Several hours later, the courtyard was bathed in the warm golden glow of the setting sun. Its fading rays draped Lucian's residence in a tranquil wash of amber light, softening the outlines of the mansion and lending the residence an almost idyllic serenity despite the strange tension lingering in the air.
Jingliu, Baiheng, Himeko, March, Stelle, and Evernight—who stood beneath her black umbrella as though carrying a patch of eternal darkness wherever she went—were scattered throughout the courtyard.
Some sat quietly beneath the shade of the trees, while others remained standing, but no matter how relaxed they appeared on the surface, their attention repeatedly drifted toward the tightly shut door of Lucian's room.
It was as though everyone was silently waiting for whatever was happening inside to finally come to an end.
"So..."
Unable to bear the increasingly awkward silence any longer, Stelle scratched the back of her head before speaking.
"Is the VIP in there still getting dealt with? Mm... that's some serious endurance. Respect."
The remark sounded strangely suggestive, yet, technically speaking, it wasn't entirely inaccurate.
"I don't know who it is, but those screams..." March crossed her arms and shivered. "They sounded way too miserable. What the heck could she've done to make Lucian torture her like that?"
As soon as the words left her mouth, she instinctively began replaying every interaction she'd ever had with Lucian, carefully searching her memory, wondering whether she had unknowingly offended him somewhere along the way.
Fortunately, after giving it considerable thought, she came up empty.
Beside her, Baiheng's fox ears twitched excitedly, her eyes sparkling with irrepressible curiosity.
"Whoever made him step in personally and caused this much of a mess definitely isn't just some ordinary person! Now I'm even more curious!"
Her fondness for watching other people's drama truly was something she simply couldn't change.
Jingliu, meanwhile, remained silent from beginning to end. One hand rested calmly on the hilt of her sword as an almost imperceptible trace of sword intent quietly circulated around her, invisible yet unmistakably present.
Honestly, she didn't care who was inside that room.
God or mortal, if that person posed even the slightest threat to Lucian, she would draw her blade without a single moment's hesitation.
Needless to say, her instinct to protect her husband had long since become second nature.
Not far away, Himeko gracefully sipped from the fresh cup of coffee she had brewed earlier. Her composed smile carried a hint of quiet amusement as she glanced toward the closed door.
"I've never seen him torture anyone before..." Himeko remarked thoughtfully. "Whoever it is must have committed unforgivable crimes. Otherwise, it simply wouldn't make sense."
As she spoke, her gaze naturally shifted toward Evernight.
Evernight merely smiled in return, her expression as inscrutable as ever, revealing absolutely nothing.
Just then, a series of light footsteps echoed from the entrance of the mansion.
"Oh? Everyone's here? Why are you all gathered so neatly today? Holding a meeting in the courtyard? Who are you all waiting for?"
A familiar voice rang out with curiosity.
It was none other than the Master Diviner of the Divination Commission, Fu Xuan, who strolled into the courtyard with her signature twin tails swaying gently behind her. Compared to her usual dignified demeanor, she appeared noticeably more relaxed.
After an exhausting day buried in official duties, returning home to find so many familiar faces naturally lifted her spirits.
Unfortunately, that pleasant mood lasted only a few seconds as she quickly noticed that something felt... off.
Why did everyone have such strange expressions?
And why did they all keep looking toward Lucian's room?
"Hm?" Fu Xuan blinked in confusion. "What's going on? Where's Lucian?"
Before anyone could answer...
*Creak—*
At last, the door that had held everyone's attention for hours slowly swung open.
Lucian was the first to step out.
He looked completely refreshed, wearing a thoroughly satisfied smile, as though he had just completed an extraordinary masterpiece rather than whatever had transpired inside the room.
Right afterward, the person quietly following behind him came into view.
In an instant, nearly everyone's expression froze, their pupils visibly contracting.
It was an extraordinarily beautiful woman with a graceful figure and breathtakingly seductive features. Yet instead of carrying herself with the confidence that someone of her beauty should have possessed, she kept her head lowered as she obediently followed one step behind Lucian like a frightened little quail that didn't dare stray too far from its owner.
