Monster Girl World Ch. 06

Chapter 6-Bloodlust

There was a period of time in the history of Europa known as the Dark Ages. It is known as the darkest period in the history of the entire continent, brought about by a series of events caused by the Holy Order of Hemera and the extremist Cabal. For centuries, the anti-monster Order and the monster supremacist Cabal had been embroiled in a cold war, which was basically a series of direct and indirect skirmishes between the two organizations for dominance over the world at large. For many years it was a stalemate, until the formation of the Legion, a human group formed out of retaliation against the Order's more zealous members and the violent inquisitors who were a threat to man and monster alike.

This conflict reached its climax at Bloody Sunday, which saw much of the Order's high ranking members killed in a single fireball, while the Cabal's numbers were decimated. With the two dominant powers essentially crippled, a wave of lawlessness fell upon the land. Europa had fallen into a dark period of regression as the Order became factionalized, and monsters and human bandits roamed the land pillaging unprotected villages and towns. Nations warred over resources or disputes. Men were kidnapped right out of their homes by ravenous monsters looking for a mate. The balance of power shifted more than once and no one remained on top for long.

This changed with the beginnings of strange events in what was formerly known as the land of Ea in Eastern Europa. Ea was a land divided into five territories belonging to five kingdoms. All five kingdoms had been peaceful up until a year ago, when there was a sudden influx of monsters. And not just any monsters, but those of the undead kind.

No one knows what happened, only that one of the kingdoms fell to an army of undead monsters being led by an incredibly powerful Wight. From there, the undead army spread to another kingdom, then another, and then another. Within two years, four of the five kingdoms had fallen, and were merged into a single nation made for the undead, by the undead. This monster kingdom was called Innistrad, and it was the largest monster run nation in Eos to date.

Only the kingdom of Flora remained untouched, though it was only a matter of time before Innistrad sent its army to conquer the nation. Flora only retained its independence thanks to its capital being a fortress city designed to defend against large scale sieges and capable of self-sustaining itself in times of strife. Still, monsters were a hardy bunch with a lot of tricks up their sleeve.

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The kingdom of Flora was a land that prided itself on maintaining Order values without demonizing everyone who didn't follow them as heretics. Their community was built on cooperation, fairness and dependability. Though there were many towns, much of the kingdom's power resided within their fortress city, Rosa, named after the queen who made the city into an impenetrable war machine.

The city was protected by large stone walls that were reinforced with magic and the city's army was composed of soldiers trained in various forms of combat, even anti-magic techniques against enemy mages. Knights were elite soldiers with experience who trained soldiers and led them into battle, often as commanders. There were no shortage of soldiers and knights trained in magic, along with the mages whose duties were primarily magic in nature, be it defense, offense or support.

Among these noble knights was the famous female knight Claudia Valentine. Born to a noble family, she took up the sword at a young age, deviating from the common lifestyle of nobility in order to train to defend her kingdom as a loyal soldier and knight. She trained hard in swordplay and anti-magic combat, and went through rigorous training to get to where she was now, as one of Flora's strongest female warriors. Her battlefield prowess and adoring personality had made her famous amongst her comrades and the peasantry, but her beauty also put her on the map for any suitor brave enough to even talk to her.

Claudia was a woman in her mid-thirties but had a very mature figure that many women envied. Her skin was fair and flawless, her eyes were bright blue and she had long light brown hair tied into a bun. Even the silver and gold armor she regularly wore did little to hide her strong, toned, curvaceous figure. Her armor had to be custom made in order to accommodate her large breasts, and the armor on her arms and legs hugged her muscular form, though it didn't take away from her beauty. She was a woman through and through, and many young girls aspired to be like her.

The knight was currently making her way to the church where the head priestess was waiting for her. She pushed open the doors to the church and entered the large chamber where prayers were held. Down the aisle that was layered over with soft blue carpeting, she saw the young woman serving the church performing her daily prayers.

