121: Steve Versus One

“I will give you this one chance,” Steve said to Beatrice after swiping Tabitha away like a bug. “If you surrender now and hand over the fox girl, I will take you to captain Gamesh. He practices holy magic, and he might be able to cure you of your deformities.”

“Thanks, but no thanks,” Beatrice said while still wondering what to do.

The succubus’s only accomplishment thus far has been that she was the only one that succeeded in actually drawing blood from Steve. The 25% Physical Attack boost from [Sharp Claws] Skill brought up Beatrice’s Physical attack to 15, which seemed enough to chip at Steve’s health, but Beatrice did not hold much hope that that puny number would be enough to cut through Steve’s Shield of Dignity. She wasn’t even sure she’d be able to cut through his armor.

That was the consequence of devoting so much of her attention to Eros Craft Skills, even though that did pay off in its own way because Beatrice managed to gain 11 levels in less than 24 hours while having lots of fun and with minimal fighting.

If Combat Craft was not cutting it, and Eros Craft was out of the question since Beatrice had no desire in engaging in any sort of sexual conduct with this particular opponent, that left Mischief Craft as the only remaining option. However, Mischief Craft Skills had a particularly nasty drawback in that they could be resisted by high-level enemies. And by each passing second, Steve proved himself to be just that.

This is my wish-fulfillment world! Beatrice reminded herself. I will not be undone by some prude who can’t handle a girl with a big, fat dick between her legs!

“So be it!” Steve shouted and charged Beatrice.

“Ah!” Beatrice was quickly running out of options. Putting all her faith into her status as a Saviour and a hero of her wish-fulfillment world, crafted for her by the Goddess Luluna herself, Beatrice raised her arms forward and pointed the palms of her hands at Steve as if intending to block all eight of his spears with her bare hands. The succubus channeled her recently acquired Mischief Skill and shouted “STRIP!!”

As Steve ran at Beatrice, his armor vanished in an instant. His helmet, purple cape, boots, pants—everything except his spears and magic shield was gone in an instant.

“Wuah!” Steve lost balance because of the sudden change of weight and misplaced a step, causing him to stumble and fall face first at Beatrice’s feet.

Beatrice was stunned herself for a split second—shocked that her Skill worked so well. But the momentary lapse passed and Beatrice lunged with her Sharp Claws at Steve’s exposed nape.

“GARGH!!!” Steve grunted like a beast and knocked Beatrice’s claws away with his shield.

Beatrice leaped back to avoid the same fate as Olivia and Tabitha while Steve rolled on the ground away from Beatrice before jumping to his feet.

Beatrice cursed her own inexperience with combat. If she did not get surprised by her own Skill and delay her attack or if she did not waste her [Extend Claws] on a pointless attack and waited for a better opportunity, Steve would have been dead already. Instead, they were both again at some thirty feet away from each other, though this time Steve had no clothes to speak of.

“Defective Monster! What did you do!?” Steve shouted and covered his nakedness with his Shield of Dignity.

“D-do you… You have no willpower, do you?” Beatrice asked.

“I have tons of willpower!” Steve protested.

But the [STRIP!] Skill’s description was quite clear.

Great Willpower or E-Rank and higher protective spells are required for the target to remain unaffected.

Beatrice smiled. Steve was literally wide open for her attacks. With no armor to protect himself apart from that annoying shield, Beatrice only needed one slice across a major artery. The only issue was Steve’s offensive capabilities. But since it turned out that Steve’s willpower was so weak that he could not even withstand an F-Rank Skill, Beatrice had an easy way to finish.

“What’s that behind you!?” Beatrice pointed behind Steve’s back and ran forward.

“As if I’d fall for such an old trick!” Steve said and prepared to take Beatrice on.

But that was exactly what Beatrice wanted. Her only goal was to reduce the distance from her opponent from thirty feet to twenty feet, and as soon as she was in range she cast her [Daze] Skill.