Chapter 18 - Triumph and Defeat

The biggest issue with travelling through the Desert, Honoka thought again, was how the glare of the sun tended to play tricks on her eyes, either making her think she was seeing things that weren’t there, or how she sometimes got glared by the sun, and had to close her eyes momentarily.

Another thought that kept crossing her mind was how she adored the fact that her Lusty Maiden Armour protected her from the heat and dryness to a large degree, so that while she was sweating nicely, her skin getting covered by a fine sheen of sweat, and her hair sticking to her skin, she wasn’t feeling dehydrated or like she was suffering from heatstroke, despite the fact it barely covered anything. She’d even realized that not wearing her bracer made for a more comfortable time, as the right forearm didn’t feel nearly as hot as like in her previous trip to Tel’Adre.

The virgin fighter still took advantage of every shade she could find, using them to cool down a bit, as well as to try to scout ahead. She had been walking for about half a day by then, but her eyes could only still glimpse sand dunes, and the occasional rock outcrop rising from the sand. She wasn’t too worried, as the Oasis Ruins were about a day and a half away from Tel’Adre per what everyone had told her, but the scenery was rather monotonous to travel through.

Something else she felt thankful about was the fact she had yet to encounter anyone since leaving the hidden city, as that meant no hostile encounters, for which she was grateful for. She knew how to deal with Nagas by now, but she wasn’t interested in meeting other monsters or demons to battle… mostly she didn’t want to fight Imps, as she feared her newfound urges might overcome her!

Her pussy was presently wet and dripping… but for once that was just sweat caused by the heat, rather than Honoka’s internal heat, which had been developing wildly since she’d come to Mareth.

As she felt sweat running through her cleavage, the pink-haired teen grabbed her canteen and took a pair of sips from it, fully appreciating how the water within the magical recipient was still cool despite the present heat. She wondered how long it would take before she started feeling like dousing herself with water to wipe out the sweat and freshen out, something she could certainly do considering she was pretty sure the canteen held many gallons of water. But to do so would be a waste, so there was no point to it.

Hopefully she’d find some place where she could take a rest, cool down, and have a quick meal. She hadn’t eaten since leaving Tel’Adre after all. 

With that thought in mind, Honoka started going down the sand dune, wishing the sand she was walking on was from Venus Island, rather than Mareth’s Desert, where she could enjoy herself and play around with the other guests. Her friend Marie once again came to her mind, the pink-haired beauty wondering what the Swedish teen might have been thinking after Honoka had disappeared inside the cave… 

She was terribly worried for sure, and that motivated the nubile maiden to trek a little faster across the Desert, hoping that each step was getting her closer and closer to going back to her world, allowing her to leave Mareth and its perversions behind.

…

Despite the heat, the Ivory Succubus energetically bounced on the bull-morph’s cock she had found, her pussy greedily clinging to it, milking the hard shaft for all that it was worth.

Camilla had had to look for the entire night, plus half of the day before she had found the cock she’d been looking for, locating a bull-morph travelling through the Desert, maybe looking for the much talked-about hidden city that was supposedly located there. Camilla didn’t care one bit about that, and hadn’t bothered asking him about it. She had simply found her prey, whipped his libido into a rut state with her whip, and then delight over the size and hardness of his dick.

“Yes!!! That’s what I like to feel!!! Oh, yes!!! Harder, fuck my cunt deeper!!” She moaned as she rode the miserable bull-morph, her pussy having already savoured two loads of cum, but still eagerly starving for a third and fourth serving. “I want, I need your cum!!!! Oooohhhhhh!!!!” 

The bull was completely incoherent, being only able to grunt and moan in a delightfully animalistic way, his hips moving frantically as he drove his cock into the succubus’ pussy again and again, his sexdrive pushing him beyond tiredness as every piece of his being desired to fuck the lustrous demoness’s cunt.

“Yes, Big Boy!!! Fuck me even harder!!!” Camilla screamed at him, driving the bull to take a seated position, so that he could fuck the blue-haired female ever harder. “Oh yes!!! Now we’re talking!!” She complimented as her legs wrapped themselves around the hairy waist, wanting for nothing but for an even deeper fucking.

The bull-morph was foaming at the mouth as he kept pistoning into the succubus with all its force. He’d end up coming inside Camilla three more times before succumbing to heat and exhaustion, but at that point the Ivory Demoness was feeling satisfied, her pussy stretched and filled with cum, fully reinvigorating her after spending the past few days flying around madly.

“Now that was refreshing, but I better make my way back to rendezvous. The old bastard might have actually made it there for once.” That said, Camilla spread out her wings and took flight, quickly making it back to outcrop where Zetaz’s troops were supposed to join her. And there were Imps waiting for her there, though Zetaz himself wasn’t present.

“Mistress Camilla, it’s good to see you!” One of the soldier Imps told her as she landed, a frown of distaste showing on her beautiful face as her eyes quickly caught on to his hard erection. She might have considered it, and likely would have let him fuck her, had she not found the tasty morsel that was the bull-morph, but for now she felt no need to entertain underlings like this Imp.

“Less good to see you lot, and where the bloody hell is Zetaz?!” She harshly inquired. 

Another Imp answered her. “We do not know, Master Zetaz was scouting into the Western dunes, but he wasn’t returned yet.” 

The succubus’ red eyes peered into that direction, but failed to catch anything moving, even as the sun was starting to go down, making it easy to look into the distance. He probably wouldn’t be back until the morning she guessed. “Might as well make myself comfortable then.” She complained, taking flight to the top of the outcrop, from where she’d be able to catch movement more easily, and where she’d be less likely to be bothered by these Imp soldiers, their pathetic wings being inadequate to the task of flying from the get-go, but the added weight of armour made it even less likely for them to take flight and join her.

Once she’d landed on top, the succubus took a good look in every direction, trying to catch on any movement, for while she wasn’t as maniacally driven to find Honkers the way Zetaz was, and she didn’t care about the status of her virginity, she still had a score to settle with the big-tittied bitch, and she planned on getting double or triple even on what she was owned.

…

Honoka found herself feeling really driven on getting to the Oasis Ruins, to the point she kept walking even as the sun was replaced by the moon, and rather than spot to rest and sleep, she just kept trekking on. Maybe the memories of Venus Island were the fuel that was currently driving her, as they had been floating around on her mind for hours now, and that reminded her of how much she wanted to go back to her world.

