A few days had passed since Arthur went berserk and collapsed. Mary stood over his bed while Jack's looming, skeletal form towered on the opposite side. A sharp knock echoed through the house. Mary strode from Arthur's room and yanked open the front door.
A massive, well-built man filled the doorway. "Hello, ma'am," he said, his voice rough as gravel. "Your son has been selected for the Magic Academy."
Mary's eyes blazed. "What do you mean, the Magic Academy? He's already finished school. Students have magic there too—so what's the difference? And why am I only hearing about this now?"
The man's smile didn't reach his eyes. "The difference, ma'am, is that a Magic Academy focuses exclusively on magic. Your son's abilities must be tested by a crystal imbued with power from our strongest mages. That determines—"
"But—" Mary's voice cracked. She cut herself off, wrestling with whether to trust this stranger. What harm could the truth do? If danger came, Jack would obliterate anyone who dared threaten Arthur. "He's asleep. He's been unconscious for days."
"We'll wait until he wakes," the man said, as though comatose children were merely an inconvenience.
Far away, in a castle shrouded in darkness, Kale sprinted through the corridors. His feet pounded up endless staircases while Orin pursued him like a shadow given form. Kale—king of this fortress, overseer of his realm, and secretly a demon-human hybrid—had hidden here nearly his entire life. Only his most loyal followers could approach these walls, and Orin had slaughtered half of them already.
Kale refused to let Orin claim the Blood Crystal.
"You know I'm faster than you," Orin taunted. In a flash, he materialized directly behind Kale as the hybrid king continued his desperate ascent.
*If only I had my magic,* Kale thought, teeth clenched. *Then I could kill this monster. But my power is gone, and there's no time to recover it.*
Kale's red eyes dimmed to crimson slits as he spotted a doorway ahead. He lunged toward it with everything he had, but Orin remained one step behind—always one step behind, no matter how fast Kale ran.
*I have to shake him off.*
Kale thrust his leg backward, hoping to trip his pursuer. Orin caught Kale's ankle mid-strike and grinned. "Big mistake."
He hoisted Kale into the air by the captured leg. Kale dangled helplessly in Orin's iron grip.
"You really shouldn't have done that," Orin said, his smile widening. "Perhaps you should think before you act."
Shadow dripped from Orin's blade, then suddenly ceased. The weapon had absorbed its fill. Every time Orin's blade pierced flesh, it consumed both power and life force.
Kale's body lifted on its own, then hurtled downward through flight after flight of stairs—miles of infinite darkness stretching below. His hope, already small, evaporated completely.
*My magic. I need my magic,* he thought before his body struck the ground with a sickening crunch.
Orin approached the door and pushed it open. Inside, past ornate decorations, sat a large crimson orb—the Blood Crystal. Orin raised his primary blade and plunged it into the artifact. Blood drained into the weapon as the Crystal withered to nothing. Even the disintegrated dust flowed toward the blade, consumed entirely.
"Now I possess the powers of blood," Orin said, his voice thick with triumph. "All I need is the power of the Void, and every force in this world will be mine."
In the castle's basement, Kale lay broken from the fall. He hadn't struck any steps during his descent, but the impact from such height would have splattered any normal human—even one with magic. Kale was a demon, and a formidable one, but that hadn't saved him. His legs, arms, and face were mangled beyond recognition. Even his closest subordinates wouldn't have known him.
A woman in dark clothing with raven hair approached, accompanied by a white-haired man carrying a luminous white sword.
"Time to claim another strong one," the woman said. She placed her hand on Kale's ruined body, and purple light consumed him. His flesh began healing at an extraordinary rate—faster even than a demon's natural regeneration at death's threshold.
Kale rose, his expression blank. "Yes," he intoned.
The woman smiled at Deal beside her—his flowing white hair, white eyes, and gleaming sword cutting through the castle's darkness. "Follow me."
She led both Deal and Kale from the fortress. Once outside, she summoned a portal in the ground. All three descended into the opening, plummeting back toward the Demon World.
But as they fell between realms, a figure appeared above them. Orin stood at the portal's edge, grinning down at his prey.
"I'm claiming your power next," he declared, then leaped into the void after them.
The portal sealed. None of them understood what this power-hungry beast would unleash.
"Getting closer to claiming your abilities," Orin called out as he plummeted toward them. "I never had the chance to acquire necromantic magic before, but now that I've witnessed your power, it's mine. The Blood Crystal, the Shadow—every force except yours and the Void belongs to me. And now, you're mine too."
Those were Orin's final words before he caught up to them, and they all entered the Demon World together—with one uninvited guest tagging along for a very unpleasant ride.