school, as there were spells that could do very bad things to people who tried unauthorized teleportation within the magical fields set up to stop it.
"Besides, Luka," Alma Elma said. "It's a lovely evening in beautiful country. I just love the Noah region! Forests, hills, even snow capped mountains! The wind plays here more than anywhere else, even the Forest of Spirits!"
"I've always been fond of Noah myself," I replied.
"So you're from another universe, eh? Where everything was the same as here for the most part?"
"For the most part," I confirmed. "The Great Disaster seems to have been where this world branched off from mine. Or the true history. Or both. It's very confusing."
"The idea that someone I've never met from a different universe knows everything about me is actually not even close to the weirdest thing I've ever encountered. Now having that person defeat me in combat, that's another thing entirely. And it can't be explained simply by you knowing my strengths and weaknesses. How exactly did you manage to continue to fight once I got my lips around your cock? I've never met a man that could put up even a smidgen of resistance when I do that. The only reason I put myself in a potentially vulnerable position like that is because I assumed you'd surrender."
"You know what they say about assumptions."
"Ugh, don't make me bite you!" Alma Elma laughed. "Every man gives up once inside any part of me. Every. Single. Man. Every. Fucking. Time. Except for you. I don't know why you were chosen for this gig, but you seem pretty qualified to me. Strange power. Check. Can keep his focus while the most powerful succubus in the world is sucking his dick. Check. Defeating the most skilled and powerful swordswoman on the planet. Check. Seems like your only weakness is thinking."
"I get that a lot," I said, chagrined. "I'm not really stupid, just a little dense sometimes."
"So Alice told me a lot about you, but what she didn't tell me was what happened between us in this other life you lived. For you to withstand me, you have to have had some experience with me. Probably a lot of experience with me."
"There were a few times, yes," I said wistfully. In truth, except for the one time I'd asked her to go nuts on me, I remembered every detail of every encounter. There had only been a few, so that wasn't difficult.
"Do right by me and there will be a few times more, Luka-boy," Alma Elma chuckled. "My instincts tell me to trust you, but it's been a tough few weeks for me ever since Alice's mother took back the throne. I'm not really sure who I can trust, and that includes Alice herself. Right now, the only thing I trust is the wind."
"You know, that's one thing that's different about you," I said. "My Alma Elma talked about playing with the wind a lot, but you talk about it as if it directs you. Almost as if you're a Sylph worshipper, and the spirit of the wind is guiding your path. My Alma Elma wouldn't even let herself be directed by the wind. She took orders from nobody and nothing. In fact…. Alma Elma?"
How long had I been talking to nothing? Had the wind directed Alma Elma to desert me? Had she gone off somewhere to pee? No, I knew from experience that if Alma Elma wanted to pee, she'd just pee in front of you. It didn't matter if she knew you or not. Had she been taken? No, she's Alma Elma. No one could take Alma Elma silently like that.
While I was thinking and looking for my companion, a large monster trampled down some high bushes, startling me. Note to self: get better at listening to the wind. I had stopped being taken by surprise just days after acquiring Sylph on my first adventure. There was no excuse for me failing to hear the wind at this point in my latest adventure.
Standing before me was the leering form of a tall mantis girl, very similar to the one I'd seen in the coliseum. She was not quite as big and strong looking, and actually a little prettier if I'm being generous. Had Alma Elma pulled an Alice on me, disappearing when a fight was likely? I didn't like the way the mantis girl was looking at me, so I drew my sword.
"Hee…." She said articulately, still leering at me. "Wanna suck."
"I'd love for you to suck," I replied. "But I know how you girls feed. I like keeping my head."
"Wasn't asking," the mantis said, and grabbed for me with her arms. I slipped them easily and slashed her good, which she didn't like one bit. But apparently she was hungry, because she lunged again. That went about as well for her as it did the first time. She was clearly growing weaker already. I estimated two more solid hits would seal her.
"How about if I suck but don't bite your head off?" she asked.
"Would you really do that? I think we both know how poor your impulse control is."
"I might!" the mantis protested. "I don't bite EVERY man's head off!"
