Chapter 48: 2. This Is the Saintess at Her Peak

“I honestly don’t see the point in fighting.”

“I just found someone I can fight with for fun. The other two won’t play with me at all.”

“The other two?”

“The Emperor and the Guildmaster.”

At that unexpected connection, Irene’s eyes widened.

She could’ve sworn that in Laios Fantasy, the Hero’s Guild, the Empire, and the Holy See were all in a constant state of mutual check and balance…

But at the top, they’re all just friends?

That basically means they’re all connected behind the scenes!

Well, anyway, that was that.

As soon as the words left their mouths, both of them began unleashing their magical power.

They were in a remote open field in the Demon Realm.

Yes—an open field. Literally just a patch of land with nothing on it.

In most high-risk areas of the Demon Realm, you’d usually see military outposts or forward bases established under the Demon King’s command.

But whether it was luck or misfortune, this particular region—”Nameless Demon Realm”—had nothing but the Demon King’s Castle.

And even that castle wasn’t properly built.

Basically, any random patch of land was fair game for a battleground.

Plus, the Nameless Demon Realm was ridiculously vast for no good reason, so finding space to fight was laughably easy.

Not to mention that Irene had wiped out even the last traces of demonic beasts.

Meaning—no interruptions. At all.

It was, in every way, a perfect battlefield.

“One knockdown and it’s over. That’s the rule, right?”

As soon as the Saintess nodded—

Irene vanished from her sight.

El quickly turned to look behind her—

But by the time she did, the violent collision of magical powers echoed across the entire Demon Realm like a thunderclap.

“You actually tanked that?”

“I do hold 60% of the world’s divine power, you know.”

The Saintess swiftly checked her shield.

It had only been a single strike—

Yet there was a crack running through it.

Really, she should’ve been the one caught off guard.

After all, Irene was now going up against 60% of the world’s divine power.

The Saintess’s shield, which was essentially stronger than anything even the entire Vatican could produce—

Had cracked from just one of Irene’s attacks.

“You’re honestly absurd. And I mean that.”

El extended a hand toward Irene.

At the same time, a tremendous concentration of divine power began to form around it.

In Laios Fantasy, the Saintess of Salvation was never shown fighting, so there was no telling what kind of power she might unleash.

But one thing was clear.

It was dangerous.

The moment Irene moved to evade—

A giant mass of light erupted like a beam cannon.

Staring at the long, scorched trench gouged into the earth, Irene muttered,

“…I think I get why the Pope’s so desperate to keep your identity secret.”

“The moment they lose me, the entire Holy See collapses.”

El began charging her power again.

Ordinary divine power usually manifested as golden light—

But for some reason, El’s divine power was blue.

Several large, intricate magic circles appeared in the air.

And just like before, dozens of beams shot forth.

‘That’s some next-level mana, alright.’

Irene had quickly figured something out.

Technically speaking, El’s attacks weren’t even magic.

She was just firing pure, condensed mana.

The problem? She had so much mana that even this brute-force approach packed a ridiculous punch.

Worse yet, she wasn’t missing.

At first, Irene dodged effortlessly.

Then the beams started grazing her clothes.

And then—

One of the final blasts hit her directly.

Irene was flung a good distance back—

And smashed into the ground.

“…Ugh.”

It hurt.

Come to think of it, wasn’t this the first hit she’d taken since being summoned?

Somehow that just made it feel more frustrating.

It wasn’t exactly a wound—more like the pain of her shield failing to absorb the full shock.

So Irene casually stood up again.

El was already preparing her next attack.

Irene readied her stance.

The Saintess’s new magic circle was on another level—bigger and more intricate than anything she’d seen so far.

“You said you’re going to defeat the Mirror Queen, right?”

The sudden comment mid-fight caught Irene off guard,

But she nodded calmly while focusing her mana.

“You’ve already done things that should’ve been impossible.”

“…”

“You drew out the Emperor. Convinced the Guildmaster to go public. And now, you’re even trying to bring the Saintess of Salvation onto your broadcast.”

By this point,
Irene instinctively realized what the Saintess was trying to say.

“What was your reason? Why go this far?”

Irene answered without the slightest hesitation.

“Luminil.”

“For Luminil’s sake… could you even become a streamer?”

“…That’s out of nowhere. But… if Luminil asked me to, I probably would.”

Without a word, the Saintess began gathering mana again.

Even though they hadn’t made any promises to each other, as if it had all been coordinated ahead of time—they both released their powers at once.

A massive beam erupted from El’s magic circle, overflowing with divine power.

And Irene’s mana-infused attack pierced through the beams, racing toward the Saintess.

Then—as if slicing the beam itself in two, she leapt high into the air.

And there she saw El—smiling.

“I’ll join you. I’m tired of being stuck in a prayer room every day.”

Irene’s blade came crashing down.

***

“…Alright. I’ll tell you my real reason now.”

Her divine power had overloaded so much during the earlier spell that it was completely ruined.

