I Became the Maid of the Lout Prince

T/N: See the important announcement at the end of the chapter.

SLASH!

“ROOOOAAAR!!!”

Ethan’s sword strike, empowered by my Sharp Blade buff, cleaved one of the Kraken’s arms in a V-shape, as if chopping a large radish.

To be precise, he first sliced at a 45-degree angle with the sword in his left hand, then used the sword in his right hand to cut and deflect the falling piece of tentacle.

Regardless of how he did it, there was no doubt that his attack had been effective. Thanks to that, we no longer had to focus solely on dodging the creature’s attacks.

‘I thought we were going to die from fear.’

If this hadn’t worked, not only Ethan but also I, who was behind him, would have been crushed like dried squid.

If we were to die so gruesomely on this lake, not even Seriste’s grandfather could save us, let alone Seriste herself. Our weekend date would have ended in our miserable deaths.

It was fortunate that Ethan trusted me and swung his sword with full force until the end. If he hadn’t fought with all his might, the buff wouldn’t have been enough, regardless of its power.

‘They say support magic is more effective the higher the trust… which means…’

The thought that suddenly crossed my mind almost made things complicated, but I focused on the battle at hand for now.

What mattered more than how Ethan and my relationship might change in the future was whether we would survive this battle.

I hadn’t gotten into Luminor Academy just to die here to some event boss.

“Uh, uhhh…?”

Meanwhile, Ethan stood dumbfounded, still holding his swords, seemingly unable to believe he had actually cut off one of those massive tentacles.

I shouted with all my might to snap him out of his stupid expression.

“Focus, Ethan! Is this the time to be standing there like an idiot?!”

“Ah, got it!”

“Remember that sensation properly! With my support magic, you can cut through those thick tentacles twice!”

“Twice? So I can do it one more time?!”

“You just used both swords simultaneously! That’s already over, so from the next attack, use only one sword at a time! You’ll run out of strengthened attacks if you keep this up!”

“Ah, I see! I’ll be careful!”

The advantage of dual-wielding was the ability to launch powerful attacks with two swords, but it was somewhat vulnerable to support magic that used up more charges as one would technically attack twice.

Buffs like Sharp Blade, which increased cutting power for the next attacks, now essentially used up twice the number of charges.

Given that the same support magic couldn’t stack, each use had to be carefully considered. I hadn’t had time to explain this earlier due to the urgency of the situation.

‘Still, now that he’s actually cut through it once, he should have more confidence in cutting with a single blade next time.’

At the very least, he shouldn’t freeze up at the sight of an incoming tentacle and fail to act.

As a son of Harold, he should naturally have that much grit. [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

Of course, even with my buff, it was practically impossible for Ethan at his current level to take down the Kraken’s head, and I only had one effective means of attack, lacking both a dagger and a spirit.

Simply telling him to follow my lead was the best option in this situation.

“Ethan, the only way we can kill this monster with our current abilities is Mana Blast.”

“Mana Blast? You mean that spell that throws a huge ball of mana?”

“Yes. So while I gather mana to use Mana Blast, Ethan, you…”

“You want me to buy time against that thing? Leave it to me, Lilith.”

“…Yes, that’s right.”

Ethan understood perfectly before I could even finish speaking.

He nodded without hesitation, despite me clearly asking him to take on a dangerous role.

Of course, I couldn’t just have him buy time barehanded without any countermeasures, so I used Sharp Blade on Ethan again, just like before…

“Dodge, Lilith!”

“EEEEK?!”

Whoosh!

Ethan hugged me and lay down on the water’s surface, narrowly avoiding the Kraken’s tentacle that brushed past us.

I hadn’t noticed it coming from behind. Of course, I was partly to blame for letting my guard down.

“Th-thank you, Ethan.”

“Be careful, Lilith. You need to use Mana Blast to take this thing down, right?”

“…That’s right.”

Yes, Ethan was correct.

If I were to die foolishly here, Ethan would almost certainly die too.

While this was my unexpected second life, it wasn’t the case for Ethan.

Moreover, he had consistently appeared as a villainous and detestable character in other world lines, and this was his first chance to live a proper life.

It would be too much of a waste to let him die here.

“As I said before, you have two more strengthened attacks. Use them carefully.”

“…Okay.”

As Ethan received the buff, a faint swarm of mana rose around his body.

I stood up and immediately began chanting Mana Blast towards the enormous monster before us.

Whoosh!

The Kraken launched its next attack at me as soon as I started chanting for Mana Blast.

