"Lure it? What are you talking about! Against something like that? We should just run!" Naneow's cry rang out as she sprinted ahead.

I agreed. There was no time to consider a word like lure, let alone to argue.

The Lurium guarded by that thing was probably there on the first floor, closer to a gas than a liquid. Perhaps, its true self still remained bound there as well.

No. The moment the mud had covered me, conjuring those grotesque memories, I knew. Somehow, I just knew, as if the knowledge had already been mine. Descending was impossible in this situation, meaning escape had to come first.

Yet, Isaac gleamed with fervor, sounding more excited than ever. "That thing is obsessed with you! What if you devour it instead?"

As he laughed in breathless excitement, I looked at him, stunned. "What are you talking about...?"

"You've already escaped it once... no, perhaps twice. The next time will only get easier." Isaac chuckled darkly.

There was no time to press for answers.

"Eat..."

The mud's voice seeped into me, its desire merging with mine. I wanted to seize Naneow and pin her down. To sink my teeth into her neck, and guzzle down her blood.

Could I resist? Could I truly escape? It wasn't the vague fear of death, but the frozen terror that my entire soul would be consumed. My body. My memories. Every part of me.

What exactly was this thing? What connection did it have to me?

One truth was clear: if it covered me again, I would lose myself completely. I had escaped once, but there was no saying when it'd devour me again. Even if contact came, I would need calm judgment. I had to create distance before bringing forth an irreversible end.

I looked toward Miyu, her severed head lying on the ground. A violent green glow flared from the stump of her neck. Could it work?

[Summoning Skeletal Mount!]

I focused with all my will.

Crackle.

The fallen horse rose from the ground. Though its head was gone, the skeletal mount did not falter once. It steadied itself, then charged forward to stand before me. From the void where its head had been, black smoke billowed in shapeless coils.

[Hero-grade Skeletal Mount.]

[— With the head gone, much of its consciousness has been severed.

— Emotion and selfhood erased.

— Functionality maximized.

— Independent action diminished.]

CRACKLE!

Bone and joint burst through flesh, reshaping into jagged spikes. Even its hooves elongated into forms suited for leaping.

"You are... mine... no, you are me...!"

I avoided the muttering smoke and leaped onto the horse's back.

Paat!

Heeding my command, it vaulted twenty meters in a single bound.

Rumble! Rumble!

It was way faster than sprinting. For escape, there was no better option. The distance from the pursuing smoke widened at once.

Rumble! Rumble!

I urged the headless steed onward. The wind sliced so fiercely against me, I had to press myself low against its back.

"Ha! If you could do something like this, why didn't you show me sooner?"

"Here! The passage is still open! Just go through!" Naneow shouted from ahead of the tunnel she had forced open.

Unlike Isaac, who seemed fascinated by the clinging smoke, her voice brimmed with the singular desire to escape as fast as possible. It was a natural reaction.

I drove the mount into the darkness. The third and second floors had no barrier preventing descent. Whether out of trust in Garbera and the duke's presence, or because it no longer mattered within this space of insiders, I did not know. Still, whether it was possible—or if anything could stop what followed—remained uncertain.

Kukung... kukung...

Even as we pushed into the third floor, the clinging smoke never hurried.

Kung. Kung. Kung...

A deep, drawn-out vibration rolled through the passage. It came from the smoke. The sound pounded like an enormous human heart. As if it was almost glad to be reunited. As if it believed we would always be together.

The noise swelled, devouring the space behind us. Each time that heartlike thud rang from within the formless haze, the cavern collapsed to block the path. Yet, the headless mount found solid footholds and vaulted forward in rapid bounds.

The duke's upper body, which had hung suspended in the air, tumbled to the ground. The dried, black Garbera crumbled to powder under the shock. We squeezed through the narrowing tunnel, pressing farther toward the front of the cave. Then, in a breath, the smoke's sticky heartbeat surged, dizzyingly fast.

Kung! Kung! Kung!

"There... there..."

All the interest the black smoke had held in Naneow vanished. With a shriek of hunger, it began to crave something ahead—fiercely, savagely. It was easy to guess what it wanted.

Bzzt! Bzzt!

The flasks, which had endured even the cave-ins without so much as a scratch, popped like thin glass vials.

Bzzt! Puk! Puk! Puk! Puk...

Naneow landed shot after shot, attacking like a madwoman, yet the flasks shattered as easily as torn paper. They didn't resist for even a few seconds. They burst and split, spilling out the limp and helpless humans, along with the transparent liquid.

Tutuk! Tududuk!

The tendrils embedded through their bodies tore free, and the liquid inside gushed out in torrents. Upon meeting the air, the clear fluid ballooned and then split into two colors: pitch black and a familiar silver.

Churup... chyuup... churup...

The smoke lapped greedily at the Lurium sluicing along the wrecked slope. I could feel an almost joyful delight from it as it drank. The smoke stopped.

Naneow halted before the bursting flood. "Ah..."

The moment the flasks shattered, Isaac flipped in midair and dove the other way. He swooped to the floor and gulped the Lurium the smoke missed.

"Do you realize how much this is? This alone is hundreds of times, no, honestly, it's beyond anything I gathered in my entire life!"

The contents of the flasks swelled on contact with air, steaming down until they rose almost to our ankles.

"Incredible... I never imagined a combination that compressed it like this... and the condition for dissolution is contact with air..."

Caw!

"What did I tell you? I said something was going to blow!" The crow screeched savagely and drank the flowing Lurium.

I, too, reined in the steed and reflexively swung down.

Absorb.

Even though we knew we should run, none of us took another step forward. We all turned back toward the flood. It was pure power itself.

