I woke up to the stench of copper and burnt air. My head throbbed. I tried to move my hands. Steel bit into my wrists. I wasn't on the Golden Throne. I was in a cage."Wake up, meat," a voice spat.A bucket of icy water hit my face. I gasped, blinking away the sting. I looked up. I recognized the jagged stone walls and the iron bars. This was the Pit of Xul."Vaxen? Is that you?" a shaky voice whispered from the next cage.I turned my head. It was Kaelen. He died ten years ago. He was supposed to be a pile of bones."Shut up, filth!" a guard roared. He slammed a baton against my cage.A blue screen flickered in my vision.[SYSTEM INITIALIZING...][SYNCING SOUL DATA...][ASSIGNING CLASS: F-RANK SLAVE]I snarled. The System. The harvest. It was starting all over again. But then, a red glitch tore through the blue interface.[ERROR: UNAUTHORIZED DATA DETECTED.][OVERRIDING SYSTEM PROTOCOLS...][DIVINE SLAYER STORE UNLOCKED.][CURRENT KARMA: 0]I felt a surge of cold power in my chest. I

The wolf lay dead, but the arena stayed silent. I stood over the carcass, blood dripping from my rusted blade. I didn't look at the beast. I looked at the balcony where Overseer Malek sat, jaw clenched, knuckles white against the railing."Is that all?" I shouted. "You sent a dog to do a man's job?""How did he kill it?" a voice cried from the stands. "He barely moved!""It was luck!" another shouted. "The beast tripped!""You think so?" I turned to face the crowd. "Come down here and test your luck!"Malek leaned over the railing, his face twisted with fury. "You got lucky, Vaxen. The beast was old. It was weak.""The beast was fine," I said. "You're just bad at your job, Malek.""You dare speak to me like that?" Malek roared. "Guards! Drag him to the center!"Two guards rushed forward and grabbed my arms. I didn't fight them. I let them drag me. I needed to stay in the light. I needed the System to watch."Look at this wolf," I said, pointing the blade at the carcass. "Look at the n

The gates of the Zenith Ring groaned open. I stepped into the blinding light. Thousands of spectators roared in the stands. In the center of the pit stood a mountain of flesh."Is that him?" a voice yelled from the front row. "The slave who killed the wolf?""He looks like a twig!" another laughed. "He’s dead meat!"The giant across from me was Karox the Butcher. He held a massive cleaver that dripped with old blood. He was the System’s favorite executioner. In my past life, he had slaughtered a hundred men in this arena."So, you’re the one," Karox rumbled. His voice sounded like grinding stones. "The little bug Malek is so afraid of.""Malek is a coward," I said. "And you’re just a puppet.""A puppet?" Karox laughed. "I’ll use your intestines as a necklace, boy!""You talk too much, Karox," I said. "Are we fighting or having a conversation?""Die!" Karox roared.He lunged forward. The ground shook under his weight. He swung the massive cleaver in a horizontal arc. To the crowd, it w

I stood on the edge of the VIP balcony, my shadow blade dripping with black smoke. Malek scrambled backward, his boots sliding on the polished marble. He held the purple orb like a shield."Stay back, you freak!" Malek screamed. "You’re a glitch! You’re a virus in the System!""I’m the cure, Malek," I said."You cheated!" he shrieked. "No F-Rank slave can move like that! No one can buy from the Divine Store without a Priest’s seal!""Your Priests are just middle-men," I said. "I cut out the commission.""Guards!" Malek bellowed. "Execute him for high treason! He has violated the Divine Balance!"Four elite sentinels in silver armor vaulted over the railing. They leveled spears tipped with white fire at my throat."By the authority of the God of Greed," the lead sentinel intoned, "Vaxen 402 is sentenced to soul-erasure.""Vaxen, behind you!" Jace yelled from the arena floor."Don't worry about me, Jace!" I shouted. "Worry about the doors!""The doors?" Malek laughed. "The doors are sea

We reached the mouth of the ventilation shaft. The city air tasted like metal. Suddenly, the ground erupted in purple light. Malek stood there, his face half-melted from the orb’s backlash."You aren't leaving, Vaxen!" Malek screamed."You look pathetic, Malek," I said. "Go home.""The God of Greed has given me a final gift!" Malek shrieked. He crushed a black crystal into his chest.His skin began to tear. Thick, oily muscle burst through his tunic. He grew until he was ten feet tall. Horns ripped through his skull. He wasn't human anymore. He was a Greater Demon."Vaxen, run!" Jace yelled. "He’s a Calamity Rank boss now!""Stay back, Jace!" I shouted. "Take Lyra and the others to the perimeter!""I’m not leaving you to die!" Lyra cried."You’ll only get in my way!" I barked. "Move!"Malek roared, the sound shattering the glass in nearby buildings. He swung a fist the size of a boulder. I jumped, but the shockwave sent me spinning into a brick wall. My ribs cracked."Is that all the