After Taufik opened his eyes, faintly, he could sense it, two presences lingering in the unseen depths. One, cold and familiar, was Death. The other… alien, unknown, yet strangely close, brushing against the edges of his consciousness like a whisper he could not place.

"Death… thank you," he muttered, his voice low as he steadied himself within the void, his body trembling under invisible strain. "I was saved once again"

The System's voice resonated within him, calm yet edged with concern.

[Master, although you were saved, your body is still in a dire state]

"I know," Taufik replied, summoning his Katana into his hand. Its weight grounded him in the endless emptiness. "...But I know my body better than anyone. This wound won't heal… Staying here will only make it worse. I have no other choice but to keep moving"

[Master, if you keep going like this… You will lose yourself]

Taufik paused, eyes narrowing, but his voice softened into a rare sincerity. "If that happens… will you still be with me, System?"

[Always, Master]

A faint smile crossed his lips, fleeting but genuine. "Then, when that time comes… I'll leave the rest to you. If I forget myself… keep reminding me"

The System was silent for a moment, as if weighing the gravity of his words. […Understood, Master]

Taufik's grip tightened around his Katana, its darkened blade drinking in the formless void. His gaze sharpened, filled with resolve. "Alright then. Let's go. Let's end this"

With a single motion, he swung the blade.

*Slash!*

The void itself split open, a jagged wound bleeding with light. Taufik stepped forward, and the endless black gave way... until all became white.

--------

- After The Seventh Layer Eresed.

After the Seventh Layer was erased, chaos erupted within the Core of Hell, the Throne of Sin.

Durjahan, the last defense of Hell, the place even demons dared not tread, was not merely defeated but utterly annihilated. It could be rebuilt, yes, but even a millennium would not suffice to restore what was lost.

Bifrons had never been the strongest among the Rank, but his mastery over Domain and Authority was unrivaled. That was why he had been entrusted with the Seventh Layer. Yet now, he too was gone, erased completely, denied the chance of rebirth.

The Seven-Layered Realm had always stood as the gate to Hell's core, a trial before reaching true damnation. And at the heart of it all sat Zamul'thiel, the Throne of Sin, the birthplace of demons, where the First Fallen himself resided. Lucifer, once the highest of angels, is now the eternal Sovereign of Sin.

Within the highest throne, Lucifer listened to the news of the Seventh Layer's erasure. His expression betrayed no fear, no anger, only interest.

"…Ahaha~ This defiant one is fascinating," Lucifer's voice slithered through the chamber, deep and intoxicating. "He dares to defy fate, to rewrite reality itself. And now… he dares even to challenge my authority. Truly interesting. As expected of one who bears the qualifications of the Creator"

"Lucifer!" roared Satan, the Sin of Wrath, his voice crackling like firestorms. "Are you going to let him run free?! He has already gone too far! One by one our kin fall to him, and you do nothing?!"

Lucifer's crimson eyes narrowed, the chamber darkening beneath his gaze. His presence pressed upon the other Sins like the crushing weight of galaxies.

"Our kin?" he repeated slowly, mockery dripping from his tone. "Do not mistake me for one of you, Wrath. I am not your kin. I am not bound to titles, nor to petty hatred. You are pieces on the board. If need be… disposable"

Satan's teeth ground audibly, flames erupting around his body. "Tch… Still spouting arrogance even now? If you refuse to act, then I-"

"Sit. Down"

The words were soft, but they struck like divine thunder. Wrath's inferno imploded inward, smothered under Lucifer's authority. His body trembled, crushed to his knees.

"…You forget, Satan," Lucifer said, his voice colder than the void, "anger without purpose is nothing more than a child's tantrum. Dafient erased Bifrons, yes… but do you think I am blind? I felt the ripple. He has stepped into a realm forbidden, a path even we have not walked. That…" Lucifer leaned back in his throne, lips curling into a thin smile, "is worth far more than Bifrons' survival"

Mammon, the Sin of Greed, chuckled softly, jeweled fingers tapping against his gilded throne. "Valuable indeed. If he can erase that which cannot be reborn… perhaps he holds the key to what even we covet"

Leviathan, the Sin of Envy, hissed, her voice low and sharp. "Key? Or threat? If Dafient can erase Bifrons… then he can erase us"

Lucifer's smile widened, blade-sharp. "Which is why we will not simply kill him, Leviathan. No… we will watch. We will let him climb further, burn brighter, and break deeper. When he stands at the edge of creation itself…" His wings, vast and abyssal, unfurled just enough to blot out the chamber's light. "…Then I will decide, whether to consume him, or to allow him to sit where I once sat"

The chamber fell silent. Even Wrath, though seething, dared not speak further. When Lucifer's will moved, none among the Sins could oppose it.

