The Hero Became a Succubus, and the Only Way to Level is to… What?!

"Mistress, I'm going to miss you so much!" Lilith cried, her face buried between Kanae's chest on the day she and the others were to leave for Radevic.

"There, there." Kanae patted the tearful succubus on the head. "Come on, Lilith. What are people going to think, seeing the First Sister crying in the middle of the streets? I need you to be strong and protect my family, our country, and your fellow sisters while I'm gone."

"You're right… I-I won't let you down. We eagerly await your return!" she declared and returned to the other Sisters of Sin's sides.

One month flew right by. Hell, it felt like the five years were even faster. Every day had been a bliss, raising their many childrens.

"Alright, all of you. Come here." Kanae picked up Suvee and Kanade first, then her four goblin daughters, struggling to hold back tears, joined in one big group hug. She wrapped the larger pair of her wings around them.

"Mama, I don't think we want you to go after all!" Teana choked up.

"I know, but I have to. Mama's going to train to become a holy knight. How ironic is that? In the meantime, Kanata and Suvee, make sure to behave at school. Revah, Pan, Mikki, the three of you have your own unique talents so make sure to rely on each other. And Teana, you're the oldest sister. Take care of everyone, okay?"

Teana nodded, lower lip quivering and fighting back tears. It took Kanade reassuring her by stroking the back of her head to bring them out.

"Geez. A long time ago, I thought I'd grow old alone and bored, doing the same thing over and over again. Now I have a family who cries for me when I'm about to leave. I love you all, so be good girls while I'm gone." Kanae kissed each of them on the head and let go.

"I'm going to protect everyone, too." Suvee pumped her fists.

"Suvee. Too small," Kanade teased.

"Am not!"

"I'll make you proud, Mama! By the time you get back, I'll have gotten Nelly to give you a grandchild!" Teana declared.

"Me, too!" Revah and Pan added.

"I never agreed to have children so early!" Nelly shouted from behind.

Mitty replaced them as they backed away. Kanae embraced her goblin lover, who spoiled her with many children and possibly even more in the future. Although his modest height remained the same, he didn't need to be big anywhere else to compensate for it.

"I'm going to be helping Noah chart more territory in the commonwealth while you're away. It gets pretty dangerous around Highgreen, so they need a Pathfinder," Mitty said.

"Then you better come back safely. Because this succubus isn't done making babies with you yet," Kanae whispered seductively into his ears, having experienced the joys of his hobgoblin penis, motherhood, and a childbirth through Versatile Womb.

As Mitty hobbled away, trying to hide his erection, Arenade took his place. Kanae and Arenade wrapped their arms tightly around each other, soaking in the warmth their bodies provided.

"You made my dreams come true when I couldn't even achieve them during my past lifetime. I never got a chance to say this to anyone before. Not even back then. So you better listen carefully, you damn succubus. I-I… I lo…"

Kanae robbed Arenade's moment by kissing her tenderly on the lips. The high elf reciprocated and melted as their tongues lashed against the other.

"I don't think I've ever said it to anyone before either. Never had a relationship or close family worth saying it to. Now I have a wife." Kanae smiled, holding Arenade by the hand in which their ring fingers bore beautiful opal rings. "I love you, too."

Arenade went bright red up to the tips of her pointed ears.

"H-Hmph. Don't get too full of yourself, Kanae! To be wedded to such a divine being as myself… You should be grateful I accepted your proposal! I hope you know what that entails, because I'm not an easy high elf to please. You better return as a full-fledged Knight of Colors, you hear!" 

"Yeah, yeah. Don't miss me too much while I'm gone. Have fun ruling as monarch, Queen Regent Arenade!" Kanae grinned.

"Ugh. Don't remind me. I'm at least used to ruling a large plot of land. Just hurry back and take over. Being a sovereign is a fast track to wrinkles, you know? I can't have those!" she complained, throwing her hands in the air out of exasperation.

Ichi and another beastman coach steered the royal carriage up to the castle. It was pulled by six languisteeds, which should make for a swift journey. One of Ichi's many children, a draph and minotaur hybrid, was sitting on his shoulders. Both of them hopped off, leaving only the coachman behind.

"Six of the fastest languisteeds, at your service!" Ichi patted the largest steed.

Esta opened the door to the royal carriage. Will was already inside, ready to journey with them to Radevic. Not that he wanted to at all.

