From a jagged hole on the second floor of the castle, a rope was flung out, dangling to the ground.
Stella emerged first, clad in heavy chainmail. She gripped the rope tightly, sliding down with her legs flailing. Nearing the ground, she let go and landed hard on her ass.
Next came Sean, a longbow slung across his back and a hardwood crossbow in his right hand. After firing a few bolts into the hole, he wrapped his left hand and legs around the rope, zipping down to the ground in a flash.
Sean hauled Stella to her feet, and they bolted from the castle, heading for the birch forest behind it.
Last was Barrett, a burly figure. He stashed a massive shield into his spatial ring, then grabbed a black, jar-like object and lobbed it into the castle. Seizing the rope, he slid down with uncanny agility, hitting the ground in a single second.
The man yanked a throwing axe from his belt, hurled it at the rope to sever it, and sprinted toward the birch forest without looking back.
BOOM! A deafening blast echoed from the hole, as if the castle itself had sneezed. A cloud of gray dust spewed out, likely from the explosive device Barrett had tossed inside.
But then, long, writhing tentacles slithered from the hole, followed by a massive, pincer-like maw. One by one, creatures resembling giant cockroaches scuttled out.
Hot on their heels came praying mantises the size of grown men, spilling from the hole. Their razor-sharp forelimbs gleamed as their compound eyes swiveled in all directions. With powerful hind legs, they leaped toward the path the three humans had taken. Armored beetles, wriggling furiously, burrowed out of the castle, charging toward the birch forest.
An endless swarm of insects followed, clustering around a petite maid who emerged slowly from the hole…
Entoma Vasilissa Zeta stood atop a black armored beetle, racing toward the birch forest. Her mask-insect face betrayed no emotion.
She was a member of the Great Tomb of Nazarick's battle maid squad, an Arachnoid by race, and a master of commanding insects.
Barrett ran like his life depended on it, with Sean ahead of him, hauling Stella on his back. Who'd have thought this cleric girl was deathly afraid of bugs? The moment those oversized creepy-crawlies swarmed from all sides, her legs turned to jelly, and Sean had to carry her.
They raced toward EeDechi's position, desperate to warn their battle-hardened adventurer captain that another freakish enemy had shown up. Better to hightail it than keep tangling with that iron-fisted maid.
"What's the deal over there?" EeDechi shouted to Barrett's trio, parrying a blow from the iron-fisted maid with a single sword stroke. She'd already spotted the dark, writhing mass of bugs spilling from the castle and heard the stomach-churning sound of countless critters scuttling across the ground.
"Captain, another maid showed up, and she's controlling bugs! There's too damn many—we can't kill 'em all! Shit, I've been an adventurer for twenty years, and I've never seen anything like this!" Barrett panted, letting a rare curse slip.
The skittering of insects grew louder. EeDechi glanced up and saw a bizarre maid in a frilly dress standing amid a chaotic swarm of black bugs, their wings and tentacles twitching as they surged closer.
"Justice Value's at -100, pretty much pure evil," EeDechi noted, eyeing the number hovering above the insect maid's head. With a flick of her sword, she deflected a steel-clad fist swinging at her from behind, then gave a curt nod. "Alright, we take out the bug-wrangler first. We'll deal with the knuckle-duster later."
She twisted her body, spinning on her heel. Her left foot dug into the ground with a gritty scrape, kicking up a crater. Ignoring the iron-fisted maid glaring at her, EeDechi raised her sword and charged straight for the insect maid.
The insect swarm surged forward, a few critters latching onto Barrett, Sean, and Stella. Lucky for them, the bugs were more about numbers than strength, and they could hold their own for now.
Insect maid Entoma locked eyes with the adventurer captain, her voice syrupy sweet. "You're EeDechi, right?" With a flick of her maid's sleeve, a massive centipede burst out, its hundred legs wriggling, black pincers snapping as it lunged for EeDechi.
EeDechi shook her head. "Cut the crap." Planting her feet in a steady stance, she twisted her waist, muscles flexing as she swung her giant sword. The blade sliced through the air with a hiss, cleaving the centipede in two.
Entoma stepped back, her insect-like arms jerking upward. A yellow paper talisman fluttered out. "Thunderbird Talisman!"
The paper morphed into a blue thunderbird, zipping toward EeDechi and erupting in a crackling burst of electric sparks across her body.
EeDechi brushed off her clothes, a flicker of confusion in her eyes. "Huh? A talisman?"
Seeing her attack fizzle, Entoma's sleeve whipped out three more yellow talismans, each etched with red patterns. She shouted in a dainty voice, "Chidori Talisman! Sharp Slash Talisman!"
Gleaming blades of light shot at EeDechi from every angle. She spun her giant sword in a blur, deflecting the onslaught with a protective whirlwind of steel.
Her brow furrowed, and she roared, "You wanna play with talismanic scripts? You're not from this world! Time to die!"
Outside the manor, Sebas watched EeDechi's fight, his pupils shrinking in alarm. "OH NO! This adventurer girl held back against Yuri. Get Entoma out of there—now!"