"Gonna have to decline your generous offer."
"Hee….." she laughed creepily, and lunged again, showing no variation in offense. I was absolutely done with this girl, so two quick slashes sealed her. A very angry little praying mantis scampered back into the brush, presumably in search of an insect to drain. That would be her only food for the next few weeks until she regenerated enough of her magic to regain her form. I knew from experience that she would learn nothing except perhaps to take powerful looking prey by surprise next time.
Alma Elma reappeared, coming from the direction the mantis had left, holding something in her hand. I could see when she got closer that it was the mantis, struggling vainly in Alma Elma's grip. Smiling at me, she lifted the mantis above her face, opened her mouth, and stuck her tongue out. The mantis' struggles grew frantic.
"Alma Elma, no!" I yelled.
"She tried to eat you!" Alma Elma retorted. "I'm only giving her the fate she intended for you. Besides, I've always wanted to know what a mantis tastes like."
She opened her mouth again. I yelled for her to stop again.
"What's your problem, Luka-boy?" she asked. "You do know what will happen if I let her go, right? She'll eat the next man who walks by, just as she's eaten so many others. I'm a monster myself, but if you want coexistence, then the only thing we can do with monsters like these is destroy them."
She opened her mouth a third time, which I was surprised didn't give the mantis a heart attack, seeing her life flash before her eyes time after time. It was beginning to become unnecessarily cruel, an aspect of the old Alma Elma's personality that I did not appreciate.
"Please let her go, Alma Elma," I urged. "If not for her sake, then for yours."
"My sake?" Alma Elma asked. "Tell me more about how not eating her is for my sake."
"Because I know the kind of person you can be. The kind of person my Alma Elma was."
Alma Elma shrugged and put the mantis down. "Suit yourself," she said. "It's you she was trying to kill, not me. Here, little one, have a little bit of my power."
The mantis grew to her full size, towering over Alma Elma. I feared that she might do something especially stupid and attack the succubus, but she was too shaken by her near death experience and only wanted to escape as quickly as possible. Alma Elma laughed loudly as the mantis fled.
"Maybe she learned something from being on the other side of a gaping maw," I said hopefully.
"Don't bet on it," Alma Elma said. "Mantises don't have morals. They don't have empathy."
"Kinda like succubi?"
Alma Elma's tail whipped around and slapped me hard in the face. I could see anger in her eyes at my insult, but that anger soon changed back to her usual cheery expression.
"Yeah, I guess kinda like succubi," Alma Elma said. "We're predators just like her. The difference is that most of us don't believe in killing the innocent. Corrupting the innocent, now that's a different matter. I suspect that you like corrupting monsters. You seem to be making them into better people."
"I don't know that I'd call that corruption."
"Who knows? If my counterpart liked you and never killed you then you must have been all right. Just don't think you're going to change me. I've seen too much in my twenty-eight years to let some kid seduce me with visions of rainbows and lollipops that I can't even suck on."
"Twenty-eight years," I chuckled.
"What's so funny?" she asked suspiciously.
"Alice didn't tell you?"
"Tell me what?"
"I'm almost a thousand years old, Alma Elma."
"You're fucking with me!"
"You know what else?"
"Oh, this should be good," Alma Elma said, folding her arms.
"In my past life, you got married."
I watched with satisfaction as she hit the ground with a thud.
The school was less impressive than I had expected. I had in mind something like a Hogwart's, but it was actually more like a small religious school similar to any you'd find on Earth. I stood at the door to the building alone. Alma Elma had instructed me to simply waltz in and distract as many students as possible while she looked for a more inconspicuous entrance. Since Alma Elma didn't know what kinds of countermeasures Mephisto had, she did not wish to alert the magical advisor to her presence. Any use of Heavenly Knight level magic, such as changing her form, becoming completely invisible, or even flying up to a second floor window, involved the risk of detection. It's not that Alma Elma was afraid of Mephisto. She was far beyond Mephisto, even in Mephisto's specialty, magic. Alma Elma simply preferred to avoid a confrontation, to find evidence of Mephisto's true allegiance and have me share it with the queen of Grand Noah.
