First Kiss
“This big sis will make sure that little brat doesn’t catch your eye.”
The battle kicked off with Olivia blowing Rohan a kiss.
The moment she parted her glossy red lips and sent a kiss into the air—
The swirling pink mana coalesced into a heart the size of a baseball.
The heart floated lazily in the air.
Its innocent hover wasn’t funny—it was unnerving.
The sheer density of mana packed into that tiny thing promised disaster if it hit.
“Ichinose. Watch out for that.”
“You too, Rohan.”
Rohan and Ichinose gripped their weapons tight.
Olivia’s lips curved at their resolute stances.
“Hehe, don’t make such scary faces. The pain’ll only last a moment.”
Here it comes.
Olivia’s whip packed devastating power and range, but its tell was crystal clear.
Its trajectory went wild mid-swing, but you could always spot her pulling her arm back to unleash it.
You could pinpoint the attack’s origin.
And that origin was her opening.
The weakness of a whip that long, dragging on the floor, was closing the distance.
One step made the difference between heaven and hell against a weapon like that.
Close the gap.
Rohan had no intention of standing there dumbfounded, waiting for the swing.
The instant he caught her arm drawing back, he kicked off the ground.
Ichinose had the same idea and moved in sync.
“So impatient.”
Olivia moved on pure instinct, honed over countless battles.
She wrapped mana around her sharp high heels to block Ichinose’s upward slash.
Then deflected Rohan’s blazing sword with her whip’s sturdy handle.
The exchange over, she swiftly created distance.
And finally unleashed the whip.
But it wasn’t aimed at them—it struck the heart hovering in the air.
Snap!
The whipped heart rocketed toward a distant wall.
It flew away from the two, but the succubus had a reason for everything.
As Rohan and Ichinose heightened their guard and moved to close in again—
Pop!
The heart that had vanished into one mirror burst out from a mirror near Rohan.
“!”
Rohan barely dodged the sudden ambush.
He swung Radiance on reflex.
The shattered heart reformed in an instant and came flying back.
“Tearing up sis’s love like that? Keep playing hard to get, and I’ll cry~”
Her words said sad, but her face showed none of it.
Olivia looked triumphant, as if she’d already seized the advantage.
“You know what happens if that hits, right? A future pickled in pleasure awaits.”
Olivia gripped the whip with both hands and cracked it—snap! snap!
Rohan and Ichinose’s faces grew grave as they grasped the situation.
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Flames erupt with a metallic clang as the whip is deflected.
──Cclang! Sparks flew with the metallic ring as the whip was struck aside.
He dodged the incoming heart on the leap.
Can’t cut the whip.
If it were possible, Ichinose would’ve done it first.
Its material was tough, infused with Olivia’s mana—no reckless charge would sever it; it’d backfire.
“I love that your momentum doesn’t flag. Kids really do have that fresh taste.”
Olivia dodged Ichinose’s thrust and whipped the heart again.
Hit a mirror, emerge from another—sudden and unpredictable.
No consistency in which mirror spat out the swallowed heart; Olivia controlled it freely.
And the speed was the real issue.
The whipped heart accelerated to insane velocities.
A chunk that spelled doom on contact, flying from blind spots—evasion was grueling.
Olivia lived up to her dungeon boss title: mana to spare, superhuman physique.
Plus, caution and prudence beyond her tricky nature.
She pressed with the whip for dominance while defending, aiming to land the heart.
She knew a direct hit meant her victory.
“Hya!”
Whoosh-crack-boom──!!!
The whip thrashed like it had a mind of its own.
Rohan and Ichinose dodged the savage lashes, countering relentlessly.
Ting! Clang! Scraaape···!
Swing. Block.
Roll dodge. Thrust.
A chaotic melee of clashing, grating noises.
No clear dominance or progress—it seemed evenly matched.
But with each exchange, the scales tipped ever so slightly toward Olivia.
Ichinose maintained consistent strikes.
Rohan’s frantic movements reopened the pressure stone wounds; bleeding worsened.
Which left only one thought.
Quest completion means full recovery.
The ace up his sleeve.
A chance for a desperate gamble.
Survive, and it’d work out. To break the balance, he needed bolder moves.
Dodge the heart, but the whip? Non-vitals are survivable.
Painkillers dulled the agony, but that whip would hurt like hell.
Still, he could tank it once. The heart? No guarantees.
“Ichinose.”
“Hoo, what?”
Rohan impressed it on the girl regulating her breath in her sheathed stance.
“I’ll make an opening. Don’t miss it.”
“···What’re you planning?”
No time for explanations.
The whip rebounding off a mirror was incoming.
Thud!
Rohan didn’t dodge sideways or back—he charged forward.
His muscled frame plunged into the whip’s chaotic waves.
“Oh my?”
Olivia’s eyes widened at his guts.
Suicide?
She’d kill the girl, but not the man. Couldn’t, really.
