He was completely serious, of course.

One thousand reps per day was actually quite reasonable for proper sword fundamentals training... Many elite dojos required two or three thousand daily repetitions from their students.

"But for today, that’s enough basic training..." Ren continued. "Let’s move on to the nex—"

Clop clop clop clop!

The distinct sound of multiple horses’ hooves echoed from the front of the inn, approaching at a steady trot.

Jingle jingle jingle!

The accompanying sound of bells... the kind that coaches and carriages attached to their horses’ harnesses to warn pedestrians of their approach as the carriage they’d hired had arrived right on schedule.

"Pack up everything," Ren said immediately, already walking back toward the inn’s rear door. "We’re leaving for Astelvern now... Mandy, make sure we haven’t left anything behind in our rooms and Eternia, follow."

"Yes, my lord," Mandy said, quickly storing his practice sword back in his spatial ring.

Eternia hesitated for just a moment then followed silently behind them, still carrying her practice sword since she had no storage ring of her own to put it in.

As Ren walked back through the door into the inn’s common room, passing from bright afternoon sunlight into the dimmer interior, a stray thought crossed his mind.

’I wonder how Jace is doing right now...’

...

"Let there... be LIGHT!"

The Holy Sword Caliburn erupted with divine radiance so intense and overwhelming that it transformed the darkness of night into the brightness of midday across the entire town of Kakune in an instant.

The demons lurking in the streets and buildings shrieked in absolute agony as the holy light touched their corrupted twisted forms.

"SKREEEEEE!"

"AAAAGH! IT BURNS! IT BURNS US!"

"MAKE IT STOP! PLEASE MAKE IT STOP! WE’RE MELTING!"

At first, when Jace had initially arrived in Kakune just over an hour ago at night-time everything had appeared perfectly and completely normal.

The town stood intact with no visible damage... there were no no fires burning, no destroyed buildings, and no obvious signs whatsoever of demonic invasion or supernatural corruption.

People had been walking the cobblestone streets going about their evening business as if nothing was wrong with merchants closing up their shops for the night, families heading home after a long day of work and children playing their final games in the town square before bedtime.

However it was anything but normal.

Something had felt wrong from the very moment Jace had stepped through Kakune’s main gates...

Everyone he’d passed on the street had smiled at him as he walked by but it was the exact same smile on every face, stretched just slightly too wide across their features and held just a fraction too long to be natural human behavior... then he’d witnessed it directly.

A woman had been standing in a narrow alley between two buildings with her back turned to the main street and when she’d slowly rotated to face him, her appearance had initially been perfect... beautiful even, with lovely features and an elegant dress except for her eyes.

They had been completely hollow and empty, like a puppet with no one pulling its strings.

That’s when Jace had activated his Divine Authority: Revelation.

The blessed sight had pierced through all illusions and disguises instantly, revealing the horrifying truth that had been hidden beneath a thin veneer of normalcy.

Those weren’t people at all.

Every single "human" walking around Kakune... every merchant, every child, every elderly person, every guard, every single one was actually a demon wearing stolen human skin like an ill-fitting disguise.

The entire town’s population had been replaced and now these things... these abominations were pretending to be the people who had once lived here, going through the motions of daily human life like actors performing in some twisted play.

Jace had drawn Caliburn immediately and begun his attack without hesitation.

He took his battle stance as Caliburn raised high above his head in both hands with divine light pouring from the blade like liquid sunlight made solid.

"Divine Smite!"

He swept the Holy Sword in a wide horizontal arc at waist height, putting all his physical strength and divine power behind the strike.

SLASH SLASH SLASH!

The holy energy manifested as a expanding wave of pure white light that raced across the town square at blinding speed, cutting through everything in its path.

The attack tore through the disguised demons like they were made of wet paper.

They fell in perfect halves, their stolen human disguises melting away instantly to reveal the twisted malformed creatures that had been hiding beneath.

Holy fire consumed their corpses before the pieces even hit the ground, reducing the demons to ash and smoke that scattered harmlessly in the wind.

One demon remained at the edge of the attack’s area of effect... a smaller weaker one that had been just barely outside the slash’s range.

It scrambled backward frantically across the cobblestones on all fours like an animal with its human disguise flickering and failing completely, revealing a hunched creature with elongated arms ending in clawed hands and a mouth that split vertically down the entire center of its face revealing rows of rotating teeth, and skin covered in weeping sores.

"Please... please no... don’t... mercy..." It hissed in a voice like grinding metal scraping against stone.

Jace stepped forward calmly, his armored boots clicking against the stone with each step and pressed his right boot down firmly on the demon’s chest, pinning it in place with the combined weight of his physical body and his divine aura crushing down on it from above.

