Kanae touched down in front of Marwin Fransk's tower. The first time in years. It must have been during her training to become Knight of Amethyst when she last came. Kanae entered her old master's tower only to be greeted by a magical projection of Master Marwin in the foyer. The illusory clone stood upright, healthy as a horse.
"Greetings, visitor! Unfortunately, I am indisposed at the moment. Busy busy work! If you have a message, please speak it here, and I will try to get back to you as soon as possible. Goodbye!" Marwin's projection vanished.
Anyone else would have turned around and left. Instead, Kanae pressed on into the tower. She walked through the familiar corridors and stairs. Dust had accumulated plenty on shelves. Every floor seemed deserted and untended to. It wasn't until Kanae reached the topmost floor where Marwin's bedchamber was that she heard people present.
"Oh!" A mid-aged elven woman walked into Kanae at the top of the stairs. "Pardon me, Knight of Amethyst. Marwin Fransk isn't taking any visitors. He's been very… busy."
"Archbishop Patrice already told me he isn't well. I'm not here as Amethyst. Just a former student," Kanae explained.
The elf wrung her hands together. There were other clerics about this floor, who had poked their heads out from the doors to see what was going on. Every single one wore the distinct religious vestments from the Church of One, which worshipped the Supreme One. The large eye on their torso made that obvious. They must have been assigned here to look after Marwin. Probably sworn to secrecy about his illness, too.
"Oh, very well. Master Fransk has been ill for a year now. Bedridden for the past four months. He's barely awake for a few hours a day. It's a lot of work caring for him, but we're honored to serve an old hero in return. Come." She beckoned her to follow.
A cleric peering out from Marwin's bedchamber opened the door and stepped aside to let them through. The old wizard laid in bed, sheet pulled up to his chin. Kanae didn't recall his eyes and cheeks as sunken as they were now. He slept with a snore. She could have mistaken him for having a nap if it weren't for his caretakers present.
"Can I have a moment?" Kanae asked.
"Of course." The cleric ushered her colleagues out of the room.
Kanae pulled a chair from the desk over to the bed and sat down. Her old master looked so much more frail now. No longer the boogeyman that the succubi race made him out to be. Though, he was never like that to her. More like a perverted grandpa.
"You're finally going to kick the bucket, huh?" Kanae asked.
Through copious amounts of magical alterations, Marwin cheated death for a time. His body, covered in tattoos and runic engravings, transformed him into a menace during the Succubus Wars. Now, that body neared its end.
Memories of their mentorship came rushing back, and so did a wave of emotion. Those days might have been full of sex, but Kanae did learn a lot from Marwin. A tear streaked down her cheek when the door creaked open a second time. She thought a cleric had returned to tell her something, but a hulking minotaur entered instead.
"My old student!" The beastman threw his arms out.
"Marwin?! I thought… aren't you…" Kanae swapped glances between Marwin's body and the minotaur.
"Did you really think I would prefer to spend my last days in a deteriorating body, trapped in bed? Certainly not. Besides, in this state I can take care of loose ends before my passing," he explained.
Kanae jumped from her seat and flew into Marwin's minotaur arms. They wrapped around her back, and she buried her face into his broad fine-fur chest. When the two parted from the embrace, they took a seat next to each other by the real body.
"I'm sorry about keeping this a secret from you, my dear pupil. When my health began to decline, Archbishop Patrice suggested this. I agreed. Any indication to the Cult of Lust and Depravity that I am on my way out could only be disastrous," Marwin explained.
"So, you're really going to pass? Even though you're inhabiting another body?" Kanae asked.
He nodded. "Indeed! The body and soul are inextricably tied together. When my body passes, so too will my soul. This minotaur will return to being a minotaur. None can escape death for long. Except Elizabeth Bedlam apparently… that cunt won't share the details of her elixir of immortality. Ah, well. I, for one, am interested in seeing what the next life has to offer. My only regret is that I cannot aid you against the cult."
"You can rest easy that I'll figure something out," she said, putting a hand on his shoulder.
In the minotaur body, Marwin sprung an erection. The outline of the large beastly cock strained against pants that were already a tight fit on him.
"It would be a shame if I pass away without having one last tryst with my student!" Marwin shrugged.
