Ethan was taken through the hallowed halls of Sanctum slowly but surely, his feathered form protecting him from the chill winds that blew through its many tunnels. The whole city was an interconnected mass of outposts for Hybrids who had sought shelter from human poaching and hatred. As he walked with his new companions, he saw that it wasn’t just a simple refugee city however – food stores, blacksmithies, and even a few alchemist stores were carved out of the giant cavern that served as Sanctum’s central hub. And everywhere he went, the blessings of the people went with him.

“This place is huge!” he said to Tara as they walked. “Here I was expecting you guys to just be a rag-tag bunch of misfits seeking shelter from the cold.”

The Minxit chuckled proudly, hands on her hips, nodding to a few of her catgirl cousins who looked on her as though she were walking alongside a God.

“Sanctum’s been here for at least a century, now,” she said. “Safest place in all of Argwyll for us.”

“Tara,” Fauna whispered. “Everyone’s staring at us…”

“Well, let ‘em!” the catgirl replied, hopping atop a statue of a bulky-looking Lycae and waving to the crowd that had assembled all around their small group. “We’re gonna be famous too y’know. Better get used to the celebrity life, Faun.”

The shy Hopla blushed in the face of all the staring fans.

“Be calm, Fauna,” Klax said from the front of the group, stopping at a few rocky intersections to shake the hands of shopkeepers or town guards – big, bulky rhino hybrids with rusted iron armor. They looked fierce, but Ethan was sure it probably wouldn’t take much to bust that armor open.

“You will see that our little kingdom isn’t much,” Klax continued. “But it is home. It’s the best we’ve got.”

“Hey, no judgement here,” Ethan replied. “I ain’t even seen a human city in this place yet. All I’ve ever known are dusty mine shafts and bloody wolf dens.”

The wolf den wasn’t quite so bloody until you got there…

C’mon, Sys! Let’s at least try and make a good first impression. I’m in my popular phase now, don’tcha know?

Klax nodded. “It is right that you did not experience the horrors of Lysandus’s cities. They are…not places for our kind.”

Tara and Fauna grimaced as he mentioned this name – and Ethan felt his curiosity just keep peaking.

“Lysandus...that's the King, right?”

“King of Western Argwyll – what the humans call the Westerweald. That’s where we are right now.”

Ethan remembered. Those soldiers that had accosted him then - they must have been sent by the King.

And he was willing to bet that the Lightborn was in cahoots with him, too.

It was suddenly very much apparent to Ethan that he was up against a whole kingdom here - a kingdom that knew where he was at all times...

"Hey, you guys said you'd have a way to remove this Bounty, right?" he asked.

They shared knowing glances. "Yes," Klax said. "While Sanctum's walls will keep you from the sight of your enemies, they will not remove the Bounty itself. For that, you must take the throne. It was discovered by Archon Mortavious during his reign that Sanctum held the key to ridding Him of the black curse of the Bounty. Sadly, he died bequeathing that knowledge to his next incarnation."

Incarnation...

Something that kept on catching his eye as they walked were the tattered banners that hung from every pillar on every street corner. A few were even draped high above the city, suspended from the great cave ceiling itself. The image was that of a single, crimson eye, staring out from a backdrop of brown earth, surrounded by fire. To Ethan, it looked the very picture of a fantasy villain, and only now did he realize that it was his eye…the single eye in the center of his hatty, thready self.

“Your banner, Ethan,” Klax explained. “Yours, and that of all your brethren who have come before you. Soon it will be at the forefront of your armies as we take the surface for ourselves.”

All this talk of conquest in his name was great and all, but the details of his ‘brethren’ was the one thing Ethan needed to know above all else. Every new wonder he saw round these parts – from the firebug-lit lantern lights that lined the streets to the mushroom towers that rose in the western sections of the city - they were becoming secondary to his burning need to understand exactly who he was in this world. What he was.

I am guessing you have given up the notion of perhaps returning home to your previous, humanly, menial life?

Ethan almost laughed out loud. Sys was such a kidder.

Sys, I’ve been Isekai’d into a world where I’m basically the Demon King. Why the hell would I go back to the daily grind of office life and one bedroom apartments?

Then it seems I truly am damned.

Know that I did warn you.

Sys seemed rather more morose than sarcastic ever since they’d gotten down here. But Ethan put it down to nerves. Maybe the System of this world was of human origin, or composed by a deity that favored humanity.

"Hey, do you guys have Systems too?" Ethan asked his guides.

