I became a heart-stealing thief in Azure Files

Attacks using other elemental attributes, especially shadow attacks, might be ineffective or absorbed by enemies that are clearly undead...

Why not use physical attack skills? If I scrape fast enough, it won't be just scraping, it'll be scraping the bone.

"You wretched little thing... I have to admit, you hurt me..."

"Just wait!"

The warhorse beneath him reared up and neighed, and the Red Knight roared, breaking free from the encirclement of the Holy Domain. Covered in wounds, he turned his horse around, spurred it, and charged directly at Little Green.

"So what if he's fast... he's just a fragile assassin... watch me kill him with a single sword strike!"

With a whoosh, the black greatsword erupted in black flames, and all sorts of negative thoughts accumulated and piled up on it. Then, with the weight of a thousand pounds, it swept across the battlefield along with the charging warhorse.

Faced with such an attack, Xiao Lü not only did not dodge or avoid it, but even 'coolly' recited a famous line from a certain game character.

"Want to kill me? You can try boxing with your shadow first."

Silent Hunter Ability - Ghost Form!

Silent Hunter ability... afterimage!

After her body transformed into a semi-transparent shadow, she completely ignored the Red Knight's seemingly devastating slash.

What good is a powerful attack? ... First and foremost, you have to be able to actually hit people.

"……hateful!"

The red knight, having missed his target with his sword, roared angrily, ordering his warhorse to halt its charge and begin to regroup.

The aura of fear was about to emanate from Him, but just before that happened—Yuzu raised his staff first.

"You little rascals, don't push me..."

"The Wizard's Secret... Spell Counter!"

The warhorse, which was about to unleash its fear aura for wide-ranging control, froze, nearly falling over on the spot.

"Damn it, damn it...!"

Black energy began to emanate from the skeleton knight. After cursing angrily twice, he began to chant some kind of shadowy script that seemed to be tainted with despair.

'...unlucky words.'

"Ominous words: High probability of driving an enemy into despair."

If this skill hits... the next skill will undoubtedly be "Lament of the Dead".

"Lament of the Dead: Immediately kills all enemies who are trapped in mental abnormalities such as fear and despair."

Amamiya pressed the mask on her cheek, ready to summon Persona at any moment.

However... the pomelo did not disappoint him.

"The mystery of the mage... the spell of disruption."

Yuzu summoned another pixelated mirror entity to interfere with and forcibly deflect the attack, and a flame called 'Victory is assured' seemed to ignite in her light blue eyes.

After transforming her staff into a holy bell used by priests to cast miracles, she retreated to dodge the Red Knight's physical attacks, while simultaneously shaking the metallic holy bell that gleamed with divine light.

"A miracle by the priest... the sunlight has returned!"

The holy bell in her hand then transformed into something resembling a golden tree. After the golden light imprint, Yuzu's movements did not stop. Taking advantage of the Red Knight's attack recovery and the moment she spurred her warhorse, she struck a pose that looked like she was doing calisthenics.

Stand upright and straight. After a golden pattern of the [Golden Holy Mark] appears before your eyes, suddenly stretch your arms out to the sides, forming a T-shape.

"The prophet prays... to eradicate the sacred law!"

The golden arc of light instantly spread out, forming a broken magic ring and the shape of a golden tree on the ground.

But then, the pixelated pattern transformed into a scorching, inescapable golden flame, burning like a maggot clinging to a bone.

'Whistle—'

The Red Knight's warhorse neighed in alarm, struggling to extinguish the golden flames that clung to its legs and then gradually rose upwards.

However, this was, after all, a prayer for the 'Golden Tree against the Dead One'.

Anyone who has even the slightest connection to undead creatures, and who is afflicted by this [Death-Curing Holy Law], has already begun their countdown to death.

"Very good... the grapefruit caused outstanding damage, severely injuring the Red Knight!"

Sofia, who also didn't rush to help immediately, began to announce the results in a cheerful tone.

—Like Amamiya, she is a 'max-level account' with maxed-out experience in the shadows and a maxed-out Persona strength... Participating in this level of battle is like a dimensional reduction attack.

In order to "level up" the kids in the game club, she wisely stayed with Amamiya and didn't immediately join the battle.

"Then next... Alyce, it's your turn!"

"Leave it to Alyce without worry..."

Alice, her fighting spirit high, raised the sword of the hero in her hand.

"Wait...you bastard...!"

The Red Knight was starting to panic. He was busy extinguishing the golden flames that had spread to his cloak, and when he saw Alice preparing to attack, he hurriedly tried to stop her with words.

"You...aren't you supposed to be a hero?! Are you just going to take advantage of my weakness like this?"

"Shouldn't a true hero wait for me to clear my negative status effects and enter the second phase... before engaging me in a truly exhilarating duel?"

"Alyce is a hero... but not a hero in the conventional sense..."

Alice's poised movements didn't stop there; she replied with unwavering righteousness, "Alice will never miss an opportunity to 'beat a drowning dog'!"

The sword in her hand shone with an even more divine light, and Alice, holding the sword with both hands, began to chant.

"This radiance is the hope of the stars, a testament to life that illuminates the earth..."

With a whoosh, golden flames rose from the blade and quickly spread across the entire sword—dots of shimmering, starlight-like pale yellow light then gathered and climbed onto the sword at an astonishing speed.

"Devouring the darkness of evil and bringing the light of hope... This is the proof of a brave warrior embarking on a journey!"

"Take this... Sword of Holy Oath!"

The light bound to the sword swirled and then burst forth, transforming into a blade of light composed entirely of pure 'holy light,' which appeared to be at least forty meters long or even longer.

Then, the light blade surged forward, transforming into a torrent of light that gushed forth.