But Sebas' warning came too late. EeDechi launched herself into the air, her giant sword crashing down with brutal force. Insect maid Entoma clearly sensed the danger. Her head snapped up, her mask falling away to reveal a jagged maw and contracting compound eyes—her true form exposed.
From her back, four long, segmented legs erupted, tearing through her maid outfit and crossing like shields in front of her.
Sword energy flared, and all four of Entoma's segmented legs were sliced clean off.
Her defeat sealed, a black armored beetle scooped her up and scurried away from EeDechi as fast as it could.
In her earlier fight, EeDechi had noticed the iron fist maid's Justice Value was 150, suggesting she might be under someone's control. To avoid harming her, EeDechi had fought with only about a third of her strength.
But this insect maid, with a Justice Value of -100 and wielding powers clearly not of this world, got no such mercy.
As Entoma fled into the distance, EeDechi took off after her. Just then, Barrett's desperate shout rang out behind her: "Captain, SAVE STELLA!"
The iron fist maid, abandoned by EeDechi mid-fight, was now charging at a stunned Stella, her massive steel-spiked fists raised. Barrett and Sean were tangled up with a handful of red-legged worms, too busy to help.
"A distract-and-conquer tactic?" EeDechi shook her head. "Eliminating evil should be the priority! No time to waste—I need to catch this bug-controlling, talisman-slinging freak and grill her for answers."
With that, she ignored the chaos behind her, gripped her sword, and leaped after the insect maid.
The iron fist maid closed in on Stella, the young cleric's life hanging by a thread. Sean, after shooting an arrow through the head of a green-winged bug, gritted his teeth, ditched his bow, and drew his short sword. Using a Martial Art, he broke free from the insect swarm and planted himself in front of Stella, barely managing to activate a defensive Martial Art: Iron Bastion.
For a ranger like Sean, who lived by his bow, close-quarters combat was not his strong suit.
His short sword clashed with the maid's fists. The blade snapped, and the hilt went flying.
The iron fist maid's left fist knocked the sword from Sean's grip, and her right slammed into his shoulder. Blood sprayed from his mouth as he crashed to the ground, his shoulder pierced by spiked mace-like studs, gushing blood. That arm was done for.
Seeing Sean crumpled before her, drenched in blood, Stella snapped out of her daze. She threw herself toward him, his pained grimace twisting her face with terror. Her trembling hands cast a healing spell, heedless of the iron fist maid looming nearby.
"Damn it! That jerk! Why isn't she saving her teammates?" Barrett fumed as he watched EeDeChi run off.
He knew if no one stepped in, Sean and Stella were as good as dead under the maid's spiked fists. Barrett raised his longsword, pinning a cockroach-like bug the size of a baby to the ground. He smashed a vial of insect-repelling magic powder, and a grayish-white mist spread out, scattering the bugs for a moment.
Seizing the brief reprieve, he pulled a throwing axe from his spatial ring. His burly arm wound back and hurled it at the iron fist maid.
The maid turned and swatted the axe away. Barrett twisted his body, launching two more throwing axes enchanted with flight magic. The spinning blades gleamed coldly, slicing toward the maid from above and below.
The iron fist maid had no choice but to spare Stella and Sean on the ground. She slammed her fists together, knocking the axes aside.
Barrett rolled to his feet, pulling a longspear from his spatial ring and thrusting it diagonally upward at the maid. As expected, she abandoned Stella as her target, turning to snap the spearhead clean off and charging straight for Barrett.
Staring down the massive spiked fist rocketing toward him, Barrett's heart sank.
The iron fist maid could trade dozens of blows with the captain, and he doubted he could even take a single hit from EeDechi. He knew he was no match for this brutal maid, but he grit his teeth and rushed forward anyway, hoping to buy some time.
Her spiked fist came like a tempest. In that critical moment, Barrett's years of elite adventuring kicked in. He yanked a kite shield from his spatial ring, planted it in the ground, and unleashed two high-defense Martial Arts in quick succession:
Martial Art: Unyielding Fortress!
Martial Art: Steadfast Shield!
It was like a battering ram slamming into the kite shield. The whole thing hummed with the impact, and Barrett, half-crouching behind it, felt his arms go numb.
But a top-tier adventurer doesn't just turtle up and take a beating. Barrett rose slightly from behind the Adamantine kite shield, thrusting a longsword out with lightning speed.
For the first time, a faint smile curled across the iron fist maid's refined face, framed by narrow glasses. She glided to the side, dodging the sword, and in a flash, appeared at Barrett's left…
Meanwhile, EeDechi hunted the insect maid, clashing with her several times. Each time, the insect maid fell back, outmatched.
Soon, EeDechi cornered her against the castle wall. With a Justice Value of -100, the insect maid had nowhere left to run. The adventurer captain sneered, raising her giant sword with both hands, ready to cleave her down.
A sharp cry rang out above her: "STOP!"
EeDechi glanced up, only to see a blood-red spear stabbing down from the sky!