NOVPUB[Vol. 5] Chapter 167: Avrilia Constantius
The attack came so suddenly that, apart from Violet, who had been monitoring both above and below while hidden, neither the noble girl who was shot nor the maid slumped against the wall seemed to have time to react.
In fact, even as dark red blood splattered onto the face of the dazed maid, her breathing gradually steadied, but she still hadn’t fully recovered from some earlier shock. She sat there motionless, failing to respond to the grotesque scene.
This only added to the eerie strangeness of the moment.
*Thud.*
The girl in the tight bodysuit leaped down from the shadowed heights. Her tall boots, which seemed almost fused with her skin and clothing, made a soft sound as they touched the ground.
Without warning, she already had in her hand a metal tube that was almost as tall as she was, and that looked very much like a “firearms” in Violet’s memory. The attack that had just pierced the noble girl’s head from above was fired from this thing.
The mysterious woman approached the fallen noble’s body, silently examining the “corpse” for a moment. Then, without hesitation, she raised a silver blade engraved with faint runes and light, and aimed it straight for the heart!
*Clang!*
However, before the blade could strike, a dark red flash shot out from the shadows. The bodysuit girl immediately leapt back, narrowly avoiding the massive axe blade that swung past where her neck had just been. The force of her retreat was so strong that she crashed into the wall behind her with a loud *bang*.
“Well, that was a quick reaction. I’ve heard tales of the ‘Inspectors’ prowling the shadows of the Angel City, hunting down any heretics who dare to invade. I thought they’d be something terrifying, but turns out it’s just a delicate little girl~”
“But your blood… Ah, I see. No wonder I couldn’t sense your presence earlier~”
At some point, the fallen body of the noble girl had dissolved into countless blood-red bat-like shadows that soared into the sky. A new, unharmed version of her slowly emerged from an even deeper part of the shadows.
The noble girl now carried a massive blood-red axe, which seemed to have transformed from her delicate hand fan, and was far larger than her own body. She walked back to where the slumped maid was, the spot where she had stood earlier.
Seeing the bodysuit-clad girl straighten her back again without saying a word, the noble girl frowned slightly. She then effortlessly set the enormous axe, which must have weighed hundreds of kilograms, down beside her as though it were a feather.
Afterward, she politely lifted her dress with both hands and performed an impeccably proper noble bow.
“I am Avrilia Constantius. I am the Grand Duchess of the Blood Clan’s third-generation. Though your sneak attack disgusts me, the fact that you avoided that strike proves you are worthy of being my opponent. Before we fight, state your name.”
“……”
However, the mysterious girl, still holding her firearm, remained silent.
Her only response was to aim the dark barrel of the gun back at the blood clan girl in front of her, as though that was the only answer she intended to give. It was as if she didn’t understand a word the noble girl had said—neither mocking nor acknowledging her.
This stubborn indifference and lack of recognition quickly caused Avrilia, the self-proclaimed Grand Duchess, to frown once more. She stomped her foot in a slightly childish but dissatisfied manner, though her tone grew increasingly dangerous.
“Hey, are you deaf? How dare you be so rude to a lady? I’ll kill you, you know?”
“……”
*Sigh.*
The dead silence continued. Eventually, Avrilia let out a sigh of resignation and snapped her fingers.
*Snap.*
As if startled awake by the sound, the maid girl who had been slumped in the corner with no reaction to the outside world suddenly opened her blood-red eyes, swaying slightly as she stood up. She approached Avrilia and came to a halt beside her like a puppet on strings.
Like handling a cherished vase, the blood clan girl lightly traced her slender, jade-like fingers across the exposed white neck of the maid, also caressing the bright bite mark on her neck that resembled a blooming flower, laughing softly as if to herself.
“Really, it’s rare to find a delightful child like you. I didn’t even get the chance to fully turn you into my possession before running into an interference… Oh well, it seems we have no fate together. I’ll let you go this time.”
As she spoke, Avrilia’s blood-red eyes glimmered with an unusual light, as if it were imprinting upon the maid’s heart. Her tone abruptly shifted to a deep, magnetic resonance.
Seemingly ignoring the mysterious girl glaring at her from across the way, Avrilia gently lifted the maid’s smooth chin, causing their similarly blood-stained eyes to meet in the air. 𝓷ℴ𝓿𝓹𝓾𝓫.𝓬ℴ𝓶
“Nothing will happen tonight. It will be a peaceful and tranquil night… Go home, go back, sleep soundly, and then forget everything you saw here. You’re a good child who listens to your sister’s commands, aren’t you~?”
“Yes… Sister…”
Seeing the maid girl stare blankly with her dazed eyes and respond in such confusion, Avrilia nodded in satisfaction, pulled up the front of her dress that had slipped down, and snapped her fingers again.
Thus, the maid turned around, moving like a puppet that had received an order, and clumsily staggered into the shadows, gradually disappearing from sight.
After finishing all of this, the blood clan girl leisurely stretched, then picked up the massive axe resting beside her with one hand, swinging it casually a few times like a toy, creating a powerful whooshing sound as it sliced through the air.
“You’re quite patient, aren’t you? I thought a despicable guy like you would try to sneak attack again while I was busy with my post-meal tasks~ Hmm… Could it be that you’re afraid of hurting that little girl from earlier? Oh dear, that’s really a misstep. If I had known, I would have taken her as a hostage or something~”
However, even with such deliberate provocation, the mysterious girl, wrapped in her tight-fitting outfit and nearly blending into the night, still did not respond. She simply maintained her stance, aiming her weapon—something resembling a sniper rifle—at Avrilia, as if ready to fire at any moment.
At this point, the blood clan duchess, who had been ignored three times, seemed to lose her interest in further pointless chatter. Her vividly blood-red eyes turned completely icy as she slowly raised the massive axe in her hands.
“Then… die!”
The blood-colored glint sliced through the night sky, instantly descending upon the girl, splitting her body… without any suspense, into two halves.
“Ah?”
Seeing this, even Avrilia, who had launched the attack, momentarily froze, her expression showing visible surprise and confusion.
It seemed she hadn’t anticipated that this seemingly mysterious and powerful enemy would be so easily defeated, unable to withstand even this probing assault, let alone evade it.
Clearly, before…
“Wait!”
Almost instantly, the blood clan girl reacted, instinctively flapping the bat-like wings that had appeared at her waist, trying to fly high into the air!
But with this movement, countless bloodstains abruptly emerged all over her body, eliciting a piercing scream from Avrilia, filled with agony.
“Yahhhh!!!!”
