Heaven, Earth, Me

After Evelyn’s loss, Kali already set up the overall outward image of their group’s strength. They showed enough strength to do everything they had done and sufficient lack of thereof to be considered a faction that is far from unbeatable. The rest of the fights were superfluous, and after a while, Kali’s group ended up winning the duel. 

Still, losing was within Remir’s expectation. So, that didn’t change much of their perception. Once the duels ended, Remir was far from courteous as he was in the beginning. “You all are quite domineering and want to go to the [Nascent Spring World], right? I recommend that you are not too rampant, or you’ll be hurt. The powers of the Nascent Spring World are far beyond whatever you can imagine.” He turned around and spoke to the rest. “Let’s go.”

The girls didn’t bother answering and saw the twelve people entering the spaceship. Then, the spacecraft began floating and soared toward the firmament. Once they were gone, Evelyn chuckled. “This night will probably be quite fun. The hare will come out of the burrow, thinking that it is fighting a rabbit. They will never imagine that the rabbit is a dragon in disguise.”

Three days later, the girls suddenly felt their hearts shudder as a terrifyingly sharp feeling came from inside their manor. Rushing back, they saw a peerlessly white-clothed woman floating in mid-air with an indifferent expression. Her white skin, hair, and eyes created an image of purity beyond words. 

Andrea was confused. “What happened? Why has Eira’s aura undergone such a change? Before, she felt powerful, but I had confidence in exchanging blows with her. However, now I feel that my chances are not many if I fight her.”

The maids snapped out of their thoughts with Andrea’s questions. Leila rushed to answer. “This! Lady Eira has made a breakthrough in her understanding of the sword!”

Evelyn’s eyes widened slightly. “Has she achieved [Sword Intent Domain]?”

Leila shook her head. “Not at all, Madam. Intent Domains are impossible to achieve before transcendence. What Eira has managed to understand is the [Sword Heart].”

Mirrory appeared at this moment and praised. “That girl is truly a genius in the path of the sword. She has crystalized her understanding of the sword in her heart. It is very similar to Angel's inheritance skill, [Crimson Crystal Heart].” She sighed in amazement, a very rare sight coming from Mirrory. “That girl will be able to reach incredible heights. With the correct lucky encounters, becoming a Sword Saint is not impossible.”

The girls sucked in a deep breath. Anything that had to do with Saints was something near pinnacle existences, at least to their knowledge. 

Eira stepped forward and slashed through space with her body, appearing in front of the girls. “Sorry for the commotion, Madams.”

Andrea asked in amazement. “What did you just do?”

Eira blinked, her long white eyelashes looking like pure butterflies. “I used my body as a sword and slashed through space to cross the distance. I have achieved the realm of [Sword And Man As One], a state where I can use anything as a sword. A sword is now superfluous to me, other than amplifying the effects of my skills. After all, I am the sword.”

Evelyn’s eyebrow rose and asked, looking at Mirrory. “Can she face our monstrous dragoness?”

Mirrory smiled mysteriously. “Perhaps~.” Then, looking at Alaia, she smirked. “Dragon Girl, it seems that your position as the strongest maid has been stolen.”

Alaia snorted. “Once my understanding of the spear path improves, I’ll catch up. Don’t relax, Eira, or I’ll catch up too quickly.”

Eira nodded. “I won’t. Big sister Alaia is powerful.”

A few moments later, Tatyana, Yasenia, and Cecile suddenly appeared in front of them. Yasenia had a slight blush on her face, but other than that, she was as emotionless as before. The clothes she had were long white robes that covered most of her body, giving her a cold and noble look. 

Meanwhile, Tatyana and Cecile had clearly recently showered, looking refreshed and with tired eyes. During the last days, all the girls had gone through a round of passionate entanglement with Yasenia, and today, to finish, Yasenia took Cecile and Tatyana.

Yasenia approached Eira and spoke. “You’ll be my personal maid until I return to the Sky Continent and meet with Anna and Eve.”

Eira’s eyes widened and quickly fell to her knees. “Yes, Young Miss! It will be my honor!” 

Yasenia nodded and glanced at Doriel. “You will be my second personal maid. Eira has good martial strength, but she lacks planning compared to you.”

Doriel flashed forward and kneeled down. “Understood, Young Miss.”

One was pure black, the other pure white. Contrasting yet complementing maids. Everyone couldn’t help but nod in acknowledgement of her choices, especially after Eira managed to achieve [Sword Heart].

The dragoness looked upward and hummed. “I was dual cultivating these last four days. Why are there a few people looking at us from the atmosphere?” 

The girls were surprised. How could Yasenia detect something so far away? They were waiting beyond the atmosphere, so detecting them passively required the spiritual sense to reach unimaginable distances. Seeing that Yasenia was about to make a move, Kali quickly hugged her arm. “Wait!” 

Yasenia paused and glanced at Kali. “I see. You knew about it. Explain your thoughts.”

