It was worth noting that from the 90th floor onward, every demon noble lord Natsuki Subaru encountered was far more powerful than any opponent from the previous floors.
They were no longer the low-tier demons who relied solely on brute force, but were instead wreathed in an oppressive aura unique to high-ranking demons.
It was an atmosphere that mixed magical intimidation with the stench of blood, so potent that the very air would stagnate in their presence.
Every time the demon girl Esil got close to one, she couldn't help but clutch the corner of Natsuki Subaru's clothes.
The demon lord of the 92nd floor, Karon, had a physique as burly as a cast-iron tower.
He stood a full two and a half meters tall, with shoulders so broad they could block half a castle corridor and arms thicker than Natsuki Subaru's waist.
He could simultaneously cast two high-level skills: Earth-Shattering Slash and Flame Barrier.
For the former, he needed only to swing his arms, and as his massive blade cleaved the air, it would unleash a dark red wave of magic power. The ground would instantly split open into a deep trench several meters wide, sending rubble and magma fragments flying. It forced one to retreat continuously, as a single misstep meant falling into the fissure.
The latter could form a half-meter-thick shield of fire around his body. The flames were an ethereal blue, hot enough to melt ordinary metal, and any approaching attack would be consumed by them.
If Natsuki Subaru hadn't commanded his three thousand Shadow Soldiers to harass Karon from both flanks in rotation, using his own body to draw the demon's attention, he would never have found an opening to get close and finish him off.
Meanwhile, the demon lord of the 93rd floor, Lilith, was most adept at illusion arts, able to accurately read an opponent's memories to create an illusion indistinguishable from reality.
For Natsuki Subaru, however, Lilith was the easiest demon lord he had ever faced; he was able to kill her almost instantly.
The reason was actually quite simple.
Natsuki Subaru possessed the Great Spirit Candealar's Blessing, a passive skill.
Under the effect of this blessing, his body's recovery ability was greatly enhanced; even if he suffered a wound deep enough to expose bone, he could heal rapidly as long as he had mana.
More importantly, this blessing granted immunity to all diseases, poisons, and abnormal statuses—and illusion arts were no exception.
The moment Lilith deployed her illusion, attempting to trap Natsuki Subaru in some deliberately crafted falsehood, it was shattered directly by the power of the blessing.
Not even a flicker of an illusion appeared before Natsuki Subaru's eyes. Instead, he took advantage of the opening while Lilith was casting her spell, instantly flashing behind her. Kasaka's Venom Fang pierced directly through her heart, giving her no time to even react.
In short, aside from the exceptionally easy battle against Lilith, every other fight from the 90th floor onward lasted for a full hour or even longer.
The lord of the 94th floor specialized in summoning the undead, and Natsuki Subaru spent forty minutes just clearing out the endless stream of skeleton soldiers.
The lord of the 96th floor was as fast as lightning, and Natsuki Subaru was nearly scratched by his sharp claws several times.
During the battles, Natsuki Subaru's mana was depleted to its absolute limit on several occasions, making it difficult to even summon his Shadow Soldiers.
Fortunately, he had accumulated a large amount of System gold from clearing previous dungeons and had purchased a considerable number of Advanced Mana Recovery Potions.
This type of mana potion could restore 100% of his mana within seconds of being consumed, so he never had to worry about running out.
Furthermore, with the demon girl Esil acting as his guide, the key intelligence she provided in advance revealed the weaknesses of certain demon lords.
Natsuki Subaru could always find a precise way to break the stalemate, either by relentlessly attacking a weak point or by striking during the brief gap between skills. He steadily cleared each floor, step by step, without a single mistake.
And so it went: the 91st floor, 92nd, 93rd, 94th...
He slaughtered his way up to the 99th floor.
When the two of them finally stood before the portal to the top floor, even the usually calm Esil couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief, a hint of exhaustion flashing in her wine-red eyes.
Dozens of consecutive high-intensity battles, even without her direct participation, had drained a great deal of her mental energy just from staying highly focused to provide intelligence.
The portal emitted a soft golden glow, and within it swirled a distorted vortex of space, through which a dark scene on the other side could be vaguely glimpsed.
"Let's go."
Natsuki Subaru let out a light breath, composed himself, and was the first to step into the portal, with Esil following close behind.
As their figures vanished, the portal's golden light slowly faded behind them, as if it had never been there at all.
