I am Succubus!

Chapter 178 – Succubus Boogeyman

The rogue succubus was flying much faster than I anticipated. She was a speedy one for sure, but I was gaining on her. Long, fiery hair fluttered as she weaved through trees to escape me. She glanced back. Piercing eyes as red as her hair glared at me.

This was almost too easy, and I realized why as soon as I sensed the auras of two other succubi to my left and right. They succubus I was chasing whirled around, and the other two emerged from the trees.

An ambush. The red-headed one had led me right into it.

"Take this!" She smirked.

I flew right into a barrier. The way I came in from sealed up, enclosing me completely within a magical shield in the shape of a cube.

"We got her!" a succubus with a scar down her lips exclaimed.

"You did, but I wanted to be led into your trap. Because now, all three of you are right where I want you." I summoned the Blade of the First Temptress and thrusted the sword through, shattering the barrier.

All three succubi recoiled in shock. They gasped as I enveloped each of them tightly in my aura. The red-head shook it off and escaped before I could seize her mind. She left the two behind, who were quick to fall under my control.

"Who said you can leave the party early?" Mio emerged from a portal in front of the succubus and sucker punched her across the face, sending her crashing into the forest below.

"What did I say about hurting them?" I sighed.

"Uh. Oops?" My girlfriend shrugged. "Got a little carried away!"

We dove into the forest with my two mind-controlled thralls. The red-head was lying in the dirt, eyes spinning and unconscious. A wild pig was sniffing her until we landed nearby, spooking it into the foliage.

Mio blew her index finger like it was a smoking gun, then carved into the empty space to open two separate portals. Layla and Selene came out of them, each with their own succubi thralls. Adding the three Mio and I just defeated, that made eight in total.

"This is the last one?" Selene asked, bending down to check the red-head.

"Yeah, that's all of them. But is it just me or has it been getting worse? These succubi are just popping out of nowhere. Do any of you recognize them?" I asked the others.

They shook their heads.

"Not from my nest back in Elza," Layla said.

"I sent pictures of these succubi to Clerissa. She just got back to me and doesn't recognize any of them as the Okinawan nest either," Selene added, showing me a text from Clerissa to confirm.

All of us sighed. To make matters worse, they appeared to be leaderless. We charmed them enough to spill their greatest secrets, but there was no name to give.

However, they did share one common desire.

Mio restrained the conscious red-head from behind and pushed her up to us. She was snarling. Dirt caked the right side of her face.

"You think this is enough to stop us? There's more where we came from! One day, Beatrice will return. The true queen will turn this kingdom our feeding grounds, and we shall feast like the succubi of old!" she exclaimed.

"Yeah, yeah. Heard that a million times." Mio stepped back as a portal opened up.

Shayle and Yumi were waiting on the other side in Elza to take them off our hands.

"Wait." I stopped Mio from kicking the red-head through. "This is the first time I'm hearing about 'succubi of old'. Is that supposed to mean anything?"

"Just a boogeyman story succubi hatchlings are told to behave in the nest. Cry too loud, and the ahari will come to drain your soul," Selene explained with a dismissive scoff.

"They aren't just stories! You have—"

Mio hip-bumped the red-headed succubus through the portal. We corralled the rest through to finish up and head home. As we were flying back to Tsukiji though, another thought came to mind instead.

"You guys go on ahead. I'm going to take a detour," I said.

"Where to? I'll come with!" Mio insisted.

"Library, to look for a book I need for class. You're just going to get bored, so head home first. I'll bring you back something to eat!"

"Something spicy!" she shouted to my back as I flew off.

The library was a lie. I touched down in a street lined with love hotels. A couple jumped when I landed, then scurried away.

I entered the freshly-painted, bright pink love hotel with a neon sign of a succubus lying down. Her tail swung up and down to greet patrons. All part of Hana's consolidation of the establishments she owned to create an enterprise out of. The loud-mouthed proprietress was chatting up a man in a suit when I got inside.

"Looks like we'll have to cut a deal next time, Kuga. Better not show your face up here again, or you'll be swimming with the fishies," Hana threatened him.

"Eh? But we just completed… Why are you suddenly so hostile?" the man named Kuga asked.

"Come on, play along! Run out of here while screaming. Go! Get! Or I'll take your facking head off!" she howled.

Kuga bolted out of the love hotel, screaming at the top of his lungs.

"Why did you just make him go out there screaming? People are going to think someone got murdered in here and call the police." I put a hand to my head and sighed.

