The Hero Became a Succubus, and the Only Way to Level is to… What?!
Chapter 433 – Dryoak Lead

Kanae and Edina safely escorted Ujit to the East Saviran Trading Assication's outpost. Large men, mostly of the heavy beastman variety, wielding glaives stood guard outside and directly through the entrance. They had with them a species of blind dire beasts, hounds whose big razor sharp teeth and underbite look like they could tear through iron. Thick and bulging shoulder muscles made it obvious they were meant to overpower someone in a fight rather than chase down.

One of them growled at Ujit until its handler pulled it back by a chain leash. When Kanae got a better look at the new manpower around, they didn't bear the four-pointed star crest.

"You're all new here?" Kanae asked, cozying up to a broad-chested centaur man.

"Please, don't flirt with the hired mercenaries." Shaheed sighed as he descended from the second floor. The dark elf had bigger bags under his eyes than Kanae last remembered. "They are here to do their job, not be tempted and distracted by your succubus wiles. These men are from Duquan, one of the biggest mercenary groups around Elusis. Because the Dryoak Consortium has muscled them out of the business, they have an angry bone to pick with them. The association was happy to oblige and give them a chance to." His discerning eyes flicked to Ujit. "And who is this guest of yours?"

"Someone who isn't happy with the Harpy King. Are my companions upstairs?"

Shaheed nodded and stepped out of the way from the stairs. As they walked past him, the dark elf dipped his head to bow, but his gaze lingered a little longer on Ujit than Kanae liked.

Upstairs, Kanae couldn't find her usual cohort, but Archbishop Patrice and Delayn were seated on a balcony with a couple of books between them. Only one of them had their head buried in both arms, and it wasn't the high elf. Instead, Patrice looked out across the under-city with a book in hand held slightly under her chin, sitting as still as a statue. She only turned around to Kanae's footsteps coming upstairs.

"Amethyst, Edina. Good of you two to return, I—" Patrice noticed the old harpy woman coming up from behind them. "Who do you have there?"

"This is Ujit, Exalted Mystic of Elusis. She wants to put a stop to the Harpy King as much as we do and has people in the upper-city that feel the same," Kanae introduced her.

"Former Exalted Mystic. It is a pleasure to meet you all, but I should also add that I'm technically dead. I've been raised back to the living for a short time," Ujit explained, cackling under her voice.

Patrice and Delayn stared with horror, and they— rightfully— turned to the correct culprit.

"Yeah, it was me. And before any of you decide to violently shake me, I'm warning you: I will bite back this time!" Edina threatened.

"Fine." Patrice pressed a hand to her shaking head. "But you do know that the Exalted Mystic of Elusis is their chief guide on religious and spiritual matters? Their word carries enough weight to move the country in a certain direction. So, I would like to know why one of the country's leaders is an undead?!"

"Ujit was dead before Edina raised her, I swear! Actually… Why did you go and raise her?" Kanae asked.

"Come on. I ain't dumb. The dead keep their secrets. The living undead don't. It's because she's still around that the Harpy King and his people are getting tripped up," the necromancer said.

Ujit nodded and added, "The necromancer is right. They wanted me dead, but they could not deliver the blow itself. Instead, they isolated me. Trapped me. Deprived me of followers who needed guidance. Their intention was to wait out the remainder of my lifetime. And yet, Edina here has prolonged it. Now that we have escaped, I can finally show you what the Harpy King sought from me." She pulled from her bag a bundle of tightly wound sticks and straw, the tips of which were burned black. They were contained in an earthen container, full of ashes and soil.

They were incense sticks. Everyone drew closer to inspect them. Nothing about them screamed important. Symbolic, maybe? However, Patrice noticed something that they didn't. Her eyes widened with interest.

"These incense sticks are alive and growing, aren't they?" Patrice asked.

"Indeed. Behold, the Incense of Foresight. It is a legendary item, said to have been obtained from one of Glentir's Rifts a thousand years ago. The incense sticks grow no longer than six inches, and they smolder forever, even under water. Their ashes serve as soil to feed itself in an eternal cycle of life and death. Igniting them with fire creates a cloud of fumes that offer glimpses into the future. Only an Exalted Mystic can use them, as they are attuned to someone for life. Here, I can even demonstrate. Whose future do we wish to see?" Ujit sparked a flame on her thumb.

Everyone except for Delayn shot their hands up, but Ujit ultimately chose Kanae to perform the ritual. She lowered her fiery thumb onto the incense sticks. They caught fire and burned more intensely than before. The crone blew the smoke into Kanae's face and motioned to breathe it in.

Kanae inhaled the fumes through her nose. The scent of citrus and burning bark filled her lungs, making her lightheaded and weightless.

"Now, exhale through your mouth," Ujit urged.