So apparently. I was bait, or at the very least, a distraction. So I distracted. I pulled open the large double doors and announced my presence.
"Hello, ladies!" I said in my most confident, dramatic voice.
I looked around. Girls in school uniforms were everywhere, talking quietly with one another or studying. It seemed as if there were bookshelves covering every wall. Was the entire school a library? I guess that made sense for a magical academy. I'd tried to study magic books myself, to learn how to use my power better. Even the simplest spells were more difficult than writing enterprise level business applications. I'd have been more likely to succeed in writing the next great operating system.
"I said, 'Hello, ladies!"
Everyone seemed to be ignoring me. Our intelligence indicated that all of the girls who attended the school were monsters. Most, as far as I could tell, were clearly monsters of various types, with the majority being elves and fairies, with some insect monsters thrown in and the odd plant or beast.
"Hello, ladies! There's a MAN here!" I repeated.
"Shhhh..." a fairy shushed me as she flew by with a book that seemed entirely too big for her to be flying with.
Finally, a pretty young elf acknowledged me. "Snacks have to wait in the snack room," she informed me quietly. "We're not allowed to eat during study hours. We only eat semen just before bed. That's two hours from now. Go straight down this hall to the left, and wait with the others."
Others? Seriously? I guess it made sense, though. I'd explained to monsters who captured and enslaved or killed men that in an ideal world, monsters wanted semen and men wanted to give it to them. This world was already a good ways toward coexistence when I arrived. The magic academy was no secret. Men would know it was here, and further, they would know that it was attended by young, hungry teenage monsters. It wouldn't have surprised me if Mephisto had an agreement with the queen that no men would be harmed or kept at the school. Given its proximity to the city, it must have been a very popular place.
Arriving in the room I was directed to wait in, I found that indeed, the place was quite popular. There were two dozen young males, some of whom were obviously minors, although fortunately all post-pubescent. They were simply chatting, eating food from vending machines, some even playing a card battle game I didn't recognize. Another two boys were playing chess. Still others were reading. With nothing better to do, I sat down.
"First time?" one of the guys asked me. "I come here at least twice a week."
"Um…. Yeah, first time," I said. "So you guys just come here to feed the students?"
"They gotta eat. You'll love it, they are all sweet and gentle. Except for the mosquito girl. Last time she chose me I couldn't walk straight for a week!"
"How old are you, son?"
"Eighteen," the boy lied.
"Do your parents know you're here?" I asked.
"Damn, dude, you sound like you're my grandpa!"
"Luka!" I heard a voice whisper. I turned towards the door. Alma Elma was gesturing angrily to me. I got up and walked over to her.
"Oh, daaamn!" the boy I'd been talking to said. "You just got chosen by a total hottie! And a succubus, too!"
"Lucky me," I said dryly. Alma Elma rolled her eyes and pulled me out of the room, dragging me behind a bookcase.
I had to admit, Alma Elma looked even hotter than usual in her schoolgirl outfit. It was often hard to convince a succubus that sometimes wearing more enhanced their beauty, as men relied heavily on their imaginations when assessing a woman. But I'd always admired Alma Elma when she was fully dressed. I admired her half dressed and naked as well, but her beauty truly shone when she was in a lovely outfit. And the schoolgirl outfit was perfect for her.
"Mephisto is talking to someone upstairs!" she whispered to me. "I heard enough to know that it's one of her co-conspirators in whatever it is she's been plotting. I want you to go up there and catch her in the act!"
"Why me and not you?" I asked suspiciously.
"Because I'm trying not to be noticed, moron! Mephisto thinks I'm just some flighty succubus who got tricked into entering the Queens Cup and then went off to wherever it is she thinks a person like me goes! There's advantage in her not knowing I'm surveilling her! And while it's great to listen into her conversation with my incredible hearing, I want to know exactly who it is that's up there! So I want you to go barging in and do your hero thing!"
"What if I get in over my head?!"
"You CAN'T get in over your head, idiot! You beat two Heavenly Knights just yesterday! Unless the Dark God herself is up there, you're fine!"
