In the last moments, a thought entered 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 very thought of being abandoned by Ramiel, a few lonely tears gathered in the corners of her eyes, and her heart contracted in loneliness.
The inevitable end was approaching with great strides. The Fear of Night stood confidently in front of the helpless succubus. His posture exuded exaggerated confidence, and his gaze was filled with pure contempt.
Asme felt as if death itself was looking deep into her eyes. Mighty tails, covered with a barely visible layer of shadows, took on the shape of an executioner's axe in her irises, before which even the strongest creatures would have to stick their necks out.
The woman knew she wouldn't make it out alive this time. A cold shiver ran down her spine, heralding a bleak future.
The Night Terror savored the wonderful moment. The resignation written on the face of the bitch who dared to toy with him excited him to the limit.
Although he found himself in seventh heaven, it wasn't enough for him. He wanted more, craved to see her begging him for mercy, begging him to stop abusing her.
His tail gently lifted the horned beauty's chin so he could look into her eyes.
The woman shuddered as she felt a hot trickle of blood pave its way along her neck.
Contrary to his expectations, a hint of hope and determination still smoldered in the blood-red irises. It was something Asme wouldn't get rid of so easily.
But it didn't bother the monster. On the contrary, he was happy to see a secretive dream come true. He would have more time to play with his new toy.
It wasn't wrong to say that he got drunk at the moment in question. Had he kept his sanity, he might have heard his senior's grim warning or paid attention to the small creature lurking in his shadow.
With lightning speed, Sarron shot like a rocket out of The Night Terror's shadow. As if he were a professional assassin, he silently glided toward the exposed neck of his new target.
Using the knowledge imparted to him by Ramiel, he made a breach in the seemingly impenetrable armor. The hole was just perfect to extinguish the ebbing flame of smoldering life.
The white serpent sunk its venomous fangs into the monster's Adam's apple. Before the man realized what was happening, the murderous toxin spread throughout his body. Sarron's venom took no prisoners. Not even the strongest immune system could cope against the essence of garbage in its purest form.
The world swirled before the oversized tiger's eyes, and the liquid flowing through his veins burned him from the inside out. He could feel his internal organs decaying from the inside.
Swollen and dark purple veins came to the surface, pulsing erratically. A river of blackened blood flowed from his ears, and yellow pus poured from his eyes. Momentarily, all his strength left him.
The once mighty predator hunting prey had become nothing more than a pathetic shadow of his former self.
The tails that had filled him with pride fell with a bang, dragging inertly along the ground.
Crackle
Crackle
Crackle
The sound of bones breaking rang through the air. Numerous cracks appeared on the segments, imitating a sword blade, stretching all the way down.
Crackle Crackle
With each passing fraction of a second, the damage increased until the most dangerous weapon of The Night Terror crumbled into fine dust.
At the same time, hundreds of cursed circles activated, imposing various curses.
Sarron's attack didn't last more than ten seconds. At that time, he released a dose of toxin capable of knocking down a herd of adult elephants. The Night Terror didn't have the slightest chance to come out of it unscathed.
With the remnants of his strength, he made a desperate attempt to throw himself at the trapped Asme. However, it was too late. The time bought by Ramiel's bond had a salutary effect on the horned beauty, or rather on her instincts, which worked flawlessly.
The Night Terror had already smelled the sweet taste of blood when his mind went into shock. No matter what he did, the distance separating him from his prey didn't shrink. Although he could feel his four paws and move them, the lack of stable ground beneath them created a small conundrum in his mind.
The monster's head dropped down, and then his consciousness shattered like broken glass. The remnants of his gray cells tried to understand what had happened.
A moment ago, everything was going his way, and now... he was hanging a meter above the ground, and the place where his intestines should have been was filled by ice picks that went all the way through.
Sarron had the impression that he was looking at the legendary skewer from Ramiel's story. Contrary to what the man said, it didn't look appetizing.
