If there really was an evil organization bold enough to attack Hachiman despite being watched by so many factions, then naturally it wasn't something Himeragi Yukina could stop by herself. Even with the nun knight Kasugaya Shizuri, it still wouldn't be enough.
Still, judging by the way Yukina looked, she really didn't seem to know anything. She genuinely believed she'd been sent here to protect Hikigaya Komachi.
And the nun knight Kasugaya Shizuri looked like a rookie who hadn't seen much combat either, about the same as them.
If a fight really broke out, it wasn't even certain who would end up protecting whom. Komachi was surrounded by a whole group of magical girls.
Take Shion, for example, who had been by Hachiman's side the longest. With Hachiman's ability to develop a magical girl's potential, her strength had been steadily growing day and night. She was already very powerful, though her lack of combat experience meant she probably couldn't bring out all of it.
"That demonic aura... Could it be from Mr. Hikigaya's side? Protect Komachi! I'll go check!"
Yukina had no idea that Saegusa Kasumi, Kuroba Ayako, and the others had come here with their own resolve and even regarded her as one of their own. All she knew was that she had to do everything she could to keep Komachi and the others safe.
The moment she sensed a demonic aura suddenly appear elsewhere in the convention hall, the tense Yukina threw out a quick instruction to protect Komachi and rushed toward its source before Kasugaya Shizuri could even respond.
However, after hurrying all the way there, unzipping the black guitar case on her back as she ran and pulling out a silver spear with a sword-shaped tip, she arrived at the scene, only to find a group of ordinary people lying on the ground in a daze, along with several monster corpses that had been decapitated.
The only person still standing was a silver-haired girl holding a silver longsword in her right hand, with armor covering only one of her arms.
"Are you a member of this world's Church?"
Seeing the holy aura surrounding the black-haired girl who had rushed over with a weapon, the silver-haired girl flicked the blood off her sword, slowly put it away, and as her hair changed from silver to red, calmly explained the situation to Yukina.
"I've already dealt with the demons that appeared. I'll leave calming the innocent civilians to you."
"Ah... Actually, I'm not with the Church..."
Yukina stared blankly at the red-haired girl, who looked a little older than her, then looked at the ordinary people whose eyes had turned completely crimson as they struggled to stand back up despite being mentally controlled.
Panting lightly, her chest rising and falling, she didn't know what to say.
She'd thought there was going to be a major battle.
Instead, by the time she got here, all she saw were corpses.
So there really were that many people protecting Mr. Hikigaya. The demons had been wiped out the moment they showed themselves.
No wonder Mr. Hikigaya wandered around so fearlessly despite knowing he was being watched.
'Wait... this world's?'
A huge question mark appeared in Yukina's mind.
Before she could ask, Komachi, Shion, Kasugaya Shizuri, and the others she had left behind caught up with her.
"What happened to those people on the ground?"
"Where are the enemies? Are they all dead?"
"This is desire energy from the Demon Realm. Recently, every demon that entered the human world has been hunted down one by one by Miss Suzune and the others. I didn't expect they'd still dare to show themselves."
The nightmare girl Naruse Maria, with her silver twin tails, took one look around and immediately understood what had happened. She reached out and absorbed the desire energy from the ordinary people who had lost their minds.
"But they only sent this many cannon fodder this time. Were they just trying to stir up chaos in the crowd and cause us some trouble?"
Originally, the goddess angels had been at a disadvantage against the Demon Realm.
But after receiving Hachiman's support, Shizumi Suzune and the others had become much stronger. Not only could they quickly suppress the disturbances caused by the Demon Realm, they could also use the desire energy they collected to lure demons over and kill them.
Back when Naruse Mio and Naruse Maria had been on the run, they had happened to run into Hachiman and the goddess angel Shizumi Suzune while they were using this strategy, and had nearly been mistaken for Demon Realm demons and killed on the spot.
Since these demons had already been dealt with, there was no need to call the goddess angel over. As a nightmare, Maria herself specialized in dealing with this kind of desire energy that disrupted people's minds.
"Demons?"
The red-haired girl, who had just put away her weapon, looked toward Naruse Maria, who was using nightmare powers at the front of the crowd. Her expression suddenly changed.
Her long red hair turned silver once more, armor covered her body again, and with a blank expression she raised her silver holy sword and pointed it at Naruse Mio standing beside Maria.
"That demonic power... Are you this world's Demon King?"
"Ah? You've got the wrong idea! I'm not the Demon King!"
Naruse Mio hadn't expected Emilia to single her out. But hearing what she said, she immediately understood the misunderstanding and hurriedly waved her hands.
"Lady Mio is the former Demon King's daughter. She isn't the Demon King yet. Although she inherited the former Demon King's demonic power, she hasn't fully mastered it. Strictly speaking, she's a Demon King candidate."
