Suddenly A Succubus
Chapter 36.2

Vee’s heart was racing as she raced towards the quad with Amara. The task in front of them felt insurmountable, and she was nervous she wouldn’t be able to keep up with Amara in terms of raw skill. Her panicked thoughts were interrupted when Amara spoke up again.

“There’s two of us, and two of them, at least for now. I’ll get Chloé to safety and then take out that reaper, you focus on the other one, okay?”

“I-I’ll do my best,” Vee said.

One of the reapers, the first to arrive, angled its head away from the quad and seemed to notice Chloé. It took to the skies, its massive legs gouging holes into the field, but its flight was quickly disturbed when its feet caught on the top of a tree. Its trajectory collapsed, and it crashed into a nearby building in front of Chloé.

Vee felt the heat of Amara’s hellfire swell, grow even more intense as her panic manifested through it. She started running even faster, fear in her eyes, and managed to intercept the reaper just before it got to Chloé.

With a sigh of relief, Vee directed her attention towards the second reaper. She’d never faced one alone before, and she was terrified of fighting without Amara by her side, but she knew she had a job to do. If nothing else, her mace would be more effective than the sword, and she muttered another prayer of empowerment as she closed the distance on the second reaper.

Angelic magic surged through her veins, more than she was usually comfortable with, and she hoped the adrenaline would keep her senses sharp. The reaper seemed to hear her coming, as it quickly turned towards her with a lumbering growl.

Once Vee was close enough, the reaper swiped at her with one of its arms, but Vee managed to jump over it. Even though she wasn’t as strong as Amara, she was a smaller target and would be harder to pin down. She dodged another massive claw, this time bringing down her mace on the creature’s wrist with a sickening crack. A small crack appeared in the bone, but focusing on her successful attack left Vee open to retaliation. The reaper’s tail lashed out, colliding with her legs and knocking her to the ground.

Another flash of light filled the quad, but Vee hardly noticed as the reaper above her continued attacking. Its tail darted towards her, and came dangerously close to impaling her stomach, but she managed to roll out of the way. She jumped to her feet, doing her best to keep evading the monster’s attacks, but she could tell they weren’t on even footing.

The creature that had gone after Chloé was the one Amara had previously damaged in Purgatory, whereas this one was still in perfect shape. It was taking all of Vee’s focus just to avoid getting hit, and the one strike she’d managed to land had barely fazed the beast. Time was not on her side, and she tried to reassess her goals.

Okay, I’m not going to be able to kill this thing, not on my own. But, if I can keep it contained, I might be able to buy time for Tessa and Nick to find everyone still on campus.

Vee spent the next few minutes staying just close enough to keep the reaper distracted, focusing all her energy on evading its attacks and keeping herself alive. The beast wasn’t incredibly fast, thankfully, and as she weaved around its massive claws, she watched its movements closely, hoping to learn as much as she could about it.

At times, its massive size betrayed its intent, but it still managed to keep Vee guessing. Just like her fights against Amara, she had trouble reading its tail, and the few additional injuries she suffered had come from losing track of it. As the minutes crept on, she felt like she was growing more familiar with how it moved, but she was also struggling to keep herself focused. While she hadn’t been starving in Purgatory, she hadn’t exactly been eating five-star meals every day, and the lack of energy was starting to weigh on her.

Another strike, another dodge, and Vee scanned the quad for any signs of the others. At the corner of the quad, walking alongside the lower level of the cafeteria, she saw another student. The student was wearing bulky headphones and appeared to be completely ignoring the rest of the world as she walked.

Fuck. I don’t see Tessa or Nick anywhere, I need to—

Vee knocked one of the creature's claws away, but the follow up strike forced Vee further away than usual. In the space that had been created, the creature looked to the side and saw the other student, then immediately shifted its priorities. It turned around, its massive tail slamming into the dirt where Vee had just been, and took off running.

Panic filled Vee’s thoughts as she sprinted after the reaper. She just needed to reach the student first, or possibly interpose herself long enough for the student to realize what was happening.

Thankfully, as powerful as the reaper was, Vee was faster. She managed to cut it off, turning to face the rampaging beast, and brandished her mace. She knew she couldn’t fight it like this, but could she scare it? It seemed at least sentient enough to attempt to avoid her, and they certainly seemed capable of panicking.

