No matter how much you resist, the woman dragging you doesn't budge. The slightest breeze carries her floral scent into your nostrils, making your head spin, and your resistance softens without your permission. Women are dangerous. You curse it to yourself.
I could tell her I'm fertile and she'd probably freeze like the others, but this is… refreshing, and it beats being delivered to the princess. A smile tugs at your lips. I won't have any freedom there.
"Where are you dragging me?" you ask, keeping your voice gentle.
"Silence!" she barks, and your expression falls. Not so friendly, huh?
You twist your head over your shoulder and glance back at the door. Lina rushes out of the Gate Captain's office, her face pale as a sheet of paper.
"Wait! Dragon Knight, please. You made a mistake, he can't go to the walls!" Her plea bounces off the narrow passage as it coils upward into a spiral staircase, the old castle style that makes your stomach turn even when you're not being hauled like a prisoner.
"Hold your ground, warrior." The Dragon Knight's voice doesn't slow. "Resist my command and I'll execute you on the spot."
The sudden silence from below makes a chuckle slip out. In a way, it feels good that Lina was put in her place. Even now, that small betrayal from earlier sits in your chest like grit you can't swallow.
Short on breath, your heavy legs finally carry you to the top. The tower doors are slammed wide open, and a blast of wind hits your face, cold and sharp, carrying smoke, iron, and that faint floral scent this city keeps clinging to like pride.
Beyond the threshold stretches a wide passage of white stone, so clean it looks carved from moonlight, gold veins running through it like frozen lightning. Runes shimmer along the edges of the walkway, pulsing in a steady rhythm, as if the wall itself is breathing.
The moment your boot touches the crest, your head spins.
The world below turns tiny. The battlefield shrinks into moving specks and streaks of color, bodies scattered like broken dolls, banners whipping in the distance. Smoke rises in lazy columns, and flashes of magic bloom and die like silent fireworks.
Up here, it feels less like you're looking down from a tower and more like you're standing on top of the world, where one wrong step would send you falling into it.
From this height, it finally hits you how far you've been dragged. The battlefield is distant, almost unreal, yet still visible if you focus, like a scar you can't stop staring at.
"Take a spot among the others, and don't you dare move an inch unless you're told to." The command in the blue-haired Dragon Knight's voice lands hard, and somehow it still sounds a little sexy. The moment she lets go of your hand, a brief sadness washes through you. It felt good to hold it.
Only when she fades from view do you notice the loud breathing to your right. A tall man stands there, and another, six of them in total lined up along the battlements, all facing the world outside the city.
From what you can tell, every one of them looks around forty, maybe younger. Hard times do that. Back in your world, people joked that the past aged men faster, but standing here with war in the distance and wind cutting your lungs, it doesn't feel like a joke at all.
"What are we here for?" you ask almost nonchalantly. From up here, nothing looks dire. No enemies crawling over the stone, no blades flashing on the battlements, only the wide stretch of sky and the distant scars of the battlefield far beyond the city.
Then it hits again.
A low, rolling boom, deep enough to rattle your ribs, thunders somewhere down the line. The wall beneath your boots hums with it, and a heartbeat later a streak of light tears upward from the towers, carving a glowing arc through the air. Another boom follows, then another, staggered like a slow drumbeat. Each shot leaves a shimmer behind, as if the sky is being scraped raw by magic.
The men beside you flinch with every blast, breath loud, eyes fixed outward, waiting for something you still can't see.
"Brother, aren't you too brave?" The tall, bulky man on your right stammers, and you'd swear his teeth are chattering. "H-how can you stand in their presence? Th-those…"
You would've thought he'd be the bravest one up here, but he's trembling like a kitten.
"What are you talking about?" you ask, brows knitting. "Who am I supposed to be afraid of?" You scan the battlements, but nothing comes into view, only female warriors firing into the sky with spectral weapons that look like bows made of light.
Another boom rolls through the stone.
You finally tilt your head up, and that's when you see it. Something catches the light far above, drifting between the clouds like a lazy shadow, and your heart nearly jumps out of your chest. Not from fear. Not even close.
"The succubi!" the man hisses, horror thick in his voice. "Those filthy demons… How can you not be afraid? They crawl into your dreams, suck you dry, and… and…" His throat bobs as he swallows. "They kill you without even laying a hand on you in the real world!"
Your mind swallows the word kill and leaves you with only suck you dry. The thought alone makes you gulp.
There they are, high in the sky…
You've seen succubi in fantasy movies, anime, and drawings, but none of it compares to reality. Their bodies are barely covered. Tight leather clings to every curve, and your eyes catch flashes of pink and brown nipples where fabric should be doing its job, but isn't. Calling them dressed feels generous. They're almost naked.
Black tails whip behind them, the tips shaped like hearts, and each flick sends a wave of crimson light crashing down onto the wall. The stone shudders under your boots, the air humming as if the city itself is being struck by lust turned into magic.
Small black horns crown their heads, barely curved, and your gaze lingers long enough for your imagination to do what it does best. You wonder how they'd feel in your hands while she takes you deep, greedy, and shameless.
A normal thought for you. One you've never been ashamed of.
That one has a plum ass. And that one—damn. Her pussy isn't even properly covered. A hint of pink flashes when she twists in the air. Your mind starts blowing trumpets, and your buddy slowly wakes up, pressing hard against the fabric of your pants.
"Line the men up. We'll use them as bait!" The familiar voice of the blue-haired Dragon Knight cuts through the noise. On her order, the women move fast. Hands seize you by the arms, force you down, and before you can blink, they're stripping your clothes with the efficiency of soldiers preparing a weapon.
"Not even going to treat me to dinner first?" you joke, and the women shoot you strange looks. You're the only one not screaming for mercy.
"They're too fast in the sky," the Dragon Knight says, her voice cold as steel. "Your job is to make them want you. Let them drag you into the dream and keep them there long enough for us to kill them." Her gaze pins you. "Stay strong, warrior. Your sacrifice will be remembered. If you survive, you'll be rewarded with the highest honor."
She draws a cross on your forehead and presses her soft and warm lips there. The kiss hits you like a spell all on its own, leaving you stunned.
Sacrifice? Are they kidding me? This is a dream come true.
Almost immediately, as your smile stretches wider than it should, crimson eyes above flash in unison. The world tilts. Your stomach drops. Dizziness rolls through you as if reality is being peeled away layer by layer.
"Oh my god! This is the best thing that's ever happened to me!" you shout, and both the men and women around you stare like you've lost your mind.
The crimson light intensifies, and the bright sky is swallowed whole as a dark, blood-red world slips into its place. Only the soft tap of boots against the floor echoes in your head, followed by laughter, sultry and inviting, filling the small crimson room.