"Not, not a hero...!"

The stream of light swept past, enveloping the Red Knight, and then shone on the Demon King's castle, scorching a shocking, eroded mark on it.

The bizarre spectacle of 'the world losing its color' quickly ended. The Demon King's castle's outer wall, which was probably tens of meters thick and made of an unknown metal, was burned down to just a thin layer.

"Not a hero...? Alyce is too lazy to reason with you, you don't deserve to listen!"

Alice calmly refuted the Red Knight's 'last words'.

“Alyce’s heart and actions are crystal clear, and everything she does is for the sake of justice… There is no need to understand evil villains.”

"Cough cough cough..."

The shadow of the Red Knight quickly faded and vanished.

Then, in a twist, it transformed back into the form of Shadow Nero.

"Anything you can do... little guys?"

She spat out a mouthful of dark red blood, wiped the corner of her mouth, and barely maintained the posture of a defeated person kneeling on one knee. A relieved smile appeared on her scarred face.

"Although you're just greenhorns... I acknowledge your fighting prowess."

Momoi raised her two-handed shield, placing it in front of Alice, Midori, and Yuzu: "What, do you still want to fight?"

"If we keep fighting, I'll die, so it's pointless..."

"Heh... Since the Demon King's castle is already doomed anyway, why should I needlessly sacrifice my life for a city that will eventually be destroyed?"

Shadow Nero spat, then suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood.

Immediately afterwards, she stood up unsteadily, waved to the four members of the game club, and then looked at Sofia and Amamiya with great apprehension, who hadn't made a move throughout the entire battle but would have been directly involved if the battle took even the slightest turn.

Her intuition told her that those two 'high-ranking figures' would definitely be even more ruthless.

Although neither of them made a move...

But Shadow Nero had a premonition that... if any one of them made a move, they could easily kill him instantly.

And indeed, that's true...

Sofia was ready to raise her hand and cast a [Light of Hope] (Pandora's exclusive magic) to purify the shadowy Nero.

Amamiya is already prepared to summon Izanagi.

The 'Creator God,' clad in a white trench coat and wielding a sword with a blade as large as the hands of a clock, was poised to strike. If necessary, he could unleash a barrage of tens of thousands of proverbs—three times, massively, universally damaging, like the act of creating a nation—to send her away.

"I'm telling you guys... you're planning to head to the Demon King's castle, right?"

Realizing that Amamiya and Sophia had no intention of continuing their attack, Shadow Nero remained silent for a short while before leaning against the wall, supporting his knees, and then suddenly asked.

"Hmm... what's wrong?"

Having already gained ample experience in negotiating with NPCs from another world, Little Green was in charge of the negotiations this time.

After observing Nero and finding no hostility, Little Green patted her sister's shoulder, signaling her to relax for the time being, and then turned her gaze to the shadowy Nero who seemed to want to say something.

"...Heh, in that case, I'll give you a 'special suggestion,' how about it?"

"Special suggestions?"

Momoi also became curious: "Is it... a strategy guide for defeating the Demon King, or something like that, revealing his weaknesses?"

"...I guess so."

Nero raised his hand and tapped the melted remnants of the wall behind him, then gave Amamiya and his group a meaningful look before suddenly asking, without warning, "Do you all think... the Demon King is ultimately 'alone'?"

"Do you think she might have some kind of 'general' or 'subordinate' under her command?"

"Or... a personal bodyguard or something?"

"Isn't that obvious...? The Demon King can't be alone."

Momoi gave Nero a strange look and retorted, "Anyone who has played the game... knows these basic settings, right?"

"Playing games...? I don't understand what you mean... However, I still want to give you some advice: the journey to defeat the Demon King is never a game."

Nero showed a moment of confusion, but then she shook her head with an expression of 'too lazy to understand' and began to advise like an elder.

Momoi: "..."

Oops... I accidentally said a line that sounded like it contained meta elements.

NPCs definitely wouldn't understand this kind of dialogue...

Momoi awkwardly touched her nose, wondering what to say next, when Yuzu suddenly asked very smoothly and coherently, "So... how many subordinates does the Demon King have? And how many personal guards?"

"Let me think... There are four 'maid teams' like ours in total. One of them went missing during a recent patrol, so now there are only three left..."

Nero looked up at the sky, counting on her fingers: "But actually... the 'Maid Squad' has a hidden number..."

"In other words... not counting me, there are still three 'maids'. Two of them may not be the Demon King's true subordinates and will not truly offer their loyalty to the Demon King... If you handle things properly, you might be able to try to persuade them to leave, or even turn them to the other side."

Are you talking about Karin and Akane...?

Amamiya stroked his chin, gazing thoughtfully at Nero in the shadows.

So it seems... the relationship between the 'Maid Club' and Rion is not 'absolute'.

Or rather... there is a possibility of being shaken, or even turned against.

Rion herself thinks so... then the reality can only be worse.

"but……"

Shadow Nero paused slightly, then suddenly said fiercely, "There's a 'special maid' whose number I only recently learned... She's the Demon King's henchman, a personal guard who would give her life for him (the Demon King)."

"His name seems to be Asuka Matoki... Anyway, if you are going to face the Demon King, be careful of this 'Shadow Dancer' who is willing to give his life for the Demon King."

It's a name I've never heard of before...

Looking at the almost angry or irritable expression on Nero's face when she said those words in the shadows... it corresponds to the fact that she herself had only recently learned about this 'non-existent maid club member' and was somewhat angry or had other minor emotions because of it?

—Nero's own thoughts are unclear for the time being, but at least Rion observed that Nero was irritable or angry, and this observation was reflected in the Hall of Another World.