Still, she eventually realized she had to stop, rest, eat and sleep. So, once the pink-haired maiden found a nice rock outcrop, she knew that was where she’d spend the night. And with that in mind Honoka settled down for the night, putting down her shield and sword, and taking her bed roll and a meat pastry from her magical holster. She then proceeded to eat and drink, finally noticing how her stomach was, and had been, rumbling, something she had managed to ignore until that point.

The moon was quite bright that night, providing with lots of illumination, as Honoka hadn’t built a fire, and that allowed her to gaze into the Desert’s dunes, letting her appreciate the beauty that could be found there. The sight wasn’t quite breath-taking, but it was still a sight to behold. The sight was completely undisturbed by movement, which was something that appealed to the pink-haired virgin, as that meant no demons or creatures prowling around.

She took in the sights for a good time, not sure of how much time had passed, just immersing herself in the tranquillity and silence, something so starkly different from Tokyo, where she lived, where silence such as the one she bathed in was impossible to achieve. Eventually, Honoka looked up to the sky, gazing into a tapestry of lights, uncountable stars and clusters of stars, and maybe a good number of galaxies too, which filled the dark horizon, a sight unlike any the Japanese teen had ever witnessed before.

Honoka could feel tears coming to her eyes, though she couldn’t understand why they were forming, as well as a feeling of dazzling elation filling her heart. Was it the endlessness of infinity that managed to get such a response out of her?

She honestly wasn’t sure.

Sleep soon came to fall on her, trying to drown her in its tides of oblivion, and Honoka decided she should succumb to it, moving to the small rock alcove where she’d stashed her bed roll and equipment, and stashed herself into it, letting her eyes fall closed, and falling asleep.

The next day would likely be a challenging one.

…

Honoka woke up feeling rested, and continued on her way to the Osasis. After just a few hours she was into seeing distance of it.

She could see what was, without a doubt, a wide lake, with lots of trees and greenery growing around it. Ruins of houses and some buildings around the water edge, and going into the rocky hills behind the watery haven.

She could also see several Demons walking around, eating, drinking, splashing in the water. There were imps around, but there were also demons that looked very human, just with horns, tails, and some of them even had hooved feet, both male and female, and finally there was the huge demon that looked like a giant-sized Satyr, smaller than Morg had been, it looked like to Honoka, but fatter and heavier. All in all, she could see around a dozen demons, a number she didn’t feel confident to take on her own.

The human maiden decided to check what she had on her to use against them, and how she could make it count to her best advantage.

A quick inventory revealed her sword, shield, bow, plenty of normal arrows, as well as some flaming ones (the flames could be activated by whispering the word Ignis), plus Arian’s enchanted gem, which according with the old mage, should be able to deal major damage to demons. 

Some quick thinking led to Honoka realizing that the gem should be focus of her battle plan. Somehow, she needed to bring as many demons as she could together, and then use the gem to put them out of commission, hopefully taking out most of the enemies in one shot.

Problem was, how could she herd the demons like that? They weren’t exactly a flock of sheep to be led away like that…

She needed to think it over carefully.

…

“Where in the fuck is Zetaz?! That moron should have been here hours ago!!” Camilla screamed, her patience having finally reached its limit.

All but two of Zetaz’s Imp troops had made it to the rendezvous point through the night, but the Imp Lord himself had yet to arrive. The Ivory Succubus had ended up sleeping a bit during the night, but waking up with the old and scarred Imp missing was infuriating for her.

“Mistress, maybe you could take flight and look for him. With your wings you’d certainly be able to find him in no time.” One of the Imp soldiers suggested, likely feeling tired of hearing the Succubus’ screeching and whining. Camilla had been swearing ever since waking up.

“Am I his keeper to have to go around looking for him? Is Zetaz some young and careless Imp who has no notion of how things are done?!” She hissed back at the interloper, her anger having now found someone to focus on, someone that was next to her, and over whom she could vent. “Zetaz’s a grown-up Imp, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he was one of the oldest in Lethice’s army! He sure smells like old mould!”

Some of the Imp soldiers actually had to hide their chuckles at the way the pissed-off Succubus described their boss, but that still meant having to deal with a ranting demoness who couldn’t be placated in any way they knew of. For her part, Camilla kept ranting on Zetaz’s lateness and his general being, wondering if the whole arrangement hadn’t been a mistake, and that she ought to be flying around the Desert trying to find Honkers.

“Wait, there’s movement in the distance!” Shouted one of the soldiers as he climbed to a higher vantage point, covering his eyes and peering into the distance. “I see someone coming, someone mounted!!”

“Finally! For fuck’s sake, the late Imp Lord Zethaz finally deigns himself to make an appearance!! He’s so getting a few pieces of my mind once he finally gets here!!” Camilla could easily fly to meet him, but she wasn’t going to exert herself like that, rather she was going to sit and wait for the old Imp to arrive… and then she was going to give him a tongue lashing the likes he’d never had before.

…

Honoka had a plan… she thought.

It was risky, but she was sure there was no risk-free way of dealing with a dozen demons outside of making herself invisible, which she couldn’t do, and doubted it was possible at all.

She had ended up making her way to the start of the ridge behind the oasis, managing to keep herself out of sight of the Oasis Demons, hiding behind dunes, and once there she had pulled out her flaming arrows, split them in batches of three, and left them in different positions on the ridge. Movement would be a key element to her plan, or at least for the first part, whereas positioning would be decisive for the second part.

The pink-haired beauty’s nerves were starting to act badly on her, especially as she knew that if her plan didn’t work, gangrape was what was awaiting her if the demons got their hands on her, a notion that was actually leaving her feeling rather hot, as the image of Demon and Imp cock going all over and into her manifested in her psyche. She was no longer surprised by her body’s reaction, rather she’d come to expect it at this point, certain that it was the result of her encounter, and defeat, against the Followers of the Fetish, Marcissa and Ulma, the latter claiming to have granted a fetish to Honoka.

She managed to cool down the flames of desire within her, as she went through her plan one last time inside her head, and once she thought she’d gone through every detail and point, she took her position, three flaming arrows in front of her. She moved her head close to the arrows and whispered Ignis, lighting them on fire, after which she put one to her bow, aimed down from her vantage point, and released it.

The arrow flew down the ridge, Honoka’s aim making it land on the stacks of dry mattresses that some of the Demons were sitting down on while eating and drinking, the material quickly catching fire under their butts.

