Lysandra, seeing the utter consternation on Lilith's face, slowly approached her, fluidly shedding her demonic form.
As her white wings vanished and her silhouette shifted back into human - albeit still dauntingly perfect - curves, she stood right beside the Monarch, ignoring the wet smacks and crude insults being hurled by Mina and Kala in the background.
"Don't look at this as mere debauchery, Lilith," Lysandra began in a cool, matter-of-fact tone, though a spark of knowledge the Monarch did not yet possess flickered in her blue eyes.
"We, as the Succubus race, function differently than the rest of the world. We can regenerate in many ways, but the fastest, most effective, and - to be frank - most pleasant fuel for us is pure desire energy."
Lilith winced, trying to ignore the fact that Mina had just started licking Kala's ear, eliciting another, much deeper moan from the warrior.
"Every kind of erotic energy is raw material for us," Lysandra continued, maintaining steady eye contact with Lilith. "Dominance, submission, masochism, sadism, arousal, and even humiliation... Everything another being produces under the influence of strong stimulation and pleasure, we can absorb. It allows us to recover Mana and physical stamina at a rate other races can only dream of."
Lilith nodded instinctively, beginning to grasp the biological mechanism behind this macabre-erotic spectacle. This wasn't just play; it was refueling before the next stage of the game.
"Our passive skills, Succubus Endurance and Succubus Desire, work in synergy," Lysandra added, taking a step toward Lilith. "They allow us not only to mend wounds instantly but also to absorb this energy and store it in the body as a reserve for a rainy day. If we have enough stored essence, we can fight without pause for hours without feeling a shred of fatigue, while our enemies collapse from exhaustion."
Lilith furrowed her brow, her human mind quickly crunching the data.
So... in short, we're living batteries that charge through sex and perversion? she thought, a shadow of fascination mixed with disbelief crossing her face. That sounds incredibly OP, considering future battles in this world could last for days...
She glanced at Mina, who was now purring contentedly while still firmly gripping Kala's breast, and at the warrior herself, whose breathing was becoming heavier and more rhythmic.
"It makes sense," Lilith whispered, scratching her cheek nervously and averting her gaze. "It's just that in our case, to win a war, we first have to fight a very different kind of battle... in bed or anywhere else."
Lilith felt a pang of anxiety at the thought that she, as the Monarch, possessed these same skills. Did that mean she, too, would soon have to "refuel" this way?
Lysandra, noticing the slight tremble in her Monarch's hands, stepped soundlessly behind her. Lilith felt a sudden rush of heat as Lysandra's soft, full breasts pressed firmly against her back, and the cool hands of the white-haired succubus came to rest on her waist.
"We could also use a little regeneration ourselves, Lilith..." Lysandra whispered directly into her ear, her hot breath sending shivers down the Monarch's spine.
Lilith felt her own mark above her womb begin to pulse with a rhythmic, violet light. Lysandra's hand slid lower, her fingers tracing slow circles on Lilith's stomach, drawing dangerously close to the throbbing symbol.
"For someone who is a virgin, it might be counterintuitive..." Lysandra continued, her fingers dipping even lower, almost brushing the edge of her intimacy. "But the pleasure succubi can give one another is truly otherworldly. Do you want to feel what my essence tastes like?"
Lilith, though her body was burning and her breath had become ragged, placed her hand over Lysandra's, gently halting her movement before she went a step too far. She turned her head slightly, smiling with a mix of determination and embarrassment.
"Let's wait..." Lilith managed to choke out. "Let's wait until I unlock the Succubus Endurance and Succubus Desire skills. I want to fully control this flow of energy, not just be swept away by it."
Lysandra held Lilith's hand for a moment, then slowly released it, making no attempt to be pushy. She nodded with an expression of deep respect, acknowledging her Lady's willpower. Lilith, still holding her hand, whispered, "Thank you... for understanding."
"I'll take that as a promise," Lysandra replied with a cryptic smile that made Lilith feel terribly embarrassed all over again, though she gave a shy nod in return.