Just in case, the little snake made sure its victim was dead. To be sure, he spits a ball of venom into the monster's dull eyes as if a hole in the stomach the size of a small tree wouldn't serve as sufficient proof.
To understand exactly what happened, one must go back a few minutes.
When Sarron launched a surprise attack, Asme's instincts acted instead. For a brief moment, she interrupted a complicated magic formation spell to deal with the problem at hand.
Dealing with the weakened monster was a child's play for her, especially when it lost its sanity and charged at her like an imbecile.
All she had to do was make a few simple creations at the last minute, and the monster impaled itself on them.
Someone had obviously missed Ramiel's lesson.
As the horned beauty looked at the monster's hanging carcass, she remembered the man's words, which he repeated to boredom at every opportunity.
" Get it into your empty head once and for all, never underestimate the enemy. "
Ramiel's words were etched deep inside her mind. After all, she heard them every time she made a mistake.
Asme realized that she was only alive because of the stupidity and arrogance of the overgrown tiger. If she hadn't let the moment pass, her head would be rolling on the ground right now.
It took her time and a life-or-death situation to understand the man's valuable lesson.
At the edge of the River Styx, Asme promised herself one thing - from now until the end of her life, she would unconditionally follow her lover's advice, even if he told her to befriend Seraphine.
Although she managed to avoid mortal danger with a little help from Sarron, Asme had no time to luxuriate.
The recoil of the interrupted spell hit her like a speeding freight train. A dizziness no one had ever experienced before suddenly struck Asme, knocking her off her feet. For a brief moment, the world before her eyes turned black and white, and the blood vessels in her nose burst, releasing a scarlet liquid.
The woman struggled to resume the interrupted spell. Not only did it cost her health, but also her mana supply was depleted by a significant margin. As if that weren't enough, she lost a quarter of her territory to the black smear.
Her victory washed away like autumn leaves in a gust of wind.
Despite the losses suffered, The Night Terror gradually moved forward. Now that the spell of the stubborn woman offered less resistance, he could move freely. Inevitably, the scales of victory tipped in his direction.
If nothing changes, the forest of Night Rippers will become a grave of annoying insects.
" Sarron... "
Asme struggled to get any words out. Her hoarse voice was nothing like the sweet and seductive one she used every day.
The little snake didn't need words to understand the message. Her puppy eyes served as a suitable clue to decipher the woman's thoughts.
Unfortunately, Sarron had to break the succubus' innocent heart. He shook his head in resignation. He had been doing his best to contact Ramiel for an hour, but the man was silent as a grave.
" Ss... " (I'm sorry...).
Sarron's words drove the final nail into the coffin of the horned beauty. The smoldering spark of hope in Asme's scarlet eyes was extinguished along with them.
So... he left us...
Deep in her heart, the woman felt wronged. She didn't want to admit it, but she was disappointed. From her point of view, it looked as if Ramiel had used them as poor bait.
The thought that she had been betrayed hurt a hell of a lot. She was still trying solely for Caera. There was always a small chance that she might be able to escape.
The leader of the Night Terrors had no intention of making the mistakes of a subordinate. He valued his life and his current position. He would slice and dice the woman, causing trouble at the earliest possible opportunity.
Asme struggled to raise her eyes. Towering over her was the figure of an apex predator from the top of the food chain. Up close, he was even more impressive.
Muscles, hard as steel, made their presence known by bulging a thin layer of skin. His foul breath made her hair stand on end.
The horned beauty felt someone's gaze pierce through her. Faced with the outline of the monarch's subtle aura, she lost all will to fight.
How am I supposed to win against something like this... Accepting her fate, Asme closed her eyes and clenched her tiny fists in anticipation of the final blow...
But it never came...
In a place a few kilometers away, a certain individual was waging a fierce battle whose impact could be felt throughout the forest.
Boommmmmmmmmmm!
