The system, however, refused to engage.
Instead, the timer in the corner of her vision maliciously ticked down another several seconds, a cold reminder that every moment spent arguing brought her one step closer to becoming some bottom-of-the-barrel monster.
Lilith huffed, clicking her tongue in annoyance as she straightened her clothes. Gritting her teeth, she stormed into the forest of spheres, determined to make use of this cursed "gift" she'd received in exchange for having no social life.
She broke into a run.
Her gaze swept over row after row of orbs that now spilled information like an overflowing faucet, though most of it only made her brow furrow in deep disappointment.
[ GNOME (DEMON KING RACE) ] Type: Low-class. Ability to dig tunnels. Useless in open combat.
[ GOBLIN (DEMON KING RACE) ] Type: Low-class. Rapid reproduction, but extremely low individual survivability.
[ ARACHNE (DEMON KING RACE) ] Type: Low-class. Web manipulation. Vulnerable to fire.
[ SKELETON (DEMON KING RACE) ] Type: Low-class. Easy to shatter. Lacks organs for regeneration.
[ KOBOLD (DEMON KING RACE) ] Type: Low-class. Keen sense of smell. Lacks real piercing power.
[ HARPY (DEMON KING RACE) ] Type: Low-class. Fragile wings. Pathetic defensive stats.
[ ZOMBIE (DEMON KING RACE) ] Type: Low-class. Slow movement. Repulsive odor.
Are you kidding me? There's an infinite number of these damn orbs, so why is most of it just garbage?
Lilith thought, picking up her pace. Sweat began to bead at her temples. The realization that without a powerful lineage she'd be wiped off the map by hero armies acted like a cold shower.
I need something powerful. Something that'll make those "saviors of the world" think twice before they come knocking on my door...
She ran deeper into the thicket of black spheres where the air felt denser, heavier. The glow emanating from the orbs shifted to a deeper hue, immediately triggering new notifications.
[ RED ORC (DEMON KING RACE) ] Type: Mid-class. High physical strength. Bonus to battle frenzy.
[ DARK ELF (DEMON KING RACE) ] Type: Mid-class. High agility. Access to shadow magic.
[ OGRE (DEMON KING RACE) ] Type: Mid-class. Gigantic endurance. Low mobility.
Lilith slowed for a moment, nodding slowly as her eyes darted from one sphere to the next. Her heart was now drumming with pure adrenaline.
"Okay, that sounds way better than being an oversized glob of snot or a lizard with a radar, but it's still just 'mid-class,'" she muttered. "I don't want to be mediocre in a world where the stakes are my total erasure from existence..."
Somewhere further ahead, in the very heart of this dark forest of souls, something truly worthy of the title "King" had to be hiding.
Lilith wiped the sweat from her eyes with the back of her hand. Her lungs burned like they were filled with liquid fire with every gasp of stale air, but she didn't stop. The timer was still giving her a fighting chance to escape the fate of a lowly goblin.
She pushed deeper into the gargantuan hall where the darkness became almost tactile and the orbs began to pulse with a heavy, sanguine energy that made the hair on her neck stand on end.
Suddenly, the descriptions above the spheres flashed an intense, royal gold.
[ BLOOD GIANT (DEMON KING RACE) ] Type: High-class. Extreme physical strength and blood-based regeneration. Recommended.
[ EIGHT-EYED SPIDER DEMON (DEMON KING RACE) ] Type: High-class. Control over insect armies. S-rank toxicity. Recommended.
[ DARK SOUL KNIGHT (DEMON KING RACE) ] Type: High-class. Immortal body. Mastery of black swordsmanship. Recommended.
[ ANCIENT ICE WYVERN (DEMON KING RACE) ] Type: High-class. Dominion over the frost element. Massive mobility. Recommended.
[ DEMONIC CANNIBAL (DEMON KING RACE) ] Type: High-class. Ability to steal victims' skills. Highly recommended.
The girl skidded to a halt, bracing her hands on her knees. She was gasping so hard her chest ached with every heave, and droplets of sweat splashed onto the grimy floor.
"Dammit... I should've done more cardio in my past life instead of just rotting over books and work," she rasped, a faint smirk playing on her lips.
These names carried the weight of true power. They offered a real glimmer of hope.
"Eight-eyed spider sounds terrifying, but that Cannibal... the growth potential is insane. Which one should I pick?"
