The Fake Saintess and the Elf Warrior

She held the demon king's trembling hands, which were shaking with unease and fear, tightly in one hand, and gently wiped away the tears on Naka's face with the other.

"After Xiao Ai wakes up, I will explain everything to her... No matter how many years or how much effort it takes... I will make sure Xiao Ai accepts you as her mother, and you accept Xiao Ai as your daughter... I will ensure that you two, mother and daughter, are truly devoted to each other and never separate! I will definitely convey to Xiao Ai the passion you have for her!"

At this point, Mayajie looked at Maya, who was still unconscious. It was because she loved her that Mayajie dared to confront the Demon King head-on. It was because she loved her that Mayajie hoped more people would love her, and that she too could love those she was meant to love.

"It might be difficult at first. Xiao Ai will probably be confused and perplexed at first... but leave it all to me! As long as I have a breath left, I will definitely work hard for the day when you and your daughter can shake hands and hug each other!! It's not too late for you to cry when that day comes! At that time, I will be with you and Xiao Ai, and the three of us will cry together!!"

"........ha"

It started as a snicker. Then, the Demon King's snicker turned into a loud laugh.

Hahahaha!

What can she say now?

Even his last bit of persistence and determination, the chance to play the villain, was taken away by this girl in front of him.

More importantly, he couldn't refute her. Destroying the enormous sphere beneath his feet, inhabited by countless lives, was not difficult for the Demon King, but subduing the girl before him was an impossible task.

Even the most devastating violence cannot shatter this burning, sincere heart.

What could the Demon King do besides laugh, laughing through his tears?

She can't do anything anymore....

"Snap"

In the end, she gave up on leaving. She simply snapped her fingers, gazed at the blue sky, and softly uttered a...

"That's enough... Let's retreat... I've failed..."

"Ha ha...."

"call...."

Because the duration of the enhancement magic was about to end, Lushus was panting heavily while Ruri simply let out a long breath with ease, both still maintaining their fighting stances.

Although Lucy knew it was all a lie, she had to keep fighting until she understood the other side's true intentions, even if it was fake.

Otherwise, Liuli, who's always by my side, will definitely become suspicious of me...

"Huh!?"

"Gah!"

Just as the next round of the "performance" was about to begin, the monsters suddenly looked back as if they had received a collective command. Then, at the command of a leading monster, they orderly formed a line and scurried into the caves throughout the building. In less than five seconds, only two humans holding weapons remained in the room.

"Huh? W-what's wrong?...Hey? You're really not going to fight anymore?! No way??? You bunch of animals! There's a limit to how much you can fool people!!!"

"......"

Ruri, seemingly still bothered by the lack of enjoyment in the fight, launched into a tirade of curses. Meanwhile, Lushus, her expression grave, gazed in the direction the monsters had been looking.

"Come on, come on! Girl! You can't hit me, Udoni, with that kind of frequency!"

In the next room, the battle between Tatia and Udoni continued.

Although Tatsia was furious, she hadn't completely lost her mind. She knew that if she used all her strength and unleashed her strongest abilities, the room in front of her would be destroyed, and she could simply ignore Udoni and go settle accounts with the Demon King in the next room.

However, Malya is still in the next room. If he attacks without hesitation, Malya will definitely be implicated.

Although it's unsettling to leave her alone in the same room with the Demon King, he might not immediately kill the defenseless Malyajie. He can't afford to let her be accidentally injured or killed by his own angry attacks.

Therefore, Tatsia changed her strategy from launching her final trump card, "Future of the Spirits," all at once, to scattering it with a large number of small light projectiles to attack Udoni.

Although Udoni is fast, it doesn't have the same sturdy exterior as Diaz. A single hit would be enough to create a fatal opening, allowing me to finish it off, then rescue Mayage and settle the score with the Demon King...

That was Tatsia's original plan. However, Udoni's speed seemed to have exceeded her expectations.

After switching from a concentrated attack to a scattered one, Udoni was able to move freely amidst the rain of light projectiles, dodging every single attack.

It's like going outside in a torrential downpour, avoiding every single raindrop, and returning completely dry. It's practically a "miracle skill."

