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Translator: Vine
Chapter Title: The Demon Lord's Entrance
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The 9th Floor, entrance to the Demon Lord.
A place no one from any academy, including Jerion Academy, had ever reached.
Even the Sky-Piercing Generation, who reached the 9th Floor, ultimately failed to reach this specific point.
Yet, here I was, standing with Isabel.
A situation that even I found bewildering.
"What is this place? The pressure…"
Isabel instinctively felt that this door should not be opened.
And that line was a phrase I had seen countless times in the Flame Butterfly Arc.
'Upon reaching the 9th Floor's Demon Lord's Gate, the character always utters this line.'
And none of them could open this door.
Because they were crushed by the Demon Lord's overwhelming presence.
[ This is a realm unreachable by challengers. ]
A window that appeared upon arriving at the 9th Floor Demon Lord's Entrance.
This was the window displayed when one reached this point before completing the scenario.
Facing this, the character would immediately retreat.
Entering the Demon Lord's Entrance was only possible after completing the scenario.
However, I knew what lay beyond.
'After completing the scenario, if you reach this place, there's nothing.'
All the player would encounter was an empty room.
There was nothing special about the large room, only silence.
And then, the ending credits would roll.
This was also why I had questioned the Demon Lord's death.
I had confronted the Demon Lord at the end of the scenario.
Was the Demon Lord I confronted truly defeated?
If so, why was the Demon Palace left with only an empty room?
Players had ardently questioned this, but the developers never provided an answer.
And now.
I stood before that very Demon Lord's door.
My gaze fell upon the door leading to the Demon Lord.
Isabel had recoiled, her face utterly pale.
Judging by her expression, she looked ready to turn back at any moment.
What about me, on the other hand?
My feet remained rooted to the spot, standing firm.
Like Isabel, I definitely felt the oppressive presence.
A powerful sensation surged within me, screaming that I must never enter.
But I wouldn't retreat.
The reason was simple.
'It's the Veil Bandage.'
Love lost due to the Veil Bandage.
Love, encompassing various meanings, also included self-love.
That kind of love had been lost to me.
The part of me that valued my own life was broken.
'If it's now…'
My hand reached out towards the Demon Lord's door.
I could open it.
I definitely could.
"Y-you!"
Isabel's voice, shouting from behind, reached my ears.
My hand stopped abruptly just before the door.
If I opened it here, I would surely face the Demon Lord.
But what then?
Could I defeat the Demon Lord as I was now?
My fist clenched tightly.
I couldn't defeat the Demon Lord right now.
To defeat the Demon Lord, I needed to bring the absolute best of my forces.
Of that, I was certain.
I pulled my arm back.
What good would it do to open it, even if I could?
Even if I opened it, I couldn't defeat the Demon Lord lurking inside.
'My presence here is purely coincidental.'
This isn't my power.
A floor reached merely by chance is worthless.
But I made sure to declare to the Demon Lord beyond this door.
"I'll definitely come back next time."
And I'd punch that rotten face squarely.
Leaving those words behind, I prepared to turn.
Just then, my eyes briefly caught something beneath the Demon Lord's door.
My eyes widened slightly.
'…This is.'
On the floor, there were marks as if something heavy had been dragged.
The problem was that these marks led directly to the Demon Lord's door.
These were marks I would have easily overlooked when playing the Flame Butterfly Arc.
Because pixel graphics had their limitations, they didn't show such details.
But now, this was reality.
Everything was visible in intricate detail.
My gaze returned to the Demon Lord's door.
'No way.'
Could it be that one of the Apostles had reached the Demon Lord?
The thought flickered through my mind, but I quickly shook my head.
'That's too much of a stretch.'
If that were the case, an Apostle would have emerged long ago, turning the surface into a wasteland.
Still, it bothered me.
'It might be good to consult with Professor Veganon.'
As someone from the Sky-Piercing Generation, she might know something.
I decided to keep this in mind for later and fully turned around.
"Isabel."
"Ah, yes."
"From now on, it's a time attack."
Isabel's eyes widened.
She hadn't immediately understood my words.
I decided to explain.
"This is the 9th Floor of the Demon Palace."
"The 9th… 9th Floor?"
Isabel's face froze as she heard the truth.
Even the usually cheerful Isabel knew how dangerous the 9th Floor was.
At the very least, we'd need another year to be able to navigate this place.
"This Demon Palace opened a little earlier this time."
It was highly probable that our entanglement in the Demon Palace's spatial transfer was due to this.
Since the Demon Palace opened hastily, the entire space was unstable.
Let's assume my presence was a coincidence.
But Isabel's wasn't likely a coincidence.
'Isabel possesses the Wings of the Goddess.'
The most abhorrent power to the Demon Lord.
The Goddess's grace, meant to destroy evil.
The Demon Palace must have subtly sensed the power of the Wings of the Goddess, twisting its space.
"That means the Apostles were born faster than before as well."
Apostles born in haste would have had a frantic start.
Which meant the upper floors would be swarming with Apostles right now.
Naturally, it wouldn't be easy for academy students to break through the Apostles.
"We need to get out of here before even one more of those Apostles reaches this place."
However, there was another problem lurking here.
That was the Apostles who had managed to hide and remain in the Demon Palace for a long time without being eliminated.
Named Apostles.
The longer an Apostle survived, the stronger it became.
Apostles with names attached to them were, naturally, well-known for their danger.
However, I knew every single one of them, without exception.
'At this point, Named Apostles aren't much of an obstacle anyway.'
During the Autumn Demon Palace event, the Named Apostles were scattered throughout the Demon Palace for their own reasons.
The Demon Palace was ridiculously vast.
