I Revived My Maid, Now She Hungers for My Blood

Chapter 192: Prepare for Death!

“Then…”

Nicole’s voice echoed in the derelict room. It was the sound of a mind re-calibrating, of a plan being re-written on the fly, with a touch of regret.

“You can’t go in. They’ve laid a perfect trap. All we can do is watch from a distance and then…”

She paused, a flash of raw unwillingness in her eyes.

“No. Just walking away is too passive.”

“Maybe we can help that other Third-Rank from Echo Quarry, the one who’s tied up. If we give him a hand, he should be able to break free and reinforce the Garden faster.”

“Once he shows up, Aldrich’s plan falls apart. Our problem solves itself.”

Even in a passive spot, outmaneuvered and on the back foot, Nicole was still looking for the lever. The way to flip the board, to turn defense into offense. It was the tenacity of a true intel dealer, always hunting for a breakthrough, even in a losing position.

Ember couldn’t help but nod in approval.

“That’s a good idea.”

But then, she changed course.

“However…”

“I have a better idea.”

Nicole looked up, surprised. “Oh?”

“I have a principle.”

“What principle?”

“Whoever tries to kill me—”

Ember’s eyes, sharpened to a razor’s edge by the surrounding scars, bored into Nicole.

“—must be prepared to die.”

Her voice wasn’t loud. It wasn’t fast.

But when Nicole heard it, her core trembled.

The sheer determination, the killing intent packed into that calm sentence, threw her back to their first meeting.

It was the sight of that woman, alone with a single sword, under a scarlet moon. A streak of cold light tearing through the darkness, carving through the layers of defenses and traps she and her sister had so carefully laid out on the outskirts of Tsukimidaira. Killing all the way to their front door.

Back then, Ember had been drenched in blood, her eyes cold as blades. An Asura fresh from hell.

She was lucky they weren’t enemies.

“The one who wants to kill you this time…” Nicole’s voice softened. “is Blighted Hand Wilbur. So, you’re going to kill him too? But what’s your plan? He’s a Third Rank, and you’re only Second.”

Nicole didn’t have to finish. Her point was clear.

She’d seen Ember’s strength. It dwarfed an ordinary Second-Rank, edging into “near-Third” territory. Head-on, few Second-Ranks could face her.

But “near-Third” and “able-to-kill-a-Third” were two different universes.

Even having witnessed Ember’s terrifying combat power, Nicole didn’t believe she could take out a hidden, full-strength Third-Rank in a straight fight. If it were her, she’d only consider killing Wilbur after he was exhausted and injured from a battle with someone like The Scalpel. She would never, ever try a counter-kill against a near-peak opponent.

“Right…” Nicole seemed to remember something. “There’s one more piece of intel I almost forgot. That Wilbur, when he escaped the explosion at the Garden last time… I sabotaged him. Forced him to interrupt his advancement with the Sloughing Decoction. He’s got a lingering internal injury.”

“His strength should be affected by it.”

Hearing this, Ember just gave a slight nod.

“‘Internal injury’…” she repeated softly. “That descriptor doesn’t have much practical significance. Whether it’s true or not, what we’re doing now is planning to kill a Third Rank.”

Nicole fell silent. That was true. A Third-Rank with an injury was still a Third-Rank. A qualitative gap remained.

“I guess that’s good news,” Nicole finally said. “But not a game-changer. As for my plan…”

Ember’s gaze focused back on Nicole.

“Do you remember that ‘possibility’ you shared with me before?”

Possibility?

Nicole blinked, then she knew exactly what she meant. After Ember agreed to come, they’d talked at the door. Nicole had tentatively, probingly, shared some of her own ideas. Her trump cards.

And now, Ember was bringing it up again.

In other words…

“But,” Nicole’s brow furrowed, a clear worry in her eyes. “that plan has a lot of uncertainty. I can’t guarantee my method will work on a Third Rank. And even if it does, the core part of the plan… it needs someone to execute it.”

“That person,” her voice dropped, her gaze locked on Ember’s face. “will face immense…”

She paused, then said the heavy word.

“…danger.”

To be honest, Nicole wanted Wilbur dead. She understood the value of a reliable, powerful partner. If she had to choose, she’d rather not take this risk. She wanted to protect the new, high-potential trust they’d built.

This wasn’t weakness. It was her nature.

Here in Tsukimidaira, a good ally was worth more than a dozen risky schemes.

But she also knew the Ember in front of her was just as cautious. The worries about danger and uncertainty she’d just voiced, the other party had already considered. Of course she had.

When you proposed a plan this insane—a counter-kill on a Third-Rank—you had to have considered the risks.

Second vs. Third. The gap was self-evident.

Let alone the danger.

Nicole stared at Ember, trying to read something, anything, in her eyes.

Ember’s gaze was deep. Meeting Nicole’s worried look, the corner of her mouth turned up in a relaxed, almost jesting smile.

“There is danger, so…”

Her voice held a strange ease.

“I need an escape plan.”

“If I fail, I have to know my exit strategy. How to slip out from under a Third-Rank’s boot.”