Lysandra let go and vanished in the blink of an eye, reappearing beside the bickering duo. With inhuman strength, she grabbed Mina by the scruff of her neck and draped her across her knees like a small, unruly kitten.
Kala, startled by the sudden interruption of their play, opened her mouth to suggest something, but before she could utter a word, Lysandra pulled her in by the neck and locked their lips in a deep, aggressive, and possessive kiss.
Mina, seeing she was being completely ignored, pouted and began tugging at Lysandra's breasts, trying to regain her attention.
"Hey! That's not fair!" Mina screamed, kicking her legs. "I was here first! Lysandra, you white-haired traitor, stop licking her and pay attention to me! I need essence too, and you're just giving it to that lizard for free?!"
Lilith watched the scene, feeling a wave of heat spread through her entire body. Suddenly, she felt something wet on the inside of her thigh. She looked down and saw a narrow, transparent trail of fluid running down her skin.
Terrified and ashamed of her own biological reaction, she immediately turned her back on the girls, trying to flee as far as possible in her mind from the moans and wet sounds now filling the ruin.
With trembling fingers, she opened the system menu, wanting to focus on numbers. However, what she saw turned her arousal into icy fear in a split second.
[ CURRENT NUMBER OF DEMON KINGS: 13,999,501 / 14,000,000 ]
"What the...?" Lilith whispered to herself, her eyes widening in horror. "499 Demon Kings are dead already?! It hasn't even been a few hours! Weren't we supposed to have seven days of protection from the Heroes?!"
She feverishly opened the chat window, ignoring the groans coming from behind her, and began scouring the latest messages to find out what kind of monster had slaughtered nearly half a thousand players in such a short time.
Lilith stared at the translucent screen, her fingers shaking as she scrolled through an avalanche of desperate messages:
"Fuck! My altar was destroyed by orcs! They wiped out my skeletons in seconds and now they're coming for me! What do I do?!"
"Help, the humans found me! Some peasants with pitchforks and two guards. I'm being hunted from all sides. Someone save me, I don't want to die!"
"My territory is full of terrifying monsters. I can't beat a single one of them, even the Level 1s. How am I supposed to play if I can't even step out the door without losing half my HP?!"
"I'm trapped on a desert island. There's nothing here. Just sand and salt water. I'm on the verge of starving to death... Could someone send me some food? My dad is a CEO in Shanghai, I have tons of money in my account! I'll pay millions when I get back!"
Lilith took a deep breath, trying to calm her racing heart.
It's no wonder then... she thought, her gaze hardening. System protection only applies to Heroes, but local threats have no mercy. These disqualified Kings were either discovered by the natives, or their starting point was a death sentence. To lose nearly five hundred people in two hours...
She realized that being a Demon King was an extremely high-risk profession. When the seven-day safety period ended, that number would likely rocket into the thousands. Many would die before they even figured out how their own status menu worked.
She read further, her attention focusing on a recurring problem: logistics.
"My Goblin King ate his own subordinate because I had nothing to give him! How am I supposed to feed them?!"
"My territory is a desert. Where am I supposed to get food for my units? They're losing morale and they're about to bite me!"
Lilith discovered that due to the remote and hostile terrains, the most common problem for Demon Kings was currently a lack of food. Even if someone had gold to summon servants, they had no way to keep them alive.
However, the system had foreseen this - there was a Trade Platform where players could list surplus materials in exchange for what they lacked.
Her eyes lit up as she remembered the contents of her inventory. She had dozens of carcasses of Big-foot Birds, Unicorn-deer, and Forest Wolves that her girls had slaughtered.
Since others are starving, my supplies are now worth more than gold... she thought with a rising thrill of excitement. She looked at the icons of dead animals in her menu. The only question is, is this meat edible for other races? If it is, I'm sitting on a gold mine.
She turned slightly, hearing the now-fading groans of Lysandra and Kala behind her. Succubi didn't need food, which gave her a massive market advantage - everything they hunted could be sold without any detriment to their own strength.
Time to see how much all those starving "rulers" are willing to pay, she thought, opening the listing window.