Salamander

Since there was no place to stay in Lady's Village except perhaps the mansion, we walked a couple of hours and then set up camp. It's not that the mansion's amenities weren't lovely. Emily would certainly have allowed us to stay. Alice was the Monster Lord, after all, it's not as if Emily could say no. But it was best that we didn't, both for our sakes and Emily's. I didn't want to be there and I'm sure Emily wanted the killer of her mother out of her house.

I wondered how powerful I'd get once I had all four spirits and knew how to use them. For the moment, I felt that I had a basic understanding of wind and earth, and pretty much zero understanding of water. So Alice, in our training that night, decided to focus on helping me learn to use that element.

"Go on, close your eyes," she said. "I'm going to slap you as hard as I can."

"Is it really necessary to slap me as hard as you can?" I asked. "I'm getting the impression you're enjoying this training a little too much."

"Of course I'm enjoying it," she said sweetly. "But I don't abuse you just for fun. There's always a purpose. If it didn't hurt a lot, you wouldn't be motivated."

Several slaps later, all I got was lots of pain. But she did teach me another new technique, similar to Demon Skull Beheading but using the power of the Earth behind it. Legend had it that the creator of this technique beheaded so many warriors that she was able to make a staircase out of their skulls to scale the enemy's walls. I didn't understand why Alice had to tell me these horrible back stories, even if I knew that no effective violent technique gets invented any other way. The good news was that I no longer had to climb anything or come off of a wall. I could use the power of the Earth to increase my leg strength and jump.

It was only a few hours after waking that we reached the volcano. It was hot. What a shocker. But you're still not ready for that kind of heat until you experience it. I was worried that I wouldn't be able to survive the heat long enough to find Salamander. Sylph came to my rescue. Since we were close, she had a fix on exactly where Salamander was and was prepared to guide me. We walked deeper into the volcano. The place was quite active. Lava pools were common. Monsters, fortunately, were not. I was grateful for that, and wondering why Alice said this would be terrifying. Was Salamander herself terrifying? Just then, I heard a deep rumbling sound from a nearby antechamber.

"That's a very powerful opponent in there," Alice said. "If you can't use the power of water, you're going to die here. It's now or never for you."

"What?!" I exclaimed. "Really?! Well, thanks for the advice, I guess. Use the power of water or die. Okay."

Alice disappeared and I walked into the antechamber. She hadn't been kidding. It was a dragon! It wasn't quite what I expected. The girl portion of the dragon was actually inside the dragon's mouth. That mouth could easily hold my entire body as well as the body of the girl already inside.

"Oh? A human? What rare prey! You will make a fabulous meal!" she said.

I still wasn't used to facing death. Maybe I'd never get used to it. Being taken, forced to be a slave, or a mate? That I'd reconciled myself to. Not death.

I summoned both Sylph and Gnome and charged forward. That might not have been the best idea. My intention had been to strike at the human portion of the dragon, as that was obviously the weakest part. She was ready for that and just reached out with her mouth and closed it around me. Before I knew it, I was completely engulfed in her mouth, her tongue wrapped around my body, restraining me. Furthermore, her human part was in there with me, holding me tenderly.

"There's no escape now, my delicious little man," she said. "I could chew you into mush. I could swallow you whole. But I intend to savor you. I'm just going to suck on you until you dissolve. I haven't had semen in a long time, so shoot out a lot for me."

I struggled, and I could feel myself making headway, but the struggles were also causing my penis to move around against that tongue and her body, slickened by the tongue's saliva. It took me entirely too long to get out. Just before I did manage to break the hold, I felt a surge of pleasure that I was convinced was an orgasm, but it passed. Not before I made a face that made the dragon girl laugh at me, however. Finally free, I took advantage of Sylph's speed to attack whatever parts of the dragon that I could reach. It was clear that I could probably not seal the dragon without reaching her human portion. Angel Halo was enchanted, and it was obviously leeching some of the dragon's power from the places I was hitting. But not nearly fast enough. I had still held out slim hope that I could win without having to figure out how to use the power of water in the middle of a battle. But I didn't think I'd be able to avoid the dragon's mouth for much longer. And she hadn't even brought her claws or flame into play! She was focused on not damaging her food, but I knew that if I did real damage that the gloves would come off.

