“It’s just because he was useful to me. It was too convenient. Except for my father and the wet nurse, he was the only one who didn’t need to hide the fact that I’m a demon. The person who listened to everything I wanted suddenly died, so how uncomfortable do you think I was?”

Maria, who had spoken so far, suddenly grinned.

“Could this be love, by any chance? I didn’t feel like reviving the wet nurse, but I wanted to save this man. It was too empty without him by my side. Is that what you people call love?”

“Um, what are you really saying?”

Ruela, too angry to rush forward, was hurriedly stopped by Kite.

“Ruela, calm down. Maria Kaimun is a demon. It’s dangerous to get close. And sadly, Kaimun Jajak is already…”

Kite’s words were understood, but a burning sensation continued to rise in her chest. Even if she was angry, Kaimun Jajak was already a dead person and a demon.

She tried to calm her emotions and responded coldly.

“If you want to use Kaimun Jajak as a shield, go ahead. Even if you do, your death will only be delayed a little.”

“Can I really defeat my husband? It won’t be easy.”

Maria’s confident words were unsettling, but Ruela calmly replied, making an effort to suppress her emotions.

“Open the lid and see. We’ll see who wins.”

As Ruela stepped back to return to her original size, Kite, understanding her signal, looked back at his teammates.

As everyone nodded as if ready, he wielded his sword and shield. Even in Kaimun Jajak’s hands, a sword and shield appeared at some point.

“Then let’s begin.”

Just as Kite signaled to charge, Kaimun Jajak suddenly thrust the sword into his own abdomen.

“Theodore!”

Maria shouted, but Kaimun Jajak, looking at Ruela, mumbled something while staring at the sword stuck in his abdomen.

Soon, seeing flames rising from his body, it seemed like one of the attack skills he possessed.

Without realizing it, Ruela rushed forward.

Although Kite followed with a surprised cry, Kaimun Jajak, after muttering something while looking at her, shed tears from his eyes and a bright smile appeared on his face.

“Ah…”

A word unintentionally came out of her mouth.

Seeing Maria screaming in anger, no one else said anything.

Not even a protest telling her to be quiet.

Ruela muttered as she looked at the empty space.

“Even though he was a demon, there was still a sense of self. No, he may not have been a demon.”

Upon hearing her words, Maria erupted in anger.

“He was a demon. I, no, my father made him that way.”
Ruela sneered and glared at Maria.

“So, who created your father? Did he really never make a mistake or have a moment of weakness? We, skilled individuals capable of capturing you, exist. Can you be sure that there is nothing greater than this?”

Even she herself entered someone else’s body after death.

Because she had personally experienced it, she could only speak confidently, and perhaps due to this attitude, a fleeting expression of fear crossed Maria’s face for the first time.

“Nonsense!”

Immediately after recovering, Maria spat out a curse and shouted.

“Since the shield I expected was so disappointingly destroyed, I guess I have no choice but to deal with it myself. Don’t forget that I am the daughter of Duke Kuran.”

Aware that Maria was preparing an attack, Ruela tried to quickly evade, but it was already too late.

Before Ruela could make a few moves, a fireball flew towards her.

“Ugh.”

Thanks to Kite covering her body, Ruela was unharmed, but his armor melted, leaving a large burn mark on his back.

Surprised, Ruela sent a healing spell, and at the same time, other teammates poured their attacks onto Maria.

“W-What are these?”

Maria’s summons, larger than her, blocked her view, interfering here and there, while concentrated attacks from others were poured onto Maria.

Although the pain remained despite Ruela’s healing, Kite, whose body was unharmed again, resumed his attack.

[/Party is strange. Too weak. We haven’t even attacked a few times, but my HP is already down to 40%.]

Everyone agreed with Kite’s party chat.

Even if it was a demon stronger than Valder, it shouldn’t be this easy.

[/Party, is this going to explode too? Like Valder?]

In response to Rafael’s words, Kite gave orders.

[/Everyone in the party, step back as much as possible. Utilize the maximum range and, if something seems wrong, Ruela, use teleportation immediately.]

As they continued their attacks without stopping, it was time to step back.

Suddenly, a man appeared from behind, then cut off Maria’s wrist.

“Marquis Galt?”

Ruela exclaimed in surprise, and at the same time, Maria’s horrific scream echoed in the room.

“What are you doing, Marquis Galt? How dare you cut my wrist! Are you insane?”

“I apologize, Your Highness. Originally, I intended to remove the ring when I had the chance, but it seemed inappropriate. The ring given by the Duke was made to seal magic. To use your true power, you must remove the ring.”

After finishing his words, the Marquis ran away by breaking the window before Ruela and her teammates could react.