Corruption of Souls

Ch.80

After Ailisiv’s disturbing reveal as to the origin of the Lust Demons, we had gone silent in contemplation until we eventually reached the exit of the prison and found ourselves in a bafflingly tall city. We could barely see the top of the buildings around us let alone just how big the city was.

It reminded us of Lothric with its height, bridges and hanging platforms. Each level of the towers were connected and had very Greek architecture hewn from stone and looking more solid than any mountain. Looking about, We didn’t really see many people living higher than the second level and it looked like the upper city was abandoned. There were also demons everywhere.

Giant Cerberi dominated the enormous lanes of the streets on the ground. Some looked to be carrying baskets, dressed in loose plain robes which clashed entirely with how some were in giant cars that hovered over our height and didn’t cause downdraft any more harsh than a breeze. What is with this technology gap?! How can such an advanced and powerful society have most of their home overgrown with...uh.

Fleshy, penis-like vines. Vagina-shaped flowers. Grotesque yet enticing masses of tentacles! Holy fuck! This place is just overrun by the most pervasive and perverse Corruption We’ve ever seen! How can these people be so blase about it?! Are they so desensitized to the slowly encroaching sexual doom that they aren’t bothered by it?!

“How can you live like this? You have impending destruction creeping down from above your heads!” We whimpered in unease at how the air was clearly masked with some other scent instead of the pink cloud of pheromones that blocked out the sky above the fourth story.

“This is the constant struggle we face since the Traitor’s experiments were exposed and she unleashed them on Tartarus before her escape.” Ailisiv informed us solemnly while a Cerberus soldier walked past with a long pole topped with a flamethrower that he was shooting black flames up into the air with against the buildings, causing the fleshy growths to screech and wither away.

“No wonder you can’t spare any soldiers if you’re constantly keeping that at bay.” Urta grimaced in disgust while the rest of us nodded in agreement with her observation.

“This is indeed a quite unfavorable position you’ve all wound up in.” Alduin commented while looking around at the citizens who were unbothered by the casual culling of Corruption. “That said, you’ve adapted rather well.”

“This is not even the worst of it. The animals now rule the upper levels and other things dwell up there too. Unkillable weapons and uncovered ancient entities we’d locked away so long ago that even we’ve forgotten how to deal with them.” Ailisiv replied with a nonchalant shrug, as if she’d long ago surrendered to their fate. This visibly irritated Visilia, but she didn’t comment.

“This is terrible. We’ll lend aid however we can if you’ll allow it.” We offered kindly, as even though we’re not as well-equipped as Tartarus, We are a hard-counter to Corruption. This is exactly what the Corrupted Undead is Fated to fight. Thank gosh We stumbled into our power and amassed such competent allies, friends and lovers. Otherwise there’s no chance Willow would’ve been able to handle all of this.

“That’s up to my sister. I’ll gladly accept any help offered, but Ninia has the final say.” Ailisiv replied with a bitter tone. Uh-oh. Is her sister a bitch or something? Is she going to be an obstructionist? “Well, here we are. Home sweet home.”

Ailisiv guided us towards a massive ‘Roman’ courthouse that was clearly Greek still. It stood free of the massive superstructure that composed the rest of this impossibly gigantic city and was the only building completely free of any form of Corruption.

“This looks like a classical Romane courthouse.” Daring spoke up from our lips and Willow inwardly groaned at the horrible pun.

“Those plagiarists stole the design from the time they were a sovereign power and had business with us. It is our courthouse, but our old castle has been overrun by corruption maybe...I think it was 37 years ago?” Ailisiv rambled while she led us past the guards at the front gate and into the grand structure that was dwarfed all around by the superstructure.

The inside was rather extravagant considering the building’s bureaucratic purpose. Plush carpets, tapestries, paintings, artefacts. Fancy mahogany furniture that was breathing fire to heat up plates of food. Those must’ve been made from the trees of Malkior 7. Willow almost sent us to our knees with the spasming diaphragm her contained laughter was causing us.