"Indeed," Klax told him. "All creatures born under Kaedmon's gaze have such a System. Though, like most things, we generally get shackled with them at birth rather than afforded the option of 'opting-out'."

"And does yours...talk to you, too?"

The group halted for a moment, their eyes mulling over Ethan's statement.

"His System's already evolved?" Fauna asked. "But that shouldn't happen until..."

"What you worried for, Faun?" Tara chuckled as she licked her lips. "Didn't I tell ya? This Archon's gonna be big, baby."

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"The Archon's System has always been...different," Klax said. "Not that we would know, but - we hope it is not causing you undo discomfort."

"Nah," Ethan said. "We're basically besties."

I [Resent] that statement entirely.

At the very end of the city rose a castle – a real, honest to goodness castle in the darkness of the underground realm. A gatehouse flanked by impressive Martello towers loomed high above the city, with the banner of the demon-eye flying from every wall as they the structure itself was watching over the hybrids of Sanctum.

Inside, the halls were barren but still pretty big. Each chamber was composed of some kind of sandstone equivalent. Ethan had played enough Civ and Total War to know that these walls wouldn’t stand up to pounding by a trebuchet or battering ram, but the keep was still solid and defensible – each wall was lined with flaming braziers perfect for archers, and the place even came with its own dedicated armory and dungeons – though they were sparsely populated.

They eventually came to great oaken doorway that gave them entrance to a throne room speckled with glittering gems – each window showing a stained glass representation of some kind of great beast standing tall above the world of Argwyll. There were five of them – each one imposing and terrifying in their own respects.

“These are your past lives, Archon,” Klax explained as they passed each window. “For four centuries has the land of Argwyll existed, and for four centuries has an Archon risen.”

“Karfangg the Unbound,” Klax said, pointing to the first image of a horned dragon of Oriental style. “First of the Archons, breaker of the first men. Slain by Lightborn Krea, Angel of Kaedmon.”

Lightborn…

"That woman was a real biatch," Tara interrupted. "Came down from the sky and fucked up not just the Archon, but every monster on the damn planet. We never chose to follow the damn Archon back then. Karfangg did his own thing. Couldn't even talk. Probably wasn't even a bad dude - just a dragon looking to live its life till Krea came down and made an example of him. Said that 'humanity is the chosen species' or some bullshit like that. It's her blood the first Greys drank from, dont'cha know. That's how they got their precious immortality. By acting like fucking parasi-"

At Klax's stern gaze, the catgirl quietened herself.

“Gelsadra the Everlasting,” Fauna murmured as they came to the second window showing a vicious, bipedal hydra wielding a massive trident. “Ruler of the Shifting Sands. Bringer of Eternal Life. Slain by Lightborn Casimer.”

“Mortavius the Shroud,” Tara said at the next window. This time, the hooded image of a skeletal warlock holding a black grimoire stared down at Ethan with dark, hollow eyes. “Lord of Shadows, patron of thieves and assassins. The breaker of the Bounty. Slain by Lightborn Androx.”

I’m beginning to sense a pattern here…

“The demon-flower Gyko,” Fauna said at the next image of a very buxom, very feminine, but very evil looking plant monster. “Mistress of toxins and corruption. Slain by…Lightborn Artorious.”

Ethan whirred on her. “Artorious? You mean the one-armed Arthurian cosplayer who nearly killed us all?”

“Every century since the very beginning of recorded time,” Klax explained. “There has been one certainty that governs this world above all others - An Archon rises, and a Lightborn does battle with them.”

“One small detail overlooked there, Chief: it looks like the Lightborn always wins. Is that another little Law? The fact that I’m supposed to die to that old, crippled bastard out there?”

“Nah,” Tara replied. “He’s still the Lightborn, sure. But he’s old. Retired, I heard. So tired and broken by his last big battle that he’s nothing more than a homeless bum getting drunk on cheap booze, nowadays. 'Cause he broke the rules."

"You guys love your rules and laws on this world, eh? What 'rule' might that be?"

Tara shrugged. "The Lightborn always dies after he kills the Archon. It's been that way since Krea. Then they're reborn just like the Archon is. But this one - this Artorious? He's still alive. I hear the Greys practically disowned him because he cheated or something. Didn't wanna give up his title. Whatever - the fact is: he’s not got the chops to deal with a fully-fledged Archon. And that’ll be you, soon. When he’s outta the picture, there’ll be nothing stopping us.”

