# **Idle Cross: Permanent Nightmare Mode**
## **Chapter 3: End the Realm and Moving On!**
### **The Infinity Castle Ambush**
The doors closed above Den.
The last bit of sunlight disappeared as he continued falling deeper into the Infinity Castle. His arms were crossed, his broken Villain Halo slowly rotated behind his head, and the Living Nightmare Nichirin rested against his shoulder.
Below him were endless rooms.
Wooden hallways stretched in directions that should have been impossible. Staircases connected to ceilings, doors floated inside empty space, and entire buildings hung upside down while platforms suddenly moved from one side of the castle to another.
There was no normal floor.
There was no real ceiling.
The whole place was a dimensional fortress controlled by the sound of a biwa.
Den looked around.
"Terrible construction."
A biwa string was plucked.
**BWOONG!**
The room beneath Den rotated.
A wall became the floor.
The floor became the ceiling.
Several buildings moved directly toward him from different directions, attempting to crush his body between them.
Den didn't move.
The buildings collided.
**BOOOOOOM!**
Wood, stone, doors, furniture, and entire rooms exploded outward.
Dust covered everything.
Nakime watched from somewhere deeper inside the Infinity Castle.
She waited.
The collision had crushed powerful demons before. Even Upper Rank demons could become disoriented if the castle changed direction without warning.
The dust moved.
Den calmly stepped out of the wreckage while holding a wooden chair.
One of its legs was broken.
He examined it for a few seconds.
"This furniture is cheap too."
Den tossed the chair away.
The chair crossed several kilometers and buried itself through eleven walls.
A demon hiding behind the final wall was struck directly in the forehead.
Its head exploded.
**Ding!**
**Demons defeated: 101.**
Den looked upward.
"I already killed one hundred."
**Additional defeats may provide combat experience, fear energy, mission progress, or minor rewards.**
"Acceptable."
The biwa sounded again.
**BWOONG!**
The castle moved.
Den's platform disappeared beneath him.
A staircase struck him from the side.
Den caught the staircase with one hand.
The structure continued moving, trying to push him through the castle.
Den tightened his fingers.
The entire staircase stopped.
Nakime plucked another string.
The castle attempted to pull the staircase away.
Den didn't release it.
For several seconds, the dimensional fortress and Den entered a very strange tug-of-war.
The staircase cracked.
Several connected rooms shook.
Den pulled.
A massive section of the Infinity Castle moved toward him.
Walls folded.
Doors detached.
Dozens of demons screamed as entire rooms were dragged away from their positions.
Nakime played faster.
The castle resisted.
Den pulled slightly harder.
Half of a distant building was ripped from the castle and dragged through the open space.
The building struck the staircase.
Both shattered.
Den looked toward the distant sound of the biwa.
"You're making this more difficult than it needs to be."
The Mission Tab appeared.
# **Realm Mission: The King Is Not Invited**
### **Objectives**
* Defeat three Upper Rank demons: **0/3**
* Survive the complete Infinity Castle ambush without destroying the castle: **In Progress**
* Steal control of one room from Nakime: **0/1**
* Resist Muzan's blood and curse: **0/1**
* Force Muzan to kneel, retreat, or request assistance: **0/1**
* Decide Muzan's fate after defeating him: **Undecided**
Den read the second objective.
"Without destroying the castle?"
He looked at the wreckage floating around him.
**Infinity Castle structural damage remains below one percent.**
"Good."
Another notification appeared.
# **Final Realm Mission**
**The host has decided to leave this universe.**
### **Objective**
**Completely destroy the Demon Slayer video-game realm before departing.**
### **Conditions**
* Complete all current Realm Missions.
* Destroy the physical universe.
* Destroy the game systems.
* Destroy all checkpoints and save functions.
* Prevent the universe from reconstructing itself.
* Leave through the Black Star created by the realm's destruction.
### **Rewards**
* Realm destruction progress increased.
* One Supreme Perk.
* Permanent inventory expansion.
* One important realm coordinate.
* Realm Completion Package.
* Incomplete realm objectives converted into partial rewards.
Den smiled.
"That saves time."
He closed the screen.
He had already gained useful combat experience from this universe.
Nightmare Breathing.
Demon Combat Instinct.
A living sword.
New martial arts knowledge.
New villain perks.
The Infinity Castle was also valuable.
There was no reason to spend months following every event that might happen in this world.
Den would create a faster conclusion.
A massive door appeared behind him.
The door opened.
A fist struck toward the back of Den's head.
Den tilted his head.
The fist passed beside his white eye.
The air pressure from the missed punch destroyed several rooms ahead of them.
Den slowly turned.
A muscular demon stood behind him.
Blue markings covered his body.
His eyes contained the symbols of Upper Rank Three.
Akaza pulled his arm backward.
He didn't immediately attack again.
His instincts were warning him.
The black creature in front of him appeared calm.
Too calm.
Den possessed an enormous fighting spirit, but Akaza's Compass Needle couldn't properly understand it.
One moment, Den appeared relaxed.
The next, he felt like an executioner.
Then a swordsman.
Then an animal.
Then nothing at all.
Akaza smiled.
"You're strong."
Den looked at him.
"You punched me while I wasn't looking."
"You avoided it."
"That doesn't improve your manners."
Akaza lowered himself into a fighting stance.
His Compass Needle activated.
A snowflake-like pattern spread beneath his feet.
"I have no interest in manners."
Den placed the Living Nightmare Nichirin into a sheath made from darkness.
"Good."
He cracked his knuckles.
"I was worried this would become a conversation."
---
## **Upper Rank Three**
Akaza attacked first.
His fist crossed the distance between them.
Den blocked with his forearm.
The collision shook the Infinity Castle.
Rooms cracked.
Doors flew from their frames.
Several weaker demons were thrown through walls by the pressure alone.
Akaza followed with another punch.
Den moved his head.
A third punch came from below.
Den caught Akaza's wrist.
Akaza rotated, bringing his leg toward Den's ribs.
Den blocked with one hand.
The kick pushed him several meters backward.
His feet slid across the wooden floor.
Akaza's smile widened.
Den looked down at the marks beneath his feet.
"You moved me."
Akaza rushed forward.
Den's smile appeared.
"Try again."
Akaza released a storm of punches.
Each attack was fast enough to kill an ordinary Demon Slayer before they could understand the battle had begun.
Den lowered his physical abilities until his speed and strength were close to Akaza's level.
The difference was skill.
Akaza's fist approached Den's jaw.
Den redirected it with his palm.
A second fist targeted his stomach.
Den moved his hip backward.
The attack missed.
Den struck Akaza's elbow.
The joint bent sideways.
Akaza ignored the injury and attacked with his other hand.
Den ducked.
Akaza's broken arm regenerated before Den completed the movement.
A kick approached Den's head.
Den blocked.
The floor beneath him shattered.
Akaza stepped forward and drove his palm into Den's chest.
Den allowed it to connect.
**BOOM!**
Den flew backward.
He crashed through nine rooms.
Akaza followed immediately.
He entered the final room as Den stood from the wreckage.
"You allowed that attack."
Den brushed dust from his armor.
"I wanted to see whether it would hurt."
"And?"
"No."
Akaza's expression tightened.
Den disappeared.
He appeared directly in front of Akaza.
His fist struck the demon's stomach.
Akaza folded around it.
The impact passed through his body and destroyed the rooms behind him.
Den grabbed Akaza's hair.
He drove the demon's face into the floor.
The floor broke.
Both fell into another room.
Den continued holding him.
They passed through a table.
A wall.
A staircase.
Three more floors.
Akaza repeatedly punched Den's arm while they fell.
Den released him.
Akaza twisted in the air and kicked Den in the chest.
Den caught his ankle.
He pulled Akaza closer.
His elbow struck the demon's knee.
The leg broke backward.
Den rotated and threw Akaza through a floating building.
Akaza regenerated before reaching the other side.
He changed direction in midair and returned.
His fist struck Den's face.
Den's head moved slightly.
Akaza attacked again.
Den blocked.
Akaza increased his speed.
Punches, kicks, shockwaves, and destructive techniques filled the area.
Den avoided several.
Blocked others.
He allowed a few to connect simply to understand them.
Akaza attacked by reading fighting spirit.
Against most fighters, his Compass Needle was extremely effective.
Against Den, it began having problems.
Den's **Unpredictable Battle Tyrant** changed his combat intentions constantly.
He attacked with killing intent.
Then removed it.
He prepared a punch but used a headbutt.
He stepped forward and attacked backward.
He aimed toward Akaza's chest but suddenly kicked the ceiling instead.
Akaza paused when Den's foot struck above them.
The entire room rotated from the impact.
Akaza lost his footing for half a second.
Den punched him in the mouth.
Several teeth flew away.
Akaza regenerated.
Den threw another punch.
Akaza blocked.
The fist suddenly changed through **Violence Without Shape**.
Instead of creating blunt impact, Den's knuckles cut.
Four deep lines appeared across Akaza's arm.
Akaza jumped backward.
Den moved forward.
His next kick appeared sharp.
Akaza avoided the edge.
The attack changed into crushing force before passing him.
The pressure struck Akaza anyway.
His ribs shattered.
"You change the nature of your attacks," Akaza said.
"Yes."
Akaza smiled again.
"Excellent."
Den stared at him.
"That wasn't a compliment."
Akaza rushed forward.
His technique created countless destructive strikes throughout the room.
Den dodged the first wave.
He moved between attacks with small steps, allowing the shockwaves to pass beside him.
He stepped onto one of the invisible attacks.
Akaza's eyes widened.
Den used the attack itself as a platform.
He pushed from it.
