The room was quiet, but Elias could feel it—a low thrum of dark energy that had taken residence in his veins. Since he devoured the soul of the High Inquisitor in the last chapter, something had changed. The Devil's System was no longer a quiet guide; it had become a presence, whispering things when he least expected, nudging him toward choices he didn't fully understand.
Standing before the mirror in his small apartment, Elias stared at his reflection. His once dull brown eyes now shimmered with an unnatural crimson hue when he let his guard down. The veins near his temples pulsed subtly, black as ink.
"You're changing," the voice echoed softly in his mind. "The world is beginning to see what I saw in you."
Elias exhaled and turned away. He hadn't been able to sleep. Every night since the last soul collection, he dreamt of the underworld—a spiraling abyss filled with echoes of screaming souls. In those dreams, a throne of bone waited for him, and shadowed beings knelt.
But it wasn't the throne that terrified him.
It was how much he wanted it.
---
The city streets of Duskbane were quiet under a gray morning sky. Elias walked with his hoodie drawn, blending in, but his senses were alive. He could hear footsteps from three blocks away, the heartbeat of the man reading a newspaper across the street, the faint rattle of a blade being unsheathed.
Then came the whisper.
"They're hunting you."
He spun into an alley, shadows cloaking his retreat. As he pressed his back against the wall, a gust of sulfuric wind blew through the alley. It wasn't natural.
Then came the first of them.
A Revenant.
Once a soul collector like himself, now twisted, feral, abandoned by their own system. The creature slithered into the light with black bone armor fused to its skin, red tendrils lashing from its back.
"Elias Black," it hissed, voice like rusted metal. "Your bounty grows with every soul you consume."
Elias clenched his fists. The system pulsed in response. Soul Capacity: 8/20. Combat Enhancement: Active.
The Revenant struck first, a blur of claws and smoke. Elias ducked, rolled beneath the blow, and summoned his chain-blade—a manifestation of raw soul energy. It snapped with a hiss and wrapped around the Revenant's leg, yanking it off-balance.
"You serve no master," Elias growled.
"Neither will you!" it screeched.
The fight was chaos. Sparks flew as soul-weapon clashed with claw. Elias's mind burned with every strike. He wasn't just fighting with strength; he was fighting against the corruption creeping into him.
When the Revenant lunged for his throat, Elias let go.
His pupils dilated, his power surged, and he drove his blade into the Revenant's core. The creature screamed, eyes bulging as it disintegrated into wisps of broken soul.
+1 Soul Absorbed. Total: 9/20.
Elias collapsed to one knee, breathing hard. He hadn't noticed the group that had gathered.
Three men in cloaks stood at the alley's entrance, observing.
"You're getting stronger," the tallest one said. "But are you still human?"
Elias stood slowly, gripping his blade. "Who are you?"
"The Infernals," another said. "We are the only ones who can teach you what you're becoming."
The Devil's System pulsed in his mind. They tell half-truths. Useful, but dangerous.
Elias considered. If he wanted to survive the forces after him—Inquisitors, Revenants, rogue Collectors—he needed more than raw strength. He needed knowledge. Allies.
Or at least, pawns.
"Then teach me," Elias said. "But if you lie, I'll add your souls to my count."
The three cloaked figures smiled.
And deep below the city, where forgotten things slithered in silence, something ancient stirred.
The Devil's throne was missing a king.
The alley was burning. Not from fire, but from the heat of Elias's own breathless dread.
He stood still while the screams faded—some mortal, others not. Crimson mist wrapped around his wrist like a serpent. The voice in his head was no longer whispering; it was laughing.
> "You're not a killer by nature, Elias. You're simply becoming what they forced you to be."
Elias didn't answer. His boots crunched over the rubble of the cursed house he'd just leveled. Another soul collected. Another notch burned into his memory. But why was he still hungry? Why did the system—the Devil's System—keep telling him this was just the beginning?
A distorted shimmer appeared ahead, like a crack in the air. His soul key vibrated on his neck. The obsidian gem that was once dull now glowed faint blue. That had never happened before.
He reached out instinctively.
