John and Samson were discussing at the Pocket Castle's tavern. Both the commanders from San Ilia and Sabasa were eliminated in the early rounds of the tournament. Samson was beaten after a close fight against Laura, the mermaid queen, whose skills with a sword surprised more than one spectator. John, however, had the dubious honor of having fought against Lilith & Lilim, the twin succubi, who used the match as an occasion to show off their sexual skills in the arena by thoroughly ravishing him in front of everyone. He wanted to forget both the humiliation and the pleasure he received during his fight. As such, while Samson was mostly relaxing, John was actively trying to drown his sorrow, and had just switched from beer to bourbon as he wallowed down on the table. The Sabasan knight was starting to get worried about his counterpart's health.

"Are you alright?"

"I just got raped by twin succubi and ridiculed in front of everyone. What do you think?" His tone wasn't even aggressive, just depressed.

"Well, between the ones that join the tournament simply to get it on with a monster and those that want to show off, it's actually hard to say."

The soldier from San Ilia groaned. "I thought only residents from the Pocket Castle were in the tournament."

"They ARE residents of the Pocket Castle. I discussed with them once or twice."

"You mean Luka recruited them? Heroic pervert… Where do they come from anyway?"

"From another dimension if I got it right."

John's eyes widened. He took another sip of his drink as he took in the announcement. "You cannot be serious."

Samson started massaging his forehead. "It's true he recruited quite a large panel of monsters in his adventure. So that wouldn't be the most surprising." He showed his hand as he started recounting. "I mean he did recruit a giant worm, both our lords, the founder of Sabasa's bloodline, the minotaur queen, every succubi south of Hellgondo…"

"He also recruited the queens that launched the attacks on the town under the monster lord's order. We even get to live and discuss on friendly terms with them."

"And then we started recruiting angels from heaven."

"…Was that before or after recruiting the bitch that slaughtered the whole population of Luddite Village?"

"I think that was just before."

They took another gulp from their tanks. Samson was still fine, but John's speech was starting to get seriously slurred as his head wobbled.

"But at least, that blue haired whore makes for some eye candy, compared to the apoptosis." He shivered. "Dunno what freak me more between their appearances or their dom- dogmatic nimd- mnid- mindset."

"Yeah, I think they wouldn't be as scary if they were just mindless automatons rather than people turned into hive-minded horrors."

"It's weird that Luka somehow got them to join."

"Weirder than getting a legendary hero from the past from another dimension AND its arch enemy?"

John raised a finger while looking up, his mouth hanging open. He eventually conceded.

"Good point."

He took another gulp from his drink. Samson chuckled dryly.

"What's going to be next? The Monster Lord?"

"She dieded."

"The leader of the apoptosis?"

Both men looked each other in the eyes and took another gulp from their drink in synch. No word passed between them, but the message was clear: Let's never talk about that ever again. In fact we never did say anything about it.

"Ilias then maybe?"

John shook his head and accidentally sprayed some of his beverage around.

"Naaah, he's gonna SHTART DIGGIN WIZ HIZ ZWORD, UNURSSS ZEE ANK- ze anz-, zoss six bitch from hell, and he gonna make zem his. 'Cause he has shwag."

As he talked, he started miming the acts, ignoring the Scylla maid who was cleaning around him, and the latter was clearly getting angry about how the knight commander was talking of her Mother Goddess Queen. Samson cringed as the situation could get ugly…

"I hope your king doesn't see you like this."

"I'm off anyway, musst ssleep."

John unsteadily got up, caught himself on the table, and stumbled repeatedly as he left the bar. Samson kept an eye on the Scylla maid to be sure she wouldn't try anything against the one who badmouthed her ancestor. She just shrugged and got back to serving drinks.

The soldier leaned back on his chair and closed his eyes as he started daydreaming. His queen herself was going to fight in the tournament as a swordsman later, and it was his duty to be there to support her. He'd also enjoy watching her fight once more. His mind started wandering on what he would do once the tournament was over... Maybe he would get back to patrolling the streets of Sabasa. Or maybe they would find a new enemy to face.

