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Ophelia maintained the barrier while looking at Elliot fighting the Mined Creature all by himself.

Bang!

Elliot moved faster than the creature, dodging its lethal punches by mere inches and scraping away at its Black Armor.

Elliot was right. Armor meant nothing against the creature.

Thus, he fought on, keeping his body as light as possible and avoiding any single hit.

Originally, it should have been a three-on-one battle against the Mined Creature, but now it was just Elliot. Because of that, his movements were beyond human limits.

“…Damn bastard.”

That meant Elliot was using the Hero’s Divine Mark.

He had been told not to, but that guy doesn’t listen to his own words.

No, that guy even disregards Ophelia’s words.

And the outcome always ended up being in Ophelia’s favor, complicating her feelings.

“Shit… just try to die…”

With a twisted expression on her face, Ophelia channeled her Divine Power. The barrier brightened further, pushing back the dark magic. After all, Elliot was buying time, and Ophelia had to make the most of it.

“Hey, you fool. Get up!”

Ophelia stomped on Azar’s face at her feet.

The soles of her shoes repeatedly pressed against his face, but there was no time to laugh.

The physical shock might have some effect. But with nothing to lose, Ophelia continued stepping on Azar.

“Wake up, dammit!”

Just as Ophelia was about to kick Azar in the groin out of frustration—

“Hmm…”

Gurgling noises escaped Azar, and he sprang upright.

“…He really woke up…”

“My face is burning. Did I get attacked while I was out?”

Azar touched his face while Ophelia quickly averted her gaze.

With a somewhat dazed expression, he looked down at his clenched fist.

“In my dream… Aria appeared.”

“…Is that so?”

“I hesitated to attack even knowing she was a fake. Saintess, did you feel the same?”

Ophelia shut her mouth tightly and motioned her chin toward Elliot.

“Stop babbling and help him.”

“Right.”

Picking up the shield and axe lying on the ground, Azar joined Elliot’s side, and Ophelia bit her lower lip.

In her heart, she wanted to support him with Holy Magic, but she didn’t have the time or the ability to do multiple spell casts.

Ophelia realized her lack of effort. Unlike her, Emily could bombard with countless spells like carpet bombing. Of course, Emily’s multiple casting was due to the effect of her mark, but calculating the flow of each magic was solely Emily’s talent.

Above all, Ophelia had a mark too. In fact, if you strictly consider the type of mark, Ophelia’s Divine Mark was superior to Emily’s.

The point was that Ophelia too could achieve a level of mastery if she poured her heart and soul into it.

“Ugh…”

Ophelia grimaced.

If Elliot were to get even a scratch in this fight, it would be entirely her fault for not diligently learning Holy Magic.

She realized her shortcomings. She felt pathetic for boasting about shield techniques, swordsmanship, and armor.

Above all…

“What a ridiculous dream…”

Just a moment ago, she had lied to Elliot.

What had appeared in Ophelia’s hallucination was definitely the Pope.

But it wasn’t the real one. He didn’t even seem to have a mind to deceive her. A being resembling the Pope. However, this wasn’t Daniel himself, but rather a being who had called forth his soul to this world and bestowed a mark upon him.

In other words…

‘The Demon King.’

‘You recognized me right away. Did you feel the dark magic? Truly, it is as they say, the being most favored by the Divine Spirit.’

‘What the hell is your game here, you bastard.’

‘There are no games to speak of. I merely came to observe the Apostle of the Divine Spirit.’

‘Apostle?’

‘Who else but the Saintess, the most cherished human of the Divine Spirit, could be an Apostle? Do you believe this Pope I’ve disguised myself as is an Apostle? That wouldn’t be the case, would it?’

‘You idiot. That Divine Spirit has mistaken people.’

‘No, rather it is now that I have encountered you directly that I realize the Divine Spirit’s vision is never wrong.’

The being—whether it was truly the Demon King or not—said that.

‘Chaos will soon descend. The continent will stand at a crossroads of choice. Thus, the decision of you, as the Apostle, is crucial.’

‘Shut your mouth with that nonsense and go tell a Hero about it…!’

‘Haha. The current Hero’s soul is not as noble as yours. Isn’t it just an impure substance flowed in from the outside? In a world without a true Hero, the most noble soul in this world is you and…’

The so-called Demon King pointed at Ophelia, and then swiftly turned his wrist to point at himself.

