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

"So...shall we go back first?"

Without giving Gray any time to think, the delicate body pressed against him moved away, and the white scales circled around to Gray's front, giving him a gentle push.

Instantly, Gray fell backward like a kite with a broken string. His body stopped splitting and, under the force of repulsion, he fell into the spatial current.

In his last glance as he left [the Celestial Realm], Gray saw Bai Lin's smile as she turned back.

"It's a promise, you're coming to rescue me..."

That smile was incredibly bitter; it was a forced smile.

Gray couldn't bear to see Bai Lin's bitter smile and wanted to do something, but it was too late.

Having left the [Celestial Realm] and entered the spatial surge, Gray gradually returned to that secret realm, propelled by the silvery-white surge channel.

All of this happened so fast, the scenery changing so rapidly that it felt unreal.

However, the cracked body that was about to heal and the white scales that had disappeared all testified to the reality of what had just happened.

The secret realm was utterly silent, devoid of any sign of life, leaving only traces of angelic radiance and the breath of white-scaled dragons.

Gray ran forward aimlessly, seemingly wanting to step back into the spatial currents, return to the [Celestial Realm], and do everything in his power to save the girl.

Without the gravitational pull of the Goddess of Light, Gray could no longer step into the spatial surge. The gate to the [Celestial Realm] remained tightly locked, and no matter how Gray knocked, it did not reveal a single crack.

After an unknown amount of time, he finally realized that he could not return to the [Heavenly Realm]. His legs went weak, and he fell straight to the ground.

As his body gradually recovered, a burning pain struck, but Gray seemed to have lost all sense of pain and did not contort his expression due to the excruciating agony.

Warm, moist liquid dripped from his eyes, not from pain, but from his own helplessness, which caused him to wail loudly.

"hateful!!!!!!!!!!"

Gray, who was lying on the ground, slammed his fist heavily into the ground, unleashing his full power without holding back.

A dazzling, purplish-black magical light emanated from his body, instantly enveloping the entire secret realm.

No longer suppressing or concealing his magic, he unleashed a full-force punch that trembled the earth, creating a massive crack that threatened to destroy the entire secret realm.

so what?

Even if he could easily destroy the entire secret realm with his own power, possessing enough power to destroy the world.

But before "He", there was no room for resistance whatsoever; it was as different as an ant compared to the bright moon.

For the first time in his past life, he felt so much pain and helplessness.

I still can't do anything.

……

—————————————————————

"Phew, all done, all done..."

Philippa wiped the sweat from her forehead, then drew her sword and wiped away the blood of the monsters and the sap of the plant-type monsters.

Phoenix dealt with most of the monsters, leaving the remaining ones for the hero team to finish off.

After a fierce battle (actually much easier), the cleanup mission came to an end.

"But this means I've worked for nothing..."

Taric dug out the magic crystal tainted with demonic energy.

Magic crystals are magical materials that appear as crystals. They are exquisite in appearance, with irregular geometric shapes and varying sizes. Magical academic research suggests that the size and color of magic crystals are related to the type of monster and its rank in its previous life.

The surface of the magic crystal is as smooth as a mirror, reflecting a mesmerizing luster. Its colors vary, some like a deep night sky blue, others an eerie purple, and still others a vibrant crimson.

The magic crystals dropped by these monsters, in addition to the above, were shrouded in layers of unidentified black mist, and their light was not as bright, carrying an ominous aura.

It looks so ominous; I really wouldn't dare to want such a magic crystal. Just looking at it makes me feel uncomfortable.

Among monster materials, the most valuable and purest magic crystals are all ominous, and monster materials such as fur and flesh are even more undesirable.

Killing these monsters corrupted by demonic energy, and not daring to take their materials, was indeed a waste of effort, just as Taric said, yielding no economic gain.

Consider it a training exercise. It's just a little bit (or rather, more than a little bit) of magic crystals. Before entering Emerald Valley and discovering the anomalies in the secret realm, the three-person hero team had already undertaken several days of serious secret realm adventures and gained quite a lot.

"All my efforts yielded no results..." Sophia said with a deadpan expression.

Sofia, who believed that the greatest happiness was to gain without effort, suffered a heavy blow when she worked hard but received no reward.

Sofia hates working for free!

Upon hearing this, Philippa swung her sword and dug out magic crystals from the monster's corpse. After a moment's thought, she asked, "Can we purify these magic crystals?"

These words startled Sofia and Tariq.

Don't say it, really don't say it...

The two seemed to have a sudden realization and fell into thought. Philippa continued, "Isn't our light attribute very effective against demons and monsters? Why don't we try using light attribute magic to purify the demonic aura within the magic crystal?"

Taric exclaimed as if suddenly realizing something: "Hiss...that makes sense."

The three of them simultaneously held the magic crystal in their hands and infused it with their own magic power.

Soon, Philippa's delighted voice proved the effectiveness of her suggestion.

The black mist inside the magic crystal gradually dissipated until it disappeared completely, and the ominous aura also receded along with the dissipation of the black mist.

"Sure, this will restore it to a regular magic crystal."

Philippa grasped several more magic crystals in succession and repeated the previous operation, successfully purifying each one.

If so many magic crystals can be successfully purified, there's no need to worry about it being a fluke.

However, Sofia and Taric's purification was not as smooth as Philippa's.

The moment Philippa infused the magic crystal with her magic, the black mist inside began to dissipate, and it only took a few seconds for it to completely disappear.

Sofia and Taric's purification is different.

The steps were exactly the same, but after the magic power was injected, the magic crystal showed a huge difference.

The black mist dimmed, but it still remained, and Sophia and Taric could clearly feel the demonic aura inside the magic crystal resisting their magic power.

In Philippa's case, there was no resistance from the demonic aura at all, and the black mist dissipated instantly.

The result is still that the magic crystal can be purified, but Sophia and Taric's purification is much slower than Philippa's, and Sophia's purification speed is also much faster than Taric's.

"So it seems that purification speed is linked to light attribute talent."

Of the three, Philippa, as a hero, has the strongest light attribute blessing, followed by the saintess Sophia, who has innate light attribute magic talent, and finally Taric, who awakened his light attribute talent through the blessing of holy light.