His knee struck Akaza under the chin.
Akaza was launched upward.
Den caught both of his ankles.
He slammed him through the floor.
Then Den followed.
Akaza landed inside a large chamber.
Den landed on his chest.
The chamber collapsed.
Akaza's body flattened beneath Den's foot.
His flesh regenerated around the pressure.
Den lifted his leg.
Akaza attempted to rise.
Den kicked him across the face.
His head separated from his body.
The head rolled across the room.
The body remained standing.
It immediately attacked Den.
Den ducked beneath a punch from the headless body.
He grabbed the wrist.
Akaza's head shouted from across the chamber.
"My body can still fight!"
Den used the body's arm to throw it toward its own head.
The body struck the head.
Both crashed through a wall.
"I noticed."
Akaza reattached his head.
Den approached slowly.
Akaza's excitement continued increasing.
He had faced powerful swordsmen.
He had faced Hashira.
He had fought opponents with extraordinary abilities.
Den was different.
Den treated the fight like an experiment.
He wasn't desperate.
He wasn't angry.
He wasn't using everything he had.
Akaza entered his strongest stance.
His fighting spirit exploded.
The castle shook around him.
Den's Terror Devourer absorbed the fear coming from nearby demons watching the battle.
His strength increased.
Akaza attacked.
Den raised one hand.
The first punch struck his palm.
The second struck his forearm.
The third was avoided.
The fourth connected with his shoulder.
Den didn't move.
Akaza's fifth attack approached his face.
Den caught the fist.
He tightened his grip.
Akaza's hand cracked.
Den pulled him forward.
Akaza expected a punch.
Den bit him.
His teeth sank into Akaza's shoulder.
Akaza froze.
Den tore away a piece of flesh and spit it onto the floor.
Silence followed.
Akaza stared at him.
"Why did you do that?"
Den wiped blood from his mouth.
"You predicted the punch."
Akaza genuinely had no response.
Den kicked him in the stomach.
Akaza flew backward.
Den appeared above him and drove both fists into his back.
The demon crashed through several platforms.
Den followed him downward.
He formed a claw with his right hand.
# **Bloodless Demon Art**
## **Predatory Black Body: Internal Hunting**
Den's fingers entered Akaza's chest.
They didn't stop at the skin.
His claws split into smaller black tendrils inside the demon's body.
They wrapped around bones, organs, and regenerating flesh.
Akaza attempted to escape.
Den pulled.
The demon's skeleton was ripped from his body.
For one second, Akaza's flesh remained upright while Den held the complete skeleton beside him.
Akaza's eyes looked downward.
"That is new."
Den struck the empty flesh with its own skeleton.
Akaza's body exploded.
The skeleton regenerated flesh around itself.
Within seconds, Akaza stood again.
Den was already in front of him.
Akaza punched.
Den caught both wrists.
Akaza kicked.
Den trapped the leg between his knees.
The demon attempted a headbutt.
Den met him halfway.
**BANG!**
Akaza's forehead cracked.
Den's remained unchanged.
Den released one wrist.
He placed his hand against Akaza's chest.
"No sword."
Darkness entered Akaza's body.
"No sunlight."
Akaza tried to pull away.
"No poison."
Den's fingers closed.
"I want to know whether you can regenerate after becoming nothing."
Akaza's instincts screamed.
Den activated **Peak of the Darkest Magic**.
A black sphere formed inside Akaza's chest.
It expanded.
The darkness didn't explode outward.
It consumed inward.
Akaza's body folded into the sphere.
His arms stretched.
His legs twisted.
His head disappeared.
The demon was compressed smaller and smaller until only a black bead remained inside Den's palm.
Akaza's regeneration attempted to activate.
A tiny hand grew from the bead.
Den flicked it.
The bead struck a wall.
Akaza regenerated from it, but his body emerged incorrectly.
One arm grew from his neck.
His face formed across his chest.
A leg grew backward.
Den walked closer.
Akaza forced his body to correct itself.
He finally returned to normal, breathing heavily.
For the first time, his smile was gone.
Den saw fear.
Not much.
But enough.
Den's Terror Devourer absorbed it.
"You can recover," Den said.
Akaza prepared himself again.
"Then continue."
Den looked at him.
Akaza wanted battle.
He wanted to become stronger.
He wanted to fight until one of them couldn't move.
Den respected that combat intent.
He didn't respect Akaza enough to give him what he wanted.
Den relaxed.
His fighting spirit disappeared.
Akaza's Compass Needle lost him.
Akaza's eyes widened.
Den stepped forward normally.
No killing intent.
No aggression.
No desire to attack.
He moved like someone walking through an empty room.
Akaza attacked based on instinct.
Den moved around the fist.
He placed one hand against Akaza's chin.
The other pressed against the back of his head.
Akaza attempted to pull away.
Den twisted.
The demon's head rotated completely around.
Akaza regenerated immediately.
Den twisted again.
The head rotated in the opposite direction.
Akaza attacked backward.
Den ducked.
He grabbed Akaza's upper and lower jaw.
Then he pulled.
The head split open.
Den continued pulling until the demon's body separated down the center.
Both halves regenerated.
Den grabbed each one.
He slammed them together.
Akaza became whole again.
Den slammed him into the floor.
He lifted him.
Slammed him again.
Lifted him.
Slammed him again.
The repeated impacts became faster.
The castle shook with each one.
Akaza attempted to defend himself.
Den changed direction and threw him into the ceiling.
Then the floor.
Then a wall.
Then another wall.
Akaza became less like an Upper Rank demon and more like a durable object Den was using to test the room.
Nakime moved the chamber.
Den adjusted without stopping.
Akaza struck a staircase.
A door.
A ceiling lantern.
A group of demons watching from a balcony.
Den looked at the demons.
They ran.
Akaza regenerated again.
Den caught him by the throat.
"You're useful for practice."
Akaza struck Den's arm.
"But you're not difficult."
Den tightened his grip.
Akaza's neck collapsed.
Den lifted the demon above him.
The Living Nightmare Nichirin moved inside its sheath, wanting to be used.
Den ignored it.
He wanted a hand-to-hand victory.
His other hand entered Akaza's stomach.
Den grabbed something deeper than flesh.
He seized the connection between Akaza's body and Muzan's blood.
Akaza's eyes widened.
Den pulled.
Dark-red energy emerged from the demon.
Muzan felt the contact from somewhere else inside the castle.
He immediately attempted to sever it.
Den held on.
Akaza's body began collapsing.
The blood supporting his regeneration was dragged out.
Den compressed the demonic energy inside his fist.
Akaza fell to his knees.
His wounds stopped healing.
His arms trembled.
Den looked down at him.
"Upper Rank Three."
Akaza attempted to stand.
Den placed one hand on his head.
"You reached the end of your usefulness."
He pushed downward.
Akaza's body struck the floor.
Den's palm continued through his skull.
His head, neck, and chest were crushed into the wooden platform.
Darkness consumed the remains before regeneration could begin.
Akaza disappeared.
# **UPPER RANK DEFEATED**
### **Primary Combat Method: Hand-to-Hand Combat**
### **Damage Received: 0**
### **Unexpected Attacks Used: 47**
### **Opponent Confusion Level: Extreme**
Den looked at the result.
"Only forty-seven?"
The system ignored him.
**Upper Rank demons defeated: 1/3.**
A new door opened.
Cold air entered the chamber.
Ice flowers spread across the floor.
Someone clapped slowly.
Doma stepped through the doorway with a pleasant smile.
"That was wonderful!"
Den looked at him.
Doma carried two golden fans.
His colorful eyes examined Den with cheerful curiosity.
"You defeated Akaza-dono with your hands. How frightening."
Den stared at his smile.
"You feel nothing."
Doma placed one fan against his mouth.
"What a cruel thing to say."
"You said that without feeling offended."
Doma's smile widened.
"You really are interesting."
Den's white eyes narrowed.
Terror Devourer found almost nothing inside Doma.
No normal fear.
No true joy.
No sadness.
The demon's emotions were hollow.
Den had met cruel people before.
He had met creatures that enjoyed suffering.
Doma was different.
He imitated emotions because it made interactions easier.
Den found that slightly annoying.
"You're going to be difficult to scare."
Doma opened both fans.
"Are you disappointed?"
"No."
Den drew the Living Nightmare Nichirin.
"I can still make you confused."
The sword opened its eye.
Doma looked at it.
The sword showed its teeth.
Doma's smile weakened slightly.
"That sword is ugly."
The sword shook angrily.
Den looked at it.
"He insulted you."
The Living Nightmare Nichirin screamed without having a mouth.
It pulled Den toward Doma.
Den allowed it.
---
## **Upper Rank Two**
Doma swung one fan.
Ice spread throughout the room.
Frozen lotuses formed in the air.
Sharp frost moved toward Den from every direction.
Den cut once.
# **Nightmare Breathing**
## **Third Form: Dead Angle Feast**
The Living Nightmare Nichirin disappeared from normal sight.
Black cuts formed wherever Doma wasn't looking.
One appeared behind his neck.
Another beneath his arm.
Another inside the path of his fan.
Doma moved gracefully.
He avoided the first cut.
Blocked the second.
The third removed two fingers.
He looked at his hand as it regenerated.
"How strange."
Den appeared beside him.
The sword swung toward Doma's head.
Doma blocked with both fans.
Den changed the attack.
**Violence Without Shape** turned the sword strike into blunt force.
Doma expected an edge.
Instead, it felt as though a mountain struck his weapons.
Both fans smashed into his face.
Doma flew backward.
He created ice beneath his feet and stopped himself.
Den threw the sword.
