Rise of the Slime Queen
Part 1
Prologue
"The troops on the front aren't advancing sire." The advisor cleared his throat before continuing. "The demon forces are just as powerful and as cunning as we had feared. It is no wonder The Kingdom of Wheat had fallen so quickly. This new succubus queen, this Ardat Emili, is every bit as evil as the legends say of the other queen of succubii."
The king's advisor continued talking as the old king placed a hand upon his brow. Ever since the demon army appeared five years ago, there has been a constant war between the forces of hell and The Kingdom of Iron. The once peaceful treaty of the two kingdoms had shattered overnight thanks to the new succubus queen. Ardat Emili.
Once, the two kingdoms shared commerce as The Kingdom of Wheat would provide food and produce to The Kingdom of Iron, while the latter would provide armor and weapons to the peaceful kingdom. But that was a distant memory now.
Since then, the border towns have become a breeding stock for the demonic armies. The rumors of what they did to the captured villagers and soldiers are so horrific that most people would prefer to end their suffering rather to be captured alive.
Men were drained dry or turned to living stock, milked endlessly until their bodies gave out. While the women were morphed and turned into something much worse.
But what was most strange, was the fact that the invading army was completely female. Actually, the few male demons that were seen were all placed it extreme bondage and milked, just like their human counterparts that were captured.
The king, by now, was at a loss. His most powerful forces were on the front lines and, while they were keeping the demons at bay, this stalemate could not last forever. Not for him. At some point they would be overwhelmed. Their armies could not replenish themselves as easily as those of demons.
They needed to think of something, and they needed to think of it fast.
"What of the local petitions?" He asked, his elderly yet commanding voice booming across the main chamber.
"We have dozens my liege. Several villages are appealing for food to be sent to them. Another has a mine infested with monsters. The common folk have been afraid of venturing near it, let alone start work. If word spreads, other mines might follow, my liege. It is bad enough that our trade with The Wheat Kingdom has fallen apart, if we cannot even mine ore, why... we would be done for."
The old advisor explained. He was an old friend of the king. His father was the advisor to the past king and so had the two families worked together for generations. All the way back to the original invasion of the very first Succubus Queen millennia ago.
"I know old friend... I know." The king said with a long sigh. "But we cannot spare any troops. Our ore will mean nothing to us if we get overrun."
He pondered for a few moments.
"Increase the bounties on those mines infested, we must rely on local and foreign adventurers. At least until we defeat this... Ardat Emili." The word sounded like a curse on his lips. His advisor nodded solemnly and left the king to his own thoughts.
I shall gut this demon queen, just like my forefathers have done to hers.
Chapter 1
The hard sound of a nail being struck woke Lana that morning. Too early for her taste but, with how hard the times had become, she was lucky it wasn't an invading demon army that woke her. She quickly got dressed and got out of her hovel, only to see her friends and the rest of the town gathered around the Quest post in the main square. Right next to the Adventure Guild.
It was a nice sunny day, no one would have guessed there was a war going on. That their whole existence was in peril. Which only served as a further incentive for Lana to make it as an adventurer. Sure, she was still a novice, barely an F rank, but times of peril have brought more unlikely heroes than her. And that is exactly what she wished to be. A hero.
"The bounties on the demons inside of the mine has increased. I guess more adventurers will be flocking to town now." Lana's best friend Miriam explained to her. She was the most mature of their group and Lana's rival in pretty much everything they did together. That, most of all had made them become inseparable.
"Well considering how handsome the ones passing by were, I don't see that as a bad thing." Their third friend, Fiona chimed in over Lana's shoulder before she embraced her in a hug. "Finally awake sleepy head?"
"Finally? The sun is barely up!" Lana retorted as their fourth and final friend joined the group.
"Oh! My! Gosh! Did you see the adventurer that slept over at my fathers in last night?" She began gossiping before she even joined the group properly.
"Goddess! Is there anything you do beside gossip Eleonore?" Lana asked her with a flat stare. "We need to find you a boyfriend before you completely snap."
"Oh! If it's Luka, the adventurer that stayed with us, I'm alright with that." She jumped with glee, he dark, blue locks of hair swaying from side to side. Lana just rolled her eyes.
"He stayed in a lavish in, rather than staying at the guild. I think that tells a lot about him Eleonore." Lana explained, desperately trying to be patient with her friend.
"All of them can stay for all I care." Eleonore said with a sly smile.
"But for a while now, no adventurer came in, beside Luka. Word is spreading that other kingdoms had given up on us and are bolstering their own defenses." Miriam said. Lana loved her the most at times like these. When they needed a cool head. Not only had they been friends for the longest time in the group, but she didn't have her world revolve around boys. "And that the stream of adventurers won't be coming into our kingdom anymore. If that is true, we are alone."
It is exactly in times like these that we need new heroes...
Lana thought to herself and rubbed her chin as she noticed the adventurer Eleonore was talking about, leave the tavern. He was handsome, she had to admit, but he had that self-important air about him that she disliked in most adventurers. Miriam said that he was a B ranked adventurer that was skilled with a sword, so he could probably liberate their mine of a few pesky demons.
Luka noticed her and waved, before he came over. He picked up Lana's palm and kissed it tenderly, before peering into her lovely eyes.
"If I knew you were here I would have gotten out much sooner." He said with a boyish smile. Lana could not help but blush at his words. Aware that it was clear that she was turning red, she yanked her arm free and shot him a stern stare.
"Instead of hitting on girls, don't you think you could take care of the demons in our mine?" She barked. Fiona and Eleonore shot her angry glances but Lana didn't seem to notice. That is what most boys loved about her.
Sure, she was beautiful, but she also didn't let others boss her around. That spunky attitude is what the men she met in her life wanted. Not someone that was subservient from the start.
Goddess, when I think like this I feel like the demoness army might have a point.
"Well I was planning to but the reward was just too small for me to venture into the unknown of a mine." He explained honestly as he scratched his chin.
