The tip of Ellen’s sword, which was pointed at the Demon King, was shaking.  0

Her gaze, her body, and her legs were all trembling.  0

Clang! Crack!  0

Against the fierce onslaught of the Demon King, Ellen could only retreat awkwardly, unable to launch any proper attack.0

The Demon King showed no mercy.  0

His kicks, wrapped in fierce mana and backed with explosive force, broke through the flame burst of Lapelt and struck the Aura Armor surrounding Ellen.  0

Thud!  0

“Argh… Ugh!”  0

The kick landed with immense weight against Ellen’s abdomen. She was flung far away, and rolled pathetically across the ground.  0

The pain itself wasn’t that great, but it felt like her heart was about to break.  0

Ellen knew that this fight was ultimately just a show. Reinhart would not kill her, and she did not want to hurt Reinhart either.  1

This staged play was necessary to show people that the Hero could stand against the Demon King.  0

If they hadn’t met, this wouldn’t have been necessary. But they had met.  0

The Demon King was frightening, but people needed to believe that the Hero could face the Demon King. So that even while they despaired at reality and cursed the world, they would somehow grit their teeth and live on with the hope that the Demon King would eventually be killed. So that those who hated the Demon King would somehow live on to hear the story that the Demon King was eventually killed by the Hero.  0

Thus, even if Ellen didn’t want to fight, she had to fight somehow.  0

The Demon King leaped toward Ellen, who had been thrown across...0