The sky above Blackthorne shifted.
A ripple of pressure swept through the atmosphere like a silent scream, bending clouds and shaking leyline threads beneath the Earth. The Demon Flame Sect had gathered — Velarion at its helm, eyes locked on the twisted rift pulsing like a diseased womb above the abandoned steel mill in District 9.
The dungeon had arrived.
> [S-Rank Rift Identified: Ashen Womb of the Forgotten Mother]
Category: Mutated Demonic Bio-Domain
Threat Level: Cataclysmic
Bonus Condition: Corruption Affinity Detected – Dungeon will evolve based on Host's Presence
Velarion grinned. "It recognizes me."
Kira, clad in blood-slick crimson armor, flexed her cursed blade. "I say we burn whatever's inside."
Nyx appeared beside him, silent as the wind. "No scouts returned. This thing eats mana. It's alive."
Selene stared into the portal. Something in her chest pulsed, cold and ancient. "This place... it calls me."
Velarion stepped forward, aura rising like an empire's awakening. "Then let's answer."
And with that, they entered the storm.
Inside the Dungeon
The world twisted.
They arrived in a realm of bone and flesh. Walls breathed. Veins pulsed through stone. Screams echoed from faraway corners. The floor was damp, sticky, and alive.
> [Dungeon Mutation Rate Accelerating – Velarion Detected]
Subzone Created: The Flame That Betrayed the Womb
Monsters Adapting to Host's Legacy
Tentacled horrors slithered from cracks in the ceiling — hybrids of angels and larval demons. Their wings were stitched shut, their eyes hollow, their voices wet with madness.
"Kill," Kira growled, and she surged forward.
Steel met flesh. Flame met corruption.
Velarion raised his hand, conjuring a circle of infernal glyphs. "Crucible Nova."
Black fire exploded outward, disintegrating several horrors in one instant.
Selene moved like ice incarnate, elegant and deadly. Her blade sang through monster throats, but the dungeon fought back. Spines burst from walls. Acid rained from above.
A screech echoed — the dungeon's core was aware of them.
> [Warning: Sentient Core Recognizes Host – Adapting to Suppress Corruption Signature]
Velarion laughed. "Too late."
The Remnant's Chamber
At the heart of the domain lay a throne of ribcage and rust. Seated on it: a spectral shade—an echo of a long-dead Demon Emperor, twisted and bound by holy chains.
Its eyes flickered open as they entered.
"You wear the throne I was denied," it rasped. "Prove yourself worthy, or be devoured."
Velarion stepped forward, unbothered.
"Watch me."
The chamber ignited with fury.
The remnant attacked, its ethereal form pulling shadows and light into vortexes of pain. Selene collapsed to her knees, overwhelmed by ancestral voices in her blood.
> [Hidden Trait Unlocked: Selene Frost – Blood Sigil Queen Detected]
Awakening Class Evolution…
Trait Fusion Initiated: Ice Dominion + Blood Royalty = Frost Vow Monarch
Selene screamed — not in pain, but in power.
Sigils carved themselves across her arms. Her blade turned obsidian, laced with glacial runes. Her aura became a crown.
She rose, eyes glowing. "I am not your heir. I am your extinction."
And she stabbed the remnant through the heart.
It roared.
Velarion moved in next, driving his hand into the phantom's chest as flames erupted from every glyph on his skin.
> [Soul Crystal Harvested – Tier 2 Corruption Core Acquired]
[Demon King Skill Tree Tier 2 Unlocked]
New Skill Gained: Throne of Crimson Pact – Bind elite beings to the Host's command via blood contracts
Velarion pulled back his arm, burning with divine-black fire.
The dungeon collapsed.
Outside the Rift
The portal shattered in a sonic quake, sending waves of corrupted mana into the air like fireworks.
Civilians screamed from blocks away. Light Faction satellites detected the anomaly. Tensions spiked.
> [System Alert: Dungeon Clear Confirmed – Prestige +92]
[Demon Flame Sect Influence Expanded – Region Control: District 9 Established]
[Selene Affinity: 94% | Corruption: 63% – Blood Loyalty Triggered]
Velarion stood tall, his cloak shredded, eyes glowing crimson-gold.
Selene knelt before him in blood-soaked armor. "I would bleed again. For you. Always."
