Location: The Fortress Courtyard - The Vanguard Flank
The moment General Vane drew his abyssal greatsword, the very atmosphere in the courtyard changed. The air became terrifyingly dense, pressing down on the Vanguard students like a physical weight. Yua and Mei gasped, clutching their chests as oxygen seemed to flee the area. Kazura’s knees buckled slightly under the sheer gravitational pressure of Vane’s unleashed mana.
Shota Nanase gripped his broadsword, his breath coming in ragged, visible puffs. Shiori’s pre-battle advice echoed in his mind: Vane is a traitor, but he is still human. Look for a human weakness. Through the suffocating pressure, Shota activated his [Analytical Eye]. He didn't see a structural weakness in Vane's heavy armor. Instead, hovering faintly above the General's head, the System revealed a hidden, passive title woven directly into his soul:
[Title: The Previous Hero’s Curse]
Shota’s mind raced, processing the implications. Why would a curse be labeled as a Title? Then, the pieces clicked into place. The Goddess Kamiya was manipulative, but she was also incredibly paranoid. Vane was a previous Summoned Hero who had slaughtered his own party and joined the demons. To prevent that from ever happening again, the Goddess must have woven a foundational failsafe into the very biology of all Summoned Heroes.
If a Hero stains their hands with the blood of another Hero... their own mortality accelerates. "Someone has to bleed," Shota muttered under his breath. He didn't hesitate.
"Shota, wait!" Yoshi yelled as the ice-mage suddenly broke formation, sprinting directly at the towering General.
Shota unleashed a volley of jagged icicles to cover his approach. Vane didn't even swing his greatsword; he simply swatted the ice projectiles out of the air with his armored gauntlet, shattering them into harmless snow.
Closing the distance, Shota didn't swing his broadsword. Instead, he drew a small, steel hunting dagger from his belt. With a sharp gasp of pain, he slashed the blade deep across his own left forearm. Crimson blood welled up instantly, coating his hand.
Vane’s abyssal eye narrowed. Recognizing the sacrificial tactic immediately, the General pivoted, his heavy iron boot lashing out in a devastating front kick.
The kick caught Shota square in the ribs. Bones cracked, and Shota was violently flung backward, crashing into the frozen mud a dozen yards away.
"Intelligent," Vane stated coldly, his greatsword resting on his shoulder. "But far too risky a move for a frail mage..."
Vane suddenly stopped speaking. He looked down at his left gauntlet. Smeared across the dark metal, dripping onto the exposed skin of his wrist, were three drops of Shota's fresh blood.
[SYSTEM OVERRIDE: Divine Failsafe Activated.]
[Target: Vane. Status: Hostile Blood Resonance.]
[Condition: Cellular Rejection Initiated.]
Vane staggered violently, dropping to one knee. The immense, suffocating pressure radiating from him instantly collapsed. He let out a choked gasp, his greatsword falling from his grip and clattering against the stone. Thick, branching black veins violently surfaced across his neck and face as his own magically enhanced body suddenly began to reject itself.
Shota coughed up a speck of blood, struggling to prop himself up on his elbows. "It's a chance!" he screamed to his classmates. "Now! Take him down!"
Shiori’s orders had been absolute: they needed Vane alive for interrogation. Lethal strikes were off the table, but non-lethal suppression would work perfectly on a rapidly weakening target.
"Yua, with me!" Mei shouted. The two girls synchronized their elemental magic.
"Gale Void!" they chanted in unison. A concentrated sphere of wind and earth magic enveloped Vane. It didn't crush him; it aggressively pulled all the oxygen out of the immediate space, creating a localized vacuum. Vane choked, clutching his throat as his lungs were denied air.
"Yoshi, now!" Kazura roared.
Yoshi unleashed a stream of noxious, purple smoke—a potent, synthesized neurotoxin spell—while Kazura used his wind martial arts to drive the poison directly into the vacuum sphere. Forced to gasp for air, Vane inhaled the paralyzing vapor. His remaining eye rolled back into his head, and the massive, legendary traitor collapsed face-first into the mud, completely unconscious.
Location: The Fortress Courtyard - The Church Vanguard
While the students managed to subdue a general, the Church Heroes were being systematically slaughtered.
