Zara, a stern beauty with crimson hair, appeared as discreetly as Alisa.

Carefully watching her steps, she entered Orion's blind spot as the others contained his attention.

A visible bead of sweat rolled down her cheek. Avoiding making any sound, she placed her arms under it to catch it.

On the opposite side, Martha was doing the same. Her short stature and small steps were perfect to maintain a low presence. Watching out for her dark hair not to brush her clothes and make a sound, she avoided stepping on a rock.

Both knew that Alisa had failed her attempt, and since she was the most dangerous of the assassination team, it placed even more pressure on their shoulders.

The point wasn't to fight Orion. It was to push him out of the circle. Once this became the focus, it made it somehow easier.

Not that pushing him out was easy, but it was a beginning.

But, as expected, Orion was aware of their presence. His instinct screamed that two people were coming on both sides.

With the same satisfied smile on his face, he kept his gaze forward, toward Marie's group.

'Let's see how they deal with attacks that reveal their position.'

Orion lifted his finger, pointing it toward the sky.

A small orb of light focused at the tip of his hand as a halo appeared over his head.

"!"

The two women stopped moving, fearing that they had been discovered.

When Orion released the orb, it traveled toward the sky before exploding into a rain of light.

The harmless attack fell down toward the ground, bathing the surrounding area in magic.

As drops rained down on them, Zara and Martha began to observe their trajectories.

Gritting their teeth, they dodged each one of them with such mastery that not a single drop fell on them.

Even while hiding their presence, they managed to remain hidden through their careful motions.

'Incredibly interesting! They are doing even better than I was expecting!'

His smile threatened to break his composure, as the two maids managed to avoid the glowing energy from attaching to themselves.

With silent steps, they came near the circle, directly into his dead zone.

"There's one detail you've forgotten to consider."

The halo above his head glowed brightly.

"Your footsteps are glowing."

They looked behind them, staring at the glowing ground. Each of their steps had been releasing particles, making it more than obvious that they had been ambushing him.

"Damn it! Martha!"

Zara leaped forward and stepped into the circle. She grabbed Orion's left arm and pulled him.

"..."

The smaller maid bent her knees before placing both hands on the ground. Swiping her right foot under Orion, she hoped to help Zara pull him out of the circle.

*Blast*

A powerful shockwave came out of Orion's core, pushing the two women away. Zara's feet slide on the ground, while Martha's butt scrapped the rough dirt as she was pushed away.

Orion worriedly turned to Martha, who immediately stood up and dusted her maid outfit.

'Those maid outfits are made of some interestingly resistant matter. I wonder how much they can sustain before ripping.'

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He turned to Zara and aimed his palm at her.

"Heh?"

Confused, she felt a powerful force pull her toward Orion.

Her feet scrapped the ground before fully leaving it, unable to fight the energy.

"Got you."

Orion grabbed her right arm and gently pulled her toward him.

Her back, suddenly glued to his chest, made her freeze and blush instinctively.

Placing his hands on her shoulders, he began to analyze her outfit, which he had never thought about before.

"Zara!"

Martha jumped forward, prepared to recover her friend. But Orion lifted his finger in her direction.

"You stay there for a moment."

An immense pressure dropped on her body, forcing her to kneel hopelessly. It was enough to stop her movement, causing no injuries whatsoever.

"The power to manipulate spatial laws is incredible, don't you think?"

Talking to the crimson-haired maid with a smile, Orion returned to looking at the outfit.

"A-Ah... Yes, it is."

Confused, Zara nodded and agreed with him. The others carefully observed what was happening.

"This feels supple but tough at the same time."

He pulled a part of her skirt, careful enough not to embarrass the lady. Carefully pulling and stretching it, he nodded.

"That's incredible. I'm glad I got the opportunity to see this. You should go see my daughter if you want improvements to your outfit."

"Thank you."

Lightly pushing her out of the circle, Zara's vision warped before she found herself next to Martha, freed from the pressure.

"Are you alright?"

Grabbing her arm, Martha shook Zara.

"I am. The fact that nothing happened is actually shocking."

These women were used to seeing abusive men. Those who tried to itemize women and those taking advantage of them. They were aware of that.

But Zara noticed that all he was interested in was her outfit. His touch was mindful of her body and, in a way, warm and comforting.

She came to understand why her master was so fond of this particular man. Not as a maid who respected him, but as a woman.

Like Marie, she felt a true sense of devotion, which most of them already began to develop.

It was going past the simple closeness of their master and friend toward Orion, and developing into true understanding.

They wouldn't mind giving their all for him, as much as they did for Olivia.

But it was only a developing seed at this point. Something else needed to happen to solidify their unconscious thoughts.

"What are you two doing?! Stop daydreaming!"

Orion's halo turned into a dark goop, vanishing into his shadow. Stretching toward them, his shadow released whips that aimed at sealing their movements for good.

Sonia, Marina, Laure, Angie, Isa, Chloe, Claire, Grace, Marisa, Rene, Helen, and Helena, the remaining members of the maid squad that only recovered, ran toward them.

