mijobooks Chapter 149 - 148 : Maid and master both are alike
Chapter 149 - 148 : Maid and master both are alike
Arthur stared at Jasmine for exactly one heartbeat.
Then he turned his head toward Elizabeth, still perched on her shoulder.
"Are you planning to stand there until that crazy woman stabs me to death?" he said. "Move."
A vein pulsed on Elizabeth’s forehead.
She inhaled slowly, holding the breath for a second before letting it out through her nose.
’He arrogance really knows no bounds,’ she thought. ’Ordering me around while I am saving him.’
Out loud, she sighed.
"She’s not going to make it easy," Elizabeth said. "We have to fight."
A moment later she shifted her shoulder.
Arthur slid off like a sack of potatoes and hit the ground with a dull thud, dust puffing up around him.
"Do it gently," he complained from the dirt.
Elizabeth did not bother to answer.
She took a step forward, placing herself fully between him and Jasmine, and lifted her gaze to the silver‑haired princess.
Her eyes became ice‑cold.
"Sorry, girl," Elizabeth said. "As much as I hate this guy, I can’t hand him over to you. Certain reasons prevent that."
She tilted her head slightly.
"So it would be in your best interest to move. Or—"
"Or what?" Jasmine cut in, voice flat.
Behind her, mana surged.
Spears of fire began to appear in the air—one, five, ten, then dozens—forming a burning halo over her shoulders. Each spear rotated slowly, tips pointed toward Elizabeth, the air around them shimmering from the heat.
Elizabeth’s expression did not change.
"Or your worthless, low‑breed, completely insignificant self gets eliminated by someone as esteemed as me," she finished.
A beat of silence followed.
Victor blinked.
Damian blinked.
Arina blinked.
Even Jasmine’s eye twitched.
All three of them stared at Elizabeth with matching expressions.
’She really is just as crazy as her master’ they thought.
Damian let out a quiet breath.
"I knew it," he muttered. "That maid is just as insane as that bastard master of hers."
Arthur turned his head toward him.
"Hey, I heard that," Arthur said. "And don’t lump me in with crazy people like her, alright? People actually like me."
Elizabeth glanced back at him over her shoulder.
"It’s a good thing," she said dryly, "that you can create your own illusions."
Arthur’s mouth twitched.
Before he could reply, Jasmine’s voice cut across the clearing.
"That’s enough," she said. "Your time is up."
Her mana flared.
In the next second, the fire spears shot forward.
A storm of blazing projectiles tore through the air, leaving trails of orange light in their wake. The heat hit first, rolling across the clearing like a wave from an open furnace, crisping leaves and scorching the ground wherever the spears passed.
Victor instinctively took a step back.
Arina raised an arm, eyes narrowing.
Arthur lay where Elizabeth had dropped him, watching intently.
Elizabeth did not move.
She lifted one hand, palm facing the oncoming barrage.
At the last possible moment, every spear of fire stopped.
They froze in mid‑air less than a meter from her face, blades of flame twisting and writhing as if they were alive, but unable to move forward even a fraction. The attacks hung there in a glowing, humming ring, their heat clawing at the air.
"You really think attacks like that are going to work on me?" Elizabeth asked, tone almost bored.
Arthur’s eyes glinted faintly.
’She seized every spell mid‑flight,’ he thought. ’Her mana control is on a different level. She grabbed enemy magic like it was her own.’
Jasmine, however, did not look troubled.
A slow, dangerous smirk curved her lips.
She snapped her fingers.
"Explode," she whispered.
The world flashed white.
Every suspended spear detonated at once.
BOOM.
A chain of explosions ripped through the air, a roaring wall of flame and pressure engulfing Elizabeth’s figure. Shockwaves tore outward, hurling dust and debris across the clearing. Small stones became shrapnel. Grass and shrubs vanished under the heat.
Arina staggered back a step, eyes wide.
"That was... impressive," she breathed.
Damian whistled softly.
"Detonating her own spells after they were caught," he thought. "That’s nasty."
As the smoke thickened, Jasmine’s shoulders relaxed a fraction.
Then the flames began to die.
The smoke thinned.