One solid hit at a tender portion of her side is what did it. Now she was angry. "How dare you attempt to seal me?! I don't care about your pathetic semen any longer! I will simply crush and incinerate you!"

I still have no idea how I did it. Rather than pee my pants as I once did when faced with imminent death, my mind went serene. It wasn't quite like the serenity Undine had induced in me. That was more like relaxation. This was the serenity of acceptance. Acceptance that my life could end right here. Was this what Alice was talking about? It must have been, because my perceptions changed. I was seeing all of the different flows of energy around me. It was as if there was nothing there but me, and that dragon. The volcano was gone. I could see the flow of air, the flow of sound, the flow of power. I had become one with the world.

The dragon, which I hadn't even noticed had been laying down while fighting me, had risen and charged at me, intending to swipe me with a massive claw. Sometimes with Sylph summoned, everything seemed to be moving in slow motion, making it easier to dodge attacks, but this was different. It didn't affect my perception of time, so much as make it possible to see the attack's trajectory, as if it was moving through water, or more accurately had already passed through water. I could see that the claw was going to swipe at a 56 degree angle down and to the right. I simply decided not to be there. Just like that, I wasn't. It was almost as if her attack itself had pushed me out of the way by disturbing the flow of energy, as if that energy was water.

"I see it! The flow!" I exulted.

"Flow?" the dragon girl said. "What are you talking about? Are you hallucinating in fear?"

I felt another wave coming, saw the attack and where it was headed. She was going to bite down on me. The gigantic mouth formed a huge wave in the flow of power, so big I could not possibly have failed to catch it. I simply went with it and once again I wasn't there when her mouth slammed shut.

"What the?! How did you evade my attack?! Why can't I hit him!?"

She attacked again and again, faster and faster, yet all she did was toss me around on the waves of power. All I'd ever had to do was give myself to this flow. I knew I must be moving, otherwise these waves would have carried me away from danger whether I knew of them or not. But knowing about them and letting them control me…. A memory returned, some song called "Jesus Take the Wheel." Something bigger than me was driving right now. My body was doing this, but I wasn't directly in control of it anymore. The flow was. I had taken the flow into my heart. I wondered if I could somehow use this for offense. I saw that indeed there was a path through the flow towards the dragon girl's vulnerable human portion. Entrusting my sword arm to follow the path, I struck at her. It was a direct hit. What's more, unlike before, I could actually see how much damage I'd done. Before I'd always wondered if my hits were having an effect. I'd never been able to tell if I was winning until the monster was sealed or obviously weakening. I could immediately tell that this hit had come within a hair's breadth of sealing her. She would not be able to withstand another.

Of course, she knew that too, and so she let fly with her flame. I have no idea how, but entrusting my heart to the flow allowed me to move and put my sword in the correct position to split the flame so that it passed around me instead of incinerating me. The dragon girl didn't accept the physics of this anymore than I did.

"What? You can't cut flame! That doesn't even make sense!" she shouted.

Hey, don't ask me to explain it here, I'm not a physicist. It worked, I was alive, I wasn't complaining. The problem with my disbelief at what happened is that I lost the flow and the real world came crashing back into my perceptions. I hadn't noticed that the pressure of the heat had disappeared while I was in the flow. The renewed feeling of the heat made me suddenly woozy.

Seeing my vulnerability, the dragon girl shouted, "I'm going to swallow you whole!"

Leave it to me to end a beautiful fight with a sloppy move. In a panic I thrust blindly at her as her gigantic mouth came at me. It was the mirror image of my initial blunder. I had delivered myself into her mouth at the start of the battle. At the end of it, she had delivered her human portion to my sword.

"Impossible…" she gasped as she faded away, transformed into a small lizard. No, not small. Huge, actually. But tiny compared to what she was. That lizard was big enough to resume the fight had it desired to. It did not desire to. It scurried off, deeper into the volcano.

