'A Demon King? He might as well task me to destroy the world for him at this rate.'

Walking through the Ashland the ash kept falling like snowflakes in the wind.

Wrapping his scarf around his neck tightly, Larian tread the desolate path alone.

He remembered the details Adam gave him on the Ashlands that were never covered in any textbook within the Academy.

The Ashlands was once the domain of a multitude of monsters which claimed its territory. The Kingdoms rule was constantly changing.

From the Onis to the Fire Tar and Eventually Demons. It was during the Fire Tar's rule that the Land entirely turned into what is currently known as the Ashlands.

The demons who overthrew the Fire Tars and took them as subordinates chose to expand their territory upwards. That was known as the War of the Dark Ages.

The Last Demon King was said to have been killed by Selarian. But the remnants of his rule was not entirely quelled.

"So do whatever you can to support the current Demon King or replace him entirely while you are in the Ashlands."

"Would the Demons even accept a human as a Demon King? What's with the get up? It's not even cold here."

Adam was dressed in thick winter clothes in Larian's foundation.

"To fit the occasion. The demons respect strength above all else. And with my influence your Dragon Form can easily be altered to look like the demons."

Looking around the Grey desert, fragments of rusted metal once momentous structures now reduced to mere ruins. The immense scale of the remains shows how gigantic the Demon empire must have grown.

Amidst the barren landscape, Larian couldn't help but look up to the sky and catch a sight of a colossal object that resembled a space station or maybe a spaceship.

"What's that huge metal thing in the sky?"

Adam whistled at the sight.

"Wow that old thing is still around huh? That was once the Fire Tar King who ruled over the lands. Or a piece of him that is. Fire Tars are like the fire elementals the Elves are familiar with except that they burn like molten Lava."

"Their exceptional growth and potential led them to grow to the size of Giants which gave them their inherent strength from birth."

"The case surrounding the Fire King's fiery end is what you are walking on now. The ash which fills the entire Land."

Larian shivered at the thought of something so huge being just a piece of a living creature.

"Who killed him?"

"Isn't it obvious? It was the Demon King of the Dark Age. He ended the rule of the fire tars and issued an age of darkness upon the land. In the true darkness he encompassed the world in death."

"Only in such harsh living conditions will the Demon Race thrive. His conquest for world domination was a key to the human's rise in relation to the other races of the world. In the face of destruction, the Elfs, Gyths and people of the Forgotten Isles all came together in one grand unification."

"He might have died, but I hope his descendants would be capable of replicating or even surpassing their predecessors. Otherwise meeting god would only be a pipe dream.

"You want to meet god? I thought you wanted to destroy the world."

Adam groaned at Larian's remark like he was speaking to a lesser brained animal.

"Destroying the world is just a means to an end. What did you think my end goal was? To sit in a world where everyone is dead? Use your head Larian."

Larian flinched slightly. Everytime someone berates him for his intelligence he would feel insecure. This was because he was never bright.

"There. A castle."

From afar a black castle stood out from the pale ashlands. The buildings had pointed roofs and looked elegant which contrasted the barren wasteland.

"Ahh. The Vampires. They are a society that served the Demon King during his reign. In their peak. Contrary to popular belief of them simply being blood suckers, they are strong Blood Benders who can dominate in a battlefield."

"Their strongest, Lilith of the Blood Sea. Is an ascendant who is said to control a Legion of Blood Knights that could crush with Shinon's Elite Clans. She is also a warmaster who is capable of amplifying any troops under her command."

"There was a time when people would say that if faced with her army, assume their true strength to be 5 times of their actual numbers simply because of Lilith's presence."

Sensing Larian's face that was starting to frown Adam laughed.

"You finally understand how stupid of a decision it was to charge straight into Shinon's Isles? There are many powers in the world that you cannot fathom the power of. "

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Inwardly Larian was quite annoyed.

'Is this even my novel? The entire genre and atmosphere changed! My novel was just a fantasy of a character that suffers in school. Why are there so many countries and so much history behind them? Who thought of this?'

"So what are we here for?"

Adam patted the empty space in the cave.

"Obviously to become a vampire."

Larian's eyes widened like they were ping pong balls.

"What?"

