Chapter 340: The Debt Effect

"No way," Helen said, pointing her index finger directly at the queen's face.

The swordswoman took a firm step. She was openly complaining about Ophelia's unexpected proposal. Helen was really bothered by how familiar that woman acted as she sat beside her lord on the throne.

"I support what my problematic companion says." Karol murmured from her place in the formation.

The mage leaned her body weight on her wooden staff, looking at the white-haired intruder with great distrust.

"Karol... who the hell are you calling problematic?" Helen complained immediately, turning her face to look at her companion.

"Obviously she is saying it to you, isn't it obvious?" Mirian intervened very calmly.

The archer sighed and crossed her arms, enjoying teasing the swordswoman a bit in front of the human guests.

"Hey Mirian, don't take her side, I am not problematic." Helen grumbled with a deep frown.

"Yes, yes. Whatever you say." Karol replied, completely downplaying her friend's complaints.

Chloe let out a small laugh from the back. She enjoyed seeing her companions argue in the middle of such an important meeting.

Beatrice took a step forward on the long carpet, interrupting the girls' sudden and noisy argument.

"Although I do not support their behavior right now, for once I agree with what Helen says, Lady Ophelia." Beatrice spoke with a very formal and respectful tone of voice.

"Ho, and why do you say that, Beatrice?" Ophelia asked, highly intrigued, tilting her head.

"Well, I believe that if our leader is going into battle, the ones he should prioritize first are us." Beatrice explained with an unwavering conviction in her eyes.

Helen, Karol, and the rest of the girls nodded their heads in complete synchrony. They totally agreed with the young infernal's words.

Lise smiled from the main door and Alicia wagged her tail, backing the group's priority over any other alliance.

Ophelia remained thoughtful for a long moment at the honest response from the young infernal whom she herself had instructed in the past.

"Yes, you might be right." Ophelia conceded, nodding slightly at the girls' logic.

"But if you plan to fight a deity, I regret to tell you that you have no chance of winning, at least not alone," the demon queen replied in a very serious tone, losing her typical mocking smile.

"Isn't that true, Ryan?" Ophelia added, turning her face toward the human king.

'I suppose they are right.' Ryan thought, evaluating the great level of danger a deity of this world represented.

'But please, do not talk among yourselves as if I had already accepted this annoying task.' He added in his mind, keeping his face inscrutable.

"But we do not plan for you to face a deity, I mean, Udriela." Alina suddenly intervened, breaking the tense silence from the center of the hall.

"The real plan is to prevent her from coming to this world; we will stop her from taking Priscilla's body." Alina explained with a lot of hope in her voice.

"Right, William?" The heroine from Varvylon asked, seeking confirmation from her blond companion.

Faced with that naive response, Ophelia looked at her with some disdain from her place next to the throne.

Ophelia's marked rejection was not simply because Alina was a devout human, but because of that absurdly positive attitude.

'How naive.' Ryan thought upon hearing the human heroine's soft words.

'The truth is, I highly doubt we can stop that incarnation peacefully,' the king analyzed from his cold stone seat.

'Certainly if we go to that place, it will be what I try to do at first, but... The only sure way I can think of to completely stop that ritual is by killing Priscilla before Udriela awakens.' Ryan concluded coldly.

With that dark thought hovering in his head, Ryan directed his gaze straight at William. The hero remained in complete silence in front of the judging looks of everyone in the hall.

'I wonder if you have already accepted that it could be a possibility, William.' Ryan thought, trying to decipher the human's true limit in the face of his sister's sacrifice.

Ryan knew very well that someone as insistent as Udriela would be a massive problem if she managed to incarnate in this world. The simple fact that she could not take Ryan's body some time ago surely increased all her grudges.

And that deity would probably not rest until she took revenge on him for that humiliation. But right in that tense moment of analysis, something crossed Ryan's mind.

'Wait a second... and what would happen if I try to take Priscilla under my control?' Ryan questioned himself.

'I mean, by using my debt skill on her...'

Ryan rested his chin on his right hand, analyzing that risky new variable in complete silence.

'There is something I have considered very little until now. But if Mirian and Helen are already SS-rank, and neither of them has been affected... Or put another way, neither of them has received any attempt to be controlled by any deity in all this time. Could it be that my skill makes them completely immune to that control?'

Ryan's mind was clearing up a lot regarding the profound consequences of his power over the girls who served and respected him.

That was a possibility that, of course, he was not sure was true. Perhaps there was another hidden factor preventing that kind of external control over his warriors' minds.

But even with a thirty-three percent chance on that variable, it was something worth testing out. Therefore, Ryan, right now, was willing to accept that dangerous request to infiltrate the elves' territory.

But before he could give his final answer out loud, the blond hero raised his voice to convince him.

"It is not something you must accept today, but I ask you to think about it, please." William said with a tone laden with sincere pleading.

"This matter will take some time, because what the church will do is an event similar to how demons choose their sentinels." William continued explaining from the long red carpet.

"So, at least I don't think it will be within the next thirty days. That will give us a lot of time to prepare." The human assured them, trying to put the hostile women at ease.

Ryan stared at him and nodded very slightly.

"Alright, I will consider it." Ryan replied with a cold tone of voice.

"But I want you to do something for me," the demon king added, raising a finger to set his own conditions.

"Of course. Tell me what you want me to do, as long as it is within my capabilities," the blond hero replied with a quick bow.