Doma tilted his head.
The blade passed him.
Den ran after it.
Doma raised a fan to attack Den.
The Living Nightmare Nichirin changed direction behind him.
It bit Doma's shoulder.
Doma looked back.
The sword tore away a piece of flesh and flew into Den's hand.
Den caught it.
Doma's shoulder regenerated.
"The sword actually bites."
"It has confidence problems."
The sword glared at Den.
Doma created several ice clones.
Each clone held fans.
They surrounded Den.
The temperature dropped.
Ice spread over the walls.
The clones attacked together.
Den blocked one fan.
Cut through another clone.
Avoided an ice spear.
A third clone released freezing mist.
Den inhaled.
His Nightmare Breathing pulled the cold mist into his lungs.
The darkness inside his body consumed it.
Doma watched with interest.
"You breathed in my attack."
Den exhaled.
Black frost emerged.
The frost moved backward toward the clones.
It froze Doma's ice.
The frozen clones cracked.
Den punched one.
All of them shattered.
Doma opened both fans.
A massive ice statue formed behind him.
It towered above the room.
Countless freezing attacks spread from its body.
Den raised his sword.
Then he placed it back inside its sheath.
Doma paused.
"You aren't using it?"
Den removed his Villain Armor's left gauntlet.
He threw it at Doma.
Doma blocked.
The gauntlet struck his fan.
Nothing happened.
Doma looked at the piece of armor.
Den appeared behind him.
Doma turned.
Den wasn't there.
The gauntlet opened into a black mouth.
It bit Doma's hand.
Doma looked downward.
Den emerged from the gauntlet's shadow and punched him under the chin.
Doma flew upward.
Den grabbed both ankles.
He swung Doma into the giant ice statue.
The statue broke.
Doma regenerated while falling.
He created ice beneath himself.
Den landed on the same platform.
Doma stabbed both fans toward him.
Den moved between them.
He headbutted Doma.
The demon's face collapsed.
Den seized both fans.
Weapon Theft Mastery activated.
He pulled them away.
Doma regenerated his face and stepped backward.
Den opened the fans.
He examined them.
"Decorative."
"They're quite valuable."
Den closed one fan and struck Doma's forehead with it.
The demon stumbled.
Den used the second fan to slap him.
Doma's head turned sideways.
Den slapped him again.
Then again.
Doma raised one arm.
Den struck his elbow.
The arm broke.
Doma created ice from his mouth.
Den shoved one of the fans between his teeth.
The ice attack exploded inside Doma's face.
His head disappeared in frozen mist.
Den tossed the fans away.
Doma regenerated.
His smile returned, but it looked less natural than before.
"You fight strangely."
"Thank you."
"I didn't mean it positively."
"I know."
Den drew his sword again.
Doma's clones returned.
This time, Den created no clones of his own.
He changed the Living Nightmare Nichirin's shape.
The sword stretched.
Its blade separated into flexible black sections connected by darkness.
It became a bladed whip.
Den swung.
The weapon curved through the room.
It wrapped around two ice clones and cut them apart.
It changed direction and struck Doma.
Doma blocked.
The weapon wrapped around his fan.
Den pulled.
Doma moved forward.
Den kicked his chest.
The demon was launched backward while the fan remained trapped inside the sword.
Den reversed the weapon.
It became a spear.
He threw it.
Doma moved aside.
The spear entered the wall.
Its eye opened.
The wall's darkness swallowed it.
The weapon emerged from Doma's shadow beneath his feet.
It stabbed upward through his body.
Doma looked down at the blade emerging from his chest.
Den appeared in front of him.
He grabbed the handle.
He pulled the sword upward.
Doma split from his stomach to his shoulder.
Both halves moved apart.
Den turned the blade sideways.
It bit into one half and consumed blood.
The other half regenerated into Doma.
He created another body from ice.
Then another.
Then five more.
Soon the room contained multiple Domas.
Every one smiled.
Every one attacked.
Ice covered the chamber.
Frozen air entered the hallways.
Demons several rooms away froze solid.
Den's white eyes moved between the copies.
The game displayed health bars above all of them.
Only one health bar was connected to the boss symbol.
Den looked directly at the real Doma.
Doma noticed.
"You can identify me?"
"There's a giant red bar above your head."
Doma glanced upward.
He saw nothing.
Den attacked.
Doma's fans created a wall of ice.
Den cut through it.
His sword passed toward Doma's neck.
Doma blocked.
The blade changed into a hammer-like impact.
Doma's arms broke.
Den rotated.
The flat side changed into a sharp attack.
It cut through Doma's waist.
Den caught the upper half before it fell.
Doma's lower body regenerated upward.
Den threw the upper half at the new body.
The two Domas collided.
One began absorbing the other.
Den grabbed both heads.
He slammed them together.
The skulls shattered.
Doma regenerated again.
His smile was finally gone.
Not because of pain.
Not because he feared death.
Den's attacks were interrupting his ability to maintain the false expression.
The emptiness beneath it became visible.
Den studied him.
"You really do have nothing."
Doma's face returned.
"I have many followers."
"Those are possessions."
"I save people from suffering."
"You eat them."
"They become part of me."
Den stepped closer.
"That's still eating them."
Doma opened both fans.
Den suddenly lowered his sword.
"Do you know what's funny?"
Doma waited.
"You can't feel fear normally."
Den's Darkness Mind Control entered the room.
Black shadows wrapped around the walls.
Doma's eyes narrowed.
"But you've eaten thousands of people who could."
The darkness entered Doma's body.
Every human he had consumed had left something behind.
Memories.
Pain.
Regret.
Fear.
Doma's body contained the remains of countless emotions even though his own mind couldn't produce them properly.
Den reached into those remains.
He pulled all of them forward.
Doma froze.
For the first time, emotions entered him without being imitated.
Thousands of deaths.
Thousands of final moments.
Thousands of people realizing the smiling demon in front of them was going to eat them.
Their fear filled Doma at once.
His fans dropped.
His body shook.
"What—"
Den's Terror Devourer absorbed the fear while forcing it through Doma.
"You wanted to understand emotion."
Doma stepped backward.
His eyes widened.
The room felt smaller.
The darkness behind Den appeared endless.
Doma's regeneration accelerated without injury because his body was reacting to panic it had never experienced before.
Den approached.
"This is fear."
Doma attempted to create ice.
His technique failed.
His hands trembled.
Den lifted the Living Nightmare Nichirin.
"This is helplessness."
Doma turned toward a door.
The door closed.
He moved toward another.
That door disappeared.
Den controlled the darkness throughout the room, trapping him inside.
"And this is the part where smiling stops helping."
Doma attacked wildly.
Ice covered everything.
Den walked through it.
Frozen blades shattered against his armor.
Clones struck him.
He ignored them.
Doma swung his fan.
Den caught it.
The demon pulled.
Den didn't release it.
Doma abandoned the fan and stepped backward.
Den threw it.
The fan entered Doma's shoulder and pinned him to the wall.
Doma tore himself free.
Den appeared beside him.
The sword removed one arm.
Doma regenerated.
Den removed the other.
Doma regenerated again.
Den cut both legs.
Doma fell.
New limbs began forming.
Den stabbed the Living Nightmare Nichirin through Doma's shadow.
The regeneration stopped halfway.
The demon remained on the floor with incomplete limbs.
Den crouched beside him.
Doma looked upward.
Fear continued moving through his stolen human memories.
"Please," Doma said.
Den tilted his head.
The word sounded strange from him.
It was no longer a false performance.
He wanted the fear to stop.
Den smiled.
"You learned quickly."
He placed one hand over Doma's face.
Darkness entered every cell.
Doma attempted to scream.
Den compressed his body into ice.
The ice became smaller.
Den continued compressing it until Doma became a frozen mask.
The demon's face remained visible on its surface.
Its eyes moved.
Den lifted the mask.
Doma was still alive inside it.
"You wanted to keep people inside you."
Den attached the mask to his Villain Armor's waist.
"Now you can see what that feels like."
Doma's eyes widened.
The armor absorbed the frozen mask.
The Upper Rank disappeared into Den's inventory, unable to move or regenerate.
# **UPPER RANK DEFEATED**
### **Primary Combat Method: Sword Combat and Psychological Destruction**
### **Opponent Fear: Successfully Created**
### **Cruelty Rating: Improved**
### **Enemy Stored as Equipment Material**
Den looked at the notification.
"Equipment material?"
**Doma may be processed into an ice-based villain accessory later.**
"Useful."
**Upper Rank demons defeated: 2/3.**
The Infinity Castle moved again.
The room beneath Den split apart.
Hundreds of doors appeared in the darkness.
Every door opened.
Demons rushed through them.
Lower-level demons.
Former Lower Ranks.
Experimental demons.
Creatures with extended limbs, armored skin, poison, mouths, blades, and strange Blood Demon Arts.
Muzan had sent an army.
Den looked around.
More than ten thousand demons entered the surrounding rooms.
The biwa sounded.
The castle sealed every exit.
# **COMPLETE INFINITY CASTLE AMBUSH INITIATED**
### **Enemies: 10,842**
### **Upper Rank Presences Detected: Multiple**
### **Castle Core Protected**
### **Objective: Survive without destroying the Infinity Castle**
Den slowly drew his sword.
His Villain Halo expanded.
"Finally, a crowd."
---
## **The Demon Army**
The first thousand demons attacked simultaneously.
Den moved.
The Living Nightmare Nichirin became a black line.
Heads separated.
Arms fell.
Bodies split.
Den didn't remain in one location.
He ran across a wall.
Jumped onto the ceiling.
Used a demon's face as a platform.
