WHAT DO YOU MEAN THERE ARE OTHER TRANSMIGRATORS IN MY HAREM FANTASY? 382-385

Chapter 382 Publicly Enjoying Sweets With The Princess

C382 Publicly Enjoying Sweets With The Princess

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I held Aria's hand as she helped me off the carriage after Tiara.

Unfortunately, Katsuki isn't accompanying me today since she would be patrolling the shadows with the others to look for any hidden threats.

"We're here, Big Sister! We're here!" Tiara cheered while waving at me, causing the crowd around us to cheer as well in response.

I know the princess is really cute but I didn't think they would take to her so easily like that…

Is everyone here just simps for the Royal Family or something?

Then again… They are the Royal Family after all so I guess that makes sense… If you catch the princess's eye and befriend her, you would be able to get quite a lot of benefits.

I guess that's what the king and queen must be thinking for my case…

Tiara came up and held my hand, taking a moment to wave to the crowd before we made our way towards the entrance of the sweets shop that was reserved for us today.

In case you were wondering, it's the same shop that Lisa had brought me to. Or more accurately, it was one of the branch stores located in the Merchant's District. There's many different branches for this in the capital after all.

And just to be clear, I was not the one who chose this place so I don't know if this was a coincidence or whoever arranged this knew about my recent visit here.

Unsurprisingly, a rather familiar young man was standing there waiting for us.

"Welcome to my humble shop, Princess Lehcarouc! I am Aruule Laruule, the owner of this establishment! I am deeply honoured to make your acquaintance!"

Yep, it's the guy that wanted me to be his poster girl but then rejected me after he knew who I was.

Figured he would definitely be here since the princess was visiting, there's no way a merchant like him would miss out an opportunity to get close to the Royal Family.

Tiara seemed to panic a little before quickly making a curtsy, "I… Ahem! Good day, sir Laruule, I am Tiara Lehcarouc, third princess of the Lehcarouc Kingdom."

I almost forgot that she actually received education on how to act properly in a formal setting given how she had been behaving with me so far.

Aruule then quickly gestured to the interior of his shop, "Please, allow me to serve you, Your Highness! I have reserved the best seat in the house for you!"

Tiara gave another curtsy though it was obvious she was not so sure of herself, "Umm… I… I thank you for your kind umm.. Consideration!"

Even like this, she's still cute.

I'm quite thankful the owner hasn't realised that it's me since I'm still wearing my mask, otherwise I think this meeting would be pretty awkward.

He opened the door and ushered us in, allowing us to step inside first before he shut the door behind us.

Tiara then let the serious act melt away to grab my hand, "Let's go, Big Sister! What cookies do you want?" 𝐧𝑂𝗏𝗲𝗅𝑛𝞮xt.𝑪𝗈𝓂

Aruule, who was in the midst of turning around to lead us further into the store, quickly swivelled back to gape at me.

"Big… Big sister? Princess--"

I raised a hand to stop him, "No, I'm not related to the Royal Family. Princess Tiara simply views me as her big sister. That is all."

I even said this in a tone of voice that told him I would not be elaborating further on that.

He seemed to understand and turned back, quickly giving a comment about how the entire store was reserved for us today so that we could enjoy all the sweets to our heart's content just to change the topic.

"But I think enjoying sweets with others is nice though…" Tiara muttered beside me, though too softly for the guy in front of us to hear.

Well… It's hard to do that in such a setting since we can't be too sure if there's anyone who wishes to hurt her. And it would make it harder to protect her if things were to get chaotic with others around.

We were led to the centre of the store where a large area had been cleared to allow just a single table and chair to be arranged there. Standing all around said table were the various staff of the store, all of them with their heads bowed towards our direction.

Just by looking at it, it kind of feels like the scene where someone is being led to their execution or something.

Tiara tilted her head at the set up, "Mmm? Why is there only one chair?"

The sweets store owner in front of us seemed to panic slightly, "E… Eh? Is there… Is there something wrong with that, Your Highness?"

She puffed her cheeks, "Of course there is! There's two of us eating sweets and you only prepare one chair?"

Aruule turned to me and I simply nodded in response to his silent question.

He clapped his hands together, "Someone! Hurry! Rectify this at once!!"

One of the staff members quickly ran off to get a chair for us, placing it on the opposite side of the first chair.

"Pl… Please, Your Highness!" Aruule bowed while gesturing towards the table.

The Royal Knights accompanying us split up and formed a perimeter around the interior of the shop while Aria stood near said table.

That left myself and the princess to take a seat at it.

I was waiting for Tiara to sit first but she went behind one of the chairs and started trying to drag it over to the other side.

"Princess… Allow me," Aria offered.

"Nnnnghh! No! I'll do it!" Tiara rejected, her cheeks puffed up cutely.

Aruule and his staff looked absolutely aghast at what was happening and rushed up to try and help, only to stop in their tracks when Aria raised a hand at them silently.

It took her a moment but she managed to lift the chair up and bring it over to place it down beside the other one.

"I did it! I did it, Big Sister! I got stronger!"

Awwww~ She's so cute~

She jumped onto the chair she just moved and patted the seat beside her, "Here, here, Big Sister! We can eat sweets together!!"

I giggled, "Ufufufu~ You seem really excited Tiara."

"Yes! I've also heard about this place before! This place has a lot of nice sweets right? I'm sure they have lots of nice cookies too!" She cheered.

That seemed to be the cue for the staff as they brought out several tables worth of sweets in an instant to surround our table.

Everywhere we looked there were plates and trays filled with some kind of sweets.

"We are pleased to introduce our store's specialty to Your Highness, over here we have--"

Neither Tiara and I heard a single word that Aruule said as we busied ourselves with enjoying all the sweets that were on display.

Aria had already went ahead to gather up sweets to serve us and we were just stuffing ourselves with all the sweets being brought to our table.

Ahhhh~ The cakes are so soft!! So sweet!! And these marshmallows literally melt in your mouth!! There's so many different flavoured dips too!!! Ahhhhh!!!

And the cookies were so nice too~ Each of them had different textures and tastes!! You can't even get tired of them!!

There's just so much!!

Mmmmm~ I'm in heavennnnn~

I let out a contented sigh as I leaned back in my chair, Tiara mimicking my actions beside me.

"Mnnnghh~ So good~" She moaned, the scent of cookies wafting from her.

We completely cleaned out all the sweets they had brought out and pretty much all of them had looks of shock on their faces.

I wonder why?

Hmm… How long have we been eating here? Do they still have more? I don't mind a few more of those really nice puddings they have~ Those were--

I felt something flying towards me and my instinct took over.

I dove towards Tiara and tackled her to the ground, though it seemed it was an unnecessary move on my part because Katsuki had also appeared in front of our table to deflect the throwing knives away with her daggers.

"Mistress… My apologies for letting this one slip through… But we are under attack."

"I can see that…" I muttered while pulling the stunned princess back onto her feet. "Who is it? Demons?"

"No, Mistress. It seems like Head Maid is right."

My Inugami maid nodded at the robed figure that dropped down from the ceiling.

His hood had fallen back to reveal a distinctly Mahun face while he drew the short sword on his waist.

"Sorry, but I'm going to need the princess to come with me. You're needed for our plan to--"

He didn't even get to finish his words before two of the Royal Knights appeared beside him and stabbed him with their swords.

The hooded guy looked down in surprise, as though he couldn't believe he just got attacked for attempting to assassinate the princess in front of the Royal Knights.

What the heck, what were you expecting? You're outnumbered like more than ten to one and you thought this wouldn't happen?

Are these guys dumb?

Chapter 383 Sweets Shop Attempted Kidnapping

C383 Sweets Shop Attempted Kidnapping

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Tiara peeked out from behind me as the corpse of the assassin fell onto the ground.

"Is it ok now?"

"Yes, it's ok now," I assured her.

She stepped out from behind me to look at the assassin.

I'd thought that she might feel disgusted over the dead body but aside from some surprise and maybe a little apprehension, she did not look too distressed about it.

Perhaps she has seen something like this before?

As though reading my mind, Aria spoke up from behind me, "This is not the first time that the princess has been targeted, Young Mistress Nilm."

I spun around to look at the maid, "Eh?! You mean this has happened before?"

"Not this close to Her Highness, but there have been attempts made. Not just on the Third Princess, but also on the other members of the Royal Family as well."

Ah… Politics again… Can't say I'm surprised though…

"Being a member of the Royal Family is hard huh… But what would anyone gain from this? What would they even get for trying to assassinate the other Royal Family members?"

"There are a lot of reasons for such a thing, Young Mistress Nilm. Some nobles might wish for a specific prince or princess to inherit the throne and find the others a threat or a nuisance. Thus, they might decide the easiest method is to get rid of the other candidates."

I feel like there's the hidden meaning that even Tiara's siblings might be involved in this too.

Well… It is something that is to be expected I guess… There are many Royal Family members but there is only one throne.

For the ambitious ones, they would not settle for second place and would definitely want to claim the thrones for themselves.

I've yet to meet the other siblings within the Royal Family so I don't know if this is just pure speculation and that they are all friendly with each other, or they were all secretly plotting to kill one another.

I looked at the assassin that was currently being disposed of, "Well… At least there's only one."

Katsuki shook her head, her daggers still held at the ready in her hands, "Forgive me Mistress, but there are more of them outside. We have been fighting with them for a while now and this one managed to slip past."

"Eh? How many are outside?"

Before she could answer, the windows of the store shattered and several cloaked figures came jumping in.

"Get the princess! We don't need to beat them, just take her!!" One of them shouted.

Chasing after the hooded people were the maids from our Family, all of them cutting down the kidnappers from behind without mercy.

But despite their comrades being cut down from behind, they did not slow down their advance in the slightest and continued rushing towards us.

Aruule and his staff were all cowering in the corner of the store, obviously terrified of what was happening in front of them. I'd bet none of them expected this to happen when they heard the princess was visiting today.

Aria and the Royal Knights quickly arranged themselves in front of us in a defensive wall, meeting the charge of those kidnappers head on.

Just in case, I used [Screened] to inspect some of the kidnappers to see if there were any strong people amongst them and… What?

What the hell?

They're weak… Like the strongest only has around fifty in their stats… I could handle them myself too.

I guess all they have going for them is their numbers which they used to get past our maids?

They probably came here thinking that they could just throw numbers at us as we could not stop all of them or something.

Well… Right now they're rushing at the metal wall formed by the Royal Knights who cut down the kidnappers with frightening efficiency. It's obvious that these guards were elites and the way they swung their swords showed no wasted movements.

Even when another took the place of the kidnapper they just cut down, they did not panic or hesitate in the swinging of their weapons, making it look like they were farmers cutting down a wheatfield with their scythe.

Despite the kidnappers' best efforts, with the Royal Knights in front and our Nilm Family maids behind, they had no chance in this encounter it seems.

But were they really thinking that they could get to the princess like this? Actually, I'm already surprised that they even managed to gather this many people to be willing sacrifices for this… You guys are literally just throwing your lives away, you know?

Is this really worth--

I felt the hair at the back of my neck stand and I pulled out my Light Sword and raised it up behind me in a defensive stance.

There, a robed figure who had somehow gotten past everyone else was descending towards me with his sword raised above his head.𝒩𝔬𝑣𝞮𝑳𝐧𝑒xt.𝗰𝞸𝑚

Oh, I noticed that his bottom half seemed to be encased in shadows… This guy must be an Umbramancer who made use of the shadows to sneak here while the others have our guards' attention.

Before his sword could reach me however, Katsuki had appeared behind him with her daggers stretched towards the side.

A second passed and the figure's head, arms and legs were separated from his body before crashing into the ground in a heap.

Wow… Katsuki actually moved so fast that I could barely see her… It's been a while since I last saw her stats, I wonder what it's like now?

[Name: Katsuki

Title: Mistress Aster's Personal Maid, Aster's WatcherI think you should take a look at

Race: Inugami

Stats:

290 Strength

510 Dexterity

210 Endurance

400 Magic

Skills:

Assassination (Tier 2), Cooking (Tier 2), Cleaning (Tier 2), Gardening (Tier 1), Hunting (Tier 2), Martial Skill-(Dagger Proficiency (Tier 2), Throwing Proficiency (Tier 2), Sword Proficiency (Tier 1), Unarmed Proficiency (Tier 2))

Magic Skills:

Umbramancy (Tier 2), Pyromancy (Tier 2), Mana Management (Tier 1)

Unique Skill:

Mistress Sense]

Woah, woah… How hard has she been training herself to improve so much in this short amount of time?!

And what's this?! She has a Unique Skill too?! What's with that name though?

I wonder if I can scan it to see what it does?

[Mistress Sense - Obtained from having undying love and devotion to her Mistress. Able to passively sense most physical and magical threats directed at her Mistress.]

…

I know Katsuki likes to serve me but I did not know it was to the extent that would grant her a Unique Skill like that…

This is the first Unique Skill I've seen someone else possess aside from myself…

I'm guessing this was how Katsuki knew about any attacks aimed at me even when they were far away, like the assassin that tried to snipe me when I was at school the other day.

"Mistress, are you alright?" Katsuki asked, casually wiping her blades with a cloth to clean them of the blood.

"I'm fine but… Shouldn't we be trying to capture a few of them for questioning or something? You know… Find out their base or even why they are doing this."

"We have already done that, Mistress. They had started attacking us outside while you were still enjoying your sweets, so we have already captured a few of them for us to interrogate later, Mistress. These ones are all unnecessary and we will not risk endangering you by trying to hold back."

Ah, that makes more sense, though calling them 'unnecessary' is a little…

"Big sister…" Tiara whimpered while hugging me. "Are they all bad people trying to eat me?"

I patted her head, "Yeah… These are the bad people that your papa and mama told you about. But don't worry, you have us to protect you!"

"Unnggh… But I'm troubling all of you… How long more before I'm strong enough to protect myself from them?"

"Err…I think that question might be better suited for asking Odeta instead…" I admitted.

Especially when I haven't really been hands on with her training so far… But from an outsider's perspective, I think she might still need a few more years to reach that stage… Of course I don't have the heart to tell her that…

Tiara nodded at me with sparkly eyes and went back to watching the fight while hugging me.

Well… I say fight but it really is just a one sided massacre at this point…

They were already down to the last few people and even those guys were getting cut down as we speak…

Suffice to say, this plan of theirs was a total failure… Probably because they did not expect the Nilm Family to be involved as well.

Soon enough, there's a pile of dead bodies in the middle of the sweets shop.

Aria went up to Aruule and curtsied, "Forgive us sir Aruule, the Royal Family shall compensate you properly for this inconvenience. If you would allow us to clean up this store for you as well, we would be very grateful."

"Ahbahhuh?" He stuttered back.

"I shall take that as your confirmation. Thank you for your cooperation."

Aria then nodded at the other maids from our family and they immediately began to clean up, which included repairing all the broken pieces of furniture and windows with utmost efficiency. I didn't even know they could do that.

Ignoring that, Katsuki came up to me, "Mistress, we have found the hideout for this cult. Would you like us to exterminate them?"

Is that even a question? Of course!

In fact, take me along too!!

Wait, did you say cult?

Chapter 384 Assaulting The Cult

C384 Assaulting The Cult

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Tiara really wanted to come along as well but everyone managed to dissuade her from that.

She showed us a really cute pouty face but I will have to side with the others on this…

As much as it might hurt her to say this, she would definitely be a burden if she comes along.

The princess was still pouting even as I left the sweets shop to join up with Katsuki and the others on assaulting the hideout.

We had to leave the cleanup to the Royal Knights which they did not seem to mind, trusting us to deal with this cult that was targeting their princess in their stead.

I found it a little ironic that the knights were cleaning up after the maids while the maids were going off to fight… Granted, the maids already did most of the repairs before that but the knights still need to clean the place up…

"Where are they located?" I asked as we rode through the city on horses.

I had no experience with riding horses so I was seated behind Katsuki on her horse.

"The others gave us the location of a building in the Commoner's District, it seems like it's simply a facade for their hideout where they planned this operation," Katsuki replied while maintaining control of the horse.

"And who exactly are these people? Bandits?"

"No, Mistress. As I mentioned, Head Maid was right about this. They belong to a cult that believes they can get power by making a deal with demons. That's why they are hoping to use the princess to gain that power and then overthrow the Royal Family to become the new rulers instead."

So I really did hear her say it was a cult…

I frowned, "That's stupid… And all of them are in on this? How are they even supposed to share the power?"

"They seemed to have agreed that it would operate like a council to make decisions instead of relying on a single person to make decisions."

I guess at least they had planned that far ahead… That still doesn't mean we'll just let them do this though. I like the princess… And I'm fine with how things are going on now.

There were about twenty of us rushing towards the hideout right now, we could have gathered more people but time was of the essence since they could be attempting to escape after failing that initial kidnapping.

It wasn't like the numbers were a problem anyway since I should be able to overcome any difference with my summons.

Less than five minutes after the attack at the sweets shop, we had arrived at our destination.

The building itself looked unremarkable and there were quite a number of passers-by who were quite curious at our arrival. Most likely they were wondering why a bunch of maids showed up on horseback out of nowhere.

We ignored them and we went up to the entrance of the two story house in front of us.

Not even wasting time to knock, the maid leading the way braced on a foot before kicking her leg forward, breaking the door away from its hinges and sending it flying.

From the surprised yelp coming from behind the door, I'd wager there had been someone standing behind it before it was kicked.

Two more gasps came from the sides of where the door had been, revealing two hooded figures who had their swords out.

Seems like they were already expecting us and tried to lay an ambush?

The other maids rushed in, instantly subduing the two by knocking them out before the others flooded into the house.

I ended up being the last one to rush into the house with my sword drawn, though I wasn't really sure if that was a good idea considering the narrow spaces of the building.

But that didn't matter because I realised I came here without a plan at all.

The maids obviously had experience with this and they went around clearing the rooms methodically without any hesitation. But for me, I was just looking around the place wondering what I should do and where the enemies were at that moment.

It was my first time raiding a base like this ok?! It's not like I've done this before!

If you ask me to go and subjugate a goblin or orc village, I'll be able to do that without any problems! But I have no experience when it comes to this!

Look, they're even covering each other while they clear corridors and check their corners! They clearly have experience with this! You can't expect me to compete with that!

In less than five minutes, the entire building was clear with all the enemies inside it either unconscious or dead.

I didn't even get to do anything…

"The entire building is clear, Mistress," Katsuki reported.

I tapped a finger on my cheek, "Hmm… Something's not right…"

Katsuki tilted her head, "What do you mean, Mistress?"

"I mean… It's too easy, don't you think? Plus… With how small this place is, I don't think it can sufficiently host the number of people we saw back at the sweets shop that attacked us, right?"

"Perhaps Mistress is suggesting that there's other hidden bases?"

"Hmm… I was actually thinking along the lines of there being a hidden passage here or something."I think you should take a look at

Katsuki turned to the other maids and nodded, prompting them to split up and search the rest of the house. Meanwhile a few of them went to pick up the unconscious cult members to start interrogating them for information again.

I decided to join the search party to look for the hidden passage while Katsuki accompanied me.

Hmm… If I wanted to hide a hidden entrance, where would it be?𝑛𝑜𝓋𝓮𝗅𝐍𝑒xt.𝔠𝒐𝑀

Well obviously I went to the bookshelves first and started pulling at the books, hoping one of them was a secret lever.

Unfortunately, that trope was not present here since no hidden entrances were found even after I pulled out all the books.

What a waste…

Maybe it's the hidden trap door under the rug trope?!

Except… There's no rugs in this house so that wasn't feasible either…

Well… The other possibility would be that I was wrong about a hidden entrance anyway since no one confirmed the existence of one.

Hmm… Maybe if I just tried breaking the floor instead?

Meh, whatever, it's not like I have anything to lose right?

I pulled back my fist and castted [Body Current] on myself before punching down, breaking the wooden floor.

Unexpectedly, a large section of the ground caved in and broke apart, leaving a gaping hope that seemed to lead to an underground passage of some sort.

Oh wow… There actually was one?

Katsuki clapped her hands, "Incredible, Mistress. To know where exactly to break to reveal the hidden entrance, as expected of Mistress!"

No, no, that was all pure luck…

One of the maids appeared at the doorway, "Young Mistress, we have found the mechanism that seems to activate a hidden ent-- Ah… I see Young Mistress has already found another way in."

"Ah… Yeah… Just out of curiosity… What was the mechanism?" I asked.

"There was a button hidden under the head of a stone bust that revealed a trap door that popped up from the ground."

Ahhhh! I can't believe I forgot about that one! Of course it had to be that trope!

Damnit, I guess I better keep a record of it in case I forget it again in the future.

I jumped into the hole with everyone else, finding a dark passageway awaited us that seemed to continue forward indefinitely.

Using the [Spotlight] spell, I created a small ball of light to illuminate our path before advancing forward.

Everyone was on alert since this was still the enemy's territory.

I was expecting there to at least be a trap or two within the passage but it was surprisingly empty, which allowed us to reach the end without any problems.

The passage stopped at a staircase that led upward and stopped at a trap door.

This time, instead of opening it myself, two maids went ahead to open it for me while checking for traps.

Seeing none, we exited from the passage and into what looked like a dark space of sorts.

Even with my light ball, the light did not reach any walls so this place must be huge.

Just as everyone got out of the hole to form up with me, the trap door slammed shut and a large stone slab suddenly slid out to close up the passage that we had just come from.

That wasn't really a big deal since I could probably break the slab apart but a voice boomed from above us.

"Hahahaha! As I predicted! You have fallen right into my trap, Third Princess of the Lehcarouc Kingdom! Your guards shall die here and I will-- Eh? Wait a minute… Where's the Third Princess?!"

Oh… So this is a trap?

But… Why would you even think the princess would come here? I'm pretty sure that she would be told to stay at home regardless, right? It's more likely that the Royal Knights would be dispatched to clean out this place instead of the princess coming here herself?

I know the Princess wanted to come as well but that's because I was there, isn't it?

The maids formed a defensive circle around me while the voice continued, "Seems like the plan was a failure… Hmph! No matter! I'll still have you meddlesome things killed anyway while we start a new plan to get the princess!"

I was just wondering what he was trying to kill us with when a loud stomping came from behind me.

I turned around in time to see what I could only describe as a horned demon at least four stories tall appearing from the darkness, its eyes lit with fire.

Err… Hi?

Chapter 385 Demon

C385 Demon



[Name: Brute Fiend

Race: Demon

Stats:

1000 Strength

200 Dexterity

200 Endurance

800 Magic]

Ok… Just by looking at the stats, this is not good…

One thing I noticed though… Its race isn't a 'monster' but a 'demon' instead… I'm not sure if this is the stats you can expect from a demon or this one is already considered strong by their standards?

The maids quickly spread themselves out, just in time too as the demon leapt forward and smashed its fist at where we had been just a moment ago.

"Surround it! Maintain your distance! Strike at it with ranged attacks and don't get close!" One of them instructed, whom I assumed was the leader of this group.

I thought it was Katsuki leading them but I guess I was wrong?

The other maids responded with practised efficiency, all of them either pulling out throwing knives, bows and even crossbows from… Under their skirts…

What the heck… Do they have some dimensional storage under there or something? How did they even store a whole crossbow under there, let alone a bow and a quiver??

All of them started shooting arrows, spells and throwing knives at the demon.

But all of that seemed to only annoy it more than hurt it as it let out a roar to smash both its fists into the ground, creating a shockwave that forced us back.

Ugh… Just from one punch into the ground and it's enough to force everyone to fly away…

If that's the strength coming from one thousand points in the strength stats, how much damage can you cause when you have more than three times that?

Unfortunately, neither Mary nor Sebastian was with us for this so we can't rely on them now.

But well… No reason to go all out right now since everyone's life is on the line right?

"Come forth!!" I yelled with my hand raised up.

What? A cool pose is definitely necessary, there is no question about it.

My Shadow Summons started to pour out from my shadow, numbering in the hundreds.

With a single thought from me, all of them took out bows and crossbows made with my [Shadow Forge] to start shooting at the demon as well.

It made an annoyed shriek before swinging its arm in an arc, creating a wall of air that blew away our arrows.

The ones who could cast spells were unfazed and continued blasting it from a distance with fire, ice and lightning.

I joined in as well with my own lightning bolts using the [Spark Strike] spell. It wasn't much but it was honest work.

The good thing was that despite how strong this demon seemed, it did not possess the capability to cast spells and relies on brute force. So as long as we maintain our distance, we should be safe.

Just as I thought of that, the demon raised its hand into the air, creating a blood red ball that had black lightning crackling along its surface.

Eh? Wait a minute… [Screened] clearly showed it had no Magic Skills though?

"Everyone! Disperse!!"

I was still a little transfixed by the red ball over the demon's hands when I felt someone tackle me to the ground, using their own body to cover me.

Looking up, I quickly realised it was Katsuki before my vision went white and pain assaulted my senses.

I realised the pain came from the lightning the demon was shooting out and if I was already feeling it despite Katsuki covering me, just how bad it must be for her who was taking the full brunt of it?

"Katsuki!!" I cried out, trying to push her off.

The only response I got was her tightening her grip on the floor as she held her ground, not even budging when the black lightning hit her.

"Katsuki!! Stop it!! I can handle it!! You don't need to shield for me!!"

"Kuhhh… Allowing… Mistress to be hurt… In front of me… Is unacceptable… For a maid…" She gasped.

This self-sacrificing maid!!

I used [Aqua Ball] and reshaped the water into a shield, catching the next blast of lightning in Katsuki's place.

I was just about to breathe a sigh of relief when I heard the water start to rumble.

No way… The heat from the lightning is making it boil to the state of vaporisation?!

Panicking a little, I quickly sent the water ball flying away, which just so happens to be towards the demon.I think you should take a look at

The ball exploded into superheated steam just as it crashed against it, causing the demon to let out a cry of pain for the first time and stopping its lightning.

I quickly pulled Katsuki away and laid her down on the ground on her stomach, wincing when I saw the damage done to her back.

The lightning had burned away the back of her maid uniform to reveal her bare back, her skin cracked and bloodied with boils from where the lightning had struck.

A simple [Close Wounds] would not be enough for this.

I started digging through my pack, looking for an Intermediate grade healing potion, cursing the nature of the Pack of Folding where everything was stacked on top of one another which prevented me from getting the potion easily.

I was not able to find a potion in time as the demon let out a roar which I recognised was a sign of challenge.

Cursing under my breath, I quickly cast a [Close Wounds] spell on her before tossing the bag aside to face the demon.

