Astasia's breathing came in ragged gasps as her sword remained completely immobilized between the succubus's delicate fingers.
The holy aura that had blazed so brilliantly moments before now flickered like a dying candle, her divine power utterly ineffective against this demon's overwhelming strength.
Normally, divine power is known to suppress demonic energy, following the same principle as how divine energy—even with its concentration being like ink—could spread across the water.
But the issue here was that the water was an ocean and the ink was just a drop.
"Whatever, So I was saying, do you know what I like most?" the succubus had whispered, her breath hot against Astasia's helmet as she leaned closer. "It's to see despair form on women's faces when they get jealous of me."
Before Astasia could react, the demon's free hand shot upward with lightning speed.
CRACK!
Her fingers struck the side of Astasia's helmet with the force of a battering ram, and the blessed silver armor that had protected her through countless battles shattered like glass.
"AHHH!" Astasia's scream tore through the battlefield as she was launched skyward, her armored form spinning through the air like a broken doll.
'N-no... I need to save him,' she thought, her golden eyes wide with terror as the ground rushed up to meet her. Yet in that swaying moment in her line of sight, she saw the man's figure to whom she still had to tell something very important.
BOOOOOOMMMMM!
The impact created a crater fifty feet wide, sending shockwaves that knocked nearby debris flying. Dust and smoke billowed upward in a massive plume, obscuring the devastation.
Astasia's gleaming armor clinked and scraped against the stone as her body bounced once, twice, before coming to rest in the center of the newly formed pit.
Blood trickled from beneath her cracked helmet, staining the silver metal crimson. Her breathing was shallow, labored—she was alive, but just barely.
Raven coughed violently, wiping blood from his lips as he struggled to his feet, still dealing with the aftereffects of getting punched by a titan hero.
'As expected... she threw Astasia down like she was nothing,' he thought, his eyes tracking the lazy descent of the succubus who still hovered in the air with those dark wings spread wide.
But even in this moment of absolute despair, his mind was calculating, trying to find a way not to die so soon, or at least put up a struggle here.
His eyes naturally went towards the other crater where that guy had been plummeted to the ground. Indeed, Gerath—who knows when—was already lying in a crater without them even realizing he had fallen down before all of them, clearly showing the difference of strength they had against this woman.
'If I can somehow get closer to killing Gerath myself,' Raven for a moment thought how he should put an end to the titan hero's misery himself, and then further contemplated, 'Nyra's loyalty would spike to a hundred percent. Then with the system's absolute domination ability, I could control her movements, use her speed to create an opening...'
"Fufu~" The succubus's melodic laughter cut through his thoughts like a blade.
"Are you going to again use that cat woman as your puppet?" she called out, her voice carrying easily across the battlefield.
Raven's blood turned to ice.
At that moment he knew. She did not read his mind. She probably couldn't, given his stats for intelligence much greater than hers, with the ability camouflaging his mind with no thoughts.
The only explanation was something unbelievable. But for someone who had lived in two worlds and even survived in this one till now, even being this weakest hero, nothing was impossible.
His body trembled as those purple, heart-shaped pupils fixed on him with predatory amusement.
'She didn't read my mind... she saw the future,' he thought. Even with closed eyes he could see.
What she just did was not something that had happened now but would have happened.
"That word... 'again,'" he muttered, his strategic mind seizing on the detail even through his terror. His suspicion was confirmed even more.
Though it was initially how she could see the future, but now her words meant she had relived this event before, clearly showing the ability he read inside those web novels being regression. "You're saying I've tried this before, aren't you?"
The succubus tilted her head, her crimson lips curving into a smile that revealed those delicate fangs. "Oh, you're quicker than I expected.
Tell me, clever little strategist—how many times do you think you've managed to kill me?"
'!'
Hearing her words, he realized that this woman indeed was a regressor. Possessed an ability which allowed her to move through the time.
Though he did not know what triggers the regression, but given how she asked him about killing her, it meant whenever she dies, she regresses back.
"Not a single time," he said with grim certainty.
"Correct~" the succubus purred, clapping her hands together in mock delight. "Though you did get close in the last loop.
That was... frustrating."
'Loop... That explains everything—why she's always one step ahead, why nothing I do ever works,' Raven thought, pieces clicking into place. As he realized the reason for his strategy always failing against demon army was due to this woman who already knew about what he would do next given her status as a regressor.
But added how she seemed so casual about fighting them, it meant her life regression ability was not just a single time use. She was able to move through the time after her death multiple times.
However, the only doubt that remained was how he, someone who can't even stand against Gerath, be even able to touch this catastrophe level monster at all. But... 'How would I get close last time...'
From across the battlefield came a sound that made his mind come out of his thoughts—Nyra's desperate battle cry. "LEAVE HIM ALONE!"
The cat-woman materialized from the shadows, her body flickering in and out of visibility as she employed the shadow arts of her people.
She was fast—faster than any normal human could track—but compared to the heroes' supernatural abilities, she was woefully outmatched.
'She's going to get herself killed,' Raven thought. Looking at how desperately his little cat was fighting, he couldn't help but smile.
But again, having already thought of what he needed to do, he cannot see her dying in front of him. Without a moment of wait, he broke into a sprint, his boots pounding against the ash-covered ground.
The succubus watched Nyra's approach with the same detached interest she might show a particularly colorful insect.
She didn't even bother to defend herself, simply swaying slightly to avoid each desperate strike. Nyra's claws whistled through empty air again and again, her shadow-step technique useless against an opponent who could predict every move.
"How adorable," the demon murmured as Nyra stumbled, breathing hard from the exertion. "A little pet trying to protect her master."
Raven reached them just as Nyra raised her claws for another futile attack. His arms wrapped around her from behind, pulling her small form against his chest in a protective embrace.
'!'
"S-sir—?!"