Furious.
Absolutely furious.
Such a rare opportunity, and it was interrupted like this.
If it weren’t for Aphrodite being here, Bella would have long since taken action to give Alice a good lesson.
Besides, she still had some unresolved scores with Alice.
Bella lifted her head, her gaze instantly turning cold as she looked at Alice, her displeasure plain to see.
“Miss, my Master has just been through a fierce battle and is very exhausted. She needs support. As for you…”
Bella glanced at Alice’s condition.
“Although you seem a bit incapacitated, you appear quite vigorous. So I assume you’re not seriously hurt. Please calm down and patiently wait until you recover.”
“Calm down?!”
“I can’t even move right now! And you guys just left me hanging here! And you! Who are you?! How dare you hold her?! Let go immediately!”
Watching Bella hold Aphrodite like that, Alice felt an inexplicable irritation welling up inside her.
Bella, hearing this, didn’t let go; instead, she tightened her hold on Aphrodite, chin slightly raised, as if asserting ownership while staring at Alice.
“Excuse me for not introducing myself earlier. My name is Bella, Master Aphrodite’s Personal Maid. It is my duty to take care of the Master—her meals, clothing, daily safety, and personal services including bathing—all fall under my responsibilities. As for letting go… I’m afraid you’ll be disappointed. The Master currently needs my care.”
Bella emphasized the words “bathing” with added weight.
Then, tilting her head slightly, she showed a perfectly polite but emotionless smile and retorted, “But you, you seem particularly concerned about other people’s duties?”
“Personal Maid?!” Alice completely ignored the long-winded explanation Bella gave.
She had no desire to listen to all that.
“So you’re this personal? And where were you earlier? If it weren’t for me just now—”
“If it weren’t for you what?” Bella’s eyes suddenly sharpened. “I admit I was negligent in the Master’s injury. But if it weren’t for you taking the Master away without any notice, this wouldn’t have happened.”
“Frankly speaking, if not for your inconvenient actions just now, the Master wouldn’t have had to face that monster’s desperate counterattack alone and end up exhausting all her strength. Look at her now…” Bella tightened her hold on Aphrodite even more as she spoke.
Lies don’t hurt; the truth is the sharpest blade.
A calm statement of the other party’s fault often strikes deepest.
This was Bella’s tactic.
Since she couldn’t directly teach Alice a lesson, she would at least enjoy the satisfaction of verbal sparring.
“You’re… talking nonsense!” Alice trembled with anger.
Were it not for the lingering paralysis effect, she would have jumped up and “debated” with this sudden Personal Maid.
Aphrodite, held tightly in Bella’s arms and facing this verbal confrontation, felt dizzy.
They had just barely dealt with a monster and narrowly escaped death.
By all rights, this should be a time for celebration.
Yet for some reason, she felt the current trouble was even worse than before…
Aphrodite shook her head to clear it and softly said, “Enough, Bella,” lightly patting Bella’s arm.
Feeling the gentle touch and that familiar, kind tone, Bella’s tense posture softened immediately, the fierce aura dimming a bit.
She lowered her head and mumbled quietly, “…But Master…”
Aphrodite wearily rubbed her brow. “Alice did help me a lot.”
At least the rescue at the crucial moment was real.
“Master,” Bella grumbled in dissatisfaction.
“As for Alice,” Aphrodite turned toward the still defiant Alice, “Bella is my… family. She only worries about me, without ill intent.”
Though her words were blunt.
“And also, thank you for saving me just now.”
This sudden thanks and gentle attitude caught Alice off guard.
The anger she had bottled up suddenly deflated like a punctured balloon, leaking most of its air.
She opened her mouth but finally just scoffed, turning her head away. “Hmph! Good that you know!”
Watching the temporarily diffused tension, Aphrodite breathed a sigh of relief.
She knew Bella all too well—this girl responds better to softness than hardness, especially from her.
As for Alice, despite her arrogance, she wasn’t bad at heart.
A sincere thank you was more effective than ten scoldings.
Aphrodite leaned wearily against Bella’s chest but cast her gaze toward the black core sphere still radiating a terrifying aura in the distance, as well as the huge Monster Corpse sprawled on the ground.
They had to find a way to deal with it.
Just as Aphrodite pondered the next move, the core suddenly stirred.
Rumble——!!!
It wasn’t a loud noise but a deeper, more terrifying rumble, as if the entire space was groaning and twisting!
A thick black Corruption Wave, like ink, radiated from the core sphere, spreading wildly in a circular pattern!
Wherever it passed, the air hissed corrosively, the ground instantly charred and cracked, even light was swallowed up, plunging the surroundings into suffocating darkness!
“Ah—!” Alice, still paralyzed and defenseless, could only emit half a scream before the dreadful Corruption Wave slammed into her, knocking her unconscious instantly.
“Master!” Bella’s pupils contracted sharply!
At the moment the wave hit, she instinctively pressed Aphrodite tightly against her chest!
At the same time, the Demonic Bloodline Power within her erupted under the violent Corruption!
A faint, dark purple patterned glow surfaced around her body like a sturdy shield, forcibly withstanding the terrible impact!
“Ugh!” Bella grunted, her body shaking violently.
The force was overwhelming! Even with her Demonic Bloodline’s natural resistance, she couldn’t fully repel it.
But even so, she didn’t budge an inch.
Not only did she protect herself, but she also absorbed most of the impact in front, firmly shielding Aphrodite in the relatively safe glow behind her.
The Corruption Wave came fast and left fast.
When the suffocating darkness and rumbling faded, the surrounding environment was a complete mess.
The ground was blackened and cracked, the grass and trees withered to ash, the air thick with a pungent stench of blood and intensified corruption, far stronger than before!
Aphrodite, sheltered in Bella’s arms, was affected too but not nearly as violently as Bella.
“Bella! Are you alright?!”
“I’m fine, Master… I’m fine…”
Aphrodite’s gaze quickly scanned the area and immediately spotted the unconscious Alice.
Seeing her breathing steady, she relaxed.
Her eyes then returned to the massive black core sphere.
The sphere… had swollen by a full size!
Its surface no longer writhed slowly but boiled violently like molten lava!
Countless pitch-black cracks spread and widened over the sphere’s surface, spewing even more ferocious, unstable Corruption!
“This is bad…”
“It can’t be this unlucky…”
Premium Chapter
Login to buy access to this Chapter.