Amidst the continuous low rumblings, people on the beach began to collapse one after another.

After squeezing out the limited magic power and converting it into a mental impact that knocked down most of the people, Sullivan breathed a sigh of relief. His originally pale complexion had visibly improved.

Thirty percent of his energy was sustaining the illusions of the fiery Angel, Aya, and Tiran, leaving only ten percent for the enchanting Vivian, with no more room to spare.

As long as he continued to maintain it at this moment...

"Wait, what is this...?"

? !

In Sullivan's shocked gaze, one figure among those who should have fallen as per his design managed to prop themselves up and climb to their feet.

With shoulder-length cherry blossom-colored hair, her distinctive features instantly revealed her identity to Sullivan, who had been lurking in the castle for almost a month.

While previous intelligence had confirmed the housekeeper's considerable strength, Sullivan hadn't expected her to withstand a wave of mental impact while already affected by illusions and unprepared.

"Darn it, I was so close to toppling His Highness!"

The housekeeper remorsefully pounded the ground with her fist... Seriously, what on earth happened inside your illusion?!

Sullivan really wanted to mock this, but when he made eye contact with Mimi, he had no extra thoughts to spare for that.

With zero combat strength left to maintain the illusions, and Johannes needing to lead the ensnared Vivian out of the castle, whether he could call him back to deal with the housekeeper was uncertain. If he delayed too long and couldn't sustain his magic, he'd probably be killed by the awakening of the three Holy Rank figures in an instant.

While he was contemplating a strategy, Mimi had fully regained her senses. After scanning her surroundings, her gaze locked onto Sullivan before flames ignited at her feet.

"Is this your doing? Tsk, Shuma warned me but I still fell for it, what a slip-up by the housekeeper."

Mimi's blue pupils turned red, and the cherry blossom-colored ends of her hair flickered with flame-like contours as she activated her fiery demon state without hesitation.

She had to fight with all her might to delay time for that guy, Johannes.

Drawing his sword and standing still, Sullivan felt powerless in his heart.

"Let me be your opponent, Housekeeper."

However, just as these words left his mouth, in Mimi's stunned expression, the ground beneath her suddenly lurched. The sand sank rapidly like quicksand in the depths of a desert, while countless serpentine vines sprouted on both sides and viciously charged towards Mimi, who had fallen into the pit.

Although Mimi promptly ignited the magical flames around her, the confined space limited the spread of the fire. Coupled with the onslaught of countless attacks and relentless strikes, the vines overwhelmed Mimi and knocked her unconscious in the sandpit after a round of ruthless consecutive blows.

...

Witnessing this scene completely, Sullivan couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat. Was this what Vera had been up to all those days? Had she buried plant seeds even on the beach?

While he had spent so much time preparing illusion mediums and scouting the castle, Vera had been entirely laying out the groundwork for herself. Who knows how many similar preparations she had made.

That girl had probably turned the castle into her own little arena long ago.

"I'm kind of relieved she's on our side now."

Sullivan chuckled wryly, or rather, she's just having fun. It's purely because she finds my and John's plans amusing.

Up on the distant cliff, the sounds of battle continued. It seemed that even Vera's strange plants couldn't swiftly defeat the two high-ranking swordsmen who were on guard.

But, this should work. All obstacles were eliminated, as long as Johannes led the Queen to safety first, and he could leave afterward, then the mission would be a complete success.

However, this idea didn't last for even a minute.

Just as he turned to check Johannes' position, a violent dizziness surged to his head, causing Sullivan to stagger.

"How...? Is the mental strength needed to maintain the illusion of the Silver War Maiden increasing?"

Sullivan's eyes were filled with disbelief as he glanced at the Miss Tiran who was still serving the cake in the illusion.

What on earth did she see in that illusion?! Why was there such an intense consumption?

...

The answer was actually quite simple.

Of course, Sullivan could never have guessed.

Back to reality.

In an air-conditioned room under the scorching sun, with a freshly bought can of cold cola and instant noodles from the vending machine downstairs, I officially declared this place as heaven (limited time offer today).

Casually browsing a certain Y website I had saved, the girl was skillfully searching for anime that caught her interest in the rows of listings.

Another website down? No worries, I had more Y sites in my collection, and worst-case scenario, there were always cloud links.

In this era of strict copyright, watching anime had become quite troublesome.

What nonsense? Why don't I watch from the official website?

Really, who goes to the official site to watch cartoons anyway?

Do you go to the official site to watch?

I don't, do you?

Who would enjoy watching the heavily censored and edited versions on the official site? Paying money and watching ads for what?

Ridiculous~

The tab on the can of happiness was popped open, emitting a crisp cracking sound, and the carbon dioxide bubbles fizzed, creating a refreshing sound.

"Ultimate happiness..."

Waiting for the video to load, the girl exhaled with a carbonated tinge in the air.

Three seconds.

Five seconds.

Huh? Why was the internet so slow today? It should have loaded instantly, right? Did the campus network explode again?

Moving the cursor to the wireless network icon in the lower right corner to confirm, the girl couldn't figure it out.

Should I try a different site?

After trying all the Y sites in her bookmarks, the girl still couldn't find a site that worked.

"Is this some kind of joke? Did they all get blocked? End up forcing me to watch from the official sites?"

With a sigh, the girl gave up. She decided to watch some slice-of-life anime or light comedies that weren't in the danger zone today. It was quite enjoyable to watch them with subtitles together.

Skilled at opening a certain website, she began searching through the index list, glancing inadvertently.

Oh, "Dragon Maid" is getting a second season? That's unexpected.

If only I could have my own dragon maid, cool and adorable, capable of fighting and being cute, she would be a treasure among humans.

...Well, it's just something nice to think about.

It was a beautiful fantasy from my youth.

"I feel like I've caught up with most of the shows... Huh, any good new releases recently?"

Moving the cursor to "New Anime Schedule," she clicked.

"...Huh?"

The interface popped open, empty.