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The entrance to the Ninth Floor, the domain of Demon Sovereign.

A place that no one, including the students of Zerion Academy, has ever reached.

Even the generation of Azure Sky, who had reached this floor, ultimately failed to proceed beyond this point.

Yet, here I was, standing alongside Isabel.

Even I was taken aback by the situation.

"What is this place? The pressure is overwhelming."

Isabel instinctively felt that this door should never be opened.

And those very words—I'd seen them countless times in Flame Butterfly.

‘When a character reaches the entrance to the Ninth Floor, the Domain of Demon Sovereign, they always utter these exact lines.’

And none of them had ever managed to open the door.

They were simply crushed by the overwhelming presence of Demon Sovereign.

【 This is a realm beyond the reach of challengers. 】

A system message that appears when reaching the entrance to the Ninth Floor of the Demon Dungeon.

This message is only displayed if one arrives before completing the scenario.

And at this point, the character immediately retreats.

Entry into Demon Sovereign's domain is only possible after completing the scenario.

But I know what lies beyond this door.

‘If you reach this place after finishing the scenario, there’s nothing there.’

What awaits the player is an empty chamber.

A vast, hollow space devoid of anything, filled only with silence.

And then, the ending credits roll.

That’s why I questioned Demon Sovereign’s death.

At the end of the scenario, we faced Demon Sovereign in battle.

But was Demon Sovereign truly defeated?

If so, why is the Demon Dungeon left as nothing more than an empty room?

Players had debated this mystery for ages, yet the developers never provided an answer.

And now—

Here I stood before that very door.

I gazed at the entrance to Demon Sovereign’s domain.

Isabel, face pale as a sheet, had already stepped back.

Judging by her expression, she was ready to turn and run at any moment.

But what about me?

My feet remained firmly planted in place.

Like Isabel, I could feel the pressure.

An undeniable sense that I absolutely must not enter this place.

Yet, I did not retreat.

The reason was simple.

‘The Veil Bandages.’

The Veil Bandages, which symbolizes lost love.

Love, in all its meanings—including self-love.

That part of me was broken.

The part that valued my own life had been shattered.

‘Right now…’

My hand reached out toward Demon Sovereign’s door.

I could open it.

I was certain of it.

"Y-you…!"

Isabel’s voice rang out in alarm.

My hand froze just before touching the door.

If I opened it now, I would undoubtedly come face-to-face with Demon Sovereign.

But then what?

Could I defeat Demon Sovereign in my current state?

I clenched my fist tightly.

I couldn’t.

To take down Demon Sovereign, I would need to assemble the strongest force possible.

That much, I was certain of.

I withdrew my hand.

What use was opening it now?

Even if I did, I wouldn’t be able to defeat the being lurking beyond this door.

‘I only got here by chance.’

This was not my own strength.

Reaching this floor through sheer luck was meaningless.

But I made a silent promise to the one beyond this door.

“I will return.”

And when I do, I’ll land a solid punch on that cursed face.

With that, I turned to leave.

But then, something caught my eye beneath the door.

My eyes widened slightly.

‘…This is…’

On the floor, there were drag marks—something heavy had been pulled across the ground.

And these marks were connected to Demon Sovereign’s door.

Back when I played Flame Butterfly, I never gave them much thought.

The limitations of pixel graphics meant such details weren’t clearly visible.

But now, in reality, I could see everything in perfect detail.

I turned my gaze back to Demon Sovereign’s door.

‘Could it be…?’

Had someone—one of the Apostles—actually reached Demon Sovereign?

The thought crossed my mind briefly, but I quickly shook my head.

‘That’s too far-fetched.’

If that were the case, the Apostles would have already broken free, and the surface world would be in ruins.

Still, something about it nagged at me.

‘Maybe I should consult Professor Vega about this.’

As a member of the Azure Sky generation, she might know something.

For now, I decided to set this matter aside and turned to leave.

"Isabel."

"Y-yeah?"

"From now on, it’s a time attack."

Isabel’s eyes widened in confusion.

She didn’t immediately understand what I meant.

So I spelled it out for her.

"This is the Ninth Floor of the Demon Dungeon."

"The… Ninth Floor?"

Her face turned to stone.

Even someone as cheerful as Isabel understood just how dangerous this place was.

Under normal circumstances, we wouldn’t be ready to traverse this place for another year.

“This time, the Demon Dungeon opened earlier than expected.”

It was likely the reason we got caught up in this event before we were prepared.

Since the dungeon had opened prematurely, the entire space was unstable.

I might have ended up here by chance.

But Isabel?

That was no accident.

‘She has the Goddess’s Wings.’

The one power Demon Sovereign fears most.

The divine blessing meant to eradicate evil.

The Demon Dungeon must have reacted to the presence of the Goddess’s Wings, causing distortions in space.

"This means the Apostles were also born earlier than expected."

A premature birth would have left the Apostles scrambling.

Which meant that, above us, the Demon Dungeon was already swarming with them.

And there was no way the Academy students would be able to handle them easily.

"We need to escape before any more Apostles reach this floor."

But there was another problem lurking in the depths of the dungeon.

Apostles that had survived for too long, hidden away in its corridors.

The longer an Apostle survives, the stronger it becomes.

Naturally, apostles with names are well-known for their danger.

