While Daphiel was engaged in a fierce battle with Hadia, who had invaded the Demon King’s castle…
Emily, who was suffering from insomnia, was naturally startled by the sudden sound of explosions.
The light produced by the blasts made the pitch-black room brighten up.
‘Is the Hero here?!’
Seeing the magic constantly exploding in the sky, Emily understood that Hadia had come to save her.
While Emily wasn’t particularly surprised that Hadia would come to her rescue—after all, she knew Hadia wasn’t the type to abandon a companion—she was surprised that she had come right now.
Emily had originally thought it would take at least one month for Hadia to come for her.
There were various preparations to make, and her injuries needed time to heal.
The image of Hadia’s severe injuries after her loss to Natalie was still fresh in Emily’s mind.
In that state, Hadia should not have been able to fight at all.
Normally, anyone would choose to recover before attempting a rescue.
‘The Hero is still a hot-blooded idiot as always. Coming to save someone while heavily injured will only result in the Demon King having one more captive.’
Of course, Emily could vaguely guess Hadia’s train of thought.
She understood that Hadia likely knew Emily couldn’t hold out that long, so she had rushed over in a panic.
Though she felt helpless regarding Hadia’s impulsiveness, Emily was still quite moved.
Hadia was risking her life to save her while dragging a wounded body.
Emily was well aware that in this world, and even including her original world, Hadia was probably the only person who would go to such lengths for her.
Just as Emily was thinking that…
Natalie, who had been lying peacefully, suddenly sat up without warning, startling the lost-in-thought Emily.
“Oh, interesting,” Natalie muttered to herself, staring silently at the glowing window.
Like Emily, Natalie didn’t need to think twice to know who was invading the Demon King’s castle.
As Emily felt panicked by Natalie’s sudden wakefulness, Natalie turned her head to look at her.
“It seems you’re quite popular. To think that Hero would go to such lengths. Even though a Saintess doesn’t really mean much to the Church.”
After saying that, Natalie suddenly stood up.
Of course, because Natalie was so small, even standing on the bed and looking down at the seated Emily, she didn’t feel imposing at all.
Instead, she gave off a very cute impression.
However, to the current Emily, the Demon King’s awakening was truly terrifying.
“W-w-what do you want to do, Demon King…”
Because she was so flustered, Emily began to stutter.
She really didn’t know if Hadia’s invasion would enrage Natalie and cause her to take her anger out on her.
“Oh? Your dear Hero is risking her life to save you, isn’t she? Don’t you plan to go and meet her?”
Though she didn’t understand why Natalie’s tone sounded somewhat dissatisfied, Emily still replied, “I don’t want to…”
Emily knew very well that she absolutely could not let Natalie and Hadia meet.
She believed that no matter how impulsive Hadia was, once her presence was discovered, she would definitely choose to retreat.
To prevent Hadia from being captured like her, Emily had to find a way to stall Natalie.
Stalling the Demon King for even one second would give Hadia one more second to escape.
Although the thought of stalling the Demon King terrified her, Hadia was already risking her life.
Since her friend’s plan had failed, Emily had to take responsibility and buy her time.
And it wasn’t just for Hadia, but for herself as well.
If Hadia were caught, Emily would truly have to prepare herself to never escape the Demon King’s palm.
Due to their position, the Church would publicize that they would never abandon the Saintess.
In reality, those old geezers in the Church were actually hoping the Demon King would just kill Emily.
If that happened, the Church could use the Saintess’s death as a pretext to unite all human nations, launch a crusade against the Demon Race, and stir up intense human resentment.
This would allow them to thoroughly eliminate political rivals who sought to maintain friendly relations with the Demon Race.
After all, not all humans supported an all-out war.
Furthermore, as soon as Emily died, a new Saintess would immediately appear, meaning the Church would suffer virtually no loss.
With Emily captured, they would rather hope the Demon King killed her than risk massive losses to rescue her.
To the current Church leaders, a dead Emily was far more useful than a living one.
Of course, the high-level officials’ wishes were impossible to fulfill.
Natalie would never kill the person she loved.
As long as the Saintess didn’t die, a new one would not appear.
If a Saintess could be replaced while the original was still alive, where would the dignity of God be?
As the mouthpiece of God, only one Saintess could exist at a time.
“My, Saintess, you really are heartless. That Hero is risking her life to save you. If you don’t go and see her, she’ll be too pitiful.”
As Natalie spoke, she reached out toward Emily.
“What are you doing! Don’t come near me!”
Natalie naturally ignored Emily’s screams.
She picked her up in a princess carry.
Being held forcibly, Emily’s entire body went stiff with tension.
“If you don’t hold on tight, you’ll fall!”
With that, Natalie kicked open the window of her room.
“What are you—! Aaaah!”
Before Emily could finish, Natalie leapt straight out of the window.
Faced with the sudden movement, Emily instinctively hugged Natalie’s body tightly, fearing she would be thrown out if she were careless.
Natalie, on the other hand, enjoyed the soft sensation pressed against her.
After all, this counted as Emily actively hugging her.
After landing, Natalie headed straight toward where Hadia and Daphiel were fighting.
Whether she killed the Hero or not didn’t really matter to Natalie.
She didn’t take a Hero of Hadia’s level seriously at all.
The reason she was so excited and hurried this time was because of Emily.
Natalie was already contemplating how to use the Hero’s life to make Emily listen to her obediently.
After all, a Saintess sacrificing herself to protect the Hero was a classic plot.