It was way too obvious with the way things were going. I was blind. I messed up.
3 days without encountering monsters? No further pursuit after all the ruckus in the city? No, just leaving us alone after we made a fool of them didn't make any sense. Of course, they would pursue us! It was naive to think that all we needed to survive was get out of Rottheim.
This was my first time getting pursued, I failed to grasp their persistence.
If we could survive comfortably out here then let alone high rankers, even normal adventurers could do the same... This place might not have been the most dangerous place, or at least not nearly as dangerous as the people back home made it out to be.
But I was disconnected from this world's power level. After all, we lived the furthest away from the frontier!
This one situation was a clear display of all of my concerns.
Any danger, every danger... Vivi was blocking all of it. And with her gone for a second, we were immediately put under fire.
But really-
"A succubus of everything." I felt my arms grow back.
"I mean, you at least got a part of my race right, I'll give you that. But I'm only a quarter of a succubus." Rumie said.
"It wasn't hard to figure out, I can feel your filth all the way from here. Trying to use magic to seduce me." I locked the sickeningly sweet aroma of her spell away. The last way I would ever go would be to fall to her seduction.
"I mean, whatever gets me an advantage right?" She chuckled.
"Does that include selling a young girl into a pit of hungry wolves? I presume that's what you're here for." Buy time. Buy time. Buy time.
"Uh-huh... Even if it means that, yes."
"You really are a monster."
"I already hate your self-righteous attitude. It's a shame, if it wasn't for your personality, I would have kept you as my first man pet. With looks like those people might confuse you for an incubus."
Eh? Self-righteous?
What sort of bullshit is that. I never considered myself self-righteous. I never pursued justice. I just stopped something that was clearly screwed and would bother my mental state in the future. It wasn't my opinion. Assaulting a helpless girl was objectively messed up. Becoming the man of someone who would think that something like that under any circumstance is alright-
"I would rather die." I got back up on my feet.
"That's the plan."
An emerald aura started surrounding her. It was sinister and mesmerising. I wouldn't be able to deal with it head-on.
'I shouldn't wait for her attack.'
"Hardening." I immediately hardened my hands again and with my newly improved agility dashed right at her. My heavy leg dug into the ground as my body started leaning in for a punch. My fist was an inch away from her face.
"Down." Inches away from her, all of a sudden my body fell and got stuck to the ground. Crushed. I was getting crushed by her aura.
Like a boulder was pushing me down to the ground.
There really wasn't an actual force doing that from the outside, but my body failed to comply. I was completely down and stopped in my tracks. No way to get up.
"You knew that I was a succubus but you still didn't know what I could do with my abilities? I can't tell if you're dumb or new to this."
I didn't know what a succubus' abilities were.
[ Affected by Skill (Mind Control - S) ]
"Damn it."
"Don't take it personally. I'm just here on a job and you happened to be getting in my way." She sighed.
This was way too quick. Too abrupt. I couldn't even fight back.
DAMN IT! I WAS TOO CLOSE TO JUST GIVE UP!
Right before the attack, I hardened my arm's exoskeleton to cover my fist. Without interference, that arm would have crushed her skull. Even my trajectory was perfect.
Yet what failed me was a lack of experience.
I didn't even know what to think. I was expecting some sort of long out melee combat. But one command got me down on the ground.
'I can't buy time like this.'
Shit. Shit. SHIT!
[ Using (Regeneration - D) to Regenerate Mental Prowess. ]
The familiar voice rang in my head. My body got somewhat lighter. I checked by slightly moving my hand. It was tough but it worked. I could move ever so slightly.
[ Skill (Regeneration - D) exhausted. Please consume more blood. ]
How strong even was her control? My regeneration could heal dismembered limbs a couple of times over in an hour. But fighting against her control exhausted the power in a second. It was insane. How was I supposed to do anything in this state? My body really felt like it was weighed down by a boulder.
No.