El now lay on the cold, dirt floor of the Demon Realm—
utterly motionless.

Somehow, it ended up with Irene standing over her.

But given their height difference, it didn’t really feel that unusual.

“I wanted to see it. Whether you were truly ready to use your strength—for someone else, from the bottom of your heart.”

“…You make it sound like I’m gonna end up killing someone close to me someday.”

Irene shot back at El, but—

She just stared up at the sky, silent.

What’s with her today?

Irene was curious, but didn’t feel like asking more.

She knew El wouldn’t answer anyway.

So instead, Irene answered herself.

“I’ll cut down whatever stands in the way. If it’s for Luminil.”

“…Mm. But someday, you’ll have to find a new purpose. Living for someone you love is good—but it can’t be your whole life.”

The last time they met, El had just seemed like an eccentric, quirky Saintess.

But now—She felt more like a wise sage.

She kept saying these vague, cryptic things.

And, just like before, her words stirred up all kinds of thoughts in Irene’s head.

If she’s saying stuff like that…

Could it be that El saw a future where Luminil dies?

…No. That’s ridiculous.

Irene had no intention of bringing Luminil with her to the Mirror Queen operation.

Even if someone hostile came knocking on the Demon King’s castle…

There was no one left who could defeat Luminil.

To beat her, they’d need something like the Emperor’s Blade—

And even that didn’t exist anymore.

There was no longer an Emperor’s Blade who was hostile to Luminil.

Even if they somehow broke through, Irene’s doll and Priss would be waiting.

Luminil dying?

It was nonsense.

Honestly, the idea of Irene dying during the Mirror Queen raid sounded more realistic.

Still—

Since it was the Saintess saying it, Irene decided to keep her words in mind.

“I’ll remember it.”

Though—She also made a mental note to seriously call her out if she turned out to be wrong.

“Alright then. I’ll join the party. Fighting the Mirror Queen has always been a dream of mine. It’s the highest-level dungeon, after all.”

“Sure. Wait— did you say level?”

For a moment, Irene’s mind went completely blank.

…How does an NPC from Laios Fantasy know about levels?

She barely had time to question it before—the Saintess, seemingly realizing her slip-up, vanished in an instant.

“…She’s not a spy or something, right?”

Thinking that, Irene returned to the Demon King’s castle.

***

“Ughh… I’m seriously exhausted.”

“For someone your age, you certainly enjoy pushing your body.”

She had just sprawled onto her bed, ready to finally rest, when—an uninvited guest showed up.

When she turned on the modest light in the cabin, there she was—unsurprisingly, the Emperor.

Of course, it wasn’t her actual body.

Even if she didn’t act like it, she was still the Emperor of the Empire.

If she kept wandering around to visit friends, the entire nation could fall into chaos.

Honestly, the fact she’d been moving around in person until now was the real problem.

It wasn’t hard to understand why things had to change.

Everything that had happened so far had only been things Tania’s real body would’ve personally handled.

Exina glared at the Emperor’s projection, her form made entirely of mana,
then grumbled irritably:

“I’m already dying out here ’cause someone locked herself up and ditched the whole raid.”

“You make it sound like I’ve abandoned the world or something.”

“Yeah yeah, sure. You’re the best. Happy now?”

Even as she said that, Exina knew better than anyone—she wasn’t really in a position to talk.

After all, she had vanished along with the Emperor for over a hundred years.

Sensing that the Emperor was about to bring that up,

Exina quickly changed the subject.

“So, you’re really not going to join the raid?”

“I won’t. You know why, don’t you?”

“Mm… No, actually. I was so tired, I forgot.”

“With you as Guild Master, the future looks grim indeed.”

The Emperor had been staying silent about it, but truthfully—she was swamped.

Most urgent was handling the Radicals.

Their leader, Celine, had gone completely off the rails.

It should’ve been a golden opportunity to oust her, but…

The backlash from the opposition was worse than Tania had expected.

Some had even openly revolted.

Using slogans like “Let’s save the Emperor from mind control!” just like Celine.

That’s why the Emperor couldn’t leave.

If she stepped away for a single raid in this situation—

The Empire could very well fall into the hands of the Radicals.

So instead, the Emperor made a small request.

“For someone who never would’ve gotten involved if it weren’t for me, you sure complain a lot.”

“Hah.”

Exina—her oldest friend—

The Emperor asked her personally:

To join the Mirror Queen Subjugation.

Of course, she paid a hefty price for it.

Even if they were friends, each of them was a faction leader.

“If everything goes to plan, the raid will start the day after tomorrow. That’s all I came to say.”

“Thanks so much for taking time out of your super busy schedule to tell me.”

With that, Exina turned the light off completely.

As the Emperor’s figure vanished into the darkness, only then did the tension in her body fade.

Sure, her body was young again—but her mind still felt old, and she hated the idea of being involved.

She had worried that she might freeze up during the Mirror Queen raid too.

But Exina drifted off to sleep almost immediately.

The Mirror Queen Subjugation was truly just around the corner now.