“What the fuck?!! There’s fire!!!” Shouted an Imp as he scurried away from the quickly growing flames, even as another one had his pants catching on fire, as a second arrow landed nearby.

“Where are those arrows coming from?!” Shouted a female demon, her eyes looking around, and just managing to catch from where a third flaming arrow came flying from. “There it is!!” She shouted, pointing in the direction as she started running towards it, her strong legs allowing her to cover considerable distance with each bound, even if the elevated and rocky terrain slowed her down a bit.

However, as she arrived at the place where she believed the arrows to have come from, she found nothing there. “The hell?!! There’s no one here!!” 

An imp screeched in pain as an arrow hit him square on his hip, the fire spreading and causing him to roll around on the ground, trying to put it out. This newest arrow had come from a position to the right of where the demoness had run towards, and that confused the Demons, leaving them wondering if they were being attacked by a group.

“Fuck, gotta catch them!!!” The demoness was now running towards the new location, just as a couple more demons bounded towards it from the Oasis. Whoever was responsible for attacking them was going to pay, direly. 

Again, there was nobody standing at the place she calculated the arrows had been coming from, but this time she caught a flash of pink running behind a larger rock, and with her prey in sight, the demoness followed, her nails looking viciously sharp, much like claws.

She jumped over the large rock and laid her eyes on a nearly naked human woman with pink hair, just as she was releasing a flaming arrow. “Bitch, you’re going down!!” She screamed, launching herself against woman, her claws extended and ready to slash that perfect skin all over.

However, Honoka reacted extremely fast, dropping her bow and pulling her shield from behind her back, swinging it wide to deflect the claw attack, and using the momentum of her arching movement to keep spinning, gaining extra speed and impetus, and smashing the metal shield against the side of the demoness’s head, staggering her, and opening her for another shield slam, cracking her nose and dropping her down to the ground unconscious.

Honoka barely had time to take a breath, as she just grabbed her bow and ran to the next arrow position, as she could hear more demons rushing towards her. She just barely managed to get there, when a male Demon and an Imp came into view. She could feel panic trying to overwhelm her, but she grabbed an arrow, not having time to ignite it, pointed and released it against the Imp, catching right on the right shoulder area, causing him to scream loudly in pain.  

“Cunt!! You’re going to pay!!!” the male Demon screamed out, running towards Honoka, only to stop in his tracks once she ignited the second arrow, his eyes growing wide, and just barely managing to evade the flying, flaming, projectile shot into his direction. But he couldn’t avoid the blade that cut into his chest, burning it as if it was made of fire, as the maiden warrior covered the distance separating them quickly, pulling her blade out of its sheath, and slashing the Demon. His cry of pain was loud, but cut short as Honoka smashed the pommel of the blade into the side of his head, right below the horns, and dropped him unconscious…

And nearly got smashed by a crude wooden club, as the largest of the Demons joined the fray, escaping the blow thanks to catching movement from the periphery of her left eye. “A human?!! And female, is the one attacking us??!!!” The Demon shouted loudly, announcing to his companions the identity of their attacker. His cock grew slightly bigger as he took in the wide and womanly hips, the curvaceous bubble butt, the huge, barely contained breasts, and the delicate and beautiful face. A lecherous smirk appeared on his face then. “We got ourselves some fine fucking material mates, and I’m calling dibs on her!!!”

Taking in the sight of the Demon, the pink-haired virgin couldn’t contain the feeling of disgust that filled her mind, quickly turning to arousal, making her pussy grow warm with desire. Honoka turned and fled in the direction of her next set of flaming arrows, but a Demon couple jumped in, blocking her progress. “You’re not passing here, human whore!!!” The Demoness said, a curved blade on her hand.

Instinct took over Honoka, her left hand putting her bow back into her magic pouches, and in the same movement pulling out her shield, before she rushed against the demonic pair, their red eyes widening in surprise, clearly not expecting their prey to come onto them like that. Her blade blocked the curved sword’s swipe, while her shield bashed itself on the male Demon’s face with crunching force, likely breaking his nose, before Honoka jumped up and threw her legs sideways, kicking both demons on their side, a move worthy of a martial arts film.

She tried continuing running, but felt her momentum being stopped in its tracks. The large Demon had grabbed onto the sheath of her blade, and it was using it to drag her into his sweaty embrace. “You got some moves girl!! And that flexibility will make for some great fucking!!!” The teenage warrioress tried to pull away from him, but his grip was too strong, and for a moment panic threatened to overwhelm her, but she twisted her body and slashed downwards, her blade cutting the clasps that linked the sheath to her chainmail miniskirt, leaving it into the grips of the now-surprised Demon, and letting her run away from him.

But not into the direction of the arrows, as she could see Imps coming from there, but rather down the rocky slope and into the Oasis Ruins. Not what she wanted, but she had little choice at that point. “CATCH THE WHORE!!!” Shouted the larger Demon, as the sound of his hooves could be heard coming after Honoka. Her heart was beating quickly, adrenaline running inside her veins, numbing the fear that had been growing inside her, with blade and shield in hand, she was committing to the fight.

She heard a heavy thud from behind, and daring it, she threw a quick look, seeing that the pursuing Demon had fallen, likely tripped in some obstacle, giving her just a bit of a respite. Ahead of her a trio of Imps moved into interception course, holding small knives on their hands. Honoka blocked a knife with her shield, deflect another with her blade, and threw a kick hitting the last Imp, still moving in to slice at her, right on the groin, feeling her foot smash against his dick and balls. The Imp didn’t scream, but fell down as if hit by lightning, clutching his groin.

The warrior maiden then pushed against the two other Imps, her longer blade giving her an advantage, and soon enough red blood flew across the air, as she slashed one of them across the nose, following with a powerful thrust kick to his gut. The other one got this brain scrambled by a shield bash, followed by a spinning kick to the side of his head.

Three were down, but she could hear more enemies coming towards her, so she moved deeper into the Oasis, ducking into one of the ruined houses for cover. She could hear the large Demon stomping after her, so she needed to move out of the building quickly… the Demoness with the curved sword suddenly fell into the ruin, bringing her sword clashing down and coming within a few hairs-breadth to slicing into Honoka. She then stepped forward, waving her blade, forcing the pink-haired human to hide behind the shield and stepping backwards. Her eyes shone with fury, promising terrible retribution.

