134 - Mephistopheles [Mephistopheles – Phase 3] [HP: 1,439,294/4,444,444]

Sweeping back his white hair, Mephistopheles gave a bitter smile. "I see. I can't sense them. Baalzebub, Belphegor, Asmodeus."

"It was all you who wiped them out! Should I thank you for eliminating my rivals or what?!"

In the war among demons to seize Yggdrasil, the sole survivor was, disappointingly, Mephistopheles alone.

How many long years had he wasted gathering power since the Primordial Annihilation? The malice wandering the world had coalesced into dust, the dust became a lizard drifting through the shadows, that lizard grew into a snake, then an eagle, and finally, over thousands of years, its will reached humanity. Compared to the ten years it took Yggdrasil to grow, it was an incomparably vast span of time.

"Yes, they were impatient. They couldn't wait the final ten years and squandered millennia of endurance. But I won't make that mistake."

Bubbles boiled up from his torso, gaping wide enough to see straight through, and his flesh began regenerating. His million-or-so HP alone rivaled an entire floating city. Not a walking tank—a walking city. As his purple eyes glowed brighter, the mana streams in the atmosphere swirled madly, gathering in his grasp. Trees without deep roots snapped with creaks, house-sized boulders flew helplessly. And to counter this, all Nami had been given were four laurel trees with a mere 16x output enhancement coefficient.

"No way, my big sis isn't that weak!" The silver cat yelled at the viewers. Couldn't they really sense it? It wasn't just Mephistopheles gathering power.

And as if to confirm that, Nami's golden eyes blazed red.

"Humans killing each other is just how it is."

Nami had lived through an era of constant war. Hundreds of corpses becoming crow food, eroding away without even bones left—it wasn't even a rare sight. Humans killed humans, humans killed demons, demons killed humans in return. In that endless cycle of slaughter, she remembered those who fell without even leaving a name.

"But humans saving humans—that's human too."

Paradoxically, the battlefield was filled with goodwill. Women carrying soldiers who'd lost legs to bombings over mountains day and night, mercenaries burning their own bodies to protect civilians from monsters, humans and demons banding together to shield village kids. When killing enemies, there was no malice, but when saving lives, nothing but goodwill existed on that battlefield.

That's why Nami believed in the possibility of goodness. If she could just halt wars across the world for one moment, give everyone a brief chance to breathe, maybe she could end that madness.

That's why she'd stolen the Key to Paradise to turn back Alpenheim Holy Kingdom's army, stolen Agnes's Tear to nullify the Prague Empire's intervention.

"Eternal world peace and rest? Only mad war hawks ever spouted that nonsense."

The common folk didn't seek grand ideals. They just wanted ordinary, peaceful days—tilling fields by day, gathering for meals and laughter when time came—continuing the same tomorrow, whether human or demon. Regardless of race, the princess always spoke for them.

"If you wanna call someone like me the Demon King, then go ahead—call me whatever you want."

Five magic circles of varying sizes appeared above Nami's head. Not different spells—all inscribed with molecular formulas for polymer compounds in an instant. Magic recording speed can't exceed the caster's thought speed. But completing a massive circuit structure ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠no human brain could hold in a split second was enough to make anyone doubt that axiom.

As the five circles merged into one, the magic circle unleashed its full glory, illuminating everything—the world, even insects hidden in weeds. It shrank steadily, settling on Nami's head like a crown the size of a human skull.

Hummm—

Bursting through her sunlit hair came a one-span black horn. Straight out from both sides, its bony tip sharp and keen, fused seamlessly with her skull as if always there. Confirming ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the horn rising with thick malice, Nami curled her lips in satisfaction.

"I'll make sure you never say that crap again."

* * *

Demons were generally more adept at magic than swordsmanship, thanks to their racial horns. Horns purified demonic energy while reading mana flows. It was like having a built-in calculator on their head for casting—naturally superior to humans in magic attainment. Plus, in the game world, mana flows were constant. If you could derive the exact environmental coefficient, you could cast without massive power, like a boat drifting downstream. Nami was convinced of it.