What would Amara do? She’s bigger and scarier than me, but it’s not like I don’t have flashy abilities of my own…

With a deep breath, Vee raised a hand and prayed for a burst of light to erupt from her hand. She did her best to focus it on the reaper’s face, hoping they could be blinded even without eyes. As the light appeared, it cut through the fog on the quad, and the reaper screamed out in surprise. Its attempts to avert its gaze caused it to trip over itself, and Vee silently cheered in victory.

There was no time for proper celebration, however, people still needed her help. She turned and ran to the oblivious student, getting a better look at her as she closed the distance.

This student had bright red hair and appeared to be in fantastic shape. Despite the cold weather, she was wearing a tank top that showed off her muscular physique, and her bulky headphones continued to deafen the warning shouts that came from Vee.

Once Vee closed the distance, she tore the headphones off the girl’s head. “You need to run! Get inside!”

“Hey, what the fuck?! Give those—” The girl’s words were cut off by another monstrous roar, and her eyes went wide as she turned to see the reaper stumbling around. She instantly began screaming, frozen in fear as she looked up at the beast.

Fuck, I need to get her to focus!

Wait, we’re done hiding our abilities. Maybe I can use that.

With a deep breath, Vee stepped in front of this girl and pushed her headphones back into her chest. She connected with her inner magic, let it flow through her, and tried to channel every story she’d ever heard of angels revealing themselves to mortals.

When Vee opened her eyes, powerful angelic light burst from them. The magic she released was raw, unrefined, but she did her best to keep it from harming the student. Her feet lifted off the ground, and she hovered above the student as her entire body began to pulse with Enochian energy. The student stopped screaming, thankfully, and Vee spoke.

“Child!” Vee said, “Be not afraid. I’m here to protect you.”

The red-haired student stared up, her face struck with both awe and fear. Her mouth opened, yet no sound came out.

“Go inside and stay with the others. Now!” Vee shouted, raising a glowing hand as she attempted to scare the student away. Thankfully, the show of force seemed to work. The student grabbed her headphones, nodded, then turned to sprint up the stairs to the cafeteria.

Vee immediately cut off her magic, falling to the ground before gasping from exertion. Behind her, she heard the reaper crawling closer, and she redoubled her grip on the mace before turning to face it again. Thankfully, just like the other reaper, this one seemed confused by its inability to phase through solid objects. It tried to charge her, but it recoiled as its head crashed into the branches of the tall oak tree in between them.

Seeing an opportunity, Vee leapt forward and struck at one of the reaper’s hind legs, the mace connected with a satisfying crunch. Cracks appeared in the bone, but Vee was unable to dodge the beast’s retaliation. One of its claws struck her side, throwing her to the side. She flew a considerable distance, gasping in pain as she landed, and rolled a few times before she managed to catch herself. Pain radiated through her chest, and when she ran her hand over the injury, it came back covered in blood.

Her strength fading fast, both from the previous injuries and the burst of energy, Vee knew she needed to escape. A quick look around revealed no other students, and she decided it was time to run.

She dismissed her mace, devoting all her energy to staying light on her feet, and started running towards the tree line again. The reaper tried to close the distance, and Vee had to dodge another two swipes, but soon enough she had made it to the sidewalk.

Turning around, Vee studied the reaper closely. It was clearly confused about the tree, but she could see the gears turning as the creature looked at her. It lowered its neck, then started to creep forward, its heavy footsteps shaking the ground as it walked. Vee made sure to jump back another few feet as she kept watching, hoping to learn as much as she could about the creature to aid in future encounters.

Before the reaper could move any closer, another flash of light appeared behind it. The beast flinched, taking a step back before turning to look behind it.

Vee did the same, running a few steps higher to gain a better vantage point. She let out a sigh of relief as she looked over the field; the flash hadn’t heralded the arrival of another reaper. Whatever it was, however, the reaper seemed to abandon its pursuits, content to wander back to the center of the quad. She continued watching for another minute, and the reaper did nothing but lurk the entire time, just like it had been doing back in Purgatory.

Is Brandon telling it to stay put? Why hasn’t he come through yet?

If nothing else, Vee was safe, and she still didn’t see any other students nearby. Hoping that Nick and Tessa had been able to spread the word, she decided to head to the cafeteria.

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.