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The Hero Became a Succubus! - Chapter 73
🕑 Added 2022-06-23 01:29:46 +0000 UTCAlt link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1N2gciGa-jYDYD-dcDxztAutaMmWpzfylJHVJielKr-A/edit?usp=sharing
Chapter 73
People gathered into the plaza with well-drawn buckets and magic to put out the fires, which were quickly spreading to the adjacent buildings. The blaze was too powerful, and anyone who got close was scared away by a burst of flames.
Kanae landed in the middle of a crowd, gawking at the fires only for their shock to fall on her. Teana, Thedia, nor Lilith were anywhere to be seen.
"Give me that!" Kanae ripped someone's cloak right off them and poured a bucket of water over herself, then rushed headfirst into the burning church.
Immediately through the doors, fallen ceiling beams were blocking the rest of the way inside. The oppressive heat from the fires licked at Kanae's skin and smoke filled her lungs. Flying over the smoldering rubble, she made way for the back rooms while avoiding falling debris.
This place was coming down any second now.
In passing over the pews, Kanae caught sight of a particularly charred wall behind the podium. It was as though someone had lobbed a giant fireball. This was undoubtedly on purpose.
Kanae reached the door to the nursery, but it wouldn't open. She slammed her shoulder against it repeatedly to no success.
"Teana, Thedia! Are you in there?" Kanae shouted, coughing out her lungs.
"Kanae, get out of there!" Arenade yelled from the entrance behind the burning debris. "The church is starting to cave in from above!"
"I'm not going to leave them!" she fired back.
"Well we're not going to leave you either! Not until I… Just hang in there. I'm coming!" The priestess burned her hands and robes trying to climb over the fiery pile.
Damn it. At this rate, they were all going to die.
"Get outta the way!" Edina boomed.
A loud crash followed, not from the church ceiling falling in, but from Edina's giant bone brute barreling through the debris with her on its shoulder. Coming in after them were Clara and Will.
"Clara, Will?" Kanae called their names with a cough each.
"This makes us even for the Rift!" Clara exclaimed, casting a frigid breeze to put out the fires to clear a path through. "Hurry! There's too much fire to put out!"
Edina and Arenade got to Kanae first, and using the bone brute's strength, they broke open the door. Chairs and tables crashed to the opposite side of the wall, which looked to have been barricading the door.
Why would they barricade themselves?
"Look!" Arenade pointed to the floor where the three of them laid still.
"Teana!" Kanae scooped her daughter up.
"Ma… ma?" Teana meeked out before falling unconscious.
Edina ordered the bone brute to carry Thedia and Lilith, and together they made a run for the exit. The second they crossed the threshold and back onto the streets, the entire church caved in on itself.
"Heal them!" Kanae cried, unwittingly charming both Arenade and Will even as they were moving to do so.
Their hands glowed with magic, hovering over the unconscious three and pouring as much magic as possible into trying to heal them.
"Kanae… There's no more injuries to heal…" Will winced.
"You got to stop… We're running out of mana!" Arenade's hands began to tremble.
"Then why aren't they waking up?!" Kanae yelled.
Something hard tackled Kanae to the ground. It was Edina, looming over and staring into her eyes.
"I don't know, but running our friends dry isn't going to solve it either," Edina said.
Kanae clenched her jaw and released the charm. Both Arenade and Will gasped for breath as the tension left their bodies.
"They… should be fine," Will began sympathetically. "Healing magic restores wounds, but it doesn't bring them back to—"
"Consciousness. I remember. Sorry about that, and thanks for knocking me back to my senses, Edina." Kanae smiled.
"If you need a harder wake up call, I can always have my bone brute tackle you." Edina smirked and gave a hand to pull Kanae to her feet.
Kanae picked up Teana and braced a hand behind her daughter's butt to hide the tail sticking out. There were crowds of people all around them, having been drawn in by the fire and tending to the other injured. It wasn't safe here, and they didn't need to stick around any longer.
"Let's go to the adventurer's hall," Kanae suggested.
After telling Sellica what happened, she was kind enough to allow the non-adventurers to stay until they regained consciousness. Kanae placed Thedia and Lilith together in one room, and Teana in her own room out of an abundance of caution.
They thanked Clara, who brushed off their gratitude to quickly return to Talis and the others. Will kindly stayed, offering to provide healing in case it was needed.
"A place like that doesn't catch fire easily. What happened?" Arenade asked.
"Just before the election results, I was inside a confessional when someone threatened us if Bishop Rudo lost. It wasn't an accident. Someone definitely attacked us," Kanae explained to their unsurprised reactions.