He kicked himself from one body to another without touching the floor.
A demon opened its mouth.
Den threw another demon into it.
The mouth closed accidentally.
Both demons became stuck together.
Den cut them in half.
A giant demon swung a club.
Den stepped onto the weapon.
He ran along its length.
The demon opened its mouth to bite him.
Den jumped inside.
The demon swallowed.
Several nearby demons paused.
The giant's stomach expanded.
Black sword cuts appeared through its body.
Den exited through its back while holding the demon's spine.
He used the spine as a whip.
Three demons lost their heads.
Den threw it aside.
A poison demon scratched his armor.
Den looked at the claws.
The demon smiled.
"You're poisoned!"
Den grabbed its face.
"No."
He pushed his thumb through its eye.
The demon screamed.
Den tore the eye free and threw it into another demon's mouth.
"That one might be."
The poison demon attempted to retreat.
Den kicked it into the same demon.
Both exploded.
The castle rotated.
Gravity changed.
Thousands of demons fell toward the new floor.
Den remained standing in empty space.
His floating ability ignored the shift.
He held the Living Nightmare Nichirin downward.
# **Nightmare Breathing**
## **Fourth Form: Broken Moon Reversal**
Den swung upward.
The attack traveled downward.
Its direction reversed after leaving the blade.
A black crescent passed through the falling army.
Demons separated into pieces.
The crescent struck a wall.
Instead of destroying it, the attack turned and continued along the castle's interior.
It moved through hallways.
Around rooms.
Across staircases.
Every demon it found was cut.
The castle remained standing.
Den's control had improved drastically.
Nakime played faster.
Rooms appeared around Den and attempted to trap him.
Doors closed.
Walls compressed.
Den grabbed a demon and placed it between them.
The creature was flattened.
The walls continued.
Den punched one wall with the exact force required to reverse its movement without breaking it.
The moving room traveled backward.
It crushed hundreds of demons behind it.
Den followed.
An armored demon attacked with a sword.
Den caught the blade between two fingers.
He took it.
Weapon Theft Mastery activated.
Den used the demon's sword to cut off its arms.
Then he handed it back.
The demon stared at the weapon lying beside it.
Den kicked its head from its body.
Another demon created copies of itself.
Den grabbed one copy.
He swung it into the original.
Both disappeared.
A demon with six arms attacked.
Den removed four arms.
He attached two of them temporarily to his own shoulders with Predatory Black Body.
Now Den possessed four arms.
He held four stolen swords.
The surrounding demons stopped.
Den rotated all four weapons.
"Player two has joined."
He attacked.
Swords moved in every direction.
Den's Unpredictable Battle Tyrant increased his speed as he changed styles.
One sword used Nightmare Breathing.
One copied Water Breathing movements remembered from Giyu.
One used reversed swordsmanship.
The fourth was held by the blade while Den struck demons using its handle.
The six-armed demon that had lost the limbs watched from the floor.
Den threw one sword through its head.
He continued.
### **Demons Remaining: 7,991**
Den entered another room.
### **Demons Remaining: 6,430**
The room filled with blood.
### **Demons Remaining: 4,808**
Den discarded the extra arms.
They transformed into darkness before touching the floor.
He placed the Living Nightmare Nichirin between his teeth.
His hands became claws.
He ran on all fours through the army.
Demons were thrown into the air.
His claws tore through legs, stomachs, and faces.
The sword cut anything his mouth passed near.
One demon attempted to jump over him.
Den's back opened.
A black arm emerged and caught it.
The demon screamed.
The arm slammed it into the floor.
Den continued running.
### **Demons Remaining: 2,100**
He returned to two legs.
He grabbed a demon by the ankle.
He used it as a club.
The demon remained alive through the first thirty impacts.
Den looked at it.
"Durable."
The demon tried to bite his leg.
Den struck another demon with it.
The final impact broke both.
### **Demons Remaining: 782**
The demons stopped attacking.
They looked around.
Every room was covered in remains.
Den stood in the center.
His armor was covered in demon blood, but none belonged to him.
The Living Nightmare Nichirin moved happily, consuming the blood covering its edge.
The remaining demons began retreating.
Nakime closed the doors.
They were trapped with Den.
A demon struck a door.
"Let us out!"
The biwa refused.
Den approached.
The demons attacked the doors harder.
Some begged Nakime.
Others cursed Muzan.
Den's Calamity Presence filled the room.
He raised his sword.
# **Nightmare Breathing**
## **Fifth Form: No-Witness Execution**
The room became dark.
No one saw the attack.
No one heard it.
When the light returned, Den stood alone.
Every demon had disappeared.
No blood.
No ash.
No bodies.
The Living Nightmare Nichirin closed its eye.
### **Demons Remaining: 0**
# **COMPLETE AMBUSH SURVIVED**
### **Infinity Castle Structural Damage: 0.82%**
### **Castle Not Destroyed**
### **Objective Completed**
Den placed the sword against his shoulder.
"Your army needs training."
The biwa strings shook.
Nakime's heartbeat accelerated.
Den looked toward the sound.
"And the hotel manager is next."
---
## **The Stolen Room**
Nakime changed Den's location.
He appeared inside an empty room.
No doors.
No windows.
No hallways.
The walls stretched infinitely in every direction.
Nakime had isolated the room from the rest of the castle.
Den examined it.
The mission required him to steal control of one room.
He couldn't simply destroy it.
He placed one hand against the floor.
Darkness spread.
The Infinity Castle resisted.
The room rotated.
Den remained standing.
The ceiling lowered.
He pushed it upward with one finger.
The walls moved inward.
His Villain Halo expanded and held them apart.
Nakime plucked another string.
The entire room vanished.
Den fell through empty space.
Another room appeared beneath him.
Before Nakime could complete the transfer, Den grabbed the edge of the disappearing room's shadow.
The shadow remained inside his hand.
The physical room vanished.
Its darkness didn't.
Den pulled the shadow into the new location.
The room reconstructed itself around him.
Nakime attempted to remove it again.
Den placed both hands against the floor.
"Mine."
Peak of the Darkest Magic entered the room's structure.
The wood became black.
The walls changed.
White markings appeared across the doors.
A broken halo formed on the ceiling.
The room disconnected from Nakime's control.
The biwa sounded.
Nothing happened.
Nakime tried again.
The room remained still.
Den smiled.
# **OBJECTIVE COMPLETED**
**One Infinity Castle room stolen from Nakime.**
### **Room Registered as Host Property**
### **Temporary Name Required**
Den looked around.
"One-Star Hotel."
**Name accepted.**
Den paused.
"I was insulting it."
**Name permanently accepted.**
Den stared at the system screen.
It disappeared.
"Fine."
A door appeared inside the One-Star Hotel.
Den hadn't created it.
Someone stood on the other side.
A tall demon with six eyes stepped into the room.
Kokushibo held a sword made from his own flesh.
His presence was far more controlled than the other demons.
His eyes examined Den's stance.
Then the Living Nightmare Nichirin.
Then the room Nakime could no longer control.
Kokushibo understood several things immediately.
Den had defeated Akaza.
Doma's presence had disappeared.
The demon army had been destroyed.
Nakime had lost control of part of the castle.
The black creature standing before him wasn't tired.
He was enjoying himself.
Kokushibo drew his sword.
Den's Living Nightmare Nichirin opened its eye.
Both weapons stared at each other.
Kokushibo's flesh sword grew additional eyes.
Den's sword grew teeth.
The weapons made disgusted movements.
Den looked between them.
"They don't like each other."
Kokushibo's six eyes narrowed.
"That weapon is undisciplined."
The Living Nightmare Nichirin attempted to launch itself at him.
Den caught the handle.
"It heard you."
Kokushibo entered his stance.
Den's expression changed.
The humor disappeared.
His fighting intent sharpened.
Akaza had been useful for hand-to-hand combat.
Doma had been useful for unpredictable attacks and psychological methods.
Kokushibo was different.
His swordsmanship was ancient.
Controlled.
Powerful.
Den wanted it.
Not the weapon.
The experience.
The techniques.
The information contained within every movement.
Den lowered his power to Kokushibo's approximate level.
He pointed his sword forward.
"No tricks during the first exchange."
Kokushibo attacked.
---
## **Upper Rank One**
Their swords met.
The One-Star Hotel split from the pressure.
Den repaired the room before the walls finished breaking.
Kokushibo's blade moved again.
Crescent-shaped attacks filled the area.
Each crescent possessed smaller blades along its path.
Den moved between them.
One passed beside his shoulder.
Another cut through his hair-shaped darkness.
A third struck his armor.
Sparks appeared.
Den smiled.
Kokushibo saw it.
"You are pleased."
"That attack touched me."
Den stepped forward.
Their blades collided again.
Kokushibo used Moon Breathing.
His sword created changing patterns that covered nearly every possible approach.
Den blocked the direct strike.
Avoided the first crescent.
Cut through the second.
The third changed size unexpectedly.
It approached his ribs.
Den placed his hand against its flat side and redirected it.
The crescent struck the ceiling.
Kokushibo followed with another form.
Den moved backward for the first time since the battle began.
Hundreds of crescent blades passed through the location where he had stood.
The room's walls were cut.
Den repaired them again.
"You control range well," Den said.
Kokushibo didn't answer.
He moved.
The flesh sword extended.
More eyes opened along it.
The weapon changed shape in the middle of the attack.
Den blocked.
The longer blade curved around his guard.
It approached his neck.
Den bent backward.
The edge passed above his face.
He kicked toward Kokushibo's arm.
Kokushibo moved aside.
Den rotated from the failed kick and transformed the movement into a sword strike.
