After completing the transformation ritual, Hel gave Anna a few days off—both to let her rest and to give her time to absorb and adapt to the blood Hel had given her.
Hel herself also slept like the dead once it was over.
After all, Anna wasn't the only one drained—Hel had been just as exhausted.
Three days, three tubes of blood.
Roughly 300 milliliters total. For someone with a small body like hers, that was a bit much.
So Hel slept straight through until noon the next day. When she finally woke up, feeling refreshed again, she immediately began synthesizing the Bloodlust Elves she had gathered.
The results were quite satisfying.
After fusing all the Bloodlust Elves together, Hel successfully created two new fifth-tier Bloodlust Elves.
And if she counted the one she had already transformed from the Snow Elf Assassin Queen, then she had just gained three new fifth-tier combatants in total.
But that wasn't all.
A few days earlier, when word of Hel's new Bloodlust Elves reached Niv, and she found out that all these elves happened to be little lolis, something in her seemed to… awaken.
That very night, she had Sebas send over a brand-new batch of gear.
As always, the package included the standard white stockings and lingerie. Hel couldn't help but feel something was off—Niv clearly had a thing for those kinds of clothes.
Thankfully, she hadn't forgotten to include proper outerwear—cute little dresses to wear over them.
But most importantly, Niv had perfectly grasped Hel's tastes and sent a batch of improved maid uniforms.
And, Hel had to admit—they were actually quite nice.
Of course, Niv didn't forget the magic pistols, either, sending a few of those as well.
While the materials weren't particularly rare—the most valuable being mithril—they were crafted with impressive care.
Back when Hel and Niv had been researching magical clothing materials, they had experimented with drawing mithril into fine threads and weaving them together with animal fibers, creating a kind of enchanted fabric that was durable, light, and could be mass-produced with their abilities.
These maid outfits were made using that same technique.
So, with a new set of powerful gear equipped, the Bloodlust Elves' stats had skyrocketed.
[Name]: Bloodlust Elf Queen
[Tier]: 5
[Attributes]: Strength 378 (+42), Mana 504 (+84)
[Keywords]: Bloodlust Elf Queen (Gold), Aura Concealment (Gold), Assassin Maid (Gold), Advanced Archery (Orange), High-tier Death Magic (Orange), Death Mana Affinity (Orange), Soul Enslavement (Black)
[Equipment]: Mithril Magic Pistol (Orange), Enchanted Mithril Maid Uniform (Orange)
With stats like that, even among fifth-tier powerhouses, she was far from weak—she could probably go toe-to-toe with Hakikur in his base form.
However, aside from the Snow Elf Assassin Queen, the other two Bloodlust Elves were both created through Necrotic Sigil fusion.
Because of the sigil's side effects, they were essentially blank slates—Hel would need to reconstruct their souls if she wanted them to be truly sentient.
So, despite their adorable loli appearance and impressive strength, the two of them were mentally no different from newborns—completely pure and clueless.
Well, to be fair, they did retain some assassination skills and basic housekeeping instincts.
But when it came to daily life? Total disasters.
To make matters worse, there was also AE-B5—now renamed No. 1—who, despite being technically over a hundred thousand years old, had spent 99.99…% of that time frozen in stasis.
As a result, she was a hopelessly awkward "ancient elf child" who only knew how to fight, eat, and sleep.
So what else could Hel do?
She had no choice but to make poor little Anna babysit the lot of them.
The "few days off" that Anna had been promised?
Completely ruined by a bunch of mischievous, clueless lolis.
As for exactly what happened afterward—Hel didn't know.
At that moment, she had already finished washing up and was lying comfortably on her big soft bed.
She closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, she found herself standing in the Witch's Courtyard.
Honestly, Hel really didn't want to see those perverts again.
She'd already skipped the last monthly council meeting by pretending to be "busy."
But, well… life wasn't easy.
Hel sighed.
If she wanted to keep gathering information, she'd have to show up in person.
"Ah, look who it is—the little Death Witch actually came this time? I thought you got scared off by little Star's enthusiasm last time."
The first to notice her was Lust, lounging lazily with her chin in her hand, watching three other witches chat about something utterly boring.
The three in question were Fate, Star, and a new face—a witch with golden hair as brilliant as Star's, and calm green eyes that seemed to hold an endless stillness.
She wore a simple mage's robe and a large, old-fashioned witch's hat, giving off the vibe of a reserved, intellectual beauty.
"Hey there, little Death!"
Star greeted Hel cheerfully before puffing up her cheeks and glaring at Lust.
"That's so mean, Lust! You were the one with all those creepy fetishes, and I was the one who got scared, remember?"
Lust: "(ˉ▽￣～) Tch~~"
Star: "[○･｀Д´･○] Hmph~~"
"Good evening, Miss Death. Welcome," Fate said warmly, nodding to Hel with her usual calm smile.
Her demeanor was exactly the same as the first time Hel met her—no trace of guilt whatsoever despite the little "incident" Hel had caught her in last time.
"Allow me to introduce you," Fate continued. "This is the Magic Witch, codename The Magician."
The elegant woman gave a polite bow.
"Hello, Death Witch. You may call me Magic."
"Hello, Magic Witch," Hel replied with a nod.
After the brief round of introductions, the trio returned to their discussion, treating Hel's arrival as little more than a passing interruption.
"How about it, little Death?" Lust leaned closer, her chin still resting lazily on her hand. "Don't you find these meetings so dull?"
She tilted her head toward the others and whispered, "The moment Magician shows up, the whole mood changes. Those three start going on and on about magic theory for hours—so boring."
Her eyes glinted playfully. "Since you're here, why don't the two of us talk about something… more interesting?"
"Uh… no thanks."
Hel shook her head quickly, leaving Lust with a look of theatrical heartbreak as she drifted away to join the discussion on the other side.