“B-Besides,” Fauna stammered. “He broke his sword the second he tried to kill you! Maybe it has something to do with you having a human soul. Maybe this time…”

“We’ve finally found the one who will break the cycle,” Klax finished. “A human born in another world, coming to us in the form of a monster who wishes nothing more than to cultivate strength. A human seeking a better life, who will find one among the hybrids of this realm.”

“Just like Jun'Ei said!” Fauna shrieked, hopping about excitedly until Tara’s stern eyes stopped her.

“What matters is that you’re here, and you’re the one, Ethan,” Tara shrugged. “You gotta be.”

She pointed up at the last stained-glass window depicting – well – Ethan shouldn’t have been surprised.

He was looking at an image of himself. A demonic hat with a whole army of fantasy beasts beneath him.

“Gyko was supposed to be the Last Archon," Fauna said. "But as she died, the Sanctum summoned up a new mural: The Demon Hat. Lord of all monsters. Last of the line.”

“Ethan the Demon-Hat,” Klax smiled. “It has the powerful ring of simplicity to it, does it not?”

While Ethan contemplated how he could make his name more badass like the rest of his ‘brethren’, Klax and the gang then led him towards what they really wanted to show him: the ancient, cobweb covered throne at the very end of the main hall. Followed by hundreds of other hybrids, Ethan and his group approached the chair with veneration, and Ethan realized after a few seconds that they had stopped walking a while ago.

“The throne of Sanctum is yours, Ethan,” Klax said. “Should it accept you as the new Archon, we will be at your disposal. And your Bounty shall be lifted."

“Should it accept me? That sounds…less certain than I’d like.”

“Th-the magic is very old,” Fauna whispered, her voice catching as she realized just how much it echoed in these halls. “The spirits of all the Archons have been absorbed into the stone. All their expectations, all their crushed hopes…In some cases it imposes limitations…”

“Like it did with Gyko,” Tara spat. “Couldn’t move a muscle for the entire time she was Archon.”

“This gig just keeps sounding better and better…” Ethan sighed.

But he looked up at the stone throne and couldn’t help feeling excitement gnaw at his threadbare bones. He wiggled his bird host’s tail, straightened up, and walked on bloody claws towards the kingly chair, feeling the eyes of all the hybrids upon him.

In his old life, he’d felt eyes on him like this, too, but it was always at the butt of some joke, or some prank that had gone too far. This time, he felt a wave of expectation washing over him. And rather than be afraid, he felt a tangible sense of pride.

These folk actually want me to succeed. They want me to lead them.

Hey, not like I’m gonna change who I am. I’m still in this for power – for more power than a dude like me ever had back in my shitty-ass world. But…if I help out a whole dying civilization as a byproduct…hey, won’t that look good in the history books?

Are you truly vain enough to care about your reputation in the annals of history?

He smiled as Sys said this, gripping the cold armrests of the throne with his dark wings.

Sys…have you met me? In my old life I was the fucking bottom of the barrel. This time, I’m gonna go right to the top. You’re with me, right?

I have literally no choice in the ma-

Perfect.

He sat his feathered butt down on the throne and instantly felt a wash of energy surge through his body, filling him with untapped power that surged in the blood of his host and then pooled at the tip of his being. He closed his eyes as it reached fever pitch, and when he opened them again, he looked upon a sea of bowed hybrids, each one intoning his name like monks at prayer.

Blessing of Mortavious...Granted!

[ARCHON BOUNTY: Nullified!]

Location Obscured

Spirit Core Increase: +100

Current Spirit Cores: 250

[New Quest List unlocked!]

{Archon Delves}

Delve dungeons identified nearby!

Delve 1: The Festering Den (Grade F)

Delve 2: The Twilight Sepulcher (Grade E)

Delve 3: The City of Illusions (Grade C)

He blinked all three of his eyes as these new words washed over him.

“Delves?” he said. “Like Raid dungeons?”

“Places of power, Lord Ethan,” Klax said. “Places where monsters of high level dwell, which will soon be yours for the taking. These dungeons are dotted around our Sanctum, and will provide you with unlimited power if you utilize your possession abilities wisely. Give us the command, and we will follow you into them. We will be your swords and shields to guide you on your path of power. Soon, you will be the most powerful Archon of all.”

“Hail Ethan! Hail the Demon-Hat!”

The chant was taken up by Tara, and soon all the people followed suit – Ethan’s name reverberated off the walls of the entire castle, traveling out and singing in the ears of all who inhabited the dark realm of the underground.

And Ethan, still studying the Delve menu, felt a sly smile press itself onto his raven’s beak.

Well Sys, he said. I guess it can’t be helped. Strap in to this head and hold on. We’ve got a world to conquer.