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

Is this unusual phenomenon due to their abilities?

Philippa frowned, realizing the problem.

This is completely different from the demon cult members we've fought before.

The abilities of cultists she knew included playing with fire and creating aggressive shadows, but none were as troublesome as the one before her.

Philippa couldn't determine the specific effects of this ability; it was simply a matter of insufficient information upon first encountering this strange situation. Therefore, she could only try more things out.

Don't underestimate my intelligence, you bastard!

Actually, Philippa's idea is somewhat Versailles-like.

All the other magic was completely disintegrated, while your light magic was only weakened. What are you complaining about?

"Is it a weakening of magical attacks?" Philippa suggested.

To verify this, she and Taric would need to engage in close-quarters physical attacks.

However, this is risky. It is not a good idea to rush in when the enemy has a large number of people and you do not know their strength.

No, let's test the waters first.

Seeing the gray-robed leader raise his staff slightly and sensing the gathering of magical beams, Philippa made a decision.

She needs to have a clearer understanding of the other party's capabilities.

"Sophia, please cover me!" Philippa shouted, wielding her light sword and slashing at the gray-robed man.

Taric, of course, wouldn't just stand by and watch Philippa charge into battle alone. He understood Philippa's meaning as she shouted and charged forward, gripping his heavy axe and following closely behind her.

The so-called close-range physical attack does not mean striking by swinging a weapon without using magic, but rather gathering magic in the body or weapon, or using martial arts techniques.

Seeing that Philippa was about to strike with her sword, the gray-robed man felt the fear of the light-attribute magic on the sword and quickly gathered several people together to resist the power of the sword.

Philippa's sword struck a foot in front of the gray-robed man, but could not advance any further. She felt that she was blocked by something unseen, and the magic on her sword was slowly disappearing.

This was somewhat unexpected for Philippa.

Does this ability weaken all forms of magic?

Actually, Philippa's situation was relatively good; at least the gray-robed men seemed to be in a panic and managed to gather several people to withstand Philippa's slashes.

Taric's situation is not so good.

Because he was following behind Philippa, he was slower in swinging his axe when he reached the gray-robed man.

However, the gray-robed man treated him in a completely different way than he had treated Philippa. One of the gray-robed men calmly took a step forward to deal with him, without even making any defensive movements.

They really were looked down upon.

Seeing the gray-robed man's frivolous attitude, which contrasted sharply with his solemnity towards Philippa, Taric was naturally furious.

Although he was not a hero, it was normal for the Demon Order to consider him far less of a threat than Philippa.

But it's true that you'll feel resentful if someone looks down on you!

I'm, after all, the strongest warrior in my age group!

Taric roared and leaped at the grey-robed man, gripping his axe with both hands.

As the axe approached the grey-robed man, it felt increasing resistance, but it continued to advance slowly, unlike Philippa who was unable to make any progress.

Taric seemed to see a hint of surprise on the grey-robed man's face as he met his attack. The man's demeanor was no longer so frivolous; instead, he became serious and fought back with all his might.

During this standoff, Taric quickly realized that something was wrong.

He found himself gradually becoming tired, and his magic was slowly draining away.

He tried to pull the axe back but found it stuck firmly in his hand, and immediately broke out in a cold sweat.

Suddenly, a beam of light struck, causing the gray-robed man's expression to change drastically.

With the suction gone, Taric was able to break free and jump.

When Sofia provided remote support, she was actually helping Philippa because Philippa had to deal with more enemies and because of a little bit of personal motives.

Only when they saw that Taric's situation was not right did they change their attack direction to help Taric escape.

Taric was puzzled as to why Philippa and Sofia's attacks were so effective, while when he attacked, it was like hitting a block of tofu, failing to cause any real damage.

Where am I lacking?

He couldn't compare to Philippa, who was a hero, but he also believed that he was no weaker than this saintess.

Then why...

Do Philippa and Sofia have any common characteristics?

Are they all girls?

That's definitely not it! Otherwise, why would the Demonic Order target men?

Then there is only one answer.

Light!

“Your Highness, my attack was completely ineffective, but your slash was effective, probably because of the light-attribute magic,” Taric shouted to Philippa.

Upon hearing this, Philippa thought it made sense.

Demons are particularly afraid of light-attribute magic, so their followers must also have the same weakness.

In this way, the core of the battle, the so-called main DPS, can only be Philippa and Sofia, while Taric can only observe from the sidelines and make as many contributions as possible.

Not only Taric, but Philippa and Sofia also had a very frustrating time.

There was no satisfying feeling of every strike landing or every spell exploding; it just felt like a series of actions ended up with a few misses.

There are too many unknowns. We don't know the other party's capabilities, nor how much they have been worn down.

When victory is not in sight for a long time, a person's patience will gradually be worn away.

Moreover, as magic power and physical strength are constantly depleted, it is still impossible to inflict effective damage.

With this shift in momentum, the hero team will only gradually find themselves at a disadvantage.

By the time Gray arrived near Philippa to watch them fight the demon cult, the hero's party had already been fighting the grey-robed men for quite some time.

When Gray saw it, the hero team was already in a bad situation and had completely fallen into a passive and disadvantageous position.

After seeing the Demon Order also attack Philippa and her group, Gray had some guesses in his mind.

The Demon Order's faction of Knowledge and Truth likely didn't just intend to harm Philippa; otherwise, they certainly wouldn't have chosen such a public time as the Holy Light Pilgrimage. It was far too blatant.

If they wanted to kill the hero, they could have waited until the hero's party went out for training.

Although the Brave Squad might be accompanied by a few of Olmec's top combatants when they go out for training, it will be much easier to make a move than during the Holy Light Pilgrimage.

Therefore, the goal of the Knowledge and Truth faction should be to disrupt the Holy Light Pilgrimage.

This is tantamount to declaring war on the Church of Holy Light, tearing off the mask like this. What is the motive?

Should he step in to help Philippa, who is in a disadvantageous situation?

As a demon king, he should be gloating over the death of his nemesis.

But as a Shadow-level user, or someone who is on good terms with Philippa, Grey Brandt...

The answer is quite the opposite!