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“Absolutely no way, not happening.”

Opal wiggled her hips, still hopelessly stuck on him. “You don’t have much of a choice wolfy. You gonna let Lyra be executed? You promised to protect her, remember?”

Rain growled causing Opal to let out a squeak.

“H-hey vibrations! I’m s-sensitive after all that!”

He settled himself, it wasn't easy due to how awkward their position was, Rain was on his side atop the collapsed sofa, Opal facing him, her arms embracing his chest, her head tilted back looking up at him with one eyebrow raised.

“How can I possibly go into town to save her like- like this!”

“Monsters feel no shame?”

“Monsters absolutely feel shame, walking around in public right in the open with you, with me inside-” Rain sighed and put his paw over his eyes. What even was this situation? He hadn't even considered that this could be an issue, apparently he hadn't quite adjusted to everything that his monster body entailed. He was coming to regret letting Opal have her way with the tea.

“Aww is wolfy scared of a few pervs looking at us?”

“Red peeking at us is one thing, walking through town with hundreds of people looking at us like this entirely another. I’m not interested in being an- an exhibitionist even if you are.”

Opal pouted in an annoyingly cute way. “Top Gobbos fuck in public sometimes, to show their dominance, nobody cares.”

“It’s different okay, I- It just is!”

“But you’re a monster now, you walk around naked most of the time!” She ran her hands over his chest and gripped a handful of his fur in her fists. “Lyra has seen you more naked than she has seen you clothed.”

“Fur. Fur is like clothes.”

“Mmmm is it though? You still aren’t actually wearing anything.”

“I-”

Rain was interrupted from their argument by the return of the voices.

“Monster, if you do not come out immediately we will take that as a refusal of our demands. We’re not waiting around!”

“C’mon, screw this, let’s go back, my girls will have finished packing by now.”

Now Rain was listening more carefully he was able to locate the direction the sound was coming from. A small statue of what appeared to be the original Ranker of Lynthia was set atop a side cupboard. Rain recognised the figure from a number of similar ones in town, including one he had destroyed in the process of hunting- fighting Adlen.

He raised his voice to be heard. “I will come with you.”

“It said it's coming right?”

“Shit. Alright, fine.”

Came the reply from the statue.

Rain glanced back down at Opal who was happily rubbing her face into his chest and scowled. He couldn't let Lyra be killed, he had made a promise, so he needed to think of something to avoid being stared at, walking through town with a half-naked Goblin on his- well it didn't bear thinking about. He might be a monster now but that was not something his Human side would put up with.

His gaze slid from Opal’s black hair to the coat he was still wearing. Maybe…

With difficulty he shifted, awkwardly shuffling free from the collapsed sofa on his knees and then climbing to his feet, his paws wrapped around Opal’s rear to keep her steady. She let out soft little moans as he moved and shifted inside of her. Then he slowly removed his paws one after the other letting Opal rest entirely on his length. She grabbed at him as she started to move, wrapping her arms around his chest and her legs around his hips, pressing her cum filled belly against his front, it radiated so much heat he could feel it through his fur.

He was now standing with a Goblin girl attached to his front.

In his opinion, he looked absolutely ridiculous.

“It’s like I’m clothes,” muttered Opal. It was difficult to hear her with so much fur in her face.

“You’re not clothes, and don't get any weird ideas from this.”

He set his jaw and grabbed for the edges of his coat, bringing them together to hide the Goblin. He paused as he realised he had another obstacle. Buttons. He fiddled desperately with them, his too big claws trying to hold one side steady while he nudged the button in. After several failed attempts, and his increasing frustration, a small hand reached out and helped him aim. This time things went quickly and he soon had the coat buttoned up.

He looked down. The result wasn’t... awful. The size of the coat helped hide Opal’s shape and as he tried hunching forward slightly he found that it helped hide her even better.

“This could work. It’s not too noticeable and if anyone does spot anything I doubt they will realise just what is happening.”

“Boo.” said Opal, her voice muffled behind the coat.

“You’re just going to have to deal with not getting to expose yourself.”

“At least you can walk fuck me,” murmured the goblin so quietly that Rain missed it.

He turned and glanced toward the statue, it hadn't replied again, he hoped the pair were still outside or he would have to run after them to catch up. He didn't think that would end well for Opal.

He made his way through the mansion, it didn't take long as there was more or less a direct path through it to the front door that he had made in his hunger induced madness. The mansion wasn’t exactly doing well, the original battle combined with his smashing of walls and Adlen’s enchanted spear had made it so every single room in the place had seen at least some damage, scattered rubble across the floor, fallen plaster, shattered timber and furniture. He imagined the Ranker would be exceptionally upset with what had been done. The thought almost made him smile.

The front door was as it was, mostly. He had replaced the doors and while they did look quite ragged they were still functional. He placed a paw on the handle and pushed through into the open. Outside in the warm sunlight were two human men, clearly guards. They were hunched over a small statue that was recessed in an alcove of the wall to the side of the door. One was prodding it with a gauntletted finger.

“See, I told you it wasn’t any good, you shouldn't have moved it, you disconnected it from the mansion’s enchantments, now it’s bloody useless.”

“Wha- what do you mean useless? You told me to fix it! Oh gods the Ranker is going kill us for this!”