"You almost gave me a heart attack!" It was Alice. I'd started hearing her screaming even before she materialized. "How could you lose concentration at such a critical moment? You were dragon food if not for dumb luck! Just watching that shortened my life!"

"I'm touched that you care, Alice," I said sardonically.

"You know that I care!" she yelled. "I thought we settled that!"

"We did," I said. "But it's like you said about me being with other women. You can know something in your head but feel something else in your heart. I'll never really get used to the idea that you can just stand there while I get murdered."

"I understand," she said. "I really do. Great job figuring out how to use Undine's power. But why did you lose concentration?"

"Cutting fire didn't make much sense to me. Thinking about how that might be possible took me out of the serene state."

"Since when are you an intellectual?!" she said, her voice rising again. "That's precisely why I had you go find the spirits! It's an ideal way for someone to get powerful without having to think too much! So of course the one time you're supposed to keep that head of yours empty you start trying to figure out the physics of fire!"

"How did that work, anyway?" I wondered.

"I'd explain it to you, but your head might break. Maybe another time. Salamander is here."

I didn't know it was Salamander, but I had definitely sensed the presence of something powerful coming in the wind. I turned and came face to face with the final spirit.

"I am Salamander," she said. "I know you came seeking my power. I know that you already have the other three spirits with you. You must win me over the same way you won them. Show me your power. But I warn you, I'm harder to impress."

I pulled out my sword, ready for battle. Alice interjected, however. "Luka, I'll give you a warning. Salamander is Granberia's instructor. "

I wasn't sure if that was supposed to be the terrifying news. After that dragon, I think I took it well.

"Hmmm, that's an old story," Salamander said. "Granberia is now far more powerful than me. That means that if you can't beat me, you can't beat Granberia."

"I can't beat Granberia," I said. "at least not with a sword. That's why I came to you."

Salamander narrowed her eyes at me, then addressed Alice. "This idiot's statement seems to be inferring that he can beat Granberia without a sword."

Alice smirked."He did."

Salamander's eyes went wide. "How did he beat her? With an axe? A mace? A crossbow? Magic?"

"His bare hands," Alice said proudly. Salamander started to sputter. "Don't get too bent out of shape, Salamander. Your former student can be an idiot herself sometimes. She had him beaten after they crossed swords and his was destroyed. Not wanting to use her weapon against an unarmed opponent, she fought him unarmed so that it would be a fair fight."

That wasn't a perfect summation but close enough. "That does sound like my Granberia," Salamander mused. "Still, most impressive. I can see why you thought he might have the potential to use the spirits."

"Does that mean I pass?" I said hopefully.

"Do you think I've gone soft since I taught Granberia?" Salamander replied. "Do you think I'd make it that easy on you?"

"I guess not," I admitted.

"Then show me your strength!" she yelled and assumed a fighting stance.

Since this was Granberia's teacher, I thought I'd show her some fancy sword work, without using the elements. I wasn't sure how she would defend herself, as she seemed to be unarmed, but assumed that given her reputation and the fact she was basically made of fire, she had plenty of ways to fight. That was true and then some. Before I even closed the distance she was lightly scorching me with fireballs. I got the impression that if she wanted to, she could have incinerated me on the spot with those. Instead, they just burned a little. When I got close, I struck at her and connected. She didn't even act as if she'd been hit, firing back with a flaming punch to my gut. That one hurt. I doubled over from the impact.

"I already know you can use a sword," she said. "This is about you being entrusted with the spirits. That's what I want to see."

I summoned Sylph and Gnome together, leaving out Undine for the moment since I had less confidence in that ability. Despite my enhanced speed, Salamander dodged each sword strike as if I was in slow motion. Yet I was unable to dodge most of her punches and kicks, which hit harder than anything I'd ever experienced, and I'd been punched by an ant queen who could supposedly lift ten times her weight! Still, Salamander took care not to do any real damage. She was punishing me with pain, but not real harm. At least not yet.

"It does look like you can use the elements a little," she said as we paused, mainly because I had to catch my breath. "But I want to see your serene mind state. I want to see you use Undine's power. You did it before. I need to know that it wasn't a fluke. Do it again!"