Elizabeth’s silhouette emerged from the fading haze.
She stood exactly where she had been, one hand still half‑raised, fingers relaxed. Her maid uniform was dusted with fine ash, a faint black smear marked her apron, and there was a small tear near the hem of her skirt.
Her skin was untouched.
No burns. No cuts. Not even a reddened mark.
Arina stared.
Victor’s mouth nearly fell open.
Even Jasmine’s confident expression flickered.
Only Arthur remained calm, clicking his tongue.
’Of course,’ he thought. ’She is still a walking cheat code.’
Elizabeth brushed at her skirt with quick, irritated motions.
"This is why I hate fire mages," she muttered. "They never think about the laundry."
Her eyes lifted back to Jasmine.
In the next instant, she made a small, almost casual motion with her hand, as if drawing a line through the air.
Jasmine’s body jerked.
She suddenly lost all control of her limbs.
"Huh—?"
An invisible force wrenched her forward.
Her feet left the ground as she was yanked straight toward Elizabeth at breakneck speed, wind whipping her silver hair back. Her heart lurched in her chest.
A cold chill crawled down Jasmine’s spine.
She could feel it—the subtle shift inside her veins. The blood in her body no longer followed her will cleanly. Something else had slipped into the current, twisting the natural flow, pulling her center of balance forward.
’She’s interfering with my movement through my blood,’ Jasmine realized, alarmed. ’If I get within arm’s reach, she’ll—’
Elizabeth’s free hand turned.
A red dagger formed in it, the blade thin and wickedly sharp, surface gleaming like condensed liquid ruby.
Every instinct Jasmine possessed screamed.
She knew with absolute clarity that if she reached that range, the dagger would pierce a vital point and she would be eliminated before she could even finish a spell.
Her talent reacted on pure reflex.
Elemental Convergence.
Earth mana surged upward from the ground in front of her.
A thick wall of solid stone erupted between her and Elizabeth, forming in an instant. Jasmine slammed into it with bone‑rattling force, the air driven from her lungs. Cracks spider‑webbed across the new barrier, dust raining down.
Pain shot through her shoulder and ribs.
But it was pain she preferred over the instant elimination that waited on the other side of that wall.
Behind the stone, Elizabeth clicked her tongue.
"Tch. Smart girl," she muttered.
On the sidelines, Arina’s hand curled into a fist.
’I have to help her,’ Arina thought, watching Jasmine push herself off the wall, face tight with effort.
She tried to raise her arm.
Nothing happened.
A bolt of pain lanced down her limb, nerves still scrambled from Arthur’s earlier strikes. Her fingers refused to move properly.
Damian saw the struggle.
He turned toward her.
"I’ll fix that for you," he said.
Before Arina could respond, he stepped in close and placed his fingers along her shoulder and upper arm. His touch was firm but controlled.
He pressed several points in rapid succession.
Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.
A tingling sensation rushed down Arina’s arm, followed by a warm surge. Her fingers twitched. She flexed her hand, then her elbow.
The numbness was gone.
Strength flowed back into the limb as if someone had removed heavy weights from it.
Arina’s eyes widened.
"Wow," she said, genuine surprise in her voice. "You have some amazing skills, Damian."
Damian scratched his cheek awkwardly, a faint flush touching his ears.
"Well," he said, giving a small, shy smile, "I just know a thing or two."
Inside, another voice echoed in his head.
’I definitely can’t tell her I leaned that nerve‑strike technique as a reward from my system,’ he thought.
Arina did not waste another second.
She turned and sprinted toward the clash between Jasmine and Elizabeth, mana flaring around her legs as she rushed into the fray.
Damian watched her go, then sighed.
"I should stay away from a girl fight," he muttered. "It always gets messy."
He was about to step back when a translucent window flashed into existence right in front of his eyes.
[ System Quest Generated ]
Damian’s expression froze.
"...You have got to be kidding me," he whispered.
A translucent window unfolded in front of Damian’s eyes.
