Underworld - Scorching Sun: A LitRPG Series

by Apollos Thorne

  With one last look at my friends who were gathered in the kitchen, I slipped my arm around Aeris and stepped through the tear in space.

  Chapter 45 – Succubi’s Pet

  We stepped out of the space tunnel into a room that resembled the Hallow Exchange’s transformation array. The difference was that this one was twice its size and the well laid out pillars reached more than four stories high. I’d expected the succubi to be on par with most any high noble vampire family, but this was on a completely different level entirely.

  Following behind the two succubi, we stepped into the hall and saw no sign of Mistress Nava’s human group. They’d been thrown into the portal, but they were now gone? She must’ve been able to communicate through the open array and command someone to deal with them…

  I recognized the grand hall we entered immediately. I’d had more than one trip into the Head Mistress’s palace. It was her own personal transportation array? The walls were covered in stretched fabric of red and purple that was interwoven together in flowing designs. At the border of the ceiling and floor was golden trim which held molded images depicting the luxuries of succubi life. I kept my eyes forward to avoid seeing any of the embarrassing scenes.

  Even though I’d been in her palace before, that didn’t mean I’d been in this exact hall, or even this wing. I had no idea how big the place really was. From Aeris’s description, the entire succubi city was filled with vast palaces, so the Head Mistress’s had to be something special.

  Suddenly, Mistress Nava dropped back to speak with us. Seeing anything but hatred from her was a bizarre experience. “Brother, the Head Mistress asks that you change into your vampire form. If the average succubus tried to take a piece of your essence, they would die on the spot because of your extreme concentration of Light Mana, but the Matriarchs are different. They’re much more powerful and will see you as the most delightful snack. Until she asks you to reveal your true form, keep it hidden. And definitely don’t change into your Incubus Form. They would just as likely rip you apart as consume you.”

  “Okay…” I replied, completely unsure how to respond to her calling me brother.

  I glanced over to Aeris and she already knew what I was going to ask. “Go ahead,” she said. “It won’t bother me.”

  I thought that might be the case after seeing her play with Xaphan the Primordial Cat, but hearing it was a huge relief. It seemed that she was unaffected by almost every Alignment.

  My Vampire Form started to take shape. When I looked back at Mistress Nava she was eyeing my chest.

  Seeing that she was caught, she sighed shamelessly. “You best cover that. Once the sisters learn you’re to be their Brother, they’ll squabble over whose harem you’re to join or if you’re building your own. I’ll tell them you have no interest and have chosen to dedicate yourself to Sister Aeris but that doesn’t mean they won’t try to change your mind.”

  Before she’d finished speaking, my skeletal armor had covered me from neck to toe. “Wouldn’t joining a harem just make me a succubus’s food?”

  I felt a sharp pain from my arm that was holding Aeris. She’d pinched me.

  “I wouldn’t dare,” I told her quickly through mind-speak.

  “I know, but it’s just a reminder,” she replied.

  “Oh no,” Nava said, emphatically shaking her head. “Being a Brother gives you a Gentleman’s status and no one would dare harm you. It would be equal to harming a Sister. There are few Gentlemen, so the sisters covet their attention. Whether it’s for status or breeding, a sister gains prestige from her strength, relations, and the quality of her harem.”

  I was instantly sorry that I asked. There was a question I couldn’t miss the chance to have answered, though. “Do you still want to kill me?”

  “What makes you think I wanted to kill you?”

  “Besides me attacking you right after I killed Napalm? What about the time your Hellhound nearly bit Audrey in two or when Lady Contessa left me having to regrow my limbs? Not to mention, Travis has almost died twice and both times was brought back from the brink of death.”

  “Well yeah, but uh—” She held up a finger as if about to explain, but then took a few hurried steps to catch up with Lilith without giving me an answer.

  “What’s up with her? She doesn’t act like an ancient succubus at all,” I said secretly to Aeris.

  “Why do you think she’s ancient?” she replied.