The creature screamed shrilly as holy energy burned through it where armor made contact with corrupted flesh with smoke rising from the point of contact.

Jace rested Caliburn’s glowing edge against the demon’s throat.

"What happened to all the humans who lived in this town?" Jace demanded. "Where did they go? Answer me honestly and completely, and I’ll grant you a quick, painless death instead of purifying you slowly."

The demon’s numerous eyes... at least seven of them scattered across its malformed face rolled wildly and independently in different directions with foam and black ichor bubbling from its vertically-split mouth.

"Gone... all gone... consumed... devoured... we consumed them all..." It gibbered.

Jace’s grip tightened on Caliburn’s hilt until his knuckles went white.

"Where are their souls?" he asked, his voice dropping to a dangerous whisper. "What did you do with them?"

"Fed... fed to the Master... fed to the... fed to the First... fed to..."

The demon’s eyes suddenly went completely blank, like candles being snuffed out all at once.

Its mouth opened wider than should have been physically possible with its jaw unhinging like a snake’s.

SPLAT!

The demon exploded from the inside out without warning, spraying blood and viscera and corrupted flesh across the cobblestones in a wide radius of gore.

The crimson liquid splashed across Jace’s face... his armor... his hands... everywhere but it dispersed and evaporated just moments later, unable to adhere to or corrupt someone who was directly blessed by the Goddess of Light.

The divine protection surrounding him at all times burned away the demonic corruption before it could even touch his actual skin.

Jace slowly looked upward, already knowing with absolute certainty what he would find waiting for him.

Standing atop the clock tower in the center of Kakune’s town square... the tallest structure for miles around, a landmark that could be seen from anywhere in town was a figure draped in living darkness that seemed to absorb light.

A pale-skinned man with curved demon horns protruding from both sides of his head like a crown.

He wore a flowing black cloak that appeared to be woven from pure shadow itself, billowing dramatically in a wind that didn’t exist anywhere else in the perfectly still night air.

His eyes glowed with crimson light that pierced through the darkness like burning coals and the pressure radiating outward from his mere presence—

BOOM!

It hit Jace like an invisible tsunami of pure overwhelming force.

The sheer weight of the Demon King’s aura made Jace’s knees buckle and nearly collapse beneath him.

His breathing immediately turned ragged and labored, as if the air itself had become thick as water and twice as hard to draw into his lungs.

His vision blurred at the edges as his Divine Authority automatically activated to its maximum defensive capacity just to shield him from the worst of the crushing presence, but even that divine protection barely helped against pressure of this magnitude.

This wasn’t just any demon... This wasn’t even a Demon General or Demon Duke...

This was something operating on a completely different level of existence.

This was power that could reshape landscapes, devastate armies, and bring nations to their knees... This was a calamity given humanoid form and consciousness...

"Are you..." Jace forced the words out through gritted teeth, fighting against the pressure crushing down on him from all sides. "...the one responsible for all of this?! For killing these people?! For this massacre?!"

The figure atop the clock tower stood perfectly motionless for several long seconds, just staring down at Jace with those burning crimson eyes then he spoke.

"Yes."

That single word carried more weight than any elaborate speech possibly could.

"Yes, I killed them all..."

"Yes, I consumed this entire town’s population..."

"Yes, I turned their flesh into puppets to lure in more victims..."

"And no, I do not care about your judgment, your outrage, or your sense of justice..."

"I am beyond such petty mortal concerns."

Jace took a deep, shuddering breath and tightened his two-handed grip on Caliburn until his entire body was trembling with the effort of just staying upright under this impossible pressure.

『 The Goddess urgently advises you to run away immediately. The current estimated power level of this Demon King is FAR above your own current capabilities. 』

『 Estimated Enemy Rank: 5th Class (Confirmed) 』

『 Your Current Rank: 2nd Class 』

『 Calculated Victory Probability: 0.0000000000000000000000000000000001% 』

『 Calculated Survival Probability if you flee immediately using maximum speed: 67% 』

『 RECOMMENDATION: RETREAT AND REGROUP 』

"And so what?" Jace said aloud despite the terror flooding through every cell of his body. He raised Caliburn higher, pointing the gleaming blade directly at the Demon King standing atop the clock tower.

"I was called here by someone’s desperate plea for help... A dying prayer that reached across the distance and found me. Someone who wanted me to save them... to save this town and its people before it was too late."

He forced himself to take one step forward despite the crushing pressure trying to drive him to his knees. The divine light surrounding Caliburn flared even brighter in response to his determination.