His move just looked like impatience breaking the stalemate.
“No patience, such a hot temper··· What a troublesome guy.”
Olivia redirected the head-bound whip toward his legs.
As if anticipating, Rohan slammed Radiance into the ground.
Using the sword like a pole, he vaulted his body.
Thud!
Olivia smiled as he landed in her face.
His feral face stirred her; she wanted him under her, draining his essence.
“Hng··· Using that I won’t kill you? Bold.”
Rohan’s gamble paid off, granting close range again.
No problem.
Olivia was confident she could repel him like before.
Sensing the awkward sword distance, Rohan dropped Radiance boldly.
He blocked her roundhouse with his forearm.
Thwack! Crack! Snap!
Fists and kicks flew.
Refusing to yield the hard-won proximity, Rohan endured desperately, holding ground.
“How’re you so skilled at this? Fun.”
Olivia’s blood heated.
This man had changed. Already adapting, countering.
Systematic yet feral attacks.
Equal mana and physique? She’d be subdued.
If these kids had grown more before coming···
A chill of what-if, but gratitude for her luck thrilled her.
As Rohan flailed to hold on, she eyed the closed-eyes girl.
That brat’s prepping something.
Stanced, not joining the brawl.
Unsettling mana compressing in her sheathed pose.
“Slut. Eyes where?”
Moment’s distraction—Rohan seized her arm with his wound as price.
Gripped tight, mana surged.
Imparts physical attribute weakness to the target.
“!!!”
The alien mana wiped Olivia’s smile.
Monster survival instincts screamed.
Olivia wildly unleashed hoarded mana, desperately shoving Rohan away.
“──!”
Her shockwave tore his wounds wider.
Rohan bled profusely. But he held the arm.
Ichinose kicked off the ground.
No words needed—opportunity.
Dream Illusion Slash Shadow Flow - Heaven Beyond Instant Night
Ichinose targeted Olivia’s neck.
Her illusions eroded Olivia’s senses.
Olivia’s vision blackened briefly.
But monster instincts.
Blind, she reacted reflexively.
Flailing result.
Neck saved. But the arm Rohan held severed cleanly.
Deep abdominal gash threatened spilled guts.
“Grrgh···!”
Pain twisted her face, but her lips twitched up faintly.
Olivia retreated, manipulating mirrors.
Pop!
The heart struck Rohan’s grievous wounds dead-on.
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“Haa, still sis’s win?”
Those black coverings on the succubus’s vitals weren’t mere decoration.
They clung to the split abdomen and severed stump, staunching blood.
“···Won’t miss. I’ll kill you.”
Ichinose’s voice dripped menace as she took stance.
Those wounds weren’t shallow.
Olivia wiped cold sweat with her remaining hand.
Pointed at Rohan, frozen by the heart.
“Kid’s shallow-minded. Gonna charge in?”
Pink mana bubbled from Rohan’s body.
Olivia kept distance, controlling the heart to bend him to her will.
“Such strong willpower. Won’t submit easy.”
Rohan grimaced in agony.
Resisting the heart.
Ichinose bit her lip watching him.
Unsheathed her sword, closing on Olivia swiftly.
Whoosh! Zing!
Each swing added wounds to Olivia.
She couldn’t dodge perfectly.
Problem: Ichinose’s big technique left her mana low.
“If that guy turns into a pressure stone thrall when I die, you go down too, right? Still gonna kill me?”
“···!”
“Will he fall to the heart first? Or will you kill me first? Guess I’ll have to run~”
Olivia feigned leisure despite grave wounds.
Drawing on experience and succubus nature to erode the girl’s mind.
“Surrender now, I’ll just take some essence from him. Then we part peacefully.”
“Show the contract···.”
“No mana left for that? Verbal’s fine, yeah?”
Obvious lie.
Still, assumptions flooded Ichinose’s mind.
Rohan beside her ground his teeth, groaning in strain.
Slap him awake?
His wounds—too hard, he might die.
Gentle touch? Useless. Physical work on such potent charm? Doubtful.
A way··· a way···.
Theories raced through Ichinose’s head.
Holy water, herbs, charm dispel skills.
All useless.
One slim possibility surfaced.
Mental shock···.
Temptation or shock stronger than succubus charm.
Abstract breakthrough.
Still, she’d read of multiple escapes via such means.
Romantic novels to her, but real accounts.
A failed box-office hit, but based on true events.
Recalling those records, the girl resolved.
Try once. Fail, trust Rohan’s will and kill the succubus at max speed.
“Just yield, kid, and we both win. No dumb moves, right?”
Ichinose ignored the taunt, grabbed Rohan’s collar.
She wouldn’t watch her loved one fall to succubus thrall.
She’d save him somehow.
“···If this doesn’t wake you, I’ll really cut you down!”
Not the romantic dream scenario.
But her desired partner.
The girl pulled his collar.
And pressed her lips to Rohan’s.