Laure, a light blonde woman with very long hair, jumped horizontally toward the two shocked maids and wrapped her hands around them before pulling them out of the way.

"Thanks, Laure!"

"Are you alright?!"

"I'm fine. Get your mind straight, now!"

They nodded before standing up.

"I'll take care of it!"

Marisa, one of the children taken from noble families by Olivia, stood right in front of the dark whip.

She had light-brown hair, with a hairstyle showing with certainty that she was someone from a high standing.

"..."

As one whip fell toward her, she slapped it away with the back of her hand.

"She's not the only one knowing martial art!"

Claire, who had been abandoned in the sewers as a child, was now a different person. Without the ring to protect her, her true self came out. Her black hair, hiding her right eye, revealed it as she kicked the one approaching Marisa from the side.

"..."

The amount of whip emerging from his shadow began to overwhelm them before a few others came to support them.

"There's too many to deal with!"

"It reminds me of the time we fought those corrupt."

Isa suddenly slid in front of them and grabbed a whip before being pulled by it in the air.

"Good times!"

Using the momentum of the drop, she made a backflip kick and destroyed three of the whips with one attack.

The orange-haired maid, slightly on the tomboyish side, smiled as she picked herself off the ground.

"Behind you!"

As she turned around and noticed a whip swiping at her, two maids covered her.

"Be careful, damn it!"

"We can't always be behind you, you know?"

Helen and Helena, twins with dark blue hair, received the full blow without flinching.

One had longer hair than the other, which made it easy to differentiate between each other.

"Haha~ My bad."

Scratching the back of her head, Isa laughed.

Those five stayed there to focus on dealing with Orion's attack, which, all things considered, wasn't that powerful.

The remaining maids focused on rushing him.

Rene and Chloe, two shining gold beauties that were very similar in height and physique, approached Orion. One had a carefully cut bob, while the other had more unruly spikes that went down alongside her hair.

"Ey!"

Both went to punch Orion in the chest while he was focused on the others. At the same time, the athletic Marina, even with her maid costume, began to run behind them.

She made a cartwheel, flipped a few times to gather enough momentum, and jumped as high as three meters in the air.

Her flowing black hair, attached in a side tail on the right side of her head, followed her intense movement with perfection.

Drop-kicking Orion with her knee, she would be landing on him right after receiving the punches.

But it wasn't that simple. Rene and Chloe both went through his body, meeting no resistance at all. Confused, they turned around, only to be sent away by a shockwave.

Marina dropped on Orion. Instead of ignoring her, which would definitely cause her to suffer injury in contact with the ground, he grabbed her knee with his left hand and received the full power with ease.

"Wha-!"

Shocked, Marina was unable to move. All she felt was the force that sent her back and made her roll on the ground toward Marie and the others.

At least she had no injuries.

Grace, Angie, and Sonia surrounded Orion.

The first was a silver-haired beauty with frills and the rare heterochromia. Her left eye had a discreet gray color, while the right was a darker brown. To say that she wasn't special would be a lie.

Angie, the calmest maid of the group, had a light yellow color of hair that covered both of her eyes. It was to wonder how she was actually seeing, but she appeared unbothered.

Lastly, Sonia. She was the last one of the maids with the most frail build, but surprisingly, she was pretty strong. Moving with determined steps, she pushed her light black hair behind her hair while observing the other two next to her.

"..."

Without saying a word, Grace ran forward.

"Hawawa~"

Following behind her, Angie flailed her arms.

"Hmpf."

With a silent sigh, Sonia smiled and followed them.

Seeing them approach, Orion clearly confirmed that they weren't the strongest of fighters.

'Still, everyone has a job they are good at.'

Watching them flail their arms in his direction, he chuckled.

"Good try."

Their visions warped, and they found themselves behind Marie, Eden, and Alice.

"At least we tried."

"Y-Yes."

"This was expected."

Not demoralized by their failures, they smiled at each other.

"Ah!"

Suddenly, a massive whip of dark matter swiped the fighting maids on his right, back to the others.

The maids behind him felt the ground disappear as they fell into a portal, and their butt crashed on the ground where the others were.

"Alright, we've played enough."

Orion squinted his eyes.

"What about you three?"

Staring at Marie, Eden, and Alice, he dropped his face slightly.

"..."

Marie glanced over her shoulder. Both maids nodded, forcing her to sigh and close her eyes.

"I guess we have no choice."

Olivia suddenly straightened and leaned forward.

"Oh!"

Exclaiming, she opened her eyes wide.

'These three? Becoming serious? I want to see!'

It was unusual to see them act serious. Without their usual wildness, how would they actually act to win against Orion?

She was incredibly intrigued.

*Step*

Marie's boots echoed as she stepped forward.

"If you desire to see me fight, I will oblige."

Her eyes suddenly took an intense shape as she moved her arms swiftly over her dress.

The knee-high boots she was wearing reflected in everyone's eyes as she pulled out two long blades out of them.

"I don't usually show this..."

She stepped forward with her left foot.

"Just for today, I will let loose."

Marie leaped forward and disappeared.