The Harpy King's forces fled from the mining settlement as Kanae and the Knight of Red's army descended upon it. Their soldiers cleaved through the remaining resistance like an executioner's axe on a tender neck. While marching victorious into the village, its worried people shied away wondering if they had traded one oppressive company for another.

When they saw Sadul, bearing the crest of the East Saviran Trading Association's four-pointed star crest on his tunic, everyone threw their hands up in cheers. The Commonwealth was suddenly given a hero's welcome, with some people picking up and carrying soldiers. Some women, like a young dark elf flirted with a man of the same race in Kanae's army.

The village Pashern was another one of Sultana Dudula's mines, an amethyst mine that she leased to the association's purview. Sadul even knew some of the members, who had been forced to work for the occupying Elusis force. It was situated in a small and narrow canyon. Residences and buildings were built on the foot of the natural canyon walls, using them for shade at certain parts of the day. One long railway stretched down the length of the village, connected by branching paths that led into the tunnels.

"Sadul, thank goodness!" A group of association merchants, their faces covered in dirt and sweat, almost dropped to their knees upon seeing him.

"I told you, I promised to bring help. And I did! Rejoice, for our liberators are foreigners from the north. May I present to you, the Queen Kanae of the Commonwealth of Sin!" Sadul introduced Kanae to his weary colleagues.

An Arkesian woman cautiously stepped forward and bowed. "Forgive us, Your Majesty. Would if we could offer you a more royal welcome. We… do have some rations hastily left behind by the Harpy King's people, if that will please you?"

"Don't worry about us. Pashern should keep the spoils," Kanae insisted.

The association members and villagers who were close enough to hear were overcome with relief. They were nearly in tears, too.

"But that's not to say we're here for nothing. I understand that your occupiers were forcing you to mine felmetal?" Kanae asked.

"Oh, yes. But 'mine' is not exactly the correct word. Perhaps you would like to see it for yourself," the human said.

"What? Like you guys are fishing up outta the water or something?" Red scratched her head.

Kanae, Red, and Sadul followed a handful of association members into a mine. The tunnels were lit by laterns hanging on the walls. Discarded pickaxes and shovels littered the ground. They didn't venture very deep, and instead hopped on a lift that lowered them down to the earth's bowels.

When the group reached the bottom, the many branching tunnels overwhelmed Kanae. The miners, however, didn't skip a beat and knew exactly where to go. They followed a path marked by white chalk, and up ahead was a hole in the wall that gave way into dwarven architecture.

But it wasn't a factory that the residents of Pashern had discovered. They found a storeroom chamber. Black iron walls enclosed the rectangular room like a giant had buried an enormous metal box in the earth. Empty shelves and crates were strewn about. There were three doors to each side leading to smaller rooms that contained tools, furnaces, and a stream of water fed by a waist-high channel.

"The hells is this place?" Red asked.

"We believe the extinct dwarves had built this. It appeared to be a felmetal cache of ingots and ores. When Elusis came, they made us load as many as possible onto wagons bound elsewhere," the Arkesian explained.

"Sheesh. Just how expansive were the dwarves in their heyday?" Kanae wondered aloud.

"There is a small stash in this room!" Sadul shouted from an open door. "The Harpy King's people must have missed it."

They followed the beastman in to find a crate of ingots. The metal bars had the distinct red striations unique to felmetal.

"Looks like we're one step closer to getting you a new weapon, Red." Kanae grinned.

"If it's going to be anything like wielding Petyr's warhammer? Hells yeah! One question though: how are we going to forge it?" Red asked.

Both of them stared blankly at each other.

"One step at a time. Let's get this to the surface first," Kanae said. Original content can be found at novel[f]ire.net

With everyone's help, they loaded the bars into a minecart, pushed it up to the lift, and returned to the mild discomfort of Savir's blazing sun. There, Kanae ordered her soldiers to hoist the felmetal into their own wagons to be transported back.

"W-Wait, are you leaving?"

"What will become of us?"

The Pashern villagers looked nervous at the prospects of being left to fend for themselves again.

"The Harpy King only sent his forces to seize the felmetal underneath your mines. They probably think they picked it all up. You have nothing to fear. But I am looking for able-bodied workers to join my army. You won't see battle, I promise you that. If you believe you have any relevant skill to lend me, I promise that you'll be fed, housed, and your sultana freed from the Harpy King's clutches," Kanae explained.

