My Succubus Harem System In The Reverse World

Saber wasn’t wrong.

Even without fully unlocked senses, something in the air felt wrong. Heavier. Older. The kind of pressure that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

"Stay sharp," I said.

Ruby and Saber still held the Appraisal chains, the shared vision stretching our awareness across most of the chamber. We could cover the approach paths. That should have been enough.

A timer appeared in the corner of my vision.

[00:30:00]

Thirty minutes left in the simulation.

I didn’t remember Jenna mentioning it before.

The three large signatures Saber had flagged didn’t step out of the shadows.

They tore through them.

Three Ironclad Stone Goliaths, dense, armored constructs of moss-covered subterranean granite, lunged into the wide basin chamber. They dropped into a low, rumbling Vanguard stance.

The thud of their stone fists hitting the cavern floor sent a sharp shockwave through the soles of my boots.

[Warning: High Kinetic Impact Threat Detected]

[Target Rank: D-Elite (Heavy Armor Type)]

"Rei, they have automated physical damage resistance," Ruby called out, amber eyes widening as she immediately backed out of the blast zone.

"My status cleanse won’t pierce that plating. We need blunt force to crack the shells!"

Rei didn’t look back.

The defiance in her dark eyes flared hot. Before I could even shout a warning, she sliced both of her palms wide open.

Schlick.

A massive amount of fluid erupted from her hands. She was panic-spending her own vitality, forcing the blood to harden into a massive greatsword that looked entirely too large for her lean frame to swing.

The skin around her face turned a terrifying, ghostly shade of translucent white.

"Rei, stop! Your core can’t handle that mass output without a loop!"

This was just a simulation.

But everything we feel here is real.

And she’s being too impulsive.

Does losing the blood make her crazy?

Rei ignored me entirely and launched herself forward in a desperate, blinding sprint toward the leading Goliath. She brought the massive blood greatsword down in a heavy overhead execution arc.

CLANG.

Sparks of solidified iron-blood and pulverized granite exploded across the wet stone. The greatsword shattered into thousands of wet droplets upon impact, barely leaving a scratch on the monster’s reinforced chest plate.

The Goliath didn’t even stumble.

It swung its stone forearm sideways and caught Rei squarely in the ribs with the force of a speeding truck.

CRACK.

A sickening thud echoed through the chamber.

"GAH-"

Rei went flying backward like a broken doll, her body skidding brutally across the slick cave floor before collapsing into a pool of green mineral water.

The massive greatsword dissolved completely, leaving her hands raw, dripping, and unable to close. Her vital signs on my interface began to flash a dangerous, violent red.

[Vanguard Unit: Rei — Health Status: 18% (Critical Bleeding / Mana Core Destabilization)]

"Rei!" Saber shouted. Her whip-sword snapped out to draw the second Goliath’s aggro, but the vibrations of the stone steps were already scrambling her echolocation.

The leading Goliath raised its foot, preparing to stomp right down onto Rei’s chest and force an automatic simulation ejection.

I didn’t think.

My Earth morals and my primitive Succubus instincts fused into a single, terrifying impulse. I closed the distance in a fraction of a second. My stats turned the movement into a blur.

I dove over her slumped body, arms wrapping around her waist as I rolled us both out of the way right as the stone foot smashed into the floor, pulverizing the rock where her head had been a millisecond before.

We skidded into the shadow of a large stalagmite.

Rei was panting frantically, lips pale, dark eyes wide with an uncharacteristic, vulnerable panic.

She tried to force her bleeding palms to form another blade. Nothing came out except a weak trickle of unrefined mana.

"I can... I can still fight," she wheezed, stubborn pride refusing to yield even as her body shivered from acute blood loss.

"Shut up," I growled, pinning her shoulders down against the rock.

Her eyes flashed with pure fury.

"Get off me—"

"I said shut up." I kept my weight on her, forcing her to stay down.

"You’re at eighteen percent. Your core is destabilizing. One more forced blade and the simulation ejects you. Or worse."

Behind us, the chamber shook as Saber and Ruby engaged the remaining two Goliaths.

The shared Appraisal link fed me fragmented flashes of their movements, Saber’s whip-sword cracking against stone, Ruby’s green healing light flaring as she tried to keep distance.

Rei struggled under me, weaker than she wanted to admit.

"I don’t need your pity."

"This isn’t pity. This is me stopping you from getting us all killed."

A fresh shockwave rolled through the floor as one of the Goliaths slammed a fist into the wall.

Dust and green water rained down from the ceiling.

I glanced over my shoulder.

Saber was holding the second construct’s attention with precise, economical strikes, but she couldn’t crack the armor.

Ruby was circling, waiting for an opening that wasn’t coming.

"Listen to me," I said, turning back to Rei. My voice dropped lower, urgent.

"Your power is strong, but these things feed on the exact way you fight. Every drop of blood you spill makes them harder. You already saw it with the leeches. This is the same pattern, just bigger."

Her breathing hitched. The pale tint across her cheeks hadn’t faded.

"I can still—"

"You can’t." I tightened my grip on her shoulders just enough to keep her from sitting up.

"You’re shaking. Your hands won’t close. Your core is screaming. I can feel it through the residual link."

For a split second, something raw flickered across her face: fear, frustration, the ugly realization that she had pushed too far. Then the mask slammed back into place.

"Then what do you suggest, supporter?" she spat.

"We sit here and wait for them to crush us?"

"No."

I kept her pinned, voice low and steady even as the chamber shook around us.

"You want to see what I actually am?"

I whispered, the tone dropping into something darker, colder, the Succubus edge sliding into place.

"Look at me."

Rei’s pupils shook. She tried to turn her face away, but I gripped her jaw firmly with my left hand and forced her eyes back to mine.

Before her pride could spit another insult, I leaned down and crashed my mouth onto hers.

The safety switch was off.

[Active Skill Triggered: Vital Drain Kiss Lv. 1]