Deep within the jagged outskirts of the Velrion Star City, beyond the reach of the Blue Star's light existed a realm where the laws of nature were rewritten in blood.
The sky here was a bruised, eternal violet, never fully dark but never truly bright. Rising from the blighted earth was a monolithic palace forged from obsidian and shadowed metal. Above its jagged spires, swarms of winged demonic creatures circled like living omens, their shrieks echoing over the thousands of beasts gathered at the gates. These monsters, each radiating an aura capable of crushing a mortal's spirit, were merely the infantry;cannon fodder for the power that resided within.
This was the Dark Kingdom of the Underworld. Inside the palace, a grand hall stretched into an impossible distance. At the far end, seated upon a throne of obsidian, was a figure of terrifying composure. Two female demons flanked him. One on his right and one on his left. They were hauntingly beautiful, indistinguishable from humans to the untrained eye, yet their restrained auras hummed with enough raw power to level a city. Below the dais, Sixteen demon generals stood in a dual formation of eight.
Despite their legendary authority, the hall was deathly silent. None dared to breathe loudly in his presence.
The figure on the throne had long, blood-red hair that framed a pale, flawless face. Ancient black symbols glinted across his chest, pulsing with a rhythmic, dark light. His red pupils gleamed beneath half-lidded eyes, and his crimson lips were curled into a mask of pure disinterest. He leaned lazily against his hand, one arm supported by the throne's obsidian armrest.
His gaze flicked toward a general with orange hair and glowing, serpentine blue eyes.
"Where are the ones I summoned, Nama?" his voice was a silk-wrapped blade.
The general, Madreida Nama, immediately dropped into a deep bow. "They are here, my Lord."
Four figures shrouded in tattered black robes stepped into the light, pressing their foreheads to the cold stone floor. "Report, my Lord," they droned in unison.
"What took you so long?" The Red-Haired Lord asked, his voice dropping an octave. "You, who gave up the sanctity of your humanity to serve me... do you find your time more valuable than mine?"
"We... we are deeply sorry, my Lord! The report was delayed because—" They began to stammer an excuse, then abruptly cut themselves off. They knew the price of a weak explanation in this court was a death sentence.
The Lord's eyes flared a brilliant, predatory crimson. "As you were saying?"
The humans-turned-cultists began to tremble, sweat stinging their eyes. "The... the deploys in the Wilderness territory have been neutralized. The Varakhan Dreadlord has been defeated."
The Hall went cold. Then, a low, melodic sound vibrated through the air.
"Hah... hahaha!" The red-haired figure laughed, though his eyes remained frozen. "Interesting. To think Varakhan could be toppled by mere cattle. These humans must be quite formidable."
He gestured with a pale hand. One of the black-robed figures nodded frantically and reached up, his forehead opened a third eye. It projected a high-definition mana-recording of the battle into the air.
"Oh... interesting," one of the female attendants murmured, a cruel smirk playing on her lips as she watched the footage.
As the image of the final blow flickered in the display, the Red-Haired Lord's expression shifted. He leaned forward, his half-lidded eyes widening.
"Oliver...?" he said slowly, the name tasting like a curse on his tongue.
"He is the child of the Veyrons," Nama replied, his voice low. "The lineage that vanished sixteen years ago."
The Demon Lord smiled, and for the first time, genuine hunger appeared in his gaze. "The Veyrons were always... troublesome. Formidable. I am curious to see what their remaining offspring is made of." He rose from his seat, his form shimmering. "Nama, give the orders."
With a flicker of red static, the Lord and his attendants vanished into the unknown. The generals followed, fading like smoke, leaving only Nama and the four terrified cultists in the hollow silence of the hall.
Nama straightened his back, his serpentine eyes glowing with a cold, blue glow. "Listen carefully. You four will sneak into the Velrion Star City. To ensure a proper distraction, I will grant you a Dreadlord's Core. Transplant it into an individual with high energy output it should be the vessel that can't contain the pressure. Use the chaos to investigate the city's protective barriers. Find the anchors. Learn how to deactivate them."
He stepped closer, his shadow looming over them. "Beware the demi-gods and the Tier-9 Captains. They are not to be trifled with. And remember, there is no return until the mission is successful. Fail, and your souls will be fed to the swarms."
"Yes, Lord Nama!"
The demon general walked out, his footsteps echoing like a countdown. Left alone, the four figures whispered in the dark.
"We must be cautious," one hissed. "Before we enter the city, we will deploy doppelgängers. If the Vanguard catches our scent, they will find only shadows."
-----
While the city's heart beat with the joy of survival, Sherach was laughing over grease-slicked meat and I navigated the mysterious charms of a Captain. Kageno`Nenji remained a frigid anomaly in the celebration.
He was a ghost on the skyline, his black sandals silent against the slate of a slanted roof. He had felt it the moment he crossed the city threshold. An oily, familiar residue of mana that didn't belong in a civilian sector. It was the pungent, metallic scent of a Dreadlord's mark.
Kageno moved with lethal, soundless grace. His sleeveless vest fluttered, exposing the spiral tattoos on his arms.
He stopped at the edge of a clock tower, looking down into a fog-choked alleyway near the industrial district. He dropped into a freefall, vanishing into a smudge of darkness just before impact.
'Shadow Step.'
He reappeared atop a rusted ventilation duct, overlooking a secluded courtyard. Below him, four figures stood in the flickering light of a mana-lamp.
"...We accelerate the plan," one said, unaware of the predator perched above. The figure placed a shard of obsidian which was a jagged fragment of Varakhan's blade, into the center of a runic circle. "If the Vanguard wants a celebration, we'll give them fireworks they'll never forget."
He didn't wait neither did he call for help but simply sprung into action.
"Secret Art: Shadow Stitching."
As he fell, the shadows of the alleyway rose like obsidian needles. Before the hooded figures could look up, their feet were pinned to the stone by their own shadows. They gasped, their mana suppressed by the sheer weight of his killing intent.
He landed softly, hands still tucked into his combat trousers.
"You're a long way from the Abyss," his voice was a low, dangerous rumble.
"You... Nenji!" one of the cultists stammered. "How did you—"
Kageno flickered. In a heartbeat, he was inches from the lead figure's face, his hand gripping the man's throat until the vertebrae groaned.
"The core we destroyed was a decoy wasn't it?" Kageno asked, his eyes boring into the man's soul. "The real Varakhan essence... you're trying to transplant it into a student. Is that right?"
The figure struggled to breathe, a mocking, jagged grin forming on his lips. "It's... already... begun."
Kageno's expression didn't change, but the shadows around him flared. With a sharp CRACK, he snapped the figure's neck. But to his surprise, the body didn't fall but it dissolved into grey ash.
'A doppelgänger?'
The other three didn't even have time to scream before the Shadow Needles finished the job making their being yeild into grey dust. Kageno stood alone in the dark alley as the runic circle flickered out, the obsidian shard shattering into useless grit. He looked up toward the spires of the Vanguard Academy, glowing peacefully in the distance.
"Idiots," he muttered. "They leave the front door open while the rats are already in the walls."
He turned and began to walk back toward the heart of the city, his aura fading into the fog.
"I have to inform them," he whispered to the wind. "But for now... let them have their moment of peace."
With a final swirl of shadow, he vanished into the night.