How incredible casting every spell at its optimal solution was? Adella's shock proved it.

"Magic circles from the horn...! Sis, were you an angel...?"

The thousand spears Mephistopheles hurled at Nami twisted off course, blocked by fierce wind pressure.

Mephistopheles's strikes, deadly even on a graze, were repeatedly blocked by Nami's sword strikes. From watching his battle videos, Nami had already realized why the final boss was impossible for ordinary players. Mephistopheles learned every player attack, countered, even mimicked them. Similar to schadenfreude at a glance, but he always allowed the first strike. Players had to research new patterns or spells each time until his HP dropped. The boss grew stronger, but early weakness was inevitable—until 4 million raw HP covered it all.

But none of that applied to Nami.

The 4th Circle spell cast for a mere 120 MP. A razor-sharp niobium spear flew at hypersonic speed, piercing Mephistopheles's heart. Confirming him stagger, Nami immediately linked her first-form unique magic to Adella.

"Let's go, Adella—now!"

Thinking back to Jin Chronicle (Asmodeus), this was far easier. How restricted she'd been by that main penalty.

"Never thought I'd kill this many demons in my life...!"

Hundreds of blades ravaged Mephistopheles's stunned body. Adella instinctively knew her strikes were on another level. The sword felt light, yet packed no less power. Two daggers and one longsword scattered afterimages in the air. Accelerating, the two girls unleashed 300 consecutive strikes before pulling far back from the demon.

Nami's horn resonated with a delay.

Mephistopheles's flesh began crumbling. Like Jin Chronicle's demon turning to black slime.

"You dare use parlor tricks...!"

But Mephistopheles endured, it seemed.

"Watching an idiot who can't even grasp his own death lecture about the world... it's just pathetic."

Mana raged in a frenzy. So thick, red afterimages were visible swirling around the demon. This was energy on another level from prior spells.

"It's laughable."

30 million degrees Celsius incinerated the demon body and soul. Twice the sun's core—unbearable for any intelligent life. Blood-soaked skin melted away. The demon shed its flesh limits, reverting to mist. The mist held stars, galaxies, finally the universe. Swelling and pulsing, it split and reformed, blanketing the sky.

"Self-destruct already..."

Their strikes had been enough to end him. But under system protection, the demon converted all stats to energy for one guaranteed survival.

Nami swiftly hoisted Adella over her shoulder and kicked off the ground.

"The map size...?" Nami swallowed a groan at the shrunken map. No direction allowed escape beyond 3km.

"Teacher! Immortal Curse trait!" one viewer shouted desperately. A cheat trait granting 5 seconds of invincibility. No cooldown luckily, but the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠issue was elsewhere.

Nami closed her eyes, recalling countless Nightmare clear videos she'd referenced. Two minutes from now, instant-death skill drops from above. Then? Three seconds after Dirge cast, world reconstructs, ending tallies combat score.

'When's the clear judgment?'

Adella, eyes squeezed shut against the gale, clung silently in Nami's arms.

"Everyone, when's the story clear judgment?!"

Clear was done. But players had to survive Dirge to the end. Combining conditions, Nami's mind raced faster than ever.

Trait sharing bug? No—hotfixed cleanly four years ago per patch notes.

Map break possible? Unknown in Mephistopheles's final arena.

'One shelter to survive...!'

If cleared, open world was now in Wearsoft's database. Admin access could reach world 'data' itself. Couldn't touch entity-bound traits, but individual skills maybe.

'What if steal targets the entity itself, not just skill?'

If she could precisely 'identify' Adella, she could transfer via skill. 560 lines of skill code unfolded before her eyes. Even this simple copy-target skill bloated with bug/error fixes.

Scanning source fast, confirming one added line caused no issue, she deployed new magic.

Blue Dragon, Black Tower's grand sage, her master's master—Tresvis Austin's masterpiece.

One of Nami's horns shattered, unable to withstand the compressed power at its limit.

Persona Pyxis—the box containing a persona.