If you knew the paths well, you could escape without ever encountering them.
And who was I?
The Flame Butterfly Arc, 29th playthrough veteran.
A hardcore player with twice the experience, having even sought out the bad endings.
'While other students descend deeper into the dungeon, we, conversely, must ascend our way out.'
Hence, a time limit.
We need to ascend the path where only Named Apostles reside, before other Apostles flood in and change the terrain.
"From now on, just follow behind me."
No independent actions were permitted.
No arguments would be heard either.
Only one goal: to get out alive and safe.
That was the sole objective as we pressed forward.
"…Understood."
Perhaps thanks to the sincerity in my words, Isabel nodded without a word of complaint.
Demon Palace Escape Team.
Let's go.
***
Second-Year Autumn Demon Palace Expedition.
9th Floor of the Demon Palace.
Starry Heaven.
The 9th Floor, where countless stars poured down from the night sky.
The environment of the 9th Floor never changed.
Therefore, the Named Apostles residing here also remained unchanged.
Named Apostle:
The Star Keeper.
An Apostle who wielded the countless stars embroidered across the Starry Heaven.
The only Named Apostle recorded by the Sky-Piercing Generation, who were the only ones to reach the 9th Floor.
To face him, certain conditions absolutely had to be met.
However, not a single one of those conditions was met here, now.
Therefore, there was only one thing we could do.
Crawl across the Starfield, which shone as brightly as the stars in the sky.
Isabel and I were currently linked by the Veil Bandage.
Thanks to its camouflage, like a ghillie suit, we were almost indistinguishable from the Starfield.
It had been a week since we started crawling on the ground.
My entire body felt like it was cramping, but there was no other way.
If we so much as peeked our heads out from the Starfield, stars would come plummeting from the sky.
This was the only way to survive.
"...I never thought we'd be moving like this on the 9th Floor."
Isabel's face looked noticeably exhausted.
Naturally, after a week of crawling.
"It's much better than standing up and dying."
I quietly stated this when Isabel, who probably never imagined crawling like this, let out a groan.
"The Star Keeper is beyond our current capabilities."
"Yeah, I definitely get that."
Isabel also possessed the ability to gauge an opponent's strength.
The Star Keeper, moving among the stars, was simply an insurmountable being for us.
"Don't worry. The Star Keeper doesn't bother anything beneath the Starfield."
However, that was only true for the Star Keeper.
Thump—
At that moment, the ground we were crawling on shook once.
I pressed close to Isabel, pushing down on her back.
This was to prevent her from instinctively reacting and standing up.
"...You, if you push like that, my front hurts."
"Sorry, just bear with it a little longer."
Isabel expressed her discomfort, but there was no other way.
Thump!
Because before us, the body of a snake, coalesced from stardust, was passing by.
It moved forward at regular intervals, slamming its belly against the ground.
However, its head was not visible.
Apostle:
Reincarnation.
The largest Apostle in the Demon Palace, visible only as a colossal body connecting heaven and earth.
It moved as if it were a single, continuous form.
To this day, Reincarnation's head had never been seen.
One thing was certain: it continuously moved from one end of the 9th Floor Demon Palace to the other.
In any case, the Reincarnation that just passed was an Apostle that had lost its senses long ago.
It likely hadn't noticed our presence.
However, if we blocked its path, we would face disaster.
"...I'm realizing anew just how dangerous the 9th Floor is."
Perhaps it was because the sight was so fundamentally different from the lower floors.
Isabel swallowed hard.
"Still, this is better. On the 8th Floor, there will be many situations where even talking becomes difficult."
But I couldn't bring myself to say that the lower floors were better than the 9th.
The beings on the 9th Floor were so extraordinary that they rarely paid attention to anything but themselves.
Therefore, if you followed the rules, you could pass them without engaging in combat.
That was why even the Sky-Piercing Generation had wondered at the time.
Why hadn't such beings reached the Demon Lord, awakened their full power, and then come to the surface?
That was a question the Sky-Piercing Generation could never answer.
But from the 8th Floor downwards, it was different.
The Named Apostles residing on the 8th Floor were thirsty for human prey.
Just as humans descended the floors of the Demon Palace, Apostles also needed to accumulate power on each floor to descend the Demon Palace's levels.
'Because they needed to absorb enough of the Demon Lord's power to be fully born as Apostles.'
Their top priority was how well they could absorb the Demon Lord's power.
So they would descend downwards, but never go upwards.
It was a rule imposed upon them until they were fully developed as Apostles.
On the 9th Floor, the Demon Lord's power was being siphoned away by the Star Keeper and Reincarnation.
Therefore, many Named Apostles on the 8th Floor, despite being able to reach the 9th Floor, chose not to, instead accumulating power.
'And among them were those whom even the Sky-Piercing Generation had to avoid.'
This was why the 8th Floor was more troublesome compared to the 9th.
'Just a little further.'
Evading the Star Keeper and Reincarnation, we finally reached the stairs leading to the 8th Floor.
Isabel and I were finally able to stop crawling and stand up.
Perhaps because we had been moving through the 9th Floor under intense tension for a week, fatigue was already etched on Isabel's face.
But it was fine.
Our objective wasn't to break through, but to return.
We just needed to retrace our steps in reverse.
"Isabel, we'll rest on the stairs. Get some rest."
"Okay."
Isabel finally relaxed and caught her breath.
Perhaps because it had been so long since we stood up, both she and I felt muscle aches throughout our bodies.
My eyes fell upon the stairs leading to the 8th Floor.
Could we escape safely without engaging in combat?
I couldn't guarantee it, but it was something we absolutely had to do.