Family system

Due to the massive bodies of the monsters slamming into the ground next to the cities, you could feel the tremors of their impact. Most people in the city stood ready for when their army failed; they would keep themselves safe, but that hadn't happened yet and had never happened before, so that was just a precaution.

Inside the mansion in the middle of the city, Elise stood on top of the highest balcony, from which she could look at the city wall and its activities. She would sometimes go here to find a place to relax, but this place was built for her to keep an eye on the city's defenses.

She laughed hard when she saw those stupid big monsters falling out of the sky by the defense towers. She personally asked Amaterasu to imbue a bit of her mana in those formations so that they would be extra strong, and looking at the result, it seems that it wasn't a waste.

Fiona stood behind her like a professional maid. Not one ounce of emotion was seen on her face—no happiness, no sadness, nothing. Not even a small smile or a judgmental stare that people would give Elise if they saw how she was behaving now.

The mature maid stood behind Elise. When she noticed that her master's cup of tea was almost empty, she quickly took hold of the teacup and filled it up. Elise also stopped laughing after a while and caught her breath. "Fueh, that was something."

Elise was in a good mood as she saw those monsters being killed in front of her city. She also saw that the people she put a lot of resources into were performing well. Most of the people she invested in were now commanders and were leading some squads to exterminate monsters or defend the city from them.

She liked what she was seeing, but the monsters kept coming out of the portal, and she frowned. This was much more than expected, and even though not much time had passed, she wanted her soldiers to spare some energy for later. Just when she was thinking about what to do, she saw Fiona filling her cup of tea.

A bright idea shone in her mind, and she stared at Fiona with a twinkle in her eyes. Fiona, who was trained to serve her master, felt the stare on her body, so when she was done pouring, she looked at her master. "Is there something that I can do for you?" Fiona and Elise were almost the same age, but their status was different.

Although it didn't matter much for Jack what position they wanted the women like Fiona and Ayana wanted to keep being his maid and not be excused from their status. They found it smart because how else could they take advantage of their position and comfort him every morning and night that he is in the mansion.

"Yes. Could you go out and fight some of the monsters so that my soldiers can rest for a bit? I know that they can hold on for much longer, but I don't want them to spend too much energy this early on." Elise was just thinking about her soldiers and what the best way to have them work more efficiently later is for them to have some experience now and rest for a bit and then take over when Fiona is done with this 'wave.'

"As you command master." Fiona bowed and then jumped off the balcony. Find exclusive stories on My Virtual Library Empire

Fiona landed gracefully on the cobbled streets below the mansion's towering balcony, her combat boots clicking softly against the stone. Her pristine maid uniform rippled with mana circles that were woven into the fabric. The chill of her icy mana radiated subtly from her figure, frosting the edges of her uniform's cuffs and hem.

"Time to work," she murmured, her voice devoid of emotion.

With a flick of her wrist, Fiona summoned twin crystalline daggers, their translucent blades shimmering with frost energy. Small spirals of cold mist trailed behind her as she dashed toward the city gates at a speed that blurred her figure, leaving an icy trail in her wake.

Fiona's sharp gaze locked onto the city wall as she strode through the stone-paved streets, her footsteps eerily silent despite her brisk pace. The cold aura radiating from her chilled the air.

Sharp screeches from the scythe-wielding monstrosities cut through the air, followed by the whistling sound of enchanted arrows loosed from the city's archers. Fiona's expression remained unreadable; her mind was calculating every sound carried on the chilled wind and hoping to hear where she was needed the most.

As she approached the towering city gates, she saw flashes of magical barriers flickering to life, absorbing incoming attacks with blinding bursts of light. The air crackled with residual mana, mixing with the acrid scent of scorched earth.

From where she stood, she caught sight of a leaping mushroom-headed beast crushed mid-air by an explosive mana burst. Jagged spikes of summoned stone erupted from beneath another wave of abominations, reducing them to twitching piles of corrupted flesh.

The faint shimmer of barriers traced the towering city walls like living veins, pulsating with defensive magic imbued by the hands of Amaterasu and Kali. The magic resonated faintly with Fiona's own icy aura, sending tingling sensations up her fingertips.

She narrowed her eyes, watching another portal twist open, spilling more twisted abominations onto the battlefield. The growing swarm moved with eerie precision, converging like locusts seeking to devour the city's defenses.

"They're getting bolder," Fiona muttered, ice-laced breath crystallizing in the cold air around her lips. With a single breath, she vanished again and reappeared atop the fortified city wall.

Fiona's sharp eyes scanned the mass of abominations emerging from the purple portals. Scythe-wielding creatures surged forward in waves, their glowing stars radiating corrupted mana. In the distance, she spotted a group of ranged beasts lining up for another attack.

The air grew colder around her as she took a breath. Without a moment's hesitation, she leaped from the wall, frost following her. She landed with grace, the impact sending out a pulse of icy energy that froze the corrupted earth beneath her boots.

Before the monsters could react, she was already moving. Twin blades flashed with precision, severing limbs and piercing monstrous hearts. Each strike froze corrupted flesh instantly, leaving behind shattered remains that disintegrated into brittle ice.

A twisted, eyeless beast lunged toward her, its claws shimmering with dark energy. Fiona sidestepped fluidly, her body moving with practiced grace. With a swift twist, she sliced across its chest, ice rapidly encasing its grotesque form before shattering it with a brutal follow-up strike.

Breathing steadily, she advanced deeper into the fray, her expression cold and focused. The soldiers on the wall saw her tearing through the enemy ranks and redoubled their efforts,

The monsters wouldn't stop—but neither would she. She would follow her master's order no matter what.

Fiona exploded forward again, her twin daggers flashing like lethal streaks of light. She tore through the frontlines of the monsters with ruthless precision, cutting down scythe-wielders before they could react. Blades arced in fluid strikes, severing limbs and ripping through armor as if it were paper.

A hulking, mutated monster with spiked arms lunged at her, snarling with rage. Fiona twisted her body mid-air, narrowly dodging its brutal swing. Her dagger found its throat a heartbeat later, carving deep and silencing its monstrous growl. Before it could collapse, she vaulted off its dying form, launching herself toward a cluster of bow-wielding fiends taking aim at the soldiers below.

Arrows hissed through the air. Fiona spun, her daggers flashing as she deflected one, two, then three arrows in rapid succession. Closing the distance in an instant, she plunged her blade into the closest archer's chest before twisting it with brutality. Pivoting, she kicked off its falling body, launching a spinning strike that cleaved through two more monsters in a single fluid motion.

Suddenly, she felt an ominous pulse of magic and whirled just in time to see a group of flute-bearers begin their eerie song. The ground rippled beneath their cursed melody as reality twisted. Fiona's eyes narrowed. She didn't hesitate.

She hurled one of her daggers through the air. The icy blade spun end-over-end before embedding itself in the nearest flute-bearer's skull, cutting its haunting tune short. The distorted magic stilled, and she was already upon the rest, retrieving her dagger mid-slash as she decapitated another with precision.

A sudden roar from behind signaled the approach of a massive scythe beast, its golden-star-marked chest glowing ominously. It lunged with terrifying speed—but Fiona was faster. She sidestepped its deadly arc, her second blade slashing upward in a vicious counterstrike.

The monster reeled, clutching its wounded torso, but she showed no mercy. A spinning kick smashed into its head, sending it crashing into its comrades.

Before the survivors could recover, Fiona charged in, cutting through them in a whirlwind of death.