Her name was Dru, an odd name, yes, but she refused to change it no matter who tried to persuade her, her father included. Dru wore black and white nun robes that seemed to hug her developing figure automatically no matter what she wore, and her habit did little to hide her natural beauty she inherited from her mother. Even Claudia couldn't help but take a little peek at that perky ass before the priestess bowed once to the statue of Hemera and stood up to face her.

Bright indigo eyes brightened up as she saw the knight approaching and nodded to her in greeting. "Claudia, good morning! I'm sorry for calling you over here so early in the morning. I know you were looking forward to inspecting the new recruits."

"That's okay, my lady. You must have had a good reason to call me here on such short notice." Claudia said politely. "Is there something wrong?"

"Unfortunately, there is. You have a new mission that was issued by the knight commander. He's busy scouting the outer edges of our territory after a few ghouls were spotted prowling around a town." Dru said. "This mission is one of great importance. We've received word that a province on the edge of the kingdom was just taken over by a vampire and her contingent. We don't know much about her, only that she brought down the previous lord from the inside and installed her own lich servants in places of power."

"Vampires and liches, not a good mix." Claudia frowned. They were both high-class undead monsters who were potentially powerful even without magic. The fact that she was hearing this now was troubling. "What about our regiment stationed there?"

"We've lost contact with them. It's safe to assume that they were probably one of the first people to be captured before the province was overrun. Any peasants within the area are probably also trapped within their sphere of influence as well."

"Say no more, priestess. I will take my men and go there to liberate the province myself." Claudia vowed and bowed her head. "May I have your blessing?"

"You always have my blessing." Dru smiled and laid a kiss upon Claudia's forehead. Holy energy, warm and soothing, washed over Claudia's body and filled her very being. Dru imparted her blessing upon the female knight and bowed her head. "Go with grace, noble knight. Defend our kingdom and our way of life. And please be safe."

Claudia stood up straight and smiled at the priestess. "Don't worry, my lady. I'll purge the town of the undead scourge and return safely with my humanity intact. I swear upon Hemera."

XXXXXX

The Zorodan Province was a small region of the kingdom that was watched over by the local governor on behalf of the royal family. Claudia knew the lord's daughter, Maribelle, when she visited the family for the summer. She was a sweet girl on the cusp of womanhood and well on her way to becoming a kind and fair duchess. Unfortunately it seemed that those dreams were just that, dreams.

Claudia led her contingent of knights and mages through the forest that led to the town the duke formerly governed. Claudia led an anti-monster contingent of soldiers, all female, who were largely immune to amorous advances of monsters and were well-equipped to fight them. Better send the women to fight monsters better equipped for seducing men instead of the male knights. That's just asking for trouble.

Looking around, she could already see that the forest had a darker air to it. The sunlight seemed dimmer and the sky was filled with dark gray clouds. There were no animals, no signs of life, not even sounds. Everything felt...dead.

"Commander?"

Claudia looked beside her to see her lieutenant, Sheila, who rode up beside her on her horse. Sharena was a young girl just getting out of her teenage years with long blonde hair tied into a braid and vibrant green eyes. Her knight armor clung to her slender form, and instead of a skirt like Claudia, she wore a pair of shorts with golden armored boots. Her spear was attached to her back, her main weapon of choice as it was enchanted by her father, who was also the royal sorcerer of Flora.

"What's wrong, Sharena? Are you nervous?" Claudia asked.

"A little bit." Sheila said, glancing around her nervously. "I'm trying not to let it get to me, but reading up about those undead monsters is starting to get to me."

Claudia reached over and patted her hand. "Be calm, Sheila, just remember your training and follow my lead when we get there."

"I know, commander. Sorry." Sheila looked at her armored hands before asking, "Commander, is it true that undead monsters are the only kind of monster capable of turning human women into more of them?"

"They're not the only ones, but yes, undead monsters are the largest known type of monster to convert women. They're similar to werewolves in a sense." Claudia said, working on her knowledge of monsters gleaned from her training. "However, they are weak to holy magic, so you shouldn't worry too much. Your spear might actually keep you safe for the duration of our mission."

Sheila smiled and looked at the glyphs along her spear, magical writings infused with energy to channel holy energy. Using it always felt like her father was protecting her. It made her braver in this dark and dreary place.

