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“First… let’s persuade her.”

“Lady Lily? How?”

“We have to talk. After all, she’s someone we’ve known before, regardless of any penalties or whatever.”

Given the situation, it was clear she hadn’t completely lost her memory or gone completely mad.

She might be a bit colder now, but she was still acting with awareness of the circumstances.

“If we request it, she might accept. Of course, the ones who are contracted with angels shouldn’t go, though.”

“…So is there anyone who can go? I thought almost everyone except the Magic Tower had contracted with her.”

When Neris asked that, most of the executives fell silent.

Now was a time when those who didn’t possess holiness were rare.

Even if they hadn’t contracted, who would want to face Lily?

Responding to her question, the knight wore a bitter expression.

“I’ll go. As the leader, I should be the one to speak with her.”

“…? Wasn’t it already done?”

“It would seem so. The Griffin shield I have is a weapon with the attribute of ‘light’… Anyway, will you go?”

“……”

“It’ll be easier to persuade her if we show there are many on the other side. Especially since Neris has fought alongside her before, right?”

“…Hah. I guess there’s no choice.”

Thus, the knight, Neris, and a few guild leaders who hadn’t contracted with angels went to meet Lily.

Finding Lily wasn’t difficult.

[Whoa]

[Lily is so ruthless…]

[OMG]

[Lolololol]

[Lily, please stop destroying things]

[Lady Lily, please just stop]

[Angel, cut it out!! Haha]

[This feels wrong]

[I knew it would be like this lol, so why are we teaming up with an angel?]

[This is insane]

The broadcast was already running…

CRASH!!!

“It’s already a mess.”

“Let’s hurry. Otherwise, everything will break.”

Even without watching the broadcast, they could see Lily wreaking havoc across the continent.

The place the knight and his companions were headed already had a statue of an angel reduced to dust.

This statue was erected by an angel after the gates of the ‘Heavenly Realm and Demon Realm’ opened, allowing responses or powers to be gained there.

Furthermore, this statue periodically emitted holiness to suppress the naturally arising dead.

Originally, many people should have flocked to it, causing a crowd…but…

“Ah.”

Now it was different.

“It’s been a while.”

Due to Lily’s destruction, all the users and residents nearby had fled.

The statue had been obliterated to the point where not even a trace was recognizable.

Lily looked at the knight and his group while retrieving her incomprehensibly moving hammer.

Fortunately, she didn’t attack immediately.

Hah.

She seemed to have softened her emotions a bit and transformed the hammer into light instead.

[It’s the knight]

[Nah~]

[Master of the Magic Tower is here too]

[Did you come to die?]

[Look at the crowd lol]

[Are you here to hunt Lily again?]

[Touch Lily and she’ll get mad]

[Oh]

“You surprise me. I didn’t think you’d gained holiness, Knight.”

“…I have a promise with Lady Lily, how could I do that? Anyway, welcome back.”

“Welcome back! Lady Lily!”

Neris, who stood beside the knight, waved her hand.

Seeing Neris, Lily’s expression grew even softer.

“Neris! It’s good to see you. How have you been?”

“It’s been tough… The zombies are still swarming, and I’m having headaches over them. Magic is also prohibited.”

“That’s the power of Silence. With the power of ‘Magic Control’, mages cannot contend with demons. Are angels handling it well?”

“Uhh…”

Neris fell silent.

She too wished to confront the angels, but due to the current opinions and situation, she couldn’t.

If she dared to challenge an angel, it wouldn’t just be the angels to retaliate, but all the users as well.

Seeing Neris unable to answer, Lily smiled with a slightly positive expression compared to earlier.

“It’s okay. You don’t have to confront them. Everyone can just do their best from their own standpoint.”

“Y-yeah? Hahaha.”

“Lady Lily, I have something to ask.”

“What is it?”

Lily turned her head at the knight’s words.

So far, things had been going smoothly.

Even though Lily had cooled somewhat after the question she’d just asked Neris, the knight and his group hadn’t expected such a situation.

They had thought it wouldn’t be odd if she smacked them with her hammer as soon as she saw them.

