Just as I was about to pull the trigger, pumping the shotgun to load a new shell, I reflexively took a step back. As I did, something landed on the spot I was in previously, kicking up the dust.
"Clan Head! There's a big problem!"
Before the dust even settled, the person who came in such a rush shouted with a dash of impatience. I, however, do not have time to chat with her.
After taking a step forward, I grabbed her by the shoulder and pushed her aside.
"Chiyome, we'll talk later!"
As I raised the gun towards the Succubus Lord's face, looking like a child about to cry but with an infallible will burning in her eyes. As my finger touched the trigger, raring to pull it and end everything, a weird scene occurred.
[Notice! Automatically initiating contracting through the Faux Contract... Success.]
[Contract formed! The contract expires in 167 hours, 59 minutes, and 52 seconds.]
"... What the...?"
I was speechless.
The taming system tamed someone on my behalf, completely on its own. What the f*ck is going on? As I was pondering such things, the Succubus Lord suddenly became covered in a bright white light.
As soon as it faded, a flood of negative emotions flew towards my brain, making me feel disturbed and uncomfortable instantly.
Without even needing to ask, I was sure that it was from the Succubus Lord herself. A mix of despair, fear, loneliness, and resignation flashed across my mind.
I looked at the little girl before me; her red-colored eyes were opened wide in surprise, similar to mine. The two of us looked straight into each other's eyes, maintaining it for a good few seconds.
"You..."
The words got stuck in my throat. Although I was fighting against her not too long ago, after getting a look at her emotions, I could only feel pity for her.
However, before I could piece together a full sentence in my head, Chiyome raised her voice once again.
"Clan Head! We really don't have much time!"
Lost and confused, I turned to her and gestured for her to speak. The news she brought, however, made me feel like something was going on.
"Around all the borders, a stampede of hundreds of thousands of 9th-level demons appeared! If we don't move now, the northern front will get flattened in no time!"
"What?!"
I couldn't help but doubt my ears. Ember and the other's expressions quickly turned grim, anticipating a large battle about to ensue.
"The God tamers should be guarding the borders, right? Oh, wait..."
Ajax was incapacitated and is probably still recuperating even now. Blanc was stuck with healing him, so that means two God tamers are out of commission.
With Goddess Vermeil covering the East and God Zeshion covering the South, only the North and West were left without the protection of a god tamer.
"What about the West?"
Ajax was supposed to protect it, but he's absent at the moment. His tamed monsters should be out there, spread around, though.
"We received reports that the west borders are currently stable, with little to no difficulty in holding back the horde."
Chiyome added immediately, her impatience still visible in her expression.
"Is the north in bad shape?"
Based on her actions, it should probably be in worse danger than what I was thinking of. Chiyome frowned and lowered her head in sadness.
"... The defense line already got pushed back three times in just a few minutes. Casualties are already over a hundred."
Hearing that, I thought that it wasn't bad news, but the worst.
Although the number she mentioned seemed small, the tamers assigned to the cardinal directions were usually the most powerful ones. Her words meant that we just lost about a hundred 9th-stage tamers. That's an extremely heavy hit to humanity's battle forces.
"Chiyome! Tell the Luo to send half of their tamers to the west, with the other half to the north. The same goes for the Seimei tamers!"
"As the clan head wills!"
Chiyome quickly vanished, moving to relay my orders to the others. She was rushing at her top speed, not daring to waste any time, and quickly became a small dot far away.
I then looked up to where the succubi tamers were. There were still a lot of them left, and they all had fear in their hearts, but a blazing desire to live had given way to raising their fighting spirits.
"Girls, sorry, but please help the Northern border too. Please go on ahead."
As I said, a large majority of the succubi tamers called out to their beloved monsters, used them as mounts, and flew away. The rest used space element skills to teleport away.
I looked over at Ember and the others. They were already battle-ready and were only waiting for my signal. However, before heading to the frontlines, I turned to the Succubus Lord, now under a Faux Contract with me, and asked.
"Is it you who caused this situation?"
She may be weakened, but she was still someone who had powers beyond a god tamer's before. It should be easy for her to rally the 9th-level demons against the humans.
The Succubus Lord harrumphed and grumpily said "No!" before continuing to glare at me. When I asked her, "Are you sure?" Her atmosphere completely changed.
Her eyes became wide open and emotionless as she muttered in a dull voice filled with killing intent.
"Me? Lying? Nobody hates liars more than me."
"..."
Even after getting placed under the Faux Contract, she was still raring to take my life away. Not only is it dangerous to keep her by my side, but the Faux contract didn't have a single way to prevent her from harming me or the girls.
I weighed the pity I have for the Succubus Lord against the safety of my tamed beasts and monsters. It didn't take me long to come to a decision.
I pulled the shotgun again, and this time I pulled the trigger immediately. A shell blasted into hundreds of pieces as it flew toward the Succubus Lord's chest. Her eyes opened wide in shock but quickly turned to a sad expression before she closed her eyes.
*Bang!*
"..."
"..."
I switched from the shotgun to the rifle and shot at point-blank range; there was no need to aim the sights.
*SCHWOOOK!*
"..."
"..."
I tried all the portable gun modes, but everything ended up being ineffective. Rather, the thin gold film protecting her after every shot looked extremely familiar.
"Why is the system's halo protecting you?!"
I can't help but retort. Was this Succubus Lord the previous lover of the system or something? Why is it trying everything to protect her?
As I was doubting the intentions of the taming system, a message echoed in my ears.
[Target cannot be harmed under the contract's clause. Third paragraph, line 3, "Tamers and their tamed can't attempt to kill each other by any means."]
"Bullsh*t! That didn't exist before!"
I remember the case with Igni getting placed under the Faux Contract, but nothing of the sort was said to me. This stupid system was just favoring the Succubus Lord for some reason!
"Fang!"
If I can't kill her myself, then I'll let others do it for me. Fang quickly moved, thinking the same thing I did, and executed a clean claw attack toward her neck.
However, just like before, a thin golden barrier appeared and protected her from harm. Fang's claws rebounded as if hitting an extremely tough object. Her hands trembled from the power of her own attack that was returned to her.
"It still didn't work?"
As I was just about to call a random nobody to try and take her neck, my consciousness faded. When I opened my eyes, I was in a dark and empty space.
Inside, I could hear almost no sound, other than the sporadic, robotic female voice echoing around the place.
Suddenly, I felt cold. I tried to move but wasn't able to even blink or turn around. It was as if I had become prey with a cat behind me, right about to pounce.
[Take that girl, Namia, with you. She wouldn't be able to harm you anymore.]
The familiar-sounding female robotic voice spoke before I was sent crashing down. When I slammed straight into the dark space's ground, I realized that I was already back in reality.
"Master?"
Ember noticed that I was spacing out and called in worry. However, I just shook my head once, signaling to her that I was alright, before looking back at the Succubus Lord. As I did, I got curious about her name.
"Are you Namia?"
As soon as the name came out of my mouth, the Succubus Lord's eyes, which were previously shut tight, swung wide open in an instant.
"You! Where did you hear that name?!"
She roared in anger.
Although she acted strongly, her eyes were wavering. A trace of longing and nostalgia was passed to me through our link with her.
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