A harpy soldier infused with a fire elemental unleashed jets of flames from his hands, but Kanae tanked it no problem. She had prepared beforehand, fucking herself with Cockcalibur before they put the plan into motion. Coat of Conflagration rendered her immune to magical and non-magical fire, so when the confused harpy stopped blasting her, she flashed a grin.

"My turn!" Kanae shot forth and knocked him to the ground. Her tail pussy clamped down on his face, draining the mana and stamina until he fell unconscious.

The others shook off their shock. One thrusted her spear at Kanae's chest and another jumped back to loose a crossbow bolt. She snatched the point of the spear with Magic Hand, but the bolt landed on the right thigh.

Kanae winced. She flourished Lust and whipped the crossbow from the harpy's grasp, and Magic Hand slugged the other across the face and knocked them both off the wall. After ripping the bolt out of her thigh, she casted Flash Heal. Not a moment too soon, since more enemies flew in from the distant walls.

However, before Kanae had a chance to square up, dark blurs zipped past. A dozen black-clad succubi pounced on the newcomers. Three came to her defense, one of them she recognized was First Sister Lilith.

"For the queen!" Lilith shouted, then turned to Kanae in a more gentle and deferential tone. "Are you injured, my queen?"

"I'm fine. Good work, Lilith. Secure this part of the fortifications and defeat any Elusis soldier still bombarding our forces. I'm going to press on to the palace," Kanae explained.

"As you command!" She saluted.

The Commonwealth army was just now slamming into the city and pouring through the open gates. But that didn't mean Toro Squa's forces were going to just roll over. Hundreds of harpies and footsoldiers arrived from the closest garrisons, and more were still coming from the farther sections of the city.

Edina's dragon landed on the partially destroyed segment of the wall. Powerful claws carved into the stonework, making the hole bigger. Elusis soldiers hesitated to fight her even with their elemental powers. Death knights that had since joined the battle wreaked havoc by tearing through their defensive formations. Commonwealth soldiers followed in from behind.

"Edina!" Kanae flew up to the necromancer as their forces were dismounting from the dragon's spine. "We need to get to the palace and find Sultana Dudula before something happens to her!"

"Well, whaddya waiting for? Let's get going!" Edina beckoned.

"Kanae, wait! Take me with you!" Theena exclaimed from below.

"Shouldn't you be with the others? Kara and Seven?" she asked.

The Arkesian girl glanced back at the gatehouse, where the fighting was still going on. She shook her head. Kanae took it as her not wanting them to stop her.

"Get on. But don't try anything reckless. Those two won't forgive me if I let anything happen to you," Kanae said.

Theena climbed onto the back of the undead dragon herself, and they lifted off to head for Bravost's palace. Countless harpies and elementals blotted out the sky. Kanae was about to cast Hailstorm through Blade of the First Temptress, but Edina and Theena beat her to it.

"Sing for me, my banshees!" Edina ignited the Pillar of the Damned.

Ghosts spilled forth from the brazier. Weeping women with long and disheveled hair, their bodies translucent, and eyes full of anguish, threw themselves at the wall of harpies. Weapons and magic passed harmlessly through them. The banshees erupted in earsplitting wails and necromantic energies. Scores of harpies plummeted to the surface, and those still flying were badly injured.

The elementals were unaffected and unharmed by necrotic magic. After all, they weren't made of living flesh that could rot or fester. But Theena, who fired arrows imbued with elements, was able to harm them. Ice arrows, fire arrows, lightning arrows, and more whistled through the air, nailing their marks on those weakest to them.

Yet despite their best efforts, more continued rising from the surface to meet the trio in battle.

"For fuck's sake, they just don't know when to quit!" Edina groaned.

A violent tornado ripped through. Kanae almost lost her orientation before righting herself. The Knight of Red, simply flying through, created gale force winds and sent hundreds of harpies falling from the sky. Her felmetal maul bludgeoned elemental attackers, and amidst the howling winds, Kanae heard the distinct laughter of Elirashj taking pleasure in it.

"I'll keep the bastards off your back!" Red assured them.

Kanae nodded, and Edina's dragon went full sails ahead to the palace with no signs of slowing down.

"Er… What are you doing?" Kanae asked nervously.

"What? Were you hoping to start from the bottom? We're breaking in!" Edina yelled.

Below, Elusis foot soldiers emerged from the palace gates and expected them to land in the courtyard. On the contrary, Edina was going straight into the palace. Kanae plucked Theena off and the undead dragon crashed through. They entered gingerly through the recently-made hole in the wall.

It was a gallery of vases now mostly shattered.

"Well, we're inside now. But at what cost?" Kanae sighed.

"So the sultana loses some vases. We saved a helluva lot of time coming in from above than from below. Anyway, time to work my necromancy." Edina rubbed her hands together.

Spirits manifested around them. Their appearances were less ravaged than banshees and more lost. As soon as the necromancer gave them an order, their misty bodies dissipated.

"What just happened?" Theena asked, waving a hand through where a spirit was just floating.

"Spirits are benign ghost types. They're also one of the more plentiful ones. And muuuuuch faster than sending undead rats to skulk around a gigantic palace. All I did was ask for help in looking through the palace for the missing sultana. Lucky for us, I didn't sense her spirit, so she ain't dead yet," Edina explained.