'That's just an excuse.' I told myself.
It was difficult. But this amount of freedom was enough for my counterattack. I just had to lift the mental boulder on top of me.
Hiding my intentions while working excruciatingly hard, I shoved my body up. Before she could react, I dug a punch right into the succubus' stomach just when I surmised that her body wasn't ready for it.
.
.
.
She didn't budge.
Her core was soft but she took no damage whatsoever.
"Wow. I didn't think that you would be able to break out of even this one. Colour me impressed!" She grabbed me by my chin and with her closed eyes and wide smile faced me. "But that little stunt of yours somehow hurt my feelings. It's only fair that I return what you did to me. Right?"
That bitch smiled at me. But I was helpless. I was reminded of how I got destroyed by the Hero.
Nothing changed in the end.
I got pulled up by my hair and punched right in my gut. Punched?
"!!"
The next second, there was a hole passing through me and a hand plugging it. I got impaled.
[ Skill (Regeneration - D) exhausted. Please consume more blood. ]
I COULDN'T REGENERATE EITHER! This was very quickly drawing to an end. Way too quickly.
'This bitch didn't even flinch.' Her body got close to mine.
Suddenly a pool of blood filled my mouth. I, without being able to hold back, spewed out all that blood on her chest.
It hurt that bad.
"EWWW! That's disgusting." She pulled her hand out and I fell back. Swallowed by excruciating pain and a broken spine. I couldn't stand up. Do I just eat her flesh? That would solve the issue of my regeneration and give me her powers... Right?
But could I bring myself to eat 3 quarters of a human? No, there was no guarantee that my teeth would pass through either. I needed another strategy.
"VIVI! GET BACK ALR- MMPH!" I shouted but the succubus covered my mouth.
"Stop it! If she gets back I can't get the girl." Rumie complained. Well, her being unable to get the girl was the plan. "Add to that, the fact that I have you to deal with as well. You're making this really hard for me. D'ya know the first death I offered you wasn't bad? You would have dreamed about what you wanted most before going to eternal slumber."
I grabbed her face and tried to push it away but it seemed frozen in place.
"Such a brute." She casually slapped my hand away and then threw me back on the ground. "Oh well, you'll die even if I leave you alone. Let's head on over to the girl."
In another moment, a shot of fire cut the sky and the flames started circling around like a tornado- "I can't even pick some flowers in peace now."
Vivi barged in trying to look cool after taking a shit.
Between the hole in my stomach and the burning flames, it felt like I was getting grilled alive. As the flames settled down her large, red-figure appeared.
"WHAT TOOK YOU SO LONG!KHUK!" I coughed up even more blood.
"I- just... it takes some time." She tried to wade through but her sight was still caught up in the dust and smoke.
"God damn it, flower boy. Look what you did. You just had to waste so much time." With Vivi's arrival that succubus bitch took a defensive pose for the first time.
'I did it! I bought enough time!' I sighed.
There was no way I would roll over and die without doing anything. And there was no way Vivi wouldn't hear me shouting her name with her godly senses.
"Oh, god. What's wrong with your body?!" Vivi noticed me lying on the ground.
Before I could answer, the other party spoke up.
"Let's just leave for today." Instantly, her existence faded away like she wasn't even there. "I'll see you soon."
"NATURAL PREDATOR!" I can't let her get away but her aura completely disappeared.
Nothing. I couldn't feel her at all.
[ Affected by Skill (Mind Control - S) ]
Did she create a fake reality?! What the-
"Can you feel the succubus?!" I shouted at Vivi, but she just raised her shoulders.
God fucking damn it! Pch... Now we had her presence looming over us at every moment. This was pointless. She could chase us all the way back to the town. That could ruin our future there.
But that wasn't even the most concerning part.
"Vivi! Get me some animal or monster from nearby." I called the woman looking around frantically.
"Huh? Ah-why? I can still look for he-"
"Just do it!"