Chapter 10
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 10
Chapter Title: Succubus Appears (2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"Kirik-?"
"Kieek-!!"
The goblins welcomed us the instant we stepped through the gate.
They were the weakest monsters around, but we couldn't afford to let our guard down.
"Hellhound."
"Spirit Summon!"
Grrr-!!
Before I could even draw my sword, flames erupted from the ground, summoning two hellhounds. A small firebird swooped down from the air above, and together they swiftly tore through the goblins.
'Yeah... gotta stay sharp.'
Honestly, with this lineup, you could call it a total carry...
I was assigned to handle any goblins that broke through the hellhounds and spirits with my sword, but to be frank, it didn't look like it'd even be my turn.
Park A-young and Lee Ji-hyun were handling rear guard so effectively, it was downright impressive.
"Ki... e... ek..."
Despite being ambushed by a horde of goblins right after entering the gate, the fight ended in utter anticlimax.
With their final screams, the goblins crumbled to dust, leaving only mana stones and their hides behind.
"Want some bread?"
Once the battle was confirmed over, Cha Yu-rin—who'd been hanging back—offered the loaves she'd baked early that morning.
"Let's eat here for a bit."
The party members quickly huddled together and took bread from her.
Ate Mana Rye Bread! Mana recovery amount and max mana increased for a set time!
Ate Strength Soboro Bread! Strength increased for a set time!
Ate Miracle Bread! All stats increased for a set time!
The buffs started flooding my vision after grabbing a few bite-sized pieces.
True to her Baker class, Cha Yu-rin's ability granted indirect buffs through the bread she baked, rather than direct enhancements.
We'd planned to eat before heading in, but Professor Kim Se-yeon had rushed us, so we had no choice but to chow down here.
"Man, it's dim in here..."
"Looks like a cave-type dungeon."
The cave was illuminated by flickering small flames here and there, but try to peer too far, and nothing but pitch darkness filled your view.
Gates contained dungeons with wildly different terrains.
Caves sometimes, forests, cliffs, plains... all sorts, each with their own hazards.
Cave-types like this demanded caution against ambushes and traps due to the limited visibility.
"Send the hellhounds ahead first. Baek Hwa and Park A-jun follow them, then Cha Yu-rin, and finally Park A-young and I bring up the rear."
We fell into formation behind the hellhounds as Lee Ji-hyun instructed. With them scouting for traps up front, it felt utterly secure.
"Enemies ahead...! Ten goblins!"
Park A-young's warning came through her heightened bond with her spirit, boosting her detection range.
Most cave dungeons twisted and turned—even with the flames, visibility topped out at around ten meters. Detection skills like hers were invaluable.
And it wasn't just caves; they could spot foes tunneling from below or sneaking from behind, preventing ambushes. Hunters with detection talents like Park A-young often got love calls from major guilds, regardless of rank.
Of course, hers relied on her spirits right now, so its effectiveness scaled with her Spirit Summon skill level. A mere D-rank spirit couldn't match top-tier detectors yet.
But this was the lowest F-rank dungeon, left for training purposes.
Her current detection was more than enough.
"Kirik-!!"
"Kieek-!!"
The goblins charged at us.
But we could only stand there dumbfounded, unable to react.
Slash-!
"Everyone, run!!"
The goblins' heads flew off in an instant, and Lee Ji-hyun activated the teleport spell Professor Kim Se-yeon had placed on us.
"A chance for me to absorb some essence, and you had to go and ruin it."
Crunch! Crackle-!
A noise like something being twisted and shattered rang out, letting us glimpse the entity that had slain every goblin with a mere gesture.
Black tail swaying from her rear, bat wings on her back, goat horns curling from her head—it was a succubus.
She looked almost human.
You'd think she was cosplaying if you spotted her at some event. The succubus took the form of a bewitchingly alluring woman.
But every beautiful rose has its thorns.
Unlike mindless monsters, a succubus's strength wasn't fixed. Even the weakest recorded ones clocked in at C-rank.
"Mi... crazy... She shattered an A-rank hunter's teleport with one gesture...?"
Baek Hwa muttered beside me in disbelief.
