Release That Succubus

Chapter 132 132 At Death's Door

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Unlike Luna, the panther didn't have as much room for maneuverability and was struck by several of the fireballs thrown at him by Luna. Another reason for Luna's increased hit rate was the panther's decreased agility because its endurance had long since taken a hit after it had to take on several opponents in a row, out of which Luna was only the latest and the most dangerous. 

Neither Christina nor Sarah had been strong enough to give the panther a run for its money. They had barely managed to hold it back for some time by giving it all they had. But Luna was a different breed. Her attacks hurt the panther like hell and it wanted to evade as much as possible.

Anyone who was witnessing the fight between the two beastly entities learned an important lesson regarding the air superiority over ground units. The attacks from a higher vantage point were always a little hard to avoid for those at a lower vantage point. That was the reason the generals of war opted for higher ground as the base camp in any situation. It was not only easier to defend but also allowed them to attack the enemy more proficiently.

With Luna on full offense, the panther had no choice but to run around in panic to defend itself from the fighter aircraft chasing after it.

Even though panther looked like it was running for its life and Luna had the upper hand, the third party observers could see the truth at the heart of the fight. The panther looked to be in a bad condition and there was no doubt that it had to retreat from the fight in order to save itself. But the direction of its retreat was where Zach and his group were at the moment. 

Zach being a spectator of the battle was privy to the same knowledge as well. He could see the panther running in his direction as it tried to dodge the constant barrage of fireballs on its tail.

It took some time for Luna to register the same as well since she was far too engrossed in the battle with the panther to take account of the surroundings. But when she did spot its intentions, Luna stopped flying high and reduced her altitude by diving down low so as to stop the panther from reaching her beloved master.

But she didn't know that the panther had been waiting for the exact same moment. It had planned to create this kind of opportunity for itself. Previously, Luna had been flying high in the air which was far out of its reach. Therefore, it fainted that it was going after Zach to lure Luna to close in on it.

As a result, when Luna came within its attack range, the panther suddenly turned around mid-escape and leapt towards her in the air.

No matter how skilled Luna was, the escort mage had a wealth of experience compared to her and was far more adept at using battle strategies and the environment to its benefit. Due to that very reason, Luna was caught off guard by the panther that was suddenly lunging in her direction instead of Zach.

In her mind, Zach was the most important so she had put her personal safety at a risk to stop the panther. Alas, the panther made use of it to grab onto her with an iron grip that would not budge despite Luna's desperate struggle to break free of its arms that were wrapped around her lithe figure.

The guard mage understood its position. Even though it had turned into a beast on the outside, it hadn't lost its mind. It could still function normally which was why it could hatch this kind of an insidious plot without much effort.

While holding onto Luna, the panther unleashed his unique skill that allowed it to become the bodyguard of the Prince. Even though it was a suicidal skill, just the existence of this skill was enough for the forces in the capital to back off in most situations. It wasn't for nothing that Prince Kolt had agreed to keep him by his side.

Since, the presence of Luna had practically ruled out any possibility of it being able to capture Zach, the only thing the panther could do for its master was to clear the path in its wake by taking down the most powerful threat amongst Zach's allies so that Kolt's forces could do the rest.

By doing this it felt that its daughter might have a chance of survival.

The cruelty of this skill lay in the fact that both the target and the user of the skill would definitely die a gruesome death once used by a mage of its caliber.

As such there was already no chance of survival for Luna who was in its clutches already.

The panther muttered the incantations as it curbed the protests of Luna with a deathly grip that didn't allow for any kind of movement no matter how hard she tried struggling.

When its mouth finally stopped moving, its body began to deform as if it was liquefying rapidly into an ink colored thick tar like substance that was murky and full of evil intent. It looked like an advanced version of the dark shells that the panther used during the battle earlier because it was just as corrosive in nature.

The black ink formed from the body of the panther enveloped Luna in a dark cocoon that allowed no escape. The cocoon deformed easily when Luna struggled within it but that was it. It was as if there was no means to break out of its confines. The black ink was stretchy and sticky to an unimaginable extent.

Desperate to break out of it, Luna growled and shrieked with all her might as she put her back into it but to no avail. The cocoon didn't even register her struggle and remained unfazed.

Zach, who had been watching the battle play out into such an ending, found himself hating his weakness. He could do nothing but watch as Luna ended up in such a situation just to save him from harm.

Before he could wallow in more self blame and regrets, the system prompt issued an alert in a bold red font that attracted all his attention.

[The Fiery Succubus is facing a mortal danger and may succumb to her death very soon.]

Zach forced himself to avoid panicking after reading the notification issued by the system regarding the condition of Luna. With a great weight burdening his heart, Zach read on because he believed that the system never issued an alert for something it didn't have a solution for. Thankfully, he was right.

[Being her Master, you can return the energy absorbed from her in order to give her a fighting chance against the life threatening calamity that is headed her way. It should be understood that the choice to return the energy to the Fiery Succubus comes with consequences. The loss of energy would result in the temporary locking of all the weapons unlocked in the weapons arsenal as a result of the absorption of that energy.]

To Zach this wasn't even a choice. Luna was in this state because she had been trying to protect him. He needed to man out and do what needed to be done or she might lose her life because of his indecisiveness. He didn't want to live with regrets later. 

For better or worse, Luna was his first woman in this world and he was certain that she was utterly devoted to him. Weapons on the other hand were items he could always unlock again with just a little effort in the future but he would never be able to meet another companion like Luna who understood him like she did. After all, she had been with him ever since his arrival in this new world.

[Knowing the consequences, do you want to return the energy to the Fiery Succubus Luna?]

Zach said "Yes" without a moment's hesitation.

[All the accumulated energy from the subject "Fiery Succubus Luna" has been returned.]

[Some equipped items cannot be used due to lack of energy and will be forcibly returned to the Weapons Arsenal.]

[Most of the available weapons in the weapons arsenal have been locked due to lack of energy. Regain the energy lost to unlock them once again.]

Zach didn't feel any remorse over his choice as he already expected this kind of penalties thanks to the system's caution. What he cared about was this new connection that established itself between him and Luna. It wasn't a new connection per se but a fortification of an already existing one. His heart pounded with excitement and newfound dread that this might not be enough to save Luna.

Zach felt that the channel connecting him to Luna grew stronger with the energy transfer from his body to hers. He could feel it being channeled out of him in her direction like an inexhaustible well being drained slowly of its contents.

Luna on the other hand had an even more drastic reaction to the sudden influx of the energy within her body. Her power instantly soared as if she had ingested some steroids. Unable to contain all that energy, she roared with all her might and the blue flames enveloping her body slowly began to change color. The previously blue flame was getting a slightly golden sheen the more energy she devoured from the newfound connection between Zach and her.

The blue flame turned golden blue first as it transitioned at a fast pace which meant that the energy from Zach was being absorbed into Luna's body at an increased pace.