But Lily welcomed them instead and even offered to listen to their requests.

The knight felt a lump in his throat.

‘Right. Even if she seems cold, it’s still Lady Lily. She’ll understand.’

“As you know, since the gates of the ‘Demon Realm’ opened, the corpses have started pouring in continuously.”

“Right.”

“While the influx of corpses does occur as it always has, the problem is that more and more people are contracting with demons. The encroachment from the Demon Realm is also progressing.”

At a glance, one might think all users were on the angels’ side, but in reality, it was different.

A small number of users were choosing demons for rare rewards and advancements to carry out quests.

They were killing lives or removing light or engaging in other raider-like activities while playing Deoen.

That’s why the Challenger Alliance, which had previously declared complete neutrality, was hunting down the users who teamed up with demons.

Of course…

“The angels’ quests also involve removing ‘darkness’, but…”

“I’m not saying you should stop hunting angels, Lady Lily. However, users need the power of ‘light’ to face demons.”

“……”

“Could you please refrain from targeting users, at least? The users don’t oppose you, Lady Lily…”

“Strange.”

“…Huh?”

Lily tilted her head.

It wasn’t a mockery or teasing.

She was seriously pondering the question.

“Is that really what the Challenger Alliance means?”

“W-well, that’s the conclusion from our meeting.”

“Just now, users from the alliance gathered to attack me, claiming I was a target for extermination or something.”

“Excuse me?!”

What the…

The knight panicked and glanced at Neris and the other guild leaders behind him.

They began to quickly figure out the backstory and soon heard the truth.

At the time of the alliance meeting, users who had received strong buffs and powers from the angels had attacked Lily, who hadn’t been broadcasting, and all died.

It was shocking to think this hadn’t been reported; the alliance leader was very flustered, but this was a natural occurrence.

As the ‘angel’ intervened more among the users, the authority of the alliance leader, who governed the users, naturally weakened.

The knight broke into a cold sweat.

[Yeah]

[That’s right lol]

[I saw it on Hako NewTube, “We Tried Challenging the Crazy Girl?”]

[So cocky lol]

[I heard they were cursing a lot]

[How dare they put Lily in the thumbnail?]

[Let’s just kill all of them, Lily]

[Stop hating on angels, Lady Lily]

[OMG]

“…It seems there has been a misunderstanding. It’s not the alliance’s intention, but something personal─”

“Oh, it’s okay. That’s just how it is. If our chosen paths are different, we can’t help but oppose each other.”

Lily dismissed it casually with a wave of her hand.

But it shouldn’t be like that.

This was definitely not okay.

“You can all just do your own things. I’ll kill angels, and you’ll do whatever you want. Whether it ends up in me killing you or in killing demons, it’s all convenient and nice, isn’t it?”

“…You’ll kill them all?”

“Yes.”

Such a simple and clear answer from Lily.

The knight, Neris, and the guild leaders beside them couldn’t even say a word.

Lily’s stature was too high to persuade with simple logic.

If she had been just a suddenly emerged strong opponent, a tougher measure might have been implemented.

They might have designated her as a public enemy in the name of the alliance leader or actively sought the help of angels and the Angel Guild.

But Lily’s achievements and stature were enormous.

She had devoted herself to countless disasters and boss hunts, and this current disaster, too, had provided immense tangible and intangible help.

So how could they deem her an enemy?

“Don’t worry. As long as you don’t attack first, I won’t harm you.”

“…What do you think about demons?”

“Of course, I’ll catch both, right? Naturally, starting with angels.”

“……”

Starting with angels. Was that even possible?

Even if they did, how would they stop the demons from causing chaos in the meantime?

As the knight’s feelings grew complex, he was about to make a stronger request.

“U-uh…!”

“It has come.”

“Excuse me?”

Following Lily’s gaze, the knight and his group looked up at the sky.

The sky was changing oddly.

It soon formed a door filled with light, and a moment later, it opened, revealing someone descending.

One was Laguiel from the well-known Angel Guild.

And the other was…

“Cease your destructive actions, Lily Elbrite.”

An angel had appeared.

One with quite strong power.

 

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