The world around Kael cracked like glass under unbearable pressure.
The pain was no longer just physical. It was existential. Every forced cycle of mana through his fragile body made the "circles carved into his soul" vibrate, and with each pulse, the inconsistencies he had ignored until now screamed louder.
[Warning: Soul Integrity at 47%]
[Critical Memory Anomalies Detected]
[Mnemonic Suppression Breaking…]
Valerius, the Glass Inquisitor, slowly raised his hand. The entire room transformed into a cage of translucent crystal, trapping both light and mana in a perfect prism.
"You fight the inevitable," the cold voice said from behind the mask that still reflected the face of the Demon King Kael no longer was. "This simulation has gone on long enough. Return the stolen data."
Kael gritted his teeth, blood flowing from his nose and ears. He was no longer listening to the Inquisitor. He was listening to something else. A distant sound, like a colossal heartbeat coming from outside this reality.
Clang.
The crystal cracked.
Clang.
The System's voice became chaotic and fragmented:
[Fatal Error — Illegal Temporal Loop Detected]
[External Source: Eternal Dream Spell — "Soul Prison"]
[Duration: 10 years, 3 months, 17 days]
[Initiating Rupture…]
Kael fell to his knees. Contradictory images assaulted him like lightning.
An epic battle against the Heroes.
A silver-haired mage with tears streaming down her face, whispering a final spell as she sacrificed herself.
His own demonic laughter echoing through his palace as his true body sank into unconsciousness.
"No…" he whispered.
Valerius took a step forward, but his silhouette began to crack as well, like a poorly made illusion.
"You're not real," Kael realized in a breath. His voice trembled, then grew firm. "None of you are."
The Glass Inquisitor's mask shattered into a thousand pieces. Behind it, there was nothing. Just white void.
The floor beneath Kael's feet dissolved. The walls of the dilapidated shack crumbled into luminous particles. Even the pain in his human body faded, as if it had never been anything more than a bad dream.
And then…
Everything went black.
Absolute silence.
Then, slowly, a sensation of weight. Real weight. Numb muscles, a broad chest, curved horns weighing on his skull. An overwhelming aura, even while dormant, that made the air tremble around him.
Kael opened his eyes.
He was no longer in a miserable alleyway. He was lying on a massive throne of black stone and obsidian, in the center of a colossal hall whose ceilings disappeared into darkness. Torn banners, once blazing with the colors of his empire, hung pitifully. Dust covered everything. Bones — those of his former servants who had not fled — littered the floor.
His palace. His true palace.
The Palace of the Demon King Neverdie.
Kael remained motionless for a long moment, breathing slowly. His body… his real body… was intact, powerful, but numb from a decade of forced immobility. Invisible chains of residual mana still floated around him, remnants of the spell that had trapped him in his own mind.
He raised a hand. Black veins ran across his pale skin, pulsing with raw demonic power. Not infinite. It had never been. But enough to make kingdoms tremble.
A low, hoarse, almost painful laugh rose from his throat.
"Ten years…"
He slowly straightened on his throne. Dust fell from his shoulders like a forgotten cape. His eyes, once blood-red, now shone with a cold, calculating light — far more dangerous than before.
[System Reinitialization…]
[True Interface Activated]
[Welcome back, Kael Neverdie, Demon King of the Seventh Era.]
This time, the System's voice was no longer mechanical and distant. It sounded almost… respectful.
Kael looked around. The walls still bore the scars of the final battle. The mage — he remembered her clearly now. Elara the Sacrificed. She had given her life to trap him in a dream where he would endlessly relive his fall, hoping to break him mentally.
She had nearly succeeded.
Almost.
"You thought trapping me in my defeat for ten years would destroy me," he murmured into the empty hall. His voice echoed like a distant growl. "Instead… you gave me time to reflect. To understand my mistakes."
He rose fully to his feet. His steps made the cracked floor of the palace tremble.
"Now… it's time to take back what is mine."
Outside, in the real world, the human kingdoms had likely prospered. The Heroes had probably written legends about his defeat. The survivors of his army had scattered or been slaughtered.
A cruel smile stretched across Kael Neverdie's lips.
"They will regret not finishing me off."