  “Creature Observation says so.”

  She gave it some serious thought before responding. “From what I’ve heard, she’s the youngest to reach Mistress in a century. She’s held up as the standard to Lady Succubi. Maybe it’s because of that. Most get preoccupied with other things and can take five or six decades to reach it. I think she’s at the most 15 years old.”

  “You’re kidding me… Although, she certainly acts that way.”

  “Her father was also human, so she’s more like us than the average succubus.”

  “Great. So she’s a spoiled teenage girl with absurd power that could explode any minute.”

  “I kind of feel sorry for her.”

  I looked at her like she was crazy. “She’s tried to kill us multiple times.”

  “There’s no denying that, but even though she reached Mistress so quickly, she also doesn’t have any friends among her own kind. Lilith is the only one that really gives her any care. Succubi that aren’t born from an incubus and succubus are treated as second class citizens. She’s overcome that by reaching the rank of Mistress, but she has no harem because she’s spent all her time trying to grow more powerful. And as for her pets and apprentice, we’ve basically killed them all.”

  “She must really hate us then. I thought the succubi hate incubi?”

  “They do, but they still make for the best breeding partners for their race and are commonly in harems.”

  “This is just too much for me. What should we do about her? Will she try to kill us again?”

  “No. Whatever Lilith says goes and that goes even more for her. Don’t laugh, but maybe if we give her a pet she likes she’ll become an ally.”

  “But won’t our friends kill us for even thinking about it?”

  “The time for revenge has passed. Now that we’re joining them, we’re out of options. Quiet now. We’re here. When inside, do your best to not show any reaction to what they do and say. It’s the best way I’ve found to keep trouble to a minimum.”

  An arched doorway two stories tall stood to the right of our path. The doorway’s trim resembled carved ivory and had even clearer depictions of succubi vices. I held tightly to the hand of my little Wind Sprite to remind me of what really mattered.

  Instead of chairs lining the aisle, there were great cushions like oversize beanbag chairs lined up in rows with no end of additional pillows scattered amongst them. I counted over thirty curvaceous women already lying comfortably on the cushions and wearing far less clothing than appropriate. Unlike Mistress Nava’s petite build, they were all fully mature and had a great variety of skin tones and hair colors that didn’t exist amongst humans. A few were obviously half dark elves because of their skin tone, and one may have even been half-orc. The most distinguishing characteristic was that they all were appallingly powerful. Even though they hid it, the smallest lapse in control sent pulses of power throughout the room.

  I used Creature Observation on a couple of them and received Unknown results. Seeing Nava lower her head in reverence as she followed at the Head Mistress’s side made me realize this was the most dangerous moment of my life. The only other time that came close was when I’d mistakenly woken a Primordial Cat. My only chance for survival was to trust the woman that had taken me from my family against my will.

  “I thought there were only fifty-some-odd Mistresses in the entire succubi city,” I said to Aeris through mind-speak. “These Matriarchs are even more powerful…”

  “There are only fifty of them that live here year round, but there are thousands of r
esidences where other Mistress’s harems and servants reside. They come and go. There are many succubi cities. Even though this is a smaller one, it is also the capital and can hold more than a million people at a time.”

  I did my best to keep my eyes forward and my emotions in check, but it was impossible to disregard the dozens of pairs of eyes that were centered on me. Knowing that some of them thought I might be offered as finger food when all of this was done was enough to make me consider filling the room with an Artificial Sun. The problem was, I wasn’t sure I could kill a single one of them even if I had another Focal Crystal in my possession. These were the genuine freaks of the succubi race.

  The head of the room didn’t have a raised stage, but simply lacked any cushions so there was room for us to stand and address the others. With a blood red canvas as backdrop, Aeris and I lined up behind the Head Mistress and Nava.

