“Thank you, Brave!”
After being saved by Hadia, the six surviving experts all expressed their gratitude.
“It’s nothing… You should hurry back to the Marshal’s side.”
“…Don’t you need our help?”
“No. Ensuring the Marshal’s safety is the priority right now.”
Although Hadia deeply disliked that self-important, arrogant Marshal.
But if the Marshal were to die on this battlefield, it would be a huge headache for Hadia.
The Imperial Army was already in chaos.
Losing the supreme commander in such a situation would undoubtedly lead to even more deaths.
“We understand!”
While the experts felt it wasn’t right to leave the three Cadres for Hadia alone, they couldn’t disobey the Brave’s command.
“You think you can escape!”
Hearing the conversation between Hadia and the experts, Daphiel immediately unleashed her magic without hesitation!
How could Daphiel just watch these experts return safely?
In the next moment, countless spells rained down upon the experts.
But with a brilliant white light erupting from the Holy Sword, all the magic was directly neutralized.
“Hurry and go.”
Faced with Hadia’s urging, the experts said no more and turned to plunge back into the crowd.
Daphiel wanted to chase them down and finish them off, but with Hadia blocking the way, she and the other two Cadres didn’t dare act recklessly.
Seeing the experts had left, Hadia drove the Holy Sword into the ground, signaling she had no intention of fighting the three Cadres to the death.
“Cadres, how about we end this here? We will withdraw in good order, and you will not pursue us.”
This was another reason Hadia had forced the experts to leave.
For a Brave to say such things to the Demon Race…
If other humans heard this, the Brave’s reputation would be utterly ruined.
A Brave must fight the Demon Race to the last breath!
That was the common perception of a Brave.
But Hadia truly couldn’t bear to watch Imperial soldiers pointlessly waste their lives for the selfish whims of the high command.
This foolish war simply could not continue; it had to end now!
Hadia also believed that after this shock, that arrogant Marshal would surely agree to retreat.
After all, people like the Marshal could order others to their deaths, but when faced with their own mortality, they were always the first to flee.
“On what grounds? You come and go as you please? If you dare invade the Demon World, then leave your lives behind. Not a single one of you will escape!”
Faced with Hadia’s proposal, Daphiel rejected it without hesitation.
Now that they finally had a chance to annihilate these hundred thousand Imperial soldiers, how could they just let them go back to regroup?
Eliminating these hundred thousand would mean the Demon Race had that many fewer enemies!
“Then there’s no other way…”
Hadia drew the Holy Sword once more.
As she did, Kalina raised her greatsword and charged at her.
The two mages, Daphiel and Elodie, simultaneously used magic to cover Kalina’s advance.
Facing the combined assault of the three Cadres, Hadia simply took a deep breath.
In the next instant, an intense white light blasted into the bodies of all three.
All the magic aimed at Hadia, along with Kalina charging at her, were violently blown away.
The three Cadres’ bodies slammed heavily into the city wall.
Of course, if she weren’t pressed for time, Hadia wouldn’t have used such a mana-intensive technique.
Every second she delayed increased the likelihood of the Demon King’s appearance.
“How is this possible…”
“Dammit, is this the Brave’s full power?! Even more absurd than last time!”
“That hurt, meow!”
The three Cadres, embedded in the wall, cried out in unison.
A single strike had rendered the three Cadres immobile.
If she weren’t experiencing it firsthand, Daphiel would find it hard to believe.
Naturally, Hadia had no intention of finishing them off.
If the Demon King weren’t present, she would likely have killed the two besides the little girl Kalina.
But with the Demon King here, if she went too far and actually killed two Cadres, the Demon King would never let her or those hundred thousand soldiers go.
After dealing with the three Cadres, Hadia raised the Holy Sword and fired a red beam of light, the signal for retreat.
The red light, shooting straight into the sky, informed the hundred thousand soldiers on the battlefield to retreat immediately!
“I’ll take my leave now… And please convey a message to the Demon King for me! I will definitely take the Saintess back from her grasp!”
With that, Hadia quickly turned and left the battlefield.
Of course, Hadia was deeply puzzled as to why the Demon King, Natalie, hadn’t joined the battle.
After all, if the Demon King had intervened, Hadia would have stood no chance.
The hundred thousand soldiers present likely faced only the prospect of total annihilation.
Yet the Demon King showed no intention of appearing, which truly baffled Hadia as to what scheme that Demon King was plotting.
*
At the same moment Hadia fired the retreat signal.
The intense red light also illuminated the faces of Emily and Natalie.
“Oh? Running away? I really didn’t expect you to last this long, Emily.”
Natalie said, glancing at Emily.
Emily now had only her final skirt left on her body.
Her face flushed, Emily used one hand to cover her chest while using the other to play chess with Natalie.
“Then can we con—”
Before Emily could finish, Natalie unhesitatingly captured her last piece.
That’s right.
It wasn’t a sudden, miraculous improvement in Emily’s skills that allowed her to last this long, but Natalie simply playing with her.
Compared to going out to crush weaklings, playing games with Emily was what Natalie most wanted to do.
So Natalie chose to slowly capture Emily’s pieces, leaving her with just one piece struggling to survive; the last few games had all been like this.
Otherwise, Natalie would have long since gone to the battlefield to wreak havoc.
Seeing her piece captured, Emily was naturally dumbfounded.
After all, she had been so close to keeping her last piece of clothing.
“I never said the game ends when the humans retreat!”
“…”
Looking at Emily’s face, flushed with extreme shame, Natalie was naturally very excited.
After all, Emily could finally take off that bothersome skirt!
And then remain completely naked in her room for an entire day.
Natalie truly had a wicked sense of humor, specifically waiting for the human retreat.
Then, in the instant Emily thought she wouldn’t have to strip completely, capturing her last piece.
“Alright, time to take it off.”
Natalie said, standing up to urge her.
“…I understand.”
Though mortified to the extreme, breaking a promise with the Demon King was tantamount to suicide.
And Natalie had indeed stayed with her the whole time, not going to the battlefield.
If being completely naked for a day could save so many lives!
As a Saintess, it was an absolute bargain!
Using this reasoning to comfort herself, Emily silently stood up and placed both hands on her last remaining skirt.