"What do you mean by 'fend for yourself'?!"

Hearing the system's suggestion, Hachiman Hikigaya was full of complaints in his heart.

Earlier, when facing a Special-class spirit, the system warned him to be careful; against a General-class spirit, it told him to run fast; but now, for a King-class spirit, it just tells him to fend for himself.

Does that mean for the next ranks — Emperor-class or Demon-god-class — it would tell him to commit suicide on the spot?!

But despite his complaints, the system's advice made Hachiman realize that the strength of the Demon King in front of him was absolutely beyond what he could fight.

After all, as his own strength increased, the system's suggestions regarding spirits of various ranks had also changed accordingly.

For example, at first, when encountering a General-class spirit, the system told him to run away quickly, then later to be cautious, and now it was even encouraging him to actively attack lone General-class spirits.

However, even though he was already strong enough to easily crush General-class spirits, facing a Demon King just one rank higher, the system's advice remained hopeless.

That only proved the strength gap between a King and a General was enormous.

"This exit is useless..."

Hachiman's eyes flickered, and he decisively gave up on that exit.

"System, are there any other places to get out?"

He refused to believe that such a huge space had only one exit.

"Of course there are, but they are quite far away!"

Upon hearing Hachiman's question, the system immediately listed all nearby exits.

Just as the system said, even the closest exit to Hachiman required at least two hours of walking...

"Let's go..."

After observing the distance between the two exits for a moment, Hachiman turned to Yotsuya Mikako and whispered, then slowly began to retreat, preparing to distance themselves from the Demon King and that large group of spirits.

"Hm?"

But just as the two started to move, the Demon King seemed to sense something.

It suddenly raised its head, looked around for a while, then fixed its gaze on the shop where Hachiman and Yotsuya were hiding.

"Oh no!"

Seeing the Demon King looking their way, Hachiman's heart skipped a beat.

However, just as they thought they were exposed, the Demon King merely waved its hand, signaling three Special-class spirits from the group to enter the shop and check the situation.

Even so, Hachiman did not dare to be careless.

He grabbed Yotsuya's hand and hid behind a cabinet, using spiritual power to envelop them both and completely suppress their presence.

Originally, Hachiman considered using two more concealment talismans, but thinking that the Demon King might detect the spiritual fluctuations at the moment of activating the talismans, he gave up.

After all, he was quite confident in his talismans.

Just three Special-class spirits couldn't possibly detect them!

Soon, three Special-class spirits floated into the shop unsteadily.

Under the effect of the talisman, they sensed no abnormalities at all.

After circling around and finding nothing, the three spirits decisively floated back to report to the Demon King that everything was normal.

"Am I just being too sensitive?"

Hearing the subordinates' report, the Demon King furrowed its brows tightly.

Perhaps it was indeed just overly anxious.

After all, the presence of an exorcist in the spirits' base was truly suffocating.

But thinking of the three great Demon-gods already rushing over with the intelligence it provided, the Demon King's expression eased somewhat.

Although the exorcist was strong, to recklessly charge in here alone, they could only politely acknowledge the host and treat them well.

However, the Demon King really couldn't understand one thing.

Why did that exorcist bring a woman here?

Given how dangerous this alternate space was, any of the five exorcists should be well aware of that...

Wait!

The Demon King suddenly raised its head, thinking of a possibility!

What if that woman was the exorcist's apprentice?

Although after that great battle, all high-level spirits had retreated in the real world and kept sending minions to eliminate qualified people, some stragglers might still slip through and be encountered by the exorcists.

"If that's the case, then we definitely can't let them leave!"

Thinking this, the Demon King's eyes showed a fierce light.

Just the original five exorcists were already too much for them; the appearance of new exorcists was something all spirits could not tolerate!

"Let's go..."

Although unsure why the spirits outside suddenly all stood still like fools, Hachiman knew now was definitely a good chance to retreat.

Emerging from behind the cabinet, just as they were about to leave, Yotsuya stumbled and almost fell.

"Sorry, I squatted too long, my legs went numb..."

Hachiman quickly caught her in his arms. Yotsuya, smelling the masculine scent from him, felt shy but also showed an apologetic expression on her face.

At this moment, she was completely useless and was only holding Hachiman back...

"It's okay, I should have thought of this..."

Hachiman shook his head, showing no blame toward Yotsuya.

After all, squatting for too long causing numbness was a normal thing. If he blamed her for this, then he'd be the one with the problem.

Looking outside at the still motionless spirits and then back at Yotsuya who couldn't move due to numb legs, he apologized briefly, then decisively lifted her up, slipping out the back of the shop.

Completely unaware that its target was slipping away under its nose, the Demon King, convinced it had figured things out, immediately ordered its spirits to carpet search dozens of kilometers around.

They must keep that exorcist and his apprentice trapped in this alternate space!

.

.

.

"How did they realize something was wrong?"

Ten minutes later, hiding in an abandoned house with Yotsuya, Hachiman observed the spirits flying around outside through a window and revealed a helpless expression.

With the help of the concealment talisman, the spirits shouldn't have found them.

If that's the case, why were they searching this area so thoroughly that he and Yotsuya had to hide again?

"Um..."

While Hachiman was feeling very frustrated, Yotsuya looked at him shyly, hesitating to speak.

"Can you let go of my hand now?"

Finally, overcoming her shyness, Yotsuya managed to say it.

Although she felt very safe holding Hachiman's hand and didn't mind being held...

But Hachiman couldn't keep holding her hand forever!