Vario stopped moving.
The warehouse stretched endlessly before him, rows of crates forming narrow corridors of shadow and dust. The air felt wrong—too heavy, too familiar. His instincts screamed long before his eyes understood why.
Then he saw her.
Nyx was bound to a steel pillar, wrists tied high above her head with glowing chains carved in old-world runes. Her head was lowered, hair falling over her face, chest rising slowly. Alive—but restrained.
"Nyx…" Vario breathed.
He took a step forward—
—and froze.
Someone else stood beside her.
A man with the same face.
Same eyes. Same sharp jawline. Same presence that bent the air just by existing.
Only colder.
Only crueler.
"Long time no see, brother," the man said casually, resting a hand on the pillar as if Nyx were nothing more than furniture. "Or should I say… Demon King Vario?"
Vario's vision darkened. "Mario."
His brother smiled, slow and deliberate. "Still alive. Still playing king. Still pretending you're something better than me."
The chains around Nyx pulsed faintly, reacting to the surge of demonic energy leaking from Vario despite his restraint. His fists trembled.
"Let her go," Vario said, voice low and shaking. "This is between us."
Mario laughed. "Everything has always been between us." He leaned closer to Nyx, close enough that Vario's control cracked for a split second. "You lose focus so easily now. Love makes you weak."
The warehouse lights flickered.
Vario took another step forward, shadows writhing at his feet, the air screaming under pressure he could no longer suppress. "Touch her again," he said, "and I will forget this world exists."
Mario's grin widened. "Good. I was hoping you'd say that."
The chains tightened around Nyx with a sharp metallic cry.
And for the first time since arriving in this world, Vario stopped holding back.
The moment the chains tightened around Nyx, something inside Vario shattered.
The warehouse screamed.
Darkness poured out of him like a broken dam—raw, ancient demonic magic that he had buried even in his own world. The concrete beneath his feet cracked, spiderwebbing outward as the air collapsed inward, dragged toward him by sheer force.
Mario's smile finally faltered.
"So that's it," he muttered. "The power you never showed."
Vario didn't answer.
He stepped forward, and the shadows obeyed.
Magic erupted from his back in vast, wing-like waves, not flesh but pure authority, the mark of a true demon king. The seals etched into the warehouse walls ignited, then instantly burned out, unable to contain him. Crates were lifted off the ground and crushed midair, reduced to splinters and dust.
Mario raised his hands, counter-magic flaring as he tried to stabilize the space. "You're going to tear this place apart!"
"Good," Vario said coldly.
He snapped his fingers.
The chains binding Nyx shattered instantly, disintegrating into black ash before they could even hit the floor. She collapsed forward, caught by a sudden wall of shadow that gently lowered her to safety behind him.
Then Vario looked back at his brother.
Every ounce of his magic surged at once.
The air compressed, folding inward around Mario like an invisible fist. His counter-spell shattered on contact, symbols exploding into light before being erased entirely. He was lifted off the ground, body pinned in midair by overwhelming pressure.
"No—wait—!" Mario shouted, struggling as cracks spread across the concrete behind him.
Vario raised one hand.
"This is for touching what was never yours."
He closed his fist.
The force slammed Mario into the far wall, the impact thunderous, the magic sealing him in place like a living prison. The warehouse fell silent except for the echo of settling debris and Vario's slow, controlled breathing.
The shadows receded.
The power withdrew.
Vario stood still, trembling—not from exhaustion, but from restraint finally reclaimed.
Behind him, Nyx stared in stunned silence.
The demon king had won.
And for the first time, she had seen the true depth of the power he had sworn never to use.