The pressure of the Demon Lord Seed still vibrated in the air when Hinata Sakaguchi's silhouette appeared at the edge of the clearing. She didn't come with an army; she was the army. Dressed in her Holy Knight Captain attire, her expression was one of icy indifference.
"So this is the place," Hinata said, her voice cutting through the silence. "The place where God's laws are being rewritten by an 'Architect'."
Eryon took a step forward. His aura, now tinged with deep purple and gold, clashed with the purification barrier Hinata naturally emanated.
"Hinata Sakaguchi," Eryon said, his voice now carrying a weight that made the earth tremble. "This place is an Archive of knowledge. There is no heresy here, only evolution."
"Any evolution outside the Church's domain is an anomaly," she replied, drawing her sword, the 『Moonlight』. "And anomalies must be eliminated."
The Clash of Wills
Hinata moved. It wasn't an attack; it was an execution. In less than a millisecond, she was in front of Eryon. Her 『Seven Sins Series』 technique was activated.
"Seven Celestial Star Strikes!"
The sword of light pierced the air, but Eryon did not flinch. For the first time, he used 「Arcana Customize」 in conjunction with his Demon Lord perception.
"Customize: Magic Vector Diversion," Eryon whispered.
The moment Hinata's blade should have touched his chest, the space around Eryon warped. The seven strikes, which never miss, were diverted to the sides, slicing into the ground behind him like lasers.
Hinata narrowed her eyes. "You are editing the space around me? Interesting."
She leaped back and extended her left hand. "Disintegration!"
The most powerful holy spell, capable of erasing the existence of a disaster-level monster, was fired. A blinding white light engulfed Eryon. Lyra, in the tower, let out a muffled cry, and even Esdeath tightened her grip on her sword.
But when the light dissipated, Eryon was still there. His right hand was extended, holding a sphere of white energy that was collapsing in on itself.
"You... captured Disintegration?" Hinata asked, showing surprise for the first time.
"I didn't capture it," Eryon explained, his hand trembling slightly from the cognitive effort. "I simply altered the magic's function from 'Erase' to 'Store.' 『Elem of Saga』 informed me of the structure of your prayer. I just... changed the period at the end."
The Harvest and Ascension
As the duel raged, the Falmuth army—five thousand soldiers waiting at the border—began to advance, thinking Hinata had already won. They entered Eryon's detection radius.
The Demon Lord Seed in Eryon began to pulse violently.
[Notice: Conditions for the Harvest Festival detected.] [Souls required: 10,000.] [Souls available in the perimeter: 5,000 mercenaries and soldiers.] [Warning: Insufficient souls for full evolution. However, the seed can be nurtured.]
Eryon looked at Hinata and then at the approaching army. "They came to destroy my home," Eryon said. "Merlin, Shanks, Esdeath... let no Falmuth soldier leave this forest alive."
Shanks drew his sword, his Haki becoming a storm. Esdeath laughed and summoned her ice army. Merlin smiled, preparing a massive area-of-effect spell.
Hinata tried to move to stop them, but Eryon blocked her path. "Your duel is with me, Hinata. You defend a God that doesn't exist. I defend the people I created myself."
The battle escalated. Eryon began using his new Demon Lord ability to create "Editing Zones," where gravity, light, and mana obeyed him alone. Hinata used her mathematical arts to predict his movements, creating an unprecedented cerebral and physical duel.
In the background, the screams of the Falmuth army began to rise. Every soul reaped by Esdeath and Shanks was absorbed by Eryon. His mana was becoming so dense that reality itself around the clearing began to crack.
The Impasse and Recognition
After hours of combat, both were exhausted. Hinata had cuts on her holy attire, and Eryon's arm was burned by a remnant of holy light.
"You are no ordinary monster," Hinata said, panting. "And you are no longer human. What are you, Eryon?"
"I am the Architect," he replied, his eyes glowing with the power of the 5,000 absorbed souls. "And this world does not belong to your Church. It belongs to those who have the courage to build it."
Hinata looked at the distant Falmuth massacre. She realized that if she continued, she might become the final sacrifice for his evolution. She sheathed her sword.
