A few days had gone by since Bardell and Estaline arrived in Lograin to serve as Protectorates. Not much has changed. Neither of the knights had come to hound them so far. Not yet anyway.

But Kanae couldn't shake the uneasy feeling in her chest. She wanted to reach out to Estaline, but months had gone by since they last met. In that time, no doubt much had happened for the both of them.

Kanae walked out of her office and into the busy main floor of the Horns and Tail, formerly known as Jewel. Horns for the stimulating side of the establishment, and Tail for the gambling business end of it. She couldn't help herself after replacing the entire management and commissioned a magic sculptor to create a marble statue of a naked succubus for the place, which now resided at the center of a fountain in the main floor.

After all, what better embodied the eminence of sin than a succubus? Her only regret was that it couldn't be of herself.

"Oh, Proprietress!" An affluent human woman with a male beastman prostitute in one hand and glass of wine in the other sidled up to Kanae. "I love what you've done with the place. The atmosphere is so much richer, and you are as much eye candy as your escorts."

"I'm flattered! I handpicked most of the prostitutes myself." Kanae grinned, stroking the bare chest of the one in front of her.

After bidding them goodbye, the two went off to avail themselves of a room to do the deed.

Kanae thought to return to the church until one of the Horns and Tail's dealers, an older elven man with a chip on his right ear, came rushing up to Kanae in a hurry.

"Proprietress! We, uh… have a problem…"

That could only mean one thing.

"It's Edina, isn't it?" Kanae asked.

The elven man nodded.

Kanae followed him to the cellars where wine from across the continent were kept. In one of the storage rooms, a hatch had been left open that led into a basement wine cellar. They had only discovered this two days ago under a rug. The previous owners had a taste for the finer beverages, likely using their earnings to purchase exorbitant luxuries like this for themselves and not guests.

Climbing down the steps, they came into a 20-foot long corridor of mahogany cabinets from the floor to ceiling filled with bottles of wine.

Edina's ass was in the air, tail twitching, as her upper half rummaged unseen inside a cabinet. Bottles laid strewn on the floor around her legs and more were thrown out to join them. Her skeletal minions browsed through other cabinets, seemingly in search of something.

"Thanks, I'll take it from here." Kanae gestured for the dealer to return upstairs.

He bowed and left as ordered.

"Drinking again?" Kanae asked, folding her arms.

Edina squeaked. Or maybe it was a hiccup. She crawled out of the cabinet with a red-labeled bottle in hand, face red as a tomato and shit-faced drunk.

"Oh, hey! I'm not actually drinking… hic! Just looking for this." Edina brandished the corked bottle with a magically-sealed enchantment on it. "Ortesian Fia Brandy! Shit goes for 100,000 gold a bottle. An extra 10,000 gold per year it's aged. This one is 50 years old! That's, uh… uhm… I can't do math right now, but it's a lot of gold!"

"And were you planning to drink it?"

"What? Hells no. I found out the Chalice of Endless booze imitates any alcohol you put into it. I'm thinking we forge bottles, sell it, and make a crap-ton of moolah off 'em! Whaddya think?"

"I think that's a neat idea, except we can't replicate the enchantment on the bottles. Edina, listen… I know Bardell being in the city is getting you all worked up, but you can't stay cooped up in here all day. What happened to facing him in earnest?" Kanae unburdened the bottle from Edina's hand and began putting the scattered bottles away.

The squirreling's twitching tail slackened and fell limp to the ground. She grabbed a hold of it to press against her chest and hid behind it.

"I thought I'd be able to channel my anger. Instead, when I saw him, I just froze up. Look at all that we built up! What if he takes it all away? Leaves us with nothing or worse?" Edina asked.

"It's not going to happen. You just need to be reminded about how much stronger we've gotten. How about we fetch Arenade and take on a quest like old times?" Kanae suggested.

The necromancer beamed. "Let's do it! Time to… hic! Time to— oh, shit!"

As soon as Edina jumped to her feet, she stepped on a bottle, rolled backwards, and slammed the back of her head against the floor and knocked herself unconscious.

"We're off to a great start." Kanae sighed.