In addition to the trading association members Sadul had already recruited, about twenty people stepped forward, all with conviction glowing in their eyes. Carpenters, smiths, armorers, and cooks were among their numbers. Hopefully, the others who had marched on the remaining mining settlements faced similar success.

Kanae and Red received a second hero's welcome when they arrived back at the Commonwealth's war camp. Their new guests were quickly assigned living quarters, tasks, and a schedule. Ever since Archbishop Patrice took over logistics, things started to move along smoothly as if lubricated with butter. She fixed the latrine problem by designating one place to do their duties, as well putting prisoners on a regular shift to bury excrement. She organized meal time by grouping soldiers together in blocs, that way breakfast and dinner wasn't a shitshow with everyone trying to eat at the same time.

Several nights, they had a problem with different races picking a fight with each other. Some beastmen from Talahurah accidentally stepped on tails of lamias hailing from Hollow Glades, which led to a scuffle. Manabe had originally integrated their diverse army of soldiers into an even spread, with everyone from different walks of life living around others. His hope was to build unity.

While his intentions were good, the implementation was flawed. So said Archbishop Patrice. To remedy the situation, she rearranged the camp layout so that the lamias of Hollow Glades, dark elves of Highgreen, beastmen of Talahurah, and soldiers from Radevic were situated in their own quarters, with the people of Ehmvier right in the center to serve as a neighborhood buffer. In fact, separating them had calmed tensions and made everyone friendlier with each other.

"Alright, what's the next step?" Red asked, dragging Kanae out of her reverie.

Kanae had hoped the journey back to camp would have lasted longer. She and her colleague peered at the felmetal ingots, at a loss for what to do. If only Rog was here…

"Lost in thought, Amethyst? Red?" Archbishop Patrice, accompanied by Delayn, joined them to inspect the cargo in the back of the wagon.

"We're trying to figure out how to forge a weapon out of felmetal. Something for Red to bring out the most of Elirashj's elemental powers," Kanae explained.

"Oh, well why didn't you ask me? I'm knowledgeable in this field," the high elf said as a matter of factly.

Kanae and Red gaped at her.

"You're just telling us this now?" Red groaned.

"It never came up!" The archbishop lifted her hands.

"Wait, how could you possibly have learned an ancient dwarven smithing technique?" Kanae asked.

"Elizabeth Bedlam lended me the trove of notes and journals you picked up from Ha'Vavish and Tortuga. Also, learning about it and putting it into practice are two very different things. I'm unable to forge it for you, but I can direct a skilled hand," she explained.

First thing's first. They needed to make a mould of the weapon Red wanted for casting. Kanae went looking for Lilith, who was warden of the prisoners, and asked her if they had an earth elemental imprisoned. She did and had him pulled out.

However, the earth elemental was resistant. Kanae and Red also had trouble conveying the shape of the mould they sought. So, the pair asked the mystics of Katia's Lakestalker tribe for help. Their control over elementals were less forceful compared to the Harpy King's methods, and more symbiotic. They beseeched the earth elemental for help by offering gifts… and succeeded. He lent his powers to them, and together, formed from mud a mould of the long shaft that would eventually become Red's maul. As for the head—

"I just want a big chunk of metal. Not like Petyr's warhammer. A big rectangle made purely of felmetal!" Red explained enthusiastically.

"Uh huh…" One of the mystics nodded. "In other wordsss, simple. Like thisss?"

At the end of the shaft, they carved a big block into the mould. Just a big block…

"You don't even care for a design? Or something similar to your last weapon?" Kanae asked.

"Ehhh. I'll figure out a design later. All I need right now is a big hammer to solve problems with. When we're done, wrap some leather on the handle and call it a day. What now, Archbishop? Do we melt the ingots and pour the casting?" Red couldn't make it more obvious how eager she was.

"Not so fast." Patrice put on a pair of reading glasses and pulled out a notebook. "Felmetal has a high enchanting and magical capacity. You won't melt the bars conventionally. We require magical fire since it won't melt tools, the furnace, and the mould. Furthermore, we must submerge and temper the cast in holy water."

Apparently, Kanae and Red were the only ones who thought making holy water was the easiest step. That all they had to do was get a couple of crowned Priests to bless a basin of water. No. Far from it.

Arenade, Archbishop Patrice, and Delayn were the only three high enough level to cast what Kanae mistakenly believed was a simple spell, Bless. Really, Bless was an extremely high level Priest legacy spell obtained at level 250.