She straightened up, feeling the pride of a Demon King beginning to take root in her soul. But as she glanced at the clock, her smile vanished faster than it had appeared.
Only 90 seconds left.
"No... if the further I go, the stronger they get, then there must be something absolutely legendary at the very end! Just a little further!" she screamed into the empty hall, forcing her numb legs into one last sprint.
She blurred past more orbs, her Analysis throwing out increasingly impressive descriptions: Behemoth... Lich Death Lord... Hellfire Archdemon... Shadow Sovereign... Doom Titan...
Lilith was laughing almost hysterically now as she ran, but suddenly, as the clock hit the final minute, the quality of the descriptions plummeted.
[ WATER SLIME (DEMON KING RACE) ]
[ DEMONIC FIELD MOUSE (DEMON KING RACE) ]
[ SICKLY GOBLIN (DEMON KING RACE) ]
[ ONE-ARMED SKELETON (DEMON KING RACE) ]
[ ROTTING ZOMBIE (DEMON KING RACE) ]
[ SMALL CAVE BAT (DEMON KING RACE) ]
[ STONE MOLE (DEMON KING RACE) ]
She stopped dead.
Her face went pale with horror as she looked around. She was surrounded by hundreds of orbs containing the weakest, most bottom-tier races. It was as if the system was mocking her greed.
"Oh, fuck! What do I do?! Keep going?!" she shrieked, panic constricting her throat. "Wasn't it 'the deeper, the stronger'? Why am I back to slimes?!"
She spun around, desperate to run back to the High-class section, but her legs refused to move. Her brain quickly calculated the distance.
I won't make it. Thirty seconds left. God, what was I thinking?! Tears of helplessness welled in her eyes. Her bottom lip trembled so violently she had to bite down on it, tasting the metallic tang of blood.
"NOOOOO! IT CAN'T END LIKE THIS!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, a cry of pure, primal fury and fear.
She bolted forward, deeper into the darkness. She stopped looking at the sides, desperately scanning only the space directly ahead as the counter hit 20 seconds.
[ WORKER ANT (DEMON KING RACE) ]
[ BLOODSUCKING MOSQUITO (DEMON KING RACE) ]
[ WEAK CARNIVOROUS PLANT (DEMON KING RACE) ]
Faster, faster, please! she thought, clenching her teeth so hard it hurt.
Ten seconds left.
[ LESSER VAMPIRE (DEMON KING RACE) Mid-class... ]
[ WEREWOLF (DEMON KING RACE) Mid-class... ]
[ UPYR (DEMON KING RACE) Mid-class... ]
"Not enough! Still not enough!" she screamed.
At the 5-second mark, the colors flared gold once more.
[ DRAGON KNIGHT (DEMON KING RACE) ] High-class. Extreme physical strength and magic regeneration through combat...
[ FALLEN SERAPH (DEMON KING RACE) ] High-class. Extremely powerful demonic magic...
[ CATASTROPHE LORD (DEMON KING RACE) ] High-class. Extremely durable physical body capable of bringing disaster to the world...
Lilith laughed through her tears, reaching out her hand to point at the nearest High-class orb. But then, her gaze pierced through the final row of spheres and struck the very back of the temple.
There, tucked against the far wall in the heart of the deepest shadow, levitated a void.
It was a rift in reality, a blackness so profound that the light from the neighboring orbs seemed to be sucked into it, vanishing without a trace.
Lilith felt the air in the room suddenly thicken, becoming heavy and suffocating, saturated with the scent of musk and an approaching storm. The orb cast no light, yet it radiated a striking, feverish heat. It made the blood in her veins race, pulsing with a rhythm she'd never known. A swarm of delicate butterflies fluttered in her stomach.
Driven by a wild, primal instinct she couldn't explain, her finger bypassed the High-class Catastrophe Lord and snapped straight toward that solitary orb by the wall.
"I CHOOSE THIS ONE!" she screamed, just as the timer flipped from one to zero.
In a fraction of a second, the entire temple was plunged into absolute silence. The millions of black orbs vanished as if they had never existed.
In the vast, empty space, only the one Lilith was pointing at remained.
Lilith looked at the description of that final sphere. Her heart stopped for a beat as she read the message. The blood in her veins turned to ice.
"What the... fuck?!"
Her voice cracked on the last syllable, echoing off the floor like an accusation hurled at the levitating sphere.