Chapter 197: Heading Off

『Status』

[Name: None]

[Race: High Elf]

[Status: Happy]

[Level: 52/100]

[HP: 600/600  MP: 800/800  SP: 200/200]

[Strength: 160]

[Defense: 160]

[Magic: 160]

[Speed: 160]

[Luck: 1]

[Charisma: 50]

[Skills: [Body Enhancement] [Wind Magic] [Concentration] [Spirit Manipulation] [Enhanced Senses] [Greater Enhanced Elven Hearing] [Enhanced Regeneration] [Earth Shattering Blow] [Immovable Mountain Stance] [Earth Shattering Kick] 

[Body Modification: [Fairy Wings]

[Titles: [Maid] [Hardworker] 

…

"I am delighted to serve you personally. If there is anything you need, I will immediately get it. If there is anybody you need me to kill, I will immediately do it. If there is anything you need with me, I will immediately follow so, please don't hesitate to use me… Mistress," The elven maids say with a face filled with determination. 

Loyalty is pretty nice… 

"Sure… Now let's go. I don't want to waste any more time," I say while exiting my castle. 

"Yes, Mistress!" I hear my maids shout once again, making me click my tongue in annoyance. 

… 

"Okay~ Get ready for the terrible smell," I say to my maids, who followed behind me. 

Since 2 of my maids couldn't fly, we were forced to tread on the ground. My beastman and elven maid tried to convince me that they would catch up to me later, but I, of course, declined as there was no way they were going to catch up. 

No matter how fast you run on land, there will always be obstacles. But in the air, there is nothing… just air. Maybe a few monsters fly around, but killing them is sufficient or just moving slightly out of the way if you need to clear the path. 

"Mistress, is the smell really that bad? I haven't been here before," The beastman maid says. 

"Yeah, and if you don't want to throw up, then deactivate [Enhanced Senses]... unless you're looking to puke your guts," 

"As you wish," All my maids say in unison. 

As soon as they give me a nod of confirmation, we all walk forward towards the murky red water. 

The horrendous smell soon filled our sinuses, making me gag instantly while it seems my maids weren't having a problem. Either they were trained to suffer so much, or they're just that good at suppressing their real emotions. 

"Mistress, please take your time," The elven maid says, stepping next to me, clearly worried about my state. 

"I'm fine," I say while letting out a deep breath and taking in only small puffs of air. 

We continue our tread through the murky red water while frowning upon the sight. 

"Disgusting," I mutter. 

The rotting corpses of not only my fallen soldiers but the human soldiers. Normally, you would've thought flies would be buzzing around the corpses… but things much worse had gathered. 

Every monster that resides within the [Blood Swamp] had gathered. Blood Piranha, blood shark, blood gator, blood stalker, a few of the imps, and finally… the large horde of blood crawlers. 

They feasted on the flesh of the corpses, their armor, the dirt, the grass, the saliva, the fluids… everything. They didn't leave a single thing missing before moving on to the next pile of corpses. 

"KEEEEEEKKKKK!" I hear an ungodly screech come from beside us. 

It was a blood crawler staring directly at us, clicking its mandibles while vibrating its throat, creating the ear-piercing sound. 

My maids flinched slightly as they knew what was to come.

The rest of the blood crawlers who feasted on the corpses snapped their heads in our direction, causing my maids to step back in fear slightly.

They weren't scared of the overwhelming amount of crawlers but the collective bloodlust and killing intent they released. 

"Hey, if you want to be my personal maids, then you can't waver from just this," I say, turning to my maids with cold eyes. 

I could visibly see them shiver in fear from my cold eyes. It looked as if they saw the incarnation of the devil himself… not that they'd know who that is. 

"Y-yes, Mistress," My maids reply in unison. 

My beastman maid summoned a long sword that was completely white and glowed with bright moonlight. On the contrary, my fire harpy maid summoned a long sword that was completely yellow and glowed with bright orange sunlight. 

And my elven maid… she just pulled out a bow from under her dress… kinda weird. 

"That's unnecessary," I say, snapping my finger while tilting my head in the direction of bloodthirsty crawlers.

[Ancient Fire Magic: Amaterasu] 

All the blood crawlers went up in black flames, causing them to screech in agony. 

The faces of my maids paled after seeing the sight that I created, but I myself smiled and praised myself at how I could easily take down the detestable creatures that gave me trouble a few weeks ago. 

"M-mistress?" My elven maid stutters. 

"Let's go… The nuisance is gone," I say, snapping my fingers once again. 

[132015 XP gained in total]

[You have leveled up (6x)

The black flames instantly disappeared, revealing the ash that started to spread throughout the murky red water below us. 

"This should be a good time to use my new blood minions… the ones already existing are gone after I assimilated the skill... so the ones I placed on those Next Heroes are such a waste," I mutter before activating [Summon: Blood Slime Wings]. 

Like in the skill description, a bird made completely of red slime with veins flowing with blood appeared. I could manipulate the size, shape, weight, and even how self-aware it was… with just a thought. 

After testing their maximum capabilities, I then spread them out. I gave them the order to be about the size of my head until they come in contact with a human. Only then will they latch onto them and shrink themselves to an almost invisible size. 

"Well, invisible is more like the size of my pinkys' thumbnail…."I mutter as we continue to tread through the water. 

I tried to make the birds bigger than my head, but whenever I tried, they would instantly explode into a red pulpy mess that was stickier than glue…, so in the end, I couldn't create a ride fit for all of us to fly on. 

… 

A green forest. 

It looked like the beginning forest for games. I didn't play them much, but they didn't just take place in games… Light novels, anime, movies… It looked like the starting forest for all of those forms of media. 

As we stepped out of the blood-red water and onto the lush green grass, we traversed through it, but no monsters were to be seen. 

"They're running away, not even stalking us… just fleeing on sight," My beastman maid says, scanning the area. 

"It's cause your aura and presence are leaking. For me, I don't need to worry about my presence as it has been encapsulated within a skill, and my aura is easy to suppress… so you need to try it out," I say, stopping in place and turning towards my maids. 

"As you wish," My maids say in unison while bowing deeply. 

They all immediately sat down on the lush green grass, but I gestured for them to stand up as I wanted to find a suitable place to rest… 

"I am a queen. Do you think I should be sitting on such sullied soil?" 

"Forgive me, Mistress, I have no excuses," My maids say in unison once again. 

They were talking in unison so much that you would've thought they had a hivemind or something. 

"Stop talking in sync. It's so gross," I say after seeing my maids stand up. 

After a few hours of walking through the seemingly endless green forest, we arrived at a small pond that was no bigger than an inflatable pool. You could fit about 5 people inside of the pond before everybody starts struggling to breathe. 

"Start practicing here while I relax in here," I say. 

But before the maids sat down, they immediately knew what to do and helped me take off my clothes. They then found a rock close by and folded my clothes neatly before placing them on the rock. 

"Okay, start practicing- HOLY SHIT!" I shout after dipping my slender white foot into the pond. 

The water was cold, so I immediately got my fire harpy maid to heat it with [Fire Magic]. I still don't have enough control over Amaterasu, so I might end up burning up the whole pond… but I guess I could refill it with [Grand Water Magic]... but the water that comes from [Grand Water Magic] is so weird. It almost feels rough instead of smooth…

"I guess it is water made for attacking... oh yeah, thanks," I say before waving my fire harpy maid off. 

She once again sat down on the lush green grass with the other 2 maids before crossing their legs. They then closed their eyes and started to focus on their aura. 

"Seems I didn't need to teach them how to sense their aura… good thing I brought along such highly skilled warriors," I mutter to myself while dipping my foot into the now warm water.