Chapter 51: The Most Powerful Executive of the Lame Demon Lord’s Castle

“…I thought that was a pretty good entrance, to be honest.”

“No. Not at all.”

They stopped walking.

The Saintess tilted her head up slightly to show her neck.

A violet-colored chain was looped around it.

And sure enough, when you followed where it led—

Irene’s hand was firmly gripping the end of the chain.

Thankfully, she had muted the stream when she sensed something was off.

Otherwise, El’s identity as the Saintess of Salvation might’ve been exposed.

Even if she’d appeared on the stream fully prepared for that risk—
It wasn’t ideal to spell it out so blatantly.

Luckily, the viewers were just taking it as a funny bit.

– Why is this person suddenly taking a stroll during a raid?

– (No lies) Irene is currently reeducating a Vatican Saintess live on stream

– It’s a raid, it’s a raid, it’s a raid, it’s a raid, it’s a raid…

– But why did the Saintess walk out from inside the Demon Lord’s castle?

– Illusions pop up like breakfast in the Mirror Queen’s castle. Even during Elrian’s run, his old master showed up out of nowhere.

“I admit it was my mistake. So, could you please let me go?”

Stopping mid-guide, El looked back with the most pitiful face she could manage, placing her hand gently on the chain.

Well… yeah. When you thought about it, it was kind of pitiful.

“Ugh! Fine, I won’t ask to be released anymore!”

Of course, Irene wasn’t pitying El—she was pitying herself.

The stream had nearly imploded from the moment the raid began.

Completely fed up with El’s shamelessness, Irene gave the chain a good tug.

El looked ready to throw a tantrum again.

But when she saw Irene winding up to yank the chain again,

She just gave up and turned her head forward to continue leading the way.

The Mirror Queen’s Demon Lord Castle… was surprisingly uneventful.

From what Irene had seen in previous streams, there had been way more stuff.

Seriously, for a “terrifying Demon Lord’s castle,” this was weak.

Sometimes it had trap-laden rooms.

Sometimes, enormous beasts would spawn in random chambers.

Yet for some reason, Irene’s party had only encountered a straight, boring hallway.

Could El actually be a traitor?

Irene wavered slightly.

But then she quickly shook her head.

‘No… If that were true, she wouldn’t have saved Elrian in the first place.’

Exactly.

Especially since the Mirror Queen had been quite annoyed by Elrian’s existence.

And yet, they kept walking…

Still no rooms, just the same corridor over and over.

Even the interior and layout hadn’t changed at all.

Luna, who wasn’t great with this kind of thing, was already holding her head in frustration.

“How long is this corridor supposed to go on…?”

Luna’s words seemed to ignite the curiosity of the viewers too.

– Why is it just corridors??

– I’m just gonna sleep here. Someone donate to wake me up if a battle starts, thanks

– My half-day leave… My half-day leave… My half-day leave…

– RIP working viewers LOL

– Gaaah! Irene, what is this prelude?! Gaaah! Irene, what is this prelude?!

Watching the flood of live chat complaints, Irene sighed.

“…Are we even going the right way?”

Yeah. She’d been patient long enough.

Irene started wrapping the chain around her hand, reeling El in.

El looked shocked and tried to resist at first.

But quickly realizing it was pointless, she just let herself be dragged like a mop across the floor.

Irene seemed like she wanted to say something more—

But she wasn’t the only one running out of patience.

Even Exina could no longer suppress her killing intent and was already radiating mana.

Most of them knew El due to their connection to the Saintess of Salvation.

But once someone declares betrayal with their own mouth—what good is that?

Exina pressed a blade to El’s throat.

“As far as I know, the Mirror Queen’s castle didn’t look anything like this.”

…Granted, that was around a hundred years ago.

But Exina swallowed that unhelpful detail.

“We’re going the right way. Just… one more minute. Seriously.”

El responded nonchalantly.