Kokushibo blocked.
Den's blade bit the flesh sword.
The Living Nightmare Nichirin's teeth sank into it.
Kokushibo's weapon shook.
Den pulled.
A piece of the flesh sword tore away.
The Living Nightmare Nichirin consumed it.
Its blade grew several small eyes.
Den looked at his sword.
The eyes looked back.
"Remove those."
The sword closed them.
Kokushibo attacked faster.
His calm expression changed slightly.
Den's weapon had eaten part of his blade and copied its ability.
The Living Nightmare Nichirin extended.
Eyes opened along the black metal.
Den swung.
Nightmare Breathing combined with the stolen sword trait.
Black crescents filled the room.
Kokushibo blocked them.
One changed direction.
He avoided it.
Another became larger.
He cut through it.
Den appeared behind the final crescent.
Their swords struck.
Den's weapon bent around Kokushibo's guard.
Kokushibo moved his head.
The blade cut one of his six eyes.
The wound regenerated.
Kokushibo stepped backward.
Den followed.
The battle moved throughout the stolen room.
Every attack became more complicated.
Kokushibo's experience allowed him to recognize patterns quickly.
Den's Unpredictable Battle Tyrant forced those patterns to change.
Den used a traditional stance.
Then held the sword backward.
Then switched hands.
Then threw the sword.
Then fought using the sheath.
Kokushibo blocked the sheath.
The Living Nightmare Nichirin emerged from the floor behind him.
Kokushibo avoided it.
Den caught the returning sword and struck from above.
Kokushibo blocked again.
Den released the handle in the middle of the collision.
The weapon fell.
Kokushibo's sword moved forward without resistance.
Den caught his wrist.
He headbutted Kokushibo.
The demon's face cracked.
Den caught his own sword with his foot before it reached the floor.
He kicked upward.
The blade cut Kokushibo's chest.
The demon moved backward.
Den caught the sword with his hand.
"No tricks after the first exchange," Kokushibo said.
"I said no tricks during the first exchange."
Kokushibo's face remained calm.
His six eyes looked slightly more irritated.
Den attacked again.
# **Nightmare Breathing**
## **Fourth Form: Broken Moon Reversal**
Kokushibo recognized the similarity to his own technique.
He blocked in the expected direction.
The attack reversed.
It struck from behind.
Kokushibo turned and cut through it.
Den's sword followed.
Kokushibo blocked.
Den changed the strike into blunt force.
The impact pushed Kokushibo through the wall.
The battle left the One-Star Hotel and entered the wider castle.
Nakime immediately attempted to separate them.
Den's stolen room created a door beneath both fighters.
They fell back inside.
Nakime's control failed.
Den looked toward the ceiling.
"Private room."
Kokushibo attacked while Den was speaking.
The blade passed through Den's shoulder.
Or appeared to.
Den's body bent around the sword using Predatory Black Body.
His shoulder opened into darkness.
The blade passed through empty space.
Den's arm reformed around Kokushibo's wrist.
He trapped him.
Kokushibo created blades from his body.
They stabbed toward Den.
Den released him and moved away.
Several blades cut shallow lines across Den's darkness.
The marks regenerated instantly.
Kokushibo saw exposed human skin beneath one cut for less than a second.
"You possess a human form."
Den looked at the repaired area.
"You almost found it."
Kokushibo's eyes focused.
"You're neither human nor demon."
"I've heard that several times today."
Den raised his sword.
Kokushibo increased his power.
His body changed.
Blades grew from his flesh.
His sword expanded into a monstrous shape.
Crescent attacks filled the entire room.
Den's smile widened.
This was what he wanted.
Not an opponent who begged.
Not an army that broke after seeing casualties.
A swordsman who understood the difference in power and still attempted to overcome it through technique.
Den inhaled.
Fear entered his Nightmare Breathing.
Darkness moved through his body.
His stance lowered.
Kokushibo attacked.
Den disappeared into the crescent storm.
The room became filled with sword impacts.
Neither fighter remained visible.
Only cuts.
Black and purple crescents collided.
Walls broke and repaired.
The floor separated.
Doors were divided.
The Living Nightmare Nichirin screamed with excitement.
Kokushibo's flesh blade grew longer.
Den cut through it.
It regenerated.
Kokushibo cut Den's side.
The darkness opened.
Human skin appeared.
The wound immediately closed.
Den struck Kokushibo's chest.
The demon regenerated.
Both increased speed.
Kokushibo's six eyes followed every movement.
Den created movements that contradicted each other.
He began a forward cut.
Changed it into a backward thrust.
Released the sword.
Caught it with his opposite hand.
Rotated his wrist.
Used the handle.
Changed the handle's impact into a cutting attack.
Kokushibo blocked most of it.
One strike reached his neck.
A line appeared.
The head didn't separate.
Kokushibo attacked Den's neck in return.
Den caught the blade between his teeth.
Kokushibo paused.
Den bit down.
The flesh sword cracked.
The Living Nightmare Nichirin became offended that Den had copied its biting habit.
It bit Kokushibo's other sword arm.
Kokushibo pulled away.
Den spit out the broken blade.
"You taste worse than Akaza."
Kokushibo didn't ask why Den knew what Akaza tasted like.
He decided he didn't want that information.
Den held the sword with both hands.
The broken Villain Halo behind him expanded.
Nightmare Breathing reached its current highest level.
A new technique formed from everything he had learned.
Water's flow.
Moon's changing range.
Demon body manipulation.
Darkness.
Fear.
His unpredictable combat style.
# **Nightmare Breathing**
## **Sixth Form: The Blade Arrives Last**
Den stepped forward.
Kokushibo saw no sword movement.
He sensed no attack.
He immediately moved backward.
Nothing happened.
Den lowered his blade.
Kokushibo's six eyes searched the room.
"You missed."
"No."
A black line appeared across Kokushibo's sword.
The weapon split.
A second line appeared across his arms.
Both fell.
A third line crossed his legs.
Kokushibo dropped.
Another line appeared across his chest.
Then his neck.
Then his head.
The attacks had already happened.
The visible cuts arrived afterward.
Kokushibo's body separated into dozens of pieces.
Each piece attempted to regenerate.
Den moved through them.
His sword cut each fragment before it could reconnect.
Kokushibo created new flesh.
Den cut it.
More regeneration.
More cuts.
Kokushibo's pieces multiplied.
Den's sword became faster.
The room filled with parts of the Upper Rank demon, each trying to create a new body.
Den activated the stolen flesh-sword trait.
The Living Nightmare Nichirin opened eyes across its blade.
It identified every regenerating core.
Den struck all of them.
Kokushibo's regeneration slowed.
One head completed itself.
Its six eyes looked at Den.
Den stopped the sword beside it.
"You're the best swordsman I've fought in this universe."
Kokushibo's expression remained controlled.
"Then why stop?"
"I didn't."
The blade had already passed through him.
The final cut became visible.
Kokushibo's head divided.
Darkness spread into every remaining piece.
The regeneration ended.
The Upper Rank began turning into ash.
Den held one hand over the remains.
Kokushibo's sword experience flowed toward him.
Not memories.
Not personality.
Combat information.
Centuries of sword movements.
Moon Breathing patterns.
Battle decisions.
Mistakes.
Improvements.
Den absorbed it all.
The ash disappeared.
# **UPPER RANK DEFEATED**
### **Primary Combat Method: Sword Combat**
### **Sword Data Acquired**
### **Moon-Type Techniques Available for Evolution**
### **Opponent's Final Assessment: Unreachable**
**Upper Rank demons defeated: 3/3.**
Den returned the Living Nightmare Nichirin to its sheath.
"Three."
The Infinity Castle became silent.
Akaza was dead.
Doma had become equipment material.
Kokushibo was gone.
More than ten thousand demons had been destroyed.
Nakime had lost control of one room.
Muzan had watched everything.
Den looked toward the deepest part of the castle.
"Are you coming out?"
No answer.
Den smiled.
"Then I'm taking more rooms."
The biwa sounded immediately.
A doorway appeared.
Muzan stood beyond it.
---
## **The Demon King**
Muzan Kibutsuji entered the One-Star Hotel.
Nakime remained outside.
The door closed behind him.
Muzan looked at Den.
His expression was calm, but Den could see every change occurring inside his body.
Additional hearts beating.
Multiple brains processing information.
Muscles prepared to transform.
Cells adjusting.
Poisonous blood gathering.
Muzan wasn't relaxed.
He had prepared every part of himself for survival.
"You aren't part of this world," Muzan said.
Den leaned against a wall.
"That took you longer than expected."
"You entered through the abnormal star."
"Yes."
"You destroyed the world you came from."
Den's white eyes narrowed.
Muzan had learned more than most characters.
The blood connection between demons had allowed him to collect pieces of information from those who encountered Den.
He understood that Den came from somewhere else.
He didn't understand the system.
Permanent Nightmare Mode.
The Villain Route.
Or how far Den's power truly reached.
Muzan looked at the broken halo.
"What do you want?"
Den opened the mission screen where only he could see it.
### **Remaining Objectives**
* Resist Muzan's blood and curse.
* Force Muzan to kneel, retreat, or request assistance.
* Decide Muzan's fate.
Den closed it.
"I want to finish my missions."
Muzan stared.
"That answer means nothing."
"It means something to me."
Muzan's arm transformed.
Several bladed whips exploded from his body.
They crossed the room.
Den allowed one to strike his chest.
The blade failed to enter his armor.
Another wrapped around his wrist.
Muzan injected blood through it.
The blood carried enough power to destroy ordinary bodies at a cellular level.
It attempted to enter Den.
