Yao and Reeve’s reactions to the same situation were completely opposite.
“I didn’t want to be a single woman either!!”
Our rookie Holy Knight erupted in anger, repeatedly thrusting her blue spear.
Her fierce assault bewildered the stronger unicorn centaur demon.
Though she inflicted not a single meaningful wound, merely the fact that she was pushing forward unilaterally was remarkable.
“This is ridiculous.”
On the other hand, Reeve stood frozen in place with a frown.
Unlike Yao, she wasn’t indignant, but she seemed to carry some mysterious dissatisfaction.
“Reeve, please go help. That demon seems lenient towards maidens.”
While hugging the two swords I had retrieved, Reeve suddenly turned to me with a sullen expression.
“Your Holiness.”
“I’m listening.”
“Why are you smiling so broadly?”
“It’s a misunderstanding. I naturally have a smiling face.”
“I’ve never heard that before.”
“We have many unknowns about each other. Let’s explore together from now on.”
“……”
Reeve, who was throwing me a disapproving glance, soon charged at the demon with her shield.
Boom!
With a solid shield strike to the head, the centaur staggered awkwardly.
In the meantime, Yao seized the opportunity and leaped onto the demon’s shoulder.
“It feels a bit tough; I wonder how the inside is?”
The rookie Holy Knight smirked as she plunged her spear into the demon’s left eye at an angle aimed for the brain.
“Ugh…!”
As the demon groaned and shook its shoulder, Yao jumped again and landed on a thick tree branch.
She then began to throw her spear repeatedly from there.
Ping, ping.
All the strikes made sounds as if they were clanging against steel, yet the demon glared upward, visibly irritated.
“No matter how much of a maiden you are, I can’t let this slide!”
Just as the centaur demon leaped upward, Yao swung her shield’s edge and struck the demon’s neck.
“Gah…!”
It worked.
The demon, who had shown no reaction to my swords or Yao’s spear, seemed dazed when hit by that shield.
What on earth was that shield made of?
-That shield is….
-Ooh!
At that moment, my swords expressed their astonishment.
And soon, they began chattering as if reporting to me.
-That shield is different from ordinary shields. It seems to be made using special materials like us. We could even be friends!
-It’s wonderfully solid and tough!
“So, what is it made of?”
It seemed they didn’t know that either, as they didn’t provide a helpful answer.
But I could tell that it was definitely an unusual artifact.
Could it be something close to a holy relic?
How many other items like that were there?
‘No wonder they fought so well even when the connection was severed.’
Each of the tools owned by Reeve had astonishing abilities.
There was a reason she could boldly face the Great Demon even without her bond with the goddess.
Would it be possible to donate one to the Order later?
Even while entertaining such shameless thoughts, Reeve continued to swing the edge of her shield, striking the demon.
Above, Yao was providing continuous support with her spears.
The battle atmosphere flowed smoothly.
If left alone, it seemed we could win without any issues.
-We didn’t help at all….
-So disappointing!
“Don’t be discouraged. The match-up wasn’t favorable.”
While I was comforting my swords, Lilith, who had been standing nearby, suddenly expressed her irritation.
“Isn’t this strange?”
“What do you mean?”
“What in the world is this situation? Normally, a non-maiden should be embarrassed and flustering, right?”
“……”
A non-maiden?
Who could have invented such a vulgar term?
“Why should I feel ashamed? I’m a married woman.”
“Well, that’s true.”
“And everyone gathered here is a Returnee, so it’s actually normal not to be a maiden.”
“Oh, I see… Everyone must have lived that long?”
“Exactly.”
The eldest, Kim Ji-yeon, had lived for two thousand years due to her reincarnation, while the youngest, Yao, had lived at least forty years if you combined before and after the possession.
Our Returnees were far from youthful.
“No wonder that girl was so overly angry!”
Lilith pointed at the ‘girl’, who was still fuming and launching blue spears.
I wondered why she was so worked up.
Was it a complex?
It was more amusing than pitiful, and I couldn’t help but smile wryly. Lilith also smiled back at me.
“When we get back, let’s introduce her to a man.”
“That sounds good.”
I wanted to do it right away, but I wondered if there was a man suitable for Yao.
Come to think of it, she had revealed Jo Ha-jin as her ideal type just the other day.
So, wouldn’t connecting the two work?
Their personalities didn’t match at all, but I couldn’t worry about that part. It’s up to the disappointed party to adapt.
“Ughhh!!”
While my thoughts drifted toward Yao’s romantic issues, the battle against the unicorn centaur was nearing its end.
“You pitiful thing!”
The demon focused on its solid body and tried to pummel Reeve with punches, but they were all blocked by her shield.
With astonishing reflexes, she was parrying all attacks.
The result of her innate physical abilities combined with Kelaout’s blessing.
Thanks to that, the demon couldn’t land a single blow on Reeve.
Boom!
Seizing the moment, Reeve struck the demon’s front leg’s ankle with her shield. The strong impact made the demon lose its balance and tumble.
“Now’s our chance!”
“Yeah!”
Yao, who had jumped from the tree, summoned a long blue spear in her hand and pierced the demon’s right eye.
As a result, the centaur demon became blind.
“Ugh…”
Having lost both eyes, the outcome was already decided.
I stepped forward at that moment.
“I need to interrogate it, so please bind it.”
“Understood.”
Yao released her mana to bind the centaur demon’s arms behind its back and securely tie up its front and back legs.