  Up until this point, all of the succubi present had kept their comments to themselves, but that was destined to change as golden-brown-skinned succubus in a cream gown lying in the front row with her legs neatly crossed spoke out. “Sister Lilith has either betrothed her wind fairy to this handsome vampire, or she’s brought us an early lunch.”

  “Enough nonsense, Hadassah,” the dark elf succubus in the row behind her said. “I’ve traveled half a day to arrive here and won’t be further delayed by idle talk. Please, little Lilith. What have you called us together to discuss?”

  Little Lilith? Hearing someone speak to her as her senior send a shiver up my spine. Wasn’t Lilith the strongest succubus?

  “Thank you, Sister Kya. I will not delay you any further,” Lilith said without sounding rushed at all. “Sisters, you have all heard rumors that I’ve been naughty in bringing humans to the Underworld with a heretical purpose. This is no longer a secret and you’ve personally witnessed what Aeris is capable of.”

  I felt Aeris release me before stepping forward to obey her summons. It took all of my self-control to keep myself from holding her back.

  “Because it’s convenient, I’d like to first request what you’ve already suspected, that she be adopted by our people with the full authority and privilege of a Mistress.”

  “She’s willing?” Hadassah responded skeptically.

  With a look from Lilith, Aeris bowed her head and replied. “I am, Matriarch, and I understand my responsibilities in making such a commitment.”

  “I have no objections,” Kya said, stretching out her arms in half a yawn.

  “You just want to be done with this before there’s a chance for debate.” Hadassah replied with a huff.

  Kya stuck her tongue out at her from behind.

  “She’s a Wind Sprite that can transform into a Wisp and has spent time here to grow accustomed to our ways,” said a woman in the back. “There are many Ladies and more than one Mistress that I’ve talked to that have already commended her to me. If she’s willing to join us, then no debate is needed.”

  Half a dozen voices echoed the same thing.

  As I heard the positive things they had to say, it struck me that I may have underestimated what all Aeris had been doing here while I was away. With her social skills, it shouldn’t have surprised me. Just as I’d been trying to get the Tirs to support me and possibly be a place we could escape to, she’d done the harder job of trying to gain the succubi’s support. I couldn’t even imagine what she’d been through.

  There were only a few objections, but those were mostly just to make sure any unanswered questions were answered. Within a few minutes, they were voting. Not even Matriarch Hadassah voted against her.

  “Then, sisters, welcome the newest Mistress to our extended family,” Lilith said, leaning over to kiss her on the top of the head.

  The way they’d all been lying there, I expected them to throw out a lazy congratulations or two, but instead they took turns approaching her. Not only did they kiss her in the same way Lilith had on the hair or forehead, but each of them handed her a gift. It wasn’t some extravagant magic item, but most were perfumes or potions.

  More than one of the ladies looked past her and gave me a suggestive look. As if I needed any more hints as to what kind of potions they were giving her. At least they were starting to look at me as something other than lunch.

  After each gift she received, Aeris responded in the same way. “Thank you, Matriarch, for your care.”

  When they were all done, she returned to my side. She gave my arm a firm squeeze, then pushed me forward.

  I nearly stumbled as the monstrous ladies’ gazes fell upon me. I made a conscious effort to take a few steps to arrive at the Head Mistress’s side. She gave me a coy wink.

  “And now for the second reason why I’ve summoned you here,” she said, taking her time to meet the gazes of her fellow Matriarchs. “This handsome young man, who you’ve no doubt noticed holds some significance to our newest Mistress, has also left a deep impression on me.”

  A flurry of murmurs floated across the room as a few succubi leaned over to their closest neighbors.

  “Unlike Sister Aeris, he is unknown to you,” she continued. “As an introduction, there’s something I’d like you to see.”

  She held out her hand, with the same device she’d used in Sanctuary, and I steeled myself for what was about to come. Breaking down now was not an option, so the best I could do was not let myself watch.

  Instead of starting with Lord Soroush, it started with me standing on the captain’s platform at the vampire quarry I’d attacked right after passing the Vampire Gate. It didn’t show me in my human form killing them, but in my Vampire Form Draining more than a hundred charred corpses.

