"Queen Saeko!" A group of foolish succubi swooped down to defend me.

It was the impetus for the light elven twins to attack. Both of them vanished, but I sensed their latent magic draw close to Mio and Hana near instantaneously.

"Stay back!" I ordered my succubi and summoned Blade of the First Temptress.

Mio flinched as the glint of the elven boy's spear materialized. I reached them in time to parry the thrust with the flat of my sword. The elven girl appeared behind me with a battle-crazed expression, her shield poised to slam into my back. But she didn't budge.

My magical chains binded the shield woman's arms and legs. Yumi created a barrier between us and the light elves, buying Mio and I enough time to put distance away from them.

The girl squinted. "That sword… You're the new succubus queen? Intel said Beatrice perished, but they didn't mention who succeeded her."

"Why are you retreating? Why not sic your people on us?" Her companion raised his spear in my direction.

"That's right. You're looking at the succubus who dethroned Beatrice. If my words hold any weight to you, we're not here to fight or start a war. Just to find our friend, and we did. So, I'd appreciate it if we can all go our separate ways without anymore fighting," I said.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk." Both of them wagged their fingers and spoke at the same time. "No can do. We were tasked to hunt down rogue succubi, and as far as we can tell, that tiny pink-haired one has some explaining to do. Queen or not, by the Everlight's guiding light, we're getting what we want."

My head hurt listening to them talk in perfect unison. If I didn't know better, I'd think they were showing off. 

The elven boy twirled his spear and shattered the chain restraints, freeing his shield-bearing companion.

Hana suddenly grabbed my hand. "It's not safe here, and I don't mean the light elven champions… We gotta book it!"

"You're not going anywhere!" the twins shouted.

They dashed toward us, but something snatched their ankles. Both of them fell face-first into the dirt. Coiling up their legs were long, throbbing tentacles, coming from deep within the darkness of the keep. An icy talon clenched around my spine.

"Raniel, I can't break this!" The boy stabbed at the tentacles to no avail.

"Neither can I!" The elven girl named Raniel was bashing her shield against the tentacles. "Arniel, what about your—"

The spear and shield slipped from their hands as the tentacles dragged them inside the keep. They clawed at the ground, eyes wide with terror until the two disappeared into the darkness.

Every one of us stood there stunned.

"What… was that?" a nearby trembling succubus muttered.

"We have to help them!" I exclaimed as I snapped back to my senses.

Mio blocked my way. "Are you crazy? Leave 'em. Let's get outta here with our tail between our legs, because I didn't like that feeling one bit. I know you felt it, too!"

"I promised Elendir there wouldn't be war. Those two 'champions' of the light elven race sound like important people, so who do you think their leaders will blame when neither of them comes back alive?"

Mio swallowed a retort.

I called for six succubus to follow me, Mio, and Yumi in. The rest would stay out here to be on look out.

"You monkeys are seriously going in?" Hana tried to get up, but pain brought her down to her knees.

"We'll be right out," I assured her.

We ventured into the old garrison against Hana's protests. Mio and I lit a sustained fireball in our hands to light the way. While making our way through the corridor, we brought long cold torches back to life. The entire place was giving us the creeps. Hana went in here by herself? Talk about brave.

The first chamber we entered was a dining hall. Tables had collapsed onto themselves from rot. Spider webs blanketed the corners of the room. Dusty old flags and banners from the demon lord's army swayed listlessly from the air we let in.

"How far were they taken?" Mio asked aloud.

"I can't imagine far," Yumi said. "Let's travel together as a group and…"

A look of confusion fell upon her demeanor when she turned around to face us. Mio and I couldn't understand why.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Did you order the succubi following us to go elsewhere?" she questioned back.

"No…"

We spun around and sure enough the six who came in were missing.

"He… Help… us!" a strained voice rang out.

I followed the pleas for help to the ceiling. Both light elves and six succubus were suspended in mid-air by half a dozen tentacles that sexually violated them. They were being raped in every hole. Even the male elf's ass wasn't spared. While he was being railed, another tentacle sucked and slurped greedily at his dick.

"Ufufu~"

I whipped around, wondering why Yumi had laughed at a time like this. It hadn't come from her. She was just as shocked as me.

"Oh, succubus. The most delicious of all!" someone mused happily as we were swarmed with tentacles from every direction.

A quick slash severed one tentacle from getting too close. The same voice let loose a high-pitched shriek, and the rest of the appendages hesitated.

"Did you know your sword would cut?" Mio asked.

"Zero!" I exclaimed in relief.

"I know that sword" the voice hissed. "It belonged to someone else before you. Where did she go, I wonder? A mere runt queen like you can't hope to defeat me."

Whoever it was continued to taunt us. Yumi, Mio, and I kept our eyes peeled.

Suddenly, something pulled our feet out from under us. We slammed hard into the ground. The sword fell from my hands and clattered away. Slimy tentacles from cracks in the floor wrapped around our ankles, slithering up to our mouths and between our legs.

"Saeko!" Mio desperately reached for me, but we were pulled apart.

"Mio— mmph!" I was silenced by a tentacle forcing down my throat.

