The Demon Lord's Library was a sanctuary of unparalleled knowledge, but for Kyouya, it was rapidly becoming a gilded cage of boredom.
He lounged against a towering mahogany bookshelf in his dark-violet slime form, mentally thumbing through the encyclopedic data he had forcibly absorbed. The geopolitical maps, the schematics for mana-steam engines in the Sunderland, the history of the four Western nations—it was all fascinating in theory.
"I have to admit," Kyouya scoffed mentally, "reading about an early industrial revolution is one thing, but I want to actually see it. Trains powered by magic? Rifles that shoot concentrated mana? It beats rotting in a dark cave."
"Stop dreaming about steampunk tourism and focus on reality," Nova’s crisp, digital voice interrupted his musings. "Your perimeter network is pinging. Trap 18, Sector 4. Go check it out before whatever is caught in it dissolves completely."
"Fine, fine. You're such a nag," Kyouya grumbled.
Rather than slithering around the massive labyrinth of bookshelves to find the exit, Kyouya simply activated his [Intangible Body] skill. His fluid form vibrated and passed effortlessly through the dense, enchanted stone wall of the library.
"You are unbelievably lazy," Nova chided as his MP ticked down. "You are expending magical energy to bypass a ten-second detour. The Sin of Sloth suits you just as well as Greed."
"Efficiency is the core of survival," Kyouya shot back as he reformed in the dark cavern corridor.
But his snark died instantly in his metaphorical throat.
The moment he stepped into the new corridor, the ambient temperature plummeted. It wasn't the natural chill of the subterranean abyss; it was an artificial, bone-deep cold. Kyouya’s slime body actually began to violently tremble. A suffocating, terrifying aura saturated the air, so dense it felt like physical gravity pressing down on him.
"Host..." Nova’s voice faltered, dropping her usual arrogant tone. "I... I am detecting a massive anomaly. My sensory algorithms are returning error codes. The spiritual pressure here is... anomalous."
"I feel it too," Kyouya thought, his survival instincts screaming.
Ahead of him stood a set of doors entirely unlike the crude rock formations of Floor 100. They were towering, colossal slabs of black obsidian, intricately carved with writhing, screaming faces.
Deciding he needed maximum mobility and access to all his physical stats, Kyouya triggered his [Shape-shifting]. The golden light washed over him, solidifying into his newly synthesized human vessel. He stood in the dark, a teenage boy wearing a sharp, tailored dark suit woven from his own threads. His messy black hair was streaked with deep violet highlights, framing sharp, analytical violet eyes.
"Let's ghost it," Kyouya murmured. He activated his [Intangible Body] again and stepped forward to phase through the obsidian doors.
THUD.
Kyouya bounced off the solid stone, rubbing his forehead. "Ow. What the hell...?"
"Anti-magic wards of the highest order," Nova analyzed quickly. "Your spatial phasing is completely nullified. If you wish to proceed, you must use physical force."
Kyouya sighed, planting his feet on the stone floor. He placed his hands against the cold obsidian. Channeling his massive, monstrous 850 STR stat, he pushed. With a heavy, grinding groan that echoed like a dying beast, the massive doors slowly gave way.
The room beyond was impossibly vast—far larger than the library, far larger than any cavern should logically be.
Huge, jagged pillars of black stone stretched up into a ceiling completely shrouded in darkness. Hanging from the pillars were iron sconces, burning not with normal fire, but with a ghostly, mesmerizing blue flame. The light cast long, eerie shadows across the polished floor.
Kyouya began to walk down the impossibly long hallway, his footsteps completely silent thanks to his [Abyssal Veil] and [Hidden] skills.
"Nova, radar check," Kyouya commanded internally.
"Static," Nova replied, her voice strained. "I cannot lock onto any conventional life signs. But the mana density is climbing exponentially the further you walk. Prepare yourself."
Kyouya kept his face a perfectly blank mask of stoicism, but his heart was hammering against his ribs. The creeping dread was unbearable. Finally, the long hallway opened up into a massive, elevated dais.
At the top of the stairs sat a throne carved from a single, massive ruby.
And on that throne sat a figure.
They were seated with absolute dominance, completely unbothered by Kyouya's intrusion. Their legs were crossed casually, one elbow resting on the arm of the throne with their chin propped lazily against a pale hand. The posture was incredibly relaxed, yet it radiated an authority so heavy Kyouya felt like he was drowning.
Even with his enhanced night vision, the blue flames cast too many shadows to make out their face.
But from her vantage point on the throne, Sofia could see him perfectly.
She looked down at the boy in the dark suit. She knew exactly what he was. She had watched the violent, desperate violet slime conquer her dungeon's floor. To see him now, masquerading as a human boy, filled her with a pure, intoxicating amusement. She kept her expression perfectly composed, hiding the manic excitement bubbling in her chest.
