Whatever Ilias' plan was, it would wait until we were all treated for injuries sustained during the battle. I'd gotten off light. Aches and pains and critical ecstasy, but nothing more. I was beginning to realize that virtually every day of this adventure had involved aches, pains, and critical ecstasy.
Since I was feeling reasonably okay, I decided to go get dinner. No cooking for me that night, though. Everyone would have to settle for the food from the automated maids.
A lot of castle denizens were already eating. This would normally have been the point at which I'd be serving dinner myself. There were advantages to me not doing dinner. The most important was that everyone could order whatever they wanted, whereas when I cooked there were usually two, at most three, options. I thought it might be fun to just make an order and let the maids to the work.
I looked for a place to sit. I spotted Taguchi sitting at a booth, a girl in each arm. One of the girls was Fumi, the other Alma Elma. I joined them.
"Are you enjoying the castle, Taguchi?" I asked.
"Call me Pat, we're not in prison anymore!" he replied jovially. "I'm sure you already know these two."
"Pat's been telling me all about his experiences in that awful prison!" Fumi said.
"I didn't have it nearly as bad as you did, little fox," Pat said tenderly.
"Alma Elma, I see that you're making our newest guest feel welcome," I noted.
"He's shockingly tasty for his age," Alma Elma shrugged. "Charming, too."
"I don't got many miles on me, that's why!" he laughed. "Let me tell you a secret. Until like a week ago… I was a virgin!"
"Well, then after we've eaten, we should go to my room and make up for lost time," Alma Elma purred. "I normally only prey on bad guys, but it might be fun to give you an education in the naughty arts."
"Teach me too!" Fumi pleaded.
"A fox wants to learn how to fuck like a succubus?" Alma Elma asked. "Okay, I suppose I can teach you some of what I know."
"Luka, did I die?" Pat asked. "I must have fallen to my death. This can't be real! I'm in heaven!"
"Wait'll you taste the food!" Fumi said excitedly. "Even the normal food has gotta be a lot better than prison food! And when Luka cooks…. My mouth is watering just thinking about it."
"Well if you're mouth is watering, don't waste it, girl!" Alma Elma said, and pushed Fumi's head down on Pat under the table. "Consider this your first lesson. Never waste an opportunity."
"Mmmm hmmmm…" Fumi said. Pat said nothing. He couldn't speak anymore.
"May I take your orders?" a maid asked, stopping by the table.
"Um…. I'll just have a piece of chicken and some rice," I said. "Alma Elma will have a potato."
"First, fuck you," Alma Elma responded. "And second, you're going to pay for that. Apple sauce for me, please."
"Just apple sauce?" I asked.
"A LOT of apple sauce, please. Happy?"
"Fumi, what do you want?"
Fumi looked up, peering over the table. "Um… I'll have what Luka's having," she said, then disappeared back under.
"And you, sir?" the maid asked Pat.
"Um…. I don't think he's even aware of your presence," I said. "How about something traditional from Yamatai? He hasn't been home in forever."
"I think I have just the thing," the maid said happily. "Be right back."
"Shake your head," Alma Elma said. "watch the teeth, though."
"Lkk mthis?" Fumi asked. Pat started bucking, then sagged in satisfaction.
"Heh heh," Fumi said, swallowing her treat. "That was a good one."
"Oh, that was just a basic technique," Alma Elma said. "You have sixty-eight left to learn. And that's just oral. A kitsune can also learn twelve vaginal techniques, forty-seven tail techniques, eighty-eight hand techniques, and if you're really adventurous, I'll show you some butt stuff."
"Wait, there's sixty-nine succubus oral techniques?" I asked.
"Actually, it's more like two hundred. But succubi wanted there to be sixty-nine oral techniques, so the other one hundred and fifty or so were classified as variations on the main techniques."
"Oh…. Your counterpart… never educated me on that."
"Great! So you learn something new every day!"
After dinner, I went to bed for the night. Alice, to my surprise, snuck in next to me while I slept. I woke up with her wrapped around me.
"No planning to do last night?" I asked.
"Ilias says she has a plan," Alice shrugged. "No point in making plans until we know what she has in mind. She wasn't too forthcoming when I asked. She said she wants to finish thinking it through before clueing us in. We're supposed to meet in the situation room after breakfast."
