Kai was on his knees, scrubbing blood off the black marble floor of Draven's palace when the screaming started.
It wasn't unusual. The Demon Emperor's disciples were monsters, and Draven—the youngest and cruelest—liked to test new torture techniques on prisoners. But this scream was different.
It was the Demon Emperor himself.
Kai froze, the wet cloth dripping red in his hand. Above him, the vaulted ceilings trembled as a shockwave of dark energy ripped through the palace. The air thickened with the scent of burning flesh and betrayal.
Then—BOOM.
The roof shattered.
Kai threw himself behind a pillar as Draven, clad in crackling violet armor, descended from the sky, his sword plunged deep into the chest of the Demon Emperor. The ruler of the Celestial Abyss—the man who had conquered ten thousand realms—was bleeding.
"Master," Draven whispered, his voice trembling with ecstasy, "your reign ends today."
The Emperor's golden eyes burned with fury. "You fool. You think you can take my place?"
Draven twisted the blade. "No. I'll be greater."
The Emperor's gaze flicked past him—**to Kai**, still crouched in the shadows.
Their eyes met.
And the Emperor smiled.
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The Last Gift
With a roar, the Demon Emperor exploded in a storm of black fire. Draven was blasted backward, his armor cracking. But before the flames consumed him, the Emperor ripped something from his own chest—a scroll made of writhing crimson shadows—and hurled it at Kai.
"TAKE IT, BOY! LET MY KNOWLEDGE ROT—OR DROWN THE HEAVENS IN BLOOD!"
The scroll melted into Kai's chest.
Agony.
His veins turned to fire. His vision whited out. The last thing he saw was Draven's furious face turning toward him—
"YOU?! A WORTHLESS SERVANT?!"
Then the world ripped apart.
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Falling
Kai tumbled through the void, his body breaking and reforming as the God-Slaying Scrolls seared their secrets into his soul.
"To kill a god… first become a demon even heaven fears…"
He crashed into sand.
Hot. Dry. Weak.
The lower realm.
Groaning, Kai pushed himself up—just as a shadow loomed over him.
"Well, well," a rough voice chuckled. "Looks like the sky spat out some trash."
A man in wolf pelts grinned down at him, a rusty axe resting on his shoulder.
"You're mine now, sky-rat."
Kai looked at the hunter's outstretched hand.
Then at his own fingers.
Still smoking with the Emperor's power.
He smiled.
"Try."