"Is this the place… Let's go in, Erica!"
Under the night sky, two dusty figures appeared in front of a large building. Sora drew his long sword while speaking to Erica.
"As you command, my King!"
With a warlike and excited smile, a fiery magic circle flashed, and Erica also summoned her beloved sword, "Cuore di Leone."
Exchanging glances, the two rushed into the building.
As if touching an invisible barrier, the moment the two stepped into the building, black shadows quickly attacked from far and near. They were not living creatures, but skeletons in armor holding swords!
"Hey, hey, really?"
Slicing away an attacking skeleton with a sword, feeling the astonishing power transmitted back from the sword, Sora couldn't help but say in surprise.
Although it wasn't fear or anything like that, fighting a group of dead skeletons always felt very uncomfortable!
Moreover, even if these guys were cut down and turned into a puff of black smoke, they would quickly reform, it was simply endless!
"Undead Servants, they are beings whose souls are locked in a prison by the Marquis Voban. My King, don't waste your strength on them. As long as the Marquis Voban's authority is not broken, they can never be completely annihilated."
While striking down the Undead Servants who were attacking her, Erica explained to Sora. Although these Undead Servants were powerful, they seemed to have lost much of their intelligence, so dealing with them was not very difficult. The two quickly advanced while dodging the entanglement of these Undead Servants.
"Next is an ancient witch, interesting!"
Looking at the figure holding a magic staff blocking their way on the staircase, Erica said with a wicked smile.
The Undead Servant called an ancient witch by Erica did not attack immediately. Instead, she waved the magic staff in her hand, and a huge magic circle shimmering with silver-white light appeared on the ground. A giant figure made of rock and earth gradually rose from the magic circle.
As soon as it appeared, the rock giant punched towards Sora and Erica. Erica's figure was agile, and she quickly dodged with a jumping magic. As for Sora, he didn't know if he was being stubborn, but he also swung a fist and clashed with the rock giant.
Boom!!!
With a loud bang, the corridor shook. Although Sora's fist was less than a tenth the size of the Rock Giant's, he still managed to smash the opponent's entire arm into powder.
"Tch, not that impressive, huh?"
Seeing the opponent become disabled after just one move, our classmate Sora couldn't help but feel a little smug. Although he hadn't used any authorities or Campione powers, he, Sora, wasn't a pushover either!
However, Sora's smugness didn't even last three seconds before the Rock Giant's shattered arm had already recovered!
"Um, Erica, is this big guy also one of those unkillable servants?"
With a twitch of his mouth, Sora asked Erica, who was standing beside him.
"Hehehe, my King, this is not a Undead Servant, merely a golem. A clay doll from Jewish legends. You can't defeat it with brute force alone!"
Erica blinked her big eyes at Sora and said with a playful smile.
Alright, sensing the teasing in his knight's tone, Sora couldn't help but feel a little awkward. Erica was the expert on these things; he, this so-called Demon King, was completely an amateur.
"Alright, alright, since Lady Erica knows so much about it, I'll leave it to you, lady."
Having absolute confidence in Erica, Sora immediately stepped aside and left the big guy for her to deal with.
Although completely inept at housework and usually appearing like a noble young lady who only knew how to enjoy herself, just like him, Erica was indeed very outstanding, both in her magical power and her clever little head.
The young girl first circled the Rock Giant a couple of times, then found an opportunity to jump onto the golem giant's head and used the magic sword in her hand to shatter the mantra on the golem giant's forehead. The giant, which had been full of life and incredibly strong, instantly disintegrated and shattered.
Because they were worried about Yuri, the two didn't linger and continued forward. However, waves of Undead Servants kept coming, and each one was powerful, unkillable, and fearless of death, truly annoying.
Originally, Sora thought of directly summoning the wild boar to crush them all, but he was stopped by Erica. Her reason was that the King's authority and power needed to be saved to deal with the Marquis Voban later. If he couldn't even clear these small obstacles, it would be her failure as a knight.
Directly chanting a Spirit Word, her beloved sword, Cuore di Leone, transformed into a steel silver lion, majestic and fierce, charging ahead to clear all obstacles for the two of them.
