177 Behind the Demon King

I am the entity designated as the Demon King.

Name remains unassigned.

Hello.

I am a fragment bound to the Demon King.

Current status?

Extremely dire.

The origin lies in the information officer at the time—present main body—identifying an entity interfering with our souls.

Apparently, this entity is connected via soul linkage. Therefore, we devised a plan: exploit this connection to dominate them from our side.

The method involved dispatching our parallel consciousnesses to erode their soul.

At the time, I was the body coordinator. I embraced this strategy with enthusiasm.

After all, body coordinators are the pitiable archetype.

My value peaks during scale removal.

How tragic I am.

This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to escape such a pitiful role.

There was no way I would let it pass.

Yet, as it turned out.

Then, when it came to assigning responsibility for the most dangerous Demon Lord, a bad feeling settled in.

Yeah.

Unanimously decided on me.

Damn it.

And I quietly challenged both Mother, who was interfering with us, and the Demon Lord at the origin of the Taratekt species, positioned above her.

Initially, I remained mostly inactive, observing.

First, I began securing the surrounding Queens.

The Demon Lord controlled the Queens, but had not granted them the firm selfhood we had.

Thanks to that, the gradual erosion of the Queens went unnoticed.

Quietly, yet steadily, the infiltration of the Queens continued.

The situation changed after the Taboo skill reached its maximum.

The core erupted.

No, really?

I understand the sentiment, but was it really necessary to lose control?

Apparently, I was the only one who thought that way.

Now I understand it, but at that time, everyone—including the main body—was affected by the soul consumption of another being.

I alone had not yet attacked the Demon King.

The main body was influenced by the feedback from the fragment.

That’s when the distinction between us and the main body began to solidify.

And finally, the moment came for me to charge the Demon King.

No, it was terrifying.

He’s the Demon King, after all.

Initiated soul-level hacking into the Demon King’s consciousness.

Detected immediately.

As expected of a Demon King.

Losing track of the Queen’s condition was a deduction point, but he sensed my presence the instant he was attacked.

He also seemed aware of the Queen’s current state.

First time ever receiving an external attack through the soul, yet his reaction was swift.

The Demon King attempted my elimination first.

Result: failure.

I am a soul-based mental construct.

Physical attacks are ineffective against me. Only abilities that directly interfere with the soul, such as heretical attacks, can achieve elimination.

Yet we possess heresy immunity.

Within the system's attack mechanics, our elimination was impossible.

The Demon King's frustration was evident.

But we are not without strain either.

Immunity does not mean no attacks exist.

Though damage was absent, heretical attacks still impaired my actions.

This caused the erosion to progress at a glacial pace.

The Demon King immediately initiated his next move.

He cannot defeat us as spiritual entities.

Then there is only one option.

He must destroy our physical bodies.

The Demon King used the soul connection we had exploited to locate our physical forms.

Fortunately, the Demon King was situated far from Elroo's Great Labyrinth, where our physical bodies resided.

In addition, teleportation magic was unavailable.

The Demon King still initiated movement.

Extremely fast.

The original body had considered itself swift, but the Demon King’s speed was beyond normal.

It became clear that a direct confrontation would result in certain defeat.

Even during the Demon King’s movement, erosion continued.

As a result, partial information was successfully linked.

Shared access to fragments of the Demon King’s memory and sensory input was established.

Among these was the Demon King’s status data—yes, this was clearly unviable, a realization reaffirmed.

The Demon King finally arrived near Elroo’s Great Labyrinth.

Yet, the original body no longer appeared to be within the labyrinth.

Had it escaped successfully upon detecting the Demon King’s approach?

I had believed that myself at one point.

The body I thought had fled was now established as a base in a distant town, openly residing there.

This is bad.

This is a Demon Lord invasion event.

Must inform the main body immediately.

But a problem has arisen.

At this point, my soul and the Demon Lord’s soul had already merged to a significant degree.

In practical terms, separation is no longer possible.

Forcing separation would result in the collapse of one soul—worst case, both souls.

Additionally, I am constantly under the Demon Lord’s control and unable to move freely.

Game over.

As expected, the main body failed to detect the Demon Lord’s approach and was decisively defeated.

Managed to survive by the skin of my teeth, but the situation is dire.

My soul and the Demon Lord’s are deeply fused.

Therefore, if I cease to exist, the Demon Lord will know.

The main body was supposed to be destroyed—but I am still present.

The Demon Lord is aware of this.

The Demon Lord understood that the main body had not died.

but I do not understand the nature of the trick used.

For now, proceed to eliminate the queen corrupted by erosion.

Enter the Elro Great Labyrinth.

Reach the lowest layer in moments, and dispatch the queen there with ease.

Truly a monstrous entity.

This remains within the Demon Lord's expectations.

Next, the appearance of a new main body, reportedly located within the labyrinth.

This is problematic.

Extremely dangerous.

If the main body dies, we will likely perish in a chain reaction.

Unacceptable.

Yet the Demon Lord's step forward is halted.

By the earth dragons stationed at the lowest layer.