"Don't ruin my country while I'm away!" Kanae waved one last time as she climbed inside.

The spacious interior was like a miniature version of Arenade's bedchamber, furnished with lavish seats and cushions. Even Esta didn't take up much room, being the bulky drakeling she was with all that armor and greatsword. As their carriage rolled away, Kanae pulled down the window to watch her family shrinking in the distance.

First stop, Lograin. They needed to pick up Saint Priest Delayn, who refused hospitality at Ehmvier to stay at the cathedral of one in Lograin.

Kanae opened the carriage door while it was still moving.

"Master?" Esta rose worriedly from her seat.

"You guys pick up Delayn first, then come get me at Dead Man's Gamble. I'm going to say hi to Edina," Kanae said, taking flight towards the Carnal District.

It was a full house when Kanae arrived. Every table was occupied by high-class gamblers. Among the dealers were skeletal humanoids dressed in tuxedos, working alongside their living counterparts.

"Oh, Queen Kanae! We weren't expecting you!" a lady bartender called out from behind the counter in the middle of mixing cocktails. "May I fix you something to drink?"

Being 23 now, Kanae had the pleasure of partaking in alcohol more openly. Though there weren't any laws dictating that one couldn't drink until a certain age like in her previous world, she had held back for a while out of instinct. But that didn't help the few times getting blacked-out drunk on accident…

"I'll have some upstairs. Is Edina around?" Kanae asked.

"The proprietress is upstairs in her usual room," she said.

Kanae flew up to the third floor and took a quiet corridor deeper into the establishment. There weren't any more gamblers here. Just magic lanterns and red carpet leading to a set of ornate doors at the end.

When Kanae pushed the doors open, a scent of sex and sweat blew past her. Lying around the candlelit room were almost twenty men of all races, dicks hanging limp and no doubt drained to unconsciousness. On top of the large bed, Edina was riding a guy already passed out.

"You're shaping up to be more of a succubus than I am," Kanae joked on her way in, careful not to step on someone.

"Yeah, right." Edina wiped the sweat from her forehead and kicked the man off the bed. "Against you, who has a body count in the high triple digits? Being a succubus is tough though. I'm hungry every single day!"

"Who are they anyway?"

Edina thumbed someone at random. "I think he was caught pulling cards out of his sleeve in poker. Those four are Outriders who tried to kidnap me. This one was just a cute regular I had my eyes on for a while. And… I don't remember the rest. Anyway, enough about me. If you're here, that means Knights of Colors time?"

"Yeah." Kanae sat down next to Edina, who immediately flew over to the cabinet to fetch the Chalice of Endless Booze.

"Which means I'm the last one to say goodbye to? I'm quite frankly honored, your great succubus majesty!" She smirked.

Kanae rolled her eyes.

The enchanted cup filled with fragrant wine. Edina drank half of it like water, then passed it to Kanae.

"If you're going to be weird about it, I can just skip visiting you next time." Kanae sipped only a little before handing the chalice back.

"Actually, Kanae… There's something I gotta tell you. These past five years… They honestly sucked. All I do is watch the tables, fuck, sleep, shit. Do it again the next day. Don't get me wrong. Living it up here is great, but I'm a necromancer. The greatest necromancer to ever live. I wanna get back to it, and you can help me."

"I can?"

Without getting dressed, Edina hopped off the bed and landed squarely on someone's chest. She made her way to the desk, pulled an old tome out of the cupboard, and then beckoned Kanae over.

"Fucked an old alchemist geezer for this. Said I reminded him of his granddaughter or something. A lot of the pages are worn, but this is what caught my attention." Edina flipped to a page of an old drawing, depicting a staff made mostly of skulls and the top looked like a small brazier on fire.

"Pillar of the Damned," Kanae read the name off the top of the page.

"Yep. Rumored to be a legendary weapon once wielded by a dynasty of liches. Their skulls are what makes the staff. Too bad it's been lost to time. However! Get a load of this. An old wizard named Marwin Fransk who studied the liches is still alive at Knight's Academy, serving as an instructor. And since you're going to Radevic… you catch my drift?" she asked.

"You want me to find out if he has it or knows where it might be. Edina, if this staff is lost or hidden, then there's probably a good reason for it."

"Please! I'll do anything. Becoming the strongest necromancer in the world is my life's goal. If I attune to that staff, I'll be one step closer!"

While Edina had grown incredibly strong over the years, it didn't seem to be enough for her.

