The maid squad is too strong, what use is there for me, the Demon King?

"Lia, put on a shield!"

Gray shouted.

Gray and the two girls were facing off against a majestic demonic lion.

However, the demonic lion was not in good condition at the moment.

Its golden mane was stained red with blood, making it look particularly desolate. Anger and resentment flickered in the lion's eyes, but even more so, a deep weariness.

On its left side, a deep, bone-revealing sword wound stretched across its abdomen, blood gushing out and staining the lush green grass crimson. Around the wound, muscles twisted and deformed, as if one could feel the excruciating pain of that fatal blow. Each breath of the lion was accompanied by a painful tremor; the fur around the wound was scorched black—the marks left by Leah's flames.

On its back, however, the damage caused by magic is even more terrifying.

The wound on the back was not caused by a single magical element. If someone with a keen sense of magic were present, they would be able to see traces of various magical elements left on the wound.

Lia specializes in fire magic and may know some other special types of magic, while Ipsilon has learned a wider variety of spells.

She has mastered the basic magic of various rare elements, including light, darkness, and space, and also has a considerable understanding of higher-level magic.

The horrific wound on the back of this monstrous lion was inflicted by Ipsilon using a barrage of basic elemental magic.

Knowing it was no match for the lion, the monster had already intended to retreat, but it discovered that the Epsilon had somehow circled around to its back and blocked its escape route.

At this moment, Gray was leading Lia and the monster lion to fight head-on, while Ipsi Dragon would seize the opportunity to unleash magic to disrupt them.

Amidst the intertwining pain and resentment, a wild light suddenly ignited in the eyes of the demonic lion.

With a roar that erupted from the depths of its soul, the demonic lion used its remaining strength to prop up its heavy body.

Its muscles were taut, and its bloodied wounds seemed to have lost their pain; only the instinct to fight drove it forward. The lion's golden mane danced wildly in the night wind.

In his final desperate counterattack, Gray made a judgment, which led to the scene where he shouted for Ria to put on her shield.

This lion is a fourth-tier monster, and Gray shouldn't have been able to withstand its dying counterattack, but if Lia gave him a shield, then it makes sense that he could withstand it.

Lia quickly chanted a spell to cast a fire shield on Gray. At that moment, the monster lion also moved, seemingly using all its strength to pounce on Gray.

Gray held his sword with one hand and, with the help of his fire shield, withstood the blow.

This is from Lia's perspective; she even feels that she has helped her brother.

Only the lion and Ipsilon, the monsters who stand in opposition to Gray, can see the calm and disdain in Gray's eyes.

The demon lion found that all the strength and magic it had exerted seemed to have sunk into the sea, and it sensed a deep and unfathomable fear in Gray's eyes.

Ipsyron was thinking about it.

This lion is so weak, easily killed by Lord Shadow with a wave of his hand, yet he has to pretend to be struggling against it. This is putting Lord Shadow in a really difficult position...

Ipsyron's beautiful eyes held a mixture of tenderness and coldness. Why was this the case, with two completely opposite pie charts?

If this is an example of different attitudes towards different people, then it makes perfect sense.

Little mouse, isn't it time to get moving?

Suddenly, a magical arrow imbued with a great deal of magic shot out from the shadows, aiming straight for the lion's head, a vital spot.

Here it comes.

Gray had naturally noticed the sneaky figure long ago, and stopped pretending to fight the monster lion. He slashed open the monster lion's head with his sword, shattering its brain tissue.

At this moment, the numbers on the magic stone also changed.

→。

The arrow arrived too late, piercing the head of the already dead demon lion.

"Who goes there?!" Lia reacted and shouted.

It was obvious that someone was hiding in the shadows stealing the monster. Luckily, Gray was quick-witted and agile, otherwise all the hard work he had put in would have been wiped out with a single arrow.

The Holy Light Pilgrimage implicitly allows competition between teams to steal monsters, and even to seize other teams' magic stone cards and destroy them, as long as no one is killed, it is within the scope of the rules.

Although stealing other teams' magic stone cards cannot transfer those teams' points to your own team, it can at least eliminate one team, and that team's score will be calculated directly.

You don't necessarily need to kill too many monsters. If you eliminate other teams in advance, you won't need to hunt too many monsters to ensure that your score is the highest.

The rules of the Holy Light Pilgrimage allow this behavior, so some people secretly follow other teams, waiting for them to fight monsters before suddenly appearing to steal the monsters and eliminating the teams that are exhausted from fighting monsters and unable to fight back.

Clearly, Gray's team encountered such a situation.

As Lia shouted, the three people hidden in the shadows gradually emerged.

The crossbowman who had tried to steal the monster's kill had a face full of anger and disappointment. His eyes were slightly narrow, with a few crow's feet at the corners, giving him a somewhat cunning look. Although his nose was high, the tip was slightly upturned, giving him a sharp and mean impression. His lips were tight, and the corners of his mouth were downturned, indicating that he was always dissatisfied. His short hair was greasy, as if it hadn't been washed in a long time, and his beard was also messy.

His companions were a warrior and a thief. The warrior's face was filled with a fierce look, and the thief was also pale.

Lia quickly sized up the three of them, thinking to herself, "They're so ugly."

They were all unfamiliar faces, and none of them were magicians, so they couldn't possibly be classmates from the Astraea Magic Academy.

Some unknown outsider.

They dared to show themselves like this because they felt they had them cornered.

The crossbowman clicked his tongue.

"We didn't manage to grab it, but it doesn't matter. Do you even have the ability to fight us now? Just crush the magic stone tablet yourselves, that way we'll save some effort."

"You!" Lia was furious, but she had indeed used up a lot of her magic power and had been taken advantage of. She guessed that Gray and Ipsilon were not in much better condition either.

Eliminating them like this is impossible. Ipsilon's plan hasn't even started yet. Shouldn't we put in more effort to take care of these three people?

In short, let's put up a stubborn resistance for now, and only take action if things get really bad.

Lia slowly retreated to Gray's side, asking what to do.

Gray grasped Lydia's small hand, which was stiff with panic and anger, and his brother-obsessed younger sister immediately felt at ease.

So she comes to Gray for comfort whenever she encounters a problem?

Or is this girl actually a little scheming, using this opportunity to get closer to Gray?

Unsurprisingly, Gray gave the answer.

"At this moment, only a fight to the death is possible; how can we talk about surrendering!"