Honoka knew the big Demon was getting closer, so she dropped down, letting her shield hit the ground, and using its round surface to slide across the floor, cutting the distance between them, and bringing her leg across to sweep the Demoness, causing her to fall back first, allowing Honoka to mount her, bring her shield up and smash it down across the fiend’s face. And immediately she bounded forward, just as she heard stone crumbling behind her, the large Demon breaking through the old walls with his club.

The human virgin ran out of the ruined house, her breath coming out quick and harsh, her eyes sweeping around and seeing that all remaining Demons were converging on her… precisely as she wanted!

She took running as fast as she could, moving around the Oasis’ Lake, herding her pursuers together, and dashing towards the largest ruin, which must had been a town hall of some kind, or a church. It was the longest building, most of its walls still standing, though the roof had collapsed. Her heart was now beating wildly, and adrenaline was no longer managing to numb fear as much as before.

The Demons behind swore insults at her, promising that they’d gangrape her for entire days, filling all of her holes with their demonic seed, impregnate her, and use her as a breeding mare for them.

Honoka begged every God or Gods there were to not let her trip now, and she managed to get into the building, running almost to the other side of it, her left hand grabbing something from her thigh holster, before stopping and turning around. Sweat covered her body, her heartbeat had shot up, and fear was ever present, trying to overpower her mind, but she had a plan, and that kept the fear controlled.

The Demons broke into the ruins, the large one, likely the leader of the group grinning wildly as he saw her standing there waiting for them. “So, tired of running, tasty morsel?! A bit of exercise is a good way to get the blood pumping, and that is always a good warm-up for some fucking and raping!!” His minions laughed at his comment as they kept stepping towards her.

“Such a voluptuous beauty is a rare thing to see!” Declared one of the Demons. “Even more here in the Desert, where wayward interdimensional humans rarely manage to get. We’ll greatly enjoy your companionship… even if you’re unlikely to feel the same!” That made them burst out laughing, the entire group evidently delighting over what they saw as a sure victory of their part.

Honoka took a deep breath, steeling her resolve, before answering. “None of you are touching me!” Her voice was still a bit shaky, but there was resolve behind it. “I’m beating all of you!”

That made them laugh even louder, their confidence feeling supreme at that point, the Demons being assured of their incoming triumph. Honoka’s hand simply closed itself harder around whatever she was grasping. “Such a stubborn mouth that is! I think we need to teach her a lesson boys, a lesson taught by our cocks raping her mouth and throat!!” The big Demon announced, as they all moved deeper into the ruins…

At that point Honoka brought her left hand to her mouth, whispered a pair of words, and felt a sudden heat rising on her grasped hand. “This is the only lesson you’re getting!!!” She shouted as she threw something against them, turning 180º and running outside the ruined building.

The Demons couldn’t get a good view of the red jewel, but there was no missing its glow. A glow that only grew brighter as the air surrounding it grew hotter by the millisecond, before it shone with a bright and flashing light… exploding in an inferno of flames within the mostly contained building.

…

“… been fucking waiting here for almost an entire day, with nothing to do but look at samey-samey dunes!!!” Camilla screamed her frustrations at Zetaz, the Imp Lord having just dismounted from Tim, the huge Hellhound groaning as the trek through the Desert had clearly overheated him, the two heads quickly making their way to a trough that had been set there, and quickly sank its snout into the water, greedily drinking from there.

“And I spent entire days going up and down dunes, finding nothing, and even those useless asses at the Oasis knew nothing about Honkers travelling through here!!” Zetaz’s anger was melting hot, his frustration and fear, yes, fear, that Honkers would escape him and he’d never get a chance at raping her, a desire that grew ever bigger with every day that passed by. “Do not talk to me about frustration, for there’s no chance yours come close to rivalling mine!!!” He screamed to her face, actually managing to make the Succubus take a step back due to sheer intimidation.

But she wasn’t going to be intimidated by an Imp, even if he was an Imp Lord. “I thought you were running an efficient group here, but instead nobody knows what they’re supposed to be doing, and your delay has resulted in most of your Imps staying here for almost a day, when they could be around scouring the Desert in search of Honkers!!” She venomously replied to him. “They might have found her already, if a certain someone knew how to keep to a schedule!!”.

Zetaz clenched his hands in fury. How dare this whore of a Succubus criticize him like that?! “You also haven’t contributed much at all, have you?! You can fly the best out of everyone here, but you’ve failed in finding her too!!” His right hand was getting dangerously close to his axe, his patience at an end long ago.

“That’s because I need to shackle myself to this useless aerial-limited bunch!!! I don’t get why the hell you all have wings, they’re as useless as your cocks!” 

That one got the Imp Soldiers to turn their heads towards Camilla, and glare furiously at her. “What?! I’m not telling any lies; you can’t fly for shit! You just grovel around like worms!!” And with that some of the Imp Soldiers grabbed their weapons and pointed them at the Succubus, their intentions clear on their fury-clenched faces.

For her part, Camilla’s right hand grabbed a hold of her Succubi Whip, her left hand grabbed the Lust Dagger. “You wanna come at me?! I’ll deal with you all, none of you are man enough to face me!” And finally, Zetaz grabbed his axe, at last deciding that the Succubus had overstayed her welcome, and that it was time to teach her that having a cock meant every cunt had to bow down to it.

And just as a brawl seemed about to begin, a startling sound and bright light came into existence, pulling every eye towards its direction. “That happened at the Oasis…” Zetaz spoke to himself, looing in that direction, the Imp Lord wondering what the hell could have caused such a fiery explosion. Only magic could be responsible for it, but the Oasis Demons didn’t have that sort of magic on them, so maybe…

“Camilla, I think Honkers might have done that!!” He shouted, the rage replaced by elated excitement, as the possibility of getting his cock into her came to his mind. “You need to get there as quickly as possible! If she’s there we can’t let her escape!! We’ll join you as quickly as we can!!” 

A wicked smirk blossomed on Camilla’s face, finally some excitement to be had. “I’ll get there as quickly as I can!!” She said as her wings unfolded fully, and started flapping, elevating her from the ground. “You guys make sure you get there quick, otherwise I’ll be the only one having fun!” Honkers being there wasn’t a sure thing, but much like Zetaz, Camilla knew deep inside that it couldn’t be anyone but her.

With just a few flaps of her wings Camilla was soaring up in the air, seeing the Imps running around, grabbing their gear, Zetaz trying to pull Tim’s heads out of the trough, and general pandemonium being unleashed. But that wasn’t something she cared about, for as she started flying towards the Oasis’ direction, Camilla could only think of revenge.