His Super Defense blocked most of it.
Den allowed a small amount through.
Muzan smiled slightly.
The blood entered Den's hand.
It attempted to change his cells.
Muzan's curse followed.
Control.
Destruction.
Submission.
A command entered Den's mind.
**Kneel.**
Den looked down at his hand.
Black veins appeared briefly.
The system reacted.
**Biological corruption detected.**
**Foreign bloodline authority detected.**
**Cellular curse detected.**
Den's darkness surrounded the infected cells.
Hungry Power Demon activated because an outside force had attempted to weaken him.
His body became stronger.
Peak of the Darkest Magic captured the curse.
Den's mind examined it.
Then Darkness Mind Control reversed the connection.
Muzan's smile disappeared.
Den looked at him.
"You sent a command through your blood."
Muzan attempted to withdraw the whip.
Den caught it.
He pulled.
Muzan moved forward.
Den's infected hand returned to normal.
The foreign blood was compressed into a dark sphere above his palm.
Muzan felt his own curse trapped inside it.
Den changed one word.
He sent it backward.
**Kneel.**
The command entered Muzan through his whip.
Muzan's knees bent.
He resisted.
The floor cracked beneath his feet.
His multiple brains fought the order.
Den pulled the whip harder.
Muzan was dragged closer.
His knees touched the floor.
# **OBJECTIVE COMPLETED**
**Muzan Kibutsuji has been forced to kneel.**
Muzan's body transformed.
Whips erupted in every direction.
Mouths opened across his flesh.
The One-Star Hotel was torn apart.
Den's ownership repaired it immediately.
Muzan attacked faster.
Den stepped between the whips.
One passed above him.
One below.
He caught another.
He wrapped it around Muzan's neck.
Muzan cut off the limb.
The severed whip dissolved.
Den appeared in front of him.
Muzan's chest opened into a mouth.
It attempted to consume Den.
Den placed his hand inside.
The mouth closed.
Its teeth shattered against his arm.
Den grabbed one of Muzan's hearts.
He pulled it out.
Muzan created another.
Den pulled that one out too.
A third.
A fourth.
Muzan's body changed the positions of his vital organs.
Den's vision followed them.
He struck Muzan's stomach.
The impact exposed several organs.
Den caught two hearts in one hand and a brain in the other.
Muzan tore himself away.
The organs remained inside Den's grip.
They dissolved.
Muzan regenerated them.
Den smiled.
"You carry replacements."
Muzan attacked again.
Den stopped restricting himself slightly.
He moved faster.
Muzan's arms disappeared.
Then his legs.
Then every whip.
The cuts appeared afterward.
Muzan collapsed.
His body regenerated.
Den kicked his head.
Muzan flew through the wall.
The stolen room brought him back through another door.
He struck the floor in front of Den.
Muzan rose immediately.
Den punched him into the ceiling.
The room rotated.
Muzan fell toward Den.
Den caught his face.
He slammed him down.
The floor broke.
It repaired.
Den lifted him.
Slammed him again.
Muzan transformed into a mass of flesh and blades.
Den punched through it.
The impact created a hole through the center.
Muzan attempted to divide into thousands of pieces.
Den's darkness covered the room.
Every fragment stopped.
They remained suspended.
Muzan attempted to move them separately.
Den closed his hand.
All fragments returned to the center.
Muzan was forced back into one body.
Den grabbed his throat.
"Call the others."
Muzan's face twisted.
"There are no others."
"You had thousands."
"You killed them."
"Correct."
Den squeezed.
Muzan's neck broke.
It regenerated inside his hand.
"Ask Nakime."
Muzan remained silent.
Den's other hand entered his chest.
He caught all of Muzan's hearts at once using black tendrils.
Every heart stopped.
Muzan's eyes widened.
"Ask her to help you."
Nakime heard the order through Muzan's blood.
The castle moved.
Den's room remained disconnected.
She couldn't reach them.
Muzan attempted to command her again.
Nothing happened.
Den smiled.
"She can't enter my terrible hotel."
Muzan tried to divide again.
The darkness prevented it.
Den pulled his hearts closer to the surface.
"Ask."
Muzan glared at him.
Den crushed one heart.
Muzan regenerated it.
Den crushed two.
Then three.
Then all of them.
Muzan's body weakened before replacement organs formed.
Den repeated the process.
Every regeneration was interrupted.
Muzan finally spoke.
"Nakime!"
The name echoed through the room.
"Remove him!"
The biwa sounded desperately outside.
The stolen room remained still.
# **ADDITIONAL CONDITION COMPLETED**
**Muzan Kibutsuji requested assistance.**
**Conditions exceeded: Muzan has both knelt and requested assistance.**
Den released him.
Muzan struck the floor.
He regenerated completely and immediately moved toward the door.
Den didn't stop him.
Muzan opened it.
For one second, he looked back.
Den stood in the center of the room with his sword still sheathed.
Muzan stepped into the Infinity Castle.
The door closed.
The Mission Tab appeared.
### **Choose Muzan's Fate**
* Kill
* Enslave
* Release
Den selected the third option.
# **Muzan Kibutsuji Released**
The system paused.
**Choice confirmed.**
Den smiled.
He had no intention of allowing Muzan to survive the destruction of the universe.
But the mission asked what he would do after defeating him.
At that moment, Den released him.
The system had never said the realm would continue existing afterward.
"Loopholes are useful."
# **REALM MISSION COMPLETED**
### **Rewards Acquired**
* High-Level Perk: **Demon King Devourer**
* Complete immunity to biological corruption
* Complete immunity to bloodline control
* Complete immunity to cellular curses
* Infinity Castle Ownership Token
* Legendary Villain Weapon
* Ten random perks
The rewards entered Den.
His body became completely immune to poison, infection, mutation, parasitic control, blood corruption, and biological rewriting.
Demon King Devourer allowed him to consume demonic energy, demon bloodlines, and biological powers without accepting their weaknesses.
The Infinity Castle Ownership Token appeared inside his inventory.
A weapon formed in front of Den.
It appeared as a black chain wrapped around a red metal handle.
A crescent-shaped blade floated at the end.
### **Legendary Villain Weapon Acquired**
# **The Realm Butcher**
* Changes between a chain blade, sword, spear, hook, and execution axe.
* Damage increases against rulers, kings, emperors, and realm protectors.
* Can physically damage dimensional structures.
* Can pull targets across space.
* Can anchor the user against reality alteration.
* Stores one finishing attack from every destroyed realm.
* Current stored attacks: **1**
Den held the weapon.
The chain moved around his arm.
The crescent blade floated beside him.
"Useful."
The ten perks appeared quickly.
### **Random Perks Acquired**
1. **Perfect Balance**
2. **Pain Conversion**
3. **Combat Memory Storage**
4. **Enemy Weapon Analysis**
5. **Hostile Territory Adaptation**
6. **Killing Intent Concealment**
7. **Soul Grip**
8. **Dimensional Footing**
9. **Execution Damage**
10. **Minor Reward Multiplier**
Den absorbed the information.
He now remembered every combat movement permanently.
Pain could be converted into temporary strength, although very few attacks could currently hurt him.
He could analyze weapons after seeing them once.
He could stand on unstable dimensions as though they were solid ground.
Soul Grip allowed him to physically catch nonphysical souls.
Execution Damage increased his power against defeated or helpless opponents.
Den liked that one.
Somewhere outside, Muzan issued an order through every remaining demon connection.
**Kill the black intruder.**
At nearly the same time, Kasugai Crows reached the Demon Slayer Corps leadership.
Giyu's report spread.
Tanjiro's description followed.
The surviving Final Selection candidates spoke about Den attacking demons and Demon Slayers without choosing a side.
A formal emergency order was issued.
Den was to be treated as an unknown calamity.
No lower-ranked Demon Slayer was permitted to approach him alone.
Hashira were authorized to engage immediately if Den appeared.
The system simplified both decisions.
# **OFFICIAL HOSTILITY CONFIRMED**
* Demon faction kill-on-sight order: **Completed**
* Demon Slayer Corps kill-on-sight authorization: **Completed**
# **ENEMY OF EVERYONE COMPLETED**
### **Rewards Acquired**
* High-Level Perk: **Combat Evolution**
* Special Weapon Evolution: **Starless Nichirin**
* Title: **Enemy of Both Sides**
* Three random villain perks
* One realm coordinate
Den's Living Nightmare Nichirin floated from its sheath.
Darkness and white fire surrounded it.
The sword evolved.
Its previous metal disappeared.
A starless material replaced it, appearing darker than the surrounding space.
The eye remained.
The teeth remained.
The sword looked proudly at Den.
# **Living Starless Nichirin**
* Ignores normal demonic regeneration.
* Damages creatures regardless of sunlight weaknesses.
* Can cut health bars and regeneration meters directly.
* Gains traits from consumed weapons and blood.
* Cannot be permanently stolen.
* Remains afraid of Den.
* Has become slightly more arrogant toward everyone else.
Den looked at the final description.
The sword looked away innocently.
Combat Evolution activated.
Every future battle would improve Den's body, skills, resistances, and abilities depending on the opponents he faced.
The improvement would become greater during genuinely difficult fights.
The three villain perks followed.
### **Villain Perks Acquired**
* **False Mercy**
* **Disaster Timing**
* **Last Hope Breaker**
False Mercy increased fear when Den allowed someone to believe they had escaped before revealing they hadn't.
Disaster Timing improved his ability to arrive at the worst possible moment for his enemies.
Last Hope Breaker granted increased power against targets who still believed victory was possible.
Den smiled.
"These are becoming personal."
The system didn't disagree.
