I’d Rather Be Healed by a Pure-Hearted, Beautiful Demon Lord Than by a Yandere Saintess! ~Even if I Run Away, the Yandere Saintess Keeps Coming After Me. If I Get Caught, It Seems Like I’ll Be Forced Into an Engagement!?~ - Chapter 18 & 19

The Provisional Strategist’s Siege Strategy

“…You’ve already thought up the next plan, haven’t you?”

Lady Lucilphia’s expectant, sparkling eyes pierced through me.

Around us, the executives and even the captive Captain Gideon waited with bated breath for my words. No one doubted that some outlandish secret strategy surpassing the previous traps would emerge from my mouth.

(It’s impossible, impossible, impossible! I have nothing left!)

My internal grandpa library was completely checked out and barren after the earlier pest control measures.

Cold sweat trickled down my back. My stomach twisted in sharp pain.

But if I said here, “I haven’t thought of anything,” the trust of everyone in this castle would come crashing down.

In that case, there was only one thing to do.

Return to the basics, attach the most plausible reasoning, and bluff my way through.

I deliberately closed my eyes once, exhaled a breath, and then opened my mouth gravely.

“…Everyone. The previous traps were merely the opening skirmish. They served only as probes to gauge the enemy’s forces and the commander’s nature.”

“”””Probes…!?””””

The executives’ voices harmonized. Good, they were hooked.

“The advance party’s humiliating defeat must have deeply wounded Saint Erixia’s pride. The next move she makes will be a frontal assault with overwhelming force, no tricks involved. She will burn away the traps we set in the forest with her own holy magic and head straight for this castle.”

Everyone drew in a sharp breath at my words.

Borgannon asked in a flustered tone, “Then what do we do, Lord Yukina!?”

“Simple.”

I declared it boldly.

“—We hole up.”

“”””Hole up…?””””

Everyone tilted their heads at the unfamiliar term.

“Yes. We barricade ourselves in the castle and fortify the defenses thoroughly. We don’t let a single enemy step inside.”

Borgannon objected to that overly mundane and straightforward proposal.

“Wh-That makes us look like cowards cowering in the castle out of fear! The pride of the Demon King’s army won’t allow it!”

“Borgannon, calm down.”

Lady Lucilphia reined him in. She seemed to sense some deeper intent in my plan.

I continued my desperate explanation inwardly.

“This is the second phase of the psychological war. The prideful Saint craves a decisive battle. Something like a one-on-one duel between the Demon King and the Saint. But what if we hole up in the castle, fortify our defenses completely, and adopt a stance of prolonged endurance? She will grow impatient. ‘Why won’t they come out?’ Impatience dulls judgment. We wait for her arrogant heart to reveal an opening.”

I even found the reasoning coming out smoothly and plausibly. This explanation pierced deeply into the executives’ hearts.

“I see…! We deny the enemy the battlefield they desire and whittle away at their spirit…!”

“Well, being kept waiting is the most agonizing part of romantic pursuit, isn’t it♡ Poor Saint.”

“Hmm… A siege. Blocking external stimuli and observing the enemy commander’s psychological transformation in an enclosed environment… A splendid experiment.”

As always, they each offered their own positive interpretations.

And so, the utterly ordinary siege strategy I had proposed out of sheer desperation became adopted as an “advanced tactic to break the enemy commander’s will.”

The atmosphere in the Demon King’s castle shifted once again.

This time, large-scale renovation work began to transform the castle itself into a fortress.

Under Borgannon’s command, the walls received thick reinforcements, Lilith cast an illusory barrier over the entire castle, and Necros inscribed countless automatic interception magic arrays into the walls.

Even I, as the “grand strategist,” found myself consulted for opinions from all sides.

“Lord Yukina! For reinforcing the gates, which gives more psychological pressure to the enemy—iron or obsidian!?”

“Uh, um… The black one looks stronger, doesn’t it…?”

“I see, intimidation! Understood!”

For some reason, all my offhand replies got adopted. Whatever happens, happens.

During a brief lull in the frantic preparations, I took a moment to rest atop the walls. Below me stretched our territory, which we would defend from here on.

“Yukina.”

Lady Lucilphia quietly stood beside me.

She gazed out over the territory just as I did.

“…Honestly, I was scared.”

She murmured softly.

“When I heard the Saint herself was coming, I truly didn’t know what to do. But… now it’s different.”

She looked straight up into my face.

Her red eyes held not anxiety, but the light of strong resolve.

“Listening to your plans fills me with this inexplicable sense that we can win. …Thank you, Yukina. I’m truly glad you’re here.”

Her straightforward words warmed my chest.

Of course, fear and pressure lingered.

But more than that, my desire to protect this person and this place had grown immense within me.

“I’m the one who should thank you. For giving me a reason to fight.”

That was when we shared a slightly serious atmosphere.

A gargoyle messenger plummeted from the sky at breakneck speed.

“Report! A large force sighted from the human territories! White lily banners confirmed—it’s Saint Erixia’s main army!”

“!”

“Estimated time of arrival at the main castle: approximately 24 hours!”

It had finally come.

Unconsciously, I gripped the hand of the small Demon King standing beside me tightly.

She gripped mine back just as firmly.

The time for the decisive battle drew near.