The one who displayed such "divine skill" was Udoni.

"Too slow!"

Approaching relentlessly amidst a hail of light projectiles, Udoni finally reached Tatia unscathed and launched a claw attack. Tatia had no time to dodge and had to retract her "Future of the Spirit" attack, raising her hands to create shield-like spirit power on her arms to directly block the blow.

Although it was a defensive barrier created by elven power, and the opponent had only launched a casual, ordinary attack, the blow still shattered Tatsia's barrier, causing her to stagger. Udoni, however, did not seize the opportunity to continue his attack, but instead chose to create distance once more.

"Don't tell me this is your trump card! Girl! I haven't had enough fun yet... huh!?"

Having gained a clear advantage and in high spirits, Udoni was making provocative remarks, but before he could finish his sentence, he turned around as if startled and looked at the room behind him.

But his surprise was fleeting. He quickly turned his head back. From that moment on, however, his tone of voice was different from before.

"...It seems my mission has come to an end."

"Wh-what?"

"If I could, I'd like to play with you a little longer, this interesting girl, and see what other interesting new things you can come up with... However, I cannot disobey His Majesty's decree... In any case, today's game ends here, my girl."

After saying that, Udoni lightly jumped to the upper left corner of the room. Soon a magic circle appeared beneath its feet.

Tatia recognized it; it was a magic circle for teleportation.

"What...you, you're not going to run away, are you?!"

"I wasn't running away. It's just that it's time for me to leave work..."

"Off-get off work hours...? Hey! What do you mean...?"

"You're really lucky, girl. Do you know what my nickname is?"

"what?"

"You think I'm some kind of 'Swift General' or something? You're so wrong, girl... When His Majesty bestowed his title, he called me the 'Gluttonous General'..."

"What.....?"

"What you just saw was only one aspect of my abilities... You haven't yet witnessed my true terror, my true strengths... Oh, and the general who led the army to attack your country back then... Although that guy wasn't very likeable, I have to admit that his ability in direct combat was far superior to mine."

"What...you...you mean...that guy named Komre...is stronger than you!?"

"Oh? You know his name... It must have been that bug Diaz who let it slip... Honestly, that useless bug... But that's not important. Girl, if you want revenge on Komre, your current strength is far from enough. Don't be arrogant and self-righteous. This world is much bigger than you imagine... I suggest you start practicing from the basics again! Hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!"

"Shut up!!"

Tatia, having recovered from the shock of the attack, flapped her wings and flew towards Udoni, attempting to pull it out of the magic circle and defeat the boastful creature with her own hands.

Unfortunately, she was still a step too late.

"call out"

Even though Tatia used her elven power to create a longsword in her hand and swung it, she ultimately only struck the afterimage left behind by Udoni when he disappeared.

Udoni thus disappeared unharmed from his room.

"That... um... Tatsia?"

Confirming that the enemy had left on their own, Pais, who had been huddled in the corner, finally breathed a sigh of relief. She tried to approach Tatia, who had been silently hovering near the spot where her attacks had missed, her back to her, and remained motionless, tentatively asking...

"Damn it!!!!"

At that moment, Tatiana suddenly raised her right arm and slammed it down onto the ground...

"No, no, no!!"

A terrified Pais quickly curled up into a ball again...

"........."

But the expected loud noise did not come.

Tatia's fist stopped less than a centimeter from the ground. Only the wind from the punch struck the solid ground, creating a fist-shaped indentation.

Then, the anomaly on Tatsia dissipated. After another flash of light, Tatsia landed back on the ground with a "thud." Her figure returned to the familiar one that Pais had seen before. She held the two swords, one large and one long, in her hands.

What was her expression like then? Disappointment? Angry? Resentment? Regret? ...Pais didn't know. Because she didn't see it.

She only saw Tatiana slowly sheath her two swords, and say to herself in a low voice...

"Let's go... The enemy is all gone."

That day, a fierce battle that took place in a prison in the border region came to an end.

In this battle, some found happiness, some found liberation. Some felt unsatisfied, while others had their questions answered.

And there was another person who realized that he was still just a weak elf.

