Location: Floor 100 - The Absolute Abyss / Internal System
The lingering sensation on Kyouya’s tongue was utterly indescribable. It was a chaotic blend of cloying sweetness, like heavily candied fruit, immediately followed by the sharp, biting bitterness of black coffee and oxidized iron. He shuddered, rubbing his jaw as if he could physically wipe the phantom taste of the Demon Lord away.
<System override successful. Gluttony anomaly contained,> Nova’s digital voice chimed. But this time, her tone was markedly different. It lacked its usual robotic flatness; she sounded almost haughty, brimming with the digital equivalent of high-level confidence.
<I have successfully partitioned the entity’s soul within the [Absolute Gluttony] subsystem. System parameters returning to nominal red-alert clearance.>
"Great. Fantastic," Kyouya muttered, walking through the echoing, empty throne room toward the dungeon exit. "So, can I take her out now?"
<Negative, Host.> Nova replied smoothly. <The extraction and manifestation process requires approximately 72 hours. I am currently analyzing every individual skill, passive trait, and physiological capability attached to Entity: Sofia Vileblood to ensure her re-materialization does not shatter your physical vessel.>
I feel like a lab rat being poked by a very bossy calculating machine, Sofia’s voice purred directly into Kyouya's frontal lobe.
"I'm kind of terrified of keeping you in my head for that long," Kyouya admitted, tapping his temple. "Are you going to be okay in there?"
It is profoundly boring, but acceptable, Sofia sighed in his mind. If this indignity gets me out of this damp basement, I will endure it. Besides, your AI companion is struggling with a rather fundamental problem regarding my existence.
"What does she mean, Nova?"
<Entity: Sofia Vileblood’s baseline status is registering as a critical error,> Nova explained, her confident tone dipping into minor frustration. <She is not categorized as Human, Demon, or Monster. The system architecture defines her as [Undefined Divine Being]. I cannot explicitly classify her as a Goddess, but her soul weight is entirely anomalous.>
Kyouya stopped walking. A greedy, dangerous spark ignited in his golden-ringed eyes. He licked his lips, the bittersweet taste completely forgotten. "Nova... if she’s in my system, and Gluttony is acting as the host partition... can I copy her skills?"
<Affirmative. However, Host, I must advise that your greed is currently spiking to alarming levels.>
"I can't help it! This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance," Kyouya grinned. He thought to Sofia. Do you mind?
I suppose not, Sofia replied, her internal voice dripping with amusement. Consider it rent. The stronger you are, the less likely you are to die and take me down with you. Take what you want, Gluttony.
"Do it, Nova."
<Executing [Skill Replication].>
A massive, cascading waterfall of holographic blue text flooded Kyouya's vision.
[Skill Copied: Blood Monarch (Mythic)]
[Skill Copied: Spatial Rend (Legendary)]
[Skill Copied: Absolute Fear Aura (Legendary)]
[Skill Copied: Immortality Loop (Fragmented)]
[Skill Copied: Abyssal Command...]
The list scrolled past his eyes at blinding speed, numbering in the hundreds. Kyouya quickly closed the interface, his head spinning. It was way too much to read one by one. He had three days until she materialized.
Three days, Sofia thought to herself within the dark partition of his soul. Kyouya could feel a strange, shifting sensation in his mind—the mental equivalent of a master chess player setting up a board. He swallowed hard. Whatever the Demon Lord was planning to do with her 72 hours of internal access, he had a feeling it was going to be terrifying.
Location: Cyanis, The Azure City - Inn of the Blue Drake
The inn room was incredibly spacious, lined with rich mahogany wood and plush, velvet furniture.
Shota Nanase sat perfectly still on a stool, staring blankly out the window. His mind was miles away, drifting through a blissful, hazy daydream. In his mind's eye, he was walking through a sunlit field, holding hands with a beautiful demi-human girl with fluffy, twitching cat ears and a soft tail. She was smiling at him, leaning in close...
"Shota-kun."
The voice was cold enough to freeze hell.
Shota’s idyllic daydream violently shattered. His vision snapped back to reality, refocusing on the terrifying, dark aura radiating from Shiori. She stood over him, her white hair framing a face twisted into a demonic glare.
"I have called your name three times," Shiori said, each word perfectly enunciated and laced with venom.
"Ah! I'm sorry! I was just... resting my eyes!" Shota stammered, leaning back so fast he nearly tipped the stool over.
A few feet away, sitting on the beds, Yua and Mei were hiding their giggles behind their hands. At the large oak table in the center of the room, Kazura and Yoshi were furiously scribbling on parchment, completely ignoring the scolding as they prepared the battle aftermath documents and inventory logs.
"What's wrong?" Shota asked nervously.
Shiori sighed, the dark aura dissipating as she pinched the bridge of her nose. "Focus, Shota-kun. You need to take care of yourself. Your ribcage was nearly caved in."
"His injuries are almost entirely stabilized," Saintess Evelyn chimed in gently. She had been standing beside Shota the entire time, her hands glowing with a soft, golden light as she meticulously mended the micro-fractures in his bones. "A few more hours of rest, and he will be at peak physical condition."
