Kyouya stood frozen behind the ruby throne, the bone scythe still gripped tightly in his hands. His mind, usually a hyper-efficient supercomputer running thousands of tactical simulations, ground to an absolute halt.
Sofia, the Blood-Drenched Demon Lord, was looking at him not with anger, but with the indulgent, amused fondness one might reserve for a particularly aggressive kitten. She had just regenerated her own decapitated head in less than three seconds.
"If I swing again," Kyouya realized, the cold dread finally piercing his stoic facade, "she won't just let it happen. And if she actually fights back... I will evaporate. I won't even have time to feel pain."
He had to negotiate. He had to talk his way out. But how could he possibly open a dialogue after he had just violently decapitated her? Asking for a truce now was beyond ridiculous.
But Kyouya Kusanagi rarely played by conventional rules. If a direct attack was suicide, he would attack from a different angle.
The left side of his face was still painted with her arterial blood. Without breaking eye contact with her mesmerizing violet eyes, Kyouya activated a highly specific, localized command.
"[Absorb]."
He didn't target her body. He targeted the crimson liquid clinging to his own cheek.
The moment the skill activated, it was as if someone had injected liquid thermite directly into his brain. Kyouya gasped, dropping the scythe as his hands flew to his face. The blood didn't just assimilate; it violently rejected his inferior mana.
A cascade of red, glaring System screens violently overwrote his vision.
[CRITICAL ERROR!]
[Target Material: Divine/Demonic Blood (Grade: Absolute)]
[Host Capacity Exceeded by 9,000%]
[WARNING: Internal Mana Circuits Overloading...]
[Skill 'Absorb' forcefully canceled to prevent host self-destruction!]
Kyouya’s knees buckled. His vision tunneled, the blue flames of the cavern blurring into chaotic streaks of light. He felt his consciousness slipping, the sheer density of Sofia's ancient mana crushing his mind.
He braced himself for the hard impact of the obsidian floor. It never came.
A gentle, invisible force wrapped around his torso. Sofia simply flicked her pale wrist, using a localized telekinetic field to catch him in mid-air. She floated him gently downward until he was resting on his back against the cold stone, hovering just an inch above the ground.
"An incredibly bold and impressive move, little slime," Sofia purred, stepping gracefully down from the dais. Her voice was like velvet, laced with dark amusement. "Trying to eat the Absolute? Your gluttony knows no bounds. But do not worry... I have no intention of crushing you with my aura. Breathe."
Kyouya couldn't even process her words. His ears were ringing with high-pitched static, his vision fading to complete black as the System desperately tried to reboot his overloaded mana core.
As Kyouya lost consciousness, a shadow detached itself from the pillars behind the throne.
"My Lady," a smooth, cultured voice echoed through the chamber.
Stepping into the blue light was a tall, impossibly elegant man. He wore an immaculate, Victorian-style butler’s tailcoat, his silver hair neatly slicked back, and his eyes glowing with a predatory, demonic crimson. This was Sebastian, Sofia's right-hand and the Grand Overseer of the Abyss.
Sebastian glanced down at the unconscious boy floating in the telekinetic field. "You are expending personal mana to stabilize a mere intruder. I assume this... anomaly has factored into your grand design?"
Sofia smiled, turning her gaze back to Kyouya’s peaceful face. "He is far more interesting than I originally anticipated, Sebastian. He bypassed my wards, absorbed my library, and had the sheer, magnificent audacity to take my head. He doesn't think like the Goddess's little pawns."
She reached out, gently brushing a stray lock of black and violet hair from Kyouya's forehead.
"Keep an eye on him," Sofia commanded softly. "When he grows into his power... he might just be the equal partner I have been waiting for. Or, perhaps... something even more."
Location: The Eastern Continent - Northern Frontierra Region
A continent away, the world was blindingly white.
The biting wind howled through the towering pines, carrying heavy, blinding sheets of snow. While the southern nation of Sunderland choked on the smog of its early industrial revolution, the Northern Frontierra was locked in a perpetual, freezing medieval stasis.
Trudging heavily through the deep snowbanks was a party of seven. Shiori, her long dark hair tucked beneath a thick woolen hood, led the way, her eyes scanning the white horizon. Behind her trailed Yua, Mei, Kazura, Shota, Yoshi, and their guide, the radiant Saintess Evelyn.
Despite the freezing temperatures, Shiori’s mind was running hot with analytical questions. Back on Earth, she had been the undisputed top student, a girl who understood logistics, history, and systems.
It makes no sense, Shiori thought, pulling her cloak tighter.
We saw steam engines and rudimentary firearms in the Book of Sunderland. But here, just a few hundred miles north, they are using horse-drawn wooden carts and iron broadswords. Is it just geographical isolation? Or is the Goddess deliberately keeping this continent technologically fractured to prevent a unified human empire?
"Look! Smoke!" Yua called out, pointing a shivering, gloved finger ahead.