Thankfully, Edina's summons remained alive and active even while she was unconscious. One of them carried her on its back as they returned to the Church of the Eminence of Sin.

The priests were in the middle of a prayer session at the front when Kanae returned, but Arenade was nowhere to be seen.

"Back already, Mistress?" Lilith briskly walked down the aisle to greet their return. She held Teana, who was fast asleep with a thumb in her mouth.

"Thanks for taking care of Teana and the place while we were away. Have you seen Arenade anywhere?" Kanae asked.

"I have no need for thanks! Teana is a real sweetheart, and it is an absolute pleasure to serve you. If you're looking for High Priestess Arenade, she is in the back," the priest said, leading the way.

High Priestess?

Lilith led them into the dormitory quarters, where Arenade was lounging on a bed and being given a manicure, foot massage, fanned with cold magic, and fed fruits and wine by a group of priests.

"Mmm… That's it… get between the toes and put a little more strength in it," Arenade mumbled blissfully.

"Alright, Arenade. You've been pampered enough. Everyone, return to your duties and give us the room." Kanae ushered them back to work to Arenade's dismay, then gave her the stink eye once they were gone. "High Priestess Arenade?"

"It has a nice ring to it. As a former demigoddess, this is the least I can be referred to. Anyway, what happened to her?" She pointed to the snoring Edina.

After giving Arenade a quick explanation, she used her Detox skill to revive Edina from her drunken slumber. The squirreling snapped back to consciousness, appearing a little miffed.

"What the… It's rude to take away someone's hangover! You're only going to encourage me to drink more!" Edina shook a fist in Arenade's face.

"I thought I had a drinking problem." Arenade rolled her eyes and brushed the fist away.

"Let's save the bickering for later. We haven't done a quest in ages, so everyone be on your toes. Sellica might not be too happy with us," Kanae warned.

"Why's that?" Arenade and Edina asked together.

They arrived at the adventurer's hall and immediately found out why in the form of an angry centauress.

"Have you any idea how close the three of you were to losing your room? It's been over a week since you last completed a quest!" Sellica fumed.

"S-Sorry!" Kanae bowed, apologizing profusely and compelling her companions to do the same. "A lot's been going on. We opened a church, took over a casino brothel—"

She folded her arms. "Then maybe you would like to hang up your adventuring mantles and continue your business there?"

"No!" They scrambled for the notice board and snatched the first quest available to bring back.

"We'll take this quest!" Arenade exclaimed.

"Yeah, we're not quitting. Nope. Our adventuring days are still ahead of us!" Edina quickly added.

Sellica's eyes were fixed on the quest notice. They followed her gaze to see that they had chosen a somewhat high level quest compared to their level. The details? To slay three plain trolls and a crystalback rhinodon.

The blood drained from their faces.

"On second thought, m-maybe we'll take our time browsing the board before—" Kanae tried to retract the notice, but Sellica slammed down the approval stamp that magically tied them to the dangerous quest.

"Best of luck on your quest, you three. I will be rooting for your success!" Sellica smiled from ear to ear.

They dragged their feet out of the city, face buried in the quest details and mulling over how to handle monsters that were level 70s.

"Man… Why do all adventurer hall receptionists have to take their jobs so seriously? That gave me flashbacks to when Sara kicked me out onto the streets!" Arenade sighed. 

"You deserved that one," Kanae fired back with shaming intent. "You literally didn't do anything."

"I've changed! WIth this new staff you've given me, I'll be taking MVP from now on. Just you watch!" She pointed the forest nymph staff in Kanae's face.

Kanae swatted the staff away and glanced worriedly at Edina, who hadn't stopped looking over her shoulders since they exited the adventurer's hall.

"You can relax, you know? Bardell isn't going to just pop out of nowhere on us. He's more likely going to pay the church or his former Jewel a visit," Kanae said.

"Can't be too sure. He could have sent people to stalk us, and we wouldn't know it until it was too late," Edina countered.

"I think the trolls and crystalback rhinodon is our biggest concern for now, so let's keep our eyes peeled for that."

The details in the quest mentioned that the trolls and rhinodon had attacked a caravan camping off the side of the road a day ago. They should be coming up on it soon.

