There were no words to exchange, no negotiations to be had, or spiteful remarks to fling. The Queen-Mother's daughters had come and meant business. Their eyes were fixed on the prize— Cockcalibur, which was clenched tightly in Kanae's grasp. Neither Jhene nor Elaine hid that this was what they were after, but she wasn't going to let it fall into their hands.

Hundreds of people of Dry Gulch surged forward like a violent tsunami. They were guards from the barracks, adventurers from the local adventurers hall, and the average layperson, all unlucky enough to fall into succubi squabble.

Edina jumped to her feet with Scythe of Soul Reaping and Pillar of the Damned in each hand. She casted Legion of the Dead to meet the charmed horde in battle. Fights broke out everywhere. Unarmed citizens snatched pickaxes and shovels off the ground to pummel a bone brute with. A pair of mage adventurers fired volleys of homing magical missiles at Renya, who deftly evaded the projectiles thanks to Shifting Boots' ability to blink. Kanae casted Hailstorm, creating a slick sleet of ice on the ground that the incoming charge slipped all over on. That should keep some of them at bay.

Meanwhile, despite coming here for a single purpose, Elaine couldn't help but toy with her predecessors. Her lips creased widely into a sadistic joy. Claudia and Alicia pursued her to the ceiling, where their fight took place near the pitch black blanket of darkness. Charmed harpy beastmen came to the new Mistress of Pain's aid, and it quickly turned into a deadly aerial brawl.

"Eyes forward!" Petyr shouted.

Too distracted by the battle unfolding above her, Kanae saw Jhene advancing too late. The hobgoblin's two-handed bone axe swung for the kill— until Petyr blocked it with the head of her warhammer.

"Oh, shit. You're beefy! That calls for a little boost." Jhene grinned, and the empty sockets of an ogre's shrunken skull on her waist lit up. Her already dense muscles bulged, pulling even more taut against pale brown skin. She grew a whole foot taller.

Petyr's heels dug trenches in the ground as Jhene forced her back with every step. Both of them bared their teeth at each other like predators vying for territory.

"How do you like that, cattle? Labelle told me you were the one to watch out for. But you don't look so tough to me. Hah!" Jhene cackled in the high elf's face.

"You think we're equals? On the ground where you belong, dirt. Kneel!" Petyr commanded, and the Mistress of Subjugation did as ordered in surprise. "Now, how does it feel to obey another?"

"Petyr, with me!" Kanae infused Cockcalibur in the shape of Titan's dick with Titanic Blow.

Jhene's shock lasted all but half a second. Petyr empowered her warhammer with Smite, and they clobbered the hobgoblin, sending her crashing into the side of the cavern. Rubble and dirt collapsed over her.

"Sister, quit playing around and seize the ancient weapon!" Elaine briefly stopped her battle to shout before Claudia and Alicia pounced on her.

They thought that was the end of Jhene until she emerged from the debris. She brushed dust off her shoulders and cracked her neck. Another shrunken skull, this one belonging to a tusked troll, had its empty eye sockets glowing. Her wounds closed and the discoloration from her bruises vanished.

"Quit playing around? That's my line! But damn, that hurt. I expected the hammer, but not the dick. Too bad this troll I killed two years back grants me some crazy strong regeneration. It's going to take a lot more than that to put me down." Jhene flashed a toothy smile.

"I can nullify her healing with Necrotizing Touch if you give me an opening," Kanae whispered.

"No. I prefer them to be durable." Petyr, with fury and hurt in her eyes, dashed ahead to clash with Jhene again.

"Wait, you— Ahhh! You've got to be kidding me!" She flew after them, dodging Dry Gulch adventurers trying to knock her out of flight.

Petyr and Jhene clashed like two giants in a glass cage match. Every step and impact shattered stone. Dirt and sand went flying when their weapons missed and hit the ground or wall. The ancient Under Roads, hundreds if not thousands of years old, were turned to rubble. Anyone who got in their way met the head of a bone-breaking warhammer or battle axe.

When Kanae tried to close the distance, Petyr and Jhene's weapons clashed. A wave of force knocked her back. Getting near them was proving to be impossible.