They offered Kanae a glimpse of their Priest-unique spell.

[Bless: At the cost of tremendous mana, bless an object to temporarily grant it the holy attribute, holy damage resistance, necrotic damage resistance, resistance to physical trauma, increased magical potency, and a holy aura. The strength of Bless is augmented by multiple applications.]

Over at the Radevic side of the camp, the trio surrounded a large trough of water at the blacksmithing block, repeatedly casting Bless and drinking mana potions. Kanae aided them with Restore Mana, but she was quickly running dry.

"How long is this going to take?!" Kanae was drenched in sweat.

"Does this look like a small vial to you? It's a giant tub of water we're trying to bless, buster!" Arenade sighed.

"Converting water to holy water is usually a multi-day process. Most churches only possess a basin's worth. You're asking for the impossible if you want us to be faster," Delayn groaned.

There had to be a better way…

"I know a method to hasten this," Archbishop Patrice said. "A crowned Priest is themself holy, and well, our essences contain the holy attribute to—"

"Hmm. I think I got it. Arenade, take your clothes off," Kanae ordered.

"Excuse me?" Arenade stopped casting and shielded herself.

Kanae slipped behind Arenade and embraced her curvy body. The elf jumped but couldn't move very much. She had exerted a Charm over her.

"Oh, my." The archbishop lifted a hand over her mouth.

"Oh, no…" Delayn covered her eyes instead.

"Damn it, Kanae! What are you planning? We're— eek!" Arenade trembled as Kanae slipped a finger into her pussy.

The struggling came to a stop. As Kanae flicked Arenade's clitoris, her eyes rolled back. The cries of protests morphed into moans of pleasure.

"You… perverted succubus… I'm going to get you back for this, Kanae… W-We could've at least done this in… private! Nnnhh!" Arenade swallowed the urge to howl.

"Hey, stop resisting. You can punish me later. Right now, just focus on orgasming. Turn Horny!" Kanae casted the spell on her lover and fingered more intensely.

"Kanae, you— Ooooohh! Ahhh… I can't handle it… I'm cumming!" she screamed.

Arenade's whole body shuddered. She was getting even wetter. Kanae pulled aside the high elf's robed garments, letting her squirt into the water. The glittering stream's arch glistened from the sunlight.

"Hey, guys! What's going on?" Edina stopped cold in her tracks, took one look at Arenade squirting into the basin, and promptly turned around to leave. "I'll come back later."

When Arenade had given all she had, she collapsed to her knees and panted for breath. Meanwhile, the trough of water emitted a soft glow. Kanae's skin tingled from the sensation of a light burn from a minor holy aura.

"It worked, Arenade! You did it!" Kanae cheered.

"Not sure how I feel about my new weapon getting tempered in someone's piss." Red grimaced as she gazed into the trough.

"Before you interrupted me, Amethyst, I was about to say that we can add some drops of blood to hasten the conversion to holy water. But this works, too. It served as an enlightening experience that I shall record in my notes," Archbishop Patrice said, quickly jotting it down.

"Huh? So, I didn't need to make Arenade squirt?" She gulped as a menacing figure rose and loomed behind her.

Arenade wrapped both hands around Kanae's throat.

"When we meet again in the next life, I'll choke you out again, you horny bitch!" Arenade growled.

After nearly strangling Kanae to death, they moved on to the next step of the process. Melting the felmetal ingots. Once again, Kanae sought the help of the Lakestalker tribe's mystics to tame imprisoned fire elementals.

However, even with their combined fires, the metals weren't melting. Archbishop Patrice braved the heat and shielded her face, approaching the smelting furnace.

"We need more fire!" Patrice exclaimed.

"These five are the only fire elemental prisoners we have!" Lilith shook her head.

"What if I cast Curse of Elemental Weakness on the felmetal? That should weaken it enough to melt!" Red suggested.

"No, you fool. Doing so would ruin the integrity of the metal!" she fired back.

"How about the flames from a dreadmourn? Or hellduke troll?" Kanae asked.

"If you're referring to a dreadmourn's Coat of Conflagration, I doubt it. And… hellduke troll? Where do you suppose we'll find one right now?" The archbishop turned to her squinted eyes.

Kanae whipped out Cockcalibur and transformed it into the hellduke troll's glorious bulbous dick. The last time she had gotten fucked by one was in Necro Lord Thored's tomb. At a staggering three-foot in length, she couldn't even wrap both hands around its girth.