  Even though it wasn’t the same as the city I’d decimated, I couldn’t hide from my guilt. I flexed the majority of the muscles in my chest and legs as if forcing a stable foundation as small echoes of emotion washed over me. I was still rather numb from before, but that didn’t mean I was immune.

  There were a few interested succubi, but the only one I was really concerned about was Aeris who stood behind me.

  “This was when I still justified killing vampires based on their race and thought they were all evil…” I said through mind-speak.

  “Mm,” she replied without much concern.

  I was shown Draining the next vampire settlement as well. Then another, and another. It wasn’t until Shamash was shown in his true form that the Matriarchs really started to take notice. Many of them even sat up on their cushions. They knew better than I what it meant to have a lich at your side.

  Soon my time in Hallow began and my first fight in the arena was over quickly, as were most of my following fights. They were all straightforward, but when my Crimson Incubus wings appeared for the first time, there were a bunch of murmurs of Blue Mage from the crowd. There wasn’t an ignorant person among them.

  Then came my fight with Eshana and my full Crimson Incubus Form was revealed thanks to the rage I’d felt after Sai was almost killed in the fight before mine. “She’s actually a friend of mine,” I told Aeris and mentioned what happened to Sai. I started to tell her about dark elf stabby music when my fight with Manu Shah began.

  There were a few comments from impressed Matriarchs until my Primordial Cat Form was revealed and the entire room shot to their feet. They were discussing it like a cackle of hens when Manu’s Vortex ability reached its full power. It became incredibly quiet.

  When my Light cloud was showcased there was an excited furor, but as soon as my 99 Stabbies flew, the hush of the room became even greater than before. When my final Master Light Discs severed his limbs as I just escaped with my life, there was a collective gasp.

  Then the next moment, I saw Jale and Sai standing together outside of Hallow in the same place I last saw them.

  I fought back tears at seeing the faces from my second family.

  The projected me clarified, “They were all Parth’s men. Three of them were level 40,000 and focused on my master, while the other three were between 20,000 a
nd 30,000 and focused on me.”

  “You killed three bodyguards between 20,000 and 30,000?” Jale asked before turning back to look at Shamash who was still watching the city. He was still in his vampire form.

  Thankfully, the Head Mistress didn’t show everything, but she didn’t have to. Jale had just sworn that she was going to come with me and nothing was hidden from her face.

  “This is Jale,” I whispered to Aeris. “She was the one that made me understand that vampires are no more evil than humans. I hoped we’d be able to take the others and go to her in the future to escape the Head Mistress, but she’s only the princess of a mid-tier beast-feeder family. They only drink beast blood…”

  It was then that I stepped past Jale and asked Shamash to place a barrier. Because we were using mind-speak, Aeris couldn’t hear my explanation to them from the projection, but Jale’s reaction was clear as day.

  And then, my form changed, and my Ascended humanity shone like a bonfire above Lilith’s head for all to see.

  Sai’s reaction was appropriate enough as he first fell to the ground then moved to get up and began chuckling to himself. “You know, it would be hilarious if we suddenly attacked and drained you after your speech about us being noble. If you weren’t so shiny I’d be tempted to take a bite just to mess with you.”

  The room shook as the Matriarchs momentarily lost control.

  The exotically beautiful and strong Tir Princess wasn’t frozen in fear or hate. It was the look of betrayal that was like a club to the chest—then and now.

  Lilith didn’t show her beating my face in. It probably wouldn’t have been beneficial for my sales pitch.

  Telling Jale that I’d stay with her if it wasn’t for Aeris wasn’t said out loud, but her fragile expression that follow what I’d said couldn’t be explained away.

  It was then that four flying figures came into view in the projection. Everyone spun to see who was coming.

  “Men from House Gul,” Alexandria hissed. “It doesn’t look like they’ve involved anyone else yet.”