The Female Lead Saves the Scene!

“…Who is this?”

The Young Miss narrowed her eyes, staring intently at the pink-haired girl I had urgently summoned.

“…This is Sofina.

She has an affinity for light magic… Light magic is the most effective means of combating demons.

As we are now, we probably can’t do much against Vladimir, but she’s different.”

“…”

Sofina hid behind me, not daring to meet the Young Miss’s gaze.

Perhaps due to her sword training, the Young Miss’s eyes had grown sharp, which likely frightened Sofina.

But not only did the Young Miss not notice, she instead pressed closer, exuding an even greater sense of pressure.

“Young Miss, your glare is quite fearsome.

You’re scaring Sofina.”

Hearing this, the corner of the Young Miss’s eye twitched.

“You’re actually taking her side?”

As she spoke, the Young Miss gripped my shoulder.

My shoulder immediately felt much heavier.

“…Ailena, what is your relationship with her?

And when did you two meet?”

“Us…?

Sofina and I are just friends… You should remember, right?

Half a year ago, when you were getting a gift for the Duchess, I went out shopping for you, didn’t I?

That’s when I met Sofina.

She led me to the jewelry store.

Speaking of which, those desserts I gave you later were all from Sofina’s family.”

“…Those desserts were made by your family?”

“Mm-hmm…”

Sofina, hiding behind me, nodded.

“The Young Miss loves your family’s desserts.

In fact, it was she who promoted them at the ducal estate, causing your orders to skyrocket.”

I said to Sofina.

“Eh?

I thought Ailena was the one ordering them all!”

“How could a mere maid like me have so much money to place so many orders… It was just done in my name.”

With that, I turned my gaze to the Young Miss.

“Actually, Young Miss Katarina is very kind-hearted… It’s just that she might be a bit… shy?

So she’s a little wary of you… but she’s a good child at heart.”

After hearing my description, Sofina seemed less afraid.

She stepped out from behind my back and gave the Young Miss a respectful bow.

…A perfect ninety-degree bow!

“Thank you very much!”

Such an earnest, good child!

“…Hmph.”

Seemingly embarrassed, the Young Miss crossed her arms, turned away, and let out a light snort.

“Enough with the idle chatter.

Let’s get going, we don’t have much time.”

“Right.”

“But… am I really up to it?”

Although she said this, Sofina wasn’t trying to back out, she just lacked confidence.

“I’m not as physically strong as you, Ailena, and my magic is nowhere near as good as yours…”

“Of course you are.

I believe in you.

Besides… light magic is especially effective against demons.

Right now, you’re our only hope.”

…Though it might sound like irresponsible sweet talk, there was a basis for what I said.

Putting aside the common knowledge that light magic has a special advantage against demons, the fundamental reason for my confidence was…

Sofina is the protagonist of this world!

…That’s right.

Ever since I realized this world was an otome game, I’ve noticed that Sofina is the player’s camera, the protagonist at the center of the world!

Though she’s still young, the protagonist’s hidden setting is the established ‘Saintess of Light’.

Her magic inflicts even greater damage on demons… in short, that’s how the setting is written.

The story mentioned that the protagonist was attacked by demons when she was a child, but she had already killed the demon before the self-defense force arrived.

And at the end of the story, it was she who defeated the Demon Lord, a testament to her strength… With her, our chances of winning would increase significantly.

…And the protagonist probably won’t die easily before the story officially begins.

Probably.

“If it’s Ailena’s request… okay, I’ll do my best.”

“…But, have you really thought this through?

This is very dangerous, you know?

You’ll be facing a powerful demon.”

“It’s okay.”

After a pause, she gave me a smile.

“How can I not help a friend in need?”

…What a gentle, good child!

Truly worthy of being the protagonist who captured the hearts of so many male characters!

As expected of a great demon who has lived for over a hundred years… Vladimir was absurdly strong.

Every one of his attacks was a killing blow, and failure to defend with all one’s might meant certain death.

Yet our own attacks had no effect on him.

Physical attacks couldn’t touch him, and magical attacks were either blocked by his blood threads or absorbed by the bodies of the other monsters.

What was more infuriating was that he wasn’t even taking it seriously.

He had a grin on his face, a completely nonchalant attitude.

As time ticked by, their stamina gradually dwindled… a few knights had already collapsed from exhaustion and been finished off by Vladimir.

Despair enveloped everyone’s hearts.

“Haaah~ I’m getting a little bored of this.”

Facing another attack from the Duke and his men, Vladimir just let out a casual yawn.

Then, he spread his wings and flew high into the sky.

This difference in altitude alone was enough to keep those with only physical attacks at bay.

Not to mention, he was no longer planning to hold back.

The moment Vladimir floated into the air, all the other monsters slit their own throats.

At the same time, their blood began to flow eerily, gradually forming a magic circle with a radius of a full ten meters.

In an instant, the sky was dyed a strange blood-red, and in the center of the red moon, the figure holding a giant scythe of blood-crystal looked like the Grim Reaper from stories.

The Duke instinctively tried to dodge, only to find that his feet wouldn’t move.

Looking down, he saw countless small hands made of shadow gripping his legs, preventing him from moving an inch.

A glance around revealed that the other knights were in the same predicament.

He raised his hand, just about to blast these annoying little hands away with magic, when a red shadow flashed past his head.

“Splurch!”

In a single instant, the Duke’s right arm was no longer his.

Turning his head, he saw the Grim Reaper place a finger on the giant scythe, lightly dabbing some blood and tasting it.

“Mm… as expected, the blood of middle-aged men doesn’t taste good.

I’d much prefer a young woman, if I could~”

“You bastard…”

“Who gave you permission to speak?”

Vladimir shot him a sideways glance.

“Thud!”

With just a single sentence, the Duke lost another leg.

Without support, he could only kneel on the ground.

Seeing the Duke’s miserable state, the others instantly fell silent.

“See, if you hadn’t resisted from the beginning, you would have suffered a lot less, wouldn’t you?”

Vladimir pressed the scythe against the Duke’s chin and chuckled mockingly.

Then, he flew back into the air once more.

“Well, I’ll send you all on your way now.”

The magic of the circle began to gather in his hands.

Dark purple lightning could be clearly seen surging in his palm.

“Farewell, Duke Sachsen!”

A black beam of light, as wide as a truck, shot forth!

And just then, a silver figure flashed between the Duke and the beam of light.

She spread her arms, and three magic circles instantly appeared before her.

“Ailena!?”

The Duke was greatly surprised to see the newcomer.

But the girl had no time to reply, only gritting her teeth and holding on.

“Crack!”

The first magic circle was instantly breached.

“Haaaaah—!!!”

But… thanks to the girl’s efforts, the second magic circle managed to hold back the beam for a few seconds before shattering.

And that was enough.

From a corner no one had expected, a small arrow of light shot towards Vladimir!

And this tiny arrow successfully pierced through the chest of the defenseless Vladimir.

And the originator of all this merely tilted her head and said in a daze:

“…So, did we succeed?”