[Radiant Valor System]
[ Quest Issued: Damian Stromborn ]
[ Quest:
Eliminate Elizabeth Crimson, the former Vampire Queen, and her master from the exam. ]
[ Objective:
Defeat both targets inside the virtual exam world. ]
[ Reward:
Unranked Skill — Dragon Tongue (?) ]
[ Penalty:
Loss of Trait: Battle Instinct — S Rank (permanent) ]
Damian’s mouth fell open.
"Vampire... queen?" he whispered.
His eyes shifted automatically.
First to Arthur—who was currently half‑hidden behind a tree, breathing hard, still clearly weakened from bloodline assimilation and doing his best to look like part of the scenery.
Then to Elizabeth.
She was in the middle of the clearing, still in that slightly dirty maid outfit, trading blows with Jasmine and Arina at the same time. And not just trading—controlling the pace without looking particularly strained.
’That maid is the queen of vampires?’ Damian thought, incredulous. ’No way. Why would someone like her serve under that pervert of all people?’
His Battle Instinct flared in the next instant.
Danger.
Damian’s body moved before his thoughts caught up, arm snapping up.
A fist slammed into his forearm.
The impact drove him back, his boots carving lines in the dirt as he skidded several meters before regaining his balance.
He looked up.
Victor stood where the punch had come from, black aura crawling over his body like smoke wrapped in lightning. His eyes burned with annoyance.
"Did you already forget about me?" Victor asked, voice tight. "We’re finishing this right here, right now."
He took a step forward, aura crackling.
"How dare you show off in front of me by fixing Miss Arina’s arm and making me look incompetent.."
Damian’s mouth twitched.
"That’s what made you mad?" he yelled.
Red aura flared to life around his own body, heat rolling off him like a rising storm.
"Alright," Damian said, exhaling slowly. "Let’s finish this quickly."
He glanced past Victor, toward the far side of the clearing.
Arthur was still trying to disappear into the trees.
Elizabeth was still dealing with Jasmine and Arina without much problem.
’I have to deal with those two as well,’ Damian thought. ’This is going to be a long day.’
Victor grinned.
"That’s the spirit."
The two of them moved at the same time.
The ground exploded beneath their feet, chunks of dirt and stone launching into the air as they shot toward each other, red and black auras colliding like opposing storms.
—
Meanwhile.
Elizabeth had one hand wrapped around Jasmine’s throat.
Her other hand gripped Arina’s neck.
She held both of them off the ground with casual ease, arms extended out to either side as if she were holding two unruly cats. Their feet kicked uselessly in the air, fingers clawing at her wrists.
A faint, dangerous smile curved Elizabeth’s lips.
Jasmine’s face reddened as she struggled, one hand clutching Elizabeth’s wrist, the other trying to gather mana.
’What kind of monster is she?’ Jasmine thought, panic and fury warring in her chest. ’We hit her from every angle we could think of and nothing works. Nothing sticks.’
Arina gritted her teeth, mana flaring uselessly around her as she tried to pry Elizabeth’s hand away.
On the edge of the battlefield, Arthur leaned against a tree trunk, still feeling the drag of the almost‑finished bloodline assimilation, but very much awake and watching.
He raised his fist half‑heartedly.
"That’s my maid," Arthur called out. "Kill them all. Destroy them. I’m right behind you if something happens."
He did not move an inch from his spot behind the tree.
Elizabeth’s eye twitched.
She could feel the vibrations of his voice through the girls she was holding more than she could hear them.
’He is not even trying to hide it,’ she thought. ’Right behind me, my ass.’
Her annoyance rose faster than any adrenaline.
"If you want to support me," she shouted back, "then release all of my strength, you bastard!"
Arthur turned his head away, pretending not to hear.
"Sorry," he said loudly. "I can’t hear you. But good work. I’m proud of you."
Elizabeth’s grip tightened reflexively on both necks.
Arina and Jasmine gagged in unison.
Her irritation spiked.
’I swear,’ she thought, ’once this exam is over, I am going to—’
The system’s voice cut through Arthur’s thoughts.
[ Host. ]
Arthur blinked.
’Yeah?’ he replied inwardly.
[ I have located the next system user. ]
Interest sparked in his eyes.
’Then what are you waiting for?’ Arthur asked in his mind. ’Tell me the extraction conditions.’
Another notification appeared at the edge of his vision.