Half of the archangel's body was rotting away. Flesh once flawless had decayed into uneven patches, and the face exposed half of the skull beneath. The decay reached all the way to his heart; it pulsed there, blackened. His chest, covered in scraps of cloth and shards of stone, split with glowing crimson fissures under the hall's pale light.

"Not so beautiful now, am I?" he said, letting out a rough laugh that broke into a dry cough. It grew harsher, echoing through the stone columns. Blood seeped from the hollow in his chest, thick and dark. Then something inside him began to move, stone pushing through flesh.

Organs reformed amid the crack of growing rock. The rotted parts were slowly replaced by mineral layers, molding themselves to fill the void. Even the left eye, once an empty pit, became a dull stone sphere.

"The stone… it's not for show," he murmured, laughing weakly between coughs that soon faded. His face was complete now, half flesh, half stone, a grotesque fusion of the living and the lifeless. When it was done, the creature stood as a hybrid, a living monument of skin and rock.

"There," said the archangel at last, his voice steady again. "Where I was imperfect, I fixed it."

He laughed once more, a low, humorless sound.

Then he sat upon the throne and stared at them with unblinking eyes. "Now you've seen my problem. This body is sick, terribly sick, with an ancient curse, one that consumed even the brightest minds of the realm I came from."

The archangel rested an elbow on the throne's arm, the sound of stone grinding against stone filling the hall.

"I survived by sealing myself in stone. But…" He drew a slow breath, his voice faltering for a moment. "I'm dying. It may take centuries, yes, but we don't have that long."

Erza glanced at Allison, then back to the king. Luke watched Evangeline in silence. He knew that if things came to a fight, he'd need her to trigger her epic ability; they'd all have to act together before he could charge the arrow with mana. But there was a problem: the creature was sitting on the throne.

If he blew the monster apart… would the throne go with it?

"That's why I chose to speak with you seven," said the Midnight King, his voice carrying a natural authority that filled the chamber. "So we can reach an agreement."

Seven?

Luke frowned. The others exchanged puzzled looks. There were him, Charlie, Allison, Jack, Mason, Evangeline, Erza, and Anne.

Eight.

"What kind of agreement?" Erza asked, her tone neutral, almost polite.

The archangel's gaze shifted to her, heavy and measuring, as if weighing every word.

"I'll give you two options," he began, rising slowly from the throne. The stone groaned beneath his movement.

"Now that I'm fully awake from my slumber, I can grant you free passage. No deaths. My army of the dead will halt their assault outside, and your allies will cross the portal safely. No battles. No losses."

His voice deepened, filling the hall.

"You wouldn't want to face someone at my level. Even weakened from what I once was, I am still a level 137 being. Against mere level 50 humans, it would be... unfair, don't you think? One strike from me and you turn to dust."

The floor shuddered as he rose to his full height. The creature's presence seemed to compress the air itself, not a show of power but a natural force, like the sea pressing against a swimmer's chest.

"The system has been cruel to you," the archangel said as he walked forward. Each step echoed through the hall.

"Therefore I offer an alliance. Accept my terms and you may pass freely. Refuse and I will begin by slaughtering you. Then I will slaughter everyone outside until I have what I want."

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He smiled, and the sound snapped the silence like a glass struck.

"Nothing holds me now. The seals are gone. You will die here, in front of the exit you have been chasing. Tragic, isn't it? You fought so hard... and then to lose your freedom at the last minute."

Erza watched him without rush.

"I like deals," she said.

"Perfect," the archangel replied, inclining his head slightly. "So do I."

"This deal will keep everyone in this hall safe, right? All of us?" Erza pressed.

"Yes, all of you."

Erza narrowed her eyes.

"All of us, with no exceptions?"

"Yes," the archangel said, a faint impatience undercutting his voice. "All seven of you and those outside."

Seven. Again.

Luke fixed his stare on the creature. The count didn't seem like a simple mistake; the confidence in the Midnight King's tone made it clear he wasn't sensing one of them.

There's still Franky... if I count him, that makes nine. But Charlie is my servant... maybe he's not counting her or Franky. Is that why he said seven?

"Sorry to be persistent," Erza said carefully. "Deals have loopholes. I just want to know if it includes everyone who participated in the tutorial. Not that I doubt your word, but you know how the system is."

"Of course, of course," the archangel said, the tone lighter now. "I will grant safe passage to the seven here and the others outside. Provided, of course, you accept the bargain."

"What's the bargain?" Allison Rhiannon asked.

The king smiled. One side of his face was living flesh, the other cold stone.

"I want to cross the portal too," he said. "I hope you will not judge me. I do not wish to die here. I have delayed death by sheltering myself in this fragment of the universe. It would be foolish to die now when I can leave."

He returned to his throne with the same calm, folding his wings around himself to settle. The exit was there, so near and yet unreachable. None of them dared move. One gesture from the archangel and they would be erased before they reached the base of the throne.

"Release a creature like you into our universe?" Jack asked.

"What, are you going to play hero now?" Evangeline snapped, tense, her eyes locked on the king.

The archangel rested his stony cheek on his fist and studied them.

"You have access to more than one universe, don't you? I can sense it. There are many species here: a doll woman, another automaton who is still a doll in form, a phoenix, a skeleton, even a dragon among the humans. And there is... a faint scent of beast in the air, though I cannot place its source."

Franky.

But something was wrong. Luke noticed it immediately. The king had counted Charlie among them as the skeleton, but among all the races he'd mentioned, one was missing.

Demon. He didn't name my race. Why?

"It's a good deal," Erza said. "As long as you're the last one to cross the portal. Just to make sure nothing happens if, by chance, you leave before we do. You know how it is, the system can be unpredictable."

Her tone was calm, neutral, unafraid. She spoke to the creature as an equal, yet with a certain measured respect.

"You're good with words," the archangel remarked, leaning forward. "Maybe you've realized I can't leave this place. Otherwise, I wouldn't be offering such a deal. Or maybe you're counting on powerful beings on the other side, hoping they'll kill me once you get there."

"Never," Erza replied. "I'm willing to accept your offer. A safe passage home doesn't come around every day, especially one that saves everyone. It's a far better gift than we expected."

Faces around the hall nodded in silent agreement. Even Luke. No one wanted to fight something like that. And he wasn't the kind of man who'd throw away his chance to return home for a group of strangers. Besides, deep down, he knew there were others back on Earth who could deal with the creature. Kings who alone were worth an army, far beyond level 137.

If I reached level 50 in less than a year, Luke thought, then the kings of Earth must be monsters. One of them would be enough to end this thing.

"And this incurable disease of yours... it won't spread to anyone on Earth, right?" Jack asked.

The archangel straightened on his throne, visibly irritated.

"No. The curse only affects my kind. The only way to resist was to petrify my body, to buy time. The rot isn't physical; it's spiritual. It consumes the soul. The decaying flesh is just a reflection of that. I'll still live for centuries before it finishes me. But time in this world has run out, because of you, of course. Even so, you have my gratitude. I'll be free of this prison, just like you."

Allison exhaled slowly.

"Then it's an excellent deal," she said. "No deaths, no fight. Everyone we care about gets saved."

The archangel smiled, pleased.

"I only have one condition," said the Midnight King. The smile widened, twisting the stone half of his face. "A small condition."

"And what condition is that?" Erza asked.

"I need to take one of your bodies as a host," the king replied.

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