Finally, Asmodeus, the Sin of Lust, broke the silence with a silken laugh. "Then what shall we do in the meantime?"

Lucifer's eyes glowed, bright as a star, dark as damnation. "We wait. Let him come. Let him bleed, let him break. And when he reaches us…" His smile widened into something inhuman. "We shall see if he is still Dafient… or something far greater"

--------

The blinding light receded, and Taufik's vision slowly adjusted. His eyesight returned, and what welcomed him was a sight he knew all too well.

The outer land stretched endlessly, a charred wasteland where magma flowed like rivers of blood, weaving cracks of molten fire across the ground. The air was thick with sulfur and scorched smoke, suffocating with every breath. Above, ash drifted lazily, as if even the sky had been burned black.

And there they were, an ocean of demons. Countless rows stood in silence, their eyes glowing like embers in the dark, every gaze fixed solely on him. The sight was terrifying, oppressive, as if the land itself conspired to crush him. It was the same as the day he had first entered Hell... except this time, he stood alone.

"… So, we fight with numbers again, huh?" Taufik muttered, his voice steady despite the odds. His form had already shifted, his body cloaked in the writhing abyss of his Shadow Ruler form, dark tendrils coiling around him like a living shroud.

Then his gaze lifted. High above, beyond the veil of the sky, six colossal presences stirred. Suspended in the void like dreadful monarchs, they loomed with majesty wrapped in incomprehensible aura, mere existence enough to suffocate the battlefield.

Taufik's eyes narrowed. "… So that's where the Seven Deadly Sins sit…" His voice dropped to a near growl. "... Though now, it's only six"

From beneath him, his shadow rippled violently, like an ocean breaking open.

One by one, figures rose from the blackness, the Shadow Legion answering his silent call. Warriors of darkness, faceless yet formidable, born from his will. They lined behind him in eerie silence, a tide of living shadow prepared for war.

Across from them, the legions of Hell stirred. Demons born of fire, armored in molten skin and wielding weapons forged in eternal flame, let out a unified roar that shook the cracked earth. The ground trembled as their numbers pressed forward, a tide of blazing fury ready to swallow everything in its path.

The battlefield was set, shadow against fire, darkness against flame.

Taufik raised his katana, its edge gleaming with void-light, and whispered, "…Let's begin"

The moment his words fell, the world itself seemed to hold its breath.

A deep, resonant hum spread from the heavens above. The six presences stirred once more, their attention shifting, their unseen gazes piercing through the battlefield, weighing, judging. The sheer weight of their existence pressed down like an ocean on fragile glass, threatening to shatter both land and soul.

The demons answered with a roar that eclipsed thunder. The sky trembled, crimson lightning dancing across the ash-dark clouds, each bolt striking the ground and giving birth to more abominations, winged fiends, horned beasts, and twisted giants, their bodies seared by Hellfire. They rose to join the already endless tide, swelling the army to an even greater monstrosity.

Taufik's shadow writhed violently, and the earth beneath him split with a guttural crack. From the blackness, his Legion grew, knights armored in obsidian plates, beasts of shadow with jaws like abyssal maws, and titans of writhing darkness whose mere presence consumed light. Their silent discipline stood in stark contrast to the wild frenzy of the demons.

The two armies mirrored each other, order against chaos, silence against roar.

And between them, Taufik stood. His form was neither fully human nor fully abyss, his body exuding a darkness so absolute it seemed to drink in the firelight around him. The katana in his hand pulsed once, resonating with his will, its void-light etching scars across reality itself.

From above, a voice thundered, not spoken, but felt, searing into the marrow of every living being present:

"... Let's Maake it more interesting, O Dafient"

....

...

..

.