The space before him tore open like wet parchment. Cold spilled out. Ancient. Unclean. The air stank of brimstone and forgotten oaths. Through the tear, he glimpsed a realm stitched with floating chains, bleeding trees, and shadows that moved independently of any light.
> [You have unlocked the Ashen Gate.]
> [WARNING: This realm predates the Contract. Proceed at your own risk.]
He stepped in anyway.
The Ashen Gate realm was silent—but not dead. The kind of silence that watched you. Judged you. Elias could feel it in his bones. Something here knew him. Something had been waiting.
Then it spoke.
"Another Collector. Another fool in the Devil's leash."
The voice echoed from all directions. Elias turned sharply, energy flaring from his fingers, but nothing showed itself.
"Show yourself," he growled.
A figure emerged from behind a monument of skulls. Not running. Not hiding. A Collector like him—though not quite. His coat was shredded at the hem, black with dried ichor. His face was cracked like porcelain. His eyes, once human, were glowing empty sockets.
> He looked like someone who had broken the rules—and survived.
"Name's Ashvar," the man said. "Last of the rogue Collectors."
Elias blinked. "There are others?"
"Were," Ashvar said with a dry chuckle. "The Devil doesn't like defectors."
The system's interface buzzed violently inside Elias's mind. It was trying to suppress something. To block what Ashvar was saying. Elias clutched his head, feeling the pressure build.
> [ERROR: Unverified interaction detected.]
> [Suppressing unauthorized soul data.]
Ashvar raised a brow. "Heh. It's fighting me already? You must be special."
"What do you want?" Elias asked through clenched teeth.
"I want to give you a choice."
Ashvar stepped closer, each movement drawing attention from the living shadows crawling along the trees. He raised a hand. A glowing rune flared in his palm—a seal of soul freedom—something no Collector was supposed to wield.
"You were lied to," Ashvar said. "The Devil doesn't just want souls. He wants vessels. Hosts. Kings. Rulers of the dying planes. You, Elias Black, are a candidate. You weren't chosen because you were weak. You were chosen because you're compatible."
Elias swallowed hard. He could barely process it.
Ashvar continued, his voice lowering. "You think this system helps you? It molds you. Strips your humanity piece by piece, until you're hollow enough for him to walk the mortal plane again."
"No," Elias whispered. "I made a deal. A second chance."
"A second chance... to become what?" Ashvar challenged. "You think vengeance was your own idea? He planted it. Fed it."
Elias took a step back, but the shadows behind him reached like claws.
Ashvar tossed a glowing soulstone at Elias's feet. "There's still time. But if you stay on the system's path, you'll stop being you."
> [New Item Acquired: Ashen Soul Shard.]
> [Corrupted. CANNOT be absorbed.]
> [WARNING: Contact with rogue Collectors is grounds for TERMINATION.]
The system's warning repeated in bold red. The realm trembled. From above, a piercing shriek tore through the realm like an alarm.
Ashvar looked up. "Too late."
"What's happening?" Elias demanded.
Ashvar's face hardened. "He knows. And now... you've been marked."
Elias turned just in time to see a colossal, skeletal hand rip through the clouds above. Eyes opened across its knuckles—hundreds of them. All staring. All watching. The System's enforcer.
Ashvar shoved Elias. "Run, fool. If you want to live free, RUN!"
Elias didn't hesitate. The trees parted violently as he sprinted. The realm behind him collapsed, howling with unnatural noise. The voice in his head screamed in distorted rage. It wasn't the usual Devil's tone—it was panicked.
> [You were not supposed to see that.]
> [Locking corrupted memory.]
> [Initiating Correction Protocol.]
But Elias remembered. The image burned into his soul—the seal Ashvar used, the truth in his voice, the fear in the system's response.
He burst out of the Ashen Gate, landing on the alley's edge like a bullet shot from hell. Smoke swirled behind him. His body ached. His hand still held the soulstone, warm and pulsing.
And then came the sound of slow clapping.
He turned.
Steve stood there, eyes gleaming crimson, lips twisted into a mockery of a smile. "Looks like our little hero's been digging in places he shouldn't."
Elias didn't move. Couldn't speak.
Steve stepped forward. "You think you're the only one with secrets, Elias? Oh no... You've only seen the surface. And I'm going to drag you deeper."
—