Shiori crossed her arms. "Since we are officially resting, and we are safely inside the city walls... how about we wander around? Explore Cyanis properly."
Yua and Mei gasped, their eyes practically turning into sparkling stars. "Really?! A shopping trip?!" Yua squealed, jumping off the bed.
Kazura looked up from his paperwork, raising an eyebrow. "That sounds a bit sudden, Shiori-san. You usually want us doing tactical reviews."
"Resting the mind is just as important as resting the body," Shiori stated matter-of-factly. Then, she leaned over the table. Her eyes darkened, and a horrifying, creepy shadow fell over her face.
"However... we are on a strict budget. If any of you use a lot of money on useless trinkets... I will personally test my new katana arts on you."
Kazura gulped, nodding rapidly. "Understood, Shiori-san..."
Location: Sunderland - The Magi-Tech Capital, Vanguard
While the Vaeloria Kingdom felt like a traditional medieval fantasy, the holy nation of Sunderland was something else entirely.
The city of Vanguard was a sprawling metropolis of churning gears, towering brick smokestacks, and polished brass. It was a civilization on the cusp of an industrial revolution, fueled not by coal, but by highly compressed magic stones. Horse-drawn carriages still clattered across the cobblestone streets for short distances, but the sky above was laced with thick, iron cables and steam-powered transit lines.
"Look at that thing!" Taiyo yelled, practically hanging halfway out the window of the station's waiting room.
A massive, armored train pulled into the station, its massive steel wheels hissing violently as magical blue steam vented from its pistons. It was a marvel of magi-tech engineering. Kento, Kenji, and Yuuto stood beside him, equally captivated by the sheer scale of the machine.
Hiroto stood a few paces back, his arms crossed, his mind churning on grander geopolitical scales.
The war had completely halted. Rumors were spreading through the Sunderland military channels like wildfire: the Demon Lord had vanished. Without their absolute sovereign to command them, the massive demonic fortresses near the Sunderland border were suddenly packing up and retreating into the Abyss. The global threat level had dropped drastically overnight.
Someone did that, Hiroto thought. The demons wouldn't retreat unless forced. He also knew they weren't staying in Aethelgard forever. The Church had formally announced that the Vanguard of Frontierra was currently marching to Sunderland to combine forces. Hiroto couldn't help but wonder who had survived to make the trip. Was it Shiori? The tactical genius. Or Tatsuya? The gamer. Or perhaps Kyouya had finally crawled out of whatever hole he fell into.
"Hey, Reiji, you want to grab some food before they arrive?" Hiroto asked, turning his head.
Reiji was leaning heavily against a brass lamppost. His right hand was tightly gripping his chest, his knuckles white. He was breathing shallowly, beads of sweat forming on his forehead.
"Reiji?" Hiroto frowned, stepping forward.
"I'm fine," Reiji snapped quickly, standing up straight and forcefully adjusting his glasses. "Just... indigestion from the rations. I am fine."
Hiroto didn't push it, but he knew a lie when he heard one.
From Reiji’s perspective, the world was tinted with a faint, pulsing red light. He opened his internal System, reading the microscopic text hovering in his peripheral vision.
[Ultimate Skill Recoil: Active]
[Organ Degeneration: Paused]
[Pain Receptors: Fading]
Using his Ultimate Skill in the previous battle had nearly ruptured his heart. The pain had been agonizing, a constant, burning agony that told him he was dying from the inside out. But since the battle had concluded weeks ago, the penalty was slowly dialing back. He just had to make sure he never used it again.
Location: Vaeloria Kingdom - The Merchant City of Oakhaven
Far to the west, inside a crowded, noisy tavern, the Vaeloria Vanguard was plotting their course.
A massive, slightly inaccurate map was spread across a sticky wooden table. Rina leaned over it, using a piece of charcoal to draw a thick, black line from their current position.
"We left the Vaeloria Capital a week ago," Rina explained to Saki and the other gathered classmates.
"We are here, in Oakhaven. To reunite with the Frontierra and Sunderland heroes, we cannot cross the Demonic Wastes. We have to move east."
She drew the line through a thick green patch on the map. "We pass through the Gallowmere Nation, cut through the Highlandia mountains, and arrive at the eastern ocean. From there, we commission a ship to Sunderland."
"Sounds like a long trip," Saki noted, sipping a cup of herbal tea. "Where is Tatsuya-kun?"
Rina’s eye twitched. She let out a heavy sigh, pointing toward the corner of the tavern.
Tatsuya was sitting on the floor in seiza position again, looking incredibly depressed.
"Tatsuya-kun is grounded," Rina said flatly. "His Ultimate Skill penalty is an intelligence debuff. It's not life-threatening, but his cognitive reasoning is severely compromised right now. He went into the market this morning and traded three silver coins for a 'Legendary' rusty spoon because a native merchant told him it belonged to a dead king."
Saki burst out laughing, while the other classmates groaned.
"It had good stats!" Tatsuya weakly defended himself from the corner.
"It is a spoon used for soup, Tatsuya-kun!" Rina yelled back. She turned to Saki, rubbing her temples. "Until his INT stat regenerates, he is not allowed to go anywhere freely. I swear, surviving the demons is easy compared to surviving my own party's stupidity."
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