Elias, the youngest of the Church Vanguard, stood trembling violently. His cyan eyes were wide with absolute, unadulterated terror. He held his blessed sword in both hands, pointing it toward Crimson Scarlet, but the blade shook so hard it rattled against his armor. He couldn't move his legs. The killing intent radiating from the Reaper was so dense it felt like wading through deep, freezing water.
"Elias! Focus your mind!" Commander Gideon roared. Gideon, a grizzled veteran with a scarred lion pauldron, stepped in front of the boy, holding a massive holy shield. "Do not let her gaze pierce your soul! Stand firm!"
To Gideon's right, a dual-wielding Church Hero named Tomas screamed a battle cry, lunging at Scarlet in a desperate, spinning attack.
Scarlet didn't even look at him. She lazily twirled The Soul Reaper with one hand. The bone scythe hooked Tomas by the waist, effortlessly slicing through his heavy chainmail and severing his spine in a single, fluid motion. Tomas crashed to the ground, blood pooling instantly beneath him as he began the slow, agonizing process of dying.
Scarlet looked down at the dying man, her crimson eyes suddenly dimming. She actually pouted, a look of profound depression crossing her beautiful, terrifying face.
"Weak," Scarlet sighed, kicking Tomas’s limp hand away. "So incredibly weak. I need someone stronger. I want more." Yet, despite her complaints, the creepy, manic smile slowly crept back onto her lips.
Watching from the periphery, Shiori gritted her teeth. She triggered her [Perception] skill on the Reaper.
[Title: Crimson Scarlet - The Worst Enemy of the Church]
We can't beat her, Shiori realized with cold certainty. Even with Evelyn's buffs, she's toying with Rank A veterans.
Shiori immediately opened a telepathic channel to Saintess Evelyn. [Evelyn! Now! Initiate the Grand Art!]
[Understood, Lady Shiori!] Shiori dashed forward, fully engaging Lady Sylas in lethal close-quarters combat. The Lich drew a jagged, necrotic shortsword to parry Shiori’s katana. Sylas focused entirely on the dark-haired girl, pouring her remaining mana into defending against Shiori's relentless strikes.
It was exactly the distraction Evelyn needed.
Standing a safe distance away, the Saintess clasped her hands together in devout prayer, her holy aura flaring into a blinding pillar of light.
"Seven pillars of creation, hear my call!" Evelyn’s voice boomed across the courtyard, echoing with divine authority. "Seal the abyss, close the gates of hell!"
Sylas’s remaining emerald eye snapped toward the Saintess. "No!" the Lich shrieked, trying to disengage.
"You aren't going anywhere!" Shiori yelled. "Shadow Bind!" Thick, black tendrils erupted from the dirt, locking around Sylas's skeletal ankles, paralyzing her in place just long enough.
"Let the divine judgment press down upon this evil soul for ten thousand years! Sink into the dark nightmare, never to wake again! Grand Art: Divine Judgment Seal!"
A massive, intricate golden cage composed of holy light slammed down from the sky, perfectly encasing Lady Sylas. The holy magic seared the Lich's form, locking her mana circuits and rendering her entirely immobile. Shiori jumped backward, breathing heavily, watching the Lich scream silently within the soundproof, golden prison.
Shiori and Evelyn shared a brief sigh of relief. Vane was down. Sylas was sealed.
But their relief turned to despair as they looked at the center of the courtyard. The Church Heroes were practically annihilated. Crimson Scarlet was humming a dark, melodic tune, spinning her scythe and preparing to slaughter Commander Gideon and Elias.
Suddenly, the suffocating, dark clouds above the Demon Fortress forcefully parted.
A beam of pure, incandescent gold light pierced the gloom, striking the earth with the force of a meteor. Shiori, her classmates, and the surviving Church Heroes shielded their eyes from the blinding dust and radiant energy.
As the dust settled, a figure stood in the center of the crater.
He was a young man, possessing flawless, platinum blonde hair that caught and reflected the dim light like a halo. His armor was striking—a seamless suit of polished silver heavily lined with intricate gold filigree. But it was his celestial blue eyes that commanded the space. They were unnervingly calm, holding not a shred of anger, fear, or excitement. He looked less like a mortal warrior and entirely like divine judgment incarnate.