I swallowed hard and steeled myself to face the impending fate.

**

The Saint’s Arrival, and the Curtain Rises on the Decisive Battle

The morning of the decisive battle arrived with an eerily serene calm.

The Demon King’s castle, Valhazaard, had transformed into a complete combat fortress over the past twenty-four hours.

Necros’s custom interception magic arrays emitted an ominous glow from the walls, and the gate, reinforced by Borgannon, now resembled an impenetrable sheer cliff of solid rock.

Yukina Arclight and Lady Lucilphia, along with the executives, stood on the balcony of the main tower, which offered the best vantage point, and waited quietly for that moment.

Soon, the horizon beyond began to gleam white. It was not the light of the rising sun but an artificial radiance that evoked a sense of divinity.

It came from the flags raised by thousands of troops and the reflections off their polished armor, drawing slowly closer.

“…They’ve come.”

Lady Lucilphia murmured in a low voice.

A silver tsunami. That was the first impression of the main Holy Knights force led by Saint Erixia. Their perfectly synchronized march spoke of a level of discipline and morale incomparable to the advance party.

At the center of that army.

A single carriage with a pure white canopy advanced slowly. Eventually, the troops halted at a distance beyond arrow range, and one woman descended silently from the carriage.

A pure white dress. Platinum blonde hair flowing in the wind. And a flawless smile that seemed to embrace all things with compassion.

—Saint Erixia.

Just seeing her sent a chill racing up Yukina Arclight’s spine.

She stepped forward alone at a leisurely pace and gently raised her hand toward the sky.

“My beloved Yukina. I have come to welcome you.”

Her voice, infused with a solemn holy resonance and amplified by magic, echoed across the entire battlefield.

Those words were unmistakably directed at him. The soldiers atop the walls turned to look at Yukina Arclight with a murmur of unrest.

“Fear not. I will surely rescue you from the clutches of that filthy witch.”

Next, she addressed the entire Demon King’s army in a voice brimming with mercy.

“Pitiful monsters. Release the innocent soul you hold captive, Yukina, and lay down your arms. If you do, I shall purify you with the saint’s mercy, sparing you needless suffering.”

That overwhelming presence and the divine timbre of her voice.

It was a potent psychological assault in itself. Yukina Arclight could see demon soldiers quaking in terror at various points along the walls, cowed by the pressure.

This was bad. At this rate, morale would collapse before the fighting even began.

That was when Yukina Arclight felt panic rising.

The small Demon King standing beside him stepped forward.

“—Silence, you hypocritical vixen.”

Lady Lucilphia amplified her voice with magic as well. It lacked Erixia’s sanctity. But it brimmed with the unyielding dignity of a king who commanded legions.

“Yukina is no captive! He is our cherished comrade and the advisor I trust most!”

She turned back to Yukina Arclight with a theatrical flourish.

“—Isn’t that right, Yukina!?”

Caught off guard by the sudden spotlight, Yukina Arclight’s heart leaped.

But he could not falter here. He bellowed from the depths of his gut, with all the volume he could muster.

“Y-Yeah, that’s right! I’m here by my own choice! You’re the one who’s nothing but a stalker who won’t listen to people, damn it!”

Yukina Arclight’s utterly unrefined yet soul-deep shout.

A chuckle escaped from the soldiers who heard it.

The tense air eased just a fraction.

Yukina Arclight mentally pumped his fist in triumph. Beside him, Lady Lucilphia nodded in satisfaction and glared once more at the saint.

“You heard that, Saint Erixia! Your selfish farce ends here! If you desire my friend, then scale the walls of this Valhazaard—and trample over our corpses!”

The declaration of war had been made.

Erixia’s flawless smile faded away. Expression drained from her face, transforming it into something cold and inorganic, like a beautiful Noh mask.

She slowly raised her right hand.

“…Very well, then.”

“—Light of purification.”

In the next instant, a colossal magic array of light, vast enough to rival the sun, materialized behind Erixia.

“All troops, defensive formation!”

Yukina Arclight’s shout overlapped with Lady Lucilphia’s command.

The illusory barrier cast by Lilith over the entire castle intensified its glow.

“Behold the judgment of the gods.”

Erixia’s arm swung down.

A beam of pure white light, as if to incinerate all in its path, tore through the sky and hurtled toward the Demon King’s castle.

“—!”

A deafening roar and impact.

The entire castle shook violently, making it hard to stay on one’s feet.

Lilith’s barrier groaned under the strain as it absorbed the beam. The countless magic arrays Necros had inscribed into the walls activated, flickering wildly as they countered the light with dark energies.

Several seconds later, the light ceased.

The barrier had barely held. But deep cracks spiderwebbed across its surface, as if it might shatter at any moment.

That was Saint Erixia’s power.

A single strike had reduced the Demon King’s castle’s vaunted defensive barrier to half ruin.

Beside Yukina Arclight, who drew a sharp breath, Lady Lucilphia laughed defiantly.

“…Hmph, impressive power. But we stopped it.”

At her words, the faces of the soldiers who had trembled in fear reignited with fighting spirit.

Yes, it was not over yet.

Their battle had only just begun.

Yukina Arclight swallowed hard.

Below, the Holy Knights raised a battle cry and began charging toward the walls.

The siege had commenced. It was a fierce opening act.