On a cliff stands a vast temple, its spires stretching into the sky as it overlooks a restless ocean where the reflections of four suns shimmer across the waves.
The largest sun is a deep purple, followed by a slightly smaller second purple sun, then a black-and-white one, and finally three smaller suns—black, violet, and light green with a reddish tint—all of equal size.
The largest purple sun is the original sun of the Demon World; the others are kingdoms of gods bound to its influence.
The first god born among them was the Demon Ancestor, the Demon Fire God—his birth gifted all demons with the power of demon fire, as their life structures were once uniform.
But after his rise, the Demon World began its conquest of other realms, absorbing diverse lifeforms and expanding its complexity.
The next divine was the Snake God.
His world had vanished entirely before his birth, leaving behind only one creature—a humble snake with a black body and a white head.
From that form rose the second god of the Demon World: the Snake God, also known as the God of Prophecy.
The temple upon the cliff is his—the central temple of prophecy—and within it rests a great treasure: the Mirror of Prophecy.
This mirror reveals possible futures—only those which may bring harm to the Demon World or the Black-and-White Snake Clan.
Today, that mirror glows.
Priests and acolytes gather around as it displays a vision—a teenager suspended in green liquid, sealed inside a glass jar, an emblem burning on his forehead.
The teenager's eyes snap open.
The glass shatters.
He floats gently to the ground, and the emblem vanishes.
The image fades.
Many present are puzzled by the emblem, but the temple's High Priestess goes pale.
She recognises it instantly—an ancient symbol, five thousand years old.
It belonged to an enemy she fought long ago.
That enemy is now the newest god of the Demon World.
The Goddess of Life and Blood—Larvinus.
The High Priestess throws back her head, her voice echoing off the temple walls.
"Bitch!"
She realises the prophecy is not meant for the Demon World.
It's meant for her clan.
----
That very day, another event unfolds—the Demon Hunters convene their main assembly once more.
The agenda this time is the exploration report from the newly discovered dimension.
The team has returned after a year in this world, though they spent nearly twenty years inside the dimension itself, revealing a 20:1 time difference.
The civilisation there mirrors their own in many ways, with a few cultural and technological differences.
Outwardly, the dimension appears to be dominated by humans, but other races dwell among them, either naturally human-like in appearance or expertly camouflaged to blend in.
These non-human races are fully integrated into the broader human civilisation.
Among them, three stand out: the Blood Race, the Werewolves, and the Witches.
The Blood Race are nearly indistinguishable from humans, aside from retractable fangs and claws.
They possess superhuman speed—so fast the naked eye struggles to track them—and strength well beyond that of humans.
Through a ritual, a vampire can transform a human into a newling or blood servant.
If a newling survives a hundred years, they evolve into a Vampire Warrior.
Most pureborn vampire children begin life at this level.
At 300 years, they reach the rank of Vampire Baron.
At 400, Viscount.
At 500, Count.
At 700, Duke.
At 800, Prince.
The highest rank, Vampire King, is claimed only by defeating three Vampire Princes and undergoing a sacred ritual.
These ranks are not fixed—they can also be advanced through mastery of blood magic.
Despite their power, vampires carry innate weaknesses—sunlight and silver.
Higher-ranked vampires are more resistant, but the vulnerabilities never vanish entirely.
Blood is their sustenance, with human blood being the most tempting and flavorful.
The weaker among them struggle to control their thirst, often leading to exposure and execution.
Yet the vampire race faces an even more dangerous enemy than humans—the werewolves.
For centuries, vampires and werewolves clashed whenever they met, but as human technology advanced and the human race rose to dominance, both sides ceased open warfare.
Werewolves possess strength on par with vampires and can transform into towering wolf beasts.
They are either born into the race or created when a human is turned.
Their hierarchy consists of eight realms: Wolf Cub, Wolf Warrior, Wolf Elite Warrior, Wolf Knight, Wolf Alpha, Wolf Lord, Wolf Prince, and finally, Wolf King.
Unlike vampires, a werewolf's advancement is not based on sheer strength but on their mastery of combat and ferocity in battle.
To become a Wolf King, one must complete the same sacred ritual as a Vampire King.
Werewolves, too, have weaknesses—the most critical being the full moon.
During its peak, they are overcome with pain and forcibly transform unless they can control the urge.
The strongest retain their minds, but the young and weak lose control and rampage.