Our private humor aside, it was a quick journey through the building to the main courtroom which was converted into a proper throne room, the jury stands acting as seats for advisory staff and such.

It was there that Visilia paused for a moment upon sight of the mare on the throne who also had a semblance to Visilia. However, she was much more...there for lack of a better word. It was like her presence filled the massive throne room even though she was smiling slightly at her approaching sister and flattening her white toga dress that had gold filigree laced in it. At least until she turned her gaze on us and her mouth became a slight frown.

“Sister, I bring guests.” Ailisiv said with a slight bow to her elder sibling.

“I can see that. What is their intent with our Kingdom sister?” The Elder sister asked before sniffing and blinking in surprise as she looked at Visi, but withheld commentary even if she did look confused and curious.

“They’re rulers from the surface sister. They came seeking answers to the origin of the Corruption that plagues them as well.” Ailisiv answered for us since the Princess had not addressed us.

“Ah. Well, unfortunately we’re not entirely certain ourselves beyond the obvious truth that it is the Traitor’s fault our people as well as yours suffer this scourge.” Princess Ninia Metis then leered at Visilia. “Who are you…?” She sniffed deeply and then curled her upper lip in a snarl. “You have the stink of Corruption on you, however faint, but you also smell impossibly Pure.”

“I am Princess Visilia Themis, one of the many Leaders of the Night Sentinels.” Visilia declared proudly and Ninia looked shocked as well as many of the other demons in attendance who gasped and began whispering amongst themselves.

“Princess Visilia? Not Queen? But you’ve birthed at least two children from your scent. Out of wedlock?” Ninia questioned conversationally and Visi stood taller.

“Yes. My passion burns hotter than any ancient social traditions. I’m going to marry them, but that’s not why we’re here.” Visilia declared with a hint of indignation. Which is fair, you don’t just go commenting on someone’s life decisions like some holier-than-thou thot.

“Pardon, but this is a little out of our depth. What is it you wish to do in Tartarus?” Ninia questioned again, this time directly to us instead of through her sister who had moved to stand beside her during the two princesses’ back-and-forth.

“We’re here to find answers to the origin of the Lust Demons and offer to help purge the local Corruption.” We replied and Princess Ninia nodded in acceptance that our previously stated purpose was true along with our intent to aid them.

“Very well, but you won’t find your answers down here where it is safe. They would be hidden away in the upper levels of the city.” Ninia stated with an apologetic tone.

“Well then. Now that you know it’s suicide you can just go on home, leave us to deal with-.” Ailisiv perked when Ninia’s horn shimmered slightly and she sighed. “You have permission to go above the safety of the lower levels, but I advise you to give up and go home.”

“We’ll go on up then. We’re sure we can all handle it.” We replied, Cynder and Daring didn’t miss what was obviously Ninia silently communicating with her younger sister. Whatever she’s planning doesn’t matter. We’re going to find our answers and help these folks even if We have to occupy them and drag them kicking and screaming to safety.

“If they want to risk it, they can. If they come back Corrupted they can join the prison. Though if you can survive the forest Uncorrupted, then can you go to the old Castle and find any more relics from my family’s past?” Ninia requested in a way that seemed to be a thinly veiled demand.

“And what would those be?” Alduin asked.

“An armor set, sword and shield.” Ninia told us. “The set was worn by an old queen from the age of Dark. We lost it and many things when that armory was collapsed down several levels below the Castle. Everything there was from the Age of Dark.”

“Alright, it may be hard, but we’ll try to do it. We may even find a way to purify the forest.” We cheekily declared and Ninia snorted derisively.

“Doubtful.” Ninia snarked and Ailisiv leered disapprovingly at her older sister.

“Don’t mind my sister. I’ll have a guard walk you to the entrance of the fifth floor, it’s where the Forest of Flesh begins.” Ailisiv informed us with a tone of resignation. “You there. Auspex right? Lead them to the nearest access point maintained to the upper levels.”

