Shameless Bluff
The moment the spacetime distortion engulfed me, a bizarre sensation washed over my senses.
An overwhelming weight and volume pressed down, as though the entire world had been compressed and layered over the surface of my body. My field of vision was stained pitch-black, but based on past experience, this was not what dying felt like.
This had to be the result of triggering the Ring of Absolute Evasion. Seeking to resolve the doubt, I tentatively cast my eyes downward.
"...Hahaha."
A dry, hollow chuckle was all that escaped my lips.
Whatever was supposed to be my body had been squashed and smeared beyond recognition. It wasn't that flesh and bone had been physically crushed into paste, nor had my innards burst open. Rather, it looked as though my form had been converted into pure pigment, diluted with water, and splattered across an immense canvas.
It resembled an occult phenomenon more than any physical state.
While I couldn't say for certain, considering how the Ring of Absolute Evasion functioned, my body likely had to be reduced to this condition just to 'evade' Rubias's strike.
"..."
Once again, I felt the sharp divide between the game and reality. In the game, the relic had simply rolled an evasion check and popped up a prompt, but translated into reality, it had become a supernatural monstrosity that bent the fundamental laws of nature. The same went for the black spear from the Absolute Counter Ring that I'd never heard of back then. Did artifacts receive arbitrary buffs when brought into the real world?
A stronger relic was certainly welcome, but the problem was that artifacts weren't the only things getting buffed. From what I had seen, the Demon King's authorities also defied all imagination. Truly, I had a long road ahead of me.
Wuuung—!
"..."
The effect of the Absolute Evasion Ring seemed to be wearing off. Seeing how my body showed no sign of returning to normal, I wondered if I might actually die like this. Still, rolling over and dying quietly wasn't in my nature. Even if I was going to die, I ought to go down swinging.
"Twice the power of that strike, huh... I hope it deals at least a scratch."
When I raised my right hand, the Absolute Counter Ring scattered a pitch-black energy into the air. The instant I focused my consciousness, the erupting power surged outward like an ink-black fog, seeping into the very fabric of space.
Crrack! Craaack!
Immediately after, the surrounding space began to warp, buckle, and shriek in agony.
"..."
Now what was this? I had expected a monstrous black spear scaled to the attack's sheer destructive force, but from the look of things, the counter was taking an entirely different form. Was it because the Demon King's attack had been so abnormal? In the game, the ring countered anything—even a Demon King's ultimate strike—with a brutish, brainless body slam. I had no idea why it had mutated into this.
Crack! Screeech! Cshaaang!
The fractures tearing through space shattered all at once like pane glass, laying bare the scenery beyond.
Within that frozen landscape, everything stood entirely still, as if time itself had ground to a halt. Coated in aura around their respective weapons, Muriel, Rebecca, and Cacciola were frozen right on the verge of striking the Demon King, resembling figures painted on a canvas.
"...I don't know why time stopped, but if I'd been a second later, they'd all be corpses."
Even heavily weakened after descending into the Divine Realm, a Demon King was an existence that couldn't be meaningfully harmed by anything short of a Sword Master's Aura Blade. Conversely, even the Demon King's most casual swipe would be lethal.
Fwoooosh! Screeech—!
Right then, accompanied by a grating screech, the entire landscape distorted and began collapsing violently inward toward the Demon King.
Skrrr-crrrk!
Like a jagged buzzsaw carving through matter, it ripped clean through the Demon King's body, leaving behind a ragged, violent furrow.
"...*Guhk—?!*"
The very next instant, frozen time resumed its natural flow. A horrifying gale erupted, and the Demon King went flying in a spray of blood, slamming violently into the Predator Root.
—Kuooooooh...!!
Standing solid as a mountain, the Predator Root unleashed a sorrowful roar before exploding into hundreds of mangled pieces. Blowing up a field boss just from the stray shockwave... Exactly what kind of technique had I reflected back at her?
"Phew..."
