Water droplets crashed down upon the dilapidated city, like the rain that had once distorted its past.

  “Wha…” Keleanos’ eyes flew open as water slid down his cheek.

  The maids stood frozen, gasping at the scene unfolding before them.

  “Wasn’t that…?” Eden glanced at Olivia, whose expression remained perfectly calm.

  “It was Leviathan. I’m sure of it.” Alice muttered, the words nearly catching in her throat.

  They could no longer see the state of the battle. The illusion of Leviathan had dragged Yivern deeper into the water-filled pit, obscuring everything beneath the surface.

  The water itself was real. It had been summoned through Olivia’s magic over water, power that had grown since Rakia entrusted her title to her.

  Olivia lowered her gaze to her hand and slowly opened it.

  Somehow, I know everything I need to use my magic.

  A faint frown crossed her face.

  I just hope exerting this much isn’t taxing on Darling.

  She closed her hand and refocused on the battle.

  Raising her arm, she hesitated, muscles straining as though pressing against an unseen barrier.

  “Damn monster…” A devious smile curled her lips as she forced her hand upward.

  From the churning pit, Leviathan burst through the surface, Yivern clamped tightly between its massive jaws.

  Yet the Devourer did not thrash in resistance.

  Its appendages coiled around the illusion instead, wrenching its jaws apart.

  Olivia released her grip and swept her hand sharply to the side.

  Leviathan snapped its head and hurled the Devourer into the city, smashing it through buildings that had endured eons of neglect.

  But the maneuver carried a price.

  Mid-flight, Yivern snapped its wings open, stabilizing itself within a heartbeat. A dozen feathers tore free, slicing through the falling Leviathan as though through butter.

  “Tsk.” Olivia clicked her tongue as she watched her ally dissolve into mist, while Yivern ascended higher into the sky.

  All eyes fixed on the Devourer, its red core pulsing weakly, fractured and unstable.

  Keleanos released a slow breath, the psychic assault finally gone, though the danger was far from over.

  Out of options, Yivern made a drastic choice.

  It descended toward them, looming closer and closer, a five-hundred-meter monstrosity blotting out the sky.

  “Hah…” Olivia expelled a faint cloud of mist, irritation settling across her features. “I didn’t want to go this far.”

  “What do you mean?” Keleanos asked, a frown of confusion spreading across his face.

  She did not answer him.

  “My maids…” Olivia’s voice carried with unnatural weight. Goosebumps rippled across the maids as their expressions darkened. “Our guest has earned our Final Courtesy.”

  The atmosphere shifted instantly. As if a commander had spoken, they moved.

  Restraint unraveled as the maids cast aside every remaining limit within their minds. Their posture straightened. Individual gestures betrayed the pattern of order they were in.

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  Eden slowly removed her glasses, her gaze fixed on her Master’s back.

  There was no hesitation. No doubt. Only silent agreement.

  Angie’s bangs lifted as crushing pressure surged from the others.

  “I will join you.”

  This was her final directive. The words echoed through the air as Olivia’s vampiric wings spread wide.

  Keleanos forgot to breathe as the thick pressure took over. He saw angels, demons, and agathions walking in a trance, surrounding the one who was leading them.

  He could only walk backward as the battle turned into something outrageous.

  Something no mortal should ever witness.

  A choreography of chaos.

  Yivern halted at a measured distance, its eyes locked onto the group glaring back at it.

  It spread its arms wide as a piercing, echoing scream tore from its mouth.

  Feathers peeled away from its wings and hovered in the air, all of them aimed at Olivia and her maids.

  For a long breath, they stared at one another, letting the weight of the moment settle.

  Then it began.

  The feathers fell.

  Everyone scattered.

  Angels withdrew, demons dispersed, and agathions vanished from sight.

  Olivia advanced alone, the black jewel clenched in her hand. The glare on her face carried more menace than words ever could.

  A feather screamed through the air toward her.

  She leapt, the motion sharp and nearly invisible, cleaving the projectile in half and drawing her blade back to her side.

