The world dissolved into a whirl of crimson static before reforming around Dex in a burst of sulfur-scented heat. The air itself burned in his lungs as the system message flared across his vision:
[WELCOME TO EMBERFALL]
[SERVER: DEMONKIN TERRITORY]
[WARNING: ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARDS DETECTED]
Dex blinked against the hellish glow. Towering obsidian spires clawed at a blood-red sky, their jagged peaks wreathed in perpetual smoke. The ground beneath his boots was warm to the touch, volcanic rock pulsing faintly with veins of molten gold. Around him, the city thrived—if "city" was the right word for this chaotic fusion of medieval fortress and demonic bazaar.
Buildings carved from black basalt, their doorways framed in charred bones. Floating bridges of enchanted brimstone connected upper districts. And around him, Horned NPC merchants haggled over vials of liquid fire. A chain-bound imp screeched about "fresh soul bargains" at a stall. Player of the Demonkin race strutted with hellfire tattoos glowing, their armor forged from smelted sin. A group laughed as one summoned a whip made of screaming shadows.
Dex suddenly became acutely aware of his outfit—a neon-trimmed Neo-Tokyo jacket and smart-fiber pants that screamed "tourist" in this infernal landscape. A nearby demoness NPC licked her lips at him, her tail flicking.
"Lost, little mortal?" she purred.
Dex ignored her, pulling up his inventory.
[CREDITS: 500]
The bazaar stank of burnt sugar and iron, the heat so thick it made Dex's cybernetic arm overheat warnings flash. He ducked past stalls selling:
"Soulbound" Jewelry 'Actually just cursed'
Lava-roasted "Phoenix" Skewers 'Probably imps'
Finally, a ragged tent caught his eye:
"MAMMON'S DISCARDED FINERY"
(Clothing for the damned on a budget!)
The tent's flaps peeled back like scorched skin, revealing a cramped space lit by floating embers. Racks of fire-resistant cloaks and charred armor lined the walls, while a glass case displayed more... questionable accessories: fingerbone rings, a necklace of screaming soul-gems, what looked like a still-beating heart in a jar.
The shopkeeper—a hunched demon NPC with skin like burnt parchment, grinned at Dex with too many teeth. "Ah, a surface-walker! Here to dress for damnation?"
Dex ignored the jibe, zeroing in on a shadowweave cloak draped over a rusted armor stand. The fabric drank in the light, its edges flickering like dying static.
"That one," he said.
The demon licked his cracked lips. "A fine choice! Woven from the whispers of the Voidspire's shade-beasts. 400 credits."
Dex nearly choked. "It's a cloak."
"A cloak that muffles footsteps, resists hellfire, and makes your enemies' eyes slide right off you." The demon leaned in. "Perfect for someone with... enemies."
Dex's jaw tightened. He transferred the credits.
The cloak slithered over his shoulders like living darkness, its hood casting his face in unnatural shadow. A notification flickered:
[SHADOWWEAVE CLOAK EQUIPPED]
[STEALTH +20%]
[FIRE RESISTANCE +10%]
[NOTE: WHISPERS IN YOUR SLEEP]
He turned to leave—
—when his Cyber Lord gene jolted.
A pulse of electricity shot down his spine. His vision glitched violently as the system blared:
[CYBER LORD ARTIFACT DETECTED]
[ITEM: ORIGIN MASK]
[STATUS: DORMANT]
'Origin Mask?' Dex thought, disoriented. 'Why would a Cyber Lord relic be in a demonic junk pile?'
He whirled back, scanning the cluttered shelves. There—tossed carelessly beside a bowl of cursed teeth—was a mask. It was obsidian-dark, its surface unnaturally smooth, like a void given shape. It had no eyeholes. Just a thin, carved smile stretching ear to ear and staring at it made Dex's skin crawl yet he felt an unnatural pull towards it.
"That," Dex pointed, voice strained. "What is it?"
The demon shrugged. "Decoration. Found it buried in the Ashen Wastes. Doesn't burn, doesn't break. Useless."
Dex's fingers twitched. "I'll take it. Extra 5 credits."
The demon cackled, scooping up the coins. "A fool and his money!"
The moment Dex's hand brushed the mask, his HUD exploded with text:
[ORIGIN MASK ACQUIRED]
[ITEM CLASS: ???]
[WARNING: INCOMPATIBLE USER DETECTED]
[RECOMMENDED ACTION: DESTROY IT]
Then, softer—a whisper not from the system:
"...put me on..."
Dex shoved the mask into his cloak's inner pocket just as Malo's message flashed:
[MALO:] IGNIS' THUGS AT BROTHEL DOOR. HURRY.]
The cloak's shadows deepened around Dex as he sprinted into the chaos of Emberfall.
The Lava Brothel
Dex followed the scent of sulfur and spiced wine through Emberfall's winding streets, the Shadowweave Cloak making him little more than a flicker in the corner of the eye. The Lava Brothel loomed ahead—a jagged obsidian structure with veins of molten gold pulsing through its walls, its entrance framed by two towering infernal statues that leered at all who approached.
The place was crowded, but not with patrons.
A ring of armored thugs—Ignis' men—formed a tight circle around the entrance, their hellfire tattoos burning brighter than the torches. At their center, pinned to his knees with a blade at his throat, was Malo. His Demonkin horns were cracked, his lip split, and his usual smirk replaced with a grimace of pain.
Their eyes met.
Malo's mouth moved silently: "Run."
Too late.
One of the thugs—a hulking brute with a face like seared meat—followed Malo's gaze and locked onto Dex.
"Well, well," the brute rumbled, stepping forward. "Who's this? Another rat from the surface?"