For a moment, I wanted to cancel the spell and run away, but once started, Mana Blast wasn’t a spell that could be abandoned midway.

Besides, having decided to trust Ethan completely, I couldn’t stop here.

Slash!

“ROOOOAAAR!!!”

Ethan used his first strengthened attack to protect me from the tentacle that flew at me as soon as I started chanting. [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

The first chance was used up so quickly before I had even chanted a quarter of the spell.

Although it would have been better to wait for a more opportune moment, that would have only increased the mana needed for Water Walking, reducing the power of Mana Blast. It was an unavoidable choice for a stable spell.

Fortunately, the massive Kraken, having had its tentacles cut several times already, hesitated to launch its next attack after this one was thwarted.

That time gave me a bit more opportunity to continue my chant.

“…All mana that dwells! Pure power…”

‘Just a little more!’

My Mana Blast was nearing completion as I gathered every bit of mana in my mind.

As my chant lengthened, the size of the mana sphere forming above my head gradually grew larger.

When I had chanted about three-quarters of the spell, a second slashing sound reached my ears.

Slash!

“ROOOOAAAR!!!”

‘…That’s the second.’

With this, the charges of the buff I had cast on Ethan were completely used up.

The timing was tight. As long as it didn’t suddenly behave erratically, my spell should finish first without any issues.

Whether by close calculation or luck, I was able to complete the spell just before the creature’s next attack came.

With the final part of the chant recited, the massive sphere of mana in my hand was launched towards the Kraken of the Abyss.

“…Release! Mana Blast!!”

WHOOOSH!!!

…And simultaneously, the creature’s final attack came flying directly at me.

Since it was an attack aimed precisely at me, not Ethan, it wasn’t something I could avoid by simply moving my body or hiding underwater.

Having risen to Level 12, with some luck, I might not die in one hit… but honestly, hoping for such a future would be nothing short of a miracle. [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

Well, it couldn’t be helped. In fact, this plan was rather amateurish from the start. After all, we hadn’t come prepared for a battle with this creature.

When I first devised this strategy, I thought if we were lucky, we might both survive. Ending with only one of us dying was actually better than expected.

“LILITH!!”

“……”

…It seems I won’t be able to answer his confession after all.

If I had known it would end like this, maybe I should have at least given him a white lie.

No, perhaps if I had just done what Ethan wanted from the beginning, regardless of the Saint’s power or whatever, I might have felt less guilty.

As I was resigned to my fate, hoping for a quick death to minimize the pain, suddenly someone’s shadow blocked my view.

…It took a moment to realize it was Ethan’s shadow.

CLANG!!

“…Ethan?”

Despite having used up both charges of Sharp Blade, Ethan appeared boldly before my eyes, lunging at the tentacle with his dual swords.

His reckless appearance almost made me wonder if I had miscounted the number of uses.

However, there was no longer any glow of mana around Ethan, nor were there any signs of Sharp Blade being active on him as he swung his swords before me.

Ethan’s expression, wielding dual swords against the giant boss monster’s sucker, was more serious than anyone else’s. [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

…What was even more surprising was that Ethan was actually “deflecting” the Kraken’s tentacle.

“…Huh?”

My mind momentarily froze at the impossible scene unfolding before my eyes.

Even though we had inflicted some damage during the battle so far, there was no way the current Ethan could withstand the Kraken’s attack.

Contrary to my thoughts, Ethan was there, sweating profusely, parrying the massive tentacle before him with his two swords. 

At the tips of those blades, bursts of energy that looked like blue flames were occasionally leaking out.

Wait, if it’s that color of energy, could it be…

‘Don’t tell me Ethan has already become a Sword Master…’

BOOOOOOOOM!!!

Just as that idle thought crossed my mind, a massive explosion was heard from around the Kraken’s head.

Simultaneously, the tentacle that was about to crush Ethan and me was flung into the air as the Kraken’s body lost balance and collapsed.

“We… survived…”

Splash!

“…Urgh?!”

Ah, right. I don’t have any mana left for Water Walking, either.

…Shit. I can’t swim.

T/N

Hello! Axiomatic here.

Important announcement!

I will be going on break starting now until my academic break! It’s time for my finals again, and the workload is increasing, so I’ll be back by Aug. 14. I don’t want to compromise the standard of my TL quality because I’m busy, so this is for the best. 

No bonus chapter for today; it will be posted when I return.

Apologies for the inconvenience, and see you then!