The familiar sound of a System notification rang out once more in Natsuki Subaru's mind:
[Notification: You have successfully reached the 100th floor of the Demon Castle!]
"Well, we finally made it to the top floor."
Natsuki Subaru mused for a moment, then warily scanned his surroundings. The scene before him, however, completely defied his expectations.
There was no magnificent castle symbolizing the Demon King's majesty, nor were there any heavily guarded armies of high-ranking demons.
There was only a boundless, dark plain.
The ground was made of deep black soil, as soft as a sponge underfoot, and he could occasionally feel faint vibrations coming from below.
The plain was scattered with numerous piles of jet-black rubble. The stones had sharp edges and still bore the traces of being burned.
Beneath the rubble, one could faintly see dark red magma flowing slowly, casting an eerie red glow.
There was no light source in the sky—no sun, no moon, not even stars could be seen.
Only a few scattered dark red points of light flickered in the distant darkness, like floating will-o'-the-wisps, blinking in and out, their movements completely erratic.
The entire space was enveloped in a suffocating silence.
Not even the sound of wind could be heard—no chirping insects, no roaring beasts, only the breathing of Natsuki Subaru and Esil, which sounded exceptionally clear in the vast, empty plain.
"So this is the 100th floor? It's... much more empty than I imagined."
The demon girl Esil, who had been following closely behind Natsuki Subaru, spoke up, her wine-red eyes filled with curiosity.
"Esil, you've never been here before?"
Hearing this, Natsuki Subaru glanced at Esil with some surprise.
Esil hailed from the Radir noble family of the Demon Realm and was, after all, part of the power that managed a floor of the Demon Castle.
He had assumed she would know something about the 100th floor, even if only rumors.
"How could I have?"
Esil shook her head gently, a hint of resignation and a bit of envy in her voice, "My Radir family is just an ordinary noble clan responsible for managing the 80th floor. In the hierarchy of the Demon Castle, we're only considered mid-tier; our strength and status are far from sufficient.
"Forget the 100th floor, we aren't even qualified to approach the areas above the 90th floor. That is the domain of high-ranking nobility.
"As for the legendary Demon King, I don't even know what he looks like. I've only heard from the elders in my clan that he is the most powerful being in the Demon Castle, and even the other high-ranking demon nobles must submit to him."
"I see. That's understandable."
Natsuki Subaru nodded, an analogy instantly forming in his mind.
It was like an ordinary assembly-line worker who could only repeat the same tasks in the workshop every day.
They would never have the chance to meet the company's chairman, and wouldn't even know where the chairman's office was. The gap in status was just too vast.
With this thought, Natsuki Subaru subconsciously stroked his chin, his expression growing more serious:
"But this also means the Demon King's power is likely far beyond our imagination.
"After all, he's the final boss of the 100th floor. I don't know if my current level is enough to contend with him."
"Lord Subaru, aren't you already very strong?"
Hearing this, Esil immediately looked up at Natsuki Subaru and said with a look of admiration, "Lord Lilith from the 95th floor, and that lord from the 98th floor who could summon meteors, weren't they both defeated by you with ease?"
In the demon girl Esil's eyes, Natsuki Subaru had steamrolled his way here with virtually no equal. Even against the Demon King, he should be able to put up a fight.
Hearing this, Natsuki Subaru smiled but didn't directly refute her:
"That's because the levels of those lords weren't that different from mine, and I had your intelligence to help.
"The Demon King is different. He rules over the entire Demon Castle; his level might be much higher than mine. However..."
At this point, Natsuki Subaru's eyes brightened slightly, "Speaking of which, I've already reached Level 100. Maybe I can give him a run for my money."
Natsuki Subaru subconsciously called up his system status bar with a thought. A light blue panel immediately unfolded before his eyes, the data on it clearly displayed, each entry reflecting an astonishing level of power:
Host: Natsuki Subaru
Level: 100
Class: Shadow Monarch
Title: Wolf Slayer
Spirit: 466
Strength: 582
Agility: 480
Vitality: 445
HP: 100,000/100,000
MP: 1,000,000/1,000,000
EXP: 944,238,600/1,646,700,008
Stat Points: 0
Skills:
-Vital Resilience (Passive)
-Advanced Dagger Arts (Passive)
-Dagger Toss (Active)
-Great Spirit Candealar's Blessing (Active)
-Sprint (Active)
-Bloodlust (Active)
-Stealth (Active)
-Ruler's Authority (Active)
Shadow Monarch Exclusive Skills: Shadow Extraction, Shadow Preservation, Shadow Exchange, Monarch's Domain.
