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

Perhaps spurred on by the overwhelming lead in points of Philippa's Brave Squad, Lia was determined to work hard and catch up with Philippa.

This is obviously unrealistic. The championship is basically predetermined by them. Relying on this team where only Lia is giving her all is just wishful thinking.

Actually, Philippa is also under a lot of pressure.

It has almost become a tradition that the Brave Squad will win the Holy Light Pilgrimage as long as they participate. If they get second place, they will go down in history, albeit in a negative way.

People may not remember the champions, but they will certainly remember the exceptions who did not win.

Philippa and her team were still a newly formed hero squad, and they were under immense pressure.

"So what if a situation like the one just happened again? Are you going to expect Philippa to come to the rescue again?" Gray's words left Lia speechless.

That makes sense.

As the saying goes, "once bitten, twice shy," and Lia didn't want to make the same mistake again.

Therefore, the subsequent monster-hunting operations became somewhat more conservative.

Hunt as many monsters as possible while ensuring you have enough magic power and stamina, and then make a final push when the Holy Light Pilgrimage is about to end.

Ipsilon enjoyed her "date" with Gray, but didn't forget about the plan.

Although it's a bit of a pity, important matters absolutely cannot be delayed. Let's start implementing it in one more day.

Pierce the monster's heart with your sword, stopping its breathing, and you've earned the points.

After hunting down the monster, Gray should have gone on to find his next prey.

But then Gray suddenly frowned, sensing something was wrong. He quickly took out the magic stone and glanced at the numbers on it.

Nothing changed. Killing this Tier 3 monster should have added another thousand points.

Seeing Gray's solemn expression, the two women also paid attention to the numbers on the magic stone and noticed something unusual.

"It seems like there's no growth... Am I remembering wrong?" Lia's voice was filled with doubt and uncertainty.

“I also feel that the numbers haven’t changed. Why is that?” Ipsyron said.

Just now, the flow of magic in the environment became disordered, and the magic stone tablets rely on this flow of magic to function.

If it were just a minor problem, the magic stone should still be able to function normally. But since the magic stone has malfunctioned, it means that a significant change has occurred.

In addition, Gray also sensed fluctuations in space, just like when they entered the secret realm through the portal.

“Something terrible has happened…” Gray murmured.

Outside the secret realm.

Pope Augustine Lucien was sitting in his seat, chatting and laughing with the people around him.

Among the more familiar figures are the current King of Olmec, Reginald Ravenhill, and the Kingdom's Prime Minister, Cassie Wallestrid.

The Holy Light Pilgrimage is a major event held once every ten years in the Kingdom of Olmec, and these superiors pay close attention to it.

For them, the Holy Light Pilgrimage was undoubtedly a selection process for the kingdom's young and outstanding talents.

Suddenly, a person dressed as a knight rushed over.

"It's terrible, Your Holiness! All the magic stone tablets in the secret realm have suddenly lost contact!"

Upon hearing this news, the important figures present were all greatly surprised, including Pope Augustine.

"What exactly is the situation?" Pope Augustine asked.

The knight replied, "It's unclear at the moment. We can't contact anyone inside the secret realm, and the portal to the secret realm is also out of order. We can't send anyone into the secret realm to investigate."

Once the magic stone is broken, it loses its effect, but it will transmit the coordinates of the broken location, allowing the Holy Light Church to quickly launch a rescue and escort the eliminated players out of the secret realm.

This phenomenon is almost as if all the magic stones shattered at the same time, but that is obviously impossible. It can only be explained by some kind of interference that caused the magic stones to malfunction.

Pope Augustine's expression was solemn.

Never before has the Holy Light Pilgrimage ever experienced such an unexpected turn of events.

"Immediately notify all personnel to have the magic priests repair the portal as soon as possible, and have the knights stand by in front of the portal. Once the portal is repaired, immediately enter the secret realm to explore it!" Pope Augustine swiftly issued the order.

"Yes!"

It wasn't just that knight; now the entire Church of Holy Light was mobilized.

Not only Pope Augustine, but the other important figures present also looked rather grim.

The Holy Maiden of the Church of Holy Light is in the secret realm, as is the only princess and hero of the present day. Among the nobles and ministers, including Casian, there are also children who have participated in the Holy Light Pilgrimage.

Reginald understood that Pope Augustine was also confused at this moment. The right thing to do now was not to criticize him for the mistake of the Holy Light Pilgrimage, but to repair the portal as soon as possible and enter the secret realm.

"Tell that old man Dean to stop sleeping! Inform him to come immediately to repair the portal and participate in the rescue operation to enter the secret realm!" Reginald roared in fury.

His daughter is still inside; she can't afford to get hurt!

Within the secret realm.

A three-person team is having a great time hunting monsters.

"Haha, what good luck! We actually ran into a heavily wounded monster," the warrior among the three laughed.

“That’s right, it would be great if we could get more of these bargains,” the archer among the three chimed in.

The mage among the three was a beautiful, long-legged young lady. She would glance at the changes in her score on the magic stone after each monster she killed, and she was the first among the three to notice the change.

"No, killing this monster didn't give me any points!" Alarm bells rang in the mage's mind. Her mage's intuition, combined with her woman's sixth sense, was frantically warning her that something was wrong.

The warriors and archers, however, paid no attention.

"You must be mistaken. Even picking up a dying monster will earn you points, so there's no reason why killing a heavily injured monster won't give you points."

Even though the young mage sensed something was wrong, she couldn't quite put her finger on it, but the chilling unease made it hard for her to even breathe.

Seeing the magician's state, her two teammates also lost their joking mood and sensed that something was wrong.

Among all professions, magicians have the most acute senses and a strong ability to anticipate danger.

Therefore, a good team will have at least one mage with strong mental power.

Even if it's not for any other reason than long-range output or firepower suppression, the ability to anticipate a crisis is already invaluable.

Thanks to the magician's excellent senses, they successfully avoided many dangers.

This was the first time they had ever seen the magician look so uneasy.

It seems.

Something really bad has happened!