"That's a couple of hours from now. What would you like to do until then."
"Well…." Alice purred, reaching down. "I think I'd like to…." She withdrew her hand. Tease. "Just cuddle. For all I know, her plan might require you to do something today. So no sex for you until we find out what her plan is."
"And what if her plan is to do something tomorrow?"
"Tomorrow?" Alice replied, biting her lip. "Well if we have until tomorrow I'm going to make you very happy. You can even tell me how you want me to do it."
"Really? What did I do to earn that privilege?"
"I always let me tell you how you want it," Alice said. "You tell me what you want, and then I do what I was going to do anyway."
"Okay, but what if Ilias doesn't need me until next week?"
"Next week?!" Alice exclaimed. "Well in that case, I'll need to drain you so dry that you need the whole week just to recover. But in all seriousness, we can't wait that long. Our world…"
"Yeah," I said,deflated. "Our world might not have a week."
Alice held me close and tried to assure me that things were going to be all right.
Present in what I called the Situation Room were the usual suspects. Alice, Ilias, Sonya, Alicetroemeria, the Four Heavenly Knights, and the three Seraphs. Everyone waited expectantly, eager to hear the goddess' plan to end the war in one fell swoop. Ilias had long been known to make very complex, multi-layered plans that were incredibly difficult to foil, and even if you thought you'd foiled them, it often turned out that even being foiled was part of her plan. Black Alice had found that out the hard way. Although in this one case, Black Alice being foiled had only made her even more dangerous.
"You probably think this is going to be some super complex, fancy plan," Ilias began. "I hate to disappoint you all, but it's not. But simplicity can be a good thing, right?"
"I like simple," Granberia replied. "Does your plan involve me swinging my sword at someone?"
"It's not THAT simple, although yes, you will be swinging your sword at someone," Ilias replied.
"Yes!" Granberia exclaimed, pumping her fist.
"So what is this grand plan?" Alice prompted.
"Before I get to that, let me give you all a quick history lesson," Ilias said. "How many of you know why the Great Monster Wars went on so long and except in the case of those two alternate worlds we'd seen, ended inconclusively?"
"I know this one!" I exclaimed, raising my hand.
"You're not in school, Luka, you don't have to raise your hand," Ilias said with exaggerated patience.
"Neither goddess could be defeated, because the only ones who could defeat them were each other, but they couldn't interact. So the war could never end except with the world's destruction."
"And you, Ilias, were fine with that," Tamamo said pointedly.
"Ancient history," Ilias said, waving aside Tamamo's crack. "But now there is a way to defeat the goddesses. We have Luka."
"Ilias, we've been over this," Tamamo said impatiently. "Even assuming Luka manages to defeat one of them, that would just give the other side an overwhelming advantage that they'd seize upon immediately. And no offense to Luka, but both goddesses have to be expecting him to try exactly that and have countermeasures in place. I don't like his chances against one of them, much less trying to beat two in a row in one day, which he'd have to do to stop the war."
"What if we didn't need Luka?" Ilias asked. "At least, not directly. What if we could borrow his power?"
"I'm listening," Tamamo said. "I mean, I've thought of that myself, but we still need to beat two goddesses at the same time. The only way I know of for anyone to take his power is through sex, and only one person here can do that. You. So maybe you go off and fight your Angel World counterpart, but Luka's still lying in bed, drained dry."
"Unless maybe you could use that power to cure him once you have it?" Alice asked.
"I could," Ilias acknowledged. "But I agree with Tamamo. Both goddesses have got to be expecting Luka., and let's face it, he's no tactical genius. What they won't be expecting is one of their own challenging them. One who actually is a tactical genius."
"I assume you're referring to me," Alice said.
"Exactly. I take Luka's power, give some to you, you use that and your natural abilities to challenge the Dark God. You beat her down and since you defeated her, she'll do what you say and end the war. That is how it works with monsters, isn't it?"