I think that Alma Elma vastly underestimated my ability to get in over my head despite my power and skills, but I had no suitable counter argument, so I grudgingly agreed. I headed towards the stairs. A group of pretty insect girls that obviously looked to be the institution's mean girls blocked my path.
"Like…. You can't go upstairs, stupid! Not even students are allowed up there!" a butterfly girl said, contempt dripping from her every word.
"Wait in the snack room, loser!" a mosquito girl agreed, probably the one who drained men with too much enthusiasm.
"He's actually kinda cute," a dragonfly girl said. "I'm really hungry. Why don't we take him behind the bookcases and drain him right now?"
"Sorry, he's mine," Alma Elma said, coming out of her hiding place.
"Like…. Who the fuck are you?" the butterfly girl asked, looking at Alma Elma disapprovingly, and not without a hint of envy.
"You're like… way too old to be attending this academy!" the mosquito girl said accusingly.
"Transfer student," Alma Elma replied. "And you should watch your language, young lady!"
"You should watch yours, slut!" the butterfly girl and obviously head of the little clique shot back.
"Okay, bored now," Alma Elma said, and shot three beams from her fingers, all of which impacted the mean girls in their chests. All three began quivering and moaning in ecstasy, collapsing to the ground.
"Sexy beam gets 'em every time!" Alma Elma said with satisfaction. "Now go make yourself useful or I'll give you one too!"
That didn't sound like much of a threat, but I obeyed nonetheless, marching upstairs to the schoolmaster's office. I felt a tingle as I grasped the doorknob. Obviously Mephisto had put a magical ward on it to keep intruders out. A ward that probably would have worked on anyone but me. I twisted the knob easily and pushed the door open. And then realized I was already in over my head.
Mephisto was conversing with a woman whom I had definitely seen before. It was Lilith, the leader of the succubus sisters.
"I thought you put a ward on the door?!" Lilith asked Mephisto.
"I did," Mephisto confirmed. "A very powerful one at that. This is very unfortunate. I'm afraid you've sealed your fate, young hero."
"Can you at least reveal all the details of your evil plot before you kill me?" I asked hopefully. I heard a loud noise downstairs as if a head was hitting a wall repeatedly.
"Evil plot?" Lilith laughed. "Perhaps in your naïve, limited worldview my plot is evil. In reality, I seek to save many worlds. What could be a more worthy goal?"
"If you're referring to this correct history everyone keeps talking about, then you can't kill me."
"That's where you're wrong," Mephisto said. "Certainly, adhering to the true history is the most ideal course of action, but that is impossible. Your actions have already departed a great deal from that history. At this point we will settle for events that were merely possible in the true history."
"And how does that help anything?" I asked. "It just slows down the rate of chaosization. It solves nothing."
"It accomplishes our goals well enough," Lilith said. "And no, I don't feel like telling you in detail what those goals are. A person of your limited intellect wouldn't understand them anyway, at least not until you've been led around the nose enough by that white rabbit to fully understand what is happening here."
"I'll leave the hero to you, Lilith," Mephisto said. "I actually like this boy. If he's going to die, he should die tasting the pleasures you have to offer. I'm afraid that my way of killing him would be rather horrifying."
Lilith smiled seductively and stood up, pulling down her sweater to reveal her insanely large and deadly breasts. "Just hold that pose, hero, and let me send you to heaven. I guarantee it will be the greatest experience you've ever had."
I drew my sword and grabbed hold of my power. I'd been pleasured by the best, but this was an ancient succubus, perhaps with sexual magic even I couldn't resist. I could not allow those breasts to touch me. Or her tail. Or her mouth. Or her hands. Or any part of her. I never got the chance to fight Lilith. Because that was the moment Alma Elma chose to intervene.
"Greatest experience ever?" Alma Elma said, entering the room. "I'm insulted. From what I've heard, he's had me."
"Ah, the famous Heavenly Knight, Alma Elma," Lilith said. "I'd advise you to stay out of this. You're no match for me."