With that, it shouldn’t be able to launch a surprise attack.
I approached cautiously and squatted right in front of the demon’s face.
Then, I went straight to the point.
“You, what subordinate of the Great Demon Regidro Reuenna are you?”
“……”
Silence.
It seemed the demon had no willingness to respond.
I stared blankly at the demon and called for Reeve.
“What is it?”
“Please interrogate it instead of me.”
“Will it answer willingly?”
“Just try it.”
After informing Reeve of the questions I had, she immediately began the interrogation.
“You, are you a subordinate of the Great Demon whatever?”
The demon was treated without any manners, and the questioning began bluntly.
“Yes. I am a follower of the Great Demon of Deceit and Corruption, Regidro Reuenna.”
Unlike before, the unicorn centaur obediently answered.
It seemed that even demons could be polite towards maidens, despite how fiercely we had just fought.
A peculiar temperament, which made it easy to use.
“Tell me your name and rank.”
“Qion. I’m the direct General under the Great Demon.”
“General? Are you the strongest among your subordinates?”
“There are four other individuals of equal rank as mine. And I am the weakest among them.”
Since it was cooperating so willingly, it didn’t seem necessary to resort to violence.
It seemed Reeve thought the same, but another maiden did not share that view.
“Die!”
Suddenly, Yao began to stomp on the head of the demon general relentlessly.
Though it was likely to hurt only her own feet, she continued to kick without yielding.
Was the term maiden such a painful topic for her?
She was overreacting.
“Please stop her, Wip.”
“Okay.”
After Wip dragged Yao away, the interrogation resumed.
“Is it true that the Great Demon has recently lost power and is in pain?”
“No. He is merely shedding a few tears and rolling about in pain.”
“…I see.”
I couldn’t tell the whole story yet, but it seemed the shard in America was indeed suffering from immense torment.
That was good news.
‘Now’s the perfect opportunity.’
Wouldn’t it be possible to charge in and cleanly behead him, then return?
It was a perfect plan, but I decided to dig a bit more into the information first.
“What is the size of the Great Demon’s domain, and how many troops does he have?”
“The size is about twice that of this Great Forest. The number of troops exceeds the total number of trees existing in this forest.”
“……”
Was that so?
The scale was beyond imagination.
Dealing with all the underlings under the Great Demon seemed practically impossible.
Should I really carry out an assassination operation?
As I pondered on what to do, Lilith suddenly spoke up.
“Hey, where’s the one who sent those lackeys into the dream?”
“…Why do you ask that? I don’t talk to succubi, so just get lost!”
The demon, who had been answering earnestly until now, suddenly furrowed its brow.
It didn’t seem like it was just a reluctance due to a succubus’s question; its response was quite intense.
Lilith seemed to think the same and smirked.
“Oh my. You need to improve your acting skills. If you want to hide something, you have to remain casual all the time.”
“……”
“It’s already too late for you to shut up. I’ve roughly understood the situation. You look like a unicorn, but your brain is that of a donkey, huh?”
While Lilith mocked the demon, she turned to me.
Her eyes sparkled with confidence and a triumphant smile.
The expression was infectious, and I felt upbeat as well.
“Your Holiness? Thanks to our Great Demon using its head, we can move faster than planned.”
Unlike a typical demon, the kind-hearted succubus wrapped her arm around my shoulder, smiling brightly.
“The one who sent that guy into the dream is probably in the Great Demon’s domain right now. Do you understand what that means?”
“…Of course.”
I followed Lilith’s lead and smiled.
“We can quickly move to the Great Demon’s domain through the dream.”
A shortcut had naturally revealed itself to us.
*
We could instantly reach the region where the Great Demon resided.
Before that, though, I decided to deal with the bound demon. There was no reason to leave any future troubles.
“White Tiger.”
-Grr!
The White Tiger, responding to my call, jumped over to me and sat in front.
It still maintained its adorable and cute demeanor.
I patted its head vigorously and then commanded.
“Devour this demon thoroughly.”
-Grr?
It tilted its head in confusion.
That did not seem to be an appropriate reaction.
So I pointed at the demon again, and only then did it finally rush over and bite the demon’s front thigh.
Having been unable to inflict wounds even on the yoyos and handsome man, would our adorable White Tiger manage to tear it apart?
Would it perhaps just break its teeth?
Such apprehensions quickly evaporated.
“…Ugh?”
As soon as the White Tiger bit into the demon’s thigh, the unicorn demon’s expression hardened, and it soon turned pale.
At first, I thought it was just a show, but that wasn’t the case.
“Oh, ugh…”
Before long, the demon’s robust body began to shrink, as if air was escaping from a balloon.
And as the unicorn centaur’s body shrank, the peculiar aura emanating from the White Tiger grew stronger.
“Wip?”
When I called the name of the expert who could explain this strange phenomenon, I got a swift answer.
“The demon is absorbing its vitality and toxins. Since it’s a Void Monster, it won’t get an upset stomach.”
“……”
Upset stomach wasn’t the main concern here.
“What will happen to the White Tiger now?”
“Once a Void Monster has feasted well, it evolves to the next stage.”
Wip continued, calmly watching the White Tiger feast.
“Very soon, the Void Monster’s unique, amorphous body will mutate and absorb one of the characteristics of its prey.”
Then I realized I needed to pray right away.
“Oh Sun, please grant it a sturdy body. The personality that brightens maidens is unnecessary…!”
It was a matter of maintaining the dignity of our guardian beast.
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