"It's my new gimmick! Lately, I've been acquiring all this real estate. Figured I should adopt a new persona while at it. The mafioso! Nyeh, see? Fork ova the moneh. Where's mah cigah? Spaghetti!" Hana leaned over the counter, making incoherent hand gestures at me.

"Hana, please… I wanted to ask you about something. Does 'succubi of old' or 'ahari' mean anything to you?"

Hana twitched. It was so brief, that I wouldn't have noticed had she not been doing those silly hand gestures. She definitely knew something.

"Those scary stories? Just a bunch of—"

"A succubus mentioned it today. One of those who were loyal to Beatrice, but it's the first time it was brought up. Then Selene mentioned 'ahari'. I know you're one of the oldest succubi alive. The other being my mom. They're more than just stories, aren't they?" I asked.

The pink-haired helion opened a drawer to pull out a cigar and sniffed it. Her eyelids fluttered, taking in the scent.

"Ahari's an ancient word from our world. Not Elza, but the one us succubi came from. Roughly translated, it means dryad," Hana said.

"Dryad? Like plant monster girls?" I pictured a female humanoid with green skin.

"Close, but no sugar!"

"Cigar… it's right in your hand!"

"Close enough!" Hana retorted. "But nope, not like that at all. Dryads predated succubus. Hell, they're pretty much our progenitors. Your world gets pretty close to dryads. The plant parts? Nah. But the whole drains your vitality stuff? Yeah. Thing is, they were a lot stronger. Unlike us, they can suck a succubus dry. Wring ya like a towel. It's why we named 'em 'succubus of old'. You feel me?"

"So, they were real. Are they… a threat?" I gulped, somewhat fearful of the answer.

"Nope," she answered promptly.

"How can you be sure though? It's not a coincidence that after my sword got the crystallize treatment, succubi loyal to Beatrice started popping up. Now they're mentioning succubi of old like—"

Hana vaulted over the counter and slapped my breasts like drums.

"Chillax! I'm sure, because Queen B put me in charge of the fight against the dryads at the time, and we won," Hana explained.

A weight vanished from my shoulders. I could breathe again. Hana had a knack of being a little twat, but her beaming smile was a welcome relief this time around.

"You're right. Maybe I'm just getting worked up over nothing. Guess I'll buy some spicy wings for Mio and head home," I said.

"Saeko!" Hana hollered to me as I got to the door and looked uncharacteristically tame.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for letting me be me. Used to be so boring. Here on Earth and around you guys, I've been having a lot of fun." Hana grinned.

"You bet. But what brought this on? You flipping a switch on playing a sentimental role now?" I asked.

"Hehe. Maybe I am feeling a little sentimental," she mused aloud.

After buying some hot wings, I flew back to the apartment to eat with Mio. The rest of the week was quiet. I almost selfishly wanted things to stay this way. No rogue succubi or world ending event. Just another peaceful Monday. Would it be too much to ask if every day was like this?

"Mio, we're going to be late. Hurry up!" I shouted from the living room.

"Hold on, bitch. I can't find any clean underwear!" Mio fired back.

"Why are you… just go without. You're probably going to end up losing it by the end of the day anyway."

My aura suddenly went haywire. The sensation of a dozen other unique auras entered my field in an instant. I threw open the door to find Yumi and Selene at the head of a squadron of succubi, their demeanors wrinkled with worry.

"What's going on? Don't tell me a bigger group of rogue succubi showed up?" I asked.

"It's Hana," Yumi began. "She's nowhere to be found."

Mio hopped her way through the living room and said, "It's Hana we're talking about. Probably hightailed it to someplace to research her next project."

"We thought the same. However, it seems Hana closed up every one of her love hotel establishments from Tsukiji to Kobe. That's never happened before. We also have witnesses. Bring them," Selene ordered the succubi behind her.

A pair of succubus ushered Layla and Shayle forward..

"What the hell? Does someone want to explain to me what exactly happened to Hana?" I demanded a little too strongly, choking every succubi with my aura out of impatience.

Everyone grew tense.

"Hana came to me a few days ago asking to be taken to Elza. It isn't an unordinary thing for her to do. I figured she wanted to fetch some more enchanted sex toys sitting in the vault," Shayle explained.

"I-I'm sorry, Mistress!" Layla bowed her head repeatedly. "I was accompanying her, but I took my eyes off her for one moment and she just… disappeared. My aura couldn't sense her. If… If you intend to punish me, c-can I suggest the shibari rope?"