"It's a little more complicated than that," Tamamo explained. "A monster won't comply if she sees the demands as an existential threat to her race's very existence. I lost a lot of battles during the Great Monster Wars. I never once let an angel command me. But your plan might work in Alice's case. She's a fellow monster with a difference of opinion vis a vis her goddess. Proving her strength over the goddess would probably result in the goddess acquiescing to her point of view. And that wouldn't be the case if Ilias defeated her, and might not be the case even if Luka did. You're right, Ilias, good thinking. If it's possible for Alice to wield Luka's power, she might be able to force the Dark God to comply."
"But that still raises the question of your opponent," Alice pointed out. "Does it work the same way with angels? If you beat them, do they submit to the victor?"
"Oh, absolutely!" Ilias answered. "It's… exactly like that. Totally."
"It is?" Eden asked.
"Of course it is! Shush. Don't worry about it. I have a plan for that. Just trust me."
"You're asking me to give you my power, Ilias," I said. "Just asking us to trust you won't cut it."
"Have I abused your power since I could take small amounts of it?" Ilias asked. "All I'm asking for is just… a little more."
"A little more, as in, you need to have sex with him," Alice said.
"I'm practically the only person here who hasn't had sex with Luka!" Ilias protested.
"Unless you count the foot job, and then there was the blowjob in the dining hall, and those times you forced Luka to join you on your little perverted escapades…."
"But I haven't fucked him, so none of that counts!" Ilias retorted.
"So I'm supposed to trust you to have sexual intercourse with my husband, steal his power from him, and then of course you'll only use this power for good."
"Exactly," Ilias said. "Unless of course you have a better idea. The clock is ticking for you home world, Alice."
"Actually, I have over one hundred home worlds," Alice shot back. "But yes, the one where this Luka and I were married matters a great deal to me."
"So you agree my plan is the best one, right?" Ilias prompted.
"I have a better one," Alice said. "How about Luka and I face the Dark God, while you take Sonya with you to face Ilias? We don't even know how powerful Sonya is. She could be beyond even that goddess."
"Alice, that's not a good plan," Tamamo said. "As you say, we don't know what Sonya is capable of. Much like Luka, she doesn't have enough experience with her newfound abilities. And Luka… I guess with you there he'd have a better chance, but that would just motivate the Dark God to take you out first, since you'll be relatively weak. No, Ilias is right. We need two brilliant people to face the goddesses, with Luka's power to even the odds. The rest of us will still provide support. You'll still need to get to the goddesses, but only you two will be able to face them directly."
"So it's settled!" Ilias said triumphantly. "We do the thing with Luka right now, then we go face those stupid goddesses, defeat them, war's over, we'll have a nice party, and then we'll do the same to Black Alice tomorrow!'
"You're leaving just one thing out," Alice said. "I can't steal Luka's power. As far as I know, not even Ancestors can do that. Only the Dark God has ever done it. It's just not a power monsters have."
"I could probably do it," Alma Elma said. "Power draining comes naturally to a succubus. Did Alma Elma ever take your power?"
"Not as far as I know," I answered. "She used her tail on me a few times, but she was draining life force, I think."
"That's how it works. But I'm sure with some time I could devise a spell that took your power instead."
"We don't have time," Ilias said. "Alice, note that I said WE do the thing with Luka. You and me. I can feed you his power while I'm taking it from him."
"Are you serious?" Alice asked. "Now I have to WATCH you fuck my husband?"
"You can participate!" Ilias said defensively. "In fact, I encourage it! It will make the energy transfer go more smoothly!"
Alice sat there dumbfounded. She clearly wanted no part of this plan, but Ilias had answered every objection she could think of. After saying nothing for a few minutes, Alice surrendered.
"Fine."
Have you ever heard of the walk of shame? Well, this was the Walk of Awkwardness, as Alice, Ilias, and I left the meeting room, headed for my quarters. Alice kept on asking if there couldn't be some other way. Maybe Nero could cast another spell, giving us all access to my power. But if such a thing was possible, Nero didn't deign to appear to inform us. Alice asked If perhaps Ilias could just take and transfer my power by hand like she had done for quite some time. Ilias patiently explained that such a method only worked for small amounts of power. She'd only been using it to make herself big when she had been miniature, and since then she'd only kept it as a reserve in case of emergency. Although she had been experimenting, trying to explore its theoretical limits in ways even Promestein could not.
