"Well..isn't this peculiar. Usually my pets would be done playing with their food by now. I wonder what's the hold up."
A deep, commanding voice rolled through the vast throne hall, each word carrying weight. It was not anger, not concern, but mild, detached curiosity.
The Demon King leaned back against his throne of obsidian and bone, one clawed finger tapping idly against the armrest.
"What's the matter, Dio?"
A demoness approached in slow, deliberate steps. She was tall and striking, dressed in a tight crimson gown with matching heels, her expression cold and calculating.
"Don't tell me you're actually considering what that mage told you."
"Heh." Dio scoffed. "About some new hero being summoned, one supposedly more powerful than everyone we've faced combined?" He waved a hand dismissively. "I fed her to the hounds for her stupidity, Vanessa."
Vanessa was his right hand. His messenger, his observer, the one who brought him information worth hearing.
"Hm." She narrowed her eyes. "If that's the case..then you might want to take a look at this."
She raised her hand, crimson light blooming across her palm.
Between them, a massive red crystal screen flared to life.
The image stabilized.
Silence fell over the throne room.
Terrence.
The women beside him.
The Eternal Shadows.
They were obliterating the demon army.
Not struggling.
Not advancing inch by inch.
Erasing them.
Entire formations collapsed under golden pressure. Demons were torn apart before they could even scream, their bodies dissolving as the Shadows moved with mechanical precision, like extensions of Terrence's will.
Unintentionally, Dio's claws dug into the armrest.
"This is rare," he said evenly. "But not unprecedented. We've dealt with powerful summoners before." His gaze narrowed on Terrence. "Usually my second wave of pets finishes the job."
Terrence was smirking..relaxed, almost amused. He was like a spectator enjoying a performance.
But beneath that expression, something stirred.
Vanessa followed his line of sight. "The summoner's name is Terrence. I assume the women are the other heroes..and those golden shadows are his summons."
Dio nodded slowly.
"What he's doing now-"
The battlefield shifted.
White and gold erupted from Terrence, not violently, but with overwhelming authority.
The throne room froze.
Dio's breath caught.
That power-
It was familiar.
Uncomfortably so.
"C-call—" Dio cleared his throat. "Call in the reinforcements. Now."
Vanessa hesitated only a moment before nodding sharply. She cast one last uneasy glance at the screen, then turned and hurried away.
Dio leaned forward, a low chuckle slipping from his throat.
"..I haven't felt nerves like this since I killed that Triple S-Rank swordsman's mother," he murmured. "How bizarre indeed."
His eyes locked onto the screen.
"Don't disappoint me..Terrence."
He must not know.
On the battlefield, a clear chime rang inside Terrence's mind.
[Epic-Grade Bow + Arrow Received]
[Executioner Paiger]
The bow formed in his grasp. It was long and immaculate, forged from pale gold and deep white alloy. Faint authority markings traced its surface, shifting subtly, as though living law itself had been pressed into metal. It hummed quietly, the vibration felt more in bone than in air.
The arrow followed.
Its shaft was translucent, refracting light like crystallized judgment. Along its length, thin bands of divine writing rotated slowly. They were unreadable, yet undeniably final. The arrowhead bent space around it, not sharp, but decisive.
[Description]
A bow once wielded by an arbiter tasked with erasing condemned existences.
[Effect I – Judgment Mark]
→ Targets struck are branded with Divine Condemnation
→ Damage from divine, light, and authority-based effects is greatly amplified
[Effect II – Irrevocable Shot]
→ Arrows cannot miss entities deemed Guilty by the System
→ Distance, barriers, and evasive measures are partially ignored
[Effect III – Sentence: Death]
→ Any target may be designated for Absolute Termination
→ The arrow carries an unalterable end-state
→ Resurrection, temporal reversal, regeneration, and soul anchoring are nullified
→ Death is final, recorded, and enforced
Terrence watched with quiet interest as the white and gold radiating from him—born from the awakening of his new SSS-Rank Divine Skill—wrapped around Executioner Paiger. The weapon vibrated in response, resonating with restrained power.
He smirked.
Slowly, he drew an arrow and set it against the string.
Then he stared at nothing.
Not the war.
Not the demons.
Not the world around him.
Or so it seemed.
His smirk widened, eyes glowing faintly gold.
"I see you."
His voice wasn't loud.
It didn't need to be.
The moment the words left his mouth, the battlefield seemed to lose depth, as if everything else had been pushed into the background.
On the other side of the red crystal screen-
Dio's eyes widened in recognition.
"..You-" Dio started.
Too late.
[Target Identified]
[Name:] Demon King Dio
[Classification:] The Tutorial
[Authority Level:] High
[World Threat Index:] Catastrophic
[Judgment Conditions Met]
[Sentence: Death] Ready for Enforcement
The arrow changed.
Its glow compressed inward until only a thin white-gold line remained, so sharp it looked capable of splitting thought itself. The space around it bowed, not violently, but obediently.
Terrence exhaled slowly and steadily.
He simply pulled the string back.
In the throne room, the pressure hit.
The obsidian floor cracked.
Layer upon layer of demonic authority flared into existence around Dio as the palace screamed in protest.
"No," Dio said sharply, rising from his throne.
"This is not..this is not how this ends!"
Fear slipped into his voice.
The crystal screen spiderwebbed with fractures.
Terrence released.
The arrow vanished and manifested within Dio's existence. Embedding itself into the foundation of what he was.
White and gold spread outward in absolute silence.
Dio froze.
His mouth opened.
Nothing came out.
The authority binding his body unraveled like ash in still air.
[Sentence Enforced]
[Target: Demon King Dio
Status: Erased
Record: Absolute]