There are ten statues of gods controlled by Gapon.
　In contrast, there are only four of them here.

　But as soon as Claire flashed her crystal sword, half of the enemy's God statues were cleaved away.
　I'm sure you'll be able to find a way to make it work.
　I run next to Claire.

　One of the remaining statues of the gods attacked me.
　But I cut down its right arm, followed by its torso, with the treasure sword tetracord.

　My target is Gapon himself.
　It seems that no matter how many divine statues are defeated, Gapon can be summoned indefinitely, so there is no end to what he can do.

　However, thanks to the power of Claire's crystal sword, we have a chance to win.
　All we have to do is destroy the divine statues together and close in on Gapon.
　With Claire's crystal sword and Sophia's power as a saint, we might be able to break down the magical barrier protecting Gapon.

''Hm.''

　Gapon murmured briefly and waved his bronze staff.
　Light bullets were scattered from it, but the attack didn't hit me and Claire.

　It was because Sophia and Filia were covering us.
　All the god statues were destroyed as well.

　Gapon tries to summon more god statues with his staff.
　But we can't get there in time.

　As I stepped in, Claire and I's swords were already within reach of Gapon.
　Claire and I swung our swords down at Gapon.

　This alone may not be enough to defeat the power of the demon king.

　But we have a trump card.

''God. Save us.

　Along with Sophia's dignified voice, a golden light radiates from her staff.
　She is the strongest adventurer of the Knights of St. Sophia and one of the most excellent users of church-style magic.

　With that Sophia's power, she can even break through Gapon's Demon King barrier.
　I'll be able to put Claire and I's swords into it, and Gapon will be finished.
　I was relying on that possibility.

　However--.

　I'm not going to be the only one who has a problem with that.
　A look of despair appears on Claire's face.

　And in the next moment, Gapon's light bullets were shot at Claire.
　And from close range.

''Kyaaaaaah!''

　Claire let out a high-pitched scream and fell to the ground.
　I took Claire in my arms and jumped back.

　Since the attack couldn't get through, I had to retreat once.
　But Claire was covered in blood all over, with attacks penetrating her arms, legs and chest.

''........I'm going to cast a recovery spell now.

　At my words, Claire smiled weakly and shook her head.

'You'll have to abandon me and fight me, won't you?

I said I'd protect Claire if she was in danger.

Thank you. But I'm not going to be saved.

　It's true that Claire was in a dangerous state.
　Even if the recovery magic I use can suppress the blood flowing out to some extent, it won't be a fundamental cure.
　You need a full-fledged treatment as soon as possible, but unless you can beat Gapon, you can't afford it.

　Claire gently stroked my cheek with her bloody hand.

'I was going to tell you when the fight was over, but I.......I don't think I have much time left. So.........

Don't talk. Claire's not going to die.

"....I've always been in love with Solon-san. Ever since I was a young and weak girl, I've been in love with her.

　I felt my heart jump.
　Indeed, the way Claire was looking at me...it was a little different than the way she was looking at Creon and Sophia.

　I felt my cheeks heat up, but right now I had to do something about the situation.
　Claire said she wanted to live in my mansion. In order to make that happen, I would have to defeat Gapon and help Claire.

　But the situation is grim.

　I tried to get back to Sophia and Filia while using my recovery magic.
　Now that Claire is unable to fight, I'm the only one who can protect the two rearguarders.

　But faster than I could return, a new statue of Gapon's god appeared in front of Sophia.

''Oh no.........''

　Sophia let out a small voice, as if she was frightened.
　Her jade-colored eyes were stained with fear.

　Due to the fact that she had shot magic with all her strength earlier, Sophia couldn't use magic for a while.
　So she couldn't even resist the god statue.

　The fist swung by the god statue blew Sophia away mercilessly.
　Unable to scream, Sophia was slammed into the wall.

''........Sophia!''

　I shouted and called out, but Sophia, lying on her back, didn't respond and seemed to be limp and unconscious.

　This left me and Filia as the only ones left.

''Solon........''

　Filia runs up to me.
　Her silver hair swayed softly.
　Then she looked up at me with her blue eyes.

　What should I do?

　I'm also worried about Sophia, but right now me and Filia are too busy protecting ourselves.
　Moreover, Claire is seriously injured.

　The solution.........

''You know, Solon.......I want you to use my magic power to the limit.

'But if you do that, Lady Filia...'

　Previously, the wise man Arte also used all the magic power of the girls of the Demon King's descendants as he saw fit. By doing so, the girls of the Demon King's descendants were sacrificed, crippled or, in the worst case, died.

　If I use Filia's magic power as much as possible, it means I'm in the same danger.

'But ... if I don't, I won't be able to beat Father Gapon.

　Like Filia said, there is no other means left.
　No ... there's one more trump card.

　It's the grimoire Lucy left behind. But I don't know how to use that one correctly and I haven't been able to activate its effects.

　Gapon calls out to us.

''Solon, if you are willing to surrender, I will guarantee the safety of yourself and the Princess.''

If you did, what would happen to Dr. Lucy, Claire, and Sophia and the others?

'You've already lost. It's arrogant to think that you can have it all. Professor Lucy will serve as a dependency for the resurrection of the Demon King, and Saint Sophia will serve as a dependency for the resurrection of a new Demon King. Ensign Claire will have to die, though.

If that's the case...

　I was about to say that I couldn't take such a suggestion, and I was lost.
　As for me, if Filia wanted to be saved.....

　But Filia shook her head.

''I'm not thinking of abandoning everyone else to save myself,'' she said.

　I nodded at Filia.
　Then we need to find a way out of this situation.
　In a way that doesn't involve sacrificing Filia herself, of course.

　Gapon has been trying to get us to surrender.
　Looking at the situation alone, it should have been easy for Gapon to kill me and capture Filia and the others.

　That means Gapon has a weakness, and he doesn't want to fight us anymore.
　Then we still have a chance to win.

　Just then, I heard a groan behind me.

"Solon ... how did you ... come ... here?

　When I turned around, there was Lucy, bound in chains, staring at me with her crimson eyes.