Ilias opened the door to my room and gestured for me to enter first. I had a feeling that I was not going to enjoy this at all. Which was a shame, because I really had grown to love Ilias. Ilias, as if sensing my discomfort, took my hand.
"Luka, I want you to understand that for me, this isn't just about your power," Ilias said, looking deeply into my eyes. "I love you, Luka, and I've wanted to do this for so long."
"Um… I'm standing right here!" Alice exclaimed.
"Did you know that I haven't touched any other men since I became mortal?" Ilias continued, completely blowing off Alice. "I've only been with monsters. I wanted my first time being able to actually feel it to be with you."
"Still standing here…." Alice said.
"Oh, I feel like a virgin!" Ilias said giddily, then swept me off my feet and laid me gently down on the bed. She climbed in, straddling me. "Now let's get a good dose of that power, then I can begin the process of transferring it to Alice."
Ilias reached down, grasped my penis in her warm hand, and pushed it into her. It was as wonderful as I remembered from that first time so long ago. She was perfect in every way. I'd never truly been able to enjoy it because of who she had been on the insde. This time was different. I loved Ilias, both for her beauty and the beauty she had only recently discovered inside.
"Holy fuck, that feels good!" Ilias cried, arching her back and biting her lip, slowly gyrating on me. She came even before I did.
"Wow, weaker to pleasure than Luka," Alice said. "Are you sure you can handle me?"
"Not sure, but can't wait to find out," Ilias replied, sweating and grinning at Alice. "Wow, this is taking longer than it normally would for me. Not having my goddess magic definitely prolongs this. But that's okay, Luka. I want this to be good for you. Take as long as you want. I'll make love to you all day if that's what you want."
"Luka, think very carefully about what you say next," Alice warned. "Your life depends on it."
"Um…. Thank you… Ilias?" I said weakly.
Ilias was wonderful indeed, but it wasn't the lack of her goddess magic preventing me from coming. It was Alice's cold glare. Alice had been good about letting others play with me this entire adventure, but I knew there were going to be consequences for this. I feared Black Alice a lot less than I feared an angry Alice. Ten minutes later, Alice huffed.
"Oh, for crying out loud!" she exclaimed, and ducked behind us. Both Ilias and I nearly had a coronary as we felt a long tongue snake into Ilias's vagina. We both came in unison.
"Oh, that feels so amazing!" Ilias cried out. "Luka, your power! It's flooding into me! It never felt this good before! No wonder so many have tried to steal it from you this way! I want more! More!"
"When do we get to the part where I get some?" Alice asked.
"Oh yeah," Ilias said. "Here."
Ilias grabbed Alice's head and forced it onto one of her breasts. Alice began sucking lackadaisically. Then her eyes widened and she opened her mouth wide to engulf the entirely of one of Ilias' breasts. Ilias came again. Which caused me to come again. Which caused power to flow through both Ilias and Alice. Alice sucked greedily on Ilias' breast until the orgasm passed, then withdrew.
"That…. That power!" Alice exulted. "I've never felt so strong before! And it feels so amazing entering me!"
"I know, right!" Ilias agreed. "More! More!'
Alice, now fully on board with this whole thing, began whispering very unladylike things into my ear as her hands ran all over my body. When I got close again, Alice rushed to suckle on Ilias again. My power flooded into them a third time. It must have felt good, because passion seemed to overcome both of them as Alice's mouth moved away from Ilias' breast and towards Ilias' lips. Ilias nearly gagged as Alice forced her tongue into Ilias' mouth. Ilias returned the kiss with equal ferocity.
I'd never gotten hot from watching two girls make love, but something about the fact that it was two ancient enemies recently turned friends just did something for me. I erupted again. Alice and Ilias' eyes widened as my power transferred into Alice from Ilias' mouth. This time Ilias did gag as Alice's tongue probed into her throat, as if she could lap my power up.
That's when things got really kinky, as the goddess and monster lord became drunk on my power. Alice instructed Ilias to take my penis out, but to stay close. Ilias complied, leaving my still rock hard cock throbbing in the open, the head poised just under her. Alice wrapped her tongue around my penis and began stroking it. The tip of Alice's tongue entered Ilias' pussy, while Alice's lips focused on her clitoris.