“How’s he going to know who did it?” The guard who spoke had a toothpick in his mouth and shifted it to his other cheek as though formulating his thoughts. “He’s stuck in the dungeon with ole’ Inquisi-bitch. By the time he comes out we’ll be long gone and anyways even if we were still ‘ere hows he gonna know it was us?”

“Shh! Don’t say that!”

“What?”

“The Inquisitor, don't say her name like that!”

The guard with a pick rolled his eyes.

“Ah, you're one of those.”

“You haven’t heard what I’ve heard, if you did you’d be scared too.”

“Oh yeah? Like what?”

“Some fool was caught peeking at her in her private baths and then she ripped it off and made him eat it! She made him chew!”

“Ripped what off? What are you saying?”

“His d-

Rain coughed politely into his paw which of course came out very loud due to his size. The pair of men nearly leapt out of their skin, flipping around like scared hares and in the same motion drawing swords.

“Blood and thunder what the hell is that?!”

“It’s- the- the wolf monster, b-but they didn't say-

“How fucking huge… G-gods.”

Rain looked between the two, they were pressed up against the wall with blades held out in front, staring in terror.

“Hello.” said Rain. The two flinched as though he had just threatened them with their lives.

“H-hi?” said the one who had been fixing the statue. He had long brown hair that kept getting in his eyes.

“Take me to Lyra. If you have hurt her you will regret it.”

The long haired one swallowed, his throat bobbing violently. “W-we can d-do that, b-but i’m just doing as ordered! N-nothing to do with anything that may or may not have happened to the sheep!”

“Are you saying something happened?” said Rain, taking a threatening step forward. The guard near wet himself and shrank back down against the wall, his sword wobbling wildly in his hands.

“Ah, n-no, monster. She is fine as far as we know,” said the one with the pick.

Rain grumbled in reply then looked at them expectantly. After a moment they realised he was waiting for them to move and hesitantly they began to step away from the mansion, albeit while constantly looking over their shoulders at him, and still keeping their swords firmly in hand.

They left through the front gates and emerged out into the forest. Instead of leading them along the path he usually took to get to town the two guards diverged onto a smaller one. The reason why soon became clear, they emerged out onto the main road going into Lynthia. It was packed with traffic, hundreds of caravans and carts and wagons, anything on wheels really. It seemed as though most of Lynthia was on the move.

He glanced down at the two guards. Why they had come here as soon as possible wasn’t hard to figure out. He doubted the two guards wanted to be alone in the woods with a giant wolf monster, being seen by so many on the road at least provided some semblance of protection, what he couldn't figure out was why there was so much traffic in the first place, it made no sense.

“What is this?” he growled.

The two guards looked up at him warily. They had become ever so slightly more comfortable around him as they had walked, discovering that the wolf monster wasn’t going to immediately attack them.

The one with long hair cleared his throat. “It’s the succubus. Anyone with any common sense is getting out of town as soon as possible. It’s not worth the risk of staying in a town with an active succubus in it, it’s just too risky.”

Rain blinked. Erin? This was all for fear of Erin? He wondered if the succubus was even still in Lynthia, or hell, even alive. What he had somehow done to her he had a feeling would be long lasting, if not permanent, she would certainly have gone somewhere to hide and lick her wounds. She was a threat, one to him especially, but apparently she was just as much of a threat to the entire town. Lyra was right, levelers did seem to have an especial reaction to Succubi.

“Why? Why are they so afraid of Eri- this succubus that they have to leave town entirely?”

“You don’t know?”

Rain glared at him and he quailed.

“R-right. Succubuses who have drained a certain number of people are incredibly difficult to kill. They have been known to overcome and defeat even the highest of levelers, and that's the scary part, once they beat a strong leveler they often drain them dry and become even more powerful.”

“Hmm.”

“I’ve heard stories-

“You and your stories,” muttered the one with the toothpick, shuffling it around in his mouth but still clearly listening carefully.

“It’s true okay, you, you don't know, it happens sometimes, if rarely. There are towns up in the mountains that don't see much contact with the outside world so no one realises what’s happening. Some intercity caravan comes around eventually and they find the place a husk, all the people drained into mindless soulless levelless things with greyed skin and unseeing eyes and sitting atop it all a satisfied succubus greedy for her next meal, ready to descend on the next town and drain it dry, everyone gone until she is unstoppable.”

“Why don't they put a stop to it before it becomes unstoppable then?” said Rain furrowing his brow. This was more than he had ever learned about succubi in his previous life.

“Because they are so hard to kill! They have regeneration like you wouldn't believe, the more they drain the stronger their regeneration! You don't stop them by throwing lots of weaker levelers at them, that's just feeding them, you need to bring in the big guys, the strongest levelers to crush them before they grow too powerful.”

Rain was painfully familiar with the regeneration he spoke of.

The one with a pick pulled it from his lip and spoke. “That’s why the council isn't too fussed about people leaving. If all the small fry are gone then it reduces the speed with which she can grow in power. Gives time for some cocky over leveled city dweller to come by and put a stop to it... Or for the Inquisitor to be done with the dungeon.”

Rain mused. “What if one does become too powerful? So powerful that they can't be killed?”

“Well that’s one of the reasons we are ruled by the Queen, isn’t it? Worst comes to worst she can put a stop to it personally.”

He couldn't argue with that.