Kali smiled and nodded. “Yes!” 

Yasenia listened attentively and nodded. “That’s a great idea. They seem to be planning something since I can feel traces of them around the house. Should we wait inside? The time frame I gave that World Lord is about to run out, after all. So, they will be moving out as long as we show a breach in our security.”

The girls couldn’t help but chuckle. ‘As perceptive as ever~.’

Everyone walked inside while Eira and Doriel followed right behind Yasenia. As her newly appointed personal maids, their duties differed from those of everyone else, and their responsibilities would be passed on to the number twos in their working sectors. 

Once they entered the house, Yasenia waved her hand and controlled the formation around the house, disabling it completely. Then, each of the girls walked toward their bedroom.

Remir and Blade were curious as they observed their main screen. Blade muttered. “Why did it suddenly start working? Is this a trap?”

Remir shook his head. “Probably not. There was a small energy fluctuation according to the readings. Whatever was blocking our view must’ve been deactivated.”

Blade crossed his arms and looked at him. “Lord Remir, don’t you think that this is a bit strange? The night that we were about to attack, the protective measures of the enemy failed. Too big of a coincidence.”

Remir smiled faintly. “I know. However, does it matter?”

Blade frowned. “Explain, Lord Remir.”

Remir shook his head. “They probably think that our numbers are not many. So they are trying to force us to make a move. After all, what other situation will be better than the one we are in now?” He sighed. “They have thrown us a treat that we can’t deny.”

Blade’s frown deepened. “What does Lord Remir suggest?”

Remir smiled. “We will naturally fall into their ‘trap’. They miscalculated our strength. Most likely, they believe that our numbers are not as many as theirs, so even if we try to assassinate them, they will be able to counterattack.”

Blade realized. “Right. Lord Remir went down with only twelve people. Hence, they might think that we have at least fifty or at most one hundred people. Our numbers are over 300, so naturally, we will take them by surprise.” Blade shook his head with pity. “Lord Remir’s methods… This one is in awe. Lord Remir has thought about everything.”

Remir chuckled and looked at Hala. “Niece. I know that your pride has taken a blow, so make sure to vent today by exterminating these people.” 

Hala clenched her fists and looked coldly at the house, and they could now see perfectly fine. “I will!”

The Hidden Soul Daggers descended in groups of five and spread around the house, using blind points and other techniques to shift through the large property. Soon, they all approached each of their targets. 

Blade entered Yasenia’s room silently and approached the bed with four other people. Their bodies were ethereal and mixed with the atmosphere around them, making it impossible to detect even if you looked at them. Or, at least, so they thought.

Blade and the other four people in the group prepared and attacked, unleashing them at the same time. 

Yasenia opened her eyes and disappeared from the bed. 

BANG!

Blade’s heart dropped, and he quickly looked around, seeing Yasenia standing behind them. She was clothed in her usual revealing blue dress, showing an ethereal, noble, yet seductive figure. Irresistible for gods and devils alike.

Yasenia asked. “What’s your origin? If you tell me, I’ll kill you swiftly.”

The five assassins were momentarily enchanted by Yasenia’s beauty, so they didn’t even react. Once Yasenia spoke, they snapped out of their senses and felt their entire bodies chilling. ‘W-What kind of beauty does this woman have!? We were enchanted as a group even with the strength of our souls!?’

Blade lunged forward and formed a Blade with his soul, striking at Yasenia. The dragoness extended her hand to grab the sword, making Blade smile coldly. “Die!”

However, the outcome was far from what he imagined. Once the blade was grabbed by Yasenia’s long and slender fingers, it came to an abrupt stop. Blade was stunned. “Huh? How were you able to catch a soul blade!? They are intangible.”

Yasenia’s emotionless face revealed nothing as she squeezed her fingers.

Crack! BANG!

The sword exploded, and Blade’s eyes bulged in pain. “ARGH!” The soul blade was incredibly powerful, but it was made out of his own soul. Hence, breaking it created an extremely painful backlash. The dragoness looked at the other four and asked. “Who is the leader among all of you? You are all so weak that I can’t differentiate who is who.”

The four people's faces turned serious, and they attacked Yasenia at the same time. As they approached, Yasenia didn’t even move and unleashed part of her aura.

BOOM!

The four people fell down as if they were shouldering the weight of a mountain. Yasenia expanded her spiritual sense and waved her hand. In the next instant, the five people saw the scenery around them change, and they were thrown to the ground. 

The place they were in was a large room, and around them, the rest of the assassins were lying while grunting in pain. Blade felt his heart pound at this moment. ‘We’ve been duped! Their strength is far higher than what they showed!’

Yasenia walked to a chair that the girls had prepared and sat, crossing her long and plump legs in front of her while leaning on her fist. “Now. Let’s start with the interrogation. Your group seems to be quite influential, so you must know many things, right?”

The pressure all the Hidden Soul Dagger people felt under Yasenia’s overbearing gaze made everyone shudder in fear.