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

“Buzz——!!!”

A terrifying, muffled roar, powerful enough to shatter the earth, erupted from the giant python's body, like a million giant bells striking simultaneously!

The massive, mountain-like body of the Shadow Abyss Serpent suddenly lit up from the inside out!

Countless blindingly bright platinum rays, like billions of spears of light, pierced through its tough scales, twisted flesh, and thick bones!

It instantly transformed into a massive and eerie "bone lantern" that emitted a divine, intense light from within.

The light was so intense and pure that the outline of every massive bone within it could be clearly seen, as well as the thick shadow magic that surged wildly on the bones like boiling oil, trying to resist but rapidly dissolving in the holy light.

This terrifying and sacred sight lasted for less than a breath.

"Boom!!!"

It was not an explosion, but a complete disintegration and sublimation from matter to energy.

The serpent's skeletal body, filled and illuminated by holy light from its core, along with the boiling shadow matter within it, was purified by the absolute divine power, like dust thrown into the core of a star.

No blood and flesh flew everywhere, no debris fell. The enormous demonic body, like a filthy ice sculpture under the scorching sun, or a sandcastle blown away by a gale, instantly collapsed, sublimated, and vanished.

Countless tiny specks of light, carrying the last vestiges of struggling darkness, drifted away in the aftershocks of the holy light, like a brief but eerie rain of black light. However, these final traces of darkness were also completely purified by the omnipresent, pure holy light, returning to utter nothingness.

On the scorched earth, only the solitary figure of the hero Philippa remained, her silver armor gleaming in the lingering holy light.

She slowly lowered her right hand. The sword-shaped warrior mark on her wrist, like the embers after a fire had burned out, quickly dimmed and faded, eventually returning to a deep imprint, leaving only a faint warmth, as if the heat had not yet dissipated.

Philippa took a deep breath: "It's done."

The two who had been watching the fight without making a move finally stepped forward to speak to Philippa.

The most excited of all was Saintess Sophia.

"Philippa, you're amazing! You managed to kill a seventh-tier monster while only being a sixth-tier cultivator. That's so cool! Heroine, please marry me!"

Ignoring Sofia's usual lesbian sexual harassment remarks, Philippa felt that only Taric's remarks were worth listening to.

Taric simply praised him, saying, "He truly deserves to be called a hero of our time."

Philippa laughed and said, "With the advantage of light attribute, it's still quite easy to fight monsters that are a level higher. Why don't you two give it a try?"

"Eh?"

As soon as she finished speaking, Sofia gave her a look that said, "What are you talking about? Absolutely not."

Taric, on the other hand, was very enthusiastic: "There's no harm in giving it a try. If it really doesn't work, we can step in to rescue it... We'll start when we encounter another seventh-tier monster later."

Sofia looked at Philippa and Taric, who had inexplicably reached a consensus, with a helpless expression.

"Okay, okay, I'll join too..."

But if there's danger, I'll yell, "Wife, help!"

Philippa's expression turned cold: "If you really shout that, I don't care about you. Go fend for yourself."

Sophia immediately adopted a pitiful and charming demeanor: "Really? Can the hero really bear to see the saintess torn to pieces by a monster?"

Philippa remained unmoved and retorted, "Provided that the saintess's character can reach the minimum standard of being human."

Sophia's mouth dropped open: "That's outrageous!!! No matter what, it doesn't deserve to be demoted below the level of humans, does it?"

Tarik watched the two women bickering as usual, then simply shrugged and said, "It's hard to comment."

About a month ago, the Hero Squad confirmed that the sky full of light in Eagle Territory was indeed the work of the Demon King's magic.

He was so scared that he turned tail and ran away on the spot, "you grease the road," he was really "a flash".

There was no way around it; the Demon King, who could even kill a legendary tenth-tier demon, was practically a cheat code. The three members of their hero team were not so arrogant as to think they could actually fight the Demon King.

No one knows what the Demon King did in Eagle Territory, but the hero team immediately fled the area and headed in the opposite direction from Eagle Territory.

They ran all the way to the border before stopping for a short while.

Theoretically speaking, the capital city of Tararalos, teeming with high-level professionals, is the safest place, but Philippa, having finally escaped the prison-like palace, doesn't want to go back...

There are some similarities, but the more important reason is that it's the same everywhere.

For the Demon King, who possesses the power to destroy the world, crushing them would be the same whether it were in the capital or in a desolate plain.

If he dares to make a move, Philippa will dare to die in front of him.

Don't expect the hero's ability to overcome the Demon King to transcend four entire magical levels.

In other words, if the Demon King wants to attack the Hero's party, it doesn't matter where he is.

Staying in the capital city of Taralos might actually lead to the capital being affected by the Demon King and destroyed.

Compared to defensive forces, the safest element is still to stay as far away from the Demon King as possible.

The Demon King may not be thinking of killing them now, but if the hero team keeps wandering around under his nose and the Demon King suddenly decides to kill them all, then we're doomed.

Philippa realized once again the importance of increasing her strength; she had to improve it as soon as possible to be able to contend with the Demon King, although she didn't know to what extent she needed to reach that level...

Therefore, from the day they arrived at the border, they took Sophia and Taric and searched for various dungeons and secret realms non-stop to fight monsters, improve their combat abilities, and raise their magic level.

For the hero, it seems that practical training has a greater impact on improvement. Sophia and Taric also benefited from staying by the hero's side and advanced to the sixth-tier professional level.

The three members of the hero team have always worked together to defeat monsters, and they can easily handle monsters of the same or even higher rank.

One day, Philippa had a sudden thought: compared to team battles, would applying some pressure and engaging in one-on-one combat with magic of the same or even higher rank have a more significant effect on improving magic rank and combat ability?

This led to the scene where Rank 6 Philippa fought the Shadow Abyss Serpent alone, a feat far exceeding her rank.

The result was successful, and Philippa also felt that this kind of cross-level combat was very beneficial to her own improvement, which is why she proposed that Sofia and Taric also try it.

After all, they are a team of heroes, and they won't be able to fight the Demon King alone in the future. Philippa will definitely hope that Sophia and Taric can grow up and provide more help.

However, despite the anticipation, the actual performance was rather disastrous...