The circle parted as the thugs turned, their weapons glinting in the hellish glow.
"What's your business with this thief?" another sneered, pressing his boot into Malo's back.
Dex exhaled, rolling his shoulders. The Origin Mask weighed heavy in his pocket, a silent, unsettling presence.
"You don't wanna do this," he said, voice calm. "Let him go. Or things won't end well for you."
A beat of silence.
Then—laughter.
The thugs roared, slapping their thighs, their amusement echoing through the streets. The brute wiped a tear from his eye.
"Oh, this one's funny!" he wheezed. "You hear that, boys? The surface-walker thinks he's scary!"
Dex didn't react.
Instead, he smiled.
A cold, quiet thing.
The air around his hands glitched, reality itself fracturing as jagged lines of corrupted code spiderwebbed through the space between his fingers. His eyes ignited, the familiar blue glow intensifying until it drowned out the hellfire around them.
[SYSTEM ALERT: DATA DAGGER ACTIVATED]
The laughter died.
The brute's grin faltered.
"The fuck—?"
Dex's fingers twitched.
A blade of pure, glitching data materialized in his grip—a jagged shard of stolen code, its edges humming with unstable energy.
"Last chance," Dex said, tilting his head. "Walk away."
The brute snarled, hefting his axe. "Kill him."
The thugs charged.
Dex moved.
The first attacker lunged, his axe trailing flames. Dex sidestepped, his cloak flaring as he drove the Data Dagger into the man's ribs.
The effect was instant.
The thug seized, his muscles locking as the corruptive code flooded his system. His tattoos flickered wildly before short-circuiting, the hellfire snuffing out in a burst of black smoke. He collapsed, twitching.
The second thug—quicker, smarter—tried to flank Dex, but the Shadowweave Cloak made him a ghost. Dex vanished into its folds, reappearing behind the man and slashing the dagger across his wrist.
The thug's weapon dissolved, its enchantments unraveling into useless data.
"What are you?!" the brute roared, backing away.
Dex didn't answer.
He flicked his wrist, sending the Data Dagger hurtling toward the man pinning Malo. It struck his shoulder—and his arm went dead, the nerves overloaded. He screamed, releasing Malo, who rolled free with a pained grin.
"Took you long enough," Malo coughed, clutching his ribs.
Dex didn't have time to respond.
The brute bellowed, his body erupting in hellfire as he charged.
Dex ducked, but the brute was fast—his fist connected with Dex's jaw, sending him skidding across the molten stone.
Blood filled Dex's mouth.
His vision swam.
The brute loomed over him, raising his axe for the killing blow—
—when a voice cut through the chaos.
"Enough."
The crowd parted.
A figure stepped forward, his presence suffocating the flames around him.
Ignis.
The warlord's molten gaze locked onto Dex.
"You," he rumbled, "have my attention."
Dex spat a mouthful of blood onto the smoldering ground, his vision swimming. The brute's punch had rattled his skull, but the pain was distant—drowned out by the electric hum of his Cyber Lord gene flaring in response to the fight.
The two remaining thugs hesitated, their weapons wavering as they glanced between Dex and their fallen comrades.
Bad move.
Dex moved.
His Data Dagger rematerialized in his grip as he lunged, driving the glitching blade into the first thug's neck. The man didn't even have time to scream—his body locked up, veins lighting up with blue static before he collapsed, his system overloaded into shutdown.
The second thug turned to run.
Dex hurled the dagger.
It struck the man between the shoulder blades, and his legs gave out mid-step. He hit the ground, twitching, as corrupted code spiderwebbed across his armor before disintegrating it into useless fragments.
[COMBAT ENDED: VICTORY]
[LEVEL UP: 20 → 23]
[NEW SKILL UNLOCKED: "OMNISIGHT" (CYBER LORD ORIGIN)]
A rush of power surged through Dex's neural pathways as the skill imprinted itself into his consciousness:
OMNISIGHT (LVL 1)
"The world is data. You are the analyst."
Effect: See the name, level, and base stats of any target (no cooldown).
Limitations:Cannot scan targets 20+ levels above you (displays as "???").
- Higher skill levels reveal resistances, weaknesses, and active buffs.
Dex's eyes flickered, his vision overlaying with a stream of golden text as he instinctively activated it on the remaining brute—the one who'd punched him.
[TARGET: GRAX THE SEARED]
[LEVEL: 28]
[STR: 35 | AGI: 12 | INT: 5]
[STATUS: TERRIFIED (HIDDEN)]
A smirk tugged at Dex's lips. 'Good to know.'
Then—his focus shifted to the real threat.
The warlord.
Dex turned, wiping blood from his chin as he met Ignis' molten gaze. "Who the hell are you?"
Ignis' lips curled, though Dex didn't miss the way the warlord's fingers twitched at his sides—surprised. Not by the question, but by the carnage Dex had wrought.
"Ignis," the warlord rumbled, embers dancing in his breath. "Lord of the Ashen Maw. And you?"
Dex didn't answer. Instead, he activated Omnisight again, staring straight into Ignis' hellfire eyes.
The system stuttered.
[TARGET: IGNIS]
[LEVEL: ???]
[STR: ??? | AGI: ??? | INT: ???]
[WARNING: TARGET EXCEEDS SCAN THRESHOLD]
Shit
Malo groaned from the ground, clutching his ribs."Yeah, Hes the guy. Dude's level 40."
Ignis chuckled, the sound like boulders grinding in a furnace as he stares at the alert on his own system window. "A scanner skill? Clever." He took a step forward, the ground blackening under his boots. "But you're in my city now, And you've made quite the mess."
Dex's fingers tightened around the Data Dagger.
The warlord's smile widened.
"Let's talk."