Knowing why Mio had been mistaken for the Demon King, Naruse Maria quickly stopped absorbing the desire energy, stepped in front of Mio, and explained to Emilia, who had drawn her sword without another word.
They were demons, but they had little to do with the demons from the Demon Realm or the fiends that invaded the human world every day.
The Demon Realm she came from was essentially another world, where many demons simply wanted to live peaceful lives.
There were certainly demons who wanted war, but once Lady Mio defeated the current Demon King and inherited the throne, she could keep the demons there under control.
Besides, the human world didn't have enough free demonic energy to absorb. It was difficult to replenish their strength after fighting, and their power was greatly suppressed after coming from the Demon Realm to the human world.
Normally, no demon would deliberately choose to live in the human world, much less invade it.
"The former Demon King's daughter... a Demon King candidate... So that means she'll become the next Demon King?"
After hearing Mio and Maria's explanation, Emilia didn't lower her guard. She continued pointing her silver holy sword at Mio and spoke gravely.
Although this Demon King candidate looked like an ordinary girl, a tremendous amount of demonic power was hidden inside her. Its aura was very similar to that of the demons Emilia knew.
Even though she wasn't from this world, she was still a Hero. Encountering a Demon King meant she had to fulfill her duty and slay them.
After chasing the Demon King into this world, she had no way to replenish her Sacred Mana. Fighting even one Demon King was already difficult, let alone two worlds' worth of them.
But as the Hero, she could never submit to a Demon King.
"Miss Naruse may be a Demon King candidate, but she's a kind and good girl."
"If she really were an evil demon, we would have acted long ago. You don't need to worry."
Himeragi Yukina and Kasugaya Shizuri hurriedly tried to persuade her.
"Silence! You people who have sided with demons!"
Hero Emilia rebuked Yukina and Kasugaya Shizuri without mercy, refusing to believe a word they said.
Since arriving in this world and having no choice but to settle into it, she had sensed demonic auras many times.
Most disappeared quickly, and in some cases she had seen reinforcements from the forces of justice arrive to eliminate the demons.
Order in the human world had always been well maintained, untouched by evil.
She had thought the Church and Heroes of this world were reliable.
Instead, the truth was the exact opposite.
Everything had only remained peaceful because Heroes and Demon Kings had joined hands.
"You've misunderstood."
"We don't mean you any harm. Could you put your weapon away so we can talk?"
Yukina and Kasugaya Shizuri exchanged helpless looks.
If they were dealing with the spiritual demons from the Demon Realm that spread Seeds of Desire the moment they entered the human world, naturally they wouldn't stand by and do nothing.
But Mio and the others clearly weren't like that.
Naruse Mio was Mr. Hikigaya's adopted younger sister.
Once she became the new Demon King of the Demon Realm, that relationship might permanently solve the problem of the Demon Realm's demons.
The problem was that although they knew the truth from the organization's intelligence, this girl from another world simply refused to believe them.
How were they supposed to explain it?
Or should they subdue her first and explain everything after she calmed down?
Since they knew the girl before them wasn't actually a bad person and this was all just a misunderstanding, Yukina and the others weren't eager to fight.
Behind them, Saegusa Kasumi, Kuroba Ayako, and the others remained silent, simply watching how Yukina and Kasugaya Shizuri handled the sudden situation.
With so many of them present, and Emilia only targeting Mio and Maria, they weren't worried about Komachi or Shion getting hurt.
Since Yukina and Kasugaya Shizuri were already dealing with it, they chose not to interfere.
Just as Yukina and Kasugaya Shizuri resolved to subdue Emilia, and Emilia herself steeled herself for a fight to the death, two figures hurriedly ran between them.
"W-Wait!"
"This has to be a misunderstanding! Don't fight!"
Yukina, Kasugaya Shizuri, and Emilia all looked toward the two people who had suddenly appeared between them.
Seeing the blonde girl with the side ponytail arrive together with the brown-haired girl with a high ponytail, Komachi blinked in confusion.
"Big Sister Nijika? Do you know this girl from another world?"
"Komachi, you've got the wrong idea. I don't know her, but one of my friends does."
Ijichi Nijika shook her head after glancing at the armored red-haired Emilia, then gently pushed the brown-haired girl beside her forward.
"Hello, everyone. I'm Aoyama Nanami, a friend of Yusa Emi. We were both working part-time here today. I don't know why you're fighting, but I'm sure there's been some kind of misunderstanding!"
The brown-haired girl with the high ponytail, Aoyama Nanami, walked over beside Emilia and bowed apologetically toward Mio, Maria, and the others.
"Aoyama, you don't have to be polite to these people. They've sided with demons. As the Hero, even if I die today, I won't submit to them."