"Alright," Kanae relented. "I'll be on the lookout."

However, the more Kanae looked at the staff, the more unnerved she became even though it was just a drawing.

"Sweet! I'll be dropping by Radevic later. I'm so ready to get out of here and be with you again!" Edina exclaimed.

"Wait, you are?" Kanae asked.

The squirreling threw herself back onto bed to stretch out. "I got unfinished business. Word on the street is Outriders are under new leadership. Not while this necromancer is around. Figured I might show up at their doorsteps. After all, I have Renya to thank for giving up their headquarters, and it happens to be pretty close to Radevic."

Kanae didn't want to let it show, but she was excited to have a couple of familiar faces around. At least it wouldn't be too lonely in Radevic.

After playing a couple of rounds of poker downstairs and losing several hundred thousand gold to Edina, the others arrived at last to save Kanae from bankrupting the Commonwealth's coffers.

The journey from Lograin to Radevic took half a week on the Imperial Span. Kanae was growing bored of looking out at the vast, unchanging forests. She glanced back inside the carriage. Delayn, the Saint Priest, sat the farthest away from Kanae. A stark contrast to Esta who wanted to be next to her all day every day. Then there was Will, whose 'stomach ache' worsened the closer they got to Radevic.

"Five years, and we're finally almost here. Maybe you can fill us in on why exactly it took so long, Delayn?" Kanae asked.

"Look, Succubus. I don't make the rules. I just enforce them and look after the safety of the Grand Eye and King of Radevic. Most of the problems as to why it took so long wasn't internal. It actually came from the Empire of Ortesia," Delayn said.

"What's Ortesia have to do with it?"

"Hey, now. You're a demon and don't know? Those stuck-up high elves think they're on the top of the world. You think we're zealots? They're the ones who don't believe in pre-marital sex over there! Purity and innocence above all else. When they heard that a succubus would join the order, it almost started a war. Had that happened, we would have had no choice but to side with them against you."

"Ehhh? Things almost got that bad for the Commonwealth?!"

Delayn nodded and expelled a sigh.

If Kanae remembered correctly, Zadris was from Ortesia. But she was a human. So Ortesia was ruled by arrogant high elves like Arenade?

"They thought you had infiltrated the Grand Eye and the order, Master." Esta chuckled to herself. "We narrowly skirted that war by reminding them who it was that repelled Lady Dahlia in Orturic, and again when she and Minestra Val'doun invaded creeped into no man's land."

"I will hand it to you, Succubus. None of Charron's lieutenants are pushovers by any means. Your ingenuity in repelling their invasion is worthy of praise, but not mine! Those are the Grand Eye's words," Delayn hastily added.

"Speaking of Orturic, you almost let a small town fall without any help," Kanae challenged them.

Both Delayn and Esta fell silent. A pleasant surprise, because Kanae thought they would try to make excuses for what happened.

"They exposed our kingdom's weakness," the Saint Priest began. "We don't have enough Knights of Colors or a large enough standing army to deal with battles across the continent. While Lady invaded Orturic, other cities were also attacked. The Grand Eye made the difficult decision of sending reinforcements to the more populated cities."

"It's also why you guys are risking letting me, a succubus, join the order. Because you need all the help you can get," Kanae said.

"Correct…" she answered bitterly.

Something still didn't make sense. The demons were mostly on this continent. In fact, the bulk of them were, including Demon Lord Charron and his lieutenants. 

"If the demons are such a threat, how come Ortesia doesn't send help?" Kanae asked.

Esta scoffed in a way that sounded pretty personal. "They think Radevic is a cesspool of filth and points to Lograin's renown as the City of Sin and Piety as the reason."

"Yeah. Those upturned noses are perfectly content staying on their continent. They won't bat an eye unless it starts looking bad," Delayn added.

Which explained why Ortesia mobilized at sea when the demons poked their heads into no man's land.

"We're here! Radevic ahead!" the coachman shouted.

Everyone became animated at once. Kanae hadn't noticed the bustle on the other side of the carriage. Soft music from string instruments was playing outside.

When Kanae opened the window, she was at awe being surrounded by tall townhouses built of gray and ivory stones with banners hanging from arches and pillars. The streets were paved in smoth, patterned stones and lit up by magic lamps at every intersection. Many people walked along the wide avenue, dressed in dapper tunics and robes.