"Lucius," Commander Gideon breathed, dropping to his knees in pure reverence.
He was the Church’s Chosen One. The Greatest Hero of mankind.
Crimson Scarlet stopped humming. She rested her scythe over her shoulder, her manic smile fading into an expression of profound annoyance. She practically scoffed.
"Here he comes," Scarlet muttered, rolling her crimson eyes. "The match breaker. I wanted to meet someone stronger, but not you. You're incredibly boring to fight."
Lucius didn't respond to the taunt. His celestial blue eyes swept over the battlefield, completely emotionless. He saw the dying Church Heroes, the exhausted Vanguard students, the unconscious Vane, and the sealed Lich.
A moment later, the blaring horns of the human Holy Knights echoed through the breach in the wall. The main human army had finally broken through, completely surrounding the courtyard.
Scarlet sighed deeply, looking at the overwhelming numbers and the arrival of Lucius. She waved her bone scythe once. The air around her shattered like a mirror, and the Abyssal Reaper vanished completely, leaving only the scent of iron and roses.
At the same moment, the golden cage holding Sylas violently imploded. The Lich had forcefully shattered her own physical vessel, utilizing a contingency spell to teleport her phylactery back to the Abyss, leaving Vane behind.
Lucius finally spoke. His voice was melodic, but chillingly devoid of warmth.
"Leave the rest to me," Lucius said without looking back at them. "Summoned Heroes. You may rest now."
Shiori stared at his back, a chill running down her spine. "Evelyn," she whispered. "Who is he really? The history books mention him, but..."
"His level is an anomaly," Evelyn whispered back, her voice tinged with awe and a hint of fear. "He sits at the absolute pinnacle of Rank S. Some say he is higher, though he has never officially broken the threshold of Rank SSS. He is the Goddess's perfect blade."
Before Shiori could ask more, Lucius raised a single, silver-gauntleted hand toward the towering central spire of the Demon Fortress.
He didn't chant. He didn't even seem to exert effort. A microscopic sphere of condensed, holy white light materialized at his fingertip. He flicked it.
The sphere struck the fortress. For a second, there was absolute silence. Then, a cataclysmic explosion of pure holy energy detonated, instantly vaporizing the upper half of the obsidian spire and sending a shockwave that flattened the remaining demon infantry for miles. The battle was over.
Location: Floor 100 - The Absolute Abyss
Far below the explosive surface, the atmosphere in the Demon Lord's throne room had shifted from tense to bizarre.
Kyouya’s body, currently reduced to a pathetic, wide puddle of dark violet slime, suddenly began to twitch.
Sofia Vileblood, who had been lazily sipping her crimson wine, paused. She watched with narrowed, highly perceptive eyes as the slime began to ripple and surge autonomously. It wasn't Kyouya moving it. The slime was moving on its own accord, slowly, ominously creeping across the obsidian floor directly toward the Demon Lord's boots.
Inside Kyouya’s mind, his internal System was flashing an aggressive, critical red.
[CRITICAL ERROR: Gluttony Protocol compromised.]
[Status: Sentience overlap detected within [Absolute Gluttony of Everything].]
<Host,> Nova’s voice chimed, completely stripped of its usual calm, digital cadence. It sounded strained. <I am encountering a severe system paradox. The Skill [Absolute Gluttony] is rejecting my administrative control. It is attempting to execute an autonomous absorption sequence on the Immortal target.>
Kyouya couldn't respond verbally, but his consciousness screamed in frustration. Stop it! If it forcefully attacks her, she'll kill us both!
But Sofia didn't attack. She didn't draw a weapon or summon her dark magic. She simply stayed seated, watching the twitching, ravenous puddle inch closer to her.
Her eyes darkened with profound curiosity and a terrifying intellect. She knew the System was an absolute law. For a skill to bypass its own user and glitch this violently meant the foundation of Kamiya's programming in Kyouya was actively breaking.
Sofia leaned forward, resting her chin on her hand, a wicked smile playing on her lips. She didn't do a thing to stop it. She realized, in that quiet moment, that this specific, unpredictable System error might be the very key to deciding both of their futures.
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