"We're nearing the town." Claudia said. "Once we leave the forest, I'll make contact with..."

Claudia, Sheila and the rest of the soldiers went silent as they exited the forest and reached the edges of the town. As expected, demonic energy permeated in the air, turning the sky dark and giving the entire area a gloomy feeling, as if walking into the cemetery. There was nothing visibly wrong with the town; no signs of a battle, no damages, nothing. The houses and streets were as clean and pristine as they could be. But there were no one to be seen. The streets were empty, houses locked and boarded closed. The people were hiding in their homes, perhaps afraid and scared of the monsters now occupying them.

Claudia didn't blame them. In the distance, atop a hill where the duke's manor once sat, was a massive castle. The tall structure was gothic in tone and design, grand enough to put the castle in Rosa to shame. It was pitch black, as if made of onyx and obsidian, and seemed to literally drain the light out of its surroundings. The town was smack dab in the middle of the shadow it casted over the land, a rather blatant way of asserting dominance over the conquered.

"My goddess," Sheila gasped. "W-Where is the duke's manor?"

"I don't think it's there anymore, Sheila." Claudia growled and turned to her soldiers. "Be on guard and keep an eye out for anything strange! We'll move on the castle at once to draw the monsters out before attacking. Keep your wits about you, we won't know what to expect from liches."

The group of knights slowly traversed through the town, keeping an eye out for anything out of place. Sheila could see people inside their homes, looking outside at them curiously. She thought they would at least look relieved to see that help arrived, but they still looked scared. It left an unsettling feeling in her chest and she focused on keeping an eye out for threats.

The soldiers trotted through town on their horses but didn't dare move faster, mostly out of fear of sparking some ambush or something. It wasn't until they made it to the town square that they found another human crouched in front of the water fountain trembling in fear.

"I'll go check up on her." Sheila said and hopped off her horse to check up on the whimpering maiden.

She was no older than Sheila, clad in a worn brown dress and a dirty white habit tying her hair back. The girl largely looked plain and unassuming save for the silver ring with the green gem on her middle finger that stood out. Just as a precaution, Sheila ran a quick scan of the girl's aura to make sure she wasn't a monster in disguise and was relieved to see that she was fully human.

"Hello?" Sheila called out softly. "Are you alright?"

The girl sniffled and looked up at Sheila with red, teary eyes. She looked like she had been crying for some time. "Who...who are you?"

"We're soldiers, from Rosa. We heard of your people's plight and came to rid this land of the monsters invading the region." Sheila pointed to her commander. "Knight Commander Claudia came here as soon as she could to aid you in obtaining your freedom."

The girl blinked, unable to believe that this miracle was real. "So...you're actually here to help us?"

Sheila nodded with a kind smile. "Yes."

That brought another wave of tears from the girl and she launched herself into Sharena's arms, hugging the knight in training while crying her eyes out. "Oh thank you, thank you, thank you!"

Sheila hugged the girl back and patted her shoulder to calm her down. At least they had someone who could tell them what really happened to this town.

Claudia was about to have Sheila help the girl over to her when she saw the peasant girl reach up and pull off her ring. Almost immediately, her senses flared up with demonic energy as the once human girl's skin turned pale and her eyes blood red with a smile that exposed her fangs, grinning right up at Claudia.

"Sheila!"

Sheila heard Claudia's shout just as two fangs found her neck, clamping down and sucking like an infant at the teat. She froze as a sharp pain spread through her neck, which then turned into a warm feeling. She tried to scream, but all that emerged was a soft and soundless gasp as the vampire fed from her. It didn't hurt, not in the way she'd expected. It actually felt...nice. Very nice.

"Ah!" Her entire body went rigid, wave upon wave of coruscating pleasure flooding her. Her body just gave up, unable to resist the flood of primal ecstasy coursing through her veins, filling her from within. This wasn't agony, like she feared. This was...bliss.

All this happened within the span of a few seconds as Claudia leapt off her horse and lunged at the vampire feeding off her friend. She drew her sword, as did her soldiers, but the moment her foot touched the ground, a blue magic sigil appeared beneath the entire party.