‘It is precisely me.’

‘Ha, you narcissistic bastard. Aren’t you a bit too full of yourself? What are you, claiming nobility as a Demon King? Did you stroke your ego too hard in your castle until your head went spinning?’

‘Haha. I can’t help it if you feel that way.’

The face of Pope Yudor wore a benevolent smile.

It was a smile of a saint that Ophelia had never seen before.

‘But it’s something to consider. Who, after all, grants the Marks?’

‘What?’

‘Why is this world so distinctly divided between good and evil? As if prodding the fight between two powers.’

‘…’

‘You should know well, this world….’

‘Shut up.’

Ophelia didn’t listen any further.

She kicked the groin of the Demon King disguised as Yudor, and his collapsed body dispersed into black smoke.

The dream ended, just like that.

“…What trash.”

Ophelia shook her head, shaking off the lingering thoughts.

Whatever it was, she didn’t want to speak to Elliot about it.

After all, he was already struggling with the burden of an ill-fitting mark, enduring pain that felt like his body was breaking apart. Ophelia didn’t want to become an unnecessary burden.

What she had seen and heard in the dream was only Daniel and the Demon King’s lies, or so she decided to think.

Thud!

“Hey, get up!”

“Ugh…”

Albrecht grabbed his groin, rising to his feet.

Emily had also long since awakened.

She seemed dazed, pulling at her cheeks.

“In my dream, my Master appeared… begging to be saved.”

“Right. Since it’s fake anyway, tell her to help out instead.”

Ophelia expanded the barrier even larger, pointing at Elliot.

Even in that situation, Erwin hadn’t awakened yet.

No matter if she slapped his face or kicked his lower abdomen, he didn’t budge. Instead, clear tears were rolling down from his tightly closed eyes.

“What a pitiful old maid.”

She knew very well why he couldn’t wake up.

In fact, it was possible to guess why Daniel was going to such lengths to put them into hallucinations.

Daniel’s vessel was undoubtedly the half-siblings, Mereba.

So, while the hallucinations didn’t have much effect on others, for Erwin, it must be sweet extreme poison.

“You definitely don’t fit as Elliot’s wife.”

Ophelia let out a low sigh and concentrated her Divine Power at a single point.

—

The Possessor Daniel was observing the situation from outside the mass of dark magic.

He believed everything was within his grasp.

He had confined them inside hallucinations. Of course, he didn’t expect to kill them. From the beginning, his target had solely been the Archery Master Erwin. In any case, he had successfully neutralized the key player, the Archery Master, and now he was planning to take out the rest one by one.

“…What on earth was the situation?”

However, Daniel grimaced and bit his thumbnail.

The hallucinations of the others were entirely under his control.

But he couldn’t intrude into the Saintess’s mind.

Not because Daniel lacked the ability to handle magic, but because of a simple intervention from something else.

He didn’t know what that being was, but it had burrowed into his solid and impenetrable territory undetected, creating a powerful realm so vast that he couldn’t even perceive it, allowing the Saintess to converse.

Creating another domain within his realm. This was an achievement beyond even the Demon King’s subordinates.

The only being capable of realizing such a miracle had but one name, one that even Daniel, content with this world, would tremble in fear of.

Fwoosh!

Not long after, the mass of dark magic began to unravel.

Within that mass, divine power surged like an explosion, and a multitude of sky-blue magical threads assaulted the focal point, causing the dark magic to lose its cohesion and scatter.

[Wraaah!]

The battered Mined Creature T-1000 was flung away, and soon the Hero and his companions emerged.

“…You bastard, didn’t you just blabber away before?”

Hero Elliot spoke to Daniel while readjusting his holy sword.

He was soaked in blood, looking more like a demon than a hero.

Even a haze seemed to be rising around him.

Overwhelming mana.

He was using the Hero’s Divine Mark.

But Daniel didn’t care about the Hero.

“…Saintess.”

Daniel looked at Saint Ophelia Meredein.

“In your dream, what did you see? What did that person say to you?”

“Well…”

Ophelia let out a deep sigh and glared at Daniel.

“That’s something you’ll find out when you meet that guy in the afterlife.”

The face of the Saintess was filled with malice.

 

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