I rolled my eyes. "No one's getting punished at a time like this. I'm worried about Hana. It isn't like her to just up and vanish. Mobilize all the succubi at Queen Elendir's manor. Split them into two groups. I want Selene and Layla to each lead a squad in search of Hana. To the succubi here, fan out from Kobe to Himeji in case it's rogue succubi's doing."

"Understood!"

Shayle opened a portal with the mirror artifact for Selene and Shayle to follow her through. Meanwhile, all of the succubi here, with the exception of Mio and Yumi, took flight to fulfill my command.

"I don't get it… It's not like Hana to just dip. She would have at least told me," Mio said while chewing on her thumbnail.

"It isn't a coincidence that this happened around rogue succubi acting up and after I asked about ahari. Do you two really not know anything about it?" I asked them.

"But those are just ghost stories! No damn way they're real. Right?" She searched me for answers, but I was already looking at Yumi.

We both turned to her, who among the still living succubi, was likely the next eldest after Hana and Delilah.

"Saeko, Mio… If Hana left, then I believe we should leave her be," Yumi said seriously.

"What…?" Mio snapped and grabbed Yumi by the arms, sinking her fingers and nail into the meat enough to draw blood. "How the fuck can you say that? Hana's our best friend! If you're telling me those monsters are real, then she's in danger right now. You want to just leave her?"

"Yumi, please. Hana's one of us, isn't she?" I pulled Mio off her and gazed at her in earnest.

"You have no idea," she muttered.

A portal to Elza suddenly opened in front of us.

Selene and Layla had a troubled look on their faces.

"Queen Saeko, we've run into a problem," Selene said, beckoning us to come through.

We entered Elza only to be confronted by Queen Elendir and an army of armed dark elven women.

"Mobilizing a nest of succubi? Have you lost your mind? The armies of Everlight will think we are launching an invasion. I will not allow it," Queen Elendir stated firmly.

"But one of ours is missing—"

"No. You forget your place, Queen Saeko. We already established the hierarchy. You are my subordinate in this alliance," she reminded me.

Not even a half a step forward and every dark elven soldier raised their spears. Several walking along the manor's upper landings had their arrows trained on me. The succubi at my side bared their fangs and claws.

"Sorry, Elly. No one's stopping me from looking for Hana. Not even you," Mio said.

"Stand down," I ordered my succubi.

A visible wave of relief washed over everyone, but Mio turned to me with a look of betrayal and hurt.

"I'm glad you understand." Queen Elendir sighed.

"No, actually. I don't. It's time for a rematch. I challenge you for the leadership of this alliance!" I declared to the shock of both sides.

"Fuck yeah!" Mio whooped.

The dark elven monarch briefly flashed with indignation. Fortunately for me, they were fierce sticklers about their customs. I might be strong, but something told me Queen Elendir would be a lot harder to fight in actual combat.

"Very well, but it will not be without an audience this time." Queen Elendir snapped her fingers.

A powerful magical force yanked us forward. Next thing I knew, I was naked and standing by Elendir's side in an underground amphitheater. Numerous dark elves and succubi sat in the half-circle seating area, Mio, Selene, Yumi, and Layla among them. They were all confused about what happened until realization set in, and a roar of cheers erupted from the spectators.

"Where are we?" I asked.

"Underneath the manor, in a chamber dedicated to punishing wayward subordinates," Queen Elendir said as she turned around.

I followed her gaze and gasped. At the back of the stage, shackled to the half-wall by chains on their necks and blindfolded, were naked succubi, elves of both factions, and even beastkins. They all had sex-crazed expressions, tongues hanging out and panting like animals in heat.

"Which can only mean I'm joining them if I lose this time?" I threw an uneasy look at the dark elven queen.

"Then you best not lose," Elendir said, casting off her robes and drawing even louder cheers from the audience. She popped a potion into her mouth. A large, erect cock as hung as a horse sprung out.

"Come on, Saeko! Fuck Elly to the next century!" Mio shouted.

"Awww! I want to be punished like those people trapped in the back." Layla squirmed like a horny bitch in her seat.

I summoned the Blade of the First Temptress. Queen Elendir faltered momentarily, and the crowd drew a gasp. However, I tossed the sword over my shoulder. It plunged tip-first a few inches into the ground several meters behind me.

"If you're going to use a sword, then I will too. It's only fair game, right?" I asked.

"I wouldn't have it any other way." Elendir smiled.