"How in three hells am I supposed to attune to this damn thing?" Arenade asked, scratching her head over the staff.

"You're supposed to cast a spell with it— but don't do it now! Wait until we get to the monsters!" Kanae implored.

"What? Why?"

Kanae didn't answer. Her eyes caught sight of a cluster of knocked over carriages and wagons down the side of hill, with some broken into from being rummaged through. Random belongings like clothing and wooden trunks were scattered on the ground.

"That's definitely it," Arenade whispered. "Do I use the staff now?"

"I want to take a look from above to scout it out," Kanae said, taking a look up and down the road before flying into the air to get a bird's eye view.

The vehicles appeared to have been arranged to form a circle, likely by the people who rode it before they were attacked. Animal corpses littered the ground, many eaten down to their bones and others with strips of flesh hanging off them.

One troll was lying asleep on the bed of a wagon, his dick hanging out of the piece of leather that was a makeshift loincloth.

"Why hello, handsome." Kanae licked her lips. She returned to her two companions to relay the information and lay out a plan. "There's just one at the moment, but the others might come back. I'm going to fuck this one and hopefully put it under my control."

"Why am I not surprised that getting it on with a troll is part of your plan?" Arenade groaned.

"We'll back you up nearby." Edina nodded.

As Arenade and Edina ran ahead of the caravan ruins to be on the lookout, Kanae flew back to the sleeping troll. The ten-foot tall, ashen-skinned creature was snoozing soundly with his knees hanging off the back. Drool slipped out the side of his mouth. He was about as goofy-looking as he was probably dumb.

A troll was a lot smaller and lankier compared to an ogre. Kanae almost thought that was a shame. She grabbed the slab of meat that was as thick as her leg and laid it flat on his belly. After shedding off her clothes, she began to grind her pussy along the shaft to slicken the rod.

"Uur…" He stirred quietly in his sleep.

"You like that? When was the last time you had sex, big guy?" Kanae asked, occasionally twitching from the pleasure through her body. "It can get a lot more fun— Turn Horny."

The giant cock sprung up and catapulted Kanae away. She caught herself in flight before hitting the ground, then flew back to the upright pole. Fleshy warts and nubs around the frenulum became engorged with blood.

"I can't wait anymore… I want this thing inside me…" Kanae slowly lowered her hips onto the troll's dick until it was mostly inside her. The meaty growths poked and prodded her from within, sending her into a state of ecstasy. She rode with greater enthusiasm until—

The troll awakened and sat upright. They looked each other in the eyes just as his dick started throbbing more intensely. Piping hot ejaculate fired like a geyser into Kanae's womb, bringing her to climax.

"Kuh… Your cum is making me orgasm!" Kanae cried.

Reasoning robbed by the ecstasy of sex, the troll stood up, planted two crusty hands on Kanae's waist, and pistoned into her.

"Ahh! Wait, you're— guuuh… going to kill me… with your dick!" she screamed deliriously, unable to resist enjoying being used like a pocket pussy.

His dick was quivering again, and the fountain of sex juices were coming. The troll ripped Kanae off and threw her onto the wagon bed where he was just lying. She pushed herself up by the elbows only to be weighted down by the troll dick lathered in their juices. More gushed out, drenching her from the waist up in gallons of baby making milk.

[Congratulations! You are now level 58!]

"Ahehe… I'm so happy… Let's keep going…" Kanae pleaded, lifting the troll's dick to kiss the tip.

Something rumbled in the distance.

Kanae and the troll turned to the noise in time for a massive beast to crash through one wagon, then continued on with its stampede.

It was a troll, riding on the crystalback rhinodon. Like the name implied, the backside was covered in crystals with colors across the spectrum. Arenade clung desperately to the opalescent horn on its nose.

"AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH— NOW? DO I USE THE STAFF NOW?!"

"Now, you idiot! Learn to think for your— oof!" Before Kanae could finish her sentence, the troll picked her up with a crushing grip.

The troll gasped. "You no human… you succubus!"

"That's right. Charm!" Kanae incanted the spell to take control of the troll. His terrified demeanor softened, and he loosened his grip to free her.