"Ah, Radevic." Delayn breathed affection and warmth into the city's name. "Home to over seven hundred thousand souls, the seat of the Grand Eye and King, Knight's Academy, and the Basilica of Saint Rue. It was built with the Imperial Span serving as the main thoroughfare in mind. Almost a thousand years ago, hose high elves in Ortesia abandoned this city. Just because demons were due north of no man's land if you can believe it! Their loss. Now it is our home."

They did? Talk about an overreaction. But seven hundred thousand people? This wasn't just a city. It was an entire country.

"Huu… Calm down, Will. Ana's your older sister. She's family. You got this," Will said, psyching himself from the corner of the carriage.

Not everyone was happy to be back.

They exited the carriage at the beginning of an enormous courtyard of raised garden beds and beautiful frees. A walk was ahead of them, leading to the centerpiece of Radevic. The palace. A massive structure with many towers capped in orange domes and long corridors that must function as a city of its own.

Guards eyed Kanae with tense stares. People dressed in scholarly blue robes, likely students and faculty, watched on and whispered under their breaths.

Kanae glanced over her shoulder. The rest of the city below stretched into the distance. Ehmvier paled in comparison.

"Queen Kanae Toyomi, we are glad that you have made it." The Grand Eye was standing at the top of the steps, leading into the palace. The drakeling Vestrid stood to her right and an old man in red robes to her left.

"Uhh. Nice place you have here? I don't suppose I'm going to meet the King of Radevic like some sort of royal protocol?" Kanae gulped.

She shook her head. "For his safety, you will not. This is Aidenhall, the king's castle. All together, it also serves as the Knight's Academy, the Illuminant Repository, headquarters of the Order of Colors, and your place of residence for the next two years. However, because you are a succubus, special accommodations have been made. This is Lord Marwin Fransk."

The elderly mage in red robes stepped forward and bowed. A powerful magical pulse emitted from him that brought Kanae to her knees.

"Master!" Esta helped Kanae up, who shivered uncontrollably from something like a feedback in her head.

Marwin Fransk? The one Edina was looking for?

"Marwin is a renowned wizard, adventurer, and retired Saint Priest. You will reside with him in his tower. He is your mentor for the first six months," the Grand Eye explained.

"My mentor, huh… I'm guessing you forgot to mention that he's my handler?" Kanae asked.

"Normally, Knights of Colors-in-training reside with lesser knights of the order in the dormitories to strengthen bonds. We don't want to risk that," she said.

Logical. Kanae would probably have had sex with them all by the end of the month. It might happen regardless. But was it really alright for them to have her shack up with a seemingly powerful wizard? Kanae might have to make draining fodder out of him, but that show of magical force earlier was incredibly strong…

"What about the rest of the city? Am I allowed to go out on my own?" Kanae asked.

The Grand Eye turned to Esta.

"I find it hard to believe the Knight of Silver has sworn to you, but I trust her. You will seek permission from Marwin first and must be accompanied by Estaline if you are to wander the city. Is that understood?" she asked.

Kanae nodded, not minding at all that it was Esta who had to be with her.

"Good. Your training begins now. An aptitude test will be held at the end of the week. You must participate alongside fellow knights-to-be. Marwin will see to it that you are ready. Delayn, Silver, William, you three come with me."

The Grand Eye turned to leave. Delayn didn't hesitate to follow after her. Will and Esta, on the other hand, regarded Kanae with a nod for good luck before catching up to them.

"So, you're in charge of my training? What's first?" Kanae flew up the steps to present herself in front of the elder wizard.

"First, I want you to wear this." Marwin fished into a satchel slung over his shoulder and pulled out something that made Kanae's jaw drop. It was a black and white maid's outfit. Not just any maid's outfit. It looked like lingerie, and the skirt was so short that her entire legs would show. Most of her skin would be showing.

"What?! This has to be a test… Is this enchanted equipment or something? It's going to seal my succubus magic or provide you surveillance on where I am all day?"

"Oh, nothing of the sort. The truth is…" He lowered his voice to a whisper. "Succubi have been extinct for most of my life. I've always wanted to see a succubus dressed as a skimpy maid! So as your mentor for the time being, I want you to wear this while inside the tower!"

"Some powerful wizard! You're just a perverted old man all along!" Kanae exclaimed, slapping the lingerie maid outfit from his hands.

"AAHHH! That came from a custom tailoring job worth nearly a hundred thousand gold!"