Maids VS Apocalypse

"Hmm~ huhum~ hmhuhuhummm~"

The humming of a single man echoed through a dimly lit tunnel, his cheerfulness contrasting the gloomy atmosphere. He continued on the same path for a long time before stopping at a seemingly inconspicuous spot and turning to face the wall.

A chaotic mural spread indefinitely on either side, depicting the efforts of countless artists who didn’t hesitate to make use of the abandoned canvas.

The man stared at it for a while as if it was his first time coming across such a creation. Once he was done absorbing the sight, the man cleared his throat and focused his mind.

In a few seconds, lights flickered over his hooded head and quickly formed a ring of countless symbols. The ring rotated clockwise, slowly at first but then picked up the speed. The symbols forming it blurred until their shapes could no longer be distinguished with the naked eye.

"Open sesame!" The man said.

The words themselves had no power, but he enjoyed saying them nonetheless. The graffiti covering the tunnel wall moved and warped without making a sound. The chaos dispersed, and at the center of it all a single door of light formed.

Without a care, the man stepped through the light and the gate vanished a second later.

"I’m back! Did any of you miss me!"

His cheerful greeting was met with nothing but silence. He looked around and found nothing, not a single soul within the vast Hall of Doors—only a spacious empty room with a ridiculously high ceiling.

"Where did everybody go?"

"CLYDE BARROW!!!"

A voice came from the far end of the room, drawing the man’s attention. Turning in its direction, he held a hand to his forehead and squinted his eyes as if looking at the source of some bright light.

A man entered through the large double doors. A single look was all it took to recognize his standing in comparison to the hooded man.

He was draped in red robes embroidered with golden threads, the quality of which seemed too high for the common to afford. He was tall with long flowing hair and had the looks to make most women faint. Unfortunately, the anger twisting his expression ruined what should have been the face of a handsome man.

"Oo~h! What a surprise!" The hooded man had already recognized the speaker from the voice but still put effort into acting surprise. "If it isn’t my good friend Zhang Tianmu! Never thought a Priest like you would come all the way here to welcome me!"

"I’m here to admonish you for your tardiness!" Tianmu hissed. "Do you think the Lord’s work can wait at your convenience? Explain yourself, Barrow!"

"Calm down, no need to be so on edge." Clyde held his hands in front of him. "You know how I do things. Schedules aren’t really my thing."

"THEN YOU SHOULD CHANGE THAT! YOU ARE IN MY SERVICE RIGHT NOW! I GIVE YOU THE ORDERS AND YOU MUST FOLLOW!"

The angry shouts echoed in the empty hall then faded into silence. Clyde was stunned while Tianmu kept glaring at him, his shoulders rising and falling.

"Sheesh, what got you so worked up?" Clyde asked while removing his hood and mask. "If it’s that urgent, why not give me a call?"

The priest’s thin eyebrows twitched and the veins on his forehead bulged.

"Because you turned off everything..." Gritting his teeth, Tianmu tried to hold it in. "You better have a good reason, or else..."

"Oooh! Right, sorry about that. I was working on that little project of mine, you see."

"What little project?"

"Nothing serious. Can’t an old man have some fun from time to time?"

"This isn’t the time for you to be having fun..."

Though he wanted to yell at him again, the priest seemed to realize that nothing he said would have an effect.

"Just... get ready to move out..."

"Wha-" The old man’s eyes shot open. "But I just came back!"

"Then you should have stayed put as you were ordered."

"Seriously now..." The old man seemed to deflate, his shoulders slumping and his slowly arching. "Couldn’t it wait a day or two?"

"The preparations have been completed." The priest sighed. "The Ritual will be carried five days from now. You are to report to His Highness immediately. He has an important task for you to take care of." 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

Flourishing the long sleeves of his robe, he was about to turn around and leave when the old man let out a gasp.

"Could it be... did his Highness send you out to look for me?"

And just like that, the composure Zhang Tianmu worked so hard to regain was shattered and the empty hall was filled with shouting once again.

~[ ]~

[

WARNING!

Your current actions go against the contract signed by ■■■■■■ Lara Becker. Please cease such actions immediately or risk terminating the contract.

]

When the System screen manifested in front of him, Mark went completely still. Before he could read the words written on it, however, a devastating blow to his stomach sent him flying into the air.

Only once he fell to the floor did he get the chance to do so, and when he did, the reality of what he had almost done came to him in the form of an unbearable pain.

After hearing the commotion, the members of Squad Four rushed to the apartment they dined in a couple of hours ago.

They spotted the boy collapsed on the floor of his bedroom and drew their weapons on reflex, but when they saw the state his maid was in it didn’t take them long to figure out what happened.

At that time, Mark was hanging on to consciousness by a thread. He struggled to take hold of his imaginary controller, even though the action required only his thoughts.

He wanted to buy himself a potion and heal the blow that sent him flying into the ceiling, but even if he were able to complete the purchase drinking the solution on his own would have been impossible.

Franco rushed to his side, took out a vial filled with clear green liquid, and poured its contents into his mouth. In just a few seconds, color returned to the boy’s face and he was able to breathe properly once more.

Elya was less concerned about him and more about the maid hugging herself in the corner of the room. After checking on her, the petite Peace Keeper equipped her broad sword and went to teach the boy a lesson about keeping his hands to himself.

There was no need for an explanation as everything seemed clear to her. Alex stood in the way, however, and thanks to his efforts Mark got to live and see another day.

The first thing Mark did when he regained the ability to speak was tell Lara that she could leave. Until then, she was stuck with him inside the bedroom unable to take a single step outside.

As soon as he said the words, she quickly left without turning back. watching her go, the thread he held onto snapped and darkness enveloped his mind.