The courtyard appeared unremarkable. The faint morning light illuminated the neatly trimmed lawn and the fountain that was still gushing.
Everything was much like any other peaceful morning. Yet, this very "ordinariness" felt incredibly eerie at this moment.
Every sound had vanished.
The sounds that should have been in the courtyard—the chirping of morning birds, the rustling of the breeze through the treetops, the faint buzzing of insects in the distant woods—all had ceased abruptly.
"It's no use..."
Ram closed her eyes slightly, then opened them again. A glimmer flashed deep within her red pupils before fading away.
"Clairvoyance... it's not working."
"Tsk."
Frederica let out a distinct, soft sound from her throat.
"To move... this quickly?"
They had only just arrived, and the enemy had already set everything up?
Just as the two stood back-to-back, guarding the perilous courtyard with minimal blind spots—
"Help me! People of the mansion!"
A panicked, tearful female voice shattered the dead silence, coming from behind the gate that led from the courtyard to the street outside.
Immediately after, a figure stumbled in. It was a woman wearing a black dress, her hair disheveled, her face stained with mud, her expression frantic and fearful.
She stumbled toward Ram and Frederica while looking back in terror, as if something horrific was chasing her.
"The... the Witch Cult is hunting me down! Help me!"
Her voice was filled with helplessness and despair, her eyes red-rimmed, tears streaming down her soiled cheeks.
A classic image of a victim seeking refuge from disaster.
However, facing this sudden woman, Frederica, who stood in front, did not even let her gaze flicker.
She didn't even turn to look at Ram, just tilted her head slightly and whispered a suggestion in a volume only the two could hear, "Whoever defeats her first, gets the other to do a month of mansion cleaning, how about it?"
Ram did not answer but the wind blades at her fingertips were quietly coalescing.
Just as the two were preparing to act, a voice that was almost a complete contrast to the earlier cry for help suddenly reached them.
"Geez."
The woman in the black dress stopped her stumbling steps about ten paces inside the mansion gate. She raised her hand and tucked a stray curly lock of black hair behind her ear with her fingertips—the end of the hair was loosely tied with an inconspicuous dark string, hanging in a small arc.
Her attire was very simple, perhaps even old, and her face was indeed stained with mud and dust, making her look disheveled. Yet, even so, it could not hide the stunning beauty of her face.
Her voice was soft and sweet, easily capable of making people feel favorable toward her. But the content she uttered was the exact opposite of that sweet voice, cold enough to chill one to the bone.
"Without a physical body, manipulating it is indeed too stiff."
She tilted her head, her movements no longer carrying the feeling of a human deliberately imitating panic, but her lips slowly curled into a gentle smile.
"Even running makes my joints creak, how rude of me."
Her gaze crossed over Frederica, who was blocking her, and landed with interest on Ram, then shifted to Frederica, her green eyes reflecting the two maids' ready-to-fight stances.
"Wow."
She clapped her hands lightly, her tone sounding full of admiration. "This tall maid, your stance is quite good, full of power."
"Please go easy on me."
"Because my goal this time isn't you two. I just want to find that little silver-haired girl inside... ah, or rather, just ask her to help show the way. So—"
"So, there is no need for any conversation, is there?" Ram's cold voice cut off the woman's words without mercy.
The other party's flippant attitude had completely ignited her anger.
The moment the words "is there" fell—
Ssh! Ssh...
Several pale cyan, translucent wind blades, formed in front of Ram. They emitted sharp whistling sounds, and shot toward the vital points of the woman in the black dress at the gate from treacherous angles, targeting the neck, the heart, and the joints.
"Oh my..."
Facing the pale cyan wind blades that were capable of slicing through trees, and rocks, and were now closing in, the sweet smile on the black-dressed woman's face did not change in the slightest.
She just tilted her head slightly, examining Ram with interest, especially as she caught the aura emanating from Ram's entire body.
"Quite an impressive attack." Her voice remained soft and pleasant.
"And this magical aura... oh my, you must be kidding. A survivor of the Oni clan."
The woman sighed lightly. "That really is a race full of tragedy, isn't it?"
The moment her voice trailed off, she raised her right hand. She rubbed her index finger and thumb together lightly.
Snap!
Almost at the same instant the snapping sound rang out, a tiny yet exceptionally dazzling reddish-orange light, like solidified sunset glow, appeared from her fingertips.
The speed of that light was faster than the wind blades, heading straight toward the cluster of pale cyan wind blades that were tearing through the air.
The instant before the two were about to collide—
That reddish-orange glimmer, like a lit fuse, suddenly... exploded.
It wasn't a violent explosion, but rather like the most magnificent fireworks blooming on a holiday, instantly transforming into a fan-shaped spread of reddish-orange light particles.
Ssh...
The moment the first reddish-orange light particle touched the pale cyan wind blade, a sudden change occurred.
The wind blade's edges were instantly ignited, and the reddish-orange light ravenously devoured it along the length of the blade. The wind blades were brutishly disintegrated wherever it passed, turning into scattered specks of light.
"A nice attack. By the way, my name is Nai. Want to fight?"
(End of Chapter)
Read upto 40 chapters ahead on
[email protected]/astralicity