As if to say she didn’t care even if they killed her right there.

Exina sighed and turned to resume the walk.

That’s when Elrian finally spoke.

Up until now, he’d been struck mute by the shock of his childhood friend’s betrayal.

This was the first time he’d said anything since entering the castle.

“When I came here before, it started with a terrifyingly deep pit.”

Just that one line from Elrian was enough to clear everyone’s doubts.

Right.

High-level Demon Lord castles typically begin deep underground.

So entering straight through a lobby and endlessly walking hallways like this…
was very strange.

– I just got here, is this seriously the Demon Lord’s castle?

– It’s cleaner than I expected inside

– Stop roasting the meat, Irene… my stomach’s about to explode

Of course, this wasn’t some big secret.

Even the viewers—accidentally dragged into a walk-stream—were beginning to question things.

Well, maybe if it were some no-name, low-level Demon Lord’s castle, it’d make sense.

But this was supposed to be the Mirror Queen’s domain.

A place labeled “Extremely Difficult” and “Labyrinth of Despair.”

And yet now? It looked way too peaceful.

At this point, you could say it was just a walk through a nicely decorated blue palace—
and people would believe it.

But that peaceful moment didn’t last.

“W-What was that just now?!”

“A teleportation spell! Be careful!”

By the time they came to their senses, the group was already inside a large room.

Irene tried to question the Savior Saint right away—but oddly enough, the chain had gone slack.

“She got away.”

“…Wait, does that mean she really was a traitor?”

Exina asked, dumbfounded.

If she had truly betrayed them, that would make her humanity’s enemy…
And yet, she had been working as the Savior Saint all this time?

And even more absurd—her holy power, which was the bane of demons, was the strongest on the continent?

Irene scanned the room.

It was too dark to see clearly, but one thing was certain—it was spacious.

And more than that, unlike earlier, the place was in utter disrepair.

As they all began looking for an exit—

“Well, why don’t we just smash our way out? That’s what I did back when I was a Hero.”

Well—almost everyone was looking for an exit.

“Irene.”

A voice came from the distance.

It was so familiar that Irene nearly dropped her sword.

“…This is an illusion, right?”

A figure emerged from the darkness.

Pink short hair. That strong, assertive voice.

It was just like before.

“Even like this, I’m so glad I could see you again.”

“Luminil…!”

-??????

-?

-What’s going on?

-?

-??

There she was—Luminil.

Holding the same magic-infused blade that Irene used.

***

Luminil—or rather, her illusion—snapped her fingers.

At once, violet afterimages shimmered around her, and soon several humanoid figures materialized.

“What the hell is this?”

“Uh… that’s me?”

“Hold on, are those things coming to fight us?!”

Chaos erupted among the party.

At first, they tried to work together, but each of them quickly seemed confident they could handle their own duplicate.

“Leave that one to me!”

“Hey now, I’m a Grand Mage now!”

“Let’s see if it copied my power properly!”

Before long, everyone was locked in a one-on-one with their own mirror image.

I didn’t see a copy of myself—so I guess Luminil is my opponent.

Before the fight started, I spoke.

“Wait, so you’re a traitor too? No, I guess it’s not betrayal if you’re a Demon King…”

To be honest, I didn’t even know what I was saying anymore.

I had just run a magic check on her.

And the result—her magic matched the Luminil I knew.

In other words, the Luminil standing before me was real.

No illusion spell could replicate someone’s mana that perfectly.

“Okay sure, maybe Luminil just… changed her mind or something.”

But then… why could I feel my own mana in her?

I’ve never given her my magic.

I was confused—but I didn’t have time to think.

One way or another, I had to fight.

I tried to convince myself—maybe it’s just a really convincing illusion.

Clinging to that tiny sliver of hope, I held my sword tight—

Until Luminil said:

“Seeing you like this reminds me of the first time we met. I was crying and begging because I was scared of Elian’s little sister, and you saved me, remember?”