My energy… my sexual energy was being sapped away. I felt weaker with every second that passed until—

"Let my friends go!" Hana cried.

I craned my neck with what little wriggle room was afforded to me, expecting to see the pink-haired helion coming to our rescue. Instead, more tentacles filled the chamber and battled each other. They squeezed the life out of the other, wringing them into a mangled mess.

The tentacles holding us went limp. We unfurled our wings in time so as to not eat the ground again. Mio saw her first and gasped. Standing at the chamber entrance was Hana, her pink hair had turned green as was the hue of her skin, and with dozens of writhing tentacles on her back.

"Hana… are you…?" I trailed off, unable to find the right words.

All of us, including the light elves, were dragged down and pulled behind Hana by her gangly appendages. A single, piercing red eye stared at us from the darkness from a hole in the ceiling. The tentacles slithered back into the darkness.

"One day soon, we'll be back. Our hunger is insatiable. Have fun getting fat until we meet again~" The voice left us with an eerie warning and disappeared.

I couldn't sense a trace of it in this keep any longer. But we still had one more elephant in the room. Or rather…

As Mio, Yumi, and I turned to Hana, the trickster fessed up first.

"The jig is up… The truth is, I'm a dryad." Hana smiled weakly.

"You knew about this, didn't you?" I asked Yumi, who out of all of us wasn't at all surprised. "Is that why you told me to let Hana be?"

Although Yumi opened her mouth, Hana continued in her stead. "I asked Yumi to keep quiet. Only two people know the truth. Yumi and Beatrice. Well, now you two."

"All this time you were a fucking dryad? Explains why I've never seen you bang another succubus before," Mio said in exasperation, leaning against the wall to catch her breath.

"Is that how you're able to cast powerful spells? Like mimicking mine?" I pressed her.

Hana nodded.

We were all speechless. No one made a sound except the light elves' quiet twitching and moaning.

"Look," Hana began as her form slowly returned to the one we were familiar with. "I understand if you guys don't want me around. Leave the dryad to me. I'll hunt her and the rest down."

The pint-sized succubus turned to leave. She hung her head on the way out. Mio and I took one look at each other and heaved a sigh.

"Then what?" I asked.

"Huh?" Hana spun around to face us with teary eyes.

"After you hunt the last dryad down, you're planning to just skedaddle out of our lives? Nu-uh. We came to find you and bring you home, and that's exactly what we're gonna do!" Mio exclaimed in a quivering voice.

"But you guys…"

"You heard Mio. What's it going to be? Are we bringing you back the easy way or the hard way?" I smiled.

Yumi placed a hand on our shoulders and squeezed lightly. She was also smiling. Hana threw herself into Mio's chest and bawled like a baby.

After the both of them had their fill of sobbing, we were still left with the two light elves and six succubi. All unconscious.

"What do we do with the elves?" I asked, using my foot to nudge the male elf's arm.

"How about we fuck 'em and ditch 'em?" Mio suggested.

"If we want to cause another war, sure! So, no. That's definitely not what we're going to do!" I fired back sarcastically.

The four of us played Rock, Paper, Scissors to decide who would carry the two light elves. I lost. Their responsibility fell to me. Yumi, Mio, and Hana carried the remaining unconscious succubi.

Having completed our objective in finding Hana, we returned to the manor together. I couldn't shake what I felt from encountering that dryad. There was so much raw hunger. Like a force of nature acting on instincts.

On our way home, I couldn't help but stare at Hana. Mio was the same. How could she be so different and innocent in comparison?

The day had drawn to a close by the time we got back. Queen Elendir rushed out of the manor in her nightgown, breasts swaying freely without her robes and making for quite the sight, as we made our way up the steps. Someone must have seen us coming and informed her.

Which also meant…

"By the Everlight's grace, are those two who I think they are? Raniel and Aniel? I didn't believe my scout. I sent her to be punished in the dungeons, thinking she made a tasteless joke! I can't believe this is happening… Quickly, while they are unconscious, we should begin mind-wiping them!" Queen Elendir raved hysterically.

It left me flustered seeing the normally composed and elegant dark elven queen so tripped up. Honestly, she was much cuter like this.

"Calm down, Elly. Neither of them are dead, and we didn't fuck them either. A certain stickler of a succubus didn't want to." Mio stuck her tongue out at me.

"Alright, you." I pinched Mio's tongue between two fingers before it retracted. "Elendir, can you prepare a room for these two? They were apparently hunting rogue succubi out there, so I'd like a word with them. We might be on the same side, and they don't know it yet."

"Of course, Queen Saeko. I'll see to the arrangements. Shall I also prepare rooms and accommodations for your stay as well?" she asked.

"That would be great, because I'm beat…" I sighed.

Dark elven guards came to unburden the light elven twins from me. They would tell me right away once either of them woke up. I pulled Hana aside as we were about to split and head to bed for the night.

"You're not going to disappear on us again, are we?" I asked with my arms folded.

"Hey, hey! You can put a little more trust in me! I won't. I promise. I'll tell you guys everything in the morning, and… thanks, Saeko. As a token of my gratitude, I'd like to give ya first dibs on my brand new Pussy-Destroyer Mk. II!" Hana retrieved from her bag a giant, horse-shaped dildo.

