"Belle, get up. Belle!" I tried to pull her to her feet, but she was dead weight.

"I can't… My hips and legs won't move. I need a restoration potion or something…" Belle rubbed her sore ass and went wide-eyed. "It's missing?"

"What's missing?" I asked, getting desperate as the sounds of Xana and Lorica's frenzied, echoing moans reached my ears.

"My… ahem, plug… They must have pulled it out when they fucked my ass. Help me find it!" she exclaimed.

I shook her shoulders in an attempt to get her to realize the gravity of our situation. 

"Now isn't the time for your fetishes. If you haven't noticed— Oh, crap." A tentacle had grabbed a hold of my ankle. I was being pulled out of Belle's cell but managed to catch the metal bars at the gate.

The demon was a crawling tangle of tentacles the size of a cow. It had the succubi twins suspended in the air, ravishing every hole that could fit a slimy appendage. Thelia, still unconscious, was being dragged out of her cell.

"Where am— What's going on?" The erinyes came to and struck her head against the gate. She also secured herself to the metal bars, both of us vainly holding on for dear life as more tentacles crept closer.

"Think you can subjugate your fellow demonkin to get us out of this mess?" I asked her.

"I'm naked and have been defiled by countless mongrel grunts. Does it look like I'm in any position to tell that thing to obey me?" she groaned.

When I extended my arm with every intention to cast a spell, the demon put Xana and Lorica in the line of fire. Instead of them, I blasted off the tentacles tugging at me and Thelia's, freeing ourselves from its grasp.

The demon howled in agony. "Raaaaggghhh! You accursed witch. I will stick a tentacle in your ears and nostrils for that!" 

"I didn't need that image in my head…" I muttered with disgust.

If only I had my living robes, Rio, or my staff— anything to help me.

Belle came strolling out of her cell and into the hallway. A distinct, crystalline glimmer shown between her plump cheeks.

"Pay attention, Ellori. Magic is more than just lobbing fireballs," she said.

Once again, Xana and Lorica were used as living shields. However, they didn't deter Belle one bit. She spat on the ground and stomped on her spittle. A sleet of ice extended forth underneath the demon. The already arid atmosphere became noticeably drier.

"Are you trying to get me to slip? I have no feet, you fools!" the demon cackled.

Enormous icicles impaled the demon from below, silencing its laughter. The tentacles holding the succubi went limp. They had to wrench the appendages out of their ass and pussy, letting out a flood of ejaculate to the floor.

"Not… very pleasant and enjoyable at all…" Xana remarked.

"Not one bit…" Lorica added, spreading open her pussy to let the cum dribble out.

"The two of you have some nerve turning me into a sexual relief fodder for imps and hounds." Thelia glared and towered over the succubi with her arms folded.

"It wasn't our decision! We're on your side now!" the twins exclaimed at once.

Belle and I had to come between them to prevent a fight from breaking out. The five of us had to work together if we were to get out of this prison.

"There is a chamber at the very top where we may activate a crystal to escape. Where it ejects us in the outside world, I am unsure," Xana explained.

Belle was unable to hijack her familiar's vision, which likely meant it would be pointless for me to do the same with Rio. They, including Eudora, might be in a separate anti-magic cell.

The demons guarding the prison were formidable and many, but stood no chance against our combined strength. As we made our way up, checking every prison along the way, I found it strange how Edith hadn't paid us a single mind or visit. Could it be she was preoccupied outside?

It might be that she was engaged in battle against our forces. We had to make haste, otherwise the battle would be over by the time we escaped this prison.

We at last reached the top, to a circular room filled with torture instruments. An iron maiden, stretching racks, toothy maggots in a jar that Mira might be interested in, and a whole lot else that were caked in dried blood.

In the center of the room was a large, levitating black crystal. It oozed with condensed magic. Absorbing too much of it at once would kill a witch. Xana and Lorica's interest in it meant that it was our vehicle of escape.

But first, we needed to find Eudora and our familiars.

"Ellori!"

I turned in the direction of Belle's voice to a staff flying into my hands, then proceeded to toss a spare tunic and pants my way. She had found her own robes and our staffs. I might not have my living robes, but at least I had my focusing element back and some clothes to keep my breasts from swinging about.

An ornate red chest emanating imbued with powerful enchantments caught my attention Like something was calling to me from within. Touching it sent an extremely painful shock through my body.