…

As the smoke settled down Honoka came into the ruined building, looking at the mess she’d caused.

The explosion had been greater than she was expecting, as the sonic boom of the explosion had thrown her to the ground, and the heat wave had made it feel like was in a sauna. Inside, she could she the various Demons scattered about, burn marks showing in several places on their bodies, but they seemed to still be breathing, which honestly surprised her. Demons were a lot sturdier than she thought.

Still, her plan had worked out in the end, and while she was tired, she hadn’t been beaten, captured, and eventually raped by the Demons, so it was a major win in her mind. She now had to get around to finding the Beautiful Sword, the reason why she had come to this place. And as Honoka was about to take her jewellered bracer from her pouches, the largest Demon stirred up and with a yell of rage got back to his feet and violently swung his club at the pink-haired human.

Honoka barely had time to block with her shield, but the blow was strong enough to leave her arm and elbow ringing in pain, and send the shield flying for her hand, leaving her defenceless. She ducked under the second swing, even as her eyes filled with tears, and stabbed her blade into the Demon’s belly, piercing the layers of fat there. The Demon howled in pain, dropping his club, but backhanding Honoka across the face, sending her down to the floor, and losing her grip on the weapon.

The blow left her dazed and half-stunned, giving time for the Demon to remove her blade, look at it, and smash it against the wall until it shattered. “Fucking cunt!!! You’re going to pay for this!!” Blood gushed from the wound, running down his legs and into his cock and balls. “I’m going to rape you bloody!!” His hand wrapped itself around Honoka’s arm, clenching tightly, but the maiden outworlder reacted with a thrust kick right into his balls.

His grip went slack immediately as he let a guttural growl of pain, allowing Honoka to run to her shield, grabbing it with her right hand, knowing she had to use it as an offensive weapon. She then rushed the Demon, smashing on his side shield first, but not hard enough to knock him down. The Demon then waved his arm around, trying to smash her, but Honoka jumped back and evaded it.

However, that seemed to be this Demon’s plan, as he then lowered his head, and rushed Honoka horns first, like a raging bull. The teen was caught by surprise and couldn’t block it quick enough, letting out a pained scream as the Demon’s right shoulder rammed into her, hitting her ribs, and throwing her to the ground, her shield flying away again. Honoka grasped her ribs, her breath coming out raggedly as she had some difficulty breathing. The Demon almost crashed into the wall, but managed to stop himself before the collision, and seeing his opponent squirming on the floor, he got a big cocky smirk and started walking towards her. “Time to fuck you, the other guys will have their turn, but I get dibs on your cunt.”

He grabbed the human teen by her hair, lifting her from the floor, leaving her dangling on the air, letting out pained gasps as her scalp hurt immensely. “Got a great body there! I’m going to enjoy myself!” The Demon declared, his left hand enveloping Honoka’s right breast. “Oh, nicely soft.” He said with great satisfaction on his voice, his hand groping the mound of flesh while enjoying the way Honoka was squirming on her grasp.

The Demon was certain of his victory, so he no longer considered the human a threat, and that was his downfall, as Honoka gritted her teeth, ignored the pain on her scalp, and swung her legs upwards, throwing her legs over and around the Demon’s head, locking him with a leg-scissors hold. She then clenched her legs together with as much strength as she could muster. 

The Demon had no idea of how to react to the sudden swift on dominance. At first, he actually liked the idea of having his head enveloped by such supple and soft thighs, but he very quickly was having a hard time breathing, and sudden panic was taking over. His grip on Honoka’s hair disappeared, as he tried to force Honoka’s legs to release the grip around his neck, but that allowed the pinkette to raise herself to a sitting position, and smash her elbows, full-force on the top of the Demon’s head, hitting the area between the horns.

The Demon’s vision went black for a moment, his legs failing him and causing him to fall on his ass, at which point Honoka tightened the hold around his neck even harder, doing everything she could in order to make the Demon lose consciousness, so she smashed her elbows into his cranium again. The Demon now fell on his side, his brain unable to process things due to pain and lack of oxygen, his arms no longer able to move, no longer able to try releasing the hold around his neck. Darkness enveloped him then, the embrace of unconsciousness taking a hold of him.

After a bit Honoka released her scissor hold, her legs having grown mildly numb due to the effort she had put in subduing the Demon. Her ribs ached something fierce, and her body was bruised in places, but in the end, she had won!

The maiden fighter rose to her feet and started moving towards her shield, which had proved to be as good a weapon as a defensive tool. Losing her weapon was troublesome, but she was hopefully replacing it with the Beautiful Sword…

Honoka, the Beautiful Sword is finally within reach. You just need to use the bracer, and it will guide you towards it.

“Mr. Guide?! Haven’t heard you for some good time!!” She said, surprised at the sudden reappearance of the guiding voice that had helped her during her first few days in Mareth. Honoka also retrieved the bracer from her pouches, and indeed the jewel on it was shining.

The closer you are to the sword, the brighter it will shine, just follow the increasing glow.

“It’s like playing Hot and Cold then…” Honoka pondered as she slipped her shield around her arm, and started using the bracer as a shining geyser counter. She had to be quick, as the Demons weren’t dead, just knocked out. Luckily, she found the trace quite quickly, and it took her towards the rocky hills behind the Oasis, specifically to a natural crevice on the hills. Once she got there, Honoka couldn’t see where she was supposed to go, and was about to ask Mr. Guide about it, when the jewel shot a beam of light into the rock wall, and it started disappearing, opening a pathway into the stone.

“Now that’s something…” she murmured to herself, a flashback coming into her mind, of when she had explored the cavern in Venus Island, which had brought her to Mareth in the first place. After putting the bracer back into the holster, she went inside it despite that less than pleasant memory, walking through the tunnel, coming to an inner cavern illuminated by several beams of light that passed through various tunnels that borrowed through the soil and stone. In the middle of the chamber there stood a tree, a tree that looked dead, its branches bereft of leaves, and the trunk looking dry and cracked.

But imbedded into the trunk stood a sword. Its blade was partially buried into the tree, having a silvery tint to it. The cross guard was golden, with green jewels incrusted into the ends. The grip was wrapped in nice-looking oiled leather, and the pommel was golden and round with a large round hole into it. The sword itself seemed to glow in the partial darkness, it emitted a soft and… comforting light.