"N-No, maybe another time! I appreciate it though…"

"Oh, okay." Hana giggled mischievously, then went to speak with Mio some more before heading to bed.

Four other elven guards came up to me as I turned to leave.

"Queen Elendir has tasked us to escort you and Mio to your living quarters. This way please," the curly-haired one said.

The room we were brought to was just as luxurious as Elendir's private bedchamber. Although the bed was only a quarter of the size, it was still plenty spacious. However, as we entered the room, the guards came in with us. They walked past and began unequipping their armor and weapons onto a mannequin, then climbed onto bed with their bare naked bodies. Each of them tipped a potion into their mouths, and a cock sprung out from between their legs a second later.

"We are also your accommodations. Please, have your fill with us." 

Their tantalizing beauty made me swallow hard.

"Don't mind if I do! Dibs on the one with the biggest dick!" Mio threw herself into bed.

"Maybe I should have brought Hana's gift along," I mused quietly before joining them.

After our orgy, I went to sleep that night with a pounding headache. My throat was parched. Eyes dried like the desert. Instead of trying to force myself to sleep, I climbed out of bed to get some water. Fortunately, a half-full carafe of water sat on a table by the window. Sex was a sweaty exercise after all, but draining the entire container didn't quench my thirst.

"Ugh… Is it because the dryad drained me?" I asked myself.

"It is," someone answered.

My heart almost leaped out of my throat. 

The room was dark, but my eyes had already adjusted. Pale streaks of moonlight painted half the bedroom. A shadowy figure sat on the couch, legs crossed and leaning back leisurely.

"Who do you think? Must feel good being queen. Having all that power at your fingertips and commanding an army of literal parasites. Too bad about the bigger fish entering the pond. Seeing you squirm does put a smile on my face," she continued to taunt me.

Deep inside me, I knew the voice. It sent shivers up my spine. I didn't want to believe it. When I ignited my hand to light up the room, my worst fears manifested.

"Beatrice!" I growled and tried to summon the Blade of the First Temptress.

My sword didn't come to me. But the carafe slipped from my hand and crashed to the ground. I expected it to shatter, but nothing was down at my feet. No shards. No cup. 

"Kehehe! In the flesh— is what I would like to say. Unfortunately, I'm not here. Not really," Beatrice said.

"How is that supposed to make any sense?" I asked, still staying cautious on my toes.

"My existence is tied to the Blade of the First Temptress. That makes us linked! Right now, I'm…" She tapped the side of her head and pointed to me.

My eyes flicked over to the bed. It was empty. Neither Mio nor the four dark elves were there. 

"In my head, huh? So, I'm dreaming. What do you want, Beatrice? Shouldn't you be dead?" I asked.

"I can't die. But enough about me. You're in a predicament, aren't you? Those pesky dryads are still around? Nasty things. Like weeds. Pluck them out of the ground, but they will grow right back. It's starting to seem like… like you need my help?" Beatrice grinned wide.

"Pft. I don't need your help, and I don't want your help. Especially not after what you did to us. So, why don't you go back to the farthest reaches of my mind and rot there?"

"You will need my help, and I will be back one day. Until that day comes, Queen Saeko, I will fantasize fucking the shit out of you for payback. Kahahaha!" Her cackling laughter was the last thing I heard before snapping awake.

I was back in bed with two dark elven ladies in my arms. Sweat dripped down my face. Mio was in bed, too, and although she was sweating just as profusely, nothing else seemed out of the ordinary.

"Damn it, Beatrice. Why can't you just stay gone?" I sighed.

My stomach growled. I was still thirsty. Having my way with a couple of dark elves didn't abate my hunger or thirst. Beatrice said it was because of the dryad. If that was true, what exactly did it do to me?

I wriggled out of bed and slipped on a night gown. Drinking the water this time around did quench my thirst, but I was still hungry. I decided to take a walk around the manor that supposedly belonged to me after rearranging the hierarchy. I opened the door and interrupted a guard whose fist was about to knock on it.

"Did I interrupt?" I teased.

"Queen Saeko! Sorry for disturbing your sleep. I came to inform you that the light elven champions have awoken. They are… restless. What shall we do with them?" she asked.

"Take me to them. I want to speak with them."

The guard escorted me down the corridor until we came to a stop with almost two dozen others standing outside of a room, all tense and anxious. Probably because the light elven champions were on the other side. They stepped aside to let me through. I opened the door to the tip of the spear in my face.

"Where are we and what have you done to us?" Arniel asked me.

"Kill her! If we kill the queen succubus, the empress will reward us greatly!" Raniel exclaimed.

"You don't want to do that. First of all, this place is crawling with succubus and dark elves. Secondly, I left you with your weapons as a sign of good faith. It would benefit all of us if you listened to what I have to say or—" I backhanded the spear and dashed into the room, snatching the twins by the collar of their regalia and pinning them both onto the bed.

They clawed at my hands to little success. Watching them helpless underneath me stirred an insatiable hunger deep in my bowels.

"Let… go!" both of them cried.

"Or, maybe a little persuasion can't hurt," I said, licking my lips.