She wore a maid outfit that had apparently been found somewhere inside the house, though it was noticeably disheveled. Several damp patches still hadn't dried completely, and a lingering blush remained across her cheeks.
Her timid eyes never dared to meet anyone else's gaze, yet hidden deep within them was an unsettling trace of yearning that felt strangely out of place.
For a brief moment, countless questions flashed through everyone's minds.
Who was she?
Why was she dressed like that?
And what exactly had happened inside that room?
Especially those agonizing screams from earlier... could it be they hadn't come from someone being beaten at all, but from something else entirely?
It went without saying that the sheer volume of information was enough to overwhelm anyone trying to make sense of it.
Aside from March and Stelle, who remained completely clueless about the situation, only Evernight knew the actual truth.
Meanwhile, Jingliu, Baiheng, Himeko, and Fu Xuan had unknowingly imagined the exact same scandalous scenario.
Lucian casually swept his gaze across the women gathered throughout the courtyard before smiling as though nothing unusual had happened.
"Alright, this is my new maid." Lucian stepped slightly to the side and casually tilted his chin toward the woman standing behind him. "She'll be taking care of the housework while also serving as the muscle around here."
Lucian's simple gesture was all the instruction Phantylia needed.
Her body trembled almost imperceptibly before she immediately stepped forward without the slightest delay. Stopping before the gathered women, she lowered herself into a deep bow, her alluring voice carrying the gentle softness of a young woman.
"I am Phantylia. Beginning today, I shall be responsible for serving Master Lucian, as well as all the madams and young madams. Should I fail in my duties in any way, I humbly ask that all of you punish me accordingly."
After finishing her introduction, Phantylia remained bent deeply at the waist, not daring to lift her head even slightly.
She appeared humble.
Pitiful.
And utterly helpless.
For several long seconds, no one spoke, causing a deathly silence to descend over the courtyard.
"Holy crap..."
At this moment, the only sound in the courtyard was the gentle rustling of leaves as the breeze swept through the trees, accompanied by Stelle's unconscious murmur.
Fu Xuan, meanwhile, had frozen completely.
Her eyes widened until they were nearly round, and her lips parted ever so slightly in utter disbelief. It felt as though a starskiff had crashed straight into her mind, leaving every coherent thought shattered beneath the impact. Her brain buzzed relentlessly, refusing to process the utterly ridiculous scene unfolding before her.
'Phan...tylia?'
'Which Phantylia?'
'Is it the Phantylia I know? A Lord Ravager of the Antimatter Legion? An Emanator of Destruction?'
'She's... wearing a maid outfit... standing here... introducing herself with such humble, old-fashioned speech... saying she'll serve us?'
'And she's even asking us to punish her if she makes a mistake?'
Fu Xuan felt as though her mind had completely overheated, to the point where smoke might start pouring out of her ears at any second.
Compared to this, simultaneously resolving large-scale divination conflicts across all Commissions suddenly seemed like a relaxing pastime.
"W-Wait!"
Fu Xuan abruptly snapped back to reality, practically shouting as she stared at Lucian.
"Lucian! Who did you just say she was? Phantylia? Is she really the Phantylia I'm thinking of? Where in the universe did you find an actress capable of pulling this off? You're messing with me, aren't you?"
She would rather believe Lucian had somehow hired the greatest cosplay actress in the entire cosmos to prank her than accept that the obedient maid standing before them was truly the infamous Lord Ravager whose name alone had plunged countless civilizations into fear.
'Yes... that has to be it. I've been working too much overtime. I'm hallucinating.'
Fu Xuan wasn't the only one rendered speechless.
Himeko had stopped halfway through lifting her coffee cup, and the graceful composure that usually rested upon her face had vanished entirely, replaced by unconcealed astonishment.
As a Trailblazer who constantly journeyed across the cosmos, Himeko knew the reputation of the Lord Ravagers all too well.