Suddenly, a shaft of silver, unnatural moonlight pierced through a crack in the vaulted ceiling, striking the throne directly.
The shadows retreated, and Kyouya finally saw her.
She was breathtakingly, terrifyingly beautiful. She looked entirely human, yet completely otherworldly. Her skin was as pale as porcelain, creating a stark, violent contrast with her attire—a midnight-black leather corset that gripped her waist tightly, flowing into a magnificent, voluminous scarlet dress. A heavy cape, lined with the color of fresh blood, pooled around her feet like a crimson river. Her hair was incredibly long, a cascade of midnight black on the surface, but the underlayers were a striking, vibrant red.
And her eyes. They were violet. The exact same shade as Kyouya's.
A blue, holographic System window violently shattered the space between them.
[WARNING]
[Target Identified: Sofia Vileblood]
[Title: The Blood-Drenched Demon Lord]
Kyouya’s mind flatlined for a microsecond. The Demon Lord. The final boss of the world. She wasn't leading an army on the frontline; she was sitting right here, at the bottom of the abyss.
"Host... Host I..." Nova's voice glitched into static, completely overwhelmed by the sheer scale of the entity before them.
Sofia did not say a word. She simply offered a small, amused smile, her violet eyes locking onto Kyouya's. Slowly, gracefully, she stood up from the ruby throne, the blood-red cape dragging behind her.
Kyouya didn't think. He didn't monologue. He didn't hesitate.
If this was the Demon Lord, the entity responsible for the endless war above, he had to strike first and strike flawlessly.
"[Soul Reap]," Kyouya thought, his eyes flashing violently.
He bridged the fifty-foot gap in less than a blink, his AGI stat breaking the sound barrier. In his right hand, the massive, necrotic bone scythe of the Abyssal Reaper materialized out of thin air. He channeled every ounce of his dark mana into the blade, twisting his body and swinging the scythe in a perfect, lethal arc aimed directly at her pale neck.
SHCK.
The physical resistance was negligible. The scythe cleaved through flesh and bone with horrifying ease.
Sofia's beautiful head detached from her shoulders. It spun through the air, her black and red hair fanning out like a dark halo. A massive fountain of arterial blood erupted from her severed neck. The hot, crimson spray showered over Kyouya, painting the left side of his face and his pristine white shirt collar in bright red.
Sofia's head hit the floor with a dull thud, rolling a few feet away.
Kyouya landed gracefully behind the throne, the bloody scythe gripped tightly in his hands. He was breathing heavily, his violet eyes wide.
"Did... did I just kill the Demon Lord?" Kyouya thought, the adrenaline making his hands shake. "Nova? Report!"
Dead silence in his head. The AI was trapped in a processing loop.
Behind him, there was no sound of a body collapsing.
Kyouya slowly turned around.
Sofia's decapitated body was still standing perfectly upright. It hadn't even staggered.
Suddenly, the blood that had pooled on the floor began to move. It defied gravity, crawling up her dress, up the corset, and gathering at the stump of her neck. The blood rapidly crystallized, knitting bone, muscle, and skin together at a speed that defied the System's logic. Within two seconds, a brand new head grew from the bloody stalk. The old head on the floor simply dissolved into a puddle of crimson mana.
Sofia rolled her new shoulders, running a pale hand through her freshly generated black and red hair. She looked down at Kyouya, her violet eyes suddenly burning with an intense, twisted euphoria.
The agony of the decapitation didn't anger her. It fueled her. To Sofia, every drop of spilled blood was a twisted, exquisite form of pleasure.
She threw her head back, and a high-pitched, melodic laughter echoed through the cavernous throne room. It didn't sound evil; it sounded like a beautiful, enchanting curse that wrapped around Kyouya’s mind.
"Oh, my..." Sofia breathed, her voice rich and dripping with dark delight. She dragged a pale finger across her flawless neck, catching a stray drop of blood and licking it from her fingertip. "It has been centuries since someone managed to hurt me like that. Truly, a magnificent strike."
She stepped off the dais, walking slowly toward the boy whose face was splattered with her blood.
"But alas," she smiled, a terrifyingly maternal expression crossing her face. "It was not quite enough."
A second System window forced itself open in Kyouya's vision, dripping with a dark, golden light.
[Hidden Title Revealed: The Absolute Immortal]
Kyouya gripped the scythe tighter, his mind racing through thousands of tactical simulations, trying to find a way to kill something that could survive absolute decapitation.
Suddenly, Nova's voice snapped back online, cutting through the panic in his mind.
"Host," Nova said, her digital voice utterly bewildered. "Cancel your combat subroutines. Lower your weapon."
"Are you insane?!" Kyouya yelled internally. "That's the Demon Lord!"
"I have finalized the scan of her spiritual pressure," Nova insisted, her tone entirely serious. "Host... her hostility level is absolute zero. She has not activated a single combat skill. She doesn't have any killing intent toward you whatsoever."
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