" Didn't your mother tell you what ugly faces you have? ~ "
The Fear of Night snorted at Asme's careless attempts at provocation. It takes more than that to get him off balance.
Wrr...
His eyes carefully followed the tiny flakes of bloody snow swirling around the horned beauty. It looked intimidating. The scarlet flecks formed an eye-pleasing contrast with her raven-black hair.
Although a species gap separated them, he had to admit. The woman was eye-catching.
He felt a subtle urge to protect the unruly succubus for unknown reasons. He felt like bending his neck before her and fulfilling her every whim, only to be rewarded with the small reward of a brief glance that would vanish with the wind.
Their gazes met. Unaware of his surroundings, The Night Terror lost himself in the blood-red eyes. They resembled an unfathomable ocean that lured its victims with sweet secrets and the promise of an unforgettable adventure.
It slowly approached the insidious trap. His muscular paws involuntarily glided along the rocky ground, shortening the distance between him and the aromatic flower.
Small snowflakes moved, encircling the monster in a scarlet circle. The monster didn't even notice when caught in a death trap. But it didn't matter in the face of the jewel that had stolen his heart.
Swish
The overgrown tiger's tails slashed through the air like a whip, leaving behind fading afterimages.
A gap of several meters appeared in an unbroken circle. The ice trap crumbled under the destructive and brutal force.
The snowflakes, capable of piercing every living thing, turned into fine powder and disappeared into the chaotic din of the battlefield.
" Tsk... " Asme's tongue clicked, expressing her displeasure. A few seconds were missing, and one problem would have disappeared forever, leaving only bloody mush behind.
" Honey ~ don't you know making a fifth wheel is not nice? ~ "
The leader of the Night Terrors stood unmoved. Asme's dismissive remark slipped past his ears. He had more important things on his mind than silly verbal tussles.
His full attention was focused on rescuing the junior, who had mindlessly fallen into the snare of the bloodthirsty critter. Its tails were chopped, crushed, and torn apart, everything stood in their way.
" Wrrrrr!" A quiet but steady growl snapped the dazed monster out of its lethargy.
His facial expression darkened as he recalled his thoughts from a few seconds ago. He was fully ready to hand his heart to Asme on a golden platter. All it took was one tender word for him to completely lose his head.
The monster recoiled immediately and put his senses on high alert. He couldn't afford to make another mistake, not in the presence of such a vicious enemy.
The shadows around him came to life, covering his entire body in a barely visible layer. He wouldn't have noticed the difference if Asme hadn't seen it with her own eyes.
" Honey... are you leaving so soon? I don't think you'll leave me alone... Without you... I'll wither away from loneliness. ~~~
The Night Terror felt the world spinning before his eyes and his thoughts becoming cloudy. Asme's sweet whisper stirred in his head, slowly but effectively destroying his complicated defense mechanisms.
He acted like a professional sapper who, step by step, with divine precision and sensitivity, got to the complex mechanisms behind the ticking bomb.
The succubus' charm is terrible. You can dream of freedom if it catches you in its snare once. Not for nothing, is it called one of the strongest and most dangerous weapons among the demonic faction.
Enemies stood stunned, abandoning all murderous intentions. Their only goal in life became to protect and serve the chosen one of their hearts, for whom they would give their lives.
Women who had mastered the art of seduction to perfection were able to force allies to cross swords and even lead to a chilling murder committed by two people who loved each other.
Eons passed, and the power of charms grew. In the golden age of Exodus, even beings who were given the name of divine feared the devastating power of the Blood Ice Succubus.
One look, one quiet whisper was enough to put a collar around the neck of the arrogant deity.
However, our little Asme was only crawling on the path of the Blood Ice Succubus. It would take a considerable amount of time and training for her to become a mere substitute for the power her kind once wielded. She lacked both experience and familiarity with her abilities.
She wasn't in a position to fully seduce The Night Terror, especially if he had taken the appropriate steps to protect himself from doing so.