"Enough for today," she said. "But the Church will not forget this. You have just become the greatest 'Enemy of God' in history."
"Tell them the Enemy of God has an Archive," Eryon smiled, feeling the seed nearly bloom. "And if they want to learn the truth, admission is free."
Hinata departed. Rimuru, watching everything through a magic orb in Tempest, felt a shiver. His friend was no longer just the boy who built cabins. Eryon Arclight was now a sovereign.
The battlefield was silent. Where five thousand Falmuth men once marched, only ice statues and magical ashes remained. Hinata Sakaguchi had left, leaving behind a trail of reluctant respect and an implicit declaration of war.
In the center of the clearing, Eryon remained motionless. The Demon Lord Seed had stopped pulsing violently, stabilizing into a state of latent dormancy. He hadn't completed the "Harvest Festival"—he still lacked five thousand souls for full evolution—but what he had absorbed was enough to change his very existence.
1. The Partial Awakening: The Arcane Architect
Eryon opened his eyes. They were no longer merely human; his pupils held a geometric golden glow, as if processing the world's code in real-time.
『Notice from the Voice of the World』:
[Unique Skill evolution detected.] [『Arcana Customize』 has evolved into the Ultimate Grade Skill (Precursor): 『Arcana Lord — Architect of Laws』.] [New Sub-functions acquired: 『Territorial Domain』 and 『Organic Matter Editing』.]
"I feel... everything," Eryon whispered.
He no longer needed to touch objects to customize them. Within a one-kilometer radius of the tower, the world was his canvas. With a thought, he made the trees destroyed in battle regenerate instantly, but with a structure reinforced by mana.
2. Lyra's Evolution: The Voice of the Archive
Eryon looked toward the tower. Lyra ran down, her gray eyes filled with worry and admiration. She was still the homunculus of clay and mana he had created, but Eryon realized that for the Archive to survive, she needed more.
"Lyra, come closer," Eryon commanded.
He extended his hand and channeled a massive portion of the souls he had just harvested. Not for himself, but for her. Purple mana flowed into Lyra's core, refining her clay structure into something akin to spiritual diamond.
[Individual: Lyra has received the Architect's Blessing.] [Class Evolution: Arcane Homunculus → Archaic Systems Administrator.] [Skill Acquired: 『Data Sovereignty』 — Ability to control all of the Archive's magical defenses autonomously.]
"Master..." Lyra knelt, but now her presence was sharp, almost human. "I feel the sensor network. I... I am the Archive now."
"Yes," Eryon said. "You are the mind, Merlin is the spirit, and Shanks and Esdeath are the shield and the sword."
3. The State of the World: The Board Moves
As the South rebuilt, news traveled fast.
In Ruberios, Hinata Sakaguchi presented her report to the Seven Days Council and the God Luminous (in the shadows). "He is not a devouring monster like the Slime," she wrote. "He is a monster who writes his own rules. The South of Jura is no longer human territory."
In Tempest, Rimuru read the Great Sage's updates with a bead of sweat on his face. "Eryon got the Seed... and even faced Hinata?" Rimuru looked at Benimaru. "We have to strengthen our alliance. The South is going to become the world's lightning rod."
But the real danger came from afar. In Clayman's Territory, the Marionette Demon Lord smashed a wine glass in fury. "An Archive? An Architect? Falmuth failed miserably!" Clayman smiled sinisterly. "If the Church can't kill him, perhaps I should send a 'visitor' to see what kind of knowledge he keeps... Milim Nava would be curious about a new toy, wouldn't she?"
Night at the Archive
Eryon sat at the top of the tower with Shanks by his side. The redhead offered him a bottle of sake he had brought from Dwargon.
"You drank a lot today, Captain," Shanks joked, looking at the souls still hovering like embers in the air. "Are you ready for what comes next? Being a Lord isn't just about power. It's about having a target on your back."
"I chose this path, Shanks," Eryon replied, taking a sip. "The world wanted to destroy what I created before they even knew me. Now... they'll have to ask for permission to enter."
Shanks laughed, his Haki pulsing in a friendly manner. "Then let's make sure the door is very heavy."