I tried to find that serene state once again. With some shakiness, I found it, although I felt it wasn't as perfect as before. It was also taking more out of me. I saw something dangerous approaching through the flow. I moved my sword to meet it. It was a gigantic fireball! As before, the precise placement of my sword split the fireball in two, causing both sides to pass me, merely singeing me. Since I'd seen it before, my concentration didn't break this time.

"Good!" Salamander said. "Now use it for offense! Try to hit me!"

I did, following the flow to the most vulnerable point on Salamander. It hit hard. I could tell that it had taken something out of Salamander, although she was strong. I could sense that it would take at least a dozen of those perfect hits to seal her. She counterattacked with her fists. I merely let the flow carry me away from them. My own counterattack hit again. Salamander reeled back.

Suddenly the serene state was gone and I was thrust back into the real world. A punch to my jaw decked me. Salamander stood over me grinning. "You pass, Luka," she said. "I'll entrust my power of fire to you! It won't be of much use to you initially. You'll have to get better with the flow before you can safely make use of it. Fire is the most dangerous and difficult element of all to wield correctly. At best, you'll be able to use it to enhance the power of your sword. My element has a lot of synergy with Angel Halo and enchanted swords in general. Before you try to infuse yourself with fire, you may want to try doing it to your sword first. Once you've mastered control over that, you can safely attempt to use it on yourself."

I had done it! I now had all four spirits! Hope surged within me. As much of a force multiplier as Sylph and Gnome were, if I could use all four at the same time at even a middling level of power, who knew what I could accomplish? But would I achieve that level of power before reaching the Monster Lord's castle?

"Oh potential warrior, accept my power!" Salamander intoned, holding her palm out to me. I touched it, and with a flash of light, she vanished and I felt her within me. My body seemed to heat up, but not in a dangerous way. As a matter of fact, the oppressive heat of the volcano no longer bothered me. Good thing too, because that exertion had taken a lot out of me. I felt rejuvenated, like I could take on any challenge.

I really had to learn not to broadcast such thoughts so loudly. This world didn't wait to penalize me for saying something out loud. This world would come at me just for having thoughts. The ground began to shake, as if there was an earthquake.

"Alice, is the volcano going to erupt?!" I shouted. I didn't think the elements or even my weird power could save me from that. Either Alice would have to teleport me out or I'd be dead.

"No," she said. "It's-"

The ceiling above me crashed to the floor. As the dust cleared, I saw facing me the former student herself, Granberia. I heard Salamander in my head. "Oh, I've got front row seats to this one!"

"It's been awhile, boy," Granberia said. "It seems you've progressed twenty years since we last met."

"As much as I love sparring with you, Granberia," I said. "it almost feels like cheating. I've gotten quite a bit better with my sword, to be sure, thanks to Alice, but I'm only as good as I am now because I've got help from the spirits. Is it really fair for me to fight you using them?"

"Seems that you know me well already," Granberia replied. "You know exactly why I'm here. I don't mind you using the spirits at all. It doesn't give you an unfair advantage. I use the elements as well. All the spirits do is enable you to do what I do without the years of training. But I warn you, except for a tiny bit of fire, I've never called upon my elemental abilities to fight you. This time I'm using everything I know. So you'd better do the same. The only way you leave here a free man is to beat me. Otherwise, you're mine. I'm done waiting."

"I'm flattered that you like me so much," I said. "I like you as well. I just wish we could get to know each other in a more traditional way. Dinner, a play, maybe go on a horse ride... This beat me up and drag me back to your lair thing doesn't strike me as a great way to build a relationship."

"You should be honored," Granberia replied. "I've never claimed anyone before. No one has ever been worthy. I hear Alipheese hasn't been willing to claim you either. I won't treat you like that. I respect you! I never thought I'd meet a man worthy of me. Today I take what's mine!"

"This is terribly sudden, Granberia," Alice said. "Are you ignoring my decree about attacking heroes without provocation again?"