---
## **Taking the Infinity Castle**
Den used the Infinity Castle Ownership Token.
The token appeared as a black key.
He pushed it into the air.
A keyhole formed.
Den turned it.
The entire Infinity Castle stopped.
Nakime's hands froze above her biwa.
Every moving platform became still.
Every staircase stopped rotating.
Every doorway remained open.
A control screen appeared.
### **Infinity Castle Ownership**
* Primary Controller: Nakime
* Secondary Authority: Muzan Kibutsuji
* Invading Owner: Den
* Den's Control: **34%**
Den placed his hand against the interface.
Darkness entered it.
### **Den's Control: 51%**
Nakime plucked her biwa.
The castle resisted.
### **Nakime: 45%**
### **Den: 55%**
Muzan attempted to reinforce Nakime.
### **Muzan and Nakime: 49%**
### **Den: 51%**
Den raised one eyebrow.
"A close battle."
He equipped the Villain Halo.
### **Den: 72%**
He activated Peak of the Darkest Magic.
### **Den: 89%**
He placed the Realm Butcher against the castle's dimensional structure.
### **Den: 99%**
One percent remained.
Nakime held it desperately.
Den teleported in front of her.
She sat with the biwa across her lap.
Her single visible eye stared at him.
Den looked at the control screen.
"You have one percent."
Nakime plucked a string.
The floor beneath Den vanished.
Dimensional Footing activated.
He remained standing on empty space.
Nakime played faster.
Walls struck toward him.
Den moved aside.
Doors attempted to cut him in half.
He caught them.
Staircases wrapped around his body.
He broke them without destroying their connection to the castle.
Nakime changed locations.
Den followed through the ownership connection.
She appeared inside another room.
Den was already there.
Nakime moved again.
Den waited at the next location.
She changed rooms a third time.
Den sat inside her chair before she arrived.
Nakime stared.
Den stood.
"You play well."
She lifted one hand.
Den caught her wrist.
"But I own the instrument now."
The Living Starless Nichirin cut the biwa's health bar.
The instrument remained physically intact.
Its control ability disappeared.
Nakime's final one percent vanished.
### **Den: 100%**
# **INFINITY CASTLE CAPTURED**
Den released Nakime.
She moved backward.
Without the castle, she possessed far fewer options.
Muzan's command entered her body.
Her cells began destroying themselves.
He intended to kill her before Den could use her.
Den could have stopped the curse.
He watched it activate instead.
Nakime's body began collapsing.
She looked toward him.
Den placed the black key against her forehead.
Soul Grip activated.
He pulled her soul from her dying body.
Nakime's physical form disintegrated.
Her soul remained inside Den's hand.
It appeared as a small red light.
The Infinity Castle recognized its former controller.
Den placed the soul inside the ownership token.
### **Former Controller Stored**
### **Castle Automation Improved**
Nakime could no longer disobey.
She could no longer be killed by Muzan.
She remained conscious inside the key.
Den attached it to his armor.
"Assistant manager."
The key vibrated angrily.
The One-Star Hotel name remained.
Nakime's soul vibrated even more angrily.
Den ignored her.
The Final Realm Mission opened.
### **Conditions Completed**
* Current Realm Missions: Completed
* Physical universe: Remaining
* Game systems: Remaining
* Checkpoints and save data: Remaining
* Reconstruction functions: Remaining
Den looked around the Infinity Castle.
He now owned it.
Destroying the universe didn't require destroying useful property.
He opened a storage portal.
Darkness surrounded the castle.
Every room.
Every staircase.
Every platform.
The dimensional fortress began shrinking.
Muzan felt it immediately.
He looked around as rooms disappeared.
Demons remaining inside hidden sections screamed.
Entire buildings folded into darkness.
Muzan attempted to escape.
Every door led back to the One-Star Hotel.
Muzan opened one.
Den waved.
Muzan closed it.
He tried another.
Den stood behind that one too.
Muzan transformed into a smaller body and entered a crack in the wall.
The crack became a door.
He fell into the One-Star Hotel.
Den looked down at him.
"You again."
Muzan rose.
"You released me."
"Yes."
"You're preventing me from leaving."
"I released you from the fight."
The castle continued shrinking.
"That didn't include the building."
False Mercy activated.
Muzan's anger changed into fear.
Den absorbed it.
Muzan attacked desperately.
Den used Last Hope Breaker.
His fist struck Muzan's stomach.
The Demon King folded.
Den grabbed his head and threw him through the final door.
Muzan exited the Infinity Castle.
The castle shrank completely into the black key.
Both appeared inside the normal universe above Japan.
Night covered the land.
Den floated in the sky.
Muzan fell toward a forest.
Den allowed him to escape.
False Mercy continued increasing his fear.
Muzan believed distance mattered.
Den opened the Final Realm Mission.
---
## **Deleting the Game**
The sky changed.
Health bars appeared above every living being.
Mission markers became visible.
Invisible map boundaries glowed across the world.
Checkpoints appeared as columns of blue light.
Save locations floated above important areas.
Character-selection icons formed beyond the atmosphere.
The game system recognized Den as an uncontrolled entity.
A warning covered the sky.
# **ERROR**
### **UNAUTHORIZED CHARACTER DETECTED**
### **ENTITY EXCEEDS WORLD LIMITS**
### **ATTEMPTING BALANCE PATCH**
Den looked upward.
"A little late."
The game system responded.
### **HOST POWER REDUCTION ATTEMPTED**
Nothing happened.
### **NIGHTMARE MODE REMOVAL ATTEMPTED**
Nothing happened.
### **VILLAIN ROUTE RESET ATTEMPTED**
Nothing happened.
### **CHARACTER DELETION ATTEMPTED**
Den remained.
The system tried one final option.
# **FORCED WORLD RESET**
The world froze.
Tanjiro returned to the beginning of Final Selection.
The Hand Demon regenerated.
Giyu's injuries vanished.
The Upper Rank demons reappeared inside restored locations.
Muzan returned to his original position.
The Infinity Castle attempted to reconstruct itself.
Den remained where he was.
His system protected him from the reset.
The black key at his waist shook.
The captured Infinity Castle rejected reconstruction.
Akaza appeared.
He remembered nothing.
Doma appeared.
The system attempted to restore him.
The frozen mask inside Den's inventory consumed the duplicate.
Kokushibo reappeared.
His stolen combat information remained inside Den.
The reset completed.
For less than one second, the realm believed everything had returned to normal.
Then everyone's memories returned.
Combat Memory Storage forced the consequences of Den's actions back into the restored characters.
Akaza remembered being crushed.
Doma remembered fear.
Kokushibo remembered losing the sword battle.
Muzan remembered kneeling.
Tanjiro remembered Den.
Giyu remembered all three defeats.
The entire universe reacted at once.
Den smiled.
"Bad checkpoint."
The system attempted another reset.
Den drew the Realm Butcher.
The legendary weapon's chain extended.
Its crescent blade struck the glowing checkpoint above Final Selection.
The checkpoint shattered.
One save location disappeared.
Den swung again.
The chain crossed the planet.
Another checkpoint broke.
Then another.
The Realm Butcher moved through space, striking every important marker.
Final Selection.
Mugen Train.
Entertainment District.
Swordsmith Village.
Hashira Training.
Infinity Castle.
Every checkpoint cracked.
The game system panicked.
### **CHECKPOINTS LOST: 14%**
Den moved faster.
### **CHECKPOINTS LOST: 39%**
The chain divided into multiple sections.
### **CHECKPOINTS LOST: 78%**
The Living Starless Nichirin joined.
It flew through the world, biting save icons.
### **CHECKPOINTS LOST: 100%**
# **NO CHECKPOINTS REMAIN**
The system opened the character-selection screen.
Playable characters appeared as enormous portraits across the sky.
It attempted to remove Den by returning to the game menu.
Den used Dimensional Footing.
He stepped outside the physical universe.
He stood on the menu itself.
Below him, the universe appeared inside the **Adventure Mode** option.
**Versus Mode** floated beside it.
Training.
Archives.
Rewards.
Settings.
Den walked across the menu.
A selection cursor attempted to avoid him.
He caught it.
The cursor shook inside his hand.
Den pointed it toward **Delete Save Data**.
The game refused.
### **ADMINISTRATOR PERMISSION REQUIRED**
Den equipped the title **Enemy of Both Sides**.
### **PERMISSION DENIED**
He equipped the Infinity Castle Ownership Token.
### **PARTIAL AUTHORITY RECOGNIZED**
He placed the Realm Butcher against the menu.
### **THREAT DETECTED**
The game system opened the permission screen.
Den selected everything.
Characters.
Progress.
Unlocks.
Combat information.
World construction.
Artificial boundaries.
Restart systems.
Backup saves.
The confirmation screen appeared.
# **ARE YOU SURE?**
### **Deleted data cannot be restored.**
Two options appeared.
**YES**
**NO**
The selection cursor automatically moved toward **NO**.
Den grabbed it again.
He placed it over **YES**.
The game moved the button.
Den followed.
The button moved again.
Den cut the menu in half.
He pressed the broken **YES** with his sword.
# **SAVE DATA DELETION INITIATED**
The game universe began collapsing.
Character portraits shattered.
Health bars emptied.
Maps disappeared.
Mountains lost their textures.
Forests became blank shapes.
Buildings turned into unfinished models.
The sky flickered between day and night.
Demons attempted to move, but their animations stopped halfway.
Demon Slayers lost access to their special effects.
Water disappeared from Water Breathing.
Flames vanished.
Sound effects cut out.
The realm became silent.
Tanjiro looked upward.
The sky was breaking.
He recognized Den standing beyond it.