"G-Gross! How are you even supposed to make use of that?!" Delayn cried.

"You'll see." Kanae guided the large mast into her pussy. The intense heat and size made her knees buckle, and she winced taking it inside. Filled up and raring to go, she pumped the disembodied cock into herself out in the open.

People gathered to watch. Some cheered her on. Red was particularly amused. Soon, the hellduke troll's member convulsed, shooting its hot seed into her womb. Kanae prayed that this would grant her a useful skill.

[Skill Drain has temporarily acquired the skill Hellish Immolate.

Hellish Immolate: Scorch a target, dealing magical fire damage over time and increasing in intensity after each pulse.]

Perfect! Kanae let Cockcalibur slip from her pussy and wielded the Blade of the First Temptress. She pointed the tip of her steel at the container of felmetal in the smelter.

"Hellish Immolate!" Kanae casted through the sword, raising the magnitude of the spell to untold proportions.

The heat grew too much to bear for some people. Even Archbishop Patrice backed away. But it was working. The felmetal ingots melted into liquid.

"We need to pour the cast into the mould! Now!" Archbishop Patrice yelled.

"It's too hot! The meat on my bones will slough off if I get close!" a smith cried.

"Since that's my weapon, the responsibility falls to me. Greater Fire Resistance!" Red wreathed herself in protective magic and stepped forward, but even the flames were tough on her.

The harpy used tongs to pick up the casting container. She poured the blazing hot felmetal into the stone mould. It steamed so much, parts of the mould cracked. Finally, Red emptied the container.

"Now what?" Red asked.

"Wait. It's starting to cool. Let it harden first, then we break it open to submerge in the holy water," Patrice explained.

Everyone was sweating for different reasons, waiting for the archbishop's signal. Then…

"Now!" she boomed.

Red picked up a mallet to pummel the moulding. The entire thing cracked even more. Stone chipped off in chunks until a molten felmetal maul spilled out, still glowing orange from the intense heat.

"You're not seriously going to pick that up, are you?" Kanae gasped.

"You bet my wings I will!" Red spat in her hands, rubbed them together, and grabbed the heavy weapon by the shaft.

The scent of roasted meat filled the air. Both hands sizzled intensely. She was having a hard time lifting it, let go, and tried again from a different angle.

"If we don't temper it soon, the weapon will be very brittle!" Patrice warned.

Kanae couldn't stand to watch Red do it alone. She quickly transformed Cockcalibur into Titan's dreadmourn cock.

"Again?" Delayn turned around, exasperated.

Ignoring the prude, Kanae fucked herself with the long and thick horse cock until they both climaxed.

[Skill Drain has temporarily acquired the skill Coat of Conflagration.

Coat of Conflagration: Wreathe oneself in an inferno, granting Fire Immunity to magical and non-magical fire for the duration.]

"Sivvy!" Kanae stepped forward with her cunt dripping with fresh spunk. "Let me finish this for you."

"You're a lifesaver." Red backed away.

Kanae activated Coat of Conflagration, draping herself in a skill unique to dreadmourns. She gripped the maul with both hands. It didn't hurt one bit. Only a warm sensation spread across her body.

"Into Arenade's holy squirt you go!" Kanae hoisted the felmetal weapon in.

"Don't call it my holy squirt!" Arenade retorted.

The second it touched the water, steam billowed out and covered the area in a hot fog. Fluttering her wings, Red batted the cloud away with a gale. All the water in the trough had practically steamed away. Only a few inches were left in the tub, and the felmetal maul which rested at the bottom.

Kanae lifted the heavy and unwieldy weapon, almost falling over until the Knight of Red unburdened it from her hands. It looked like a big sledgehammer. No intricate designs, no engravings… just a block of felmetal.

"Still warm to the touch. I can already feel Elirashj's strength is compatible with it. Just gotta wrap some leather around the shaft for a grip, and we're good to go!" Red grinned, then rubbed the bottom of her nose and blushed a little. "Thanks, everyone. Especially you, Amethyst. It felt nice when you called me by my name."

"Sorry. It kinda just slipped out in the moment." Kanae became a little flustered.

"Don't be sorry. Call me Sivvy from now on, and I'll start calling you Kanae! That makes us more than just Knights of Colors colleagues. We're pals!" She put an arm around her and grinned.