"Just kidding. Look, Vampire Scouts are already coming out to see you. And I won't be lending you my powers. So survive by yourself."

Larian heart nearly skipped a beat.

"But if I get seen as a human I'll be captured! I need the Dragonification to blend in!"

Coughing into his hands Adam pretended to look away.

"If you are nothing without these powers, you don't deserve them in the first place."

The familiar remark made Larian's cheeks twitch. But Adam wasn't kidding, around Larian pale skinned guards who wore black leather were surrounding him.

Their red eyes contrasted the grey ashlands and stood out.

Just counting their eyes, Larian realised that he was surrounded for a while.

They each held shot swords

"A Human! Spread around and find his comrades!"

Standing with his hands up Larian spoke softly.

"Adam! What do you want me to do here?"

"Just follow these guards. You'll be put into someplace interesting."

Hearing the response Larian couldn't help but feel uneasy.

'This sounds fishy on so many levels.'

"He's alone, Viscount Vloid."

"Alone? He's either arrogant or stupid to come here by himself. Tie this candidate up and send him to the pit."

Following Adam's instructions, Larian followed the Vampires to be tied up. The vampire's pinned him down and pressed his face against the ashen floor.

'I'm already tied up, what do they want?'

Larian tugged on the ropes that bind him.

'I can tear these off easily. Since Adam said to be captured, that must mean this is an infiltration isn't it?'

A vampire tried to shoved Larians back hard enough to push down a standard human, but Larian remained unbudging.

When Larian turned and gave that vampire a stare, he shivered slightly.

"What are you looking at! Move it, bloodbag!"

Being dragged while pulled around was not Larian's Idea of getting stronger.

'The vampires treat humans as cattle? Do prisoners even get treated this harshly?'

Larian's being pushed and dragged had big clumps of ash caked all over his hair and face. It was disgusting and hard to breathe covered in the mess.

The scout which had brought Larian into the castle spoke in whispers. Larian could barely hear a few words as the scout spoke with the guards.

'Candidate… Underground... Duke. What's going on?'

Eventually, he was pulled into the black castle. Unlike its elegant appearances, the buildings were dark and gloomy. Everyone that Larian saw was wearing hooded robes or covering their faces with a mask.

The style of the castle reminded Larian of 19th-century buildings. The city's people walked on bricked paths and the first level had many stalls with peculiar objects on sale.

Each building had black tinted windows and Larian could barely catch a glimpse of what was within them.

'Were those dolls? Or are those actual human bodies on display?'

Before Larian could get a closer look he was dragged into the corner of an alleyway. Opening a wooden hatch of a cellar, Larian was pushed into the darkness.

A Stink of rot wafted through the air as Larian was dragged in.

The group was traveling in the dark for a while. Finally, Larian could the sight of some light.

The passageway had led Larian to the underground. It was a very dark dungeon that was barely lit with a luminous bulb that grew off the walls.

In this dungeon, there were rows of hanging cages of different sizes. Each contained a creature.

Larian could see wolves that stood on its hind legs, lizardman, Oni which had huge tusks protruding out from their lower teeth and a single black demon who had horns and wings.

This devil was handcuffed in a thick iron block. A metal mask was tied around his neck and mouth that stopped him from speaking. Examining his wings Larian noticed a few similarities between his extra limbs with the one his Dragon Form had.

'Does my power really come from a dragon? I look closer to this Devil when I transform.

There were many more abominations which he could only describe as a mix of different species but Larian saw the cages piled throughout the passage and could only guess the true number of prisoners he had missed in the darkness.

'Chimeras? There are a mix of different races in these cages.'

Adam finally spoke up from the silence.

"A renowned blood mage of the Vampire Family is an alchemist that experiments on human bodies. He's known as a Blood Lord, just beneath Lilith in status."

Unlike the usual metal cages, Thicker metal Boxes held the Chimeras. There were four armed Onis, Humans with implanted wings and claws and a blindfolded werewolf that grey dust slowly falling from his head.

Adam spread his arms wide while Larian took in the full view of the monster's in cages.

"This is the Gulag of the Vampires. A colosseum where cattle are used for entertainment."

Larian's brain clicked.

"So this was where you planned to get stronger?"

Waving his index finger Adam corrected Larian.