Whatever Ilias had felt with the lesser monsters of the castle before then, nothing could have prepared her for Alice's oral skills. Ilias came so hard she fell off the bed, leaving Alice to joyfully lick up my semen.
With my fourth load "wasted", the two extremely horny girls concentrated more on things that were actually conducive to getting my power into Ilias. Alice sucked on my balls while Ilias slowly screwed me. Then, for a "break", Ilias sat on Alice's face while having me thrust between the goddess' ample breasts. When she was about to come, Ilias put my dick deep into her mouth and began sucking hard. She probably shouldn't have done that. She bit down a little when Alice made her come. But thanks to her magic, it only added to the pleasure. Ilias apologized and finished me off with her hand.
Business resumed as Ilias had me pound her missionary style, Alice suckling on her breasts to gain some of the power I was leaking into her.
"Faster! Faster! Fuck me, Luka! Fuck me hard! Think of all the terrible things my counterparts have done to you! Hate fuck me Luka! Pound your hate into me!"
That wasn't going to happen, but I nevertheless thrust as deep and hard as I could, watching Alice suck on one breast while the other bounced wildly from the motion. With one final thrust, I went as deep as I could and emptied another load into Ilias, and by extension, Alice. Then I fell off the bed.
The three of us lay in my bed, cuddled up close. Alice and Ilias's fingers were interlocked on my chest, both of them looking at me with the most beatific smiles on their faces.
"I love you, Luka," Ilias said contentedly.
"I love you more, Luka," Alice said, giggling.
This must be a dream, I thought. I'm obviously dreaming. There's no way that just happened, and even less chance that Alice and Ilias did…. Those things they did.
"Just don't get any ideas that this was anything more than a one off," Alice warned. "Never again. Not even on your birthday. And Ilias?"
"Yes, Alice?" Ilias asked dreamily.
"That meant… nothing. Nothing at all. You do understand that, right? I don't have sex with women."
"No, certainly not," Ilias agreed, only half paying attention and continuing to stare into my eyes.
"I only got enthusiastic because Luka's power was affecting my mind," Alice continued. "Luka, that stuff is…. Crazy. I've never felt anything that good before. Not even when you mimic my magic."
"His magic IS him," Ilias explained, finally showing a hint of sobriety. "When you take Luka's power into yourself, you're taking a part of him inside you. A part of his soul."
"Well, if that's the case, Luka has the most delicious soul ever," Alice said. "Do you think we got enough?"
"You're right," Ilias said. "We should go another few rounds!"
"No!" Alice exclaimed. "That's not what I meant! I mean, I got power from you, no question, but I'm not sure it's enough. You seem to have absorbed a ton more than me."
Ilias sat up in the bed and stared at Alice, probing her. "Huh," Ilias said. "You're right. Your full of his power, but you dno't have nearly enough to take on a goddess. That's not good."
"No it isn't!" Alice exclaimed. "Please don't tell me that we did all this for nothing!"
"Hmmmm," Ilias murmered, continuing to probe Alice with her senses. "I think it has to do with your physiology. The reason angels are better at draining Luka's power is our holy nature. Even in this mortal form, I still have many of the essentials of angel physiology. I can hold a lot of Luka's power. But you seem to have hit our limit around his third orgasm. Any power you got after that just seemed to push out the excess."
"So I can't physically take in enough power?! Ilias, that screws up your whole plan!"
"Hold on, I'm thinking!" Ilias yelled. "It's not easy to do with my head so foggy. Ah, I've got it! This can work!"
"What can work?" Alice asked suspiciously.
Ilias got out of the bed and immediately fell flat on her face. "I'm okay!" she said, crawling around the bed and using the bed to prop herself back up on Alice's side. Alice sat up. Ilias whispered something in her ear. Alice's expression turned to shock.
"Are you insane?!" Alice exclaimed. "Even if that could work, he'd be traumatized! He has very bad memories associated with that!"
Ilias began to tear up.
"Why did that make you cry?" Alice asked.
"It's just…." Ilias sobbed. "It's just that Luka is so, so brave, and I just know he'd do anything to save us. Even that."