"My level has reached 100, and my four main stats—Strength, Agility, Spirit, and Vitality—have all skyrocketed."
Natsuki Subaru mused to himself as he looked at the system panel, "Especially Strength, which has reached an unprecedented 582 points, far surpassing the other stats. Now, with my physical strength alone, I can probably smash the head of an ordinary demon lord with a single punch."
It was slightly regrettable, however, that because the demons' souls were contaminated, their shadows were bound to their souls and couldn't be extracted separately.
This meant the number of his Shadow Soldiers remained at around three thousand.
However, tempered by floor after floor of battle, every Shadow Soldier under his command had leveled up, rising from their initial teens to an average of over level 40 now.
Their individual combat power had significantly increased. The demon knights from the upper floors couldn't even last three moves against them.
Keep in mind, when Natsuki Subaru first entered the Demon Castle, he was only Level 64.
Fighting his way from the first floor all the way up to the 100th had raised his level by a full 36 levels, nearly doubling his stats.
Previously, the most he had ever gained from clearing an entire dungeon was 15 levels.
This meant that the level increase from a single Demon Castle was more than double that of the previous high-difficulty dungeon.
Thinking of this, Natsuki Subaru couldn't help but nod in satisfaction:
"As expected of a high-level solo dungeon. Not only is it teeming with monsters, from the low-level demon minions to the high-level noble lords, a seemingly endless horde to kill, but the experience from a single monster is also far higher than in a normal dungeon.
"Especially the demon nobles above the 90th floor. Killing one of them is equivalent to killing a hundred low-level minions."
Natsuki Subaru reflected silently. He had long lost count of how many demons he had slaughtered in the first 99 floors.
He only knew that the System's notifications announcing experience gains had almost never stopped.
Of course, most of the killing was done by his summoned Shadow Soldiers.
A legion composed of over three thousand Shadow Soldiers was enough to overwhelm any small-scale demon squad.
If Natsuki Subaru had been on his own, no matter how skilled he was, who knows how many years it would have taken him to fight his way through the Demon Castle.
"But speaking of which, now that I'm Level 100, I wonder if that's the max level?"
Natsuki Subaru's gaze fell on the experience bar. Seeing the 1,646,700,008 EXP required for the next level, he instantly understood he was far from the cap.
That number was more than the total experience it took to get from Level 64 to 100.
"There must be higher levels, maybe 150, 200, or even the legendary 999, 1000, or something like that..."
These were just Natsuki Subaru's speculations, as the System had never given any indication of a level cap.
But at least he could be sure that his level could continue to rise, and there was still plenty of room for his power to grow. He wouldn't have to worry about being powerless against stronger enemies in the future.
With that thought, Natsuki Subaru casually closed the system panel. The light blue glow dissipated into the air as he refocused all his attention on the unfamiliar environment before him, ready to deal with any sudden developments.
At that moment, the demon girl Esil, who had been sticking close to Natsuki Subaru and not daring to stray half a step away, looked at the unsettlingly dead-silent surroundings and couldn't help but whisper, "Lord Subaru, this... this place is too creepy, isn't it? There's not even a shadow as far as the eye can see. It's like there isn't a single guard?"
"Something is indeed off."
Natsuki Subaru's sharp gaze swept across the area as he secretly raised his guard, his tone tinged with gravity, "This is the 100th floor. The final boss is in this domain. Logically, it shouldn't be this quiet."
"Exactly!"
Esil nodded quickly, her voice a little louder than before but still carrying a faint, imperceptible tremor.
"In the Demon Realm, the more central and important the territory, the tighter the security.
"Take our family's domain, for example. The perimeter alone has three layers of demon guards on patrol, to say nothing of a monarch's personal territory.
"By all rights, even if this place isn't guarded every three steps and patrolled every five, it should be teeming with high-ranking demon guards. How can it be so empty that you can't even hear the wind blow?"
At this point, Esil paused, her red eyes filled with confusion, "I heard from the elders of my clan that the Demon King places the utmost importance on his majesty. His domain has always been heavily guarded. Why now..."
_____
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