Xavier was not immune to Glut’s fire, but his resistance was good enough to execute some deadly attacks. Glut’s azure fireball exploded near Xavier’s head. His fire resistance was high, but Glut’s fireballs were deadly and potent. The fire felt nothing less than molten lava, and the explosion happened right next to his ear, leaving his ears ringing. Xavier staggered back as the explosion blasted through the surroundings, and he shook his head.
His cheek and a chunk of his ear were scorched, and he could smell the charred, burning smell of his hair. He immediately raised his hand and assessed the damage. Luckily, his hair was relatively unharmed. His ear and the left side of his face were a bit more damaged.
Xavier only shuddered while wondering what would have happened if he did not possess high fire resistance? His left side of the face would have been reduced to bones with bits of flesh sticking to the jaw,entirely or worse, he would have lost his head completely and died.
Shaking his head, he used the Healing Energy to tend to his wounds. The scorched skin began healing and mending itself while Xavier looked at the woman who sprang up from nowhere. She had not been so lucky. Half of her face was blasted off, leaving her with just the kind of face Xavier had imagined a moment ago. However, his imagination had not been that graphic.
Her face was severely scarred on the left, with some of her skin still melting due to the heat of the fireball. A few of her teeth had been knocked off, and a pale yellowish jaw could be seen with bits of skin sticking to it. Her eye was also distorted, and it seemed she had trouble focusing on anything specific. She looked grotesque with that pale purple skin and half-scarred face, but it was not as if she had been a beauty earlier.
Umbra burst out of a shadow next to the woman. He leaped at the screaming woman, coated his claws in darkness, and sliced the woman’s neck. Xavier expected Umbra to appear then, but he had a bad feeling about that woman. Umbra was still new and developing his fighting skills, so he feared the woman would hurt his new companion. Hence, dozens of Air Bullets conjured from World Energy emerged around the woman as Umbra attacked. Coat of Fire, Pierce Armor, and Armor Break were applied simultaneously before they whizzed toward the target.
Xavier restrained the woman even though the strength in her body disappeared. He activated Poisonous Touch and wreaked havoc with the last bits of life inside her. All of the Air bullets impacted with terrifying force, riddling multiple holes in her body. She staggered back as the Air Bullets tore through her skin and bone, leaving gaping holes dripping with blood and internal organs spilling out of them. The woman let out a strangled noise as her knees buckled and she fell to the ground, yet Xavier continued to shower her with Air Bullets. The bombardment only stopped when Xavier received the awaited notification.
Lesser Succubus(Superior) has been slain with major contribution.
+14 Soul Essence, +2 Rare Card Shards.
Xavier collected the Rare Card Shards instinctively, but his eyes narrowed at the message.
A Succubus? Not a Card Holder with the Succubus Class Path? Does that mean this woman is…well, was a Monster like Kobolds and Goblins?
Now that he thought about it, the woman didn’t have a Card Deck. Xavier hadn’t noticed that before, but now it seems obvious.
Aren’t Succubi monsters that appear in dreams to seduce men? Well, she might have seduced these idiotic Demonic Card Holders, but even if she was a demon…How did she create these Ghouls and Lesser Vampires? It’s not like she is a Necromancer or a Vampire. Or is it possible for a Succubus to create Ghouls and Lesser Vampires?
Xavier knew that his knowledge of Earth’s myths could be outdated or false, but as far as he knew, Succubi couldn’t create Undead. They sucked men dry, but that was it.
Glut chirped above him, pulling Xavier out of his train of thought.
“I know I don’t have time to stay idle,” Xavier responded. Umbra meowed as if happy that he understood the seriousness of the situation.
Since when did they start teaming up against me? That’s not nice!
The corner of his lips twitched, but he knew his companions were right. He had to move on to deal with the remaining Bandits, Ghouls, and Lesser Vampires.
Xavier and his team marched forward through the Bandit Camp, focusing on killing the Ghouls and Lesser Vampires. He also noticed something interesting. The abominations targeted only the slaves and innocent people but gave a wide berth to the Bandits despite their hunger and bloodlust. They specifically attacked the weaker beings and feasted on them while the Bandits ignored their pleas for help. Due to that, Xavier and his companions had to focus on killing the enemies and saving the weaker humans from certain death.