"I'm pretty sure I found them…" I pulled my singed fingers back.

"I expected nothing less of Edith to put countermeasures in place," Belle said, coming up from behind me. "The magic on there is ancient, meant to repel anything for all of eternity. She did not want what's inside to escape nor for anyone to open it."

"This is… good, right? It seems Edith isn't all powerful yet if she couldn't outright destroy Eudora and our familiars," I wondered aloud.

"Optimistic." She grinned.

"I have to be in this situation. Now the question is how to break this open? Do you think we can carry it into an anti-magic room to dispel its effects?" I asked Belle, the expert on magic items.

"Not a chance. It is itself anti-magic. We cannot physically carry it ourselves, nor can we use magic to move it." Belle conjured ice underneath the chest only for it to disappear as soon as it formed.

Then…

Use me, Vessyra called out.

My staff was back in my possession. It was worth a shot.

Vessyra's magic— a whole lot more magic than I expected— flowed into my staff, transforming it into the goddess' golden lance. Belle and the others backed away, shocked at how blinding it was, like the entire shaft was made of lightning.

Your foe is a fool, Vessyra began. Those demons were as much a feast for us as we were for them.

I see.

For every demon that fucked me, I drained a bit of their magic. A whole lot of them, like an army's worth used me in what spanned for months. I couldn't feel that power while under the anti-magic runes. Edith's ignorance would be her undoing.

I plunged my staff into the magic-bound chest and was met with resistance. The ancient enchantments fought back with magic of their own in an attempt to repel me. Mine and Vessyra's magic proved too strong. One good push and the lance made contact with the surface of the chest, shattering the enchantments completely.

The weapon in my hand returned to its original form and Vessyra fell silent once again. I had need of her and the wealth of magic within me to face Edith later.

With the enchantments removed, I threw open the chest to find Rio, Luna, and a jar of black slime. No longer cut off from the bond of magic, our familiars soon awaken in our presence.

"Rio!"

"Luna!"

My black kitten affectionately rubbed his face against my cheek. Belle's serpent familiar flew around her in circles.

I pulled out the jar and grimaced at what was supposed to be Eudora.

"We don't have to let her out. There's no telling what she will do at the end of this. For all we know, she might replace Edith as another crimson witch." Belle spoke with reason, as expected of a witch who had fought on both sides.

As I cradled the jar in my hands, something like grief touched my soul. I recalled the moments of vulnerability Eudora had shown me, the bouts weariness in her eyes and voice. I understood the depths of sacrifice and length she went to come this far.

Was Eudora evil or just misunderstood?

I doubted she was truly anything like the one we fought now.

"I choose… to trust Eudora Faust."

"Very well." Belle nodded at my decision.

Rio sprouted a tentacle to open the jar with ease. I spilled the contents onto the floor, and we watched the black mass writhe. A mouth formed first, sucking in a deep, agonizing breath.

"Belle, help me!" We pointed our staffs at Eudora's amorphous form. "Thundra!"

Electricity repeatedly shocked her as the disgusting mass began to reshape itself. A black tentacle shot forth to touch the surface of the crystal to drain its magic. Then at last, after all this time, Eudora came to form in her childish appearance. She sat on her knees, clutching herself as if she were freezing.

"I was just… getting used to cramped spaces… Couldn't bear… to live… without me after all?" Eudora's croaking voice, filled with genuine surprise, came out hoarse and dry.

"It wasn't my choice. You should count yourself lucky Mira wasn't here to convince Ellori otherwise." Belle scoffed.

For some reason, my eyes began to sting. I knelt down to wrap my arms around Eudora, relieved to see her alive and well, if not a little shaken by what was almost an eternal entrapment.

"You're as much my friend as the others," I whispered to her.

Eudora choked up. She swallowed a quivering breath and returned the embrace. "You put me to shame. Thank you, friend…"

Once everyone had a moment to recollect themselves, we understood it was time to face our final trial.

"I sense my tower is exceptionally close," Eudora said, glancing at the ceiling.

"Which means the fighting has already begun." Belle frowned and walked up to the black crystal with Luna.

The runes at our feet began to glow. Xana, Lorica, and Thelia nodded to each other, then at me.

"We shall serve you to the end," she said.

"Let's not keep Edith waiting." I empowered my staff as we stepped into the activating teleportation circle.