Two days before Natalie decided to take Emily and Xilina back to the frontline fortress to become the Demon King, Hadia, who had evacuated from the frontline with over a hundred thousand Imperial Army soldiers, was also carrying out her own actions.
Of course, the evacuation of such a large army couldn’t be completed in just a day or two.
Although Hadia was also worried about the surviving Imperial Army soldiers, she really didn’t have the leisure to slowly accompany those hundreds of thousands of people.
Hadia considered that every second Emily spent in the clutches of the Demon King Natalie meant one more moment of pain.
She believed she had to race against time.
So the day after retreating from the fortress, Hadia split off from the Imperial Army and set out alone for the Church Headquarters.
Since she was already within human territory, Hadia didn’t have to worry about being shot down by anti-aircraft fire.
Naturally, she didn’t need to travel slowly on foot like she had in the Demon World.
Instead, she asked the Imperial Army for a griffin and flew directly to the cathedral where the Pope resided.
Of course, Bena and Ivuna, who had left ahead of her, also traveled this way.
Although she didn’t have to worry about attacks from Demon Race anti-aircraft fire, while flying over dangerous areas, she was still attacked by flying monsters.
However, thanks to her incredible combat power—second only to Natalie’s—those monsters were completely wiped out in a single encounter.
Faced with this situation, Hadia couldn’t help but worry whether her two companions would make it safely to the Church Headquarters cathedral.
But considering they were moving together, there probably wouldn’t be much of a problem.
Bena’s magic, though not as powerful as Hadia’s attacks, was still enough as a top human mage to shoot down these flying monsters.
And Ivuna, a scout, could alert the less perceptive Bena to monster attacks in advance.
Thus, with worry, Hadia flew over countless cities and plains.
Because she was in such a hurry, she compressed her rest time to the limit, flying almost nonstop.
Hadia’s Brave physique could naturally handle this pace of travel, but the griffin couldn’t.
So before the griffin reached its limit, she would switch to another one at a city.
Thanks to her status as the Brave, it was easy for Hadia to obtain a griffin from nobles for travel.
After all, any noble who saw Hadia rushing around with dark circles under her eyes would know something extremely urgent was happening.
No noble would dare risk being accused of “delaying the war effort” by not assisting Hadia.
If something went wrong because they didn’t give Hadia that griffin, they would instantly become a traitor to the entire human race.
After flying continuously for three days, Hadia finally arrived at the cathedral, which should have taken five days.
Bena and Ivuna, who had set off earlier, had only managed to arrive that morning.
Hadia was less than a few hours behind them.
As soon as she landed the griffin, Hadia jumped off and ran straight toward the Pope’s direction.
If an ordinary person did that, they would definitely be subdued by the cathedral guards.
But anyone who followed this religion would recognize Hadia as the Messenger of the Gods.
So even if she barged into the cathedral without saying a word, no one would dare stop her.
The nuns and priests in the corridor saw how frantic Hadia looked and quickly stood aside.
They bowed to her and watched her rush past.
They were naturally curious about what had made the Brave so panicked.
Usually, the nuns remembered Hadia as reliable and calm.
This was the first time she had lost control like this.
Because she was too anxious and sleep-deprived, Hadia’s mind was a bit scattered.
She stumbled and fell several times while dodging nuns who suddenly appeared around corners.
But every time she fell, she got right back up and kept running.
With her efforts, she soon reached the Pope’s Hall at the deepest part of the cathedral.
“Lady Brave! What happened to you?!”
The guards at the door were shocked to see Hadia in such a miserable state.
After days of travel and those falls, she looked terrible—her hair a mess, her clothes full of holes.
The only good thing was that she wasn’t injured.
The Brave’s physique meant a few falls wouldn’t hurt her.
“Quickly, tell the Pope I need to see him!”
Hadia didn’t bother answering the guard’s question and just spoke directly.
Seeing how urgent she was, the guard didn’t dare hesitate and rushed in to announce her arrival.
After receiving the Pope’s permission, Hadia finally stepped into the hall and met him.
The Pope was the highest authority among humans—the most powerful figure.
He sat on his throne, looking down at Hadia as she entered.
He wore a pure white robe, and his appearance was that of a kind elderly man, with no sense of pressure.
If he changed out of his robe into ordinary clothes, almost no one would recognize him as the Pope; they would just think he was a retired old man.
“Lady Hadia, you don’t need to be so anxious. Your health comes first.”
“Your Holiness, but every second I delay, Miss Emily suffers more torture from that Demon King!”
Hadia didn’t hesitate to retort against the Pope’s concerned words.
At this point, she no longer cared about her own condition.
Her only goal was to kill the Demon King Natalie and rescue Emily, who was captured because of her.
Even though Emily being captured wasn’t Hadia’s fault, in her heart, it was her responsibility.
It was her incompetence that let Emily fall into the Demon King’s hands.
And it was her incompetence that prevented her from saving Emily from the Demon King, only for Emily to save her again, adding to Emily’s burden.
Under this psychological pressure, Hadia truly didn’t dare to rest.
“…Miss Bena and Miss Ivuna have already told me about the situation.”
Seeing through Hadia’s state, the Pope understood that nothing he said would persuade her now.
So he switched to work mode.
“Yes… How does Your Holiness plan to handle it?”
“…Since no new Saintess has appeared, the Saintess must still be alive.”
Hearing this, Hadia finally felt relieved.
Although she had seen Emily a few days ago on the frontline, no one knew whether Emily might be suddenly executed by the Demon King in the meantime.