Despite the lack of visible results, Asme didn't give up trying. Deep down, she felt that they were having more or less effect. Each of them can be compared to the seals created by the Cursed Condemnation. The more they are activated, the stronger the next one will be.
The male representing the pack felt respect for the horned beauty. Had he not interfered earlier, his junior would have ended up as animal food.
Asme found herself in an uncomfortable situation. This meant that she would have to face two monsters who had absolutely no intention of conserving their strength for later.
" Dear friends, I invite you one by one. ~ Your sister may not be able to handle everything at once. ~~~ "
The younger of The Night Terrors took the bait. The blood in his veins boiled at the very thought of the insult that had befallen him. With all his heart, he wanted to abuse the arrogant woman until she begged for death.
Just as he was about to lash out at Asme, his elder stopped him. One grim look was enough to cool his murderous intentions. Within a brief moment, he became docile as a lamb.
With contempt written in his eyes, the monster glared at the seemingly defenseless woman. There was a subtle scent of confidence in the atmosphere, mixed with a sense of superiority.
Asme had a bad feeling about this. Instinct in her head screamed about superhuman amounts of mana gathering around the battlefield, and shivers ran down her spine. Every cell inside her body trembled with fear of the impending disaster.
It sent her into a panic. Guided by instinct, she activated a previously prepared magic formation. It was supposed to be an ace up her sleeve, serving as a diversion during the retreat, and was used as a skin-saving countermeasure.
Buried deep in the ground, the Infirnyt crystals pulsed steadily, seconds apart. The magic circle was sucking the mana needed to activate the spell circuits out of them at an alarming rate.
The air temperature dropped several degrees, and a thick layer of ice covered the ground. Dark clouds gathered over the battlefield, heralding the coming storm.
A sulfurous wind blew down, carrying tiny snowflakes with it. In no time, a blizzard formed, effectively restricting the monsters' movements within its range.
Tiny ice crystals formed on the surface of their skin, multiplying faster than rabbits in mating season.
The narrator felt sorry for the poor Night Rippers. Once proud rulers of the forest, they had become docile pets, whimpering under the heavy snowfall.
The cells underlying the structure of their bodies froze alive, condemning the monsters to an agonizing death.
Unlike the usual death resulting from the body's hypothermia, they retained full consciousness. To say more, their brains became more sensitive, intensifying the stimuli they felt.
The Fear of Night seemed unfazed by the sudden change in the situation. The mocking smile that had accompanied him for some time didn't come off his face.
As if mocking Asme's pathetic spell, he strode confidently forward, ignoring trivial inconveniences. Snowflakes, a death sentence for the Night Rippers, bounced off his body.
Noise
Suddenly, a chaotic mana vortex erupted, with The Night Terror at its center.
Eight night-black beams of light shot out from the epicenter of the commotion. They stopped only at the edge of the battlefield, dividing it into eight equal parts.
Eight pillars filled with the destructive nature of the element of darkness rose from nothingness, reaching all the way to the vault of the cave.
Between them, a hair-thin wall formed that was one hundred percent composed of the element of darkness.
At first glance, it looked like a harmless shell, but one couldn't be more wrong. Even the slightest contact with the mystical shell would be enough to shatter the poor, unlucky person into particles smaller than electrons orbiting the nucleus of an atom.
Inside the gloomy prison, all hell broke loose. Two magical formations faced each other, destroying everything in their path.
The earth alternated with ice and was covered with a dark ooze, greedily devouring the dead bodies of the monsters. If, by some miracle, the living unfortunate were trapped in it, they could dream of a painless end.
The black ooze acted like an acid, instantly dissolving organic tissues. It wouldn't have been a problem if it was based on standard principles from Earth. It would have been enough to cut off the infected limb to stop the infection.
However, in this case, amputation isn't enough. It isn't only the body's cells that are subject to destruction but also the mana circulating inside the body. It works on a similar principle to the Black Plague among elves.
Infected mana particles are responsible for the slow breakdown of organic tissues, leading to numerous mutations and internal hemorrhages.