He couldn't help but feel a little touched. His knight was truly considerate and capable. She had dedicated everything to him – her sword, herself, her heart. If he didn't treat her well, he would truly be a beast, a beast.
But how should he treat her well? Should he just continue messing around with her all day like usual, being served like a young master by Shizuka-chan and the maids at home, and being a "role model" of decadence and corruption at school, and then "bullying" her when they sleep at night?
Well, this was a perplexing problem…
…
Holding a cup of freshly brewed black tea, Liliana handed it to Yuri.
"Thank you, Liliana-san."
Without any resentment or blame towards the other party for capturing her, Yuri said with a grateful smile.
"I haven't done anything worth thanking me for."
Her expression was indifferent, as if she didn't want to say much to Yuri, but a hint of helplessness and guilt flashed in the young girl's silver eyes.
"Hehehe… You said the same thing when we first met."
Yuri said with a smile as she picked up the black tea, a hint of nostalgia flashing in her expression. If she were to be honest, their fate began with that ritual four years ago.
"Um, how have you been doing lately? I didn't have a chance to talk properly when we met before."
Yuri said to Liliana while sipping her black tea.
"Why are you suddenly asking that? Besides, Mariya Yuri, do you even understand the current situation?"
"Although you survived that ritual four years ago, do you think you'll be that lucky this time? You might die, you really might die!"
Finally unable to maintain her forced indifference, seeing Yuri so calm and composed even in this situation, Liliana couldn't help but feel an inexplicable surge of anger, and her tone became incredibly agitated.
Although she was somewhat angry at Yuri, the young girl knew that she was also angry at herself. Personally capturing her former friend to be a sacrifice for the ritual to summon a Heretic God – she really didn't want to do such a thing, but she had to…
Staring blankly at the suddenly agitated Liliana, Yuri was momentarily lost in thought, but she didn't feel scared or wronged. Instead, she showed a knowing smile.
"Thank you, Liliana-san, but you don't have to worry about me. If it really comes to that, I also believe—"
"I believe someone will definitely come to save me!"
Clasping her hands tightly together, it was false to say she wasn't afraid, but Yuri believed that person would come to save her, they definitely would!
"Are you talking about that King Sora?"
Intelligent and quick-witted, Liliana instantly understood who Yuri was referring to.
"Mm…"
Without denying it, a faint blush appeared on her cheeks, and the young girl softly nodded in response.
The image of that Demon King couldn't help but flash in her mind, and Liliana's expression was complex. Although she had seen a lot of information about that Demon King from the information collected by the Society, she had only truly interacted with him twice. Once during the celebration, and once when he defeated Athena.
Looking at the silver ring on her hand, Liliana didn't know how to judge that Demon King. The first time he gave off a polite feeling, the second time he gave off a domineering and charming feeling.
Which one was the real him?!
However, no matter what kind of Demon King he was, he could make the extremely detestable but undeniably capable Erica wholeheartedly loyal to him, and he could make the pure and kind Yuri anticipate and trust him. Such a unique young man made her unable to resist the urge to understand him.
Startled, Liliana suddenly snapped back to reality. As a private romance novelist, wasn't this scene exactly the turning point where the heroines in her novels began to fall?
She secretly exclaimed how dangerous that was just now, shook her head vigorously, and told herself that she absolutely couldn't think about it anymore.
"Mariya Yuri, although I admit that King Sora is a very capable and trustworthy King, you have personally witnessed the power of the Marquis Voban. Do you think even if he comes, he can save you from the Marquis's hands?"
"So, be prepared!"
Not daring to stay here any longer, Liliana said coldly to Yuri and walked towards the door with the silver tray holding the teacup.
Lowering her head, biting her lip tightly, Yuri didn't retort.
"Phew… I'll tell you something. Just now, Kusanagi Sora and his knight Erica broke in here. They should be arriving soon."
With a light sigh, Liliana closed the door and left without looking back.
"Sora…"
Suddenly raising her head, Yuri's coffee-colored eyes were filled with tears.
Although she knew that even if he came, he might not be able to save her, she was still so happy…