"Grr…?" The Haggon woke up with a start, looking at the figure of Regriel positioned on her foot, gently picking him up before placing him on her shoulder, running out of the forest immediately as she quickly found General Artica, slapping aside the ball-shaped energy blade heading towards her.
She picked her up, placing General Artica on her shoulder before sprinting in another direction, running away from the Transcendent Haggon, heading in the direction of Rikune.
Rikune was still in the air, being sent flying higher and higher up. Even though she ensured to remain uninjured, but the increase in altitude was fearsome. She understood what the Transcendent Haggon was planning. It was planning to drop her from high up to her death.
But, she had no other choice as the initiative wasn't in her hands the moment she was sent flying into the air. Suddenly, she noticed a Haggon carrying Regriel and General Artica, heading towards her.
"A Haggon as an ally?" Even though she was confused for a moment, she had no other choice but to believe for that to be the case. And the moment a ball-shaped energy blade flew at her, she slammed her Crescent Moon energy blades at it, using the rebound momentum to make a beeline towards the running group.
Regriel and General Artica quickly condensed their energy blades, pointing them up in the air for Rikune to use them as footholds to reduce her momentum. Using her Crescent Moon energy blades, she wrapped around the tip of General Artica's energy blade, spinning around it as she transferred most of her falling momentum into the spin, quickly alternating directions to reduce the momentum to the limit.
She then slid over, landing on the Haggon's shoulder, gasping for breath, "I thought I would die this time."
"Thankfully, Regriel saved us." General Artica sighed in relief, looking at the side of the Haggon's face that was carrying them, thinking, 'How is this possible?'
Though, she didn't intend to intrude into his secrets, wishing to wait until he opened up to her about it voluntarily.
Once they had crossed a certain distance, the Transcendent Haggon stopped attacking them, grinning as it muttered, "It was hard to hold back so much. Thankfully, I achieved my objective. Now, they can use the Haggon to head into the deeper levels faster."
That was the plan all along. And, his task was to facilitate such a scenario from happening. That was why he sent Regriel flying in the respective direction in the first place. He then prayed through telepathy, "Lady Hekatra, I've completed my objective. Regriel truly can enslave women. Even Dungeon Monsters aren't exempt from this ability."
"That's great. Keep me posted about anything else you find out after that." Hekatra's voice resounded through telepathy as the Transcendent Haggon slowly exited the swamp.
Walking into the forest, he muttered, "It's been a long time since I could feel this freedom in my thoughts. I guess it's time to experience what true bliss feels like…"
He used a tree stem as back support, leaning on it to sleep, "Let's see what a peaceful sleep feels like. I've already completed all my work anyway. If I have anything else to do, Lady Hekatra would notify me."
Saying so, he began to sleep, even beginning to snore a couple of seconds later.
…
"Done, all healed up!" Regriel sighed in exhaustion, having expended all his Darlac, "Everyone has fully recovered now."
"Thanks, Regriel." General Artica said, "It would have been hard to move around without your healing ability."
"Facing the Haggons on my own is more dangerous than I had thought. I've been sustaining more and more injuries with every fight." Rikune sighed, "They are strong, fast, possess a tough body, and adding onto everything, they can even regenerate. They are indeed one of the strongest Dungeon Monsters."
She then shuddered, "And, that was the first time I saw such a powerful Transcendent."
She had been through numerous battles, having fought against a Transcendent Dungeon Monster before. But at that time, she was assisted by two other Transcendents. There were three Transcendents in total in the Heroica Empire.
And even though it was a terrifying fight, they had won in the end and didn't sustain any long-lasting injuries. At least, even though the fight was tough, there was the hope of killing their opponent.
But now, she couldn't even see any hope of killing the Transcendent Haggon. Not only was its skin tougher than any other Haggon she encountered, but it was also a freaking Transcendent atop that, possessing an affinity towards being both a Warrior and a Puppeteer.
And, it had fused both to create a unique style of its own to fight, making it a troublesome monster to face against. Moreover, there was no scope for winning the fight by drawing it out. After all, she only had 1000 Darlac.
And even though she didn't know the limit of Darlac a Transcendent Haggon possessed, she was aware that it would be a tremendous sum. Sighing, she muttered, "I could feel that Transcendent Haggon was just playing around with us. It wasn't hungry. That was why we were able to escape in the first place."
"Also," General Artica gave her observation, "From the start, that Transcendent Haggon hadn't moved a step from its spot. It was just toying with us."
"Damn, that pisses me off!" Rikune cursed, calming down as she looked at the Haggon carrying them, asking, "Regriel, is it safe?"
"Yes," Regriel nodded, touching the female Haggon's cheek once, "I can guarantee it with my life."
He then frowned, thinking, 'When I enslaved Wakuta, I had to spend half a day to finish the process. As for enslaving Rikune, I was only able to take advantage of her injured state. Using that as an excuse, I remained in contact with her body for almost a day while slowly healing her.'
'And, I had expended a lot of Darlac each time. Rather, it took me 250 Darlac to enslave Rikune.' He was unable to make sense of the situation, 'But, I enslaved this Haggon within a couple of seconds. How is that possible? And, I also hadn't expended any Darlac to do so.'
Hearing Regriel's thoughts, the Slave Harem System sighed, 'I'm barely earning one Mental Energy per day. But, I am expending a lot to help him tide through the dangers.'
[Mental Energy: 217]
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Author's note: December month's mass release quota:
Golden Ticket: 1 bonus chappie for every 12 GT
Magic Castle: 2 extra bonus chappies for every Magic Castle
Spacecraft: 5 extra bonus chappies for every Spacecraft