A few days before…
In the large desert city of Sabasa, every citizen made an unusual effort to avoid an unusually bleak structure. This place was known not so long ago as the home of Salaan, the leader of the clan of assassins charged with the mission of protecting the Sabasa King. However, she had left her abodes after joining Luka on his adventures and had sold her house for a good price. Everybody had been extremely surprised when they learned that the buyer was none other than the Vampire Queen, Fatima herself, who wanted to build a pub to conquer the world through financial means. And her plans had a certain merit, as the vampire pub instantly met its public and had made twice the profit the first week alone. However, this peculiar day, everybody was avoiding it like a plague. Rumors told of a visitor coming from a far region, wanting to learn more about ways to dominate the world through legal means, which the queen all too enjoyed talking about. If one stuck their ear to the window, they might even hear the sound of people planning their dastardly schemes, and the dark ambiance was pouring like a river from every hole of the building.
And indeed, the tension inside was almost palpable. Only two groups of three monsters were sitting on each end of a large table, while a few servants were milling around. At one end was the vampire queen with her two helps, Elizabeth and Carmilla, dressed in their usual black and red revealing cloaks, showing off their fangs in devilish but fake smiles. At the other end of the table was an unusual trio made of two one winged angel wearing thigh-high boots and asymmetrical leotard while equipped with mechanical-looking gloves serving as weapons. They were standing guard around their leader, a strange horned demon with two angelic wings and wearing an outfit not unlike her companions. Her purple eyes were carrying a fully-on display malice, while she was doing her best to show off a smile as insincere as her decency as a guest allowed.
"Truly, Musette, you surprise me…" The vampire queen was looking at a glass of wine that she was tasting like a fine connoisseur. "You have heard about my plan to conquer the world through business, and you decide to ask me for advices? You members of the Alliance are full of surprise…" She placed the glass in front of her without even taking a sip and looked straight into her guest's eyes. "But tell me… Why should I tell you more about my plans and my secrets to be successful?"
Musette answered with a smile. "Because I already have a few plans of my own, and I'm sure we can benefit from each other's work…"
"Oh? Really? Surprise me then…"
The angelic-looking monster leaned back on her chair, basking in the attention.
"I noticed that a lot of humans are fleeing larger cities since there apparently was a war against the Monster Lord-"
"We know that. My lieutenants personally led the assault on this city."
Musette stared at the vampire queen, deciding that there was no proper way to answer her remark without making a fool of herself.
"However, since they're still looking for protection, they're gathering in villages, which results in a high demand for lodging. The time is right for investment, and I can return any help you would offer by keeping a few buildings and give them to you as vampire pubs…"
"Mmmh… Trade secrets for a boost? Let me first ask you a question: Where do you intend to find all the gold needed for your investment? I know for a fact that the hero and his closest allies have quite a tight leash on most of you Alliance members after you failed to bring so much for the world…"
The sarcasm in the last sentence from Fatima was palpable.
"I have a rare book that belonged to our Alliance… It was brought in by one of our fellow members as a backup plan should bringing in the Land of Night fail, but she was concerned it would be too dangerous…"
"Something more dangerous than the Land of Night? Musette, I must say, your little project always had my curiosity…" Fatima leaned forward.
"…But now you have my attention. As it happens, I am a collector of antiques, and I particualrly enjoy those that can have a use. But I am sure that you already know, otherwise, you wouldn't have told me about your precious book. Did you happen to bring it here?"
Musette silently nodded and haughtily snapped her fingers. The next instant, a metallic case appeared in front of her. She turned the item toward her interlocutors and opened it. While Fatima kept her composure, her two lieutenants both screeched and recoiled in surprise in front of the content.
In the case was only present a black book. Its cover was made of a leather-like material that was impossible to identify, and several red inhuman eyes were embedded inside. An aura of pure death was pouring from the book like a cascade, and after enjoying the apparent overreaction from the two vampire lieutenants for several seconds, Musette closed the case, looking expectantly at Fatima. The vampire queen shrugged indifferently.
"If I can't display this item to weaklings to fan their envy when they admire my collection, it's pointless. I'll still give you a few advices, but please, bring your little treasure far from here… I'm sure you'll find a better acquirer near some local semen guzzlers."