He touched her cheek, and the pact burned between them.
"Then rise," he said. "As my queen."
Meanwhile…
Far above in the floating sanctum of the Light Tribunal, Saintblade General Liora watched the satellite feeds with a clenched jaw.
"Send word to the Purgation Choir," she hissed.
A steward turned. "Shall we mark Demon Flame as a full hostile cult?"
Liora's eyes narrowed on Velarion's image.
"No. Not a cult."
"A kingdom."
Back Within the Ruins of the Steel Mill – One Hour Later
Smoke curled from shattered asphalt as Velarion emerged, leading his blood-soaked cohort from the collapsed dungeon. Mutated roots twitched behind them, withdrawing into the earth like a defeated god's nerves. The corrupted air shimmered with latent mana and sulfur.
A crowd had gathered — rogue mercenaries, mystics, techno-shamans, and even low-level cultivators who had been watching from the shadows.
They had seen it all.
Velarion turned to face them, cloak dragging along blackened stone, his harem flanking him like elemental queens.
Selene now radiated cold dominance. The blood sigils glowing on her arms pulsed in rhythm with Velarion's aura.
Kira rested her sword across her shoulder, still stained with corrupted ichor. Nyx vanished and reappeared beside him, silent but alert.
The onlookers murmured in awe, fear... and hunger for belonging.
"He cleared an S-rank alone."
"No... not alone. With them."
"What are they?"
A half-crazed exorcist dropped to his knees. "Demon Flame... Demon Flame is real. And he's their King."
Velarion raised one hand, infernal glyphs spinning at his fingertips.
"Those who kneel now... will rise as part of something greater. The Light calls us heretics. Let them. But we—"
His voice deepened, echoing through corrupted ley lines.
"—we will be remembered as the architects of a new empire."
The earth pulsed beneath them.
System Update Triggered
> [Faction Advancement: Demon Flame Sect – Tier 2 Complete]
New Subfaction Created: Demon Flame Vanguard
Member Buff: +12% Resistance to Holy Arts | +10% Dungeon Sync Bonus
Harem Sync Efficiency: 86%
Global Prestige Updated: Demon Flame King Velarion Ranked #11 Worldwide
Alert: Light Faction Surveillance Now Fully Active – Countermeasure Units Mobilizing
In the Depths of Velarion's Mind – Corruption System Manifest
Velarion stood once more before the living system construct — a feminine echo of flame and code, draped in black wires and whispering seduction.
"You push the balance," she murmured. "The world notices."
Velarion smirked. "Let it burn."
The construct tilted her head. "A warning. You've reached the threshold where old enemies will rise."
"Good. Let them. I need worthy enemies."
She stepped closer. "And Aria?"
He paused, eyes glinting.
"She will break."
Elsewhere — Hidden Temple of the Purgation Choir
The room smelled of incense, blood, and sanctified steel. Choir soldiers knelt in silence. At the center stood a massive figure, armor carved from divine ore, his face hidden beneath a helmet inscribed with angelic curses.
General Liora stood before him.
"Velarion is rising too fast," she said coldly. "He's already conquered a corrupted divine womb."
"And the Saintess?"
Liora's eyes narrowed. "Unstable. He's pulling her toward him. Spiritually. Emotionally."
The armored figure nodded once. "Then it's time we move."
Back at Demon Flame HQ – The First Coronation
That night, within the reclaimed underground vault beneath District 9, the Demon Flame Sect held its first true gathering.
The remnants of the dungeon's bone-throne had been reforged — twisted into a dark obsidian seat infused with corrupted crystals. It pulsed like a heart.
Velarion sat upon it, shirtless, glyphs glowing along his chest and arms like imperial tattoos of divine heresy.
One by one, his girls stepped forward.
Kira placed her blade before him. "I serve your flame."
Nyx knelt, offering a vial of poison turned holy by her kiss. "Your will is law."
Selene walked last, regal and reborn. She did not kneel. She simply laid her hand on his chest, over his heart.
"I am your queen."
And the throne pulsed once.
Final System Update – Chapter Close
> [Demon Flame City: Construction Slot Unlocked – Planning Phase Begins]
Dungeon Core Materials Stored: 1
Subfaction Prestige Boost: Demon Flