Chapter 21: Deep Shadows
“It seems you’ve run into trouble, huh.”
The maid suddenly felt a chill, a bone-deep coldness. She stiffened, raising her head to look ahead. Selicia embraced the unconscious Muen, surrounded by howling snowstorms.
The intent to kill surged incessantly from Selicia, like a bursting dam.
“Do you need me to take care of your troubles?”
Selicia raised her hand, her gaze icy as iron. “To solve—your kind of trouble.”
The maid’s eyes widened suddenly. Without the Flame of the Withered King, the terrifying chill instantly seeped into her flesh.
Pure white frost, starting from the dagger, gradually spread across her body. In just a few breaths, her entire arm was frozen solid.
“Damn it.” The maid’s face twisted suddenly, revealing a grimace.
At this moment, she understood that her assassination mission had failed under Muen Campbell’s life-threatening interference.
Although she was somewhat concerned about the sudden disappearance of the flames, now was not the time to dwell on such matters.
This place was no longer safe to linger!
Gritting her teeth, she used her only functional left hand to crush her frozen right hand directly.
Meanwhile, a spherical object the size of an egg dropped from her feet and instantly burst open. A white smoke, capable of concealing perception and sight, engulfed the room in an instant.
Selicia’s gaze narrowed slightly as the snowstorm raged, quickly dispersing the smoke. However, the maid’s figure was no longer visible in the room.
“She escaped?” Selicia glanced towards the shattered window of the room, a hint of mockery suddenly flashing in her eyes.
“No, she can’t escape.”
“You think this is someone else’s territory?”
…
“Damn you, Muen Campbell!”
The maid… No, the assassin with the code name Number Eight, was clutching her severed arm with one hand, fleeing in disarray along the shadowed corner of the mansion’s wall.
“Almost there…”
“If only I had known, I should have killed him even if he wasn’t the target!”
Number Eight’s heart was filled with resentment. An operation that was almost perfect, thwarted by the sudden interference of some insignificant ant. Anyone would feel anger at such a setback. But thankfully… it wasn’t over yet.
Number Eight lowered her eyes, listening to the sound of blood dripping to the ground, feeling the intense pain from her maimed body. At this moment, she surprisingly felt a hint of relief.
That’s right, relief.
“Since Nine’s death, am I even starting to fear death myself?” Number Eight chuckled self-deprecatingly.
But she quickly suppressed these emotions that shouldn’t have existed, refocusing her attention on the ongoing escape.
…
…
“I just heard someone say something about harming my precious son?”
Number Eight’s fleeing steps abruptly halted. She had to stop because someone was standing right in front of her.
“A man with the majestic presence of a lion.”
“The Lion King, Ronan Campbell?”
Number Eight’s face turned extremely pale in an instant.
“Oh? I didn’t expect this guest to remember my insignificant title,” Ronan Campbell said, his body emanating a strong scent of alcohol.
He had just returned from the “battlefield” where greedy hyenas lurked, still holding a delicate goblet in his hand.
Even though he was dressed in elegant noble attire, it couldn’t conceal the terrifying aura emanating from this man.
That was an aura that could only be condensed from emerging from true mountains of corpses and seas of blood!
“But, my dear guest, I don’t recall the Campbell family extending an invitation to you. So, why have you come uninvited?”
Ronan Campbell continued to smile gently, but his gaze was exceptionally icy, as if he were looking at a dead person.
“Please, do tell me, especially the part about what you intend to do to my precious son. I assure you… I will listen very attentively!”
…
On the other side of the Duke’s mansion, another figure dressed as a maid was also fleeing rapidly. She was none other than Number Six, another assassin who had sensed trouble and decided to slip away ahead of time.
“So, that’s the Lion King? Truly terrifying. Fortunately, I chose a different direction.”
Glancing at the terrifying aura blooming in the distance, a hint of fear couldn’t help but surface in her eyes.
“Sorry, Number Eight, but I can only let you be my bait for now. I can’t afford to die yet.”
“May your soul return to the red soil, under the great Withered King,” Six murmured a brief prayer for Number Eight in her heart.
Suppressing the emptiness within her, she continued fleeing towards the outskirts of the Duke’s mansion at the fastest speed possible.
…
“It’s strange, isn’t it? As professional assassins, shouldn’t we take our own lives as atonement after a mission failure?”
Six’s pupils contracted suddenly. Her fleeing steps abruptly halted, and then, like a fish in water, her figure swiftly twisted in mid-air, evading the sharp and chilling shadow that came at her from an extremely cunning angle.
“Who are you?” Ignoring the searing heat and pain left on her cheek by the shadow, Six stared fixedly at the figure not far away.
“Who am I? Just an insignificant ordinary maid.” A girl dressed in a black and white dress stepped out of the shadows. The lightning that suddenly streaked across the sky outside illuminated her dignified profile.
“A maid?” Six, also dressed as a maid, smirked. “I’ve never seen such a terrifying maid before.”
Six gently wiped her cheek with her fingers and then sucked on them. Soon, the strong taste of rust and blood permeated her mouth.
Even though she managed to react in time, she was almost decapitated by that blow. The opponent’s strength was definitely not to be underestimated!
But what was strange was… she didn’t sense any aura from the opponent. It was as if they were just an ordinary person.
“There are plenty of people in this world you haven’t seen,” An’s tone carried a strong sense of regret. “Just like how I’ve never seen such useless assassins like you.”
“I released such important information, but I never expected that you useless lot would show up.”
“What do you mean by that?” A chill ran through Six’s heart involuntarily.
“What do I mean?” An suddenly widened her beautiful eyes, her dignified face now looking somewhat ferocious. “You don’t even know what I mean? Don’t you know how useless you are?”
“What does that have to do with you? Aren’t you just a maid at the Duke’s mansion?”
“Hehe, a maid, of course I’m a maid. But, but, you guys are truly… truly disappointing.”
An suddenly hugged her arms and bowed her head, emitting painful groans as if enduring intense torture.
“It was so close, so close. That bitch Selicia, who was getting close to Master Muen, could have left this world forever.”
In Six’s horrified gaze, An gradually shed the facade of eternal dignity, breathing heavily, and then grinned ferociously yet eerily.
“But you failed? Not only did you fail, but you also injured Master Muen.”
“How could you… How could you hurt him? In this world, the only one who can harm him is me!”
Boom! Thunder rumbled, drowning out An’s terrifying roar.
“Oh, no.”
An placed her hands on her face, wiping downward slowly. Her eerie and ferocious expression gradually smoothed out. Once again, she became dignified and elegant.
“As Master Muen’s personal maid, how could I behave so rudely?”
An lowered her hands again, palms overlapping on her abdomen. She respectfully bowed to the trembling Six before her.
“So, allow me to escort you, esteemed guest.”
Behind An, countless delicate knives as thin as cicada wings slowly floated up, their sharp tips aimed directly at Six, each one gleaming with a chilling light.
Yandrerer Maid ?