liodas felt as if he were sinking into a bottomless pool. There was no light, no air, only bone-deep cold.
He could faintly hear so jumbled sounds, but they seed to be coming from above the surface, and he couldn't make them out down here.
With each activation of the curse, more and more of his soul had co to Purgatory, even forming a complete shape.
Purgatory is a chaotic world, where the boundary between soul and body is blurred. That gives a soul-body the sa senses as the original—but that only makes Purgatory more painful.
liodas had thought countless tis of escaping the Demon King's control, but he was only a portion of his true soul—the "weakest" part that represented emotion.
Never mind that he lacked the original's strength; even his true body couldn't rival the Demon King's unmatched power.
After failing more tis than he could count, despair was inevitable.
In Purgatory, losing hope ans corrosion by darkness; he, too, beca a shadow monster.
Only his love and promise to Elizabeth could not be forgotten, so he kept a final scrap of awareness, slumbering in the deepest part of his soul.
Seeing this, the Demon King was at ease and didn't bother stopping the monster liodas from running off.
To the Demon King, this emotional soul was the part liodas "didn't need"; so long as it didn't return to the body, it didn't matter.
But one day, the sleeping awareness seed to hear a voice. At first it was faint, intermittent; liodas thought it would fade as before.
But after a while, instead of fading, it grew much louder.
"Boss... do...n't sleep—wake... up!"
liodas couldn't tell who was calling him. He was straining to open his eyes and look toward the source.
But there was only absolute darkness. As he struggled, cracks suddenly spread across the dark before him, and light stread through them onto his face.
To liodas, steeped in darkness, the light was almost blinding, and he squinted. Even so, he didn't retreat; he drew closer to the light.
He didn't know if it was an illusion, but he wouldn't pass up any chance. Then he knew—it wasn't an illusion.
The cracks spread in all directions from in front of him, and with a thunderous crash all the darkness shattered. liodas saw what was shining: a fist wrapped in blazing fla.
That fist had smashed the darkness confining him—but for soone who'd just woken up, wasn't that a bit much?!
But the fist's owner was deft, stopping in ti and not hurting liodas in the least.
Charles swung an arm across and caught the collapsing liodas.
"Finally awake, huh? There's a lot waiting for you out there—you should've been up ages ago," Charles said.
…
At night, the three sat around a campfire, a huge slab of at roasting over the flas.
liodas accepted the plate Charles handed over. "Thanks—both of you, Charles and Ban!"
Charles smiled. "Ban did the roasting—what are you thanking for?"
liodas shook his head. "I'm thanking you for coming to Purgatory for —and for pulling out of despair."
Ban said, "Then there's even less need. We're friends, aren't we?"
Charles added, "Instead of being polite, we should figure out how to get out of Purgatory. The Gate of Purgatory is right by the Demon King. Slipping past that god's watch won't be easy.
How about you bat your eyelashes, Boss—maybe the Demon King lets his son off."
liodas gave a wry smile. "Don't say things that'll never happen. But if the exit is by him, no wonder he'd let leave."
The joke worked; though liodas was still troubled, he relaxed.
After slicing off a small piece of at, Charles said, "Then there's no helping it—we'll have to fight the Demon King.
But we don't need to beat him. As long as all of us make it through the Gate of Purgatory, that's our win."
liodas nodded. "True. If we're just escaping, we have a shot."
Ban patted liodas's shoulder. "It's not about odds. We're all making it back—back to the ones who matter most."
liodas smiled. "Exactly. We have to go back."
Charles grinned. "Just thinking about fighting that god has fired up!"
liodas hurried to say, "You're strong, Charles, but don't underestimate my bastard old man.
With his magic, he's not easy to bring down."
Ban took a bite of at. "Co to think of it—we never asked. What is the Demon King's magic?"
liodas's face grew grave. "His magic shares his na—\\[Demon King]. I don't know the specifics; what I do know is that no magic attack works on him.
Unlike my Full Counter, he simply isn't hurt by any form of magic—that's why it's also called \\[Ruler]!"
Charles didn't chi in; he knew the truth of the Demon King's power.
The actual ability of \\[Demon King] is inversion—any magic directed at him is reversed.
Which ans whether direct magical attacks or curses and secret arts, not only do they fail to hurt him, they increase his strength.
It isn't unsolvable. For instance, buffs would harm him instead, and physical attacks still work.
What's truly troubleso is his unfathomable base strength.
As one of the first beings of this world, holding a god's rank and authority, the Demon King possesses peerless might.
And in the millions of years in Purgatory, he's done only one thing: ceaselessly devour Purgatory's power.
asured in millions of years, the accumulation is beyond even Charles's imagination.
So even if physical attacks work, few can hurt the Demon King's imnsely powerful body and armor.
That's the strength of a god—a difference of tier from mortals.
So while Charles acted relaxed, he felt no small pressure—along with a fiercer fighting spirit.
To battle a god—good enough to count as a great feat for leveling up! And he had sothing on hand to try a long-conceived experint.
liodas tore off a piece of at, blowing on it as he said, "There's one more problem. I can't find the way back. Finding the Demon King is an issue too."
Charles said, "On that, I do know soone who can find the Demon King… a pig."
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