What happened? Petyr was stubborn, but she was never irrational. Her methods had always been pragmatic, if not touched with a huge dose of haughtiness about it. Now, it was only anger.

"Damn it, Petyr… It's Riley, isn't it? You're mad about what she said?" Kanae shouted.

"Shut up, Kanae! I'm going to bludgeon you next if you keep talking!" Petyr fired back.

"What the fuck are you two talking about?" Jhene rudely butted in. "We're fighting here. Pay attention to me!"

Petyr answered Jhene with an uppercut that would have knocked anyone out, but the hobgoblin got up like it wasn't a big deal. She reveled in the battle, wiping a trickle of blood from her chin.

"I know what it's like to have a friend turn their back on you. You're bottling those emotions up again. Why can't you just open to me like that night again? Talk to me! If you need to vent, let's talk over a bottle of Lemaren wine!" Kanae implored the stubborn elf. It seemed with every word, Petyr's fury intensified. She thought the warhammer might turn on her next.

"Quit yammering and get over here already!" Petyr yelled.

Instead of fighting back, Petyr parried and dodged Jhene's flurry of attacks. She kept the hobgoblin distracted enough to not look away. Kanae seized this chance to rush in while the two were locked in combat, snuck up behind Jhene, and pressed a hand to her back.

The axe swung back, and Kanae barely dodged it in time, losing only a few strands of hair rather than her entire head. Jhene staggered away from them and winced painfully. Necrotizing Touch had left its mark on her shoulder as a festering wound. Her injuries from facing Petyr weren't healing now, rendering the regenerative power of the troll's skull useless. Temporarily though.

Jhene let loose a bestial roar more ferocious than the hobgoblins of Hellfire Badlands. The eyes of the dragon's skull glowed with life, but it was from her gullet that she unleashed a breath of fire. Kanae and Petyr jumped back.

"Take away my healing? Fine! The more hurt I am, the stronger I get! Consume Spirit!" Jhene ripped a minotaur skull from her belt and crushed it, manifesting the very beast into a ghostly apparition that clung to her back.

"Go help the others. This one is mine," Petyr said.

"But—"

"I expect you to be patient when I vent to you later. Or will you go back on your word?" she asked.

"Be careful then." Kanae nodded.

There were as many skeletal corpses lying around as there were people groaning in pain or lying unconscious. Kanae breathed a sigh of relief that Edina didn't outright kill them. Others had the signature magical burn marks from Renya's guns. Though, even if everyone came out of this alive, the people of Dry Gulch weren't going to be happy about getting dealt a beating…

Three adventurers suddenly leaped from the shadows. Kanae swung Cockcalibur, knocking each of them out cold with a single hit. Her weapon throbbed intensely as though on the verge of climax and in need of relief. Titan's massive dick was longer and thicker than her arm. Wielding this thing was like swinging around a club.

Cockcalibur's description mentioned it shared senses… Did that mean…

Even though a battle raged, curiosity got the better of Kanae. She brought the tip up to her lips and licked it. Hot to the touch and harder than stone, this definitely was her beloved stallion's great member.

Soon the throbbing dick erupted with a geyser of cum, drenching Kanae in hot spunk. Unintentionally drenching another, too. A stealthed figure, who had apparently tried to sneak up and assassinate Kanae, slipped on the slick semen. He hit the ground hard and passed out. 

"You're not even here and you still saved me. Whew. But maybe a big weapon isn't the best in a place like this. How about…" After casting Prestidigitation to clean herself, Kanae envisioned her goblin lover, Mitty.

Willed by lewd thoughts, Cockcalibur transformed Titan's monstrous trunk of meat into that of Mitty's hobgoblin dick. Although significantly smaller and less girthy by comparison, it was like a mighty sword in her hand rather than a club.

"When I get back, I need you to make love to me again~" Kanae affectionately kissed and licked the dick to climax.

"KANAE! I TOLD YOU TO GO HELP THE OTHERS, NOT MAKE LOVE TO YOUR FUCKING SEX TOY!" Petyr boomed from afar while fending off an animalistic Jhene.

"S-Sorry!" She turned bright red.

Claudia crash landed in a minecart. Kanae rushed over to help and found the succubus' eyes shrouded in misty shadows.