The moment I slipped out of that bizarre state and touched down on solid ground, my footing gave out and I stumbled.
"What... Lord Aljen?!"
"Lord Aljen! Are you unharmed?!"
"What the hell just happened?! You vanish into thin air, then pop right back out! Nothing makes any sense!"
Hearing the three women's frantic shouts, I reached out to tilt back a bottle, only to grimace when I realized my hand was empty.
"...Muriel. Booze."
"Lord Aljen. Perhaps you should withdraw. It is far too dangerous here."
"We can't run anyway. Can't you see that over there?"
"Kh...?!"
"Already?!"
I gestured with my chin toward Rubias, who was already pulling herself upright despite having been blown away while shedding torrents of blood. All three women instantly dropped into combat stances.
"Drop it. You'll just get yourselves killed. Don't pull anything stupid and stay put. That's an order. Muriel, just hand over the bottle."
"...Understood."
Muriel produced a bottle from the Subspace Pouch strapped to her waist and handed it to me.
"Ha, hahaha! Ahahahaha! To be struck by my own technique—this is a first! A complete first! How fortunate that I refrained from reading the future! To think I could taste an experience like this!"
Just as I took a swig of liquor, Rubias's madness-laced voice rang out across the clearing.
"Is it the power of a relic?! What a magnificent artifact! Never have I seen nor heard of such a thing! Kuhahaha...! Stanashila Aljen! What comes next? How will you surprise me now?! How do you intend to drag this great one to death?! Show me! Show me everything!"
"Quit spouting bullshit and sit your ass down. Why don't you finish peeling those leftover fruits instead?"
"...What?"
Approaching with an utterly dumbfounded expression, Rubias was a gruesome sight. Deep furrows gouged across her flesh exposed bone and viscera, gushing blood in heavy streams, and one of her arms was missing entirely. Seeing regeneration already underway despite such injuries, her life didn't seem to be in danger... but the fact that her blood was just as crimson as a human's stirred a strange sentiment within me.
"All we did just now was trade a punch each. Just some casual roughhousing between pals. You really planning on keeping this up? If so, I'm all out of tricks. Go ahead and kill me."
When I put on a brazen, nonchalant act as if combat couldn't be further from my mind, her face twisted in disbelief.
"...What are you scheming, Stanashila Aljen?"
"Well, I do have a scheme, but it requires a bit of waiting. So in the meantime, let's just chew on some fruit."
I took an unripe apple from the fruit basket and tossed it to her. Catching it effortlessly, she stared down at it.
"Utterly absurd. Never have I encountered a human like you, Stanashila Aljen."
"Is that so? I'm honored."
"...Fufufu. That is precisely why you are so fascinating, so delightful... I know not what you aim for, but did you truly believe I would simply wait for you?"
"Obviously."
"Oho? You possess grounds for such composure? Then I must hear it. Just what is it that grants you such faith?"
"Aside from you, is there anything else around here worth trusting?"
"Hmm?"
"I know you. You'd never let go of your own pleasure, your amusement, your curiosity. And deep down, you don't even like fighting that much. What you truly crave is a bond beyond combat."
Locking eyes with her, I offered a faint smirk.
"Isn't that right, Demon King Rubias? You who are so thoroughly, pitifully, terribly alone."
"...Kh-ha, haha, ahahaha..."
Even at my mockery, Rubias's expression contorted between laughter and tears before she mended her wounds in an instant.
Squelch! Crr-rack!
Even her severed arm regenerated completely.
"Khh...!"
Though the process clearly cost her—cold sweat beaded on her brow as she gritted her teeth—she emerged entirely restored, baring her teeth in a grin steeped in ecstasy.
"Can you fathom what I think right now, what sentiments stir within me, Stanashila Aljen?"
"...How the hell would I know?"
"Goosebumps rose across my flesh. I shivered with rapture. You truly understand me. Across the endless, meaningless expanse of eternity, boredom was not the only torment to plague me. There was something far more excruciating."