"But… But Alipheese!" Granberia's confidence seemed shaken. "Heroes are simply disgusting soldiers of Ilias! Luka is different! I'm not attacking a hero of Ilias. I'm attacking someone worthy of crossing blades with me! Someone worthy of being a lover! If you wish to deny me, you know how to do so! Have you changed your mind?"

"I see," Alice said, not answering. She turned to me. "Luka, it seems Granberia doesn't care about heroes or the Monster Lord at the moment. She's fixated on you. What do you want to do?"

What I really wanted to ask is what Alice wanted me to do. Was refusal to fight on the table? Would that have consequences when I faced Granberia later? If Alice would just claim me, Granberia would have to go away. And yet she still refused. I understood her reticence, but it put me in a tough position. I really did like Granberia, but I was growing to have much deeper feelings for Alice. I was quite sure that I was in love with her. I was no longer holding back those feelings although I hadn't expressed them to her yet. If I lost this fight, my journey was over. I would be Granberia's, probably for life. It didn't seem so bad, and yet right now I was desperate to avoid it. But I couldn't take the coward's way out.

"I accept your challenge," I said firmly.

"Now show me, boy!" Granberia yelled. "Fight with everything you have right from the start!"

I went straight to Undine. Facing Granberia made the serene state easier. I no longer feared her. I knew I would probably lose. I accepted that as well. The world changed around me. I could see and feel the flows of energy everywhere.

"That's what I've been waiting for!" Granberia exulted.

She stepped forward and slashed with her sword. It looked like a huge wave coming at me, somehow even bigger than any wave the dragon had produced despite its much larger size. I let that giant wave push me aside, evading her attack.

"Oho! I see!" she said.

I quickly countered, following the flow back to Granberia. There was no weak spot on her other than her lower neck and a small portion of her chest. But the flow didn't direct me there, because her defense was impenetrable. She was just too skilled to take a direct hit to her center like that. Where armor didn't cover her, tough dragon scales did. Instead, the flow directed me to the weakest area of her defense. For the first time in three battles, I landed a solid hit on her. It was a doozy too. The force of the blow knocked her back.

"P… Powerful!" she exclaimed. "How can you wield so much force! Ah, I remember now, you're from a different dimension. Humans are stronger there! I just never realized because you never managed to hit me before! But I can use the flow as well!"

Through the superior combat vision that Undine gave me I saw Granberia join me within the flow. Even though she had told me she could use the elements, I had still assumed she was only proficient in fire.

"Aren't you the swordsman of fire!?" I asked. "Why would you use a water ability?!"

"Having a serene mind is natural for a warrior," she replied. "The attribute its associated with is meaningless."

Swinging down the flow, her sword flashed towards me. It was almost like getting targeted by a gun with a laser pointer. I knew exactly where she was going to hit me and knew that if it did hit the fight was already over. I tried to let the flow push me aside. It did, but not completely. I was struck a glancing blow. Our abilities were cancelling each other out. My advantage was gone. If it was going to be like this, I wanted out of the flow and back to the real world. Not that I could have held on anyway. Granberia's strike had ruined my concentration.

Now having exited the flow, I could no longer tell if Granberia was still in it. If she was, I was finished. Fortunately, it appeared that she wanted to talk.

"I mastered that skill 20 years ago," she said.

"If you don't mind my asking, how old are you? I know dragonkin can live a long time."

"I'm 25," she replied. "But no more talking! Now we fight to the finish! Let our blades speak for us!"

She swung at me again, neither of us using elements at the moment. I parried and responded with Demon Decapitation. I assumed she'd parry it as she always had, but maybe I was getting better at this move after all. It grazed her cheek. She pulled back and put her hand on the cut, checking for blood. Of course, Angel Halo didn't draw blood. It drew energy, and now she had sprung a very minor leak. Still, she was astonished.

"How many years has it been since I was wounded in battle? Ah, my pulse is racing. My spirit is burning!"

That sounded disturbingly like she was getting turned on by this. Was this a fight or her idea of foreplay? Perhaps both? She came at me as she had in our previous two battles, a flurry of strikes, albeit no special moves. By now I could parry those in my sleep. In fact, I cut her again with a normal counter. Not even a special move! No elements either! Another glowing cut opened on her side. Angel Halo had even penetrated her armor! Was I winning?!