"You can't be serious. The tournament is about to begin for the day! W-What if I come back tomorrow?" Kanae rose from her seat, slowly backing up towards the window.
"I could be gone any day now. There might not be a tomorrow!" He grabbed her waist just as she turned around and tore off his pants with the other hand.
Kanae's legs dangled beneath her, as well as the throbbing minotaur cock rubbing her crotch between her thighs. Marwin bent her over his slumbering human body. The tip of his member kissed the entrance to her pussy. She shuddered in pleasure, anticipating its size and how much it would split her open.
In a single thrust, Marwin plunged deep into Kanae's pussy and there was still plenty of length left. The impact knocked the wind from her lungs. She saw white. Her insides churned as Marwin began to move, the veins along his cock dragging against the walls.
"Ohh! Still as hot and tight as I remembered!" Marwin exclaimed.
"Just… hurry… I have to get… going…" Kanae moaned between words.
Marwin used Kanae like a toy. With both hands around her waist, he pumped her up and down his cock. She threw her head back, howling in pleasure. He turned her around to face his minotaur form, and now his thick balls slapped against her ass with every thrust.
"I'm going to empty this minotaur's load inside you, pupil!" Marwin groaned.
"Fill me up, Master! I want your cum inside me… give it to me! All of it— ahhhh!" Kanae climaxed in a spray of waterworks, drenching the minotaur wet.
Meanwhile, Marwin forced Kanae all the way down to the base, his cock crushing her womb to make more space. An incredible volume of minotaur cum emptied inside her, oozing out from where they were tightly collected. He pulled Kanae closer until her breasts were pressed to his chest and kissed her. She sucked on his large tongue, twitching in ecstasy. As soon as he lifted Kanae off his cock, a flood of cum spilled from her gaping pussy.
"That hit the spot!" Marwin wiped the sweat on his brows and put her down.
"Okay… I'll be going now… The clerics have my condolences for cleaning this up." Kanae sighed and rubbed her belly distended from so much spunk.
"Could you do me one more favor, pupil? It has been on my mind for a while now."
"What is it?"
"I would like to see your succubus friends. The ones who are daughters of the Queen-Mother. I want to… apologize for my role in their kind's genocide before I go," he said.
Kanae folded her arms. Personally, that didn't sound like a good idea. Marwin's death was supposed to be kept a secret after all. Alicia was the only one who knew, having been there for the revelation, but she also didn't share the same wrathful sentiments that her sisters held.
"No promises that they'll agree to see you, but I'll tell them," Kanae offered.
"Thank you, pupil. I've mentored many Knights of Colors in my life. No one has as kind of a heart as yours." Marwin smiled.
"This would be a very emotional moment if my pussy wasn't dripping with your cum, but thanks, Master." She bowed to him and leaped out of the window.
The tournament had likely started already. Kanae flew in haste to the stadium. She landed in the colonnades and hurried up the steps into the VIP spectator booth. The crowds were already going wild. Magical explosions rocked the arena from what could only be devastating spells.
Kanae guessed it was Archmage Donnu, who was fighting today. As for his opponent, she couldn't fathom a clue.
"Sorry, I'm late!" Kanae hopped into a seat.
No one minded her arrival. They were far too glued to the battle unfolding in the arena. It turned out that Archmage Donnu of Bravost was fighting. His opponent, to Kanae's surprise, was Saint Priest Bocchiri Ruu. A crowned Mage versus a specialized Ice Mage.
Bocchiri showered the arena with icicles, putting Donnu on the run and giving him little opportunity to cast spells back. They were both potent spellcasters in their own right. It was anyone's match.
Last night, after returning to Amethyst Hall following the meeting with Archbishop Patrice, Kanae had heard all about the rest of the matches that day. Claudia and Estaline, the Knight of Silver, faced off. Unfortunately for Esta, the battle ended in Claudia's victory, who withstood all of her attacks. Even a crowned Knight couldn't get through the defenses of a crowned Bulwark. Esta was seated a row down, sulking. Claudia, on the other hand, was positively glowing.
Seated above Kanae were Andora Sempter and Wendy Ironspear, the new Knight of Gold. Both were just as engrossed in the match as everyone else.