Among them, Phantylia was infamous for destroying faith itself.
She excelled at sowing despair within civilizations, patiently watching them collapse under the weight of their own corruption before ultimately delivering them to Destruction.
Someone so terrifying had become Lucian's maid?
And now she was about to serve them as though nothing had happened?
Nearby, Jingliu's fingers unconsciously tightened around the hilt of her sword. A cold gleam flashed across her crimson eyes as her gaze remained firmly fixed on Phantylia, every instinct urging her to draw her blade and eradicate evil where it stood.
Yet the sight before her completely disrupted that instinct.
Seeing the once-dreaded Lord Ravager standing there with her head lowered, her posture humble, her expression meek, and not the slightest trace of hostility, even Jingliu found herself strangely uncertain about what she should do in the face of such an absurd contrast.
Baiheng's fox ears stood perfectly upright while her mouth formed a perfect O of disbelief. Her gaze darted back and forth between Lucian and Phantylia again and again, as though sheer repetition might convince her that she wasn't imagining the impossible.
Even Evernight, who had maintained her composure throughout the entire ordeal, paused almost imperceptibly while holding her umbrella.
Although she had already known the outcome in advance, witnessing a Lord Ravager reduced to such a state with her own eyes still carried an overwhelming visual impact that no amount of prior knowledge could diminish.
"An actress? Nope, I don't got time for something like that."
Lucian smiled faintly before casually reaching over and rubbing Phantylia's head with the ease of someone petting a well-behaved cat.
"She's the real deal. I captured this Lord Ravager earlier today... Actually, scratch that. Former Lord Ravager. Current Maid Phantylia. Right?"
As he spoke, Lucian gave Phantylia's head a gentle pat.
As his hand slowly stroked her silky hair, Phantylia's body trembled once more. A faint blush gradually spread across her cheeks as she lowered her head even further, her voice soft enough to barely rise above a whisper.
"Y-Yes... Master is correct. I... I was once a Lord Ravager, but now... I am my master's maid..."
Although her voice stammered, there wasn't even the slightest hesitation in her reply.
Phantylia had completely accepted her new identity.
"A maid?!" Fu Xuan nearly felt her blood pressure shoot through the roof. "Is she really safe? What if she stabs us in the back? We can't just invite a wolf into our own home!"
"No worries. I trained her myself." Lucian answered without the slightest pause. "Of course she's safe."
Naturally, he had every reason to be so confident.
With the Law of Calamity constantly observing Phantylia, there was nothing for him to worry about. As soon as even the faintest trace of malicious intent appeared within her mind, he would know immediately.
And if that day ever came, he wouldn't waste any more effort trying to reform her.
He would simply seal her away once again—or kill her outright.
Hearing Lucian speak with such unwavering certainty eased the women's concerns considerably. Even though the situation still felt surreal and bizarre, none of them doubted his judgment.
In the end, after taking a deep breath to steady herself, Fu Xuan eventually regained enough composure to think about the practical consequences.
"Should we notify the Alliance?" Fu Xuan asked, giving Phantylia a sidelong glance. "I think we should report this first so there won't be any misunderstandings later."
"Sure. Go ahead and notify them." Lucian nodded calmly. "If they have any questions, tell them to come ask me directly."
He wasn't worried that the Xianzhou Alliance would misunderstand him.
He was worried they would misunderstand Phantylia.
After all, she no longer possessed the overwhelming combat power of an Emanator of Destruction. If one of the Xianzhou Alliance's Arbiter-Generals attacked her on sight, she wouldn't have the strength to resist.
Receiving Lucian's approval, Fu Xuan immediately retrieved her jade abacus and began operating it at astonishing speed, her fingers dancing across its interface with practiced precision.
Even as she drafted the report, however, she couldn't begin to imagine how the Xianzhou Alliance's upper leadership would react upon learning that one of the Antimatter Legion's infamous Lord Ravagers had somehow become Lucian's personal maid.
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[A bonus chapter for reaching 400 Power Stones]
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