Combat Maid Harem

The end of the novel.

Just kidding. Our MC won't die so easily.

After a dozen minutes, the earth split apart. Large vines pushed the earth away and exposed Lawrend and Ember. Valentina stood before them and controlled the vines.

A bright flame floated on Ember's hand and lit up the darkness.

Lawrend helped Valentina by controlling the earth. It wasn't as strong as an Earth Mage's control over the earth, but he could still ease the burden on her.

"He's lucky we are underground. I would've killed him with my leftover Heaven Mage energy," Valentina said angrily.

She used some of her leftover Heaven Mage energy to cover them with powerful plant vines. Her control over them was so excellent that not a tiny bit of plant mana leaked out.

She knew fighting him down here would be a death wish, so she restrained herself. She also saved Kenova, albeit somewhat unwilling. She didn't want to spend more of her energy to save him.

"Open the path towards Kenova," Lawrend ordered.

The vines grew, and a passageway split open. It revealed the unconscious Kenova, who was barely hanging on. A single large vine was keeping him from getting crushed to death.

Lawrend exuded a gentle light, and he grabbed Kenova's shoulder. His bruises and broken bones healed in the blink of an eye.

"H-huh?"

Kenova opened his eyes and saw Lawrend's dark face blocking Ember's fire.

"A-ahh!"

Kenova sat up and crawled away from him.

"Why are you scared? Come. Let's go," Lawrend said.

He stood up and headed in a particular direction with Valentina and Ember.

"If you keep staring, my vines will not be able to support the earth above you anymore," Valentina muttered as she followed behind Lawrend.

Kenova regained his wits and stood up to follow after them. The vines behind him pulled out, and the earth fell down. It would have surely crushed him if he stayed there.

He felt chills run down his spine and kept himself close to them.

Valentina controlled her vines and separated the earth to form a tunnel through the prison.

Ember was still worried. She looked at his face and saw that he was still calm. She furrowed her eyebrows and became confused.

How could he stay calm when they were so deep underground?

They walked for several minutes. Suddenly, the path ahead opened up and revealed an undamaged tunnel hallway. The old man was waiting for them, with Von standing beside him.

"Your Majesty," Von greeted and bowed.

Ember widened her eyes and became astounded. She looked at Lawrend again and realized everything had been in the grasp of his palms.

Earlier, the old man ran here and severed the connection of the formation. It allowed this part of the prison to survive without being affected by the collapse.

"Mm. How did it happen?" Lawrend asked, still calm as before as if he expected this.

"The envoy from the Blumin Empire bribed some of the influential noble clans in the city and convinced them to gather support from the other nobles. It was a positive feedback loop. The more nobles supported them, the less the remaining neutral nobles could stay neutral.

"Everything finally fell last night. The Merchant Guild had always been a sore in the noble's eyes as we control a lot of power in this city. They sneaked in with the envoy leading them and ousted us from control.

"We couldn't struggle. My old man here got cursed. He became a puppet to them. They will declare this city to be a part of the Blumin Empire next week," Von explained clearly.

Lawrend listened silently and sighed. The nobles in this city were weak kids before the behemoth known as the Merchant Guild. They couldn't expand unless they got rid of this behemoth.

It made sense they would gain courage after getting the backing of the Blumin Empire. After all, being a part of an empire only brought more benefits compared to staying as part of a kingdom.

"I apologize, Your Majesty. I could only obey their commands," the old man said and bowed deeply.

"It's fine. I knew you were under their control when I first saw you."

"Thank you for your grace, Your Majesty! May you live forever!" the old man shouted.

"Let's go back. I want to see what that clown would do once he realized I'm still alive," Lawrend said and smirked evilly.

Ember and Valentina felt a shudder in their spines when they both saw his smile. It was the smile of death.

Kenova's knees went weak. He thanked himself he had eyes and became her highness' subordinate. [AN: Humility's]

Valentina nodded her head.

A small platform lifted them up, and she split the earth above them using her vines. They kept going up and up and up for almost half an hour.

"Finally. This hard earth was hard to break through," Valentina muttered.

The blue skies were revealed, with one last vine pushing away the earth above them.

"Nice, fresh air."

Lawrend took a deep breath and smiled. He flew up and headed to the city in the distance.

Ember carried Kenova and Von by grasping the back of their clothes. Valentina wrapped some vines on the old man and carried him as she also flew.

They arrived at the city a minute later.

Lawrend and his group flew over the city walls.

Contrary to their expectation, the city was silent. There were mages from the army every street or so.

"Your Majesty!"

A person noticed them from afar. It was none other than Otor. He hastily flew towards them.

"How are things?" Lawrend asked.

"Your Majesty, we mobilized into the city when we realized you didn't show up on schedule. That was when we found out that the Blumin Empire's envoy led you to a trap," Otor answered.

"Where is he?"

"We have him captured, Your Majesty."

"Hahahaha! Excellent. I want to see the look on his face when he sees that I'm still alive," Lawrend laughed.