Hypothetically, if someone fell an inevitable victim to the black smear, they would have two choices. First, with the help of a third party, they could burn all traces of mana from their body and replenish it with energy from scratch.
This involved some risk. One could fall into madness due to unbearable pain or literally wither away.
Mana is an unusual phenomenon, once it binds with a living being, it becomes something like water for people. It is impossible to get rid of it completely, fools who tried it... Well, as you can guess, they didn't end well.
That's why it's so important in the process to have the help of a third party to bring in new mana molecules on an ongoing basis while protecting it from infected individuals. This is difficult but not impossible.
The last hope is to be more familiar with the element of darkness than the one casting the magic formation or to be highly resistant to it. Only in this way, and only in this way, can inevitable death be avoided.
As if all this weren't enough, the air became overgrown with tiny butterflies with dark purple wings. These weren't living creatures but a side effect of magical formation, as Rascal found out painfully firsthand.
During the fight, he came into contact with one of them. Imagine his surprise when the little creature exploded, setting off a chain reaction.
The goblin miraculously escaped with his life. If not for a decent level of knowledge of the element of darkness and a conscious arrow fired by Caera, he would no longer be with us.
The spell used by the leader of the Night Terrors affected both sides of the conflict. With the current level of knowledge at his disposal, it is impossible to limit its negative effects to only one of the nations.
Nevertheless, the monsters had a better position than the death merchants. If all goes according to plan, the battle should soon be over. No, battle is the wrong term for the current situation. It will be a one-sided massacre.
Asme found herself in an uncomfortable position. She found herself between a hammer and an anvil. She fought with all her might to maintain her magic formation. She couldn't give up. Otherwise, even Seraphine wouldn't react in time to counter the spell of The Night Terror.
Although the spell also trapped the monster, there was a small problem. The horned beauty was fighting two enemies at once. So what if one of them was trapped when the other could easily end her life?
The woman looked around desperately for help. Her voice got stuck in her throat when she felt a gaze dripping with bloodlust on her.
The monster was in no hurry to kill the insolent female who had brought humiliation upon him. He wanted to savor the moment. The panic in her eyes, the barely visible trembling of her hands, and the characteristic stench of fear gave him wild satisfaction.
His tails thumped rhythmically on the ground, adding a pinch of tension to the already heavy atmosphere. One thing you have to give him credit for, the bastard knew how to build atmosphere. Asme, under the influence of small psychological games, was shaking with fear.
The horned beauty had lost whatever remnants of hope she had. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Caera desperately fighting for her life against the goblin archer.
Where did The Night Terror come from ???
Asme didn't have to search long for the answer to her question. The spear-wielding goblin was being eaten alive by a dark ooze. The poor guy was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and as a result, he signed a death sentence on himself.
The woman silently hoped for Rascal's help but was disappointed. The goblin chief was barely on his feet, fending off the fierce attacks of the monster duo. If he died, at least he would take one of them with him.
Asme couldn't even count on Seraphine. The necromancer found herself in an even worse position than she was. As a being made entirely of mana, the environment of the dark smear was the worst possible. Contact with it meant certain death. Adding into the equation two bloodthirsty monsters that are constantly trying to destroy you will come out quite a mess.
Asme regretted... regretted that she hadn't handed over the leadership to the brazen Seraphine, for if she had, things might have turned out differently.
What the horned beauty didn't know, however, was that changing leadership wouldn't have changed anything anyway. From the very beginning, their expedition was doomed to failure. This time, they fell into the disfavor of the generous goddess of fate.
In the last moments, a thought crossed Asme's mind.
Did... did he leave us?
Ramiel wouldn't do that... would he?
He wouldn't have abandoned us...
Are you sure...?
...
Ramiel... where - where are you... when I need you the most...
How - How can you abandon us...
At the mere thought of being abandoned by Ramiel, a few lonely tears gathered in the corners of her eyes, and her heart contracted in loneliness.