Not a moment later, a spirit regained its visage and whispered something into the squirreling's ears. She nodded every now and then, while Kanae and Theena waited impatiently for them to finish.

"Alright. Got it! Upper floor. The fucker Toro is trying to escape. He's got Sultana Dudula with him. Follow me!" Edina waved for them to get back onto the dragon.

"We don't want to just take the stairs instead?" Theena asked.

"No time!" She directed her undead monstrosity back out of the hole, climbed up to an open terrace, and broke into the palace a second time.

They intercepted Toro in the middle of dragging the bound sultana through the wide corridor. The harpies accompanying him rushed to the front, putting themselves between both groups.

"Gotcha." Edina smirked.

Toro clicked his tongue.

"Where do you think you're going with Sultana Dudula?" Kanae asked.

"You've bested me." The Scorching Dervish took a bow. "It never crossed my mind that you would take advantage of the soldiers' devotion to the Harpy King. They never allowed me to get close to the statue after I threatened to burn the damned thing. I had a feeling you were inside. I just couldn't prove it. The city is yours. Take it."

"And the sultana?"

"A bargaining chip. I give her to you, and you let me go free," he offered.

"What?" A harpy soldier spun around in anger.

"The sultana goes straight to the Harpy King. With or without you!" Another growled.

In-fighting escalated among them, between Toro Squa and the harpy soldiers. Suddenly, no weapons were trained on Kanae anymore. They were pointed at each other. The Scorching Dervish shoved Sultana Dudula backwards, drew two flaming shotels made of felmetal, and cut down the harpies before they had a chance to react.

"Sheesh. No loyalty among soldiers, huh?" Edina grimaced.

"No. Because I am not Saviran-born. My motherland is elsewhere, and I will return to it one way or another. So, now that the impediments are out of the way. Do we have a deal, Queen Kanae Toyomi? Will you guarantee my safety from you and your army?" Toro asked, picking the sultana back up and dusting her off.

"Hm. Sure." Kanae shrugged.

Toro breathed a sigh of relief. He snuffed out the fire on one of his shotels and sliced the rope bindings on Sultana Dudula's wrists. As soon as she had control of her hands again, the pint-sized beastman spun around and slapped him across the face, then came running over. Aside from a few cuts and bruises, the sultana looked perfectly fine. Thank goodness.

The Dervish, still facing Kanae and her companions, took one step back only for an arrow to plunge into the ground right behind his ankle.

"I believe I was promised safe passage," Toro reminded them.

"From me and the Commonwealth army." Kanae patted Theena on the shoulder. "This one right here is a Saviran native of Elusis."

"If I'm not mistaken… you are Theena?" He gasped.

"As guild leader of the adventurers hall in Elusis, you were the one who first introduced me to the Harpy King. You promised to help my family… but I never should have accepted anything from you." Theena grinded her teeth and primed another arrow.

Kanae thought she caught a glimmer of guilt in Toro's eyes. Maybe the dark elf was genuinely sad about his part in this. Maybe not. One thing was sure. Theena was angry. Furious. Wrathful.

"I never wanted to do anything for the Harpy King to begin with. You put me in a position where I couldn't say no. But I'm at least thankful to you and the Harpy King for one thing. I met my two best friends because of all this. But I have a lot to make up for. Starting with beating you to a pulp," Theena said, firing another shot.

Toro tilted his head to avoid the arrow. Theena had been aiming for a kill. The Scorching Dervish ignited his shotels and arranged the blades into a full circle like the blazing sun of Savir. Kanae and Edina stayed out of the fight per Theena's wishes. The Arkesian girl was no stranger to getting up close and personal, diving in while firing multiple elemental arrows down the corridor. When Toro carved the space in front of him, his curved weapons left behind a trail of snaking flames.

The serpents of fire came to life and snapped at Theena, who let loose ice arrows that snuffed out their flames. They were within a few feet of each other when Toro dropped his weapons, grabbed her bow, and kicked her away. He discarded it, and picked both shotels back up.

However, as Theena skidded back, she flung an electrified shiv into the wet ground. Lightning surged across the floor, electrocuting Toro. He dropped to his knees, body tense from all the muscle spasms. His hands ignited, evaporating the water and filling the entire corridor with steam.

Kanae saw it faster than Theena did, the shotel blade emerging from the cloud and inches from the girl's face. She seized hold of Toro's arm, holding him still.

"I thought you wouldn't interfere?" Toro asked.

"Oh, I just wanted to introduce you to someone who is equally pissed off at you." Kanae flung the dark elf out of the hole Edina's dragon had made coming in.

Sivvy Brenhallow caught Toro before he plummeted too far. When their gazes met, his eyes went wide.

"You two are already acquainted!" Kanae shouted. "The Knight of Red also isn't technically part of the Commonwealth army. Just a knight from Radevic who's got a bone to pick with you!"

"Thanks, Amethyst! Until I get my rematch against Praijya, I can take my anger out on you instead, Toro." Red descended from the palace with him screaming and kicking.

Kanae kneeled down next to Theena, who was crouched on the floor and shaking.

"You okay?" Kanae asked softly.

"I know there wasn't a chance in three hells I could beat Toro Squa. But it felt good to confront him. Thanks, Kanae, for letting me do it and saving my dumb ass." Theena looked up and smiled.