Auxiliary Chapter:“Hey, Raya. You coming for the Friday workers’ party tonight?”The question came from a guy in neatly pressed corporate wear, but Raya didn’t bother lifting his eyes from the laptop screen.“No. I’ve got a project due Monday,” he said flatly.A young woman joined them, planting her hands on her hips. “Told you, Steve. Raya doesn’t do parties. Man lives on caffeine and deadlines.”Both coworkers exhaled dramatically, then waved. “Alright. See you Monday.”The second the door clicked behind them, Raya shut the laptop. The screen went black, revealing his own tired reflection eyes that avoided people more than work.He was never busy on Fridays. He just didn’t have the energy to pretend to enjoy small talk.He packed up, slung his bag over his shoulder, and stepped into the night.The city greeted him with noise and neon bars overflowing with laughter, music vibrating through the pavement, and crowds weaving like they owned the darkness. LHe walked with the usual quie

Raya left town with hurried steps, gripping the map Zach had given him so tightly it wrinkled in his hand. The dungeon wasn’t far, just a short walk beyond the forest’s edge.The deeper he went, the more the world seemed to hold its breath.Trees crowded together overhead, their branches twisting like fingers trying to snatch at the sky. Shadows pooled at their roots as if watching him pass.Then…. A rustling sound was heard Raya startled, spun to check what rustled the bushes, but it was too late.Five men leapt from the bushes and from behind the trunks. Hands grabbed him from every angle, slamming him face-first into the dirt. His breath punched out of him.“W–wait—!” he choked out.Rope scraped his skin as they tied his wrists and ankles in seconds, practiced and efficient.“Help!!! Somebody….!”A boot pressed against his ribs.“Stay still, you little punk,” one growled.A sack dropped over his head. The world went dark as they lifted him like a sack of potatoes and hurled him on

Everyone had seen it.A frail human, drenched in his own blood, standing over the corpse of a champion undefeated for two years.For one breathless moment, the entire arena went silent.Then the stands erupted, shrieks, roars, curses, disbelief. Demons banged on the railings. Some even attacked each other in excitement. The prisoners stared as if witnessing a miracle too cruel to be real.Raya remembered none of it,. the world had already gone dark.…“Argh—!”Pain dragged him back to consciousness like hooks tearing him upward from a deep pit. His eyes snapped open.He wasn’t in the same cell.This one was… cleaner. The floor wasn’t slick with rot. A torch flickered from a brazier, giving off a faint warmth. The walls were reinforced with metal bars instead of decaying stone. For a prison, it almost felt like a reward.Raya tried to sit up.His body screamed. Not a single inch of him felt untouched. He clutched his head as a sharp wave of memory tore through him, the arena, the screa

The Crystal of the Demon Lords had been silent for decades.Once, its deep crimson glow would flare to life whenever a Demon Lord was born. Now, it remained dark, cold, inert, untouched by time.Three figures stood watch before the crystal, each representing one of the world’s great races.They were gathered in a land that belonged to none of them, the vast Sahara Plain. Endless golden sand stretched beyond the fortress walls, broken only by heat waves and the occasional sound of the wind. It was a neutral zone, agreed upon long ago after countless wars had reduced entire continents to ash.To guard the crystal, a massive fortress had been built here, its black stone walls reinforced with layered enchantments. Elite forces from all three races patrolled its halls day and night. Not because they trusted one another, but because none of them dared leave the crystal unguardedSince the formation of their uneasy alliance against a common and terrifying enemy, the fortress had also beco

Raya and Lucifer walked through the tower.The higher floors were quiet, Raya was met only by the respectful greetings of each floor master. Those upper levels were nearly empty, polished and orderly, but the deeper they descended, the more the refinement faded.The walls lost their decorative carvings. The light dimmed, shifting from artificial glow to dull torchlight.After passing the tenth floor, they finally reached the ground floor.Raya slowed his pace, Lucifer immediately adjusted to match him.“This is the ground floor, the main entrance of the tower, my lord,” Lucifer said. “It also serves as housing for lesser demons, prisons for other races, and… entertainment grounds.”Raya didn’t respond. Only now did he have the leisure to truly observe the ground floor, unlike his first time here, when he had been dragged in as a human prisoner.In fact he just noticed that the ground floor was hundred times larger than the others. It felt like an entire town thriving within the tower