"Time to settle this," she said. That didn't sound good.

Thank goodness Alice taught me most of her sword techniques because I instantly recognized the footwork for Death Sword Chaos Star. I knew of no way to avoid that. All I could do was remember Alice telling me that the only defense against that move was to execute the move myself. That somehow even though the attacks seemed random, they would parry each other instead of us mutually carving each other up. Seeing no alternative, I matched the move. To my surprise, most of the hits were deflected or parried. Our swords crashed together again and again. I didn't even really know where my sword was going. It just always seemed to find Granberia's. No, not always. I took some cuts. When I broke away and looked down at my body, I had several cuts on me. Closed cuts, nonlethal like the ones I was giving her, but cuts nonetheless. They throbbed painfully. I could feel that my sword arm was no longer responding as well as it did before. It didn't seem possible to win anymore, and from what Alice had told me, that wasn't even her best move.

For the moment, however, she resumed her normal attacks. Now the battle was beginning to more closely resemble what had gone before. With my sword arm hurt, I was barely getting my sword up to block and parry her strikes. Offense was simply not possible. It was only a matter of time before I was defeated, either through one big hit or exhaustion.

I summoned Gnome and Sylph to try to gain some advantage, any advantage. For a moment it worked. My strikes became faster with more power behind them. I began to drive Granberia back, the initiative recovered. I couldn't maintain this for long. Sylph and Gnome simply did not have the stamina to support me for more than a few minutes at a time. If I didn't find a way to end this, it would be over. Falling back on my hand to hand training, I landed a powerful spirit-assisted side kick to Granberia's midsection. It knocked her off her feet. Before she could rise I began striking at her, hoping for a good enough hit to seal her or severely weaken her. Even from her back she parried almost all of my strikes as I swung again and again. I thought she would be getting angry. I didn't know what constituted fair or unfair in a duel in her culture. But far from being mad that I was striking at her while she was down, she seemed to be enjoying the thrill of the combat. One of my strikes got through her guard and opened a large cut along her lower neck and chest. As if to say she was done with this part of the game, she swept my leg. Now I was on my back as well.

She pounced at me, seeking to mount me and place her sword at my neck, which would have forced me to surrender. I kicked my legs out, catching her mid-pounce, knocking her back again. We both rose to our feet. Sylph and Gnome were pooped. My elements-fueled advantage was gone. Even Granberia was a little tired now, not to mention wounded. Both of us were, me with cauterized cuts all over my body, Granberia with three energy draining cuts from Angel Halo. They were finally starting to take a toll on her. But the outcome was no longer in doubt. I had nothing. She still had plenty.

She was about to show me how much she still had. I saw her feet shift. Death Sword Chaos Star? No, something else, something I hadn't seen before. But similar. I had no choice but to respond in kind. I did. It was completely ineffective. The move she executed on me was not what I expected, it was her ultimate move. Alice later told me it was called Vaporizing Rebellion Sword. It was Death Sword Chaos Star, but with her flame element turned up to full force and with strikes several times faster, several times more forceful. As I saw her sword flame up for the first time since I'd seen her fight in Iliasburg, I knew I was about to experience a lot of pain. I had seen her turn the flame on before, but when she had used it last it had been only to drive a soldier away just from the mere heat of it. She had never deigned to use it on me before. Her sword lashed out for the first of what seemed dozens of strikes. I got my sword arm up in time to begin the counter Alice had taught me. It didn't even deflect the first strike. By the second strike, my sword was no longer even moving. I was cut dozens of times. Her flaming sword went right through me. One cut went from my left shoulder and exited out my right side. Another cleaved all the way through my spine horizontally. Others cleaved right through my legs, my arms, even my neck. The pain was indescribable. I was shocked, certain that she had killed me. The look on her face was so intense, I couldn't even interpret it. Was she surprised she had gone this far? Had she let her anger take over? I heard Alice scream. I fell to the ground on my back, certain that I would separate into a hundred pieces upon impact with the ground. I did not. I remained intact. Even though the sword had gone right through me, like Angel Halo, the cuts weren't fatal. They sure felt like it. I was paralyzed, either from pain or because something really had been severed. It felt like she had severed my spine in several places.