Honoka was oddly fascinated by the weapon struck in the tree, and stood looking at it for several seconds, before she stepped forward, extending her right hand and enveloping the leather grip. It felt too wide for her small hand, too thick for her to grab comfortably, and looking closer, it looked like it was big enough to be a two-handed sword, likely too big and heavy for her to wield effectively… but just as she was thinking on that dilemma, she felt the sword shrinking on her grip until her hand could perfectly grip it. “How… must be magic…” She said to herself as she started pulling it from the trunk, and the blade slid smoothly from it.

Once it was out, Honoka could see that the blade was about the length of her arm, perfectly balanced, and light enough she was easily holding it. It felt as if it had made to perfectly fit her, and the pink-haired teen found that somewhat disconcerting.

Do not worry Honoka, for the sword is imbued with powerful magic, one of which allows it to shape itself to its wielder.

“Figured that was the case…” Honoka replied, as she gave a few tentative swings with it, marvelling at how flawlessly it matched her, so much more than the previous weapon she’d used. She felt compelled to raise the Beautiful Sword aloft, much like the mural she’d seen on the Mountains’ cave, and though she ought to feel silly by doing it, Honoka actually felt as though a feeling of purpose came into her mind, a clarity that had been missing ever since coming to Mareth.

Honoka lowered the sword, a new determination filling her. She had to go back to the Lake, meet Marae, and discover what she had to do next. She was now closer to getting back home, and she wanted to persevere on that path. “But one thing… how do I carry this sword with me? There’s no scabbard here?” She could try putting it inside her holster, but that didn’t feel right to her.

Do not worry Honoka, you saw how the Beautiful Sword changed itself to fit you. You can also command it to change its size, to become bigger, or to become smaller.

The maiden teen looked at the sword and wondered how she was supposed to do that. “Get small.” She said, feeling rather silly for doing do. “Shrink, reduce your size, become tiny.” She insisted, still without any results. She then tried to visualize the Beautiful Sword becoming smaller within her mind, turning into a dagger, small enough to be hidden in most places, and felt the sword changing in her grip. As she looked at it, she saw the blade growing shorter, the guard shrinking, and even the pommel got smaller. Finally, she was holding a small dagger on her hand, the blade about the size of her extended hand, the guard having disappeared, and the hilt reached her closed fist.

“Well, this is a bit handier to store now.” She said as she opened one of her pouches, getting ready to drop it inside.

Wait, you do not need to do that Honoka, you can store it within your shield.

“What do you mean, Mr. Guide?” Honoka pulled out her shield, and couldn’t see any place to store it.

There is a hidden scabbard between the straps, it will allow you to carry the Beautiful Sword within the shield.

Honoka looked into it, and indeed there was the aforementioned scabbard hidden between the straps, and the weapon fit there perfectly. The pink-haired teen still took some time sheathing and unsheathing the blade a couple of times, so that when she needed to pull it out in a hurry, she wouldn’t mess it up. She also got the sword to expand and shrink sometimes, so she could get used to it.

With that done, Honoka holstered the shield on her back and started to leave the chamber, wanting to get as much distance as she could from the Oasis, leaving the Demons behind. She had a decision to make though, as she could either go back to Tel’Adre, and then leave the Desert, or she could make a beeline southeast, and get to the Forest as quickly as she could. From there she’d travel to the Farm, and then go to the Lake, and to Marae.

The sunlight was really strong on her face as she exited the cave, glaring on her eyes, trying to blindside her. Honoka let her eyes adjust and then started moving outside the ruins… when she felt a string of pain slashing across her legs, butt and lower back! “AAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!” She screamed as she fell on all fours, panting in pain… and feeling a familiar heat growing between her loins.

She screamed ever louder as she felt another lash smashing against her buttocks, causing Honoka to roll around on the ground, dropping her shield, and clutching her butt. Tears filled Honoka’s eyes, but she did manage to notice a figure… floating in the air!

“Look who’s here! Someone I have grievances with. Mighty great grievances indeed…” Honoka blinked several times through rousing arousal before she recognized the woman. It was the Succubus that she had fought against in the Forest when she had met Tamani, though she wasn’t fully naked anymore, and she held a whip on her right hand. “Finally found you Honkers, and now I’m going to have my sweet revenge for the humiliation you gave me!”

Camilla pulled her arm back, snapping it towards her fallen prey, the whip cutting through the air as it fell towards its target… only for Honoka to roll out of the way, stand up on shaky legs, and rush the Succubus for an attack. Camilla saw her coming, and remembering their previous encounter, took flight to evade the virgin warrior’s stumbling attack. Her arm lashed again, and her whip this time managed to hit Honoka on her chest, not full-on as she’d want it to, but a slight hit was better than none.

For Honoka, the third whipping didn’t so much cause her pain as it spiked her arousal, making her realize the weapon must be magic, and capable of affecting her libido. It brought to memory her duels with the Cum Witch, but this time she was coming in tired and bruised from battling the Demons, which left her at a disadvantage.

“Ah, ah, ah!!!! This time you’re going down Bitch, I’ll make you lick my feet once you’re paralysed with lust!! I’m going to repay the humiliation tenfold!” She kept lashing her whip around, enjoying how Honkers struggled to avoid the hits. She was still avoiding them, but she was getting increasingly clumsy and shaky. “It’s a wonder you can still evade me, whore. But you won’t last much longer!” She shouted as she hit the pink-haired cunt another time, with the female dropping to the ground, her hands scratching at her covered pussy with fervour.

Camilla smirked widely at the sight, and started dropping down towards her prey, ready to have her fun. “Vengeance time is here, Bitch, and I’m going to enjoy having my time with you! And of course, then I’ll enjoy watching Zetaz having his way with you…” But at that point Honoka’s feet crashed against her stomach, driving the air out of her lungs and almost doubling down in pain.

Honoka rose to her feet, her legs trembling with barely contained lustful passion, struggling to remove her hands from her covered pussy while panting deeply. She tried to throw a punch at Camilla, but the Succubus wiped her wings out, hitting the maiden warrior and making her stumble backwards, and giving herself enough time to brandish her whip against Honoka several times, whipping her over her breasts, her stomach, her legs and even her crotch was hit by it. At that point Honoka couldn’t take it anymore, and one hand pulled her metal bra down, grasping one swollen nipple and pinching it, while her other hand slid into her thong, teasing her pussy and clit.