"Ah, the old always think they are better than the young whippersnappers," Alma Elma said breezily. "I've learned techniques from thousands of years of succubi who followed you, each one of them topping what the last had come up with. Sure, those breasts are huge, and your sexual magic is strong, stronger than mine, actually. But technique matters too. I suppose you were just going to pin Luka down and put his dick between those boobs, and then just move up and down?"
"Yes," Lilith said, looking a little insulted. "I've sent countless men to heaven that way."
"Ah, I'm sure that's the case, but you said you were going to give him the best he'd ever had. You can't do that with just a boring boob job where you do this."
Alma Elma exaggeratingly mimicked the movement of a tit job, moving her breasts up and down. I couldn't recall ever experiencing one from Alma Elma that… basic.
"Thank you for informing me of my lack of updated breast skills," Lilith said tightly. "I'll give him a blowjob then."
"Oh, well that should be interesting!" Alma Elma taunted. "And how will you do that? Just bob up and down?"
"That," Lilith said defensively. "And I'll suck, sometimes lightly, sometimes hard, swallowing his semen as it gushes-"
"Yeah, yeah," Alma Elma said. "You skipped right over the forty-seven advanced tongue techniques of Brianna the Baker!"
"The forty-seven…. Of who? A baker invented sexual techniques?"
"What can I say, she could bake a mean cake as well as being one of the most sexually proficient succubi of all time. Then there was Alisha Felicia, who was often nicknamed Alisha Fellatio, she invented the head shake technique."
"Head shake technique?" Lilith asked, confused. "Why would that be any good?"
"Oh, you don't know?!" Alma Elma taunted. "Sounds like someone's been lazy, letting her magic do all the work. Succubi have come a long way since your time, sister."
"Then I shall fuck him!" Lilith said finally, now very exasperated. "A succubus' pussy is lethal. It cannot be improved upon. It automatically conforms to the man's penis, stimulating him perfectly over every centimeter of his manhood!"
"True, but we have actually improved on it. Luka, what's your favorite vaginal technique that your Alma Elma knew?"
"Oh!" I said, remembering. "That one where she could move each of her folds so that it felt like there were a dozen tongues licking me inside her!"
"What?! That's impossible!" Lilith said in shock. "Now you're just making things up!"
"I'm afraid she's correct," Mephisto said. "The technique has even been adopted by other monster races capable of controlling their vaginal muscles to a sufficient degree. Lamias, other yoma, even some imps."
"See, even a modern day imp is a better lay than you, Lilith," Alma Elma said.
Lilith was steaming. Comparing one of the ancient succubus sisters to an imp was the last straw. Lilith screamed in rage and threw herself at Alma Elma. The two succubi tumbled down the stairs, flailing at each other clumsily as they rolled down.
"Oh my," Mephisto said, unalarmed. "Those two are going to destroy my school. Well played, Heavenly Knight!"
"So that just leaves you and me, Mephisto," I said. "Are you going to try to kill me?"
"I am no fool. Being found out was always factored into our plans. There is no need for you to tell the queen about me yourself. I will come clean to her tomorrow."
"And why should I trust you?" I asked suspiciously.
"Because I shall either tell the queen or you will. You are far more powerful than our plans anticipated. If the worst outcome of your unexpected strength is that we are found out earlier than planned, that is something that can be overcome. The kingdom is at war. I am needed. The queen will not react to my revelation of my true allegiance as you believe she will."
"That's above my pay grade. I'm going to the queen in the morning. Either you'll be there to confess, or you'll leave Grand Noah. I don't care which."
"I will do as I have said. And despite the fact I found it necessary to attempt to kill you, I have no animosity towards you. In fact, I hope that we will work together in the future. We share the same goals."
"I very much doubt that."
I went downstairs to find a gigantic hole in the wall. Students and male visitors were milling about, staring at the hole that the brawling succubi had left in their wake. Books were scattered everywhere, broken bookshelves littering the floor. I was worried about Alma Elma, but wasn't willing to bet against her. She should have been more than a match for Lillith in a sexual battle, and probably much better than Lillith if it was a hand to hand physical battle. I saw no other option but to return to the castle, so I did.