"Three hells, Kanae! That's not a normal troll— it's a troll warlord! Bond me!" Edina yelled, running through the broken wagon in haste.

A much more massive and imposing troll barreled through after Edina, with dozens of skeletal minions clinging onto him. They stabbed hopelessly at the tough hide to no success.

"Attack that troll!" Kanae ordered, sending her charmed troll into battle.

However, one sucker punch from the troll warlord knocked the smaller one out of commission.

"Well… so much for that." Staring Edina directly in the eyes, Kanae uttered, "Bond!"

"Arise, Legion of the Dead! Bone Brute!" Edina bellowed as she filled with power.

Every animal corpse around the caravan clicked and clattered as they came to life. The giant armored bone brute emerged next, followed by an army of undead minions equipped with brutish armaments. They charged forth to do battle with the troll warlord, but a single swipe of its massive arms cut swathes into Edina's minions.

The rhinodon swerved hard and was coming back around.

Kanae flew high and flourished her whip, catching Arenade by the wrist, and then fishing her off the horn.

"I thought I was going to die…" Arenade muttered.

"Use the staff, damn it!" Kanae shouted.

"Oh, right!" She brandished the staff at the raging rhinodon and troll rider. "Plant Growth!"

Gargantuan roots sprouted from the earth to bind both monsters, dragging them to a halt and suffocating them to death.

Consequently, Arenade became half-dryad.

"What in the Supreme One's hairy ass happened to me?!" Arenade cried, gawking at her own hands. Her porcelain skin and golden hair had become bright green, a crown of flowers grew around her head, and the priestly robes she wore turned into leaves that barely covered anything.

Thick vines emerged from Arenade's back and wrapped around Kanae like they were doing bondage play. Two coiled up her thighs, seemingly intent on getting a taste elsewhere.

"I could get used to you getting dryadified," Kanae said.

"Well, I don't! And ew, ew, ew… is that troll cum you're getting all over my vines? This is so gross!" Arenade shuddered.

"When you two are done flirting, I could use a hand down here!" Edina shouted from below.

The bone brute battled the troll warlord on equal terms, but the defeated undead army were scattered at their feet.

"Wait, I have new spells! How about this— Grow, Slumber Flower!" Arenade shot a seed into the ground at the troll warlord's feet. From it, blossomed a house-sized flower that separated the combatants from their fight. The flower tilted in the troll's direction and sprayed purple pollen at it.

The troll stumbled back, breathing in the pollen. They thought the battle was going to be over, but it sucked in a mouthful of air and sneezed violently instead.

Kanae glared at Arenade, who averted her gaze.

Infuriated, the troll warlord smashed the bone brute away and went for the necromancer.

"Edina, get out of there!" Kanae cried.

"If I bow out now… I'll never face Bardell in earnest. Come get some, you stupid troll! You're going to be my leveling fodder!" Edina faced the troll down and smashed the base of her staff into the ground. "Arise, Bone Brute!"

The defeated bone brute vanished, reappearing in front of Edina to take the troll's blow head on. Kanae flew herself and Arenade behind the troll, using the whip and vines to pull the troll back.

"Damn… it's like… trying to pull a brick wall…" Kanae said.

"Troll warlords levels… are in their 100s… someone at the adventurer's hall fucked up, writing the quest!" Arenade explained.

They wouldn't stay in this stalemate forever. The troll warlord was vastly stronger. Edina refused to move—

"I've come to return the favor, Kanae Toyomi."

A diagonal flash of light bisected the troll warlord, and the whip in Kanae's hand went limp. The monster crashed sideways, no longer moving. Standing between them and Edina, their shock mirroring the dead troll, was the drakeling Estaline, the Knight of Silver. With a hard swing of her greatsword, she flicked the blood off the blade.

However, were they allies? Or foes? Kanae wasn't sure, but neither she, Edina, nor Arenade had taken their hands off their weapons just yet.

The knight stabbed the steel greatsword into the ground and pulled off her helmet to face Kanae.

"It is good to see you again, my dragon-slaying friend." Estaline smiled.