I stepped through the portal created by the demoness—expecting a confrontation, expecting her presence to lash out the moment I crossed the threshold. But instead… silence.
She was nowhere to be found.
That alone was troubling. A being of her caliber should've immediately sensed my intrusion. My presence wasn't subtle—I was still in my transformed state: [Yami no Shogun / Dark Shogun]—a form bursting with concentrated Dark Magic. I hadn't reverted it on purpose.
The darkness radiating from me was like a flare in the void. There was no way she hadn't noticed.
"Nao! Stop!" Envi's voice rang urgently in my mind, sharp with concern. "You're going to burn through your mana at this rate! You'll exhaust yourself before the real fight even begins!"
"I know," I replied, my voice calm, resolute. "But maintaining this form is more effective than deactivating and reactivating it repeatedly. The cost of recharging is higher than sustaining."
"But—"
