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

The halo expanded outwards in a ring shape around Philippa.

These small monsters hidden under the weeds are extremely weak and will die instantly if touched by the aura. Therefore, there is no need to worry whether the monsters pounce on you or run into you on their own.

The halo enveloped the three of them, allowing them to move freely.

Not having to constantly be on edge to deal with monster attacks made things a little easier for the three of them.

"Ok?"

Sofia suddenly frowned and said, "Look at these weeds..."

Upon hearing this, the two looked around and instantly understood what Sophia meant.

The weeds inside and outside the halo are different colors, with the weeds outside the halo being darker and more decayed, while the weeds inside the halo are normal green plants.

“The weeds within the halo have been purified…” Philippa murmured.

Light-attribute magic has the purifying effect on all dark and evil auras.

The fact that the weeds were purified indicates that they were contaminated by demonic energy before the halo was activated.

Then I recalled the shape and color scheme of those small monsters...

A thought popped into Philippa's mind.

Her tone was uncertain, but she still put forward the hypothesis.

"Are those small monsters mutated from contaminated weeds?"

As soon as she finished speaking, Sofia and Tarik were taken aback by her guess.

"I've never heard of monsters being generated in this way before..."

Sofia whispered.

This was not an objection to Philippa's conjecture; Sofia was merely stating that she had not heard of such a precedent.

“But it makes sense,” Taric replied. “If these small monsters mutated from demonic power, they wouldn’t be found in the monster encyclopedia. It also explains why I haven’t seen any similar monsters.”

While the accuracy of the speculation cannot be determined at present, the three believe that the possibility is not low.

"Wait a minute..." Sophia's eyes widened: "Assuming the conjecture is correct, even weeds can mutate into monsters, then to what extent would individuals that were originally monsters mutate under the influence of demonic aura?"

After a moment of silence, Philippa spoke first.

"It will be much stronger than before, and the number will continue to increase..."

The three of them could already guess what kind of danger awaited them ahead.

With a composed expression, Tariq asked Philippa, "So, do we still want to go in?"

Sofia also turned her gaze to Philippa.

Philippa is the hero, the captain of the hero's party, so in this situation, it's up to Philippa to make the decision.

Philippa gritted her teeth. As a hero, if she retreated here, she would be retreating at the first sign of unknown danger...

How could such a heroic squad possibly defeat such a powerful demon king?

Although she appeared indifferent on the surface, the Demon King's terrifying figure and the astonishing amount of magic he unleashed during the Holy Light Pilgrimage weighed heavily on Philippa's mind like a heavy lock.

Despite her seemingly cheerful demeanor, Philippa harbors doubts about her ability to defeat the Demon King.

No, she must defeat the Demon King.

Otherwise, if the Demon King leads his demon race to destroy humanity, everything will be over, let alone what I wanted to do after the Demon King's defeat...

She needs to hone her skills further and become strong enough.

We can't just turn around and run to a safe place every time there's danger...

Philippa made up her mind.

"Go in and take another look. If we encounter something we really can't solve... then we'll run!"

Sofia and Taric's decision regarding Philippa is not surprising.

After all, having been a team for so long, they were well aware of Philippa, the princess and heroine's style.

"Then I'll risk my life to accompany you!"

Taric, carrying his giant axe, laughed heartily.

But he was met with a cold shoulder from Sofia.

"What 'risking one's life for a friend'? That sounds so nice, but with His Majesty Phoenix around, how could there be any danger to his life?"

Tariq gave an awkward but polite smile: "Of course I know, but every man would want to use such a passionate line at least once."

As a result, he was mercilessly criticized by Sofia.

"What are you talking about? You're so stupid... (なにそれ,バカバカし...)"

Philippa remained silent.

She also thought the lines were pretty good...

"Let's make this clear first: if we encounter too many Tier 6 monsters, we'll just run!" Sophia said.

The three of them did indeed work together to defeat a sixth-tier demon, but that doesn't mean they can easily deal with a large number of sixth-tier enemies.

If you need to run, then you have to run!

After the exchange, the three members of the Brave Team set off deeper into the "Emerald" Valley.

Along the way, the aura continuously cleared away large amounts of weeds and monsters, and they hadn't traveled far...

What came into view was a familiar, yet distinct, monster figure...

Two velvety legs, and two mushrooms on top.

"This is... a land mushroom, right?" Philippa asked uncertainly.

Taric glanced at the monster.

"Probably... yes..."

Compared to the previous Landfowl, this Landfowl was undoubtedly much larger, already taller than Taric.

The mushrooms on top of my head have grown quite a bit, but their color is a bit duller than before, not as vibrant.

Moreover, there was more than one appearing at the same time!

Several "Landwalker Mushrooms" spotted the "intruders" and strode quickly toward the three members of the hero's team.

Sophia took the initiative, using her long reach as a light-attribute mage to launch the first attack, sending a beam of light straight ahead.

The beam struck a "Land-Walking Mushroom" directly, and the "Land-Walking Mushroom" let out a piercing cry of pain, but unlike before, it was not pierced by the beam.

"He really has become stronger..."

Sofia muttered, knowing that the previous attacks were not enough, and fired out several more larger and thicker beams of light.

Several beams of light hit the same Groundhog, causing enough damage to knock it down. The remaining Groundhogs then used their mushroom heads to charge at Philippa and Taric.

"Perfect timing!" Tarik and Philippa both exclaimed, each facing their enemy in their own way.

Taric is incredibly strong; his giant axe strikes are a combination of physical damage and additional light-based attacks.

Philippa doesn't often use her light sword in close combat; she swings it while casting spells, making it a medium-to-short-range fighting style.

Because they needed to stay within the aura to prevent attacks from the weed monsters, the three of them couldn't be too far apart and all dealt with the "Landwalker Mushrooms" within the aura.

As it turns out, Philippa's aura can clear away more than just weeds and monsters.

The moment "Walking Mushroom" entered the aura's range, its body stiffened as it was suppressed by the aura's light-attribute magic.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, while the "Landshroom" was in a stun state, the three of them each used their own moves, fighting in their own style, and one Landshroom after another fell down...