Emilia, who was using the alias Yusa Emi, frowned and spoke to Nanami.
There were simply too many people on the Demon King's side.
She couldn't beat them, and she probably couldn't escape either.
She might as well fight to the death.
Even if she somehow survived, she'd use up all her Sacred Mana. If she encountered another Demon King or any demons afterward, she'd be finished.
But first she had to survive, then she could worry about finding another way to restore her Sacred Mana.
"Demons? Hero? Demon King? Yusa, are you and Nijika's friends doing some kind of cosplay? Or did you accidentally get into an argument?"
Nanami blinked and turned toward the completely serious Yusa Emi in confusion.
She had assumed Yusa Emi had temporarily been called over to do some cosplay work, like wearing a mascot costume, and had gotten into an argument while staying in character.
That's why she had hurried over to smooth things over.
"Neither. I'm a Hero from another world. My real name is Emilia. Yusa Emi is just the identity I use here."
Looking at the bewildered Nanami, Yusa Emi slowly shook her head.
"There's a powerful demon over there who's about to become the Demon King. I have to eliminate her. This has nothing to do with you, Aoyama. You don't need to get involved."
She had originally intended to keep her identity hidden, but there was no point anymore.
The only thing she was worried about now was that she could barely protect herself, let alone an ordinary person like Aoyama Nanami.
Still, they were only coworkers who had worked together. They weren't especially close in daily life.
She doubted these people would deliberately make things difficult for Nanami because of her.
Thinking that, Yusa Emi stopped explaining further.
"Uh... a Hero from another world..."
Nanami looked at Yusa Emi as though she'd suddenly come down with a case of chuunibyou, completely at a loss.
She had always wanted to become a voice actress, so she naturally knew plenty about ACG and the kinds of work voice actors did.
In this situation...
Did this count as chuunibyou?
Although news of the elf princess visiting from another world was everywhere, everyone knew demi-humans existed, and the mermaid idol group was a world-famous phenomenon, very few demi-humans actually appeared in public.
Ordinary people almost never met one.
Those stories from other worlds were simply too far removed from Nanami's everyday life.
Even after hearing Yusa Emi's explanation, she instinctively found it hard to believe.
She just thought the usually serious Yusa Emi was secretly an otaku whose chuunibyou had awakened at the convention.
"Miss Hero from another world, do you know Vignette?"
Seeing both sides remain at a stalemate because of their different understandings of the situation, and with members from both Komachi's group and Hachiman's group gradually gathering together, Raphiel smiled and asked.
"Vignette? You mean Miss Tsukinose?"
The moment Yusa Emi heard the name, she stopped herself from making another move against Mio, Yukina, and the others.
Nanami also couldn't help looking toward Raphiel.
"That's right. Vignette Tsukinose. Your coworker whom you met while working with Miss Aoyama. She's a being whose holy light is even stronger than mine. If I call her over, you'll believe we're not bad people, won't you?"
Raphiel smiled and nodded, revealing the angel halo and wings she had only recently hidden.
As she displayed her power, a purple-haired figure slowly appeared beside Hachiman.
"Miss Tsukinose?"
Seeing Vignette appear out of thin air with her own eyes, Nanami finally realized that the weapons in Yusa Emi's and Himeragi Yukina's hands weren't props.
"Miss Yusa, Miss Aoyama, hello."
Forced to teleport over, Vignette let out a helpless sigh. After greeting Nanami and Yusa Emi, she turned toward the smiling Raphiel.
"Raphiel, have you been spying on me this whole time? I don't remember ever telling you about Miss Aoyama or Miss Yusa."
"Isn't it you who's been spying on Hachiman? I hadn't even contacted you, and you teleported over yourself."
Raphiel replied with a smile.
"..."
Vignette bit her lower lip, her face reddening slightly, unable to answer.
Did she dare not keep an eye on Hachiman?
Raphiel had no shame whatsoever. What if she and Hachiman started plotting ways to mess with her? If she knew in advance, at least she could prepare.
But the fact that she'd been spying on Hachiman was true.
No matter how she argued, she had still been spying, so there was no way to deny it.
She was sure Gabriel had been spying too.
It was just that with Iris absent, there was usually no way to expose Gabriel.
"Angels... and two of them..."
Yusa Emi's expression had already changed when Raphiel displayed supernatural power.
When Vignette appeared, she almost couldn't hold herself together.
She had never imagined that angels had been hiding right beside her all along.
Now two angels were standing with the Demon King candidate...
Had she really misunderstood everything?
Or was the demon faction in this world so powerful that even the angels had fallen?
"Miss Yusa, you've seen it yourself. If we were really on the demons' side and wanted to attack you, you wouldn't have had much chance to resist. We're really not what you think we are."
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