That one line crushed my last hope.

A sigh escaped me.

…Yeah. Definitely not an illusion.

In any case, there was only one answer now.

From the beginning, I wasn’t on the Hero’s side, or the Demon’s.

I was on Luminil’s side.

So maybe I could still—

“I’m not your Luminil,” she said calmly.

Then she drew her magic blade and charged at me.

“What the hell? That thing barely had half my mana.”

“Hah… and that’s why I’m the ultimate elemental mage, thank you very much.”

Once everyone finished their fights and caught their breath, all eyes naturally turned toward Irene.

“…Should we help her?”

Elian asked cautiously.

Exina paused for a moment before replying flatly:

“No.”

It sounded cold, like she was abandoning a teammate—

But everyone in the group had to agree with her answer.

“Luminil… I don’t recall you ever learning swordsmanship.”

“I practiced by myself.”

Not even the legendary Hero could break into that violet blade dance.

How could anyone else dare to interfere and try to help Irene?

They’d only end up getting in the way of her sword path.

And so, everyone silently agreed to step in only if Irene was truly in danger.

For now, they could only watch her fight.

-Yeah okay, now that I see it… Leon trying to fight her really was ridiculous

-If you can’t see anything, then atchoo lmao

-Wow

-I feel bad for comparing her to a Swordmaster lol

The chat messages slowed down dramatically.
It wasn’t because viewers were leaving—but because everyone was focused on the battle.

The sheer hype of such an intense fight had drawn in even more viewers.

Before they knew it, the stream had surpassed 30,000 viewers.

Of course, it was a new record.

Irene kept staring at Luminil.

She didn’t look like she was trying to win.

If anything, it felt like… she wanted to die.

Luminil’s attacks held no hesitation.

If Irene hadn’t held back, her heart would’ve been pierced long ago.

Eventually, Irene caught Luminil’s blade and asked—with a sigh for good measure:

“Fine. Just tell me why you’re trying to die. Because the Luminil I know isn’t the kind of person who throws her life away so easily.”

I mean, remember how much of a fuss she made when Leon showed up?

Luminil swung her sword at Irene and replied.

She wasn’t as skilled as Irene—

Every time she spoke, an opening appeared.

“Irene… we’re all people who’ve suffered.”

“Yeah, judging by your death wish, I can see that.”

Regardless of Irene’s replies, Luminil continued saying what she wanted.

“Someone precious to us gave up everything… to save us all.”

“That would be me, then.”

Luminil didn’t answer right away.

She swung her sword a few more times before speaking again.

“So I went to the past… tried a bunch of crazy things to fix it… but I think I was wrong.”

“Of course you were. I never would’ve wanted that.”

“You’re right.”

As soon as the conversation ended, Luminil made a wide swing and knocked Irene’s sword away.

The impact pushed them both far apart.

Just as Irene was readying her next move—

Luminil spoke again.

“That’s enough. You’re not my Irene, anyway.”

“Obviously.”

Irene couldn’t help but feel weird about all this.

Luminil said she came from the past—or maybe the future?

What the hell happened to her?

…And wait, did Luminil really like me that much?

There were so many unanswered questions.

Especially—what kind of disaster had required Irene to sacrifice herself to save everyone?

It probably wasn’t the Empire.

Irene could handle the Empire in her sleep.

Her thoughts were cut short.

Luminil suddenly dashed in and slashed at her—

Irene responded with the same technique.

Everyone held their breath—

And with a soft thud, Luminil collapsed.

“You never intended to kill me, did you?”

Irene casually touched the tips of her slightly cut hair.

The fallen Luminil didn’t respond.

Of course, she wasn’t dead.

No matter how much Luminil begged to be killed, Irene wasn’t the kind of person who would go through with it.

“Get some rest.”

She turned away— But one lingering question still bothered her.

“…Wait. If that was Luminil, then who the hell is the Mirror Queen?”