Oryat!
"Guaaaaaaah!"
"Kieeeeeeek!"
A human with purple skin, slightly bloated and bursting at the seams, shrieked as it tumbled down the stairs. No — tumbled wasn't quite right. It poured, like a flood of sticky mud cascading over itself.
"Damn it, an entire army of undead! Weaken them with Blessings—!"
"Those people… they were turned into undead while still alive! Turn Undead is barely working!"
"Then buy time! These things were born for short battles!"
"Kh… of all times, right in the middle of the Succession…"
The Graces clenched their teeth and clashed with the undead.
Under normal circumstances, they would never be pushed back like this against the undead. Grace may have changed classes, but she had once been a Saintess. Holy power still ran through every sword stroke, every spell, every arrow.
But undead created while still alive — undead that had retained their vitality, turned less than an hour ago — were a uniquely vicious breed of opponent.
The one silver lining was that producing each one required an excessive amount of effort, and living humans were a necessary ingredient, so their numbers weren't infinite… except that the undead currently surging down the stairs alone numbered in the hundreds.
Behind them waited thousands more. The Graces numbered roughly fifty.
The ones who were even awake were few to begin with. The ones capable of real combat were all they had right here.
"If only we had a Grace who'd seen the ending…"
A bitter lament slipped from one Grace's lips.
"Can't be helped. This place is basically the starting village. And disappearing after a glorious fight is better than just vanishing, right?"
A Grace who had just loosed her bowstring said it plainly.
She was right. The Succession was nearly complete. Once it finished, they would all disappear.
So they had to hold on.
Until that thing was finished.
"Hup! Hnngh!"
Wobble♡ Wobble♡
I put every ounce of strength I had into my body, thrashing to break free of the restraints — but all I managed was to set my pregnant belly bouncing uselessly.
I already knew escape was impossible at this level of effort. The tentacles had a death-grip on my limbs and my swollen belly alike. It was hopeless.
Marie, on the other hand, was getting results from all that vigorous shaking of her breasts and belly.
"Hiih! Hiih!"
Wobble♡ Wobble♡
Squelch♡ Squelch♡
The sounds were obscenely vulgar, but she was having a far easier time of it than me — what with tentacles jammed into my ears — and both her hands were already free.
"This is… my belly is caught."
Then came the thunderbolt of bad news, and I went pale.
Unlike me, Marie's lower half was still submerged. I'd had a bad feeling, and sure enough.
"C-Can you do anything about it?"
"It's difficult. If I buy magic and use it, even intermediate spells aren't a sure thing, and just reinforcing my body is already a stretch."
"Holy power?"
"Impossible. The holy power I barely managed to fill through prayer is unusable. Never mind the tentacles inside my belly reacting — the holy power itself has been corrupted."
Corrupted holy power. So what I'd seen in that vision really had been a reflection of reality. But it was fine.
"It's fine. You won't die."
"…?"
You don't die just from eating spoiled food. You wouldn't die just from using spoiled energy, either.
And I'd just thought of a brilliant escape plan for Marie.
"Marie. That belly of yours is the problem, right?"
"Yes. The Graces must have figured it was a weak point too — the grip is extremely tight. One wrong move and I might end up giving birth—"
"That's exactly it! Just give birth and empty out the womb! Then the holy power won't get interference when you use it, and a deflated belly will make escaping way easier, right?"
"No — I told you the holy power gets corrupted? One wrong move and it could be irreversible!"
A fair point. But sitting still wasn't going to change anything either.
"They're going to come back and start the Succession or whatever anyway, right? Then we're out of options."
This was a hard-won opportunity, and we had no method. Honestly, why plan a whole diversion and then not free the restrain—
"Hey. Was that whole thing earlier just a fluke?"
"…The look of expectation in your eyes is so intense I'd feel bad lying."
Marie wasn't perfect either. But if the Graces believed this was Marie's doing, what on earth made them leave us unattended and run off to fight?
Did they trust the tentacles completely? Or did they have some other card to play?
But we couldn't delay any longer. The pleasure and sense of security pouring from the tentacles buried in my ears made me want to just stay right here.
Whether the Graces won or the undead won, it was bad news for us either way. So at the very least, we had to fight back — or run.
"I'll count to three and cast Bless. In that window, give birth as fast as you can. Okay?"
"Let me just prepare myself mentally first…"
Mental preparation. Important. Which is why I prepared myself too — prepared to be hated.
"Three! Bless!!!"
Holy Power Corrupted!