As the smoke escaped Kanae's lips, they came together as a much thicker cloud than what she breathed out. Everyone gazed into the fumes, hoping to glimpse what future was in store for Kanae. Vague images took shape and faint sounds echoed in their ears.

 People strewn on the ground. A bright flash of light. Pain. Lots of pain. Someone begging for mercy, and a lack thereof. Hard to say for certain what it really was, but everyone saw it all the same.

"The glimpses are often vague and uncertain. They are sometimes near and far. On the off chance that these visions are crystal clear, they can be a powerful tool in the right hands," Ujit explained.

The incense sticks were burned down to half the length. It was going to take some time before they grew back to their original sizes.

"Why didn't the Harpy King simply imprison you in his dungeon and wait until your death to claim the Incense of Foresight?" Patrice asked.

"Because even though I had fallen to irrelevancy, seizing me would have caused an uproar among the citizenry. Jahree was also ready to stir the pot, so to speak," Ujit said.

"Hm. And in a war, you do not want civil unrest back at home. Especially when you will be sending most soldiers away to fight. I see. If you had died normally, the citizens are less likely to throw a fit. But who would the Harpy King have gone to next to make use of the incense?" the archbishop continued to interrogate her.

"That would be… Nasiri…" she muttered ashamedly.

"Nasiri. That's the woman crowned a Monk, isn't she?" Petyr showed up at the doorway glowering.

"What's this, Petyr? A name that strikes fear into even you?" Delayn chided antagonistically.

"Tch. I don't fear her. It's my own strength that she redirects back to me that hurts. Of course, I'm the only one who could have defeated myself." The paladin scoffed.

The entire room rolled their eyes.

"Tell me more about Nasiri. I promised her I'd grind her into the sand the next time we see each other," Petyr said.

"Nasiri is… was a disciple of mine," Uji started with a heavy hint of shame and disappointment in her voice. "One of the most promising, too. She was intended to be the next Exalted Mystic, but an incident forced my hand to choose Jahree instead. Nasiri is an orphan, left at the steps of the temple spire as an infant. Believe it or not, the girl was crowned when I found her. Monk. How appropriate for a temple. I tried to nurture kindness and love in her. And she was kind and loved more than anyone I had ever seen. But… fate deigned that she should not. She wasn't an orphan. Nasiri es ven Nuar comes from an ancient warrior caste line, the es ven Nuar. They even have a spire of their own. My disciple eventually found this out and left to confront them, and murdered her father. I ex-communicated her but left the door open for atonement. Unfortunately, the Harpy King came to her. I thought it was to arrest her, but he declared her the head of es ven Nuar and power to seize control of her life. That is where we are now, and she rose through the ranks to become the Right Talon of the Harpy King."

"You tried to mold a warmaker into a pacifist. Sounds like Nasiri's been a fighter all this time, and I underestimated her. I hope you don't mind I ex-communicate her the right way."

Ujit opened her mouth but no words came out. She merely closed her eyes and sighed through her nose, resigned to whatever fate awaited a former disciple.

"Hmph. Kanae, Edina. I'm giving you two a chance to join me. Renya found some Dryoaks that gamble on ronoa racing. I want to capture and question them," Petyr said.

"The ronoas?" Edina asked.

"No, you fucking imbecile. The consortium's guild members," she groaned.

"Ahh, cool your hammer. I know what you meant. But if we're getting into a fight, I can't use too much mana. If I run out, Ujit over here is gonna just keel over," the necromancer explained.

"I think… the incense vision showed me exactly what's about to happen." Kanae frowned.

Shaheed spared an association carriage for them to ride. It was a simple wagon with a canopy over the back half. Two ronoas pulled them into the under-city. Petyr gave the stagecoach directions to where the races were taking place. He knew exactly how to get there.

The 'racetrack' was a ring that ran around the base of the spire. Organizers built bleachers out of rough, uncut stones and wooden planks ramshackled together. Merchants pushed small carts and wheelbarrows to sell food, drinks, and trinkets. A couple of harpies, under the organizers' employ, flew around taking bets from spectators.

A race was already underway when Kanae and the others arrived. Ten ronoas, each draped in different colored cloth bardings, sprinted along the track amidst shouts and cheers. They found Renya at the very front, practically leaning over the fences and yelling at the top of her lungs. She had a couple of betting tickets crinkled in her grasp.

"Go, Blue! GO! They got nothing on you, boy! Run the rest of them down! Let's go!" Renya boomed.

Two ronoas, one draped in blue and the other in black, were toe to toe with each other. But the black ronoa had one last burst of speed in it and pulled ahead through the finish. Renya threw her tickets to the ground and stomped on them. A cheering man adjacent to her laughed derisively in her face, having probably betted on the black. Pissed off, she threw a haymaker at the guy and started a whole brawl in the stand.

"What an idiot. If Renya wanted to win, she should've waited for me to make a bet," Edina chided.

