Finally, Jorel also expressed his intention to join, but McClain firmly shook his head.

He didn’t want to endanger their lives as well.

“I appreciate your feelings, but that’s not possible.”

At first, he had only recruited these NPCs by calculating how helpful they would be in clearing the final quest. But now, after sharing time stained with blood and sweat, he realized he had already given a part of his heart to these brave and kind NPCs.

It wasn’t just mechanical affection as a developer. Rather, he had given them a deeper and more genuine heart than he would to anyone he might meet after returning to reality.

If the Demon King had descended upon the Empire according to the original scenario, he might have fought alongside them.

But in the current situation, he couldn’t.

The place he needed to go was the demon realm—a place teeming with monsters and demons.

Facing the Demon King alone was already extremely dangerous, and the environment of the battlefield was overwhelmingly disadvantageous. It was like someone who had lived their entire life in a hot country playing a survival game with Eskimos in the Arctic.

Moreover, their return journey was also problematic. Although the Key of Space still had two uses left, one would be used up when moving to the demon realm, leaving just one.

After finding Natalie through various hardships, the quest would be cleared and the number of uses would increase back to two, but the question was whether those uses could be applied to these companions as well.

When he cleared the final quest, there was a high probability that he and Natalie would immediately return to reality. If they didn’t automatically return, they might need to use the key to move.

It would be good if he and Natalie could return together at once, but there was a strong possibility they would each need to use a movement count. It was unlikely that a quest—especially one directly related to the main scenario and automatically accepting the next quest—would offer a useless usage count as a reward.

Yet he couldn’t stay behind with them and only send Natalie back. Rather than making them die there after following him to the perilous demon realm and defeating the Demon King, he felt it would be better to leave them behind.

But the members seemed to feel the same way as he did.

Surprisingly, Orlando was the first to object. Orlando, who always maintained a relaxed expression and faint smile, raised his voice with a suddenly pale face.

“What are you saying? You’re going to leave without your Lieutenant! What can you possibly do alone without me, Commander?”

His words could have been mistaken for insubordination toward a superior. However, McClain knew well that they stemmed from steadfast loyalty.

“I might be a bit inconvenienced without you, but I’ll return safely, so don’t worry and wait for me.”

Though he might survive, he wouldn’t be able to return here again. So live well and stay healthy even after I’m gone.

While trying to comfort his own growing melancholy, McClain forced a smile, but Orlando’s face only fell further at this awkward attempt.

“Absolutely not. I—no, we—cannot allow it.”

“My brother is right. I won’t let you go alone either.”

Munash and Muki stepped forward as expected, but they were no match for McClain who understood their temperaments thoroughly.

“While I’m gone, you two should practice your formal speech perfectly. Look over there. Don’t you see those people glaring at you for disrespecting your superior?”

“B-but…”

And then there were Bertel and Jorel—quiet but gentle and steadfast, who had faithfully carried out his orders more diligently than anyone else, almost imperceptibly.

As they opened their mouths to speak, McClain raised his palm to silence them and stared at a spot in the air. Suddenly, a flash of light appeared from above, and sparkling light particles spread like a curtain, beginning to envelop McClain’s body in a circle.

Eventually, the group sighed as they saw their superior standing inside what appeared to be a very narrow door rippling with blue light as if woven from light itself. The small size and limited movement range, just enough for one person to pass through, revealed McClain’s firm resolve.

Looking at his squad members who had become crestfallen—no, who were already half in tears—McClain raised his hand again. This time, it wasn’t a gesture of refusal or prohibition, but one of farewell.

“You’ve all worked hard following an inadequate superior. Each one of you is more valuable than anyone else in the Empire, and the day will soon come when you’ll be put to great use. So focus on your training while I’m gone. I’ll check on your progress immediately when I return.”

As soon as he finished his farewell, as if it had been waiting for his words to end, his figure disappeared without a trace along with the light.

※※※

The first thing that caught Natalie’s attention when she regained consciousness was a woman with striking features who had thr*st her face right up to her.

“Is this it? The thing Your Majesty was so desperately waiting for?”

Ah, of course she can’t be human.

After staring at the woman with a momentarily blank expression, Natalie’s face hardened as she spotted small black wings fluttering behind the woman’s back and a long tail.

Striking beauty, an excessively voluptuous figure, and revealing, tight clothing.

She looked exactly like a stereotypical character that might have jumped out from a corner of a game.

Could that be the succubus that’s supposedly always by the Demon King’s side?

Just as this thought crossed her mind, Demon appeared from somewhere and roughly pulled the woman away from Natalie’s sight.

“Ah, Your Majesty! I usually like it when you’re rough like this, but not today.”

Though the woman complained coquettishly, Demon didn’t seem to care what she said at all. He was too preoccupied with gazing at Natalie with eyes full of concern and joy.

“How are you feeling? Are you in pain anywhere? Do you feel nauseous or feverish? If anything feels strange, tell me right away. I’ll try to find a solution somehow.”

Instead of answering, Natalie briefly stared above his head. She was checking his affection level.

Demon de Marteva’s affection has increased by 4%.

Demon’s affection: 74% ▶ 78%

When did it rise this high? We’ve barely even met.

Natalie’s eyes widened as she confirmed his affection level, which was now approaching 80%. Seeing her silently widening her eyes, Demon’s eyes grew large as well.

“What’s wrong? Are you really in pain somewhere? If something feels strange, tell me quickly. Are you perhaps unable to speak?”

As his voice trembled slightly, his affection level began to fluctuate as well.

Demon de Marteva’s affection has increased by 4%.

Demon’s affection: 78% ▶ 82%

Demon de Marteva’s affection has increased by 2%.

Demon’s affection: 82% ▶ 84%

Demon de Marteva’s affection has increased by 5%.

Demon’s affection: 84% ▶ 89%

Rather than fluctuating, it was rapidly rising.

Shocked by his affection level, which had increased by more than 10% in an instant, Natalie hastily opened her lips. She worried that if left unchecked, she might end up with the Demon King ending before she could mentally prepare herself.

“I’m fine. Nothing hurts, and I don’t feel nauseous. I don’t think I have a fever either. There’s nothing strange about my body, but I do feel strange emotionally. I’ve suddenly been brought to an unfamiliar place, after all.”

“I-I’m sorry about that. I wanted to give you more time, but I couldn’t stand watching any longer and got too angry.”

“Angry…you say?”

Natalie replied while slightly hunching her shoulders. She had ended up in a situation where she had to face not only the Demon King but all the monsters and demons living in the demon realm, completely alone without any allies.

Though she had responded reflexively just now, she would need to think carefully and calculate her words to survive as long as possible. She would need to put in ten times more effort than when competing with colleagues for a promotion if she wanted to hold out until McClain received the final quest.

“I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable. I tried my best to prepare, but it seems something displeased you.”

As she bit her lip and showed a fearful expression, Demon waved his hands with a flustered face.

“No, it’s not because of you. It’s because of that human who was stuck to you, not your fault at all. Watching him touch your lips and put his hands all over you made me unable to contain my anger. That’s why I hurried to bring you here. I really hate when someone touches what’s mine.”

As Demon made a face like a scolded child, Lilith, who was standing beside him, interjected as if she couldn’t bear it any longer.

“My, Your Majesty. Are you saying you’re treating a woman who’s already been touched by someone else with such care? Goodness! How has our great Demon fallen to this state? You could trip over women like this just by stepping outside the demon castle, yet what’s so pretty about her…”

“Lilith! Shut up and get out. I kept you here thinking you might be helpful as the same gender, but you’re just being a nuisance.”