Musette nodded in acceptance, and after an additional hour of discussing various business management strategies, the angel-like monster and her two companions left their new partners. The three vampires remained as is, frozen in a mix of shock and disbelief. Elizabeth, the vampire queen's right hand, was the first to speak.
"I feel more drained than I expected by this exchange."
"Me too… If I don't ever see this damn book again, it will be too soon."
"Let us take a well-deserved vacation in our home castle then…"
A vampire servant stepped in the instant the three vampires got up.
"We have an urgent request from Mephisto, she's asking for-"
Fatima imperiously raised a hand between them.
"It can wait. She will wait."
"Bell, Lyla, please fetch me some classy furniture while I prepare our new office."
"Yes Musette."
Both one winged angels nodded in sync and left their leader as the latter was taking a better look at their new working place: The building was located near the town square of Grangold, and looked quite elegant, if slightly drab. She could probably get it repainted or rebuilt, but first, it was time to get that sweet money back.
Musette herself had been surprised by the ease at which she found an acquirer for that book. She had to admit, that piece of scrap was ugly as sin, and she was glad that she got rid of it, if only because her owner would now look elsewhere. In hindsight, however, she had been surprised to see a succubus cough up so much cash like that: Even if money had supposedly no smell, the pile of gold that she had gotten out of her deal actually had a familiar one… And besides, that succubus who had presented herself as a noble had kept acting strangely, her servants had been too clumsy to decently qualify as professional, and the decoration of that manor didn't quite match what she would have expected from them…
She shrugged it off. Different world, different culture, different people. Now she could start her plan for a financial conquest…
And so Musette got the confirmation her plan was right, as she spent the following days buying and selling the deeds of different properties while getting her commission each time. By the end of the second day alone, her investment got paid back in full, and she enjoyed buying furniture fitting of the white-winged demon that she was for her office. She was even growing a solid, honest reputation as she kept doing her work, and enjoyed the additional freedom as the goons who always kept an eye on her out of concern or because of someone's order were becoming more relaxed. It looked like everything was going well, and she would soon even become an economic powerhouse. With all this money, she wouldn't even need using her brainwashing techniques to control the world…
…Or so she thought, until an all-too-familiar green-haired human woman wearing a revealing kimono-like robe and wielding a staff knocked the door of her office open with her staff raised, just as her two lieutenants were away in Gold Port to discuss the demolition of an old part of the costal town.
"Finally! I cornered you, Musette! I'll stop you and finally get the bounty on your head!"
Behind her desk, the addressed monster kept smiling as if she wasn't inconvenienced by in the slightest by the intrusion.
"Greetings Daimyokai. I'm afraid you're a bit late in that regard. Whatever bounty there was on me has been revoked when I joined the hero, and I turned a new leaf since then."
"Ah ah! Do you really expect me to believe that? I already dealt with several people like you in the past… You're just trying to get humans to lower their guards and then you will accomplish your true goal of conquering the world in a flash before sating your lust at the cost of everyone's life!"
"That's… An entertainingly wrong theory. The only point about which you're right is that I am indeed trying to conquer the world. Namely, I'm doing so through real estate." Musette leaned forward, still smirking. "Now, in case you didn't notice, I already have several of the hero's… allies watching over me, so your presence here isn't justified in any way. However… I consider expanding our activity and your skills could be of good use to me."
Daimyokai's eyebrow furrowed in suspicion, but she lowered her staff. "Huh. Even if you say you've changed, I'm not sure there's any way we can work together."
"You're so narrow minded it is actually starting to get hilarious. You see, the inhabitants of this world are often subjected to attacks from local monsters. When I started to work, I had several people express some concern about their own security as they wanted to move out from the city. So why don't you help me provide it for them? While I provide the location, you will provide the security, and you'll get more than a nice cut of the profit."
When she heard Musette's offer, Daimyokai's expression softened passably. "How much gold are we talking about?"
The still smiling White-Winged Demon showed the rich-looking furniture around her. "I got all this and twice more in my vault in less than two days."
Daimyokai took a thinking posture, her head posed over her fist, but Musette could tell that the yokai hunter was fully convinced and ready to join her.
"Alright! I will help you! In fact, I'll be so effective and we'll get so much more that we'll have an army to slay monsters before the end of the week!"
"Good. I'm glad that you've seen reason. Please, be diligent, the more regions you and your future employees cover, the more we will be able to buy and sell, and the more income we will get."