But Professor Kim Se-yeon's teleport—cast as a precaution against danger—had crumbled before it could even activate. That put her at minimum A-rank.
'A-rank's the hopeful take...'
As an Archmage, the professor benefited from magic enhancements, making her spells incredibly stable and robust.
Yet shattering it with a flick suggested she might surpass A-rank—maybe even S.
Rare bitch discovered! Luck rank rises!!
Sex Master never misses luck! Lucky Pervert state activated for a set time!
My luck stat spiked just from laying eyes on the succubus—in the middle of all this.
We're about to die, and it thinks this is lucky? I wanted to grab this insane system window and demand answers.
"Hehe. No need to be so scared. Leave the man behind, and I'll let all you girls go."
"Let us live...? Ha! You'll kill us once the man's dead! You're just scared extreme terror'll make his essence hard to suck!"
Succubi were fairly common monsters.
Intelligent enough to call themselves demons, but humans classified them firmly as monsters.
The textbooks detailed their traits well—one being they released women after draining men's essence. Apparently, overwhelming fear made full absorption tricky, like how it killed erections.
And the biggest rule: never fall for their beauty.
When S-rank hunters first encountered one—seemingly just C-rank strength—they'd toyed with and raped her.
The aftermath was gruesome.
Of the six S-ranks there, three got sucked dry. The three who fled were slaughtered outright, triggering a gate rampage.
Succubus training was drilled into everyone.
Even now, cocky fools caused incidents, so even "weak" specimens rated maximum danger.
"Hmm? You know your stuff. But I'm in a great mood after waking from such a long sleep. I'll really let you go—scram."
"Everyone, battle prep!"
Lee Ji-hyun shot down the offer flat.
No guarantee she'd honor it anyway. Better strike now, before she grew stronger off my essence—higher survival odds.
"Shattering Professor Kim Se-yeon's spell in one go means she's got some trick! Probably a relic-grade artifact! Everyone, focus on holding out! The prof and our friends outside are watching the raid—they'll send rescue pronto!"
"Miss is right! No clue why she's here suddenly, but... goblin zone means B-rank monster at worst!"
Shing-!
Baek Hwa and I gripped our swords in stance, hellhounds flanking us protectively.
Park A-young and Lee Ji-hyun stood ready to unleash their heaviest attacks.
"S-sorry I can't help...! B-bread armor!"
Finally, Cha Yu-rin's heaps of bread fused onto our bodies.
Not very armor-like, and it looked delicious, but its defense was legit.
It shrugged off Park A-young's attacks without a scratch and even blocked one from Lee Ji-hyun.
"Hah~! All set? Here I come?"
"Ugh!"
"Gah-!!"
Her words barely ended before agony forced us to our knees.
She'd simply swung her hand, unleashing raw mana. No skill, no projectile.
Just the mana pressure Professor Kim Se-yeon had demonstrated earlier.
Yet that alone pulverized the bread armor and the professor's protective spells.
The level gap choked the air from my lungs.
She wasn't even trying, pure carelessness on her part—but the disparity was so vast, victory felt impossible.
'Hold out till rescue...?'
Against this monster?
Impossible.
"Fuu. Wasted some time, but... fine. Ready to accept my offer now?"
"Fuck off!"
Whoosh-! Boom!
As the succubus approached me, Park A-young conjured a fireball—but it hurled her into the distant wall before she could launch it.
"Idiot... run...!"
Writhing in agony against the rock, Park A-young still yelled at me to flee.
"Hng~♡ Can't just send back such tasty prey~"
Ignoring her, the succubus closed in on me slowly.
What could I even do?
'Hold the line...!'
"Heard her? Get the others and run! Looks like I'm the target. Right?"
This gave my teammates the best shot at survival.
We hadn't gone far past the gate.
A straight sprint would get them out.
All I could do was trust this godforsaken class and endure.
"Sure, whatever. No point bothering. I'll let the others scamper off~♡"
She flashed a small smile as Park A-young and the rest bolted in resignation.
It pained me that it'd be the last smile I'd ever see, but I steeled myself.
Sacrificing for my twin sister and the others... not the worst way to go!