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

The Goddess of Holy Light moved with the ease of strolling in a courtyard, her divine radiance transforming into countless forms with every gesture, launching a relentless assault on Gray.

At times, it was a series of scorching beams of light, like spears of judgment, blocking Gray's movement space; at other times, it was a vast halo, carrying a strong force of repulsion and purification, forcing Gray to confront it head-on.

At times, it transforms into an invisible and intangible pressure of light, squeezing in from all directions, attempting to directly crush his body.

He truly sensed Gray's strength and tenacity. Every attack was either evaded by Gray with exquisite skill and fearless attitude, or he was forced to resist and defeat Gray at a certain cost.

But the Goddess of Holy Light remained unmoved, for she clearly saw that, due to the inherent disadvantage of elemental advantage, Gray's wounds increased with each defense, and his aura inevitably weakened. The purplish-black magical flames, though still ferocious, were no longer as intense as they had been initially.

What He found even more interesting was that, in the intervals between battles, He could even spare a moment to cast His gaze toward the edge of the battlefield, toward Philippa, who had lost her strength, was pale, and was biting her lower lip.

For the Goddess of Holy Light, appreciating the despair, worry, helplessness, and deep self-blame intertwined on that beautiful face was a unique form of amusement.

'What pitiful and helpless eyes...like a puppy watching its master fall into a trap but unable to bark.' He thought with a hint of amusement.

To add some color to this drama, the Goddess of Light would occasionally deliberately separate a seemingly sharp but actually slow-moving arrow of light, or a wide-ranging but dispersed feather of light, to attack the helpless Philippa.

As it turned out, each time things went exactly as He predicted.

"Don't think about it!"

Gray would always disregard his own safety and use even faster speeds and more intense bursts of energy to forcefully intercept Philippa between the attack and the attack.

For this, he paid an extra price—taking a beam of light that he could have dodged head-on, resulting in his shoulder blade being pierced and filled with soot, or being so shocked that his internal organs churned and he spat out blood in a hasty head-on collision with the Goddess of Holy Light in order to dispel that feather of light.

"The third point, and also a clear indication of their inevitable defeat," the Goddess of Holy Light calmly assessed. "Having worries in one's mind, needing to divert attention to protect a burden—in a battle already burdened with two fatal weaknesses, this is undoubtedly a path to certain death."

He was in no hurry to kill Gray immediately, as that might provoke a desperate and frantic counterattack from him.

And so it went, slowly consuming him, watching him inflict new wounds while protecting that useless hero, watching his strength gradually eroded until he finally collapsed, exhausted and powerless... In the eyes of the Goddess of Holy Light, this process was far more "beautiful" than ending the battle instantly, and more in line with the "punishment" of such a rebellious person.

'Just wait,' the Goddess of Holy Light said confidently. 'He won't last much longer.'

However, beneath this composure, the Goddess of Holy Light also harbored a subtle, almost imperceptible regret.

He could sense that his damaged origin and fallen status were repairing themselves very slowly.

If He could be given some time, even just a short moment, to undisturbed gather His divine power and adjust His state, the speed at which He would regain His rank would be greatly accelerated.

Once he regains his divine status, he can suppress this troublesome demon king with a mere flick of his wrist.

'Unfortunately... in a battle between equals, one cannot be careless.' The Goddess of Holy Light thought to herself.

Gray's attacks were like a persistent ailment. Although they could not truly injure Him at this moment, the fierce offensive and endless methods forced Him to concentrate most of His mind and divine power to deal with them, leaving Him no time to speed up His recovery.

If we are not careful, this mad demon king may find an opportunity to take advantage of us and cause even more troublesome injuries.

It was like a meticulous war of attrition. The Goddess of Holy Light held an absolute advantage and initiative, but the opponent's tenacity and ruthlessness slowed her down, turning what should have been a quick battle into a slow and cruel grinder, crushing the lives and wills of both sides.

He still believed that victory belonged to him, but the process was a little longer and more troublesome than expected.

For Gray and Philippa on the battlefield, this might be their last chance of survival.

……

The Goddess of Holy Light's composure, like a cat playing with a mouse, gradually melted away like ice and snow under the sun during the ongoing confrontation, eventually being replaced by an increasingly obvious sense of unease and confusion.

He keenly sensed that the winds of war were shifting in a way that He could not understand and that should never have happened!

Initially, Gray was indeed struggling to survive under the influence of His attribute advantage and status suppression.

With each collision, he seemed to struggle more, his wounds increased, and his breath visibly weakened.

The Goddess of Light could even accurately predict how long he could hold out—at that rate, defeat was only a matter of time.

But at some point, this trend of "stability" weakened... and came to a standstill.

Gray was still injured and exhausted, but the way he blocked the attacks had subtly changed.

It's no longer the brutal, head-on clashes that used to be, where injuries were exchanged for lives; instead, it has become more... precise and skillful.

The spear of light He unleashed was deflected by Gray's perfectly timed shadow vortex, grazing past Him.

He will find the slightest gap in the flow of energy within the cage of light He has laid out, and break through it instantly.

Even with His vast Holy Nova, Gray could predict the relatively weaker areas at the critical point of its eruption, narrowly avoiding the greatest damage.

What alarmed the Goddess of Light even more was that when She once again habitually launched an attack towards Philippa, attempting to disrupt Gray's mind—

Gray's reaction was no longer the same as before, where he recklessly lunged to take the hit.

He didn't even glance at Philippa's direction. He simply swung his hand back, and a condensed thread of shadow shot out as if it had a life of its own. It wasn't used to block the light arrow, but rather it accurately struck a piece of gravel at Philippa's feet.

The rubble, propelled by a clever force, struck Philippa's ankle, causing her to stumble and fall safely out of the trajectory of the light arrow!

In the end, the light arrow only blasted a shallow crater into the ground where she was standing.

The whole process was so smooth and seamless, as if everything had been planned out in advance!

Gray himself did not reveal the slightest flaw because of this. On the contrary, taking advantage of the moment when the Goddess of Holy Light was distracted, a sharp shadow slash almost cut off Her arm!

have equal shares!

When the Goddess of Holy Light realized this, an absurd chill suddenly ran through her heart!

At some point, Gray found himself able to hold his own against the demon in this battle between gods and demons, no longer at a significant disadvantage!

"This is impossible!" For the first time, panic truly surged within the Goddess of Holy Light. "His condition should be deteriorating! His magic power should be on the verge of exhaustion! Why... why is he getting stronger with each battle?! No, it's not that his strength is increasing, it's... his technique! His understanding and application of power are improving at an incredible speed during the battle!"

His predictions were completely overturned.

Instead of being gradually eroded, the demon king before them was like a piece of refined iron thrown into a raging fire. Under the extreme pressure and attribute restraint exerted by Him, it was undergoing a transformation that Him could not understand!

Advantages are no longer certain.

The scales of victory, which had been firmly tipped in His favor, are being slowly... leveled by an invisible force!

For the first time, a shadow called "out of control" was reflected in the double pupils of the Holy Light Goddess, which were filled with both ice and fire.

He couldn't understand why things had gotten to this point!

Why was this demon king, who was destined to perish, able to shatter all of His calculations and understanding?!

He finally... panicked.