I was speechless. At the same time, I was feeling slightly awkward.
My plans failed not once, but twice.
And both times, the cause was the dark-haired hero.
… Thinking about it, I should have expected it. Rose is the hero, and having a breakthrough in the middle of a crisis is the norm for her kind of existence.
It's just that her last breakthrough was just a few days ago. I did not think that her next breakthrough would be so soon.
Once more, I realize how biased the world is towards the existences called heroes.
I mean, just now, the mana around her helped her to breakthrough by its own will. Something like that only happens to heroes.
Normal people need to accumulate mana patiently and then find an opportunity to breakthrough. As for Rose? The mana in the surroundings simply surged towards her and raised her cultivation to the next layer.
Even Immortals will be slightly jealous of that treatment.
I smiled wryly in my mind. Sigh, what should I do now?
Rose was standing in front of Princess E'Athar and the daemon army, blocking the way towards the barrier. Moreover, despite having fought for so long, she was in top condition. Hell, she was even stronger than at the start.
As for Princess E'Athar, she was panting tiredly.
Even though she also had a breakthrough just now, she used a lot of her mana in the last attack, so her condition was not as good as Rose's.
Meanwhile, the battles through Fort Mist continued. By this point, almost twenty thousand daemons had fallen due to our ambush.
The daemons outside the fort had already realized the situation inside and were attacking the barrier desperately. However, their attacks only managed to make the barrier shake slightly.
Moreover, another two beyond-twelfth-layer powerhouses had been killed. One had been killed by Ysnay and the other by me.
As for the five daemon powerhouses remaining, their bodies were filled with injuries.
At this rate, this ambush will end wiping out the entire daemon army.
However, that is not my goal. My goal is to use this opportunity to repel the daemon army and at the same time help Princess E'Athar to take control of the daemon army.
According to the plan, Princess E'Athar should have breached the barrier by this point. But due to Rose's interference, the poor princess is about to die.
Let's see. What should I do now?
Mmm… Should I help Princess E'Athar to breakthrough again?
… Nope, that is too fake. Plus, if for some reason Rose's hero cheat activates again and she breakthroughs once more, I will feel like crying.
By then, it will turn into a contest of who can breakthrough more.
But I can't help Princess E'Athar openly either. After all, I'm supposed to be on the side of humans.
Sigh… How troublesome…
Well, I guess it's time to show my acting talent.
While I was thinking about a method to help Princess E'Athar without raising suspicion, Rose kicked the ground and launched herself towards Princess E'Athar once more.
Her sword lit up, sparkling like a starry sky. At the same time, several magic circles appeared around her, releasing spell after spell one after another.
Princess E'Athar was unable to cope with Rose's fierce attacks. Even with the help of the daemon soldiers in the surroundings, she was losing ground.
At this rate, she would be killed soon.
At that moment, I hit the chest of one of the daemon powerhouses I was fighting, sending him crashing against the ground and killing several daemons nearby in the resulting explosion.
I grinned. Then, I released a strand of will towards the daemon powerhouse in the ground.
The strand of will penetrated the daemon's head. In an instant, it wiped off his soul, erasing it from existence.
Then, my strand of will took over the daemon's body.
In the next instant, the 'daemon powerhouse' stood up and with bloodshot eyes and looked towards me with an unwilling expression.
"For the Daemon God! Die!"
With a roar, 'he' burned his entire mana pool to release one last powerful attack.
In Rose's direction!
Rose's expression turned pale. She did not hesitate to put her sword in front of her chest to defend against the attack of the daemon powerhouse.
But despite that, the power of the attack flung her away!
"You dare!"
I bellowed in the sky. Then, I kicked away a daemon powerhouse that tried to stop me and swung my sword down.
My sword attack cut through space, creating a line from the daemon's forehead until his pelvis and then cutting his body in two halves.
However, the attack that the 'daemon powerhouse' released just before dying gave Princess E'Athar the opportunity she needed.
Without hesitating, she gritted her teeth and raised her broken sword. Then, she slashed towards the barrier surrounding the fort.
"[Half Moon]!"
The barrier shook. For an instant, it managed to stop Princess E'Athar's sword slash.
But then–
*Crack!*
A crack appeared.
"Dammit!" Katherine cursed. She grunted and injected more mana into the barrier, doing her best to repair it.
Unfortunately, the crack expanded quickly. And finally, a portion of the barrier shattered.
Princess E'Athar smiled to herself and raised her broken sword with a shout.
"Daemons! Retreat quickly!"
Immediately, the daemons charged towards the hole in the barrier, finally escaping from Fort Mist.