"I can’t just turn my back and walk away now. I won’t abandon them, even if they’re already dead. They deserve justice and they deserve vengeance."

Another trembling step forward.

The holy light began spreading outward from Caliburn in waves, pushing back against the oppressive darkness that had settled over Kakune like a physical shroud.

"What use is a Hero if he runs away from evil the moment it becomes dangerous?!" Jace declared. "What’s the point of this blessing, this sword, this power that was granted to me... if I turn my back and flee the instant I encounter something stronger than myself?!"

Another step.

Caliburn was now blazing so brightly it was painful to look at directly.

"I will fight everything evil that threatens innocent lives!" Jace roared. "I will stand against the darkness no matter how powerful it is! And I absolutely will not run away when people’s lives are at stake!"

The holy light exploded outward from Caliburn in a massive expanding wave, washing across the entire expanse of Kakune and spreading far beyond the town’s borders... illuminating every shadow, flooding every dark corner and exposing every hidden thing that lurked in the night.

For just a brief, beautiful moment, it looked like dawn had broken early across the land.

『 The Goddess sighs very heavily. "Fine. Do exactly as you wish, you stubborn, foolish child. But don’t come crying and running to me when you’re bleeding out and dying because you ignored my explicit warnings and advice." 』

『 CONNECTION STATUS: SEVERED 』

『 The Goddess has temporarily severed your direct divine connection as punishment for deliberately ignoring her counsel and orders. 』

『 You may still access and use Holy Power and all Divine Authorities at full strength... those abilities are yours by permanent right of blessing and cannot be revoked. 』

『 However, you cannot communicate directly with the Goddess or request divine intervention/miracles until the connection is restored. 』

『 To restore severed connection: Visit any Church of Light and complete a formal penance ritual. 』

Jace didn’t care even slightly. The Goddess was angry? Fine... Let her be angry...

These people... the innocent civilians of Kakune who’d been murdered and desecrated deserved a champion who would stand and fight for them even when victory seemed impossible.

That’s what being a Hero meant... Not running away when things got hard...

The Demon King atop the clock tower tilted his head slightly to one side, as if genuinely curious about this strange human who refused to flee despite clearly understanding how outmatched he was then the Demon King moved.

CRASH!

The entire clock tower... a structure that had stood for over two hundred years exploded into countless chunks of rubble and clouds of dust as the Demon King launched himself downward like a meteor, moving at speeds that seemed to violate physics and leave cracks in the air itself.

Jace charged forward to meet him head-on with Caliburn trailing streams of holy fire in its wake.

"TODAY, YOU DIE!"

BOOOOOOM!

They collided in midair above the town square and the resulting shockwave was absolutely apocalyptic.

Every window in Kakune shattered simultaneously in a cascade of breaking glass. Buildings cracked from foundation to roof with their stone walls spiderwebbing with fractures. The cobblestone street buckled and heaved, creating waves in solid stone and the very air itself seemed to tear open from the sheer force of impact.

Trees were ripped out of the ground by their roots... Market stalls were reduced to splinters and the town’s defensive walls developed massive cracks.

And that was just from the first clash... The real battle hadn’t even begun yet.

...

『 Two Days Later 』

The interior of the World Dungeon trembled violently with each impact with stalactites falling from the ceiling to shatter on the stone floor below.

Chaos reigned supreme across every inch of the massive underground cavern that served as the fifty-third floor’s boss chamber.

The Twilight Witch... whose true name was Astrid, an A-rank adventurer known throughout three kingdoms for her devastating magical prowess watched in growing horror and desperation as the dungeon boss tore through their carefully coordinated raid party like they were nothing but annoying insects.

As the Boss Monster in the chamber’s center caused devastation with every movement and attack, swordsmen in heavy armor were being batted aside by massive white tentacles covered in pulsing veins of pure mana, their bodies ragdolling through the air before crashing into walls hard enough to crack stone.

Mages positioned at safe distances were firing every spell in their arsenals... torrents of flame, spears of ice, bolts of lightning and boulders of compressed earth but the monster’s regeneration was operating at such an insane speed that wounds closed almost as fast as they were inflicted and the creature kept hitting through their defensive formations with overwhelming physical force, breaking their lines again and again no matter how many times they reformed.

It was supposed to be a coordinated group raid involving thirty skilled adventurers... fifteen A-rank and fifteen B-rank fighters working in perfect synchronization under the Guild Master’s experienced tactical command and despite all that preparation, all that power, all that coordination...

They were losing... Badly...

"Twilight!" the Guild Master, a grizzled combat veteran named Marcus who’d been leading dungeon raids for over twenty years shouted from across the chamber. "We need that Twilight Beam spell *right now*! Aim directly for the core! It’s our only chance!"