“Fucking bitch!!” Camilla yelled, still clutching her stomach. “You’re going to pay for that trick!” The Succubus prowled to the masturbating beauty intent on getting her revenge, and as she got to Honoka’s masturbating figure, she punted her in the stomach. “That’s for your kick, Cunt!!” She then grabbed and pulled out Honoka’s bikini, fully releasing her heavy breasts. “Those udders of yours have gotten even bigger Honkers, and I think I’ll have my fun with them!” She also removed Honoka’s holster and chainmail skirt, leaving her only on her thong.

“No… please…” Honoka weakly pleased, but the Succubus grabbed her nipples and started massaging and kneading them, taking a dominant position.

“Shut up Honkers, I don’t care about your whining!” She teased the human girl mercilessly, working on her udders until, to Camilla’s surprise, milk burst from the swollen nipples! “You’re really a cow aren’t you Honkers, a milk cow of the highest quality!” It was a happy coincidence this one. “No surprise actually, Honkers gonna have some milky udders after all!”

“M-My name is… isn’t Honkers… it’s Ho-Honoka!!!” The teen replied.

Camilla stopped for a moment, and burst out laughing. “You… your name is Honoka??!!! Ah, Ah, Ah!!! That’s just… precious! Honoka of the big Honkers!!!” She was crying laughing, laughing like she hadn’t laughed in a long time. “Oh Lethice, that’s just too good! Zetaz’s going to love hearing it!!” The Succubus slapped Honoka’s udders, causing more milk to spill from her nipples, just as she pulled a vial from a pouch on her thigh, a vial with a paste inside, Sensitivity Draft.

Camilla rubbed the salve in Honoka’s boobs, giving special care to her nipples. “This will make things more interesting.” Camilla said as she dropped the vial, her hands then gripping the teen’s breasts, causing her to moan loudly, her breasts feeling much more sensitive than before. 

“M-my… breas-breasts… so… Aaahhhhh!!!!” Honoka couldn’t understand what had happened, as her breasts now felt as sensitive as if the Succubus was teasing her pussy. 

Camilla was enjoying making Honkers Honoka squirm and moan, plus the fact her tits were squirting out milk made it look like she had dicks for nipples, which were constantly cumming. “Ahahah!!! Yes, cum from your breasts Honkers, show how much of a cow you are!!!” The Ivory Succubus roughly squeezed the teen’s boobs, trying to compress them as much as she could until jets of milk shot from Honoka’s nipples, at the same time that her pussy burst with joy and fluids, as she had a powerful orgasm.

“You’re a pathetic slut, aren’t you? Just a needy cunt that wants to be fucked endlessly!” As she said that her fingers ran over her prey’s leather-covered pussy, seeking to insert them and fingerbang the pink-haired human… and for some reason it took her more time than she wanted to find a hole… and once she found it, she realized it was her asshole, not her pussy. “What the hell, how could I miss your cunt??!” Camilla then looked at Honoka’s thong and tried to slid her fingers into it… which she failed to do to her great surprise. She then tried to pull the thong aside, but the damn thing refused to budge.

“What’s with this strap of leather?! It doesn’t want to let me touch your cunt!!” Camilla had never seen anything like it, what was it with it? The thing had to be magical, have some sort of enchantment or something. But her asshole was also a good spot to mess with Honkers, and she had a nasty idea on her mind.

“It… it won’t let you… ahhh… touch me…” The little bitch mumbled through gasps of air as Camilla grabbed her whip, which had a rather thick pommel made of intertwined leather straps.

“We’ll see how that goes once Zetaz and his minions come about, because he has some mighty interest in that virgin cunt of yours.” She could feel it easily, and it was a wonder that Honkers had managed to remain a virgin for so long. One’s maidenhead was a rare commodity in Mareth after all. “But I think I’ll have enough fun with your rear hole.” The Succubus said as she thrust her whip’s pommel into Honoka’s asshole.

“Kyyyaaaaa!!! M-my ass-asspussy!!!” The maiden human cried out. “It-it’s thick!!!” She moaned loudly as Camilla drove the leather head inside, up until the whip itself was pressing against her pucker. The Succubus then gave it a hard pull, managing to swiftly extract it from inside Honoka’s asspussy, drawing even more love juice from her covered pussy. “I-I’m… going to go insane…!!” She moaned.

Camilla smiled wickedly once she heard those words, another idea coming into her mind. She grabbed the dropped vial of Sensitivity Draft, and used the salve to thickly coat the whip’s pommel. “Not yet, but you might with this trick of mine!” She then forced the fist-like pommel into Honkers’ asspussy again, the Sensitivity Draft now working its magic into the walls of her rectum.

Honoka forgot to breathe for a moment, too caught up on the sudden spike of sensitivity that her asspussy was experiencing, but once Camilla started pumping it, it was like an explosion going inside her asspussy, as a new level of pleasure was extracted from it. “Ooooohhhhh… aaahhhhhhh… M-m-m-my ass!!!! M-my mind iihhsss… yyaaahhhhhhh… bre-breaaakiinng!!!!” 

Camilla repositioned herself to press her pussy against Honkers’ drooling, messy mouth, and sat on it. “Listen up selfish slut, you aren’t the only one who gets to feel good, so you better lick my pussy until I cum!” She rubbed her snatch all over Honoka’s face, but the teen wasn’t really responding, she wasn’t trying to lick it. Camilla let out an annoyed sound, and slapped the pinkette’s covered cunt. “You fucking bitch, you aren’t reciprocating my tenderness at all! If you don’t lick and suck my cunt, then I won’t fuck your asspussy anymore!!” She threatened, releasing her grip on the whip, and slapping Honkers’ crotch.

The stimulation on her asspussy ceased, leaving Honoka desperate for it to resume, but her strength had left her, and her arms felt like they were made of lead, so she couldn’t satisfy herself. So, she lifted her head, extending her tongue, and running it over the Succubus spread pussy, tasting it. It felt different from Marble’s pussy, there was a touch of… corruption to it? She couldn’t say why that was the term she’d thought of, but it was what immediately came to her mind.

“Now that’s better Honkers, but you need to put more effort into it if you want me to get back to fucking your asspussy.” Her technique was clumsy, and the fact her libido at been taken to absurd levels didn’t help, but she was doing a serviceable job in Camilla’s opinion. She was also shaking her butt, and her anus was continuously contracting around the whip’s pommel, clearly desperate for stimulation. Camilla brought her hand up and slammed it down on Honker’s leather-covered pussy. “Still not good enough! You aren’t getting any until I start feeling good!!” 