“Yes milady.” The mare bowed and then turned to us. “Follow me.” After the armored mare’s politely toned order, we did so without delay. The building pressure in the air caused by the obvious budding dispute between the royal sisters was quite the incentive to get out of dodge.

We didn’t speak for a while, too busy silently processing the interactions back there. Also Urta and We were shamelessly eyeing the blood-red coated black-mane and tailed Earth Pony Demon mare leading us while Visilia and Alduin looked around at the city. It’s almost like demons are supernaturally required to be sexy even if they’re all red-furred and black-haired.

“So…?” Urta began to ask leadingly as she got next to our guide, her eyes giving the mare a once-over and lingering on her generous cleavage that the armor allowed for her decently large volleyball breasts. She too wore Greek armor, but the physique shaping did nothing to lower her sex appeal and actually increased it. Even if she wore a leather skirt, the shape of her hips and booty were undeniable too.

“No.” The guard told us firmly, even if her tail flicked.

“But what about…?” Urta lifted her skirt enough for her balls to become slightly visible with a winning grin.

“No.” The mare replied again, but the slight surprise in her voice was hard to miss.

“Aw, but I’m not Corrupted in any way. I have the best of both worlds and my very slime is a contact aphrodisiac~.” Urta huskily purred and the mare’s composure broke with a sneer as she grit her teeth.

“No you tempting bitch! I don’t have time for that and-ugh! Now I need to suffer a lady boner until I get home to my coltfriend.” Auspex growled in frustration and sped up, her hooves clopping against the paved stone road, but her scent absolutely screamed ‘fuck me’ and there were obvious wet drip spots of lewd source on the road.

“Charmer. If you can get a woman that serious about her job when surrounded by debauchery all wound up with just a few words, I want to see you go to work on less stoic people.” Alduin chuckled at our sexy studly slime seducing said serious soldier to the point her hurried steps brought us to a flight of stairs that led up into one of the towering sky-scraping carved buildings.

“This is just the first set.” The guard huffed when we went up the stairs. “There won’t be any threats until the fourth floor, the third is heavily militarized.” Whoa her scent is strong with her butt just above us on the stairs! By Us does this woman need to get laid pronto!

“So you control that whole floor?” We asked while We couldn’t help noticing the mare’s firm big butt under her armored skirt as we all followed her up the stairs. Dayum, if she and Visi are indicators of the standard for Tartarus Demons, then no wonder they were the origin of Lust Demons with bodies this sexy and pheromones this potent.

“No. Our main fortifications are around the populated areas, but we patrol as much of the third floor as we can.” Our guide explained and she was clearly trying not to think about how slick her inner thighs are right now, or that if not for her long black tail draping behind her to her knees that we’d be getting a much clearer view of how dark and wet her leather stockings were right now.

“How many floors are there?” Alduin curiously asked, but her eyes were on the steps and We noticed the wet spots again. Fuck, Urta, you’ve tormented this poor mare.

“At least one hundred spanning the dozens of mountains that reach into the sky. We had to use those mountains to anchor our city’s tallest buildings as we built, some of it being used to provide farmland when we built around them.” Auspex explained, pointing at a massive pillar of rock while we looked around and noted how the floors are actually smaller the further we went like Incrade from Sword Art Online. Crappy show, but an interesting city. “Almost all of it is overgrown now by the Forest of Flesh.”

“That is such a shame to hear.” We mewled in disappointment. This is easily a life-long project to fix. Thank goodness We’re Undead and ageless on top of that anyway. We’ll get this done, eventually. “We’ll endeavor to fight back and Purify the Corruption.”

“Big words. We haven’t been able to, who are you to claim such a thing?” Auspex huffed in dismissal only for Urta to jump up a few steps to be next to her.

“She is Wiatr. Goddess of Fertility, Sex and Commerce. She’s also the Corrupted Undead. Dealing with Corruption is literally her job. She’s already Purified entire regions of our realm along with converting dozens of Lust Demons back to normal people.” Urta declared proudly and We bit our lip at the fact that by this point Urta is the Goddess of Fertility, not us. We may have birthed and sired more offspring, but she is the one who has devoted her body to being a home to others.