All the summons I had called up were obliterated. The other maids, while still alive, were also clearly out of commission after those lightning strikes.

In other words… I'm now facing the demon at least twice as strong as I am alone.

Its fiery red eyes ignited into flames again, its equally red skin seemed to shine with a spark of lightning flashing across its surface while it glared at me.

I reached out my hands and used [Shadow Forge], creating a bow and a quiver of arrows for myself.

With the difference in strength, I doubt it would be a good idea for me to engage the demon in close combat head on like this.

The demon snorted, as though mocking my choice of weapon before it lowered itself into a combat stance.

Ok… So… Since it wasn't attacking right away…

[Mind Shield], [Body Current], [Lightning Clad], [Shadow Wall], [Shadow Glide], [Light Flash]!

The demon let out a surprised roar when my [Light Flash] blinded it momentarily, the light preventing it from seeing me use my [Body Current] enhanced legs to jump high up into the sky. My ascent was further boosted by [Shadow Glide] while [Shadow Wall] ensured that I would not be easily spotted even if the demon were to look up.𝚗𝒐𝑣𝖾𝗅𝓃𝐞xt.𝒸𝚘𝔪

With my [Lightning Clad] channelled into my right hand, I pulled back my bowstrings and allowed the electricity to flow down to coat the arrow. Knowing that this small arrow would not be enough, I made use of [Shadow Forge] to turn the arrow into a ballista bolt with an equally large bow as well.

With everything prepared, I released my grip on the bowstring to allow the arrow to fly straight towards the demon's head, striking it in between its horns.

The arrow then exploded into bolts of lightning as it coursed through the surface of the demon's head, stunning it momentarily.

Tossing aside the bow, I held my left hand behind me and casted [Breeze], using the blast of wind to propel me downwards towards the demon.

My right arm was cocked back and I simultaneously casted [Body Current] and [Lightning Clad] on it, ready to deliver my punch on the demon's head in an attempt to punch it into the ground.

Just as I was about to reach it, the demon suddenly looked up, its fiery eyes boring straight into mine in obvious fury.

I quickly moved my enhanced arm in front of me in a blocking motion while my wings exploded from my back to try and halt my descent.

Unfortunately, I was too slow as the demon's hands came up to smash against my arm, flinging me away to crash into the cavern wall.

I felt my body scream in pain as I half laid in the crevice my crash had created, my eyes still seeing stars.

Pain was also blossoming from my right arm when I tried to move it and it jolted me awake pretty quickly.

I only had time to cast one [Close Wounds] on myself before my attention was drawn towards the demon that was currently charging with its fist raised at me.

I willed my body to move, once again using [Breeze] to blast myself away from there.

The demon's fist crashed into the wall, blasting apart debris and stone as my wings flared to carry me away from the dust cloud the punch threw up.

A second [Close Wounds] made the pain subside enough for me to ignore it.

I hovered in the air for a moment as I materialised my bow again, fully intending to shoot another arrow at the demon.

There was a flash of light coming from the cloud of dust and I quickly furled my wings to allow gravity to take hold of me.

As I dropped, a light beam blasted from the cloud, disintegrating the space I had been occupying mere moments ago.

I flared up my wings to stabilise my descent, only to see another flash of light coming from the cloud.

I quickly realised this was not going to stop at a single shot and dived to the side, right before another beam blasted through where I was a split second ago.

I was then forced to keep flying around as lasers fired out from the dust cloud, some of them barely missing me.

Unfortunately, this meant that I had no chance to fight back since all of my concentration was focused on dodging the beams of death.

Just as I was considering how to break this stalemate, I felt a burning pain explode from my wing and I lost control of myself and crashed into the ground.

Looking up, I found a hole in the membrane of my wing, the demon having burned through it.

Ugh… I hope that it doesn't scar…

There was a rumbling before I turned to see the demon standing before me with its foot raised up, intending to smash it down on me.

Fuck.