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
It would have been a lot more tricky to focus on both tasks simultaneously, considering that they were fighting not one enemy but three. However, Xavier’s encounter with the woman told him that Glut’s fireballs and,Energy Blade Card were lethal enough to obliterate them. And Glut was more than happy to burn them to a cinder. Umbra, too, kept leaping through the shadows and slashing his claws at the Ghouls and Lesser Vampires,
It was only a matter of minutes before he reached the captives who were huddled in a far corner of the camp, away from the battlefield. A few of them were shivering due to the screeches and cries reaching their ears, but all of them stared blankly ahead. They didn't have an ounce of will to live left in their eyes. They were waiting for death to embrace them like a long-lost friend and put an end to this torturous life. One of them spotted Xavier and looked at him with quivering eyes.
“Please, kill me.”
Xavier was shocked to hear those words. Following the gloomy man, a few more opened their mouths to request the same. Xavier shook his head at that.
“I am not here to kill you, nor will my people harm you. Consider this a second chance at life. Get up and fight for your survival!!”
He tried to motivate them, but the slaves only began to sob bitterly at his words. Xavier was at a loss. He stared in confusion at the slaves, wondering what to say next to calm their minds.
They had spent so long being chained and tortured that they had no will left to live, much less fight back for a shot at survival. Death was an easier escape.
Zora Vador soon appeared near Xavier, and it didn't take her long to figure out what was going on. Xavier turned to her for help, knowing that her words encouraged others. But she only gave him a small smile and stepped forward. She raised a blade in her hand, and it cut through the necks of the frail slaves without much resistance. Blood sprayed and heads rolled as she stepped back again to see her grandson stare at her in horror.
“But…they…you…” Xavier struggled to form a coherent sentence, but Zora grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him hard.
“We don’t know if we would have been able to save them. And we don’t know how long it would have taken them to get out of their trauma. This world is cruel, Xavier. Don’t give hope to those who are not willing to live. Besides, this world is not worth living for innocent people. You know that, right?”
Xavier pressed his lips into a thin line as his gaze drifted to the corpses. “And above all, don’t waste your time in hesitation. Who knows when the enemy would have sneaked up on you and attacked while you were distracted.”
He nodded meekly as she held her grandson’s hand and added, “Now come on. We have to find the leader of this settlement and end this once and for all.”
But no matter how much Xavier searched for the leader, he couldn’t find him or her. He suspected earlier that the Lesser Succubus was the leader, but nobody cared about the Succubus. It was almost like nobody knew that the Lesser Succubus had been in the bandit camp in the first place.
Instead of finding the leader, Xavier and his grandmother found more monsters. They weren’t tamed, but something kept them calm and composed—at least until Xavier and his grandmother found them. Several massive creatures roared. Their roar reverberated through the entire bandit camp, taking the Bandits by surprise. A glimmer of fear flickered through their eyes.
Suddenly, the atmosphere all over the bandit camp changed.
A scream echoed through the surroundings, and Xavier’s Lesser Danger Sense tingled like crazy.
**
In another area of the bandit camp, Silvia Vador approached a young woman who’d been hugging a malnourished body. Her head was buried in the man’s shoulder.
“We can help you,” Silvia spoke in a reassuring voice as she stepped closer to the crying woman who had yet to look up.
“Here, take my hand. I will take you to a healer, and your wounds will never be healed.”
Silvia added again, stretching her hand out. The sobbing woman’s cries quieted down as she slowly raised her head. And Leyla, standing behind Silvia, widened her eyes in surprise.
“Watch out!” She screamed in horror as the woman looked up to reveal a smiling face. A wicked grin was plastered on her face as she locked eyes with Silvia who was too stunned to react.
The next moment, the trickster jumped up and pounced on Silvia, who staggered back due to the impact. The woman raised her hand, fingers extending into bloody claws as she let out a malicious cackle and slashed at Silvia’s chest.
Blood blossomed on Silvia’s chest as Mark cried out in shock, rushing forward to help his wife.
“Nooooo!!”
They had been a second too late and the woman laughed malevolently again before digging her claws into Silvia again.
Blood splattered in all directions, painting the walls around them crimson.
A second later, Silvia Vador collapsed to the ground, blood pooling all around her.