We stepped through the final door.
And immediately regretted it.
The Demon Lord's castle was not built for sanity. The interior was an architectural war crime—gravity-bending bridges, floating slabs of obsidian stitched together with burning chain-sigils, and a throne room larger than some countries.
The floor was made of pulsing glass. Below it: screaming souls. Above us: more screaming souls. The walls also screamed, but mostly in Latin.
The ceiling was an endless storm vortex, occasionally flashing with red lightning and someone shouting, "WORK HARDER, MORTALS," which might have just been a motivational recording.
There were also torches.
They hissed when you looked at them.
I hate this place.
---
Lyra grimaced. "This place smells like burnt ambition and cursed tax forms."
Velis ran her hand along one of the floating runes. "This entire palace is coded with divine-rejection glyphwork. We're inside a living spell."
"That explain the teeth?" Silas asked, nodding at the floor, which was now growing molars.
"Unfortunately," Velis said.
I tightened my grip on the shield.
"You all realize we're in way over our heads, right?"
Iria placed a hand on my shoulder. "I have always believed in your survival through incompetence."
"…Thanks?"
"Wasn't a compliment."
We reached the center.
There was no guard.
No fanfare.
Just the throne.
It hovered above a raised platform of blackstone and rotating sigils, with a spiral staircase of light leading up to it.
And sitting there—
Feet crossed.
Wings folded.
One horn broken.
Eyes glowing like molten coals dipped in sarcasm—
The Demon Lord.
He was… bored.
"About time," he said. "I've sent you fifteen taunting letters, two flaming pigeons, and a cake shaped like your corpse."
Silas blinked. "Wait. That was from him?"
"I ate that cake!" I said, horrified.
The Demon Lord stood.
"I wanted this to feel… theatrical. You took the long route. But here we are."
He descended the light-spiral with effortless grace.
Around him, magic bent. The air pulsed. Even the shadows recoiled.
"You're a disappointment, Kaname," he said conversationally. "A summoned hero? You're barely a protagonist. Just a walking punchline."
I tried to respond.
Then realized my voice didn't work.
Velis gasped. "He's using Domination Silence. A narrative suppression spell!"
Lyra narrowed her eyes. "That's illegal in twelve kingdoms."
The Demon Lord continued, voice dripping with theatrical spite.
"You stumbled through every trial. You flailed, fumbled, and somehow landed here. And now you expect to win?"
He leaned in close.
"You don't belong here."
I looked up at him.
And smiled.
"I've been told that a lot."
The air exploded.
Velis hurled an arcane bolt—only for it to unravel mid-air.
Iria charged, sword blazing with divine light, and was knocked backward with a flick of the Demon Lord's hand.
Silas vanished into shadows—then yelped as his hiding place turned into a pile of screaming chairs.
Lyra threw a purification charm.
The Demon Lord caught it.
And ate it.
"Oh good," I muttered. "He's immune to holy snacks."
He moved like a dancer through fire, spells ricocheting around him.
He snapped his fingers—Velis's magic imploded.
He clapped once—Iria's armor turned into molten glass (Lyra fixed it in three seconds).
He waved—and the ceiling turned into a vortex of teeth and burning books.
We weren't winning.
We weren't even surviving.
And then—
He pointed at me.
"Your turn, sparkleshield."
I raised the shield.
He blasted me with an untyped spell.
The shield held.
The spell cracked.
So did his smirk.
Something pulsed at my side.
The original relic—the weird whispering orb from our very first dungeon—glowed a deep blue.
Then white.
A message flashed across my vision:
> [ Anomaly Detected ]
> [ Authority Override Available ]
> [ Entity: KANAME HITOSHI – Alignment: Improbable Persistence ]
> [ Command? Y/N ]
I whispered, "Yes."
Reality hiccuped.
The floor blinked.
The Demon Lord stumbled.
Velis blinked. "You just activated an anti-deity failsafe."
Lyra gasped. "You shouldn't even have one!"
"I didn't try! It just happened!"
I looked at the shield.
The nyan cat engraving on the front was now glowing gold.
Everything didn't get better.
But it got slightly less worse.
Velis's spells stopped unraveling.
Iria landed a hit.
Silas got through the chaos and slashed at the Demon Lord's side.
Lyra's healing aura strengthened, pushing back the miasma.
And me?
I charged.
With my stupid cat-shield glowing like a rave invitation and a prayer I couldn't remember finishing.