POV: Gzeph

What the hell was I thinking, escaping from there? They only cared about my unauthorized access to the data server... not about what else I had done.

Too late, now I'm a fugitive.

Thousands of years in service and I still couldn't shake those habits.

It will still be a couple of days until my spaceship arrives at my off-side lab.

Around the middle of that trip, my sensor picks up a faint signal coming from a nearby world.

Strange, is the machine broken? If the signal was real, I should've picked it up from way back at my office.

A quick check of the machine doesn't find any obvious defects. I guess I should check the source of the signal. A little workout can't hurt. I've been too much in my office lately.

I land my ship a bit away from the source of the signal, then hide it in a nearby cave. I shouldn't be long but I better be safe than sorry.

After a short walk, I arrive at the outpost. It is located next to an inactive volcano. I have doubts that they are researching some form of thermal energy.

I cautiously check out the location without getting seen. There are no obvious flags or signs of who the outpost belongs to but a simple look at the guard's uniform tells me... yeah, it belongs to 'them'. The demons from the "Creed of Whispers" actually managed to hide this outpost close to our homeworld.

Goddamnit, Lou, why did you have to stop me back then? If you had let me use the second bomb nearly eight thousand years ago, they wouldn't be around anymore... We had them on the ropes back then, we could've ended it all... now, they are back everywhere, spread over the whole universe, worse than ever before.

I hope you rest in peace, Lou. I won't until I've eradicated those child murderers!

...

It seems like most of them are from different systems but none of any significant power levels. This should be as easy as always.

I wonder if I should curse or thank Todo for allowing the systems' powers to diverge that much. Well, it makes my work easier at least.

I see no point in keeping any of them alive, so frontal assault it is.

I take out my morph weapon and change it to a gun.

Bang Bang

Two already down. They are as weak as expected.

And as I hoped for, I was noticed. More soldiers appear. Some start rushing at me while others take shots at me with either magic or guns. This is about to get fun.

Bang Bang

Most of their shots miss despite me barely bothering to move. I don't even feel the few hits that they manage to land. Is everyone here that weak?

Their front liners have reached me, so it is time for melee combat.

I change my weapon to a sword and start dancing around them.

Slash Slash

More and more of their soldiers drop dead, none of them can take a single hit from me.

After a few more minutes all of them are dead. Did I take any damage?

Hmpf, a single point of damage. Pathetic. I'm getting rusty.

I wade through the sea of corpses into the facility. Something must be here.

I look around the inside of the building.

Rustle

I can hear that there is still someone left.

The noise comes from a side room. I look inside and see a mixture of a laboratory and cultist sacrificial site.

There's the last survivor, trying to collect some documents.

Of course, it had to be a Demon Lord. That'll take two minutes more than necessary.

"Planning to go somewhere, demon?"

"Hmpf, that's none of your business, intruder. Where are all of my guards? Am I just surrounded by imbeciles?"

"They are dead, and soon so are you."

"Don't make me laugh! Don't you know who I am?"

"No, and I don't care. You'll be just another number in my reports."

"As if! You can't do anything to me! I'm a mighty Demon Lord! I'm invincible!"

"Cute."

Bang Bang

"S-see? It is useless."

"We'll see about that."

I put away my weapon and rush at my opponent. Then throw a punch at him.

Right hook. Left hook. Uppercut. Nutcracker.

The demon goes to the ground and then struggles to get back up.

"*urgh* Cease your futile... effort. You can't... hurt me."

"Are you sure about that?"

I know that I can't deal damage but...

"I know your [Dark Lord] skill."

I have the right tool for the job in my inventory. I switch to an SMG.

"And yes, we use different systems. But you see..."

Gun loading noises

"The skill may negate damage but not PAIN."

Rattatatatata

After unloading a whole munition clip, the oh-so invincible Demon Lord passes out.

What an idiot. Just standing there while his opponent prepares his finishing move.

"Say, my friend, you're kinda cold. Here, let me help you."

I drag the unconscious idiot over to an open chute.

"I think what you need is a nice relaxing bath. I heard lava helps with stress. You first, buddy."

I throw him into the opening leading towards the volcano.

One problem less.

...

Shit, I should've interrogated him first. Ah, too late now.

I hope he didn't have anything important on him...

I begin searching through the remaining documents.

I can't find anything about the artifacts. If they had anything, it is now burned in the lava.

However, I stumble upon a familiar-looking blueprint. Is that really...?

These damn child murderers... how did they get their hands on blueprints of my inventions? ...is that why my artifact detectors don't work anymore?

But... I've replaced this specific detector model millennia ago. Is there a traitor leaking that info to them?

3QGN73

Just in case anyone had the idea that Gzeph has it all together. He has not. He is a long-term planner, but short-term? He falls apart, seen both here and in chapter 2.

Gzeph had spent ages researching and preparing for the Deteoh trip. He must have known about the "Holy Maiden" skills, he is basically sitting at the source of all the system information. And yet he allowed Jared to be an undead with all the consequences we've seen. Or was that intentional...?