For those who understood the use of Lurium, this place was nothing less than a heaven of rapture and awe. And for me, most of all, this mysterious liquid was a milestone in a changing world.

Shiiiiiiiii...

Silver liquid poured in a sheet from the shattered flasks.

[Assimilation Rate has decreased.]

Fluid erupted from the tightly packed rows of flasks and drew into me at a ludicrous speed. A volume that dwarfed my entire mass surged through me again and again, overloading the circuits.

[Assimilation Rate has decreased.]

[56.42%...]

[Class is currently unassigned.]

[Sufficient acquisition of Lurium grants class authorization.]

[54.72%...]

[You have skipped two tiers.]

[Class perks stack cumulatively.]

[Next class is available.]

[Death Knight (Epic!) (New!)]

[This is an Epic class.]

[Class-Unlocked Perk: Number of Ruin]

[Experience is applied at 666%.]

[— With each Level up, you gain 6 additional skill points to distribute.

— Experience for Swordsmanship Skills increases sixfold.

— Experience for Combat and Non-Combat Skills increases sixfold.]

[You have not yet classed up.]

[— Upon reaching 100 Remaining Points, you will automatically class into Death Knight by spending those points.

— The Death Knight stands alone as the sovereign of ten-thousand demons.

— Forgotten Symbols bestow the blessings you are due.]

[Perk: Tomb of Ash]

[— Imbue your weapon with balefire that burns the target until death.

— Because the fire consumes karmic recompense, it may be used only against foes burdened with sufficient sin.

— Unlocks at Class Lv. 5 and Swordsmanship Lv. 15.]

[Perk: Star of Baskerville]

[— The stars observe you.

— Each time you proclaim a Demon King's doctrine, you may forcibly draw upon that Demon King's power.

— Unlocks upon reaching a total Doctrine Level sum of 60.]

[Perk: Tetrabyte's Dispute]

[— The Demon Realm does not agree.

— Monsters that attack you have a high chance to split.

— The more intelligent the monster, the higher the chance of mutual schism.

— Unlocks at Class Lv. 5 and when the Allure Skill line reaches Lv. 10+.]

[Perk: Yuchirin's Regret]

[— Reallocate every Attribute you have assigned so far.

— Unlocks once at a total Attribute sum of 100.

— An additional perk unlocks at a total Attribute sum of 666.]

[Perk: Vetraas's Cold Moon]

[— The secrets of the five moons smile upon you.

— Gravity: Lunar pull favors you. At its extremity, you can even cause earthquakes according to your will.

— Orbit: The moon sometimes swells, sometimes brightens, sometimes sinks into darkness—but it is ever favorable to you. Moon-related Skills and items trigger under the most advantageous conditions regardless of timing.

— Unlocks when the moon recognizes territory under your dominion. (Lordship Lv. 10+)]

Perks so overwhelming they hardly felt real unfurled before me. Even skimming only the sixfold Experience boost and the sixfold Attribute gain, mirroring my days as a Skeleton Soldier. Such absurd powers. Frenzied benefits granted merely because my Class lock had been lifted.

Proof that the Lurium pouring from every side truly was power. Even the condition of surrendering 100 remaining points felt generous. But it didn't end there.

[You have slain a Hero!]

[Pre-stored Hero Points will be forcibly plundered!]

[Exclusive scenario not yet active.]

[You are not the correct user.]

[Gainable Hero Points reduced by 90%.]

[You gain 9,331 points!]

[Current Purchase Power: 35.93%!]

[Anti-World is currently selected.]

[The Shop cannot be used until Purchase Power reaches its maximum.]

[You have slain a Hero!]

[Forcible plunder...]

[You gain 12,039 points!]

[Current Purchase Power: 47.96%!]

[You have slain a Hero!]

[You gain 7,603 points!]

[Current Purchase Power: 55.56%!]

[Forcible plunder...]

[You have slain a Hero!]

[You gain 9,431 points...]

.

.

.

All of these were being counted as my kills.

[Current Purchase Power: 84.23%]

[Anti-World...]

A penalty for forcible plunder. Still, if that penalty meant a 90% reduction, just how colossal were the Hero Points the Heroes had been granted from the very start?

Either way, I was cutting them down, robbing their Lurium and Hero Points they should've claimed. My Purchase Power was climbing steeply toward 100%.

I skimmed through a few more particulars, then met Isaac's eyes. "This..."

"It's perfect!"

That jet-black smoke had shattered even those flasks in a single breath. We probably would never escape it. Nevertheless, I had gained enough that I'd die in satisfaction. Not only an immense flood of Lurium, but the Hero Shop's spoils would be anything but trivial.

Isaac, turned golden, panted as his crimson mystic eye gleamed. "Good... With power like this, we won't need to mind the Demon Kings or any goddess... We..."

What was he trying to say? How far had he gone?

A leap. As I absorbed Lurium, even my inventory swelled enormously. The mana racing through my circuits rioted, hammering through me and widening new paths on its own.

[Double Casting... Double Casting...]

Over and over again, I layered spell upon spell with the overflowing power. With this much Lurium, my spells wouldn't be exhausted even if I cast them thousands of times.

Jiiing! Jiiing!

With that grotesque sound, the last of the flask-fed prey shriveled into mummies, even the juices of their eyes sucked dry. Isaac's wings flashed a brilliance brighter than ever. Before, he said if he had his fill of Lurium, he'd no longer be some puppet powered by sorcery. He was sorcery itself, deceiving the world's encircling webs.

Grants for himself, punishments for others. Favor halved, vengeance a thousandfold.

A sovereign of I alone am exalted, hovered there without even beating his wings.

The sorcerer said, "Let's run away."