122: No Steve

“H-huuuh?” Steve’s expression changed the moment he was hit by Beatrice’s [Daze] Skill. The hard look of an experienced, vicious warrior transformed into that of a deeply confused, drunken fool.

All eight spears fell on the ground around Steve, and his Shield of Dignity dug into the earth under its own weight as Steve barely kept it upright.

The [Daze] Skill would last a whole twenty seconds, but Beatrice only needed two. With Steve’s shield barely protecting his legs and abdomen, Beatrice had countless angles to finish him off.

I wonder how many experience points I’ll gain from this? Beatrice wondered as she closed in on her first kill of the day.

“H-huh-AARGH!?” Beatrice screamed and covered her eyes from the blinding light that engulfed Steve and repelled the succubus. Everything was white even with her eyes closed shut. Along with the light and the strange repelling force that threw her back, a high-pitched sound assaulted Beatrice’s ears. Like a one-note signal from a TV that was cranked up to eleven.

Beatrice fell on her butt, disoriented and blind from the light that suddenly assaulted her retinas at point-blank range. But before Beatrice could think of what to do, the sound that blasted Beatrice’s ears suddenly stopped and the forest fell quiet, though Beatrice’s ears still ringed in the aftereffect. And although Beatrice was still blind, seeing nothing but huge bright light bulbs, she felt that no more light emanated in front of her.

Slow, light footsteps informed Beatrice that someone was approaching her from behind. Beatrice tried to get up to her feet and face whoever was approaching, but her attempt was far too slow and clumsy to have a chance at protecting herself from any possible enemy and she ended up falling back on her but, not only blind but also dizzy.

“He’s gone,” Beatrice heard Ember’s voice.

“What was that bright light?” Beatrice asked, still seeing nothing but white bulbs and blurred-out shadows. “Did he run away?”

“No, that was some sort of a teleportation spell,” Ember said.

“I’m surprised you didn’t rush in sooner,” Beatrice said.

“Was I mistaken in thinking that you wanted to test your abilities?”

“Of course not! But it was close…”

“I had a spell already on the move at one point, but you got it under control,” Ember said and crouched opposite of Beatrice. Then Beatrice felt Ember’s hands on her face and her bodyguard said, “Open your eyes.”

“I-I already tried, but I still see nothing but white,” Beatrice said but opened her eyes again. The result was the same—a barely visible shadow that was supposed to be Ember’s face, obscured by huge bright white bulbs.

“You’ll be fine,” Ember said. “The damage is not permanent. You should have some of your sight back within ten minutes.”

That’s a relief, Beatrice thought and then realized, “Wait, how did he use any spells at all? He was done for!”

“That means that he wasn’t the one who used the spell,” Ember said. “The Purple Capes have powerful people among them. If you made the mistake of thinking that Steve was the most that they have to offer, you might want to reconsider your plan of taking on Belmot’s entire forces.”

“N-no… It’s fine,” Beatrice said and sighed. “I just need more training… How’s that fox girl?”

“Still out cold.”

“And how are the other two?”

“Oh? I think this is the perfect opportunity to be rid of them both.”

“Ember!”

“Alright, alright, I’ll go take a look,” Ember said without much enthusiasm as if she was asked to babysit two annoying, spoiled children. She slowly got up and added, “But if they’re that weak, there’s not much point in keeping them with us.”

“Olivia did fine one against them all,” Beatrice said.

“She acted foolishly,” Ember insisted.

“Yes,” Beatrice agreed. “But right now, my power level is similar to theirs.”

“That will change quickly,” Ember said. “You’re already faster and stronger than yesterday. Those losers won’t keep up with your growth.”

“Even so, they’re important to me,” Beatrice said. “Go.”

“I don’t see why, if that’s your wish…” Ember’s voice trailed off as she probably went to check on Tabitha and Olivia. Beatrice still could not see well enough to be sure.

Beatrice sighed, disappointed in her performance, as well as the fact that a possibly huge chunk of combat experience just escaped her. Beatrice had several reasons to keep Tabitha and Olivia around. The only reason she wasn’t ready to mention was that one of them was likely a becoming mother of her future child.