She could also outbreed us already, she just hasn’t done it yet.

“Oh? Well then, best of luck to you.” Auspex declared after she stopped at the top of the stairs on the fourth floor. “This is where we part ways. If you need to retreat to the lower levels, do not attempt to do it outside. The Miasma will Corrupt and enthrall you within minutes. I don’t care if you can purify Corruption, don’t take stupid risks if you’re the newest hope we’ve had of ever purging the Forest.”

“Don’t worry about us.” At our declaration, the mare blinked and nodded as she relaxed slightly.

“Don’t get my hopes up too much. If you could help reclaim even a single floor of our beloved city we would all be grateful. Take this map, it will help guide you to the palace.” The mare pulled a scroll from her cleavage and handed it to Urta, but she gasped and shuddered when her hand contacted Urta’s and the mare was brought to her knees. “Oh~! W-what~?”

“Huh? You’re not even touching my bare membrane. Holy shit, sorry babe. Didn’t mean to set you off so hard.” Urta mewled in apology as the demoness whimpered and rocked her hips back and forth.

“Y-you see why this scourge is so h-hard on us. We’re all inherently lustful creatures, us demons even moreso.” Auspex grunted and clenched her eyes shut. “By the Gods. I want to fuck so bad right now it’s nearly a need…”

“Are you sure you can make it back like this?” Visilia suddenly spoke up with a surprising amount of understanding in her tone. Visi is quite a carnal creature herself after all and with her having lived here for over a year she’s more than likely familiar with how susceptible the people here are to sexual preoccupation.

“Of course I-unf!” Auspex grunted when her arousal-swollen bosom literally launched her breastplate off of it’s clearly designed-to-jettison latches, exposing her currently basketball-sized boobs to the air, her black nipples and areola standing out in contrast to her red fur. “Ah~ no! I’m going to have to work this out before I go back down or I’ll be declared Corrupt and jailed for a week before they clear me…”

“Urta! Help the poor mare! As Goddess of Sex We demand you take responsibility for getting her so riled up!” We huffed in frustration at how Sex is obstructing the mare’s life at the moment. Sex is supposed to spice life up, not occupy it! This is why the Lust Demons are evil!

“No. You three go on ahead to give us privacy. I’ll help her.” Visilia declared with a leer. “You two have done enough to the poor mare and Alduin is your guard Wiatr.” Visilia shooed us away and the three of us dejectedly went around a corner. It wasn’t for several minutes that Visilia called us back and We returned to see Visilia quietly speaking to Auspex who had her armor back on. They giggled about something and Visi shooed her away, the mare cheerfully making her way back downstairs. “She’s a sweet girl. Her coltfriend is lucky.”

“How did you calm her down without releasing the tension?” Utra asked before we started moving towards the next floor.

“Sex isn’t the answer to everything Urta. Even if it would’ve been fun, she’s in a healthy relationship with someone anyway.” Visilia replied and her wings stretched out before going back to rest. “I just helped her think of things not-sexy. Like Rugby or economics. Of course it was hard for her to think of anything besides her coltfriend for a couple of minutes.”

“So the Margaret Thatcher and Baseball method actually works?” We asked curiously, having drawn on Willow’s memories of a hilarious movie scene where the protagonist was in a scenario where his libido could get him killed against a sexy android.

“Who and what are those?” Urta questioned and We groaned in anguish.

“Two horrible, terrible, no-good things that this world is better off without. Even if the former promoted free markets and the latter was a sport born from a newborn nation’s youth.” We decided We would leave it at that and continued onward into the horrific flesh forest caused by the ambitions and vindictiveness of two absolute thots that must be erased from existence.

We felt a weight on our shoulders when our group continued onward, the sight of just how horrific unchecked advanced Corruption is helped emphasize just how crucial it is that it be wiped out.

A splat of cum-like fluid from the ceiling helped punctuate this.

“This is going to take more than a few pools…”