"Uh uh uh… Half correct. I would have directly found Lilith. But since it's just you are in control, you have to earn it yourself."

Being stripped of his armor, Larian was brought to a room where multiple metal tools lay bloodied.

The metal pliers and scalpels scared Larian and he could not hide his anxiety.

"...What the fuck is this? If this is a torture chamber I swear I won't play nice."

Adam spoke out just when Larian was about to panic.

"Calm down. This should be the experimental chamber for the failures. You haven't done anything yet and the Blood Lord is nowhere close."

A Giant walked out of the shadows. Its face above the mouth was entirely cut off and Larian could see the whole exposed tongue of the creature dangling. It was a wonder how this creature could navigate without any eyes or ears.

This giant had four arms and was almost 3 meters tall while being completely naked, the giant was clearly a male but possessed no genitalia. It's brown skin looked rough while bloodied from the unsanitary environment, but it came close to Larian like it had a clear directive.

It wrapped it's two front arms around Larian's body.

Larian was quite anxious. He could fight this Giant now but he would not be able to find out anything if he escaped now. He decided to stay patient and bid his time.

With its two spare arms, the Giant tied a thick metal chain around Larian's collar.

Slightly disgruntled that he was naked and chained like a dog, Larian was dragged by the Giant from the neck.

Sliding on the black liquid on the floor, the metal collar choked Larian as he struggled to breathe.

Brought to a cage Larian was locked up. Looking around, the area was entirely dark.

Hearing the slight rustle of fur and skin on the metal bars around, Larian adjusted the metal chain on his neck so that he could breathe properly

When the collar was strapped around his neck Larian noticed his senses to magic were dulled.

'This collar does something with Magic, but I can't identify what.'

Luckily, Larian's prosthetic arm was not confiscated. Within Larian, Adam laughed to himself.

"Look at these primitive fools. They can't even recognize the value of the arm. You literally have an inventory of tools in it. If there's one thing you did right in your life, it was getting that arm done. "

Looking into the space within his arm, Larian recounted his tools. There were potions he bought, the rappelling tool, a few pieces of talismans that he reserved and the shield.

'In the worst case, I could manifest a weapon out of the talismans. But first let's see if I can escape if it really is necessary.'

Grasping the iron bars Larian tried pulling with ten men's worth of strength. Before he bent the metal, his collar radiated a bright red symbol and caused Larian's blood to boil and squirm.

The pain was enough to make any man yelp, but Larian grit his teeth and stayed silent.

From a cage somewhere close by, a haggled voice spoke out.

"The collar recognizes any attempts to escape and will twist the muscles of its wearer."

Larian turned to the direction the voice came from, but all he saw was darkness. With only the general direction of the voice as his compass, Larian spoke back towards the darkness.

"I noticed. Who are you?"

There was a short pause until the man spoke again.

"It doesn't matter. I've been stuck here for what feels like years. There's no point in introducing ourselves anymore. I'm just a swordsman who lost his wife to these vampires."

"A swordsman? Do they let you keep your weapons? I had mine confiscated when I came here."

A bellow of laughter sounded from another cage.

"You came here? Hahaha, this madman said he came here! This guy's crazy and suicidal! What a combination!"

The haggard voice spoke again.

"He's been here for far longer than I have, he is always trying to find ways to provoke new blood for entertainment. It's best to Ignore him. As for your question, you'll find a weapon when you enter the arena, there are tons of it littered on the floor. Just pick any and fight."

The sound of hideous laughter constantly radiated madness. Larian somehow felt that the energy was familiar.

"No worries, I'm used to it. I'm also a swordsman, I've been traveling before I came here. I was a student from Selarian Academy."

At the word of Selarian, the echoing laughter stopped. Instead furious growls and intense shaking of cages resounded around the dungeon.

"New blood, try not to mention that name here. Many beast has a deep hatred for that man. The contestants all go crazy whenever they hear his name."

Larian could barely make out what the haggard voice said since the clanging of metal was too loud.

A few red symbols glowed red hot and the growls were replaced by whimpers of pain.

"Sorry. I didn't know."

Some footsteps could be heard, the familiar sound of the heavy foot of the giant and the sticky floor was easy to recognize.

"It's ok there's nothing to apologise for… Especially since you are about to be dragged off soon."