Skill Effect Penalty Added: Arousal & Sensitivity Increase
Skill Effect Merit Added: Base Performance ×3
Kiiiiiiiiing!
Pshuuuuuuuuuuuu!!!!!
"Gyaaaaaaaaaah♡♡♡♡♡ Hana! Hanaaaa!!! Where did Hana go!!!!"
"Hrngggggggggh♡♡♡♡♡ Never mind that, just get them out faaaaaster♡♡"
The moment I drew up my holy power and activated the skill, the tentacles inside reacted violently, turning my womb scorching hot. It felt like someone was stabbing the back of my entrance — no, the inside of my uterus itself — with needles. Continuously. Tracing lines!
"Nngggh! Serena, if you just slam it in all at once like thiiiiis!!!!"
"Instead of whining, hurry up and birth them so we can fix the probleeeeeeem♡♡♡"
Thrust!
In that instant, something drove itself into my pussy — the one I'd been straining with everything I had to force a birth through.
Something enormous and rock-hard plunged in until my soft, elastic pussy was packed beyond full, crushed flat. And the tip sealed itself against my cervix with a wet suck♡, latching on like an octopus sucker.
The one problem was that this process didn't happen gradually. It happened in a single thrust! — an instantaneous impact that delivered a full-power punch straight to my cervix.
"Guooooooooogh! Something— something just plugged up my pussyyyyy!!"
I twisted my whole body and screamed from the shock. My face was a mess of tears and drool, sweat pouring down my body in streams.
Breast milk and pussy juices were no exception — but the tentacles suckling at my breasts vacuumed everything up before it could even dirty me, drawing it away somewhere.
And since the birth I'd already forced into motion couldn't be stopped, my womb was trying to push out while something blocked my cervi—
Gulp. Gulp.
No. Something was flowing in. A liquid thicker and hotter than semen — some unidentifiable fluid — was being pumped into my already full-term womb.
"S-Stop! It won't fit any more!"
I begged. But the target of that plea was vague, and the words scattered into empty air. Whether the tentacles would even listen was unknown, the Graces had left their posts, and Marie was currently hard at work escaping.
Right. Marie.
My hope was currently freeing herself from the tentacles, her belly already a little less swollen than before.
"Nnggggh♡♡ Serena, this method is completely insane, but it's working! Just hold on a little longer — I'll come save you!"
Snap. Snap-snap!
The faint sound of something breaking reached me. But it grew more and more distant, as though it were coming from another world entirely.
"Oouh♡ Ble— nnnngh♡ ss, ah♡ There, that feels so goooood♡♡♡"
Was that my voice? I couldn't even tell anymore. Ever since something started moving inside the tentacles buried in my ears, my body and mind had gone rapidly hazy. And just before I sank completely into sleep, what filled my vision was the light radiating from a shard of blue glass.
Thrust!
"Kieeeeeeeek!"
A scream rang out. Not mine, not Marie's — and certainly not a human one.
"Serena! Serena!"
Marie was frantic. The Graces had completely vacated the area, but there was no telling when they might finish off the undead and return.
This whole situation had been an unexpected variable to begin with — but the timing was earlier than the original plan, and the opportunity was more certain.
The one thing she had fatally underestimated was the level of restraint. In her own case, she'd merely been impaled on reproductive tentacles. Serena, however, had been fitted with brainwashing tentacles that reached directly into the brain.
I got her out, but now what do I do with this…
Using the Heavenly Law Sword to slice through the tentacles and pull Serena free — even removing the tentacle buried in her pussy — had gone well enough. But the tip of the tentacle had broken off, and her cervix was still plugged shut.
Giving birth is the most efficient way to escape. And we're out of time. But Serena in her current state…
Marie quickly checked Serena's information.
She could do this.
Having decided as much, Marie sprinted at full power toward Serena. At the same time she clenched her fist, channeling the force of her falling acceleration and body weight into a straight punch aimed at Serena's pregnant belly.
"GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!"
Splashhhhhh♡♡♡♡
A spray of amniotic fluid burst out and Serena screamed — but it wasn't enough yet.
"Nnggh! What the hell are you—!"
"Hyaah! Give birth! Oryaat!"
Thud! Thud! Thuuud!
A merciless barrage of fists hammered into Serena's belly. Marie's punches were already mana-enhanced, and with the protection of Bless layered on top, they were nothing short of murderous.
"Gueeeeeeeek!"
And at last, with a sound like Serena's throat being ripped open, the tentacles came surging vigorously out of her pussy to take a look at the world.