I Revived My Maid, Now She Hungers for My Blood
Chapter 306: The Witch Bloodline’s First Feeding

Watching them expertly retrieve specialized containers and tools from their packs, ready to begin collecting the Anomaly Ash blanketing the ground, Pandora considered for a moment. Then, through the Palmfiend, she sent a brief message over the cleanup squad’s internal communications channel:

“Cleanup duty is yours. The workload might be a bit heavier than usual this time. Once it’s done, one-tenth of the collected Anomaly Ash goes to your squad.”

The response was nearly instantaneous. Several replies popped up in rapid succession across the comm channel:

“Our thanks, My Lady!”

“Fantastic!”

“We’ll get it done flawlessly!”

Pandora watched the replies scroll past and allowed herself a small smile. She had always been a generous “employer.”

The auxiliary squad had it rough. Diligent, dutiful, expending effort and energy. And their work carried very real danger. Reconnaissance was never a risk-free endeavor.

In fact, during this past month of scouting, one member of the auxiliary squad had nearly died. On the thirteenth day of Anomaly reconnaissance, a moment of negligence had left them ambushed by a lurking Anomaly. They’d lost more than half their body. Internal organs spilling out.

They’d only survived because a Corpse-Plague Acolyte’s vitality was generally leagues beyond an ordinary human’s. Combined with the cleanup squad’s thorough preparations—stocked with potent healing potions and emergency medical equipment, administered in time—they’d barely managed to pull through. Saved their life.

But they were still only Rank-2. New limbs grown through potion-catalyzed rapid regeneration… whether in flexibility, coordination, or raw strength, they’d never match the originals. It would take a long period of adjustment just to slowly recover partial function.

So yes. The pressure on them was immense.

This Anomaly Ash—for Pandora herself, it was already more than sufficient. Surplus, even. In that light, distributing a little extra to them, offering them some tangible, real benefits… it was nothing, really. Wasn’t it?

A gentle breeze brushed against the bare skin of a summer evening. In the wake of a fierce battle, with nerves just beginning to unwind, that faint coolness brought a mild, electric comfort. Pandora half-closed her eyes, savoring the moment of tranquility.

Then her eyes snapped wide open.

No. That wasn’t right. How was there a breeze?

Her gaze instinctively swept the area. The auxiliary squad members were at work not far away—tense but orderly. They held specialized metal containers and soft-bristled brushes, carefully collecting the pristine white ashes with their strange iridescent sheen. Their movements were light. Slow. Terrified of stirring even a speck of dust.

Anomaly Ash was still ash. A material light in weight, with a consistency akin to dried bone powder. Extremely easy for the wind to carry off. If that happened, the loss would be massive. A painful waste.

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Knowing this, the auxiliary squad should have set up simple ritual arrays to suppress air currents around the area before entering and beginning cleanup. Those arrays—low-ranked as they were—weren’t exceptionally powerful, but they were enough to control airflow within a limited zone for a short time.

So how could she be feeling such a distinct… breeze?

Unless…

Pandora frowned. She lifted her right arm, holding it before her eyes for a closer look. Her skin was fair and smooth, glowing with a healthy sheen. The minor grime from the earlier fight had been cleansed away when her Wizardry flames erupted. The surface looked clean.

But on closer inspection… there was indeed a layer of near-invisible, gray-white powder clinging to her skin.

And then she saw it. Her skin was subtly… writhing. Like ripples on still water where something microscopic swam just beneath the surface. Almost imperceptible, but she could feel it.

Along with that faint squirming, her skin’s surface seeped a minuscule amount of pale pink fluid. Was that… blood? Plasma?

Whatever it was, the moment that liquid made contact with the gray-white powder dusting her skin, the powder dissolved rapidly. And then… the liquid was reabsorbed beneath her skin, vanishing without a trace—like water into a sponge.

Like her body was actively feeding on this unique ash.

The entire process was so fast it nearly felt like a hallucination. If she hadn’t concentrated her attention so deliberately to observe it, she might well have missed it entirely.

“Interesting…”

Pandora lowered her arm. A flicker of surprise crossed her eyes, quickly replaced by deep intrigue. The Witch bloodline… it hungered for Anomaly Ash too?

All this time, she hadn’t found a single material capable of effectively nourishing her Witch bloodline. Most of the resources from the Scrapyard—whether derived from zombies or from the Demon-Hunter-altered minerals and flora—her body, or rather her Witch bloodline, had barely reacted to any of them.

That was, after all, a resource system specifically designed and optimized by the Demon Hunter Academy—particularly by the Corpse-Plague Furnace branch—for Corpse-Plague Acolyte apprentices. It didn’t seem particularly compatible with her Witch lineage.

She hadn’t expected to stumble upon a material here, in this Fragment World, that her Witch bloodline could actually… eat.

As she’d suspected. Her curiosity regarding the Anomalies had never been without reason.

Now, she was even more eager to hear about Elsa’s progress on the other front. If things went well there, her Anomaly-related research could push forward again. At the very least… she’d finally be able to conduct some destructive testing.

Lost in thought, Pandora suddenly felt the girl clinging to her hand shudder—a full-body chill. The kind of reaction a vulnerable animal gave when suddenly locked in the gaze of its natural predator.

The girl instinctively squeezed Pandora’s hand tighter.

“What’s wrong?” Pandora noticed the shift, glancing down.

The girl didn’t answer. She just frantically scanned her surroundings. The auxiliary squad was still working. White ash still carpeted the street. Distant, hazy silhouettes of people moved beyond the thinning mist at the far edge—ordinary pedestrians, diverted away. Everything normal.

No signs of a new Gunman forming. No familiar sensation of being targeted.

She felt confused. Over the past few days, under Pandora’s guidance, she’d managed to barely control her inner terror, thereby influencing the timing of the Gunman’s manifestation to a limited degree. Not enough to fully prevent his emergence—that seemed to be the core mechanism of her ability, something she couldn’t violate. But she’d at least managed to make his appearances relatively controllable.

Only when she needed to feed, or at Pandora’s experimental request, would she proactively trigger that extreme fear and summon the Gunman.

But… that sudden, causeless flash of terror just now—what was that?

The girl turned her suspicious, uncertain gaze toward Pandora beside her.

Pandora, noticing the girl’s attention, offered her a gentle smile.

It… it couldn’t be Miss Pandora, right?

Even more confused now, the girl quietly averted her gaze. But in her heart, that split-second reaction remained an utter puzzle.

“Come on. Time to head back.” Pandora’s voice cut through her thoughts. “We’ll leave things here to them.” She gestured toward the busy auxiliary squad members.

The girl hurriedly matched her pace, whispering, “Y-Yes, of course…”

But the hand holding Pandora’s tightened just a fraction more.