"So what're we going to do?" Gabrielle asked, waving the king's summons around.
"Easy," Lilith said. "I'll go pick Konrad up, and screw that Strelok guy for now."
Except that the angel shot her down in one second.
"You're not leaving while we're under attack. I hate to admit it, but this world would collapse."
Oh? That must have been a hard pill to swallow.
"Why don't we send Nimrod?" Stella raised the question, braiding—yes, braiding—her long blonde hair. "They're identical, so nobody would notice as long as I keep him under control."
To complement her already masculine garb, now she wore braids and pieces of armor.
She was all about practicality, like Helena, but the annoying part—
She pulled it off without looking plain or ridiculous.
"You should know better than any of us that even if they look the same, their magic signature is different. You can't fool a royal summons by a dopplegänger," Gabby claimed with a sigh.
"Which means I HAVE to bring him home, and—"
"No, it means we either trust him to return on time," the pesky angel shot her down again. "Or try to postpone whatever this is. A ball? Despite them knowing about the invasion?!"
Lilith rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, because you can't fool the royal court. But you can postpone something involving all the kingdom's dukes. And, wow, they gave us only a one-week warning?!"
The more they talked about it, the stranger this summons became.
"The king did nothing but put Master through trials so far," Eyna mumbled as she fought with her paperwork. "What if he doesn't show when the one week's up?"
Well, that was easy to guess.
"My father would take over these lands and weaken our position to fight," Gabby sighed. Then, she perked up. "Another strong signature on the west. A summoner arrived."
Their sign to get ready, except—
"I-If it's a lone summoner, I'll deal with it," Stella offered, though her voice wasn't too confident.
Still, her skills improved a lot.
And she didn't destroy the entire world around her when using necromancy anymore.
Which, with the Church keeping a wary eye on her, was a huge plus.
Gabby's eyes asked a question without opening her mouth.
'How likely would she have a mental breakdown?'
'She's been stable lately,' Lilith answered with a shrug. 'Last time I read her mind, I heard none of the usual spiritual chatter. Still a bit depressed and desperate sometimes, but—'
Again, she had improved a lot.
So the next time the demoness blinked, both Gabrielle and Stella were gone.
The former returned before Eyna would notice, but the blonde was out fighting the good fight.
"They grow up fast," Lilith said with fake sadness, wiping at her eyes. "A few more weeks, and Meow Midori might beat Zoltan into something useful, too. Then we can sit back and relax."
"Except that we don't have weeks," the angel noted. "Seven days at most."
The purple-haired beauty put her pen down louder than necessary.
Though she ran the duchy in Konrad's absence and handled most of the diplomacy—
She was still too shy and adorable in their presence.
"W-We are lucky that Lady Helena's on our side," she mumbled, looking around. "If we tell her that Master isn't ready yet, I'm sure she'd put in a word for us."
Lilith smirked, remembering what the princess in question did during her last visit.
"We have her on our side?" she asked, teasing the purple-eyed puppy girl. "Or on Welf's alone?"
Their feelings were now obvious to everyone around them.
Except for that thick-headed blacksmith, as far as she could tell.
"Lady Liliana's brother is also on our side, so, um—" Eyna's voice trailed off halfway through.
Come on, she might have been a little scarier than usual, thanks to her jealousy.
But she would have never harmed her.
Only a little correction.
"That bull is not my brother. Our parents here are the same, but—"
"Putting that aside," Gabrielle interrupted, sighing again. "Let's say Helena would help. Things are rather urgent, so the most we'd gain would be another week. And then what?"
Ugh, she already told her.
"I have to go back to Earth and bring my sweetheart home," Lilith repeated once again. "What else could we do? I miss him; he might be in danger, and I'm restless without him anyway."
"You should act your age, not your looks," the angel scoffed. "And he's not a child, either."
"Then what do you suggest?!" she demanded, pouting in response.
She had to wait quite a while before Gabrielle would give her own.
"I was thinking that this fight was not ours alone," she finally said. "Like, it's all your fault, of course, and we're the ones to take responsibility. But this world has spirits and saints as well."
Lilith blinked, unsure if she should be mad or applaud her.
"How does that help bring my Konny boy back sooner?"
"It doesn't," the angel admitted. "But if we drew the Church into our defense. And the whole kingdom through them. The king might stop these ridiculous tests at least."
Those were some sensible thoughts, but they scared her.
Was Gabrielle already this desperate?
"Where did your angelic superiority go, asking help from the locals?" Lilith asked, raising an eyebrow. "And correct me if I'm wrong, but you want to leave Konrad to his own devices?"
"The moment he took on this mission, he was always to be on his own," she pointed out.
But that was one ballistic missile strike, and two weeks ago.
Or—did she still treat him as disposable?!
"I don't like it," the demoness announced. "I mean, seeing you squirm and beg to this world's saints would be entertaining, sure. But I would never give up on my Konrad again."
"We have to prioritise," Gabrielle admitted. "And we cannot let this world fall."
What a weird situation, this was.
Lilith wanted it to end soon, but hoped she'd get even more kicks out of it.
It was her long-time dream to teach the angels a lesson. She had already sacrificed Konrad, chasing this goal before. But he could have still reincarnated back then.
Losing him now would have been the end of him for good.
No, that was out of the question.
"I'll give him that one week to return on his own," Lilith decided. "No. Five days max. Then you can beg to the saints or whoever you want, but I'll go and bring him back myself."
"If I do that, or he doesn't return in time, he'll lose his status," Gabrielle pointed out.
Which, well—the demoness sighed.
"Okay, let me clarify. Holding on to this world and keeping him in power is only part of your plans," she said. "Mine is to keep him alive no matter what, and burn the universe if I had to."
She emitted more of her magic aura than usual, and poor Eyna yelped.
But it drove the point home with that damned angel at least.
"Five more days, then," she nodded, though she didn't look happy about it. "And if he's still not here by that, I'll reach out towards the saints and spirits for help."
Yeah. She'd protect this world with or without her.
The question was whether Konrad would still have a place in it by the time those days were up.