Astrid nodded sharply with her violet hair whipping around her face as she raised her right hand highn.

She began gathering ambient mana from the surrounding environment at a furious pace, pulling it into her palm through sheer force of will.

Purple magical circles materialized in the air around her raised hand, spinning and overlapping in increasingly complex geometric patterns as she channeled more and more power into the incomplete spell matrix.

The temperature in her immediate area dropped noticeably as she literally pulled heat energy from the air to help fuel the massive magical construct she was building.

This was her signature technique: Twilight Beam which was a concentrated lance of destructive twilight-element mana capable of piercing through almost any defense, punching holes in fortress gates, shattering dragon scales, and penetrating adamantine barriers.

If anything in her arsenal could damage that regenerating core, this was it... The spell charged rapidly toward critical mass, the purple light growing brighter and more intense with each passing second.

It was almost ready.

Just a few more seconds of channeling and she could release i—

Movement flickered in her peripheral vision as a tentacle came shooting toward her from the left side like a striking viper, moving with terrifying speed, fast as a whip-crack cutting through air but she’d been expecting some kind of counterattack.

Her combat instincts were screaming warnings even as she maintained her spell channeling.

Her calculations said she’d finish casting just barely before the tentacle reached her position.

The timing would be extremely tight, but doable. She’d cast the spell, fire it at the core, then dodge the incoming attack.

Three seconds until tentacle impact... Two seconds... One second—

She opened her mouth to shout the spell’s activation phrase that would release all this gathered power in one devastating blast... but there was a

SLASH!!

She didn’t see the slash itself but she absolutely *heard* it.

Multiple cuts happening in rapid succession slicing through air and flesh and bone so fast they created sonic booms that made her ears ring.

SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH!

The massive dungeon boss’s entire body was suddenly, inexplicably, impossibly divided into dozens... no, hundreds of perfectly geometric pieces.

The tentacles fell away in perfect segments, severed at every major joint and weak point and the central core was bisected vertically, then horizontally, then diagonally multiple times... reduced to clean chunks that looked like they’d been measured with rulers and protractors before being cut.

The boss monster didn’t even have time to scream or thrash. One moment it was a living threat and the next moment it was organized chunks of dead flesh hitting the ground.

Its pieces hit the cavern floor with heavy, wet thuds, twitching once or twice before going completely still.

Green ichor... the monster’s blood pooled beneath the scattered corpse, spreading slowly across the uneven stone.

The entire raid party stood frozen in stunned silence as nobody moved.

"What..." someone finally whispered.

"What the actual fuck was that?!" A swordsman near the back shouted.

Astrid’s Twilight Beam spell fizzled out harmlessly, all that carefully gathered mana dispersing into the ambient environment as her concentration completely shattered then she saw movement through the falling chunks of boss flesh.

A figure came bursting through the gore like it was a mere curtain, walking with casual confidence.

Before Astrid could even react... before she could process what was happening or prepare any defensive spell or even take a single step, strong arms suddenly scooped her up in a princess carry.

She found herself cradled against someone’s chest with one arm securely beneath her back and another under her knees.

She looked up in shock as a young man who couldn’t be older than his early twenties with striking black hair and sharp crimson eyes that seemed to see right through her was holding her effortlessly.

There was no visible armor despite being in a dungeon and no obvious weapons despite having just carved up a boss monster.

He was just there by himself and yet he’d just obliterated a fifty-third floor World Dungeon boss that thirty A-rank adventurers had been struggling desperately against.

The man wasn’t even looking at her yet as he remaining tentacle pieces dropped limply to the ground one after another.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

"Did he just... in one attack..."

"How is that even remotely possible?!"

"Who the hell IS that guy?!"

The man’s crimson eyes finally turned downward to meet Astrid’s stunned gaze.

"Hey," the black-haired young man said casually. "You alright there?"

Astrid’s face immediately flushed bright red with heat spreading from her cheeks all the way to the tips of her ears.

Her mind was screaming desperately at her to respond. To say something. To ask who he was, what technique he’d just used, how he’d accomplished that, where he’d come from, anything that would make sense of this insane situation but her mouth absolutely refused to cooperate with her brain’s commands.

All that managed to escape her lips was a strangled, embarrassing sound that was halfway between a gasp and a squeak and didn’t resemble actual human speech in any way.

"Nnngh—!"

The man raised one eyebrow slightly.

"I’ll take that as a yes..." he said then, with the same ease he’d shown throughout this entire encounter, Ren gently set Astrid back on her own feet.

『 The Goddess thinks that was very cool. 』

’Fuck yeah it was!’