A colossal explosion shook the cave. Numerous cracks ran through the floor, and rocks sprinkled from the vault, crushing everything in their path.
From the epicenter, a young man's figure shot into the air. Streams of chaotic energy surrounded him, almost begging him to unleash the potential hidden within.
From second to second, the amount of accumulated mana grew until finally, something resembling a pillar supporting a vault before collapsing was created. The pillar, filled to the brim with the element of darkness, grew ten meters wide, devouring everything and everyone within its reach.
The man's gaze was fixed on the magical formation created by the oversized tiger.
A sneer washed over his.
" Pathetic... "
The man's right hand bent to throw a javelin, and in its palm rested a half-broken sword. The blade trembled, asking for a little mercy, but the man seemed deaf to his pleas.
The dark energy that formed the column moved, enveloping the weapon, whose condition left much to be desired in an ethereal blanket.
The man expertly manipulated the chaotic mana, shaping it like a dragon slayer's spear. (Are there any ds 3 players here ?)
The sword had reached its limit. The crystal located in the hilt turned black, representing the element of darkness. The pressure exerted by the spell proved unbearable. A little more, and it would disintegrate into a fine poppy.
The man drew air into his lungs, then threw the weapon at the magical formation with all his might.
The spear cut the air in half, leaving behind streaks of black matter. Its blade penetrated the intricately created barrier without the slightest resistance.
For someone of its caliber, neutralizing it posed no challenge, especially considering the basic mistakes the thrower had made. The barrier was based on mana particles moving at a given frequency. It was enough to send a spell with a higher vibration amplitude for the whole thing to collapse like a castle of cards.
The bonds between the tiny particles of the element of darkness broke, interrupting the first magic circuit. This started a chain reaction. When one link was annihilated, the rest followed in its footsteps.
~~~~~~
The Fear of Night was already about to carry out the execution when his sixth sense told him to run as far away as possible. Valuing his life, he abandoned the idea of killing Asme; he would still have his chance.
He was more interested in what triggered his defensive reaction. No creature would make him flee immediately in this forest, but fate showed him how wrong he was.
Boom
With a bang, the spear thudded a few inches in front of Asme's face.
Chaotic energy immediately penetrated the ground, neutralizing the influence of The Night Terror's magical formation. The spell broke as if by the touch of a wand. The dark ooze turned into solid rock, and the butterflies melted into the air, leaving behind subtle plumes of dark purple smoke.
The monster stood as if he had been struck. He was one hundred percent sure that his adventure would have ended had he not abandoned his intention to kill the battered woman.
Until now, he had only seen such a level of power from the pack leader, who ruled the Forest of Night Rippers with an iron hand.
Sensing the man's familiar mana, Asme opened her eyes.
" Ra- Ramiel? "
However, a great disappointment awaited her. Nowhere was there a trace of the person she expected to see. The only thing he left behind was a cracked sword hilt that seemed extremely familiar.
Instinctively, she reached out to take it, but the tiny bloody whip prevented her from doing so.
If she had any doubts before, they evaporated now. There is only one weapon in the dungeon that manipulates blood.
Asme's teeth gnashed with anger. She had a bad feeling about what was going on here. A woman's intuition whispered in her mind that if she didn't hurry, she might regret it for the rest of her life.
With her will to fight reignited, Asme rose to her feet. But life isn't a fairy tale where the enemy waits for you to complete the skill activation sequence.
A tail driven by destructive force struck the horned beauty's exposed abdomen, sending her several meters into the distance.
Asme bent in half. She wasn't sure, but probably part of her liver exploded under the crushing impact. Landing, she rolled several times on the hard ground, emptying the contents of her stomach in the process.
The horned beauty would have been able to watch her intestines had it not been for the thick layer of scarlet ice that appeared at the last moment at the point of impact.
" Wr... "
Night Terror cursed under his breath. He was supposed to end the life of the annoying insect once and for all, but the recoil from the sudden interruption of the spell left a permanent mark on him.