Every slap brought a wave of pain and pleasure across Honoka’s body, a new sensation she wasn’t used to, and which she had a hard time processing, especially when her asspussy felt like a scorching cauldron of pleasure, desperate to have its flames fanned even more. The pink-haired teen brought her lips around the Succubus’ clit and sucked harshly, finally managing to draw a moan out of Camilla. “Aaahh!! That felt good Honkers… keep doing it!!”

Pleased over finally getting a reaction, Honoka kept teasing and attacking the sensitive numb, desperate to please the demoness. Camilla’s juices started running, dripping over Honoka’s face, and its aphrodisiac properties were making her feel even more aroused. “Now you’re doing it like a good bitch!! Aahh, against my better judgement I’ll reward you a bit.” The succubus grabbed the whip and started moving it, finally granting the maiden fighter the rectal stimulation she craved.

Both females got caught in the spell of the moment, one sucking and licking the other’s snatch, the other slowly thrusting in and out of the first’s asspussy, both of their climaxes building steadily, with Camilla stopping her ministrations, and slapping Honoka’s cunt whenever the teen slowed down her sucking. Finally, Camilla managed to hit that sweet moment of release, that blank of obliviousness and she came all over Honoka’s face, her juices coating her skin and hair. But Honoka herself had yet to cum, and she was desperate for that release.

“Aaahhh… P-please… l-let me cum… I-I want to cummm!!!” If her arms weren’t feeling like sludge, she’d finish herself, but she couldn’t do anything, she was too horny to move her limbs at all.

Camilla let her afterglow fully wash over her before she grasped the whip, causing Honoka to let out a sigh of contentment, only for the Succubus to pull it out, and attach it back to her corset. 

Tears filled Honoka’s eyes. The Ivory Succubus wasn’t going to make her cum!!! “No, no, no!!! Please I need to cum!!! I’ll die if I don’t!!!”

The Succubus just smiled before she knelt between Honoka’s legs, and brought her right hand next to the girl’s asspussy, pushing two fingers into it… then a third finger… a fourth finger… and then shoved her full hand inside, causing a wild screech to exit the pinkette’s mouth. “Tell me Honkers Honoka, is this the first time someone has fisted you?” Camilla asked as she shoved past her wrist inside her.

“OOoohhhh… Y-yyeeessshhh… nnneebbeeerr beeenn… Aaaahahhhh!!! Fiiishhteedddd!!!” Camila pushed inside until her forearm was halfway through deep into Honoka’s ass, spreading her fingers inside her rectum, marvelling at how incredibly erotic and sex-inclined her body had become. Her huge lactating breasts, her incredibly flexible and fuckable asshole, her wide hips and plump thighs and bubble butt, which combined with her big boobs gave her a wonderful hourglass figure. The Succubus wondered if her pussy would be comparable to her asspussy. She then pulled her arm out until her fist was partially out, at which point she pushed it inside again, this time forcing it inside until her full forearm was inside. “T-thhheerrsss sshhoo mmmuuttchh… Aaaahhhh… iiinsshiddee mmeeee!!!”

Honker’s pathetic reaction was stroking Camilla’s sadistic side, so she put her whole being into fisting the human female, the one who had beaten her and humiliated her. Now she was getting even, she was reducing her enemy to a sloven puddle of horniness, and she was enjoying every moment of it.

She saw how Honker’s nipples started letting out trails of milk, how her pussy was running like a river, how her body convulsed in pleasure, reacting to every minor movement of her arm. She had been reduced to a pathetic bitch in heat, who turned to puddy thanks to Camilla’s ministrations. The Succubus pussy was getting runny again due to the vicious feelings that were consuming her.

Finally, Honoka’s pussy exploded with joy, the teen experiencing a powerfully mind-blowing anal orgasm that made her sight go black, her brain become overcome by pleasure to such a degree that once her afterglow hit, it just shut down, and the pink-haired virgin fell unconscious, into a coma of pleasure.

Camilla had to wait for her prey’s asshole to lessen the grip it had on her arm before she could pull it out. “Such a needy ass-cunt you have Honkers, makes me wonder how your pussy will be like?” She again tried to expose it, but the damn leather thong just wouldn’t budge. That was certain to piss-off Zetaz monumentally, but it was a show she was willing to watch out for. The Imp Lord would eventually get his way, and when he’d get to take Honker’s maidenhead, she’d be there to see it!

The Ivory Succubus took flight, having decided she needed to get some rope to make sure Honkers Honoka wasn’t going to make a run for it once she woke up. She was, begrudgingly, impressed by what the human female had done, having beaten the Oasis Demons for whatever her reason had been. She might need to investigate that.

She found a good length of rope and flew back to the unconscious virgin warrior, using it to tie her forearms behind her back, tie her upper arms to her chest, for fun she wrapped the rope around her boobs, putting some squeeze on her huge milkers, and finally she tied her knees together. She could have hogtied the human, but all that should prevent her from moving.

It was like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. She’d had a nice portion of her revenge against Honkers, and she’d get even more once Zetaz and his troops arrived… and the Oasis Demons likely would want to get even with the human slut! Oh, revenge was going to be so, oh so very, sweet!

At that point Camilla had yet another idea. She was going to put a massive Curse Mark on Honkers, but that required some preparation. The enchantments she’d inflict on the bitch were complicated and precise, but she could create a simple one, which would still allow her to inflict some torment on her. She pulled some tools out of her pouches, as well as a vial with liquid inside.

She turned Honoka down on her knockers, pulled her hair up, exposing the back of her neck, the perfect place for the Cursed Mark she was going to use. She went at it, and soon enough she had inscribed a rune in pink ink right next to her hair line. The Curse Mark would allow her access to Honker’s dreams, a skill associated to Succubus, but one only accessible to really powerful ones. It would let her torment Honoka in a number of different and entertaining ways, even though it wasn’t a permanent one.

With that done, Camilla took a seat next to the tied-up teen, and allowed herself to finally relax. She’d wait for Zetaz to arrive, for his soldiers to join, and for the Oasis Demons to come back to themselves, and once everyone was there, she had no doubt Honkers Honoka was in for a world of fucking and rape.

She was going to enjoy every moment of it.
