"Little rat, are you not going to run anymore?"
The daemon licked his lips while looking at Katherine. Several shadow-like wolves were standing around him, surrounding Katherine and growling at her.
Katherine looked at her surroundings and took a deep breath. Then, she looked at the daemon.
"What are you going to do?"
"Well, I never thought the rat would be so beautiful… Mm, I'm sure I'm going to enjoy your body."
Katherine smirked.
"Dream on. I'm sorry, but you are not my kind."
"Oh? Is it so?" The daemon laughed slightly. "You are very composed, little rat. Moreover, you seem to know about me. Was baiting me your purpose since the start? Could this be a trap? Or perhaps... Are your companions going to attack the camp while I'm gone?"
Katherine's expression changed slightly, but she quickly hid it. Unfortunately, it failed to escape the daemon's eyes.
"It looks like I hit the mark. However, this doesn't look like a trap, so I think the second option is the right answer. If I'm not wrong, someone is attacking our camp right now, right?"
"… You don't look very worried."
"Of course not. I was a bit wary of this being a trap, but if your purpose is to attack the camp, then I'm not worried. There are enough men in the camp so they will not go down easily. And even if they are defeated, I can always escape. Of course, I will kill you first."
"You don't seem to care about your comrades very much."
"Make a guess."
Katherine furrowed her brows. Then, she smiled "… I guess that ten minutes have already passed."
"Huh?"
"Hah!"
Extending her hands, several magic circles appeared around her. It was an attack Katherine had been preparing for a while.
[Wind Arrows] x50!
Katherine put her entire mana pool in this attack.
When the daemon saw the arrows coming towards him, his expression changed slightly.
"Do you think that this attack is enough to take me down!?"
Instantly, several shadow-like wolves materialized around him. The wolves growled angrily and transformed into a barrier of shadows that stopped the arrows.
However, Katherine had put her entire mana pool in this attack. It was an attack that not even a tenth-layer practitioner could shrug off easily.
"Bitch!" The daemon growled and took a whip out. He then brandished it around him creating a whirlpool of mana that crashed against the arrows.
At that moment, however, he felt a great premonition of danger.
But before he could react–
*Puchi!*
"Ugh!"
My sword pierced his back and went through his heart.
"W-What…" The daemon opened his eyes wide in terror.
"I don't like it when others call my woman bitch."
I stared at the daemon with an ice-cold expression and twisted my sword, then, I swung it to the side, slashing the daemon into two.
When his dead body fell to the ground, I walked towards Katherine.
"Well done."
Katherine was stunned.
"You… How…?"
"I told you, didn't I? I can move through space."
It was something I told Katherine when we were preparing our strategy. I stole a kiss from her and told her I used it to put a mark on her body I could use to teleport near her.
... Well, the kiss was unnecessary, but I wanted to take advantage of the opportunity.
Katherine was astonished, but before long, she sighed in relief. "To be honest, I thought you were lying when you said that." She said and then lost strength and collapsed.
I caught her before she could fall to the ground. With a smile, I hugged her waist.
"Do you need help?"
"… Can you stop hugging me?" Katherine mumbled softly and put her head on my chest. "… Right, when did I agree to be your woman?"
"Mm? Are you not my woman?"
"… Or course not. I don't like womanizers like you!"
"Is it so?" I chuckled and put her on my back. Then, I stepped across space to return to the daemon camp.
"… So it's true, huh." Katherine said in admiration. "But… Why did you not use this technique before if you could?"
"Well, I'm supposed to keep it a secret. Not many people know about it."
"… Tell me the truth, you could have defeated the entire camp without my help, right?"
I stared at Katherine with a smile. "Why do you think so?"
"I'm not an idiot. If you can move across space, your strength surely is not as simple as you show."
A smart deduction. Although I was expecting something like that.
"Don't you think I'm much more charming now?"
"… I think you have a lot of secrets… Someone like you is very dangerous. Does Dina know about it?"
"That I can move across space? No, she doesn't. About my strength? She probably suspects it."
"I see."
While we were talking, we returned to the camp.
We could have returned much sooner, but I wanted to take this opportunity to chat with Katherine.
As soon as we returned, we were greeted by a scene of carnage.
Severed and beheaded bodies of daemons lay on the ground, drenching the ground with blood.
"… You did all of this in less than ten minutes?"
I shrugged. "Why are you so surprised? Your teacher can do something like this too."
Katherine rolled her eyes. "Yeah, but my master is a transcendent. A thirteenth-layer powerhouse."
Actually, Evelyn is a saint now. She broke through to the fourteenth layer recently.
Katherine sighed to hide her astonishment and shook her head.
"Take me to see the girls."
I put on a grave expression. "Are you sure?"
Katherine nodded firmly.
"You will not like it."
Despite hearing my words, Katherine insisted.
The kidnapped girls were in the central tent. I took Katherine there and showed her what was inside.
Instantly, Katherine paled and took several steps back.
Then, her face turned red in fury.
"These bastards!"
The girls were semi-naked, with her clothes torn violently and her faces twisted in pain and despair.
Her bodies were filled with body fluids and blood. Some of them had been tortured, and some others had been killed cruelly.
"I put them to sleep," I said. "Don't worry, I already communicated the situation to my sister. She said that Rose found trouble in the other route, so they will follow this path. We will wait for them here while protecting the girls."
Katherine did not ask me how I communicated with my sister. Instead, she looked at the girls with an expression of pain.
Then, she turned around and walked away with tears in her eyes.