After issuing instructions to Varg, who was still dazed and massaging his sore throat, Lilith returned to the vicinity of the castle accompanied by her escort of three succubi. With a single gesture, she dismissed the surviving skeletons to their routine tasks - clearing the battlefield and patrolling the borders.
The battle had ended in a crushing victory, but the casualty reports flowing in as notifications caused Lilith's enthusiasm to dampen slightly.
Over 300 skeletal soldiers had been turned to dust, 10 skeleton commanders had perished, and two precious mages were destroyed during the werewolves' desperate counterattacks. Worse still, the operation of the Obelisks during those dozen or so minutes of intense combat had devoured a flat 1,500 gold coins.
"I have to spend a fortune again just to return to full readiness," she muttered, feeling her eye begin to twitch nervously as she stood in the Crypt, summoning the fallen. Gold coins vanished from her account at a rate that made her head spin.
She let out a heavy breath, trying to calm herself. "The potato delivery is tomorrow, Lilith... The delivery is tomorrow. The account balance will return to normal. After all, wiping out that pack brought in nearly 10,000 gold from system loot, so the balance is still in the black."
She smiled crookedly as she returned to the castle, recalling Lysandra's dark proposal. During their return, the white succubus had suggested forcing the surviving werewolves to skin their own companions to sell their meat and make clothes and blankets from the furs.
"It would be the most profitable move, pure pragmatism..." she whispered to herself, stretching lazily. "But still... it seems too inhuman."
She looked at her sharp talons and smiled with a touch of self-irony. "If I can even be called human anymore."
When she landed before the gates of her castle, she focused her will and activated her human form. Wings and horns vanished, and her skin lost its demonic luster. She looked at her now delicate, small hands.
"Well, that looks more like a human," she stated with a sigh, entering the castle and walking down the corridor toward the Altar. "I ordered the skeletons to bury those wolves. Creating graves for them will show the survivors that, as their new ruler, I care for my subjects. Maybe those mutts will be more willing to swing their pickaxes in the mines."
She entered the chamber with the Demon King's Altar. Her eyes lit up at the sight of tonight's main course. She pulled out the two hero souls eliminated by Mina and Lysandra. She placed them on the altar, which immediately flared with dark light.
[You have sacrificed a Level 1 Hero Soul. Skill points +3!]
[You have sacrificed a Level 1 Hero Soul. Skill points +3!]
"Six points... not bad," she murmured.
Then she pulled out the final soul. Verial's soul was noticeably larger, denser, and pulsed with a blood-red rhythm that seemed to almost burn Lilith's hand.
"Hoo, so the appearance of souls changes with strength as well," she noted with interest.
The Altar reacted violently when she sacrificed the hero soul, and a notification popped up before Lilith's eyes that made her nearly jump with shock:
[You have sacrificed a Level 2 Hero Soul. Skill points +20!]
"WHAT?!" she shouted at the top of her lungs, the echo bouncing off the chamber walls. "Twenty points?! Damn, that wolf really was strong, considering how he traded blows with Kala, but to give nearly seven times more points than the others?!"
Lilith stood before the Altar with her mouth wide open. The skill point counter in her interface pulsed with a golden glow. 27 points. It was a fortune she wouldn't trade for all the gold in the world. These souls were worth more than entire mines.
"Alright then..." she whispered, her fingers hovering over the last two icons in the skill tree. "No more half-measures. Time to become a full-fledged Succubus."
With a decisive motion, she tapped both at once.
[Skill "Succubus Endurance" has been successfully activated!]
Description: Allows for the instant burning of accumulated Desire Energy to regenerate stamina and restore the user's mana resources.
[Skill "Succubus Desire" has been successfully activated!]
Description: Allows for the passive accumulation and storage of Desire Energy.
In a split second, the world spun. Lilith felt a sudden, sharp sting straight in her heart, as if someone had pierced her with an ice needle.
"Agh!" she groaned, falling to one knee.
She clenched her lips so hard she almost tasted blood and desperately clutched her chest with her left hand. Her heart began to beat in an unnatural, wild rhythm as she was forced back into her demonic form. She felt something impossible beginning to happen beneath her skin, right next to the throbbing heart muscle.
Inside her chest, tissues began to part, making room for something new. She felt a burning and a strange pressure as a small, glowing ball - shimmering with crystalline, neon pink - formed there.
It was a new organ - an ethereal weave of veins and energy that pulsed in time with her breath. The Desire Core was born in pain, entwining Lilith's heart with a network of fine, luminous channels that were henceforth to pump a new form of power throughout her body.
Lilith remained in that position for several minutes, moaning from the pain that radiated to her fingertips. Sweat dripped from her forehead onto the cold floor until finally, the burning gave way to a soothing warmth.
"Haa... haaa..." she breathed heavily, straightening up with difficulty. "What... what was that?"
A notification flashed before her eyes:
[Congratulations! You have acquired a Desire Core.]
"Desire Core?" Lilith furrowed her brow, still massaging her chest.
[System: This is a unique organ of the Succubus race, allowing for the full utilization of the "Succubus Desire" skill. It serves as a vessel in which Desire Energy is stored and processed.]
"Dammit..." Lilith hissed, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. "You could have at least told me, system, that I'd have to go through such 'plastic surgery' on my innards! I would have at least prepared!"
The system, however, did not care for her complaints and immediately threw out another message that almost "spat" at her with its authoritative tone:
[All Level 1 talents activated. Advancement conditions met!]
At that same moment, the pain was replaced by a wave of pure, euphoric power. Lilith felt every cell in her body - from the tips of her horns to the ends of her wings - begin to vibrate and expand. She felt her blood grow hotter and her senses sharpen to their absolute limits.
"Ahhh...!" A loud, deep moan of pleasure and relief escaped her throat as she sank to her knees again, this time from the excess of energy. She felt the old skin and limitations shatter, releasing a gigantic amount of mana.
[LEVEL ADVANCEMENT SUCCESSFUL!]
Lilith lay on the cool floor for a long time, her chest heaving in time with her heavy breaths. It took several minutes for the spots before her eyes to vanish and for her to regain full consciousness.
"Dammit... what... what was that?" she rasped, feeling her body still trembling.
Then she felt it. Her newborn organ, the Desire Core, was pulsing intensely right next to her heart. It was working like an insatiable pump. Lilith's face flushed as she instinctively understood what had happened: the euphoric wave of energy triggered by the advancement was so powerful that her body had reacted with the strongest orgasm she had ever experienced.
The Core immediately captured that pure desire energy, absorbing it to the last drop and storing it inside the crystalline sphere.
"Oh no..." she murmured, covering her face with her hand, feeling a mixture of embarrassment and absurd relief. "I owe the best high of my life to the system? That is... awkward."
Despite the shame, she took a deep breath and smiled to herself, straightening her back. "At least Succubus Desire works passively. I don't have to exert myself to collect energy. It just 'falls' inside."
As the last wave of energy was stored, a golden system window flashed before her eyes, congratulating her on her new stage of existence:
[Congratulations on your successful advancement! Here are your stat increases:]
HP: +200
MP: +400
Strength: +20
Agility: +40
Stamina: +20
Charisma: +60
Mental Damage Resistance: +30%
[All base stats have been enhanced. Your presence now emanates greater pressure.]
Lilith sat up abruptly, her eyes nearly popping out of their sockets.
"Oh, holy hell..."