"This might be the most terrifying opponent that I have ever faced."
The only excuse that I can think of for why I am still alive was because she was holding back. Reinhard guessed that they were here to probe and ascertain, not win. I glanced at Reinhard, using a large steel pole as a sword.
"I thought he had that halberd?"
Anyways, Reinhard was handling himself remarkably well despite a two-against-one fight.
"Should you really be thinking about your friend right now?"
The armored woman said, punching my gut then kicking me away. The armored woman's helmet was gone; her beautiful divine beauty struck everyone but Reinhard. I could tell that beneath that armor was a figure of divine feminine proportions, and Reinhard did say that she was a succubus. He told me to steel myself against lascivious desires.
"Good advice on paper, but I harbor no such desires."
Something was wrong with her face, though; her eyes would enlarge at times, making the vertical slits more prominent, and not to mention the creepy glow that came with it. It felt reptilian and predatory. The time that she did talk, her mouth opened wider than what was humanly possible.
"I wouldn't call him a friend, just a very close ally," I replied, almost out of breath.
Seriously, I unleashed the best attacks that I could, swarmed her with endless shadows, and all I achieved was a chipped and battered armor. However, I managed to get her to take off that helmet and that bracers. Something was off about her armor...
We exchanged blows again, and this was the eleventh time. She used her halberd with precise, powerful strikes, all aimed at my vital spots, but every strike of hers was deflected with great effort from me.
I stabbed her armored chest. Clang.
I stabbed her armored upper left side, just below the armpit. Clang.
I kicked her armored abdominal area. Clang.
I punched her face. Wham!
The armored woman was furious for the seventh time. She roared again; I could feel my legs weakening. My shadows, who were keeping distance and looking for an opportunity to strike, kneeled. An AoE skill, but it didn't have that much of an effect on me.
She was a consistent fighter, always staying true to her strengths, but she didn't know how to fight properly. She swung with no true conviction, save for her seething hatred, yet hatred alone couldn't power her blows.
She was fast but forceful. She was precise but hasty. She was strong but unskilled.
However, I couldn't capitalize on her inexperience, since she had no wide flaws or openings I could exploit. I am using my speed and strength to my absolute limit, supported by my shadows, but I could not deal any proper damage.
Igris, Tusk, Iron, Wolfgirl, Slimegirl, and Spidergirl.
I've coordinated them all, but to no avail. These three new maids weren't stronger than Beru, but they had a lot of useful offensive and supportive spells which helped now and then, but nothing concrete to tip the scales in my favor.
The armored woman could kill them all with two-three strikes at most, and the rest of my shadows with one strike. My mana, however, recovered quicker than she could deplete it. My shadow army remained being an annoyance to her.
I dodged a slamming halberd attack from her, leaping away and creating some distance. The ground cratered from the attack, sending fragments my way.
My domain was in full effect, but it still wasn't enough for this female beast. What was she made of? Aside from her armor, her skin was impossibly tough too.
"All you do is run away! You coward!" The armored woman shouted as she fought a massive, charging barrage of shadows. She was holding on, but she was clearly overwhelmed; she was obviously not a damage dealer.
"She's terrifyingly strong, Mr. Sung." Megumi Fushiguro said, standing beside me and watching the shadow soldiers try to overwhelm the armored woman.
I immediately threw my dagger, intercepting a large magical arrow. The magical arrow vanished as it was intercepted. I then willed my dagger back to my hand, now glaring at the source of that sneak attack. It was from that damned skeleton.
"Goddamned potshots."
"This is the best that I can do for you, Mr. Sung," Megumi said, placing his hand on my shoulders. My injuries and sensation of pain slowly subsided.
"Reverse Curse Technique?" I muttered. Megumi talked about how it was the pinnacle of that spirit sorcery power system. Megumi nodded his head once.
"I've learned about it just now, with some help from my Chimera," Megumi answered.
"Ah, yes, that beast of yours," I muttered.
That beast of his was behind me. I could sense its breath from here. Megumi meshed that shadow shikigami zoo of his. That beast of his looked absolutely terrifying; it would've been a decent shadow.
Beru then appeared behind me; it retreated again for the third time in this battle. It died twice to that armored woman already. Only Reinhard was putting up an actual fight, and that Mahoraga beast.
"Wait, where's Mahoraga?" I muttered.
"It almost died. I returned it to the shadows." Megumi said.
I hummed, thinking of a reply. "Wouldn't it make sense for it to die so that it can be mixed with that beast of yours?"
Megumi nodded. "Yes, on paper. However, at that point, when they're all merged. The cost of summoning the merged shikigami would physically debilitate me and deplete my cursed energy. I would be entirely useless."
"I have a potion that can heal you, and Reinhard is there to pull something out of his ass when something goes wrong." I muttered.
Megumi went quiet for a moment, as if reassessing his options. "Yes, that makes sense, but not here. I don't want to burden any of you right now. Not when you two are doing your best to shield us from harm."
"Mr. Sung! I want to help." Izuku Midoriya said, finally standing up.
"You'd get in the way, no offense," I muttered as I charged again, fully rested, and kicked the abdomen area of the armored woman — another annoying clang.
"You will pay for your insolence! You goddamned insect!" Just as we were about to engage again, we stopped for a moment, noticing a massive surge in power.
"DUCK!" I shouted.
The armored woman leaped towards the high ceiling, sensing the danger too.
A huge, powerful gust of slicing air rushed our direction, slicing and destroying anything above a meter. The force was powerful enough to shatter everything in its path and violently jerk the entire area's structure.
A loud, deafening blast also followed, almost shattering my eardrums. "Fuck!"
The rumble then stopped. I raised my head, and the whole place looked like a violent storm had arrived, leaving debris and scattered fragments of what used to be an infinite convenience store or grocery shelves.
A restriction debuff was then placed on me. "That goddamned woman!"
"I want you to look at your friend." The armored woman slowly descended, pointing her finger toward the source of the powerful, thunderous attack.
"There's your red-haired knight." She said with glee, her face morphed into an expression of exaggerated predatory glee. Her eyes doubled in size as her smile reached the edges of her eyes. My gaze landed on Reinhard's gruesome condition.
Reinhard's body had been cut in half; his lower torso was still standing, but his upper torso was on the ground, and he was bleeding from the mouth. His eyes were lifelessly crimson, and his usually pristine face was full of vomited blood.
The enormous four-armed insectoid beast held four giant swords in each hand, all gleaming with quality and radiating absolute power. The skeleton sorcerer was also there, levitating above the insectoid.
"For you, however, death is a mercy." The armored woman said, smiling with almost spiked teeth and large, bulging eyes.
"Reinhard...?" Megumi said.