"Kanae, is that you?" Claudia sniffed the air like a dog. "Why do you smell like cum?"

"I guess Prestidigitation doesn't completely remove smell… Hold still." Kanae retrieved her wand and casted Dispel, removing the darkness from her face.

"I gotta get back to Alicia! That piece of shit Elaine keeps taking me out of the fight to mess with her!" she growled.

Soaring across the battlefield, Elaine kept her distance from Alicia. Laughter filled the cavern amidst the cacophony of clanging steel and magical explosions. Every time Alicia got close, it was only because Elaine slowed down and allowed it so. She disintegrated into a cloud of shadow whenever a blow was about to land, further frustrating her sister.

"Just what is Elaine's class?" Kanae asked.

"Shadowmancer. Elaine gets stronger the darker it is. We're in her element down here. Ugh! I can take a hit, but magic still hurts like a bitch. I'm so frustrated that all this pain isn't even turning me on!" Claudia groaned aloud.

"If you don't mind swinging, let's swap. Help Petyr with Jhene. I'll back up Alicia against Elaine. We have to defeat them soon though. I don't think Edina and Renya can keep fighting everyone in Dry Gulch for much longer," she explained.

Claudia took one look at Petyr and Jhene duking it out and her lips curved into a gleeful smile. She didn't need any more convincing and rushed over to join, much to both of their dismay.

However, fighting a meathead hobgoblin who was all brawn and some brains would have been preferable over who Kanae faced next. She rocketed up to Elaine, who twirled her wand and sent tendrils snaking everywhere. Kanae retaliated with Dispel, but there were too many. It took one to restrain her and Alicia.

"Jhene's enraged, I see. You should have escaped when you had the chance, pretender-queen. I'll rip that from your grasp, present it to the Queen-Mother, and earn her favor," Elaine said, compelling the bindings to squeeze tighter.

"Forgive me, Knight-Commander… Elaine is… much stronger than I expected…" Alicia winced.

"Don't be sorry. Unlike your mother, I don't expect anyone to do things all alone. We're all together for a reason, as Amethyst Hall. If anything, Elaine could learn a thing or two about sisterhood from Claudia. What kind of sister leaves family trapped for years? I also wouldn't dare to leave my Vice-Captain or any member of the Amethyst Hall behind for that matter." Kanae winked reassuringly.

"Kanae…" she muttered softly.

The shadows clenched even harder that their next breaths were made with great effort.

"Family? Claudia, Hilde, and Alicia betrayed our family by turning their backs on us! I loved you all! I looked up to you! Not anymore. I've inherited your legacy, and I'll be greater than you could ever have been!" Elaine howled.

"Wait. You want the weapon… take it…" Kanae sputtered between gasps.

"Kanae… don't…" Alicia squeaked meekly.

"Oh? You finally understand where you are in the hierarchy. Toss it over," she demanded, and loosened the bindings just enough for her to do so.

Kanae had to bite her own tongue to avoid sneering. With the wriggle room Elaine afforded to her, she threw Cockcalibur— but not before focusing on the largest dick she had ever taken so far. The ancient weapon transformed into two gigantic reptilian dicks connected at the base.

Hand outstretched to catch Cockcalibur, the sight of the enormous slab of meat wiped the smile from Elaine's face. It landed on her and anyone unfortunate enough to be underneath. Those who weren't caught, dove away and ran for their lives.

"Meet Maelstrom! He's an ancient gold dragon, and dragons have two dicks instead of one!" Kanae exclaimed.

"I admit, that was very clever." Alicia giggled into the back of her hand.

Kanae swooped down and picked up Cockcalibur after transforming it back to Mitty's hobgoblin schlong. An injured and pissed off Elaine pushed herself up by the elbows. She looked into their eyes with roiling anger.

All at once, the torches and lanterns began to go out. Even the glowing whitestones dimmed. Pure darkness engulfed the entire cavern. When Petyr lifted her warhammer to light up the cave, its holy energies flickered and stopped heeding her call. Kanae and Alicia lunged for Elaine, but she vanished into a cloud of black mists. Her taunting laughter echoed from every direction.

"Kanae!" Alicia screamed and reached out to her before magical darkness robbed them of their vision.

