While Natalie was forcibly carrying Emily to the scene, Hadia continued to swing the Holy Sword, deflecting Daphiel’s magic.
Daphiel was also suffering from over-exhaustion of her mana, having unleashed a massive amount of magic all at once.
Daphiel naturally wanted to finish Hadia off, but she simply could not do it.
She understood that even if she condensed her remaining mana for one final, massive strike, there was a high probability it would be sliced clean in two by the Holy Sword in Hadia’s hand.
At the exact moment Daphiel had that thought, Hadia’s presence suddenly appeared right beside her out of thin air.
‘How is this possible!’
Because Hadia’s speed was truly beyond common sense, Daphiel’s expression shifted into one of pure disbelief.
After all, Hadia had passed directly through a dense barrage of magic, and her speed was so great that Daphiel could not even track her with the naked eye.
‘Death.’
The word surfaced in Daphiel’s mind.
At such a distance, combined with Hadia’s absurd slashing speed, Daphiel had no way to defend herself!
Hadia could easily shred her into countless pieces in a single instant.
But just as Daphiel believed her end was certain, the Holy Sword was merely held against her throat instead of taking her head.
“You lose!”
“…I see. Do you plan to use me as a bargaining chip with the Demon King to exchange for the Saintess?”
Faced with this unexpected turn of events, Daphiel immediately saw through Hadia’s plan.
After all, the Demon King might not necessarily refuse to trade a Saintess for one of her own cadres.
“If you don’t want to die, do exactly as I say.”
“Do whatever you want with me. Let me make one thing clear: I am not favored by the Demon King. Using me as leverage against her is useless.”
Normally, Daphiel wouldn’t worry about her value being lower than that of a Saintess.
But the current reality was that Natalie had clearly developed some feelings for the Saintess, Emily.
Conversely, she felt nothing but blatant disgust for Daphiel, her own cadre.
If Natalie were truly forced to choose between the two, Daphiel had absolutely no confidence that she would be the one chosen.
Furthermore, she had just recently done something to incur Natalie’s wrath.
Of course, Daphiel’s words had no effect on Hadia.
Now that her tracks had been discovered, this was the only solution Hadia could think of.
Although Hadia had appeared incredibly powerful just now, that burst of high-speed movement to capture Daphiel alive had only worsened the condition of her already injured body.
Just as Hadia was thinking this, a figure suddenly descended from the sky and landed before the two of them.
The person who had appeared was, of course, Natalie, who was still forcibly carrying Emily.
“Demon King!”
Upon seeing the situation clearly, Hadia’s voice was filled with rage.
After all, the Emily in the Demon King’s arms was still wearing that extremely revealing outfit.
Hadia knew that the “pure” Emily would never choose to wear such clothes on her own; she must have been forced into them by Natalie.
Moreover, the fact that Emily had even changed clothes was enough to make Hadia’s imagination run wild.
While both the Demon King and the Saintess were women, making it unlikely for anything untoward to happen between them, the Demon King still had male subordinates.
She could have easily ordered those people to “violate” the Saintess to vent her frustrations against the Church and God.
In the Church’s propaganda, the thing the Demon Race loved most was humiliating innocent young girls.
Therefore, Hadia truly could not rule out that possibility.
However, Hadia also felt that even imagining such things happening to Emily was too sinful.
She forced herself to control her anger and her thoughts.
Right now, Hadia’s priority was to rescue Emily from the Demon King’s hands.
As for taking revenge for Emily, that would have to wait until she became stronger.
“Demon King! If you don’t want her to die, put Lady Emily down this instant!”
As Hadia spoke, she pressed the Holy Sword a bit closer to Daphiel’s neck.
“…Daphiel!”
“I am so sorry… I lost to the Hero… Please, Demon King, do not worry about my safety! Just destroy the Hero along with me!”
Daphiel felt a profound sense of guilt and frustration for being a burden to Natalie.
She did not expect Natalie to actually trade the Saintess for a hated cadre like her.
“Good grief… Daphiel, why do you love being a nuisance every single day?”
After Natalie finished her complaint, she shot a glare at Hadia.
Hadia’s body immediately felt a massive gravitational pull.
The Holy Sword, which had been pressed against Daphiel’s neck, began to move away from her inch by inch.
Just as Hadia prepared to exert all her strength to resist the Demon King’s telekinesis, a massive shockwave struck her directly, sending her flying backward.
Hadia’s body crashed straight into the nearby castle.
Once Hadia had been blown away, Daphiel, who had just been held hostage, stood there dumbfounded.
In the past, Daphiel had always known that this Demon King, Natalie, was the strongest in history.
But she never expected Natalie to be this powerful—to the point where she could blow away Hadia, whom Daphiel couldn’t even defeat in a hard-fought battle, with just a single look.
After all, Natalie usually stayed in the Demon King’s Castle doing nothing.
Aside from the Hero’s party, there was no one else who could break into the castle to cause her trouble.
Most enemies could be handled by the Demon King’s cadres.
Furthermore, Daphiel had not been present when Natalie fought against the Hero’s party.
So, while the Daphiel of the past knew Natalie was strong, she hadn’t known just how strong she was.
“Hero…”
Looking at Hadia being easily blown away, Emily was naturally worried about her safety.
However, she didn’t dare cry out too loudly for fear of provoking Natalie’s displeasure, so she only whispered Hadia’s name softly.
“Daphiel, you go back first. The battle isn’t over yet—”
Before Natalie could finish, Hadia had already charged back in front of her, thrusting the Holy Sword directly at Natalie’s head.
But just as the Holy Sword was only a few centimeters from piercing Natalie’s body, Hadia’s form was once again forcibly halted.
Having just been blown away, the injuries on Hadia’s body were naturally even more severe.
Even though blood had already stained half of her face, Hadia still did not give up on the idea of saving Emily.
“Damn it!”
Seeing that no matter how hard she pushed, the Holy Sword could not advance another inch, Hadia felt a deep sense of her own powerlessness.
“See? This Hero is still full of fighting spirit. You’ll only be in the way here. I won’t save you a second time.”
“Yes…”
Daphiel knew perfectly well that Natalie’s haste to send her away wasn’t because she was worried about her being a hindrance.
Given the power Natalie had displayed, it was impossible for Hadia to take Daphiel hostage again.
Natalie only said that to dismiss her so she could follow her own interests.
For instance, using the Hero’s life to make the disobedient Saintess a bit more compliant.
Daphiel could not imagine a scenario where Natalie would choose to kill the Hero for the sake of the national interest.
For this Demon King, her own interests always took precedence over the country or the race.
However, having just caused trouble, Daphiel had no choice but to leave obediently, even if she knew Natalie was unlikely to kill the Hero.
After all, it was a fact that she had been a nuisance just now.
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