However, I know every single one of them inside out.

'At this point, named apostles aren't much of an obstacle anyway.'

In the Autumn Demon Dungeon, the named apostles are scattered throughout the dungeon for their own reasons.

The dungeon is absurdly vast.

If you know the paths well, you can escape without encountering a single one.

And who am I?

Flame Butterfly Arc, 29th iteration veteran player.

If you count the bad endings I deliberately sought out, my experience is at least twice that.

'While others are descending the floors, we have to ascend instead.'

That means we're racing against time.

Before the other apostles flood in and reshape the terrain, we take the path filled only with named apostles.

"From now on, just follow me."

No reckless actions allowed.

No objections tolerated.

The only goal is to get out alive.

"…Alright."

Perhaps sensing my sincerity, Isabel nodded without complaint.

Demon Dungeon escape squad.

Time to move.

* * *

Second-year Autumn Demon Dungeon.

Ninth Floor Demon Dungeon.

Starfield.

The ninth floor, where an endless cascade of stars rains down from the night sky.

The environment on this floor never changes.

As a result, the named apostles that reside here also remain the same.

Named Apostle: Star Keeper.

An apostle who commands the countless stars scattered across the starfield.

It was the only named apostle recorded by the Azure Sky Generation, who once reached the ninth floor.

To face it, certain conditions must be met.

But right now, we don’t meet a single one of them.

That leaves us with only one option.

Crawling across the starlit plains, as radiant as the stars in the sky.

Isabel and I are connected by Veil Bandages.

Thanks to this, and our camouflage similar to a ghillie suit, we are nearly indistinguishable from the starfield.

It has been a week of crawling.

Every muscle in my body screamed, but there is no choice.

Even slightly lifting our heads above the starlit plains would bring a star crashing down on us.

If we want to survive, this is the only way.

"…I never imagined we'd have to do this on the ninth floor."

Isabel's face visibly reflected exhaustion.

After a week of crawling, it’s no surprise.

"Better this than standing up and dying."

She let out a pained groan, not expecting this kind of progress.

I calmly respond.

"Star Keeper is beyond our current ability to handle."

"Yeah, I can see that."

Isabel possesses the ability to assess an opponent's strength.

And she knows that the Star Keeper, who moves freely among the stars, is far beyond our capabilities.

"Don’t worry. The Star Keeper doesn’t attack anything below the starfield."

But that only applies to the Star Keeper.

Boom—

At that moment, the ground beneath us trembled.

I pressed close to Isabel, holding her down.

If she reacted instinctively and rose even slightly, it would be fatal.

"…You're pressing down too hard, and it hurts."

"Sorry, just bear with it for now."

She complained about the discomfort, but we had no choice.

Boom!

A colossal form passed in front of us—

A serpent made of stardust, slamming its belly against the ground at regular intervals as it moved forward.

But its head was nowhere to be seen.

Apostle: Samsara.

The largest apostle in the Demon Dungeon, its massive body bridges the sky and earth.

It moves as if it were a singular, continuous entity.

No one has ever seen Samsara’s head.

What is certain, however, is that it endlessly traverses the ninth floor from beginning to end.

The one passing by now lost its senses long ago.

It won't notice us.

But if we obstruct its path, disaster will strike.

"…The ninth floor is far more dangerous than I imagined."

Perhaps overwhelmed by the sheer difference in scale from the lower floors, Isabel swallowed hard.

"But in a way, this is better. The eighth floor will be much worse, with little room for negotiation."

Yet, I couldn’t exactly say that the floors above the ninth were easier.

The beings here are so far beyond normal limits that they have little interest in anything besides themselves.

As long as the rules are followed, combat can be avoided.

That was why the Azure Sky Generation once questioned—

Why hadn’t these beings reached the depths of the Demon Dungeon, attained their full power, and risen to the surface?

It was a mystery they never solved.

But the eighth floor is different.

The named apostles there are starved for human prey.

Just as humans descend through the Demon Dungeon’s layers, apostles must also descend, but only after accumulating enough power.

‘They need to fully absorb the power to be reborn as complete apostles.’

For them, the top priority is absorbing as much of dungeon’s power as possible.

So while they will descend, they will never ascend.

This is a rule imposed upon them until they are fully formed as apostles.

On the ninth floor, the power of the Demon Sovereign is already being drained by the Star Keeper and Samsara.

That’s why many named apostles on the eighth floor remain there, gathering power instead of advancing.

‘And some of them were so dangerous that even the Azure Sky Generation had to avoid them.’

That’s what makes the eighth floor more troublesome than the ninth.

‘Just a little further.’

Avoiding both the Star Keeper and Samsara, we finally reached the stairs leading up to the eighth floor.

At last, Isabel and I could stop crawling and stand up.

After a week of unrelenting tension, exhaustion was clear on Isabel’s face.

But it’s fine.

Our goal isn’t to push forward.

It’s to return.

All we need to do is retrace our path in reverse.

"Isabel, we’re resting on the stairs. Get some sleep."

"Got it."

Isabel finally allowed herself to relax and catch her breath.

After moving like this for so long, both of us were aching all over.

I turned my gaze toward the stairs leading to the eighth floor.

Would we be able to escape without engaging in combat?

I couldn’t say for certain.

But we had no choice.

We had to make it out.