"Bardell," Edina uttered the name spitefully. "Sounds like he didn't appreciate not getting his way. If he's coming to town, then we gotta prepare. In a lot more ways than one, like finding more allies than Talis and his groupies."
They hadn't forgotten that Bardell was on his way to Lograin following the end of the election. Bishop Rudo was supposed to win, so who knows what he was planning to do once he got here now. With Renya imprisoned, they had lost a powerful ally.
On the other hand, Mallory was mayor of Lograin City now. They had gained another powerful ally. Kanae wanted to go, but… she cast a worried look in the direction of her room, inside which Teana slept soundly.
"Looks like you got an idea," Edina said.
"Mallory owes us big time. I can talk to him. Or charm him if it comes to that." Kanae leaned back in his seat, hoping it didn't have to come to that.
"I say you go collect that reward. I'll stay here and play guard. No one's touching a hair on the munchkin while I'm here." The necromancer jumped out of her seat and summoned a horde of skeletons to show she meant business.
Will agreed.
"I'll stay as well."
That left Arenade.
"I'm coming with you," Arenade said.
As the two of them left the adventurer hall, Kanae couldn't help feeling suspicious. She shot glances at everyone on the way out, fearing that any one of them could be an Outrider lying in wait to strike.
The day was drawing to a close. Smoke from their now ruined church had subsided to a thin chimney, rising to the sky. It was as though the gods had taken an orange and purple brush across the horizon as the sun descended behind the mountains.
Arenade paused at the center of the bridge over a slow-moving canal.
"Arenade?" Kanae turned around to find her at the edge of the bridge, gazing at the canal which curved out of sight behind buildings.
"If it wasn't for me, Teana would still be safe in the goblin village. Because of me, that wannabe bishop brought her here, put her in danger, and she almost lost her life today." Arenade rested her hands on the iron railing and clenched hard.
Kanae joined Arenade by the edge. People and carriages passed behind them to get from one place to another, their lives unaffected by what happened today. A sign to how insignificant someone's problem might be to another, but how momentous it could be for another. Like Arenade's guilt.
"Why did you tell him? What were you trying to gain?" Kanae asked.
Arenade sighed. "I'm not sure anymore. I thought it would ensure his victory in becoming mayor. He promised to only parade Teana around, showing that he can protect the city with his own two hands, then let her go. Clearly, he lied. Maybe I was hoping to get into the Supreme One's good graces again, but that's not what I wanted anymore… I mean, that old fart doesn't care about mortal squabbles. Only that the world is in order."
"If getting back into the Supreme One's good graces isn't what you want anymore, then what do you want?" she pressed her.
Kanae fixed her gaze on Arenade, who, when glancing her way, snapped away just as quickly. She could hide her face, but not the pointed ears which became bright red all along the length of them.
"Whatever I want doesn't matter. I don't deserve it. Not in my previous life. Not when I was a demigoddess. Certainly not in this life…" Arenade answered in a shaky voice.
"What if it's what I want?" Kanae asked, reaching for her hand.
"Shouldn't you be angry at me?" She backed away before they touched. "Because of me, Teana almost… I want you to hate me!"
Kanae snatched Arenade by the hand and pinned her against the railing, staring her in the eyes before leaning in to kiss her. The priestess struggled but was powerless to fight back. When Kanae pulled away, Arenade was in tears.
"How can I hate the one who gave me this life? If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have had Teana. I wouldn't have realized that being like this was what I wanted. I wouldn't have met you and Edina. You're the one who barged into my life, so now I'm going to use everything in my succubus arsenal to keep it. Whether or not you think you deserve it!" Kanae declared, sealing Arenade's lips with another kiss before she could protest.
This time, Arenade didn't resist. They embraced deeply, and neither wanted to let go. It didn't matter to them if people saw or if rumors began to spread, the two stayed attached at the hips, mouth, and tongue.
Arenade nearly swooned once their lips parted, then violently shook her head in order to recompose herself.
"I-I'm not an easy high elf to please! I'm high-maintenance. I demand riches and luxuries beyond mortal comprehension suitable to my divine status!"
"Oh? Those are bold demands to make of someone like me." Kanae grinned, hooking a finger underneath Arenade's chin to raise her gaze.
Arenade wriggled away, but only because Kanae allowed it. She walked in haste to the other end of the bridge.
"Come along now. We shall have words with the new mayor of Lograin!"
Kanae sighed and gladly followed after her.
The two only got as far as the iron-wrought gates that surrounded the mayor's manor. Although the crowds had mostly cleared away, with few lingering around to sell goods to those lagging behind, Mallory was speaking with several important-looking men in fancy clothes at the steps to the manor.
When Mallory saw them, his demeanor wrinkled with worry.
