Location: The Eastern Wastes – Dark Continent
The air was thick with rot and arcane smog. Beneath the shadows of collapsed towers and corrupted ley-lines, a twisted black-market thrived—no laws, no mercy. Only hunger.
Inside a rotting stone bunker, torches of cold flame flickered. A cage stood at the center, and within it, a grotesque abomination whimpered—a hybrid thing stitched from multiple species, its mouth a jagged opening of overlapping teeth, and its eyes crimson and unblinking.
A rogue hunter stood nearby, trembling, clearly out of his depth. His armor was bloodstained, his fingers twitching from too many failed dealings.
Hunter (nervous):
"Found this thing in the Amazon Tower. Fifty-seventh Floor. It… it killed six of us before we got it in that cage. And the core—it doesn't crack. We tried three rituals. It absorbed them."
Seated across from him was Dr. Arlen, cloaked in black and adorned with his signature plague mask, flipping through a leather-bound grimoire crusted in dried blood.
Dr. Arlen (monotone, intrigued):
"Three failed rituals… and it still lives. Its soul resists disintegration. That is rare. Very rare."
The others in the room, elite members of the Dark Triad, observed in silence:
Yao, arms folded, leaned on a rusted pillar, a predator's grin dancing on his face.
Dao, kneeling with eyes closed, sharpened his crescent blade in a meditative rhythm.
Mae Lou, expression unreadable, whispered protective wards into her palm.
Vera, fingers stained with toxin-laced ink, scribbled down reaction notes like a chemist drunk on danger.
Luri, barely visible, flickered in and out of illusion as if reality itself couldn't pin her down.
And lurking near the edge, three more emerged from the shadows:
Kellan Graves, "The Smiler," tilted his head with eerie delight.
Asra Vayne, shirtless and painted in crimson war-tattoos, rolled his neck with anticipation.
Wretch, crouched like a spider, caressed the cage and whispered, "...it wants to be free."
The hunter took a step back, eyes darting toward the exit—mistake. Kellan appeared behind him in a blink, knife at his throat.
Kellan (whispering):
"Didn't stay for the show? That's rude."
Reid Stone, leader of the Black Guild, sat in silence near the altar, unmoving, unreadable.
Then, he stepped forward.
Kim Hwan, known as "The Demon Fang," shirtless with his blade slung on his back, stared at the creature with zero hesitation.
Kim Hwan (grim):
"I'll do it."
Mae Lou (sharp):
"Kim, wait—this ritual failed three times. It's unstable. You're not even fully—"
Kim (cutting her off):
"I didn't come here to watch. I came here to ascend."
The others went still. Even Asra raised an eyebrow.
Asra:
"Heh… finally, someone here with a death wish worth watching."
The circle was drawn in blood. The mutated creature was dragged to the altar and butchered with surgical cruelty. Its black, pulsating core was carved out—still writhing with energy—and placed in the center of the ritual seal.
Dr. Arlen (chanting, voice distorted):
"By void unending, by souls unmade, by the hunger of all things lost… we command evolution. Bind body to chaos, fuse flesh to meaning…"
The room darkened. The torches died. Only the core remained lit—now glowing a furious red.
Kim Hwan stepped into the circle.
And screamed.
His body convulsed. Veins burst into black lines, crawling like serpents beneath his skin. His eyes rolled back, white, then red, then void. His back arched as his muscles tore and reformed—bones cracked audibly, then mended in unnatural ways.
Luca Fen (murmuring):
"He's not just mutating… the core is feeding on him."
Kim let out a second scream—but this time, it wasn't human. The walls vibrated. The seal cracked.
Wretch (grinning):
"Something beautiful is being born."
Kim's skin split open, molten red light pouring through fissures like magma. His teeth lengthened. His sword ignited—not with fire, but something darker, hungrier.
Then he snapped—blasting outward with a demonic roar, he lunged and cleaved through a summoned guardian in one motion. The corpse hit the ground in two clean halves.
Mae Lou raised a dark barrier just in time to shield Luri. Yao ducked a flying shard of bone.
Yao (laughing):
"HOLY hell—he's a beast now!"
Asra (grinning):
"I want next."
Just before Kim could spiral out of control—
A golden flash.
Reid Stone stepped forward. Effortless. Impossibly fast.
He gripped Kim's flaming throat and slammed him into the stone floor with a sound like a cracking mountain.
Reid (calm, cold):
"Enough."
Kim writhed, still twitching with unstable power, but he wasn't resisting. Blood streamed from his mouth. But his eyes—glowing, alive—were smiling.
Kim Hwan (gasping, with broken glee):
"…I saw it. A glimpse. Beyond the system. Beyond the gates."
Reid (flat):
"You survived. That's all that matters."
He let go.
The others gathered around, staring at what remained of their comrade.
He wasn't the same.
He was no longer just Kim Hwan.
He was something else now. Something more.
Something wrong.
Dr. Arlen (whispering, delighted):
"And the first demon is born…"
---
To be continue…