"Den!"
His voice barely reached through the collapsing game.
Den looked down.
Tanjiro held Nezuko's box.
Giyu stood beside him.
Several Hashira had gathered.
Muzan remained farther away.
The Upper Ranks stood around him.
For one brief moment, both factions stopped fighting each other.
They looked toward the person destroying their existence.
Tanjiro shouted again.
"Why are you doing this?"
Den considered giving a long explanation.
He decided against it.
"Mission reward."
Tanjiro's expression twisted with anger.
A hidden mission reacted.
# **BREAK THE UNBREAKABLE KINDNESS**
### **Tanjiro Kamado now genuinely desires to kill the host.**
### **Mission Completed**
Den blinked.
"That was easier than expected."
The game continued collapsing.
Tanjiro rushed toward the breaking sky.
He used everything he had.
The universe pushed him forward with its remaining power.
Giyu followed.
Then the Hashira.
Muzan realized Den was the greater threat and attacked as well.
The Upper Ranks joined.
Demons and Demon Slayers approached Den from the same direction.
Both factions had united.
Not because of friendship.
Not because they forgave each other.
Because Den was erasing all of them.
The game created one final battle.
# **FINAL REALM DEFENSE**
### **All Remaining Characters Versus Den**
### **Remaining World Power Granted to Defenders**
### **Temporary Invulnerability Enabled**
### **All Restrictions Removed**
Den looked at the army.
Humans.
Demons.
Hashira.
Upper Ranks.
Muzan.
Tanjiro.
Background fighters.
Every remaining combatant moved toward him.
The game poured all remaining energy into their bodies.
Tanjiro's sword burned.
The Hashira released their strongest techniques.
Muzan transformed completely.
The Upper Ranks attacked from every direction.
The realm itself created a giant hand behind them, attempting to push Den away from the deletion menu.
Den placed the Realm Butcher inside his inventory.
He held the Living Starless Nichirin.
His Permanent Nightmare Mode brightened.
White markings spread across his black body.
The Villain Halo expanded until it resembled a black sun.
His armor absorbed fear from the entire universe.
Combat Evolution processed every enemy.
Hungry Power Demon increased his strength in response to the world's final resistance.
Den lowered the sword.
"You had your chance."
The defenders attacked.
Den inhaled.
Every fear inside the universe entered Nightmare Breathing.
Every battle he had fought became combat information.
Every sword movement from Giyu and Kokushibo returned.
Every demon ability became usable knowledge.
Every perk activated.
Den raised the blade.
# **Nightmare Breathing**
## **Seventh Form: Permanent Game Over**
Den swung once.
The attack didn't target the characters.
It struck the word **Continue** hidden inside the game's core.
The word split.
The defenders froze.
Their temporary invulnerability disappeared.
The realm's final attack stopped.
A black line passed through everything.
Tanjiro's sword broke.
Muzan's body separated.
The Hashira's techniques vanished.
The Upper Ranks turned into ash.
The characters didn't die individually.
Their universe lost the ability to continue them.
The game menu cracked.
The physical universe beneath it collapsed into a single dark point.
Stars stretched toward the center.
Planets shattered.
Time folded.
Space disappeared.
Every remaining file, backup, and hidden reconstruction function was pulled into the collapsing realm.
Den watched.
The Demon Slayer universe became smaller.
A galaxy.
A star.
A marble.
A black pixel.
Den caught the pixel between two fingers.
The game system displayed one final message.
# **GAME OVER**
Den crushed the pixel.
Nothing remained.
No planet.
No Infinity Castle outside his inventory.
No demons.
No Demon Slayer Corps.
No menu.
No save data.
No restart.
No universe.
Only Den remained inside the darkness between realms.
# **REALM COMPLETELY DESTROYED**
### **Physical Universe: Deleted**
### **Game Systems: Deleted**
### **Save Data: Deleted**
### **Backup Data: Deleted**
### **Reconstruction Functions: Deleted**
### **Realm Recovery Probability: 0%**
The system rang.
**Ding!**
# **Realm Destruction Mission Updated**
**Destroy five realms in the multiverse.**
### **Progress: 2/5**
### **Final rewards remain locked until 5/5.**
Another notification appeared.
# **DEMON SLAYER REALM COMPLETED**
### **Completion Level: Perfect**
### **Supreme Perk Acquired**
# **Unending Realm Harvest**
* Rewards from completely conquered realms are permanently improved.
* Incomplete missions convert into partial rewards when their realm is destroyed.
* Important combat information survives universal deletion.
* Realm-specific abilities remain usable in other universes.
* Destroyed game universes may provide additional system functions.
* Future universes may create stronger resistance based on Den's current power.
Den read the final line.
"Stronger resistance?"
**Future realms may adjust their threats to challenge the host.**
"Good."
His inventory expanded.
The Infinity Castle remained stored inside the black key.
Nakime's soul remained its automatic controller.
The One-Star Hotel remained Den's personal room.
Doma's frozen mask remained available as crafting material.
The Living Starless Nichirin remained beside him.
Kokushibo's sword information remained inside Combat Memory Storage.
Every useful ability had survived.
Partial rewards appeared from the unfinished objectives.
### **Incomplete Hashira Challenges Converted**
* Advanced Breathing Analysis
* Hashira Movement Prediction
* Eight minor combat perks
### **Tanjiro Mission Reward**
# **Kindness Breaker**
* Increased psychological damage against compassionate opponents.
* Mercy-based decisions become easier to predict.
* Enemies protecting others reveal more combat openings.
* Sparing a protected person may increase fear in their protector.
Den absorbed the perks.
A final package appeared.
# **Realm Completion Package**
### **Rewards**
* Five random perks
* One Nightmare Breathing evolution
* One Bloodless Demon Art evolution
* One million system currency
* Realm Butcher stored attack upgraded
* Important realm coordinate unlocked
The five random perks opened.
1. **Sunlight Immunity Sharing**
2. **Advanced Regeneration Suppression**
3. **Boss Health Detection**
4. **World Boundary Resistance**
5. **Cruel Inspiration**
Nightmare Breathing evolved.
# **Nightmare Breathing: Realm Adaptation**
Den could create new forms based on the abilities and combat laws of every universe he entered.
Bloodless Demon Art evolved.
# **Bloodless Demon Art: Adaptive Monster Body**
Den's body could now develop temporary combat traits based on enemies he defeated.
He could create demon claws.
Armored skin.
Additional eyes.
Weapon limbs.
Flexible bones.
Extra hearts.
Enhanced senses.
Other biological combat changes could be created without accepting permanent mutations or weaknesses.
Den looked at his hands.
He returned them to normal.
The realm's destruction created a new Black Star ahead of him.
It was larger than the previous portal.
Red, black, and white energy rotated around its edges.
The system screen appeared.
# **IMPORTANT REALM COORDINATE UNLOCKED**
### **Destination: Hidden**
### **Danger Level: Calculating...**
The calculation continued.
**Calculating...**
**Calculating...**
The system paused.
Den raised one eyebrow.
The Demon Slayer realm had been considered weak even with severe restrictions.
This destination required more time to calculate.
The result finally appeared.
### **Danger Level: Variable**
### **Important Warning**
**The connected realm contains events directly related to the larger Idle Cross multiverse.**
**Actions within the realm may affect the Rogues, the 344 realms, and the host's future route.**
**Important individuals may possess greater universal influence.**
**Unknown external forces may notice the host's arrival.**
Den's expression became serious for several seconds.
The Demon Slayer universe had given him useful weapons, abilities, combat experience, and rewards.
But it hadn't given him useful information about the Rogues.
The next world might.
Den looked behind himself.
Nothing remained of the destroyed realm.
No survivors.
No explosion.
No final light.
He hadn't merely destroyed Earth.
He had removed the entire universe and everything capable of restoring it.
Den felt no guilt.
The realm had served its purpose.
He turned toward the Black Star.
The Living Starless Nichirin entered its sheath.
The Realm Butcher wrapped around his arm.
His Villain Armor repaired every mark.
The broken halo became smaller.
Den opened his inventory and examined the captured Infinity Castle.
The One-Star Hotel waited inside.
Nakime's stored soul quietly moved the rooms.
Doma's frozen mask stared from a locked storage area.
Den looked at it.
"You're still ugly."
The mask's eyes narrowed.
Den closed the inventory.
He approached the portal.
A final record appeared.
# **DEMON SLAYER VIDEO-GAME REALM**
* Realm status: Destroyed
* Major missions completed: 2
* Special missions completed: 4
* Hidden missions completed: 2
* Upper Rank demons defeated: 3
* Total demons defeated: 10,949
* Demon Slayers defeated: 20
* Hashira defeated: 1
* Demon King defeated: 1
* Realms destroyed: 2/5
* Property acquired: Infinity Castle
* Living weapons acquired: 1
* Enemies permanently traumatized before deletion: Nearly everyone
Den read the final result.
"Nearly?"
The system didn't explain who had avoided being traumatized.
Den suspected it was someone who had been unconscious during the destruction.
Lucky person.
He placed one hand against the new Black Star.
The portal reacted to Permanent Nightmare Mode.
Its darkness opened.
Something waited beyond it.
Den couldn't see the next universe clearly.
He saw broken pieces.
A city.
A battlefield.
A figure watching the sky.
Several strange energies.
A symbol connected to Idle Cross.
Then the images disappeared.
Den smiled.
"Let's see what this world has."
He stepped into the Black Star.
Before the portal closed, Den looked back one final time.
There was nothing to say goodbye to.
He had destroyed all of it.
Den disappeared.
The Black Star closed behind him.
The darkness between universes became silent once more.