With a clang, the black-clad man felt a sudden numbness in his knife hand. Instantly, a warm liquid began to stream from his palm. Ignoring his own injury, he barked to the companion behind him, "Go! Finish off Serena Feng, quick!"
"Yes!"
"You want to kill someone in front of me? You need my permission first." Miles drew his sword, stepping in front of Serena, and motioned for her to move aside.
The exit was already blocked by the black-clad men, so Serena could only retreat until she reached the wall, giving the battlefield to Miles. At the same time, the two maids at Serena’s side retreated with her.
Serena kept her eyes on Miles as he fought the black-clad men, completely missing how the maid on her left was quietly moving her hand behind her back...
Miles, born and bred as an assassin, was a master of killing techniques. After less than the time it takes to burn an incense stick in combat, Miles noticed something off about these black-clad men and couldn’t help but ask, "You’re not real assassins—why are you pretending to be?"
Hearing this, the black-clad men froze for a moment, exchanged glances, and silently agreed: since they’d been exposed, there was no need to keep up the act.
No longer bothering with assassin techniques, the black-clad men switched to their own fighting styles. This made things tougher for Miles, who now struggled against more than a dozen attackers.
Luckily, Miles didn’t need to kill all these black-clad men—he just had to buy enough time for Ninth Royal Uncle’s men to arrive.
The black-clad men seemed to realize this too. If the fight dragged on until Nolan’s men arrived, not only would they fail to kill Serena, they wouldn’t escape either. So, the black-clad men went all in, launching a reckless and violent assault on Miles.
Facing the increasingly fierce attacks from the black-clad men, Miles flicked his wrist, spinning his sword in a dazzling arc to deflect the assault. He cursed inwardly—Blossom Garden was too damn big. Why hadn’t Ninth Royal Uncle’s men arrived yet?
Serena was anxious too. Seeing Miles struggling, she hesitated, but still chose to activate her Smart Med‑Pack in front of everyone, preparing to draw her handgun. But just as she painstakingly lifted her many sleeves, the maid on her left moved.
That maid pulled a knife from behind her back and lunged at Serena. At the exact same moment, the maid on Serena’s right dropped her act of panic and hurled herself at Serena too.
Serena’s vision shifted—she instantly sensed something was wrong. She abandoned the handgun, quickly scanned her position, and cursed under her breath: "Damn it!"
There was no time to think. The knife-wielding maid was already stabbing at her, and the other was about to slam into her. Serena knew that if she got knocked down, it was game over.
Normally, with her skills, Serena could have dodged a two-way attack like this. But the gorgeous, heavy ceremonial gown was a deadly handicap—beautiful but suffocatingly cumbersome. She instinctively shifted into a fighting stance, but she was a step too slow, her movements nowhere near as sharp as usual.
Serena’s reflexes were fast, but she only barely dodged a fatal hit—the blade still drove into her shoulder. Blood gushed out, staining the golden gown red. She had no time to process the pain before the other maid crashed into her, slamming her to the floor.
"Die!" Both maids lunged at her, pinning Serena to the ground. One tried to wrench the knife from her shoulder, while the other clamped her hands around Serena’s neck, trying to strangle her on the spot.
"Ugh—" Serena grunted in pain, cursing her rotten luck and wondering who the hell these two maids really were.
"Who are you?" Serena was agile, but the elaborate gown made it impossible to kick the maids off right away—she could only grapple with them in a tangled heap.
The two maids didn’t say a word; they were utterly focused on killing Serena. As she struggled and fought back, the maid choking her finally lost her grip, but the other yanked the knife from Serena’s shoulder.
"Ah—!" The instant the knife came out, blood sprayed everywhere, splattering the maid’s face. Serena screamed in pain.
"Serena, are you okay?" Miles managed to glance over at her in the middle of the chaos.
Don’t blame him for not helping—he was already stretched to his limit. Just keeping the black-clad men occupied was all he could do.
"I won’t die." In the chaos, Serena managed to tear open her gown. Free from its restraints, her limbs regained their speed. The two maids were here to kill her, but they weren’t true martial artists—just unusually strong girls. Serena quickly gained the upper hand.
Serena bent her right leg and kicked upward, driving her knee into her attacker’s lower body. Normally this move was for men, but on women it worked just as well if you hit hard enough.
"Ah!" The knife-maid screamed, eyes flashing with humiliation and rage. Her glare grew even fiercer, but Serena didn’t care—anyone who tried to kill her deserved no mercy.
Serena took advantage of the maid’s pain, grabbing her hair. But with her left shoulder injured, she couldn’t muster enough force to fling her aside—she could only drag her off balance.
Her other hand wasn’t idle either—she clamped onto the maid’s knife wrist, trying to knock the weapon loose. The two of them grappled, rolling across the floor.
It looked chaotic, but the momentum was shifting in Serena’s favor. She managed to temporarily subdue the knife-maid and kick the other girl away. After a few rolls, Serena finally found her chance—she locked both legs around the neck of the maid who’d tried to strangle her.
This maid had been choking Serena the whole time—her neck was still marked with bruises. Facing the person who’d tried to kill her, Serena didn’t hold back. She lifted both legs, gave a sharp twist, and with a brutal crack, snapped the maid’s neck. Her head lolled, tongue protruding—dead in an instant.
Fast, ruthless, and precise—no matter how regal and dignified Serena looked, at her core she was still the same fierce, relentless woman, never showing mercy to her enemies. With one down, she could focus all her attention on the other maid. One-on-one, the girl was no match for Serena.
Honestly, if Serena hadn’t been caught off guard by these two maids, she would never have ended up in such a mess.
These two maids had never seemed special; they didn’t have the aura of martial artists. Serena had never imagined they’d pick this moment of chaos to attack her.
Still, from the look of things, the two probably decided to strike at the last minute—otherwise, Serena wouldn’t have had any chance to fight back.
After grappling with the knife-maid for a while, Serena finally wrenched the blade from her hand. Without hesitation, she raised the knife and drove it toward the maid’s heart. The cold steel was about to pierce flesh, but at the last second, the girl exploded with desperation. She shoved Serena away and scrambled to her feet.
People facing death can unleash terrifying strength. The maid, crazed and wild-eyed, sprang up from the floor, grabbed a solid redwood chair, and swung it down at Serena...