The Mayera Rescue Operation (Final) (End of Volume 4)

Whether it's a happy or sad occasion, this rescue operation seems to be coming to an end.

The monsters all scattered, leaving only the target being rescued and the five members of the squad that had come to rescue him.

At least that's what Tatia and her companions thought when they broke down the last door and entered the deepest room in the prison...

...

"Malya Jie!! Are you alright?!"

Tatia was the first to break down the door and quickly assessed the situation inside.

He had just made a grave mistake: leaving a defenseless girl like Mayajie alone in a room with the Demon King. This was undoubtedly an extremely dangerous situation. And he hadn't been able to quickly defeat Udoni to come to her rescue, or at least settle accounts with the Demon King. By the time Udoni left, the Demon King's presence had vanished from the room.

She was terrified that something bad had happened here. She feared that her worst-case scenario would become reality. If Marjane had perished, and Meera hadn't been rescued, her journey would not only have been in vain, but she would also have made it impossible for Tatiya to return to the capital to face her companions waiting for their triumphant return. She would feel ashamed before the fallen Marjane, for failing to keep her promise, and for Meera, who had once again been deprived of her freedom...

Regardless, even if Tatia had done her best, if these pessimistic thoughts became reality, it would undoubtedly be her responsibility as the squad leader. In that case, even if Tatia later killed the Demon King and achieved her revenge, this failure would leave her with lifelong guilt...

"Ah, Miss Tatia~"

However, things weren't as bad as Tatsia had imagined.

Upon entering the room, she was greeted by Mayajie, who was kneeling on the floor, using her knees as a pillow, with Maya wrapped in a blanket lying there, her usual smile and lighthearted tone.

Besides that, there was no one else in the room.

"Hey... Ma, Ma Yajie, are you... are you alright?"

"Hmm? Of course I'm fine. Besides, Xiao Ai doesn't seem to be acting strangely... she just seems like she wants to sleep a little longer."

As she spoke, Mayajie gently stroked Maya's hair, which was lying on her lap, with loving eyes.

"You, your hand..."

Even though Ma'eryajie herself said she was fine, the wounds on her body that hadn't fully healed couldn't hide the fact that her right hand was tightly wrapped in bandages. When they were in the previous room, her right hand wasn't in this state. It was clear she was injured after coming to this room.

"This was done to save Xiao Ai~ Although it hurts a lot, the thought of Xiao Ai being saved makes the pain nothing~"

"Yes, is that so...."

Although Tatiya was very curious about where the bandage used to bandage her right hand came from, because she hadn't noticed that Maya had secretly hidden it on her person before they set off. And the blanket covering Maya—it looked exactly like the one they had at home… Tatiya hadn't realized Maya had been hoarding so many things all these days. It was truly surprising.

However, since she said she was fine, Tatsia didn't want to dwell on these minor details anymore; she'd just consider it her oversight...

"Compared to this... what about the Demon King!?"

"Um?"

"I sensed it just now, that bastard Demon King must have been here... I fought her once, and I know her overwhelming aura very well, there's no doubt about it... Where did that Demon King go? And how did you survive her?"

"Ah, ah... this, this...."

Although the previous question was answered smoothly... or rather, cleverly avoided Tatiya's suspicions, this question seemed to make Mayajie a little nervous.

There was nothing that could be done about it; after all, it was the girl's first time trying to lie.

"Xiao Ai's mother... she said she felt Xiao Ai was too disobedient, so... so she... stripped Xiao Ai of her princess status... Anyway, Xiao Ai's mother told me that if I wanted to take her away, I could, she didn't want Xiao Ai anymore! She also said she wouldn't send anyone to hunt down Xiao Ai anymore!"

"...Huh?"

Tatia was clearly taken aback by this response.

that's all....?

Is that why he abandoned his daughter?

So what was her purpose in specially arranging these checkpoints and specifically ordering a fierce general like Udoni, one of the five generals, to guard them?

What did Ma'er Yajie do or say here that made that cruel and heartless demon king spare them...?

Tatia was very puzzled.

Because this was completely different from the image of the Demon King she had in mind.

It's certainly a good thing that Malya is still alive. But the Demon King actually let her go? That's strange in itself.