"For fucks sake… We won't find the Dryoaks if a fight sends them running." Petyr sighed.

"Oh, no. Is this what I saw in the vision? Guys, let's not get into a fight. We just got here!" Kanae cried.

"I'll break your fucking jaw, furry! I—" Renya got socked in the face and staggered back a few steps, blood dripping down her nose. Crimson lips creased into an elated smirk. She reached into her coat for the flintlocks, but not before Kanae charmed her into blinking out of the mob. It took a few seconds before she got her bearings. "Aw, man. The best part of gambling is when a fight breaks out!"

They tried to put some distance between themselves and the fighting. No one was going to see a damn thing in the middle of a mosh pit. Kanae bumped into someone. Both of them backed away a step.

"Sorry!" Kanae apologized.

"Watch where you're going, bi—"

The next words caught in both of their throats. Kanae glanced down to find the Dryoak Consortium tabard draped over the human man and his beastman companion. And him, his eyes fixed on her breasts despite being in Human Form and not looking like a succubus.

"It's you!" he cried.

"Dryoak. Found you!" Petyr hoisted the warhammer high over her head and brought it crashing down.

Kanae was too late to stop Petyr. The second the hammer impacted the ground, a bright golden light blinded the world and everyone went flying. Having Greater Holy Resistance tattooed on protected Kanae from the brunt of the searing holy energies. Other people weren't so lucky. Edina laid face down, smoking like a burnt piece of coal. Renya stared up at the sky and saw stars despite it being broad daylight. Cries of mercy echoed from the injured.

The vision came true, and there was nothing Kanae was able to do about it.

"Ughhh… Raise… Undead…" Edina summoned a minion from an abyssal portal. "Sacrifice… Undead…" She shattered the necromantic life energy sustaining it, giving herself a second wind.

"We couldn't have… done this quietly?" Kanae asked in pain.

"And risked them escaping? We have them now. Let's go before we draw any more attention," Petyr said.

"I gotta get my hat first…" Renya rose shakily to her feet to fetch her tricorn hat.

They hoisted the two unconscious Dryoaks into the back of the wagon. The stagecoach who had driven them here was still in a state of shock. He snapped out of it as they piled in. Not wanting to be here when the upper-city harpies came down to investigate, he kicked the ronoas into gear to get them out of there fast.

Sure enough, it didn't take the Incense of Foresight to learn that a platoon of harpy guards flew down. With their spears and bucklers, they swarmed the entire racecourse, placed innocents under arrest, and locked down the entire block around the spire. Luckily for Kanae and the others, her group was already speeding down the road away from the scene.

When they returned to the association outpost, Shaheed was downstairs speaking with a few merchants. His eyes bulged seeing Petyr coming in with two Dryoaks hoisted onto her shoulders like sacks of potatoes.

"Are they… who I think they are?" the dark elven man asked.

"Your arsonists. Our captives. You can have them when we're done with them. For now, I've got questions." Petyr sat them down onto a chair each in the middle of the lobby.

Nervous, Shaheed shooed the merchants out of the building. He slammed the doors shut and beckoned to the front desk clerk to bring rope. They tied the unconscious pair up. The human was just now coming to consciousness.

"What happened… Why does everything hurt?" he asked, eyes still shut.

"We're asking the questions. Where's Riley? What are you doing here in Elusis?" Petyr clamped two hands over his face and used her thumbs to pry open his eyes.

"Y-You're the… high elf the Guildmaster talked about… Wait, don't hurt me! I'll tell you where she is!" the captive cried.

"That was easy. And I thought I'd need to charm you. Maybe I still should for good measure?" Kanae wondered aloud.

"Guildmaster said to tell the woman named Petyr Stormcloud if we ever run into her. It's like she knew you were coming, and lo and behold. It's Gem Spire. Says she'll be waiting for you there, and that's it. You'll know the tower by the murals of jewelry," he explained.

"There ain't a more obvious trap than that. If you're still going, I don't know what to tell you." Renya shrugged.

Kanae watched Petyr quietly for a few seconds. The high elf was deep in thought. She pulled her aside to talk, away from the captive Dryoaks.

"You're thinking about going, aren't you?" Kanae asked.

"Trap or not, I came to Elusis to get through to Riley. You can't tell me if Edina or Arenade were in over their heads, you wouldn't do the same for them? I won't ask you to come with me. This is my battle, and I'll see it through to the end even if it kills me. For everything that I've done and couldn't do in the past, I owe as much to Riley," Petyr explained.

"It's been a while since you started sounding like a paladin."

"I am a paladin," she growled.

Kanae grinned and extended a hand. "I told you before that I'd help you. Also, I can't exactly give you a castle if you're dead."

For maybe the first time ever, Petyr cracked an amused smile at Kanae's joke. She clasped her hand and nodded.