Torn and shredded, her dress exposed far more skin than before, yet she strode forward without a shred of shame and brought her hand to my cheek.
"Do you know what it was?"
"...You probably realized this already, but everything I said was just pretty talk. Pure lies from start to finish. I'm not some long-lost friend of yours, and we can never be friends in the future either. Because sooner or later, I have to kill you."
At my words, she smiled with a look of poignant sorrow.
"Solitude. It was a fatal malignancy gnawing at my sanity. The acute realization that I was entirely alone in this world was a monstrous terror that made even me, a Demon King, shudder and tremble in fear."
As she slowly caressed my face, the air around her began to shift.
"Reminiscing over the past, peering into the future, indulging in idle games—none could fill that void, none could conquer that fear. But now, at long last, I shall be freed from that malignancy. Stanashila Aljen. Because of you. By taking you into myself."
As though something had been replenished. Or as though something tightly coiled had come undone. A gentle, languid warmth radiated from her.
"I still do not know who you truly are. Nor can I begin to divine the truth behind the words you utter. Yet even so, this one acknowledges you as a dear friend. In the past, in the future, for all eternity, my only friend shall be you."
"Ha, says who?"
"Fufufu. By my own will, naturally. Surely you have not forgotten what stands before you—that I am a greedy, selfish, and arrogant Demon King."
Tssssss!
"Kh...!"
Starting from my left hand, an agonizing pain felt as though it had seized my brain and violently shaken it, forcing me to grit my teeth before a scream could even escape.
"Indeed. As you said, I cannot kill you. For if I take your life, I shall be left all alone once more... Thus, I shall bestow a blessing upon you instead. In the name of the Demon King."
Like a serpent studded with needles rather than scales, the agony slithered upward, reaching my shoulder in the blink of an eye.
"Khuuugh...!"
Pulsing as if alive while drilling straight into my marrow, the searing pain eventually subsided, revealing what it had wrought.
"...Hey. What is this?"
Staring down at my left arm—now etched with intricate, tattoo-like patterns reminiscent of a clock face—I demanded an explanation. She sank onto the ground before me, flashing an eerie, delighted smile.
"A portion of my soul, of my authority. I have shared it with you. Now, you and I are practically of one flesh."
"...You crazy psycho bitch. Is this the same curse you put on Perdio Hadim?"
"Tut-tut. How distressing that you would equate the two. What is etched into your flesh is not a 'curse,' but a 'blessing.' It will bring you no harm whatsoever. If anything, it will prove a great boon."
Using her authority to ripen the green apple in an instant, Rubias took a massive bite, swallowed, and grinned, baring her teeth.
"Ah, though as a minor side effect, your body might undergo demonic mutation... but such a trivial thing hardly qualifies as a downside."
"...I'm so touched I could cry."
"Oh, there is no need for such gratitude. Whatever I bestow upon my very first friend, I could never consider it a waste."
Crunch, crunch!
Devouring the entire apple in mere seconds, she licked her lips, her chilling gaze sweeping over me. It was the unadulterated stare of a beast sizing up its prey.
"Stanashila Aljen. Come to the Demon Realm with me. Live with me for eternity."
"Bull-fucking-shit. Do I look like an idiot?"
Smirking, I brought a hand to my ear and sent a signal through the communication artifact. Her battle lust seemed to have cooled, so the Absolute Ring Set's condition should have reset by now.
"You're going to die right here, Demon King Rubias."
"Hmm...?"
Just as she tilted her head with an inquisitive hum, an overwhelming wave of divine power surged into the area, taking command of the surroundings.
Confirming that the reinforcements I'd been waiting for had arrived, I slowly pushed myself up, wearing a grin as I let slip another lie.
"Let's kill each other, friend."
"...You are welcome to try anytime, my friend."
Baring a feral grin at my words, Rubias unleashed a tempest of demonic momentum.