Alice turned to me. I was confused. What were they even talking about? Ilias stopped crying and began pantomiming. She opened her mouth wide and pretended to be shoving something large into it, then she rubbed her tummy in satisfaction. Oh! Oh my!
"Um, Alice?" I said hesitantly. "No matter what Ilias has planned, I can handle it. I've been through a lot on this quest already. Whatever it is, if it's you doing it, I know everything will be all right."
Ilias gave me a thumbs up. Alice turned back to her. Ilias put her sad face on again, tears streaming from her eyes.
"Okay, so do you mind explaining the mechanics of this to me?" Alice asked Ilias. "How does he survive me eating him, and how does that give me unlimited access to his power?"
"I admit, I already planned ahead for this," Ilias said. "I knew that as a mortal monster, you might not be able to gain sufficient power from him. So…. I thought of alternatives and how those alternatives might work. I can cast a protective spell on him that prevents him from being digested while he's in your stomach. As for his power, that's even easier. Some monsters have magic that intimately connects them telepathically to their prey while they eat them."
"Yes, that's particularly sadistic," Alice noted. "They use that so that they can continue to torment their victims while they are digesting."
"In your case, it will allow you full access to his power for whatever purpose you desire. You'll be even stronger than me."
"Really?" Alice asked, looking at me appraisingly. "And Luka, you can handle this?"
"Just… consider it your revenge for what just happened," I said. "I know you'll do something passive aggressive to get back at me later anyway."
"You do have a point there," Alice conceded. "All right, let's do this. Are you ready?"
I braced myself. "I'm ready," I said.
Her lower mouth opened. I hurriedly backed away, nearly falling off the bed again.
"No! Bad Alice!" Ilias yelled. "That mouth is too caustic even for my magic! It dissolves a man in minutes! He needs to enter through your actual mouth."
"Oh?" Alice asked. "Oh, I guess that's different then. I'm sorry, Luka, I know how much my… other mouth frightens you. Okay, I'll swallow you whole then. How do you want to go in?"
"Feet first would be best," I said.
"Feet first it is, then," Alice said, moving to the foot of the bed. She put a toe in my mouth and sucked lightly. Her tongue extended, licking the sole of my foot, tickling me.
"I said eat him, not suck lightly on his toes!" IIias yelled.
"I need to work up to it!" Alice protested. "Some of my personalities have done this before, so it's not totally unfamiliar to me, but my most dominant personalities have never even considered doing this!"
"Take all the time you need, Alice," I said, not minding at all how long it took. The longer, the better, as far as I was concerned. I'd waited a long time for this.
Alice began stretching her jaw. For a woman who appeared to have such a small mouth, it could stretch unbelievably wide, even without her disengaging her jaw. She wrapped her lips around all five of my toes on my left foot, then swallowed my entire foot.
"You need to swallow both at the same time, Alice!" Ilias exclaimed.
"Are you a lamia?!" Alice retorted. "Why are you even still here?"
"I can't cast the spells until he's almost all the way inside you," Ilias replied.
"Ugh… fine."
Alice positioned my feet together and stretched out to her full length.
"You know, in the wild, lamias swallow their prey without having to set them up carefully," Ilias said impatiently.
"Ilias, it's okay if she goes slow," I said, and winked at Ilias. Ilias winked back.
"Sorry, I'm done with the criticism," Ilias said. "Take as long as you need."
"Thank you," Alice said, and opened her mouth incredibly wide, wider than I'd ever seen her open it. She swallowed my feet, then used her arms to push her body up, devouring my legs up to the knees.
She paused there for a moment, then swallowed. I sunk into her mouth another foot, nearly up to my waist. She seemed to have the hang of it now. She swallowed again and I was in up to my navel. Then something changed in Alice. It was as if a switch had been flipped. I was no longer looking into my Alice's eyes. A personality that had up till then been buried as deep as Alice could bury it came to the fore. Her swallowing motions picked up and she grabbed my shoulders, pushing me down her throat. I went in up to my neck. I felt the room move as Alice stood up, looking at the ceiling. And then with one last mighty swallow, I saw only darkness. Oh, and I came as well.