"How did your match go?" Kanae glanced behind and asked.
"Ugh. I don't want to talk about it…" Gold hung her head.
"It was pretty bad," Andora said, patting her cousin on the back.
"Who was your opponent?" she asked.
"Me!" The Knight of Red herself plopped down next to Kanae, holding a large bag full of bones with strips of meat left on them. "Don't sweat it, Goldie. I've got some years on you, and I know you gave it your all."
Sivvy Brenhallow, the large harpy woman of orange and red plumage, pulled a bone out and started gnawing on it. She had grown a little bulkier since coming back from Savir. It helped that she wasn't imprisoned either.
"I just wish I could have put up more of a fight…" Gold sighed.
"Not everyone can be like those two down there." Red crunched down on what looked like a femur.
Donnu and Bocchiri fought savagely. It was obvious they held back some. Their spells could level the stadium if misused. The magical barrier erected around the arena for protection might not be able to withstand their combined strength either.
"Who do you think is going to win?" Kanae asked.
"My gold's on Bocchiri. There's nothing like fighting a Saint Priest," Red said.
"Hah!" Vizier Duran erupted in laughter a few rows up, while being pampered by his harpy groupies. "Your confidence is misplaced, my lady. Archmage Donnu is a spellcaster of peerless talent. He cannot be—"
Bocchiri casted a spell that surrounded Donnu in a wall of ice. The Saviran native erected a magic shield around himself. However, that only made him a sitting duck. Trapped in one place, the Saint Priest rained down tower-tall ice spike after ice spike. A few punched part-way through the barrier.
"I yield! I yield!" Archmage Donnu cried, covered in sweat despite being surrounded by ice magic.
Since Archbishop Patrice was supposed to pretend to be comatose for a while, the sorceress Elizabeth Bedlam proctored the matches and declared Bocchiri Ruu the victor.
"Impossible!" Vizier Duran's jaw dropped.
"I'm telling you. Some of our Saint Priests are standing on taller peaks than us." Red grinned.
With Donnu's defeat, that left Minestra Val'doun left to represent a foreign power in the Knights' Tournament. Archbishop Patrice wasn't playing around when she wanted to demonstrate Radevic's strength to the rest of the world.
Eight more contestants remained. Edina Hackett, Minestra Val'doun, Camilla Rudeux, Petyr Stormcloud, Claudia, Knight of Red, Bocchiri Ruu, and Kanae herself. To be honest, she didn't want to fight a single one of them.
After two matches, the tournament ended early today. The quarter-finals started tomorrow, and contestants were encouraged to prepare as much as they could before the matches. As Kanae was about to get up and leave, a raven landed next to her. In fact, ravens visited Petyr, Red, and Edina, too.
"Amethyst," the raven began in Eliza's voice, "you will be facing Saint Priest Bocchiri Ruu tomorrow first."
Kanae grimaced. A Saint Priest. Really? Well, it wasn't as if another match-up would be any easier or harder. She glanced at the others who were visited by a raven. Petyr and the Knight of Red traded looks, with the former scoffing through her nose. And Claudia…
"Heh. I was hoping to get matched up with Petyr, but Edinny is going to be just as fun." Claudia cracked her knuckles.
"I'm glad you're raring to go, but you best not underestimate the necromancer," Hilde warned.
"I think you're screwed," Alicia teased.
"Can my own sisters encourage me instead?" the former Mistress of Pain groaned.
That left Camilla and Minestra being matched against each other then.
"Hm?" Kanae rose from her seat and noticed two faces absent. "Mikki and Aisha didn't want to come see the fights today?"
"Beats me. Mikki said she got a special job and won't be able to make it," Teana said.
"Really? That's strange. My sister told me the same thing," Mitty said about Aisha.
No, it wasn't strange now that Kanae thought about it. Both of them had a keen sense for alchemy. Yesterday, Archbishop Patrice got her hands on a sample of the blood of Satine. What good could possibly come from studying it?
"Wait!" Kanae snapped from her thoughts when the succubus sister trio unfurled their wings.
"What's up, Kanae?" Claudia turned around. "You wanna head downtown to Bonelands with us?"
"Actually, I… have something important to talk to you guys about," she explained reluctantly.