  Another followed immediately, skimming the ground at terrifying speed.

  At the last instant, Martha emerged from the void, split it apart with a void blade, and vanished again.

  Ahead, Eden and Alice charged without hesitation toward Yivern’s appendages scraping across the asphalt.

  Without exchanging a glance, they pressed forward.

  A feather swept past Eden as she stopped short. Alice slid beneath it, twisting as she rose.

  Darkness wrapped her wrist, extending into a long blade. Her dark gauntlet knife shattered the returning feather as Eden sprinted past her.

  The usually composed maid spread her hands, two chakram glowing into existence within her palms.

  She hurled them in quick succession, retreating again within a heartbeat.

  The weapons arced upward, striking the sides of an appendage. The limb did not budge as they phased partway through it.

  Olivia moved again, her eyes burning red.

  She drew her blade and slashed through the air, tearing open a wound before her.

  Darkness bled from the opening, revealing Yivern beyond. Between two breaths, she thrust her sword through the gap, straight into the Devourer.

  The massive creature shuddered for a fraction of a second as its ability to phase slipped from its grasp.

  Eden’s chakram returned, this time striking true.

  They carved through the Devourer’s flesh, leaving the severed section dangling by a thin strand as black blood poured freely.

  Alice raised her hand before her chest. As Eden ran past, dark tendrils erupted from the spilled blood.

  They lashed upward like living whips, wrapping around the tentacle-like appendage and wrenching it downward.

  With a nauseating sound of tearing flesh, the limb separated completely, vanishing into the pooling blood as though swallowed by an endless depth.

  Yivern roared and lowered its upper body, the ground buckling under it. Giant cracks began to spread outward, reaching far and wide.

  It dragged its right hand across the ground, obliterating everything in its path toward Olivia.

  She yanked her blade free from the dark wound, but too slowly.

  As the avalanche of rubble surged toward her, she braced herself.

  In the wake of destruction, Laure and Rene stood firm.

  They thrust their hands forward, weaving threads of black matter around the Devourer’s fingers.

  Zara appeared beside Olivia, forming a shield of void large enough to cover them both.

  The dark maids pulled back, their feet skidding across the ground as they fought the immense force bearing down on them.

  With clenched teeth and visible strain, they held the arm in place.

  Still, shattered asphalt, cement, and stone continued to crash toward Olivia.

  The crimson-haired maid braced, her arms trembling as debris slammed into the shield.

  Fragments flew overhead until the onslaught slowed.

  Unable to hold the shield much longer, Zara’s arms were yanked upward as the force of the impact dragged her along with the debris.

  Pulled into a dangerous posture, Zara found herself blocking the remaining rocks with her bare hand.

  Martha was not about to let that happen.

  She appeared directly in front of Zara and Olivia, recreating the shield in an instant.

  She held it just long enough for the last of the carnage to pass before hurling the construct aside.

  Yivern’s other hand swept in from the opposite direction, poised to crush them both.

  Martha spun, seized Zara, and warped them farther away. Olivia lashed out with a dark whip, dragging herself clear.

  Helen and Helena sprinted toward Laure and Rene, vaulted over them, and ran up the dark threads with light blades drawn.

  At the last second, they leapt forward as feathers severed the threads, snapping after them in pursuit.

  They sliced through the monster’s fingers. Landing against its flesh, they turned to face it.

  Raising their hands overhead, they exhaled together.

  A sphere of light rapidly formed, pulsing like a living heart. From afar, three beams from Niya, Marisa, and Sonia streaked through the air and merged with the growing core.

  The sphere condensed into a mass of pure radiance, intense enough to scorch anything it touched.

  At its peak, it burst outward, releasing everything it held toward the Devourer’s face.

  Helen and Helena retreated just before the light engulfed them, while Yivern’s upper body vanished within the blinding radiance.

  For a brief moment, they all breathed, a chance they could only take now.

  It did not last.

  With a furious howl, Yivern tore free from the light, scorched but far from broken.

  The battle was only beginning to sharpen.