They are also vulnerable to silver weapons and the wolfsbane herb.
The third extraordinary race is far subtler—the witches.
Indistinguishable from humans until their magic awakens, all witches are female.
Born as ordinary girls, they transform only when magic emerges within them.
A child born to two humans has only a 1% chance of awakening magic.
A union between a human and a witch raises the chance to 50%, while offspring from a witch and another race have an 80% chance.
Their progression depends solely on their mastery of any type of magic.
Their realms are: Initiate, Apprentice, Witch, Master, Great Master, and Grand Master.
The Apprentice realm is considered equivalent to the second through fourth levels of vampire and werewolf hierarchies.
These three—vampires, werewolves, and witches—are the strongest extraordinary races after humans.
Other races exist, but they are few in number, scattered, and some count barely a hundred members.
As the centuries turned, these minor races vanished from human awareness, reduced to myths and forgotten tales.
Two hundred and fifty years ago, facing the growing threat of human advancement, the extraordinary races united and formed the Magic Council.
The rise of guns and other technologies gave humans the power to kill even the mightiest among them.
Over time, humans who retained knowledge of the supernatural dwindled, until only a rare few remained.
Most rare humans who awaken magic power gain nothing more than a spark—less even than an Initiate—and their power never grows.
To compensate, they craft magic weapons, granting themselves the strength to rival the supernatural.
With these weapons, their technology, and their overwhelming numbers, humans became the dominant race of the dimension.
The highest cultivation level in this dimension corresponds to the Demon Count realm.
But when martial artists from the outside entered, their power was suppressed to the lowest three realms.
Without Karst energy, they could not recover their strength, leaving them at best equal to a Vampire Duke.
Desperate, the two martial artists began searching for a way to restore their strength.
Eventually, they made a bold decision—one would become a vampire, the other a werewolf—to test whether transformation would allow their strength to return.
After capturing a vampire and a wolf warrior, they underwent the change and felt the magic of the world surge through them, finally recovering their suppressed strength.
Six became vampires and six became werewolves, and once they understood how to connect with the dimension's magic, they discarded the foreign bloodlines.
The genes of vampires and werewolves were purged, returning them to human form, as the advantages of those races held no value compared to their own strength, and their weaknesses only proved to be a burden.
They built a force within the dimension, training subordinates and spreading their influence.
Leaving half of their group behind, the rest returned to report.
At headquarters, it was decided that conquering the dimension by force would be unwise, given the current strength of martial artists.
But now, with access to the world's magic, even the King Kong realm martial artists could surpass their previous limits.
The plan was set—to infiltrate silently.
Since they appeared no different from the dimension's humans, they would blend in and slowly take control of governments and corporations.
It wouldn't happen overnight, but within 100 to 200 years, their seeds would bear fruit.
If successful, they could conquer the entire dimension with minimal bloodshed.
The extraordinary races of the dimension could also be used—humans of the origin world felt no racial loyalty toward them.
Unlike the humans of this dimension who feared and envied the extraordinary for their power and long lifespans, the humans of the origin world, having already transformed into demons, had no such concerns.
Their own lifespan and power already far exceeded those of this dimension.
But first, they would not approach the extraordinary races as representatives of another world.
They would simply gather information quietly and thoroughly.
----
Kieran pauses his work in the quiet of his office as his phone buzzes.
He checks the message—Today is the day.
For a moment, he sits still, memories rising: shared meals with Evelyn and Adam, parties they attended, training sessions with Adam that forged their friendship after the staged kidnapping.
That plan had brought them together, and today was the next step.
In his mind, he whispers, Sorry, Evelyn. Sorry, Adam.
Another message arrives—an invitation to a party for the children of councillors, hosted in Nova Super City.
His next task is clear: convince Evelyn to attend.
It proves easier than expected—Valen supports the idea, playing the part of a helpful sidekick.
Kieran knows Valen likes Evelyn, and with Adam away, Valen is eager for more time with her.
That evening, the group entered the lively party together.
But after Evelyn excuses herself to use the bathroom, she never returns.
Kieran is the first to notice, yet he says nothing—the plan is working, and his role is complete.
Cassie eventually realises Evelyn is missing, and panic spreads as the group searches the venue.
Tracking her last known location, they find Evelyn's phone, earrings, and watch discarded in the bushes near the wall.
Chaos erupts.
Cassie tries calling Adam, but his phone only responds—out of service.