After the scream - 1 billion universes remaining

The two announcements appeared as holographic screens in front of each player. A profound silence now reigned inside the tavern. Announcements were rare in the game, usually only occurring when players unlocked new zones by defeating their guardians. All the players present in the tavern were now looking at Isadora with incredulity. They could see on Monarchy's leaderboard that Isadora was only level 199. Even if the few level 200 players gathered, they weren't sure they could make a dent in the armor of the two colossi.

Some of the people in the tavern had started noticing the three strangers at her side, but they were too stunned to step forward and ask any questions.

Isadora ignored the surrounding commotion. She handed the two cores to the old sage, who placed them in one of his pockets. The identity of the old man must have been special. He didn't seem to have any trouble carrying the two cores in his pocket.

"Hahaha! Magnificent! Simply splendid! The hunt is truly on! Do you wish to continue on your current path, young adventurer?"

Isadora looked at Jason to see if they wanted to continue, to which he nodded. She turned to the sage who was patiently waiting for her response:

"Of course."

"Very well, very well! Bring me the heart of the Demon King Bulgharr."

With those words, she was teleported.

She now stood at the entrance of an immense cavern. The interior was illuminated by flames with a violet glow. In the center of the room stood a majestic throne, upon which sat the Demon King. His skin was entirely black, and his eyes were a blazing violet that glowed in the darkness. He wore no armor but held an immense translucent sword that he wielded with both hands.

It was difficult to gauge his proportions as the cavern gave no sense of scale, but Isadora estimated he must be at least ten meters tall. Despite his smaller size compared to the Iron Guardians, Isadora had no doubt he was far more powerful. His entire being emanated a sense of dread, raw power that left no doubt about his identity. He turned his head towards her. There was an intense disdain in his gaze, and she could feel her heart grow cold.

A message appeared before Isadora's eyes:

[You are in the presence of the Demon King Bulgharr. Given the difference of more than 200 levels, you have received the status: Near Death. Your stats have been reduced by 99%, and you will lose 100 health points per second of combat.]

Before Isadora could collapse under the effect of 'Near Death,' she suddenly regained control of her body. The battle had lasted only a brief moment. Arden hadn't even bothered to give his opponent a chance. He had directly teleported above him. With a single movement of his katana, he had extracted his heart. The heart beat frantically as if trying to cling to life, but the damage had already been done. The demon was already dead. He hadn't even had time to move. He remained upright on his throne, so that from a distance, one might think he was still alive. Arden's blade remained immaculate despite the macabre spectacle behind him, his hair waving to an imaginary wind.

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Before Isadora could comprehend what had just happened, she was back in the tavern. In front of her stood the old sage. He stood perfectly straight without even using his cane. He had stopped staring at the painting and was now staring at Isadora. There was an intensity in his eyes she had never seen before. His gaze was so intense that she began to sweat.

Isadora took several deep breaths to calm herself. There was no hostility in his gaze, only endless anticipation. Perhaps to diffuse the silence, two announcements appeared before the players:

'Congratulations to Isadora for being the first player to defeat a level 400 enemy!'

'Congratulations to Isadora for defeating the Demon King Bulgharr! She is the first to gather four of the five keys necessary for the Monarch's return!'

The players present in the tavern were not caught off guard. Most had already concluded that she had found a bug in the game. If they strongly suspected it after her victory against the Iron Guardians, they were now certain. Some hurried to contact their guild leaders to inform them of Isadora's location. They couldn't afford to let her finish the game this way.

Players were already expressing their dissatisfaction on the networks:

[Master of Poison]: "It's a shame that the first bug in the game allows the main quest to be broken. I look forward to the developers' response and hope they roll back the server so all players can enjoy the epic battles it offers."

[I Need More Ammo]: "Especially a shame that some are abusing it… we're talking about you, Born of Darkness. Their vice leader discovers a bug and shamelessly exploits it even after everyone finds out. Maybe it's time to wake up and think about who we recruit, just my opinion… take it or leave it."

[Let Me Just Play in Peace]: "I need to go to sleep in less than an hour, I just hope the developers roll back soon to minimize lost progress."

[The Person Above Me Is Always Wrong]: "Is there anyone at the developers' place? Hello?"

Unfortunately, they didn't understand that this was no game. No rollback would be possible.

As the atmosphere inside the tavern began to heat up, Isadora handed the Demon King's heart to the sage. This time, he didn't offer her the chance to stop the hunt, simply giving her the final quest objective before teleporting her:

"Bring me the tears of the Divine Eternal Dragon."

She now stood on what seemed to be clouds. She didn't sink through and could walk from cloud to cloud. They stretched infinitely in the same pattern, making the scene incredibly ethereal. The air was so pure and sparse that she received the status: "What are you doing here, mere mortal? Do you wish for death?"

A message appeared before Isadora explaining the consequences:

"Kneel, mere mortal, you are in the presence of an Eternal. You can no longer control any muscle in your body, and breathing will cause you to lose 10% of your health each second. All these debuffs will disappear if you become an Eternal yourself."

Before she could collapse, she saw the Divine Dragon. It lay atop an immense mountain, covering the entire summit. Its reptilian eyes with pink pupils seemed to peer into her soul and even speak to her:

'Go home, my child. Only death awaits you here.'

It didn't seem to have been programmed like the other monsters. To Isadora, it seemed almost... human?