She looked down at me, that intense look still on her face. "Don't be afraid," she said. "You aren't going to die. The pain will subside as well. But you won't be able to move for some time."

She was right. The pain had already gone from intolerable, almost beyond my mind's capacity to process it, to merely excruciating.

"There's no need to be ashamed," she said. "For a human, you did well. I cannot express my gratitude deeply enough for giving me a chance to cross swords with a near equal."

She stared at me laying there. "After a battle, I get so hot. My monster instinct makes me desire your semen."

"Granberia…" Alice spoke up. "Luka just obtained Salamander's power. Naturally, he has no idea how to use it. Once he is able to control all four spirits, he will be far stronger than he is now. "

"Are you about to give me an order of some sort?" Granberia growled. Despite her loyalty to Alice, some kind of animal instinct was taking over. Even Alice might not be able to stop her from claiming her prize. Assuming that was even Alice's intent.

"It's not an order," Alice replied. "it's a fact. You were the victor, so it's your right to claim him if you wish. Even I am not above our laws. If you want him, he's yours. But if you want to harvest the fruit before it's ripe…. Well, that's up to you."

Granberia looked at me, then looked at Alice. The intensity on her face was still there. Alice's logic had not cooled it even a little bit. Nevertheless, Granberia sheathed her sword and made as if to teleport away. But suddenly, she seemed to change her mind. "No! I have waited too long for this! I must at least have a taste!"

Alice sighed, looking dejected. "Does that mean you're claiming him?"

"No!" Granberia said. "Your advice was sound. He's not yet what he's going to be. If I take him now he'll never be the warrior he's capable of being! But know what I am giving up here! He could fail to make it to the castle! He could fall to one of the other Knights even if he does make it! You could come to your senses and claim him yourself! No, I must at least taste him. I have earned this!"

"I'm not arguing with you," Alice said. "Do what you want. It's your right."

Granberia's gaze returned to my prone, unmoving form. She undid her sheathe and tossed it aside. She removed her shoulder plates and her helmet. Then she reached down for me.

I expected her to skillfully slice off my pants with her sword, but instead she lifted me by them and began clumsily tearing at them. Was she not experienced at this? After ripping through my pants, she then ripped off my underwear, tossing the remnants away. She stared intently at my exposed penis. She buried her face in my crotch and inhaled deeply.

"Mmmmmm, the smell of a man!" she exulted. "I could never hold myself back with you smelling like that!"

With that, she chomped down on my penis, as if she was ravenous. What she lacked in skill, she more than made up for in passion and enthusiasm. She was overcome with lust. Her tongue moved around in its own random movements. Far less skill than she had with a sword, but the magic of a Heavenly Knight would have made her feel amazing even if she was completely incompetent. She didn't even bother to protect my shaft from her teeth, but her magic simply made that pleasurable too, although I feared I might pay the price for that later. Alice had turned away, disgusted by Granberia's loud slurping and sloppy eating. Alice was a technician with her mouth. Granberia was just starving, her mouth trying to taste as much of me as possible. Her mouth was growing hotter as she sucked. I was also noticing that her tongue was rougher than Alice's, perhaps even rougher than a fox girl's, which combined with her magic only added more to the stimulation. The only reason I lasted a full five minutes under that assault was because I was still in some pain. I came into her greedy mouth. The suction only got more intense as she eagerly swallowed it. Being relatively unskilled, a lot of it leaked out. She took my dick out of her mouth to lick up what she'd missed. When she was finished, she was breathing heavily and staring at me.

"I never imagined it would taste so good! But I must control myself! I am more disciplined than this!"

She rose to her feet and started to back away from me. With a last furtive glance at Alice, she picked up her sword and whatever pieces of her armor she had discarded in her haste to get at me and teleported out.

Between the damage I'd taken and now being in critical ecstasy, staying conscious was no longer possible. The last thing I saw was Alice rushing over to me, her face peering at mine, etched with concern.

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