Musette extended her hand as she wanted to show a gesture a goodwill, and although Daimyokai hesitated for a second before shaking it, the yoma could see her partner's almost salacious smile growing over her face as the glint of her greed for gold briefly shined in her eye.
Typical humans… I offer her what she want to fulfill her desire, and she turned from a barking hound to a loyal puppy.
Still… She showed just how dog-headed she was when money was involved. She'll follow me until the end of this little venture, and then… Well, she'll probably suffer an accident during her career. Hunting monsters is a dangerous job after all...
However, Musette got extremely surprised by Daimyokai's actions. At first, the yokai hunter had been quite an effective partner, helping her by cleaning the wandering monsters around the more threatened places, effectively helping her increase the value of several of her purchases. After even less time than she needed herself to start her business, Daimyokai started investing and anonymously recruited several teams of mercenary through the merchant guild, making sure that while they'd get a decent pay, they would still get less than half of what the yokai hunter would earn. However, she didn't slow down herself in the slightest, and instead became even more active than ever in her hunting. Musette wondered if her greedy partner wasn't trying to stiff her on her total earnings, but she was bringing in enough for the point to be moot. In any case, their operation ran smoothly, but only for a short time. Unfortunately for them, it didn't take long to run in a series of snags.
The white-winged demon groaned as she examined the pile of unsold deeds that were accumulating on her table. At first, she was surprised to see those stacking so much, but, fortunately for her, they all shared an obvious common point that made the issue easy to identify.
"Nobody is purchasing anything in Lady's Village… Where is this damn Daimyokai! I need her for a scouting mission!"
Bell stood up and bowed. "She's currently investigating the lack of news from a team she dispatched to take care of the matter."
Musette frowned. Did that damn yokai hunter recruit some back alley idiots that had foregone their mission to go on a binge, or was something more sinister afoot? Before she could ponder the question, her human partner reappeared in front of the office with an expression of concern.
"One of my team got taken down near Succubus Village. They all got violated afterward, and there are no witnesses to tell me what happened."
Musette snarled. "Did you also do a magical analysis?"
Daimyokai shrugged."I only got that some people fought, and someone -or something- transformed. That's all."
Someone transformed… Something ticked off in Musette as she remembered some information about her old partners. Could that damn vixen somehow have a hand in this mess? She had supposedly decided to remain in Sabasa and was budy prostituting herself in that theatre, but...
Eventually, Musette decided that this information didn't matter in any case. She was more concerned with the loss itself.
"We lost some time and money there… Were they already paid?"
Daimyokai grinned. "I could negotiate and ended up only paying a quarter in advance. They were supposed to get the rest only once the request was fulfilled."
Musette started smiling again. It didn't look like that loss mattered much in the grand scheme of things… And fortunately for everyone, the remainder of the day ended up being uneventful save for the occasional sale. Musette went to sleep undisturbed.
Not so far away, however, the ambiance was unbearable. A few succubi and Nightmares were indulging themselves or arguing, while their leader, a purple-haired succubus monk was grimacing at the news her latest lieutenant reported her.
"So our position in Lady's Village fell?! Where are those incompetent buffoons now?!"
"They scattered into our other holdouts. Some of them came here, while a few others fled in Sabasa, in the Oasis of Blessings."
The leader sat on a throne and sighed, even wallowing on her chair while massaging her face. "Those idiots… They should have remained together, they're just going to expose the other ones!"
The elder succubus started sweating, not knowing how to react at the outburst of her superior without attracting her wrath. However, after several minutes of awkward silence, she finally gave in and asked her leader.
"What should we do next, mistress?"
"Go drain some men of their energy for the ritual! I don't know and I don't care!" The succubus monk sighed again and further slumped on her throne while her interlocutor bowed.
"We will do so, lady Esk."
Before she could move, her superior's grip was tightened around her throne while her eyes were throwing lightning bolts at her.
"For the last time, my name is AESUKAYA! Not Esuka, not Eska, and certainly not Esk! Don't try to associate me with those failures of leaders that gave up on their plans as soon as the hero showed up, is that clear?!"
The panicking succubus frantically nodded, her feet uselessly kicking in the air.
"Good! Now go ask a few of those idiots to prepare for a counter-attack, maybe we can prevent them from taking down another of our party!"
