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

"It's still not quite there..."

Philippa muttered to herself, waiting for an opportunity when the two were on the verge of defeat, before launching a sudden attack.

As the lightsaber fell, the Shadow Wolf's massive body crashed to the ground with a loud thud.

Philippa was already skilled in the art, and casually broke open the Shadow Wolf's heart to retrieve the magic crystal inside.

The magic crystals of these seventh-tier monsters are valuable items, incredibly precious.

Although Sophia and Taric drew the Shadow Wolves' attention, allowing Philippa to launch a sneak attack and succeed in her strike, if the opportunity had been given to the two of them, neither Sophia nor Taric could have guaranteed a fatal blow.

Philippa did it, and she did it with great ease.

Sofia: "..."

Taric: "..."

The two remained silent, genuinely somewhat taken aback.

Taric gripped his giant axe tightly, thinking to himself.

I knew there was a gap between myself and the hero, but I never imagined the gap would be this big.

Philippa can kill a seventh-tier monster on her own, but even when he and Sophia team up, they can only maintain their formation against a seventh-tier monster for a short time to prevent it from being defeated so quickly...

Truly worthy of being called...a hero...

Sofia was also a bit taken aback, but she was more optimistic than Tariq.

It would be better if our own princess, the heroine, were stronger; otherwise, how could she be the leader of the team that defeats the Demon King?

“The gap in magic power level is indeed not so easy to bridge.” Philippa sheathed her sword and walked towards the two who were somewhat dumbfounded: “With a little more training, when we reach the peak of the sixth rank, we will be able to kill a seventh-rank monster together.”

"Let's focus on treatment first."

Upon hearing this, Sophia snapped out of her daze and waved her staff to cast a healing spell on Taric.

However, although it was called treatment, only Taric was injured, and there were no deep wounds. Sophia mainly suffered from excessive magic consumption.

Seeing Philippa, who remained calm and unaware of her superiority, Sofia and Taric exchanged a glance and found common ground—a rare moment of envy for the academically gifted (crossed out) hero.

"Keep hunting monsters, and when you can no longer find monsters, move on to another territory to hunt them."

After that, Philippa no longer let herself fight the seventh-tier monster alone, or with Sofia and Taric teaming up, but returned to the previous mode of the three of them fighting together.

……

The sky had darkened, and the crescent moon hung high in the sky, its faint light highlighting its presence.

Today, the hero team spent the entire day hunting monsters before emerging from the secret realm and returning to a nearby town to rest.

Such a life is undoubtedly very tiring and puts a lot of strain on the body, but there is no other way.

There is a demon king, a threat that could erupt at any moment, making it impossible for them to calm down and reduce the intensity of their training even slightly.

"worn out……"

Although she knows the importance of exercising more and is willing to do so, Sofia still complains about how hard it is to exercise.

Even if you know it's something you have to do, if you hate it, you should still curse it. At least that way you can vent your anger and feel a little better...

As she spoke, Sofia gently opened her arms and softly pounced on Philippa.

"If I don't replenish any of 'Philippa' energy, I'll die!"

Because her movements were so weak and limp, whether it was because she was really tired or because Sofia understood that even if she hugged her hard, Philippa would dodge and it would be a waste of her energy, Sofia pounced lightly, and Philippa was able to dodge easily.

“If you’re really exhausted, you won’t have the energy to talk or do anything extra. You should just go back to your room and go to sleep.”

Philippa was in much better condition than Sophia. Although a hint of fatigue was visible in her eyes, she had the spirit to persevere. With the "I'll go back to my hometown and get married after defeating the Demon King" buff, Philippa showed a much more persistent attitude than Sophia.

Tarik is in better form than Sofia, but not as good as Philippa.

While Taric was enthusiastic about adventure and monster hunting, he couldn't match Philippa's boundless passion.

"However, you can't just go back to your room and fall asleep immediately. You won't feel tired without taking a hot bath. You have to be careful about that."

Amid the jokes, Sofia offered a reminder.

So, it turns out we actually caught someone we didn't know.

Philippa suddenly realized: "I see."

Even if she hadn't known beforehand how bathing could relieve fatigue, she wouldn't have gone back to her room and fallen asleep immediately.

After all, she's a girl, so she can tolerate getting her body a little dirty during an adventure, but she absolutely has to clean herself up as soon as she gets back to rest.

The three members of the hero's team headed towards the inn they had booked in the town...

Even with Philippa's boundless enthusiasm, after a long day of work, she couldn't help but feel sleepy, and her eyelids started to droop.

I feel a little drowsy, but not so tired as to collapse; I'm just a bit fatigued.

Philippa immediately realized she couldn't keep arguing with Sofia and should go back to rest.

But in her dazed state, she suddenly realized something and looked back.

The next instant, her beautiful eyes widened, and the fatigue vanished without a trace.

"Gray!"

……

Time was of the essence, and aside from giving Ipsilon an answer, Gray didn't spend any more time elsewhere, traveling overnight to the Kingdom of Demelia.

However, since the Kingdom of Westphalia and the Kingdom of Demelia do not border each other, Gray has no way to reach the Kingdom of Demelia by simply crossing the border of the Kingdom of Westphalia.

The shortest route from the Kingdom of Westphalia to the Kingdom of Demelia requires passing through the Kingdom of Olmec, which means traversing the border region between Olmec and Westphalia.

Since setting off, Gray had been traveling through the night, trying to reach the Kingdom of Demirea as soon as possible to resolve the local issues, and then proceed from the Kingdom of Demirea to enter the Kingdom of Shadmont.

Once the problems of these two countries are resolved, we can focus all our efforts on dealing with the hero and the [Celestial Realm].

Traveling for several days and nights without sleep is definitely not good for your health.

Gray still remembers the time his fiancée, Iota, scolded him.

Indeed, Gray now realizes that his carefree and reckless behavior back then was a mistake, and it's understandable that Iota was angry. He himself had also been angry with Iota for staying up for several nights in a row for research.

Thinking about it this way, it really is true that karma is a cycle, and no one escapes the wrath of Heaven.

One fiancée was so engrossed in her work that she almost died of exhaustion, while the other fiancé was so depressed that he couldn't eat or sleep, although with his demonic constitution, he was still far from dying suddenly.

Having promised his fiancée he would take good care of his health, Gray decided that he would at least eat properly and get enough sleep every day, but he couldn't go more than three days without sleep.