Nestled in a valley between two jagged mountains was a sprawling village. It was a rustic, medieval settlement of heavy wooden cabins, thatched roofs heavily laden with snow, and stone chimneys puffing grey smoke into the sky.
As the party entered the village, the native residents paused their shoveling and logging to stare. It wasn't hostility in their eyes; it was absolute shock. Despite wearing heavy cloaks, the pristine quality of the students' armor, their unnatural good looks, and the divine, warming aura radiating from Saintess Evelyn marked them as beings of a higher order.
To the villagers, who possessed the System but lived mundane, low-level lives, this group looked like a localized miracle.
"They think we were sent by the Capital," Yoshi murmured nervously, noticing the reverent stares.
"Then let's not disappoint them," Shiori said smoothly. She approached a middle-aged man with thick brown hair who was chopping firewood near the main road. "Excuse me, sir. Could you point us toward the local Adventurers Guild?"
The man dropped his axe, his eyes widening as he took in Shiori's glowing golden eyes. He immediately fell to one knee in the snow. "Milady! Please, the Guild is just down the central path, near the tavern. But I beg of you... if you are the high-level heroes from the Capital, you must help us! Our village is dying!"
Shiori gently stepped forward, pulling the man to his feet. "We will do what we can. The Guild will have the details, I assume?"
"Yes, milady," the man wept in relief. "May Goddess Kamiya bless your path."
"Well, that was intense," Shota muttered as they walked away.
Navigating the village proved far more difficult than Shiori anticipated. Accustomed to the grid-like, logical city planning of modern Japan, the chaotic, winding, unmarked dirt paths of a medieval settlement quickly turned her around. After walking in a circle past the same blacksmith twice, a highly embarrassed Shiori had to relinquish the lead.
Saintess Evelyn simply smiled gracefully. "Follow me, Lady Shiori. The layout of these border towns is designed to confuse invading raiding parties."
By the time they pushed open the heavy oak doors of the Adventurers Guild, evening had fallen. The inside was warm, smelling of roasted meat, spilled ale, and drying wool.
The Guild Receptionist, a young woman with a tired face, immediately straightened up as they approached the counter. She didn't ask for their identification. The holy aura of the Saintess was proof enough.
"Welcome, Holy Envoy and Honored Heroes," she greeted them warmly, though her smile didn't reach her eyes.
"We were told the village is in crisis," Shiori stated, getting straight to the point. "What is the situation?"
The receptionist sighed depressingly. She reached under the counter and pulled out a heavy, blood-stained parchment, sliding it across the wood. "It has been plaguing us for six months. We cannot send caravans north, and we cannot receive supplies."
Shiori and the others leaned in to read the quest details. It wasn't a labyrinth or a dungeon.
It was a Demon Fortress.
"A small encampment of high-tier demons has established a stronghold right in the Northern Pass," the receptionist explained grimly. "It blocks the only safe route through the mountains. Our village's top three veteran parties went to clear it. None of them came back. We believe the garrison is led by a Demon Commander, approximately Rank A in strength."
A heavy silence fell over the group.
Later, they rented a private room upstairs in the adjacent tavern to discuss their next move. The fire cracked in the hearth, casting flickering shadows over their faces.
Kazura Haruma paced the room, kicking at a loose floorboard. "Rank A? Are you kidding me? We haven't even fought a proper mid-boss yet. I don't even have my Ultimate Skill unlocked! It’s completely unfair. How am I supposed to fight high-level demons if my System is gatekeeping my best moves?"
"Kazura-kun, sit down," Yua said softly. "Panicking won't help."
"It is highly dangerous," Saintess Evelyn warned, her hands folded in her lap. "A Rank A Demon Commander possesses intelligence, strategy, and immense dark mana. For beginners, even those blessed with Heroic stats, it is not a guaranteed victory. I cannot assure your safety if we assault that fortress."
Shiori stood up from the table, her dark eyes reflecting the firelight. She looked around at her classmates, projecting the absolute confidence that had made her Class President.
"We didn't ask to be kidnapped. We didn't ask for this world," Shiori said, her voice steady and commanding. "But we are here. And we have unique skills that these people don't. That gives us a responsibility. But more importantly... the only way to survive this world, the only way to cross those mountains and find the rest of our scattered classmates, is to push forward. We can't stay in the shallow end forever."
She looked at Kazura. "You want your Ultimate Skill? You unlock it by pushing your limits."
The room fell quiet. The anxiety in Kazura’s eyes slowly hardened into resolve. Yoshi and Mei nodded in agreement. Shiori’s words had anchored them.
Evelyn smiled, a genuine look of pride crossing her face. "Very well spoken, Lady Shiori. However, bravery must be tempered with strategy. There is a dense, monster-infested pine forest just a few miles east of here. I suggest we spend the next three days hunting there. We will grind our levels and hone our teamwork before we even look at that fortress."
"Agreed," Shiori nodded. She looked out the frosty window at the dark mountains. "We have a lot of work to do."
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