The succubus left without answering, half-running, half-flying as her leader groaned again.
Once she was sure she was alone, Aesukaya closed the door leading to her throne room, placed a seal on it, and made her way to a discolored spot in a wall. She removed a brick, and briefly shivered as she felt dark magic pouring from the hole she just made while she pulled out the book that was its source. She could feel its power, and deep down, she knew that this strange piece was the key to be led to a world of pleasure. She glared at the item, and the latter's red eyes remained immobile, as if challenging her own willpower. She had invested so much in it…
Granted, all that gold had been acquired by the numerous succubi of the old Alliance of the Queen of Dream when they attacked humans, and a large share of it was coming from the treasury of Grand Noah when they had brainwashed the queen. When most of the succubi had been busy screwing and sucking dry humans to expand the Land of Night, she herself and a few pragmatic partners had noticed the large amount of gold that remained behind and had decided to plunder it should it still have a use… And when that Queen of Dream's plan failed, she had been more than glad to have saved so much. She had managed to buy extremely high-quality equipment, several more succubi, and the silence of a few humans and kitsune guards as they settled into the still-deserted Grangold's Castle.
Still… the purchase of that book was starting to weigh down on her. There wasn't a doubt that it was the key, and consequently, she had oriented every one of her actions to exploit its power… And so far nothing worked. The content itself was mostly useless: A few rituals that were too hard to complete for what they provided, a few stories, a lot of drawings of a succubus with six wings -no doubt the one that she was trying to summon in hope of being led to a glorious world of pleasure where she wouldn't have to cared about all those incompetent subordinates- and… That was it. Nothing about how to summon Her. Aesukaya's obsession with the book had kept growing to reach dangerous levels, and she herself knew it.
But what else can I do now… There are likely people searching for me out there, and those idiots that follow me would turn on me in a heartbeat if I gave up. Besides, it wouldn't make me any better than those hypocrites.
Still… If only I could show up to this harebrained Queen of Dreams what people in this world can do even without her, it would be a dream come true!
Wait… Does that mean that since it's a dream and she's the Queen of Dreams… Raaargh, now I can't even get it out of my head!
Frustrated, the succubus punched the wall and examined the book again. For a short moment, she considered showing it to Witch in Succubus Village, but the soothsayer had aligned herself on the hero and his cohorts, and asking for her help was out of the question. She kept glaring at the book, as if hoping to intimidate it in hope that it would release every secret lying inside. Realizing the ridiculousness of the situation, she groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose.
I need to calm myself… I'll get some sleep, and I'll try again tomorrow.
The very next day, Aesukaya's mood hadn't improved in the slightest. She was back at examining the book and trying anything in hope it would react to the changes in its environment.
Soooo… Something about devastation and succubi... Should I try bringing it to the Monster Lord's Castle and have the Lilith Sisters examine it? …No, I should definitively keep them out of anything involving that, if they learn I worked with other succubi to spread the Land of Night, they will tear me a new one…
… Fuck it, let's start an orgy in the throne room. Even if it fails, I'll at least enjoy it.
The next instant, Aesukaya got several prisoners brought into the room. While a few of the men seemed to be fine even as they anticipated their fate, several of them looked already battered and broken. As one of her subordinate guided them, her ears perceived discussions about her abusing her position of power to indulge in pleasure. She frowned. She would show those weaklings afterwards why she was the one leading…
She kept the book close to her as she indulged herself with the different victims brought in. However, as frustration grew in, the succubus started getting violent, and became absolutely furious when the book started being covered into different bodily fluids. As her anger got the better of her, she started violently killing her partners, even as some of them were panicking while others remained still, having apparently given up on life.
She sighed as she basked in the aftermath of her rampage, still half-naked and even more frustrated than before. However, a growing influx of energy attracted her attention as the book was surrounded by an unusual aura. Runes started forming, and Aesukaya felt her heart beat faster in anticipation even as the air filled with static energy in a discordant cacophony until the book simply disappeared. The succubus felt her heart sink for a second… Then darkness filled the room as space got torn apart like a sheet of paper in a deafening shredding sound. When light returned, Aesukaya's jaw opened wide in shock as she looked at the newcomer.