A feminine voice asked. "May I take this seat?"

Samson gestured to the newcomer, who sat in front of him. When he opened his eyes, he realized it was Evita, one of the vampire that attacked Sabasa. She was carrying with her glass of Noah wine, and was clearly just looking for a calm place.

"Another bit the dust?"

The vampire eyed him strangely, wondering if he was mocking her vampire status or if he was just starting a casual conversation. She decided to humor him.

"Sword techniques used in duels are not effective against a pack of slimes. I should have studied more magic abilities before going in."

Samson chuckled, earning him another glare.

"What is so funny?"

"I wonder how many warriors will fall because they end up against an opponent whose skills counter their own."

She relaxed as she answered. "Too frequent for those who end up on the receiving end, apparently. The Scaly Bandit chief ended up facing a lowly succubus. Every pervert who watched will cherish the result for a long time, but I don't think the lizard will want to ever remember what happened."

Samson looked mostly indifferent. The vampire decided to tease him. "Aren't you sad that you missed such a spectacle? Oh, I forgot you are serving a succubus. You probably can get that kind of show on command."

The royal commander straightened his gaze as he answered almost mechanically. "She's first and foremost my queen. Besides, she has noble and powerful blood running through her veins, which give her a huge advantage. Furthermore, she got awakened by an extremely powerful succubus. I can't resist her."

"But you have the training and mental fortitude to resist. You are only confused by her charms because you must obey her but stay in your place at the same time. You would resist against anyone else's thanks to the skills you developed on your travels." She leaned closer to the guard, her full glass still in her hand. "Trained skills beat raw power."

"Aren't the leaders of the monster races defined by the power from their bloodline? Say what you want, this is what allow them to remain at the top."

"They got beaten by Luka."

"Who officially recognized having the blood of a powerful angel in his veins."

Evita haughtily supported her head on her wrist while still playing with her glass.

"Do you actually want to test your theory against mine?"

Samson repositioned himself as he considered the challenge.

"What's in it for me?"

Evita smiled evilly.

"The winner gets to do whatever he wants to the loser for the next night."

"Deal."

"Well, in that case, I shall inform you that Alrauna, the Alraune queen, lost against Alma Elma and just came back at the castle to recover. She's likely ready for a fight again."

"Great, so who will get to face her?"

Evita leaned back on her chair. "Well, I considered getting John to fight her, but he's utterly wasted right now. The only other possible contenders would be you, or one of the pervert and I am pretty sure none of them would even try seriously fighting her."

Samson nodded.

"You planned for that one, didn't you?"

The vampire smirked.

"It was you or Pilate, and a fox already has sights on him. I don't want to get on the bad side of her kin. They're quite skilled when it comes to ruining one's life."

Samson got up. "Well then, let's get started."

As they started moving down the hallway, Samson suddenly felt an uncomfortable idea come up.

"You don't do this to see me getting raped, do you?"

She answered reflexively. "No."

She was better of keeping for herself that the succubus had, as usual for her kind, used the fight as an occasion to show off her sexual skills while keeping the queen's attack away using her own wind. However, rather than finish off Alrauna as fast as possible, Alma Elma kept the queen on the verge of orgasm as much as possible until the latter gave up in frustration. The alraune had to get escorted out as she was trying to jump on every male she came across, and was confined to the Pocket Castle's courtyard until she cooled down.

Samson only had time to open the door before being snatched by vines without his weapons. Evita signaled someone in the hallway, and quickly, a young Promestein arrived with a video recording device in the courtyard.

"Thank you." She started setting up the device on a stabilizing tripod. "Getting to record the queen's procreation process may prove invaluable into further understanding how plant based monster reproduce." She talked louder to cover the lewd moans coming from the couple. "I am certain it will help me understand how exactly hey spread their seeds."

The vampire shrugged. "Just don't forget your end of the deal."

Promestein distractedly answered. "Oh, don't worry, once I'll have gotten a sample from Morrigan, giving you the ability to change your race to succubus will be child's play." She then muttered under her breath. "I will also give you several boost drinks, they always overestimate their partner's stamina."