With less than ten seconds left until the poison supposedly killed her, she reached her hand into the pouch and felt nothing. Nothing. She moved her around some more and still nothing.

("N-no, she couldn't have?") She desperately searched the pouch of the maid to no avail. As the final second passed she finally had the thought to search elsewhere on her body. But three minutes had passed and she would be dead in a few moments… if she was a normal human that is.

She continued searching her body until finding the vial tucked in her chest. After ensuring she swallowed the whole thing, she made sure to heal Avis and pressed her head against her heart to ensure it was still beating.

Beat. Beat Beat. Beat Beat Beat Beat

After a few moments, it sounded her heart maintained a steady pace again. After searching some more she found another vial hidden, this time on a leather strap on her leg that held various of them. She continued finding these vials in parts of her except her pouch.

"Tch, what a petty woman. I can bet you don't even have a lover." Elizabeth commented as she poured one of them in her mouth.

("Though I always suspected it, I guess this confirms it. I'm resistant to poison. I remember Vanessa giving me alcohol to get me drunk because she found it funny but after I became a saint she quickly stopped when it didn't happen with the usual amounts… I really should pay her back for that.")

Back at the Wisteria Mansion, Vanessa didn't know why but she could feel an unexplainable chill run down her spine.

Elizabeth looked at the now-healed Avis. She unravelled the wire she had wrapped around her hands and made a discovery she had no more wire on her.

("So that's why she chose to do some pugilism at the end of our fight. She probably did not have an opportunity to unwrap the ones on her fist.")

She looked around the room filled with wires and remembered those in the manor.

("I'm surprised I didn't realise she had so little in the first place.")

After wrapping the wire tightly around her arms and legs, to the point they had cut into her skin, she looked at the woman on the floor and sighed.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

("So it's a draw. Tch, if she didn't mislead me into thinking the antidote was in her pouch, I would have a clean victory.")

She contemplated kicking the maid but after their battle, she decided to show her opponent some respect.

("I know I could have probably easily dispatched her if I still had access to my magic but it still feels bitter regardless to know I would have died if I didn't have this body.") As she made excuses for this performance a more pertinent question came to her mind.

("In the first place why did she even attack me? Did she think I was working with those cultists or maybe those men they had attacked together with Tibaut? I'll have to question her later.")

Her sword had been pushed out of Avis's body when she healed and she could only look at it with regret. It was in rough shape. It had scratches and nicks to the blade all over and a layer of the blade had been cut off with the women's wire. She sighed and prayed to her Goddess that Vanessa would be able to fix it.

It could still be cut and she used to cut the sleeve off of Avis. She used it to stop the bleeding in her arm that had been cut to the bone.

("Well, I should be able to heal back from this, right?")

She looked at the cut to her chest and the one lower and already felt exhausted trying to explain them away once they healed.

("For the time being I'll focus on ensuring everyone's safety. First, Tibaut, then the others.")

She considered the possibility that Tibaut was in the manor due to the frequency of explosions she had heard during her fight but at some point during her fight, they had stopped. If Tibaut was in the mansion this did not bode well, but if it was some experiment of the lord she could quickly rush back to the others to help her find him. She walked up towards the window and looked in it to see her reflection.

The bruising was beyond her expectations and she sighed at the fact someone other than her master caused these injuries but she soon made her way outside the ballroom and headed back up the stairs. As she did so she noticed someone crawling along the floor towards the stairs. As soon as they noticed her they hurriedly scurried to one of the rooms on the floor.

This caught her attention.

("I hope it isn't him. If he's been reduced to crawling I can only imagine the state he is in.") She thought as she followed them into the room. When she opened the door she saw…

Several minutes earlier.

As Tibaut landed his counters while Albus attacked, he started to wonder if he was attacking in futility. He was managing to get solid hits but Albus moved like he was unaffected while each punch Tibaut made had him wincing. A change of tactics was in order and he began to only target a specific part of his body. He kept going at his shoulder to no avail. He carelessly let his frustration cloud his mind and Albus scored a punch on him.

He managed to block in time but it felt like being hit by an iron pipe and it had him backing away while flicking his arm in pain.

"Ow, you mother fucker!" Tibaut shouted.

"The deal's still available if you want to leave the estate."

His answer was sending a fireball into his face.

As he ran through it, Tibaut tripped him and sent him to the floor. He quickly stomped on his head and had to back away when Albus reached his hand to grab his leg.

As he got up, it looked like the floor had gotten more damaged than his face.