"What?!" Claudia gasped as she felt herself being whisked away in a burst of shadows. It was clearly a very powerful and fast acting teleportation spell.

Her women screamed as they were engulfed in darkness and vanished one by one, but Claudia's last images were of the vampire slowly grinding her body against Sheila's while still feeding from the girl's neck. Then she too was taken by the shadows.

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When Claudia awoke, she found herself sitting in a soft, cushiony chair in the middle of a dark room. She couldn't see a thing, but she could hear footsteps all around her. She groaned and tried to move, but couldn't get her limbs to respond, even though she wasn't shackled or chained in any way.

"Sheila?" She weakly called out. "Layla? Is anybody there?"

A cold wind blew over her and Claudia realized that someone had divulged her of her armor and replaced it with a thin, white, nearly see-through dress that reached mid-thigh and had a deep cut around the neck to leave her ample cleavage exposed. Her bare arms and legs had goosebumps as she heard more sounds. Moaning, and someone drinking down thick liquid.

"Enough of this!" She shouted, though her voice was still weak. "I demand to be let go!"

"You're in no position to be making demands."

Claudia gasped as the shadows in front of her swirled around to form a tall, womanly shape. A woman stepped out of the shadows; her skin was deathly pale, her eyes were a luminous red, her body voluptuous and curvy, though there were visible muscles on her arms and legs that suggested a strong form, and long black hair tied into a high ponytail. She wore a skimpy top that didn't even cover the bottoms of her large breasts and tight red leather pants with high heeled boots with matching gloves. Red lips upturned in an evil smile that exposed her long fangs as she looked hungrily upon Claudia.

"You're the vampire invading these lands, I presume." Claudia said, trying to remain calm.

"That's correct! I am Countess Natasha Vanya, proud servant of Queen Delilah of Innistrad and soon to be duchess of this little flowery cesspool you call a kingdom." Natasha said.

"Where are my soldiers? What did you do with them?" Claudia asked.

"Oh they're somewhere else in the castle. My vassals are probably playing with them as we speak. Don't worry, you'll see them again soon enough." The countess smirked. "As for that cute little blonde you came here with, well she's a bit indisposed at the moment."

Natasha snapped her fingers and the shadows pulled away behind her to reveal a red velvet couch with two people lying on top of it. Claudia immediately recognized Sheila, who was being cradled in the arms of the peasant girl from earlier, her head thrown back, the girl's mouth latched onto her neck. The vampire's throat shifted slightly. She was drinking.

Claudia growled and tried to move, but her body still couldn't respond.

"Your body's paralyzed, so you aren't going anywhere. Oh, and this castle has numerous enchantments to negate that awful holy magic you animals like to sling around, so don't even think of calling upon your precious goddess for help." Natasha sneered.

Claudia saw the girl pull back and turn around to give her a bloody smirk of triumph, her fangs covered in fresh blood before they sank back into the tender flesh of Sheila's throat.

Sheila moaned, eyes glazed, fluttering shut as her body arched up against the other girl. The vampire gave a low groan and clutched Sharena tighter, pushing her leg up against the juncture of her thighs, the thin material of her shorts soaked with her desire. Sheila could only clutch weakly at the girl's head, pushing her face deeper into her neck. She didn't even notice that Claudia was sitting there watching her.

"That girl had instantly taking a liking to your knight after tasting her blood. If she keeps this up, your friend might actually be turned before the sun rise's tomorrow."

"You fiend!" Claudia growled. "You won't get away with this!"

"I already have. I've just lured one of Flora's strongest knights into my lands and captured her without a single drop of blood spilled." Natasha grinned arrogantly. "This is only the beginning when I march on the fortress city itself and claim it in the name of my queen."

"The city is protected by hundreds of holy spells and barriers to keep monsters like you out. You won't even get near the city without losing your powers!" Claudia said.

"That might be true, if I didn't already have someone working on removing the spells as we speak." Natasha giggled at the shocked look on Claudia's face. "Why do you think I was so well prepared for your arrival? A little birdy informed me of your mission and sent you right into my arms."