A tall succubus with white alabaster skin had appeared, her overly feminine forms already impressing the summoner. Her long, raven dark-hair cascaded in her back like tentacles, half hidden by her three pairs of red and black wings while her head was crowned by thick, white horns.
"Mmmh… That was a nice nap."
Her eyes opened to look at her, and Aesukaya barely noticed that the succubus summoned had a third one in the middle of her forehead, completely entranced by her voice as she was talking. Her whole body was tingling with a pleasurable, electrical current, and she shivered briefly as she started panting.
"Are you the one who summoned me?"
Aesukaya collapsed in a mix of pleasure and shock as uncontrollable bout of laughters seized her. She had succeeded. She had finally somehow succeeded in bringing in a new leader that would lead this world to new peaks of pleasures. She only needed to recover her composure ever so slightly to ask her to lead them, and a new golden age for succubi would arrive. However, she simply couldn't stop laughing and shaking in pleasure, even as the powerful-looking succubus looked down on her, passably amused. And she enjoyed every second of it. Her whole nervous system was overcharged, and she could only laugh and moan frantically, even as she felt her energy leaving her to be absorbed by the monstrosity she just accidentally summoned. Even as she realized her dire predicament and felt her last forces leave her, she couldn't so much as lift a single finger as her eyes dimmed slowly. After an additional minute, she completely stopped moving, her mind fully burned out by raw pleasure and unable to even understand what was happening around her.
In her very last thought, she wondered if she hadn't just made the biggest mistake this world would see.
Still smirking, the white succubus looked at the spectacle in front of her: Even if some humans might have survived her summoner's romp, her presence alone had been enough to kill them all in throes of ecstasy. She could hear some confused noise further away, but she didn't give it more attention than that as her senses fully focused on the world at large. So much energy… Hundreds of succubi running around, as well as something that she had never come to expect during her eternal life… Angels? They existed in this world?
It didn't matter. All would fall to pleasure.
All would fall to her.
In the meantime, Musette, her goons and Daimyokai were all in their office around a large map of the Gold Region. The yokai hunter was pointing to a spot between two settlements.
"They fell here, between Succubus Village and Lady's Village."
What's with the stupid name of those places…
Fortunately for her, her lieutenants were more focused than on the matter than she was and were trying to analyze the situation.
"Should we further investigate the region or move on? This spot is right between two of our most important livelihoods…"
Before she could answer, a newspaper appeared on Musette's desk: said paper was the product of the famous local magical academy, and gave news from the world within a day to everyone paying a fee. She briefly looked at the headline, and upon seeing that a bunch of succubi had been kicked out of Lady's Village, she decided that none of it mattered in the slightest.
"Let us move on… We don't have to concern ourselves about so much riff-raff fighting one another."
The first part of the day was uneventful for Musette, although upon re-reading the news, she started wondering if those stories could be related to the sale she had made not so long ago.
Lady's Village... The coincidence would be too insane…
She returned back to her duty when a small electric discharge coming from outside informed her that a group had teleported in front of her office. She looked up and could see that old oni hag that had caused so much trouble, that damn yoma that had supported the local hero as he was taking down her Alliance, a small nine-tailed kitsune, and…
Before she could fully identify the fourth newcomer, a searing pain filled her chest and her back while an explosion rocked the entrance, stunning her. When she opened her eyes again, she was greeted by a pair of yellow eyes glowing with pure fury and her throat was compressed by a small fist.
"What did you do with my grimoire?" Vinum's voice was a low growl that somehow reverberated through Musette's mind. Dumbfounded by the sensation, she barely managed to utter a few words after blinking repeatedly.
"W-what?"
"The book you stole from me. Where. IT. IS!?"
Vinum punctuated her sentence by squeezing harder, and Musette tried to call out for help when she noticed that her partners also had their hands full: Bell and Lyla were held at bay by that oni hag, while that small kitsune was apparently attempting to rip Daimyokai's skin from her. Only that old yoma was trying to calm things down, but she apparently couldn't even get heard over the mess her allies were making.
She prepared a riposte when she felt a shockwave that surprised her attacker. However, the yoma didn't use her own spell even as the opportunity offered itself, feeling something extremely ominous happen where everybody was now looking.
"So what…"
Vinum glared at her, and Musette winced under the gaze of the succubus that only barely reached her waist.
"It doesn't matter any longer now... Thanks to you, this world is doomed."