One month later.

Nicolas had already eliminated thousands of mid-level demons and dozens of high-level ones.
And from them, he had acquired countless skills.

Somewhere in the vastness of space, Nicolas was testing out his new powers.

A spatial jump-leaping from one galaxy to another.

A complete success. Now for the second ability.

Suddenly, space-time around Nicolas began to warp, gravity surged to an overwhelming degree.

Light-years around him became unbearably heavy, space-time itself twisted and threatened to shatter at any moment.

"Excellent," he muttered. Next, he tested his speed.

In the blink of an eye, Nicolas shot across thousands of light-years and reached the Moon in just two seconds.

But just as he was about to test his strength, space cracked apart near the Sun in a massive rift.

From within poured out countless lesser demons, mid-level demons, and thousands of high-level demons.

And at the end came two Demon Lords.

Nicolas: "Well, now this is getting interesting."

He stretched casually, then made a taunting hand gesture toward the demons, lips curling in disdain.

The lesser and mid-level demons lost their minds and charged at Nicolas.

He charged back-no divine power, no fancy skills-just pure technique and overwhelming strength.

He punched, he kicked.

He dodged with effortless fluidity, as if he could see their attacks before they happened.

Amidst his playful dance with the demons, a powerful energy surged behind him.

He didn't dodge. He simply looked coldly as the attack approached.

BOOM!

He vanished-disintegrated from reality... Was it over?

No... [Blessing of Regeneration] automatically activated!

From the void, he returned-wearing a mocking smile.

Nicolas: "Too weak."

His eyes turned crimson, glowing with an ominous light...

The mid-level demons suddenly turned on the high-level ones in a frenzy.

The two Demon Lords who had been standing still finally moved.

Agene: "Those two Demon Lords aren't your average foes.
They're metaphysical conceptual entities-manifestations of fear.
Fear of the Ocean.
Fear of Nightmares."

Nicolas: "Ah! Lord Agene, long time no see!
Where've you been these past weeks?"

Agene: "Nothing much, just went to 'pay a visit' to nine arrogant fools."

Nicolas: "Ohh, I see!
By the way, what exactly are metaphysical conceptual entities?"

Agene:
"Conceptual Entities are not mere beings of flesh or spirit.
They are metaphysical truths-Planotic Concepts given form.

They are not just powerful-they are the very essence of what they represent.
You don't fight them the way you fight monsters.

You fear the ocean?
That fear-deep, ancient, rooted in the minds of mortals across the multiverse-becomes a being.
That being is the Demon Lord of the Ocean's Fear.

You cannot kill it by destroying its body-because it isn't a body.
You cannot silence it by closing your eyes-because it isn't a sound.

They don't exist in the usual sense.
They are born from collective thought, from eternal archetypes.

Think of it like this:
Mortals die. Souls perish. Even gods can be erased.
But as long as the concept remains,
as long as even one mind believes,
the entity persists.

That's why from Demon Lord level and beyond,
they are all Platonic Conceptual Beings-
they exist not within reality, but above it.

To destroy them...
You must erase the idea that they ever existed at all."

Nicolas: "Huh! That strong, huh?
So how am I supposed to defeat them?
Can my blessings even 'work' on them?"

Agene: "Easily."

Nicolas unleashed intense gravitational pressure.
Space-time cracked and reality quaked-but it had no effect on the two Demon Lords.

Nicolas: "Damn... tough crowd."

One of them charged forward-it was the Demon of the Fear of the Ocean.
Its movements seemed heavy but were actually agile; strength and speed, it had both.

It punched.

Nicolas: "I dodge, I dodge, I dod-"

He got hit-sent flying into a cluster of nameless minor asteroids.
He twisted midair and gracefully regained control with a light touch of his foot.

Nicolas: "Huh? Where am I?"

He was in a pure white space-nothing existed here.

All his powers were gone-he felt no different from a regular human.

Countless grotesque creatures rushed toward him.
He tried to move, but his body wouldn't respond.

And then, as if understanding something, he chuckled softly.

"Ah~ Demon of Nightmare, huh?
Your power is interesting, I'll give you that... But unfortunately-"

The twisted monsters were nearly upon him.

[Gluttonous Blessing] activated automatically.

"You're still too weak~"

The white void vanished-he had devoured the fear of nightmares itself.

The Nightmare Demon was gone.

The Ocean Demon, witnessing this, tried to escape-
But in a flash-slash-it too disappeared.

From that day forward, reality no longer contained nightmares and the fear of the deep sea-
"I guess that counts as two good deeds, doesn't it?"

Behind a colossal gate, seated at the highest plane-

Fear: "Those two fools... They left without permission.
Their deaths are well deserved."

Darkness: "The 'One Above' told us to aid his training by continuously sending demons his way.
We were only planning to send a few dozen high-level ones.
Didn't expect those idiots to act on their own.
Good thing the kid's strong. If not..."

Greed: "For the first time in my life, I prayed to God-
That those morons would all just die."

Agene: "Oh... You've grown strong enough to devour a story?"

Nicolas: "Huh? What do you mean?"

Agene: "Since the dawn of everything-when there was nothing but the void...
I and the other Elder Gods gifted the void with:

Matter, Concepts, Laws, Space and Time, Life and Death, Definitions, Logic, Story, and Information.

These aspects became the Infinite Multiverse.

Then we established systems of Causality and Fate to govern it all.

Put simply, the universe at its most fundamental level is made up of these aspects.

They are what shape and sustain the infinite multiverse.

Every being has its own Concept, its own Law, its own Logic, its own Information, its own Story, its own Definition.

For example, humans have the concepts, laws, definitions, stories, and logic of humanity.

Demons have their own aspects as well.

And you-you've grown strong enough to 'consume' a Story."

Nicolas: "Ohh, I see...
What about the other aspects like Matter, Life and Death, Space and Time?"

Agene: "They're not that important-just to make the multiverse more colorful."

Nicolas jumped back to his home star system.

Took a deep breath.

Nicolas: "Ah~ Nothing beats being home."

Knock knock knock.

Nicolas: "Huh? Who's there?"

Vandas: "It's me! Open up, buddy!"

Nicolas: "Oh, it's you, Vandas."

He opened the door to find Vandas smiling and waving.
But what caught Nicolas's attention-
Behind Vandas were four men in suits, emanating an intimidating presence.

Nicolas: "Hello... And who might you all be?"

The House of Votex

Oblivion was busy admiring his card deck.
Knorl was diligently reading.
Agene was peacefully sipping tea.

Then-

Knock knock knock!

???: "Old friend's visiting~ Open up!"

Lust: "Hey Darkness~, who's your new guest~? I'm so curious~"

Fear: "Wait, Darkness, you have friends?
And one impressive enough to earn an invitation?"

Death: "If Darkness invited them personally, they must not be ordinary."

The remaining Ancient Demons said nothing.

???: "Yo! Looks like everyone's here!"

Lust: "Oh, look who it is... If it isn't you~"

???: "Lust... Long time no see.
You're as stunning as ever."

Lust: "You... Your tongue's still as sweet as ever.
I love it~"

Lust-the Demon representing lust, pleasure, uncontrollable craving and sexual desire.

Pale skin, slender waist and thick thighs, two small wings on his back that could change size at will-though they usually stayed adorably small.

A voice that could enchant the soul, a bold, seductive demeanor-
And above all... Lust is a man.

End of Chapter 4.