"Kanae, Arenade!" Mallory walked briskly up to the gates that separated them. "I heard about the terrible accident that befell—"
"It wasn't an accident. That was Bardell and the Outriders' doing. I think he's getting back at me for Bishop Rudo's defeat," Kanae explained.
The new mayor's worry morphed into surprise and fear.
"We shall speak at the Red Harpy. Please wait for me there," Mallory insisted before returning to the group of nobility.
Kanae and Arenade waited at the Red Harpy, which was packed to the brim in celebration of Mallory's victory in becoming mayor of Lograin. People were gambling their fortunes away and drinking themselves under the table. After all, they were close to losing the Carnal District had Bishop Rudo won instead.
While the two sipped on wine in the private room upstairs previously occupied by Renya, it was a lot lonelier and quieter than usual without the pirate lord here.
"You think Mallory will really help us?" Arenade asked.
"He has to. Why? You don't think so?" Kanae questioned in return.
"Not saying he's going to gyp us, but I've seen plenty of people assume a position of power and turn their backs on others. Everyone is capable of that is all I'm saying," she warned.
They waited for another few minutes until Kanae thought to check downstairs. But as she got to her feet, the door swung open. Mallory entered, ripping off his tie and suit. The beastman plopped down on a seat across from them.
"I'm going to need a drink, too." Mallory beckoned for the bottle of wine.
Arenade handed it over and said, "Well?"
"I think we may be in a pickle. You mentioned that Bardell is the one who set fire to your church?" he asked, chugging the glass down and pouring himself another.
They nodded.
"Well… I learned from a lesser duke who was in Radevic two weeks ago. Bardell has been knighted. He is officially a Knight of Color. That's not all. Bardell and another knight is two days out from arriving at Lograin. They will be coming to assume the positions of Protectorate of Lograin," Mallory explained.
"Protectorate of Lograin? What's that mean?" Arenade asked.
The new mayor pursed his lips.
"The demons are on the move again. As a precaution, the Grand Eye of Radevic is sending Knights of Colors to every major city in pairs. Protectorates are a new position pushed forward by the previous mayor, and I can do nothing about it. Their job… is to root out demons lurking in the kingdom with extreme prejudice."
"Which means, as mayor, you have no choice but to help them?" Kanae growled.
"To the extent that I do not hinder their investigations. As mayor, it also means I cannot so easily meet out in the open anymore. This will likely be our last, but I have prepared someone to facilitate our continued friendship." Mallory shifted to facing the door.
As Arenade and Kanae followed his gaze, the door burst open. Renya strutted in with her captain's coat slung over her shoulder and smoking a fragrant cigar.
"Missed me?" Renya smirked.
"Renya?!" Kanae exclaimed in disbelief. "I thought you were still in jail?"
"I may have issued several pardons as my first order as Mayor of Lograin." Mallory dejectedly swirled the wine in his glass.
Renya took a seat next to Mallory, taking the wine from his hands for herself.
"Hah! In doing so, ol Mal pissed off every religious order for releasing the sacrilegious elf who assaulted the Supreme One's cathedral."
Kanae still couldn't believe it even though Renya was right there
"Wait… You banked it all on us? What if we had failed to get Mallory to become mayor?" Kanae asked.
"I put all my chips on you, made a calculated gamble, and struck gold." Renya shrugged like this was just another business decision.
Calculated.
Kanae rolled her eyes.
"Geez. I'm already exhausted in her presence…" Arenade groaned.
"That's enough chit-chat. We have a lot to do in two days before that bastard Bardell arrives. Like repairing Mal's image with them holy folks. Starting with your… what was it called again? Ah! Eminence of Sin!" Renya clicked her tongue as though tasting the name.
"In case you aren't up to speed, our church burned down…" Kanae said.
That didn't seem to put a damper on Renya's mood, which in turn troubled Kanae because she proceeded to flash a scheming grin.
"Good thing you have me around again. Follow me," Renya said, hopping to her feet.
Mallory bid them goodbye and returned to his new residence at the Lograin Mayor's manor.
Meanwhile, Renya called for a carriage to drive them back to the religious ward of the city. They passed the bystreet that led to the ruins of their church, heading to the much larger cathedrals and temples. Their carriage lurched to a stop, and the trio emerged to stand before a building that was much larger than their previous church, but was still dwarfed by the likes of the Cathedral of One or Church of Many.
Marble pillars and a front courtyard framed a path to the dusty steps of the sanctuary.
"Welcome!" Smiling, Renya threw her arms towards the place of worship as though carrying the building upon her shoulders. "To your new cathedral, oh High Priestess of the Eminence of Sin."