"I'm right here!" Kanae shouted back, sweeping a hand across where Alicia should have been but no longer was. She was about to cast Dispel until someone else grabbed her tail which held it.

"I don't think so!" Elaine whispered and wrenched the wand away.

A powerful force pushed Kanae up against the cavern wall. At least that was what it felt like from the cold stone pressing into her back. She swung into the darkness in front of her hoping to strike Elaine. She hit nothing instead. The same shadows coiled around her arms, lifting them both helplessly above her head. Somewhere in the darkness, Alicia was breathing heavily and whimpering.

"No light, natural or magical, can permeate Umbral Miasma." Elaine came into view within an inch of Kanae's face. "Do you hear that? My dear big sister is crying. Did you want to help her? Too bad. Savor that fear, that misery, that pain. The very thought that there is nothing you can do, while her heart and soul suffers alone… it's so sweet~"

"You get off to other people's trauma… that just makes you… sick." Kanae croaked between words and struggled to breathe.

"Not everyone can comprehend such exquisite pain. That makes me their better."

"That so… Thanks for proving yourself wrong… Claudia and Alicia… were better Mistresses of Pain…" She sneered.

Elaine's mouth snapped open. It looked like she wanted to gasp but couldn't. All the air escaped from her lungs, forced out by an impact from behind. Her neck craned to glance back, meeting Alicia's steeled gaze.

"A-Alicia…?" Elaine stammered.

"When I hear Kanae's words, they grant me the peace I need to push forward. Even in the dark, I know I am not alone. Not anymore. Do you feel it, sister? This is also pain. The pain of losing. The pain of being wrong. The pain of failing. The pain of cold steel drenched in paralytic venom coursing through your veins," Alicia whispered menacingly, true to her deadly assassin self.

The shadows holding Kanae loosened. She took her wand back from Elaine and cast Dispel, removing the magical darkness over the cavern. It was still dark with all the fire light snuffed out, but this time, Petyr's warhammer illuminated the entire cave with blinding luminosity.

"J… Jhene!" Elaine cried out between stiff lips, seemingly showing fear for the very first time.

A breath of flames separated Kanae and Alicia from Elaine. Jhene swooped in to grab ahold of her sister. She looked just as badly beaten.

"This isn't over!" Jhene roared.

Shadows engulfed them both. Before Kanae and her companions could reach the two, they disintegrated into a cloud of darkness that escaped down the tunnel. Now that they were gone, people were beginning to come to their senses. Their charmed states wore off a few at a time, aided by Kanae and other mages casting Dispel on them one by one.

Even though they were the ones who saved the city, another fight almost broke out. Fortunately, Dry Gulch's ministers were among the charmed, and grateful for being freed, talked their people down from violence.

Petyr looked disappointed and muttered something about 'upstart rabble' that nearly caused a brawl all over again. The cavern's foremen ordered everyone to vacate because the Under Roads were supposed to be a secret. Kanae got away with hiding Cockcalibur— after turning it into a small, goblin penis that fit in her bag— and lying that the fleeing succubi had made off with whatever was in the vault.

Everyone returned to the subterranean city of Dry Gulch, and they hit up the first tavern they found. Kanae held a full stein of cold beer, wanting nothing but to get drunk after sending Jhene and Elaine running.

"Please, tell me that's the last we see of 'em…" Edina grumbled.

"Doubt it, pipsqueak." Claudia patted her on the back. "If I know the Queen-Mother and Amby, they aren't going to let us walk with the weapon."

"Which means our sisters won't give up so easily. They may grow desperate. But we shall be ready for them next time," Alicia added, squeezing Kanae's hand underneath the table.

Kanae squeezed back and smiled— until Kris bursted through into the tavern in a huff. She was out of breath and covered in sweat.

"I finally found you guys! Kanae, did you… get the keys?" Kris panted.

Everyone around the table pursed their lips and exchanged awkward glances. 

"We, uh… kind of forgot about it in the heat of battle," Kanae confessed guitily.

"Whaaat?!" The devastation in Kris' demeanor shifted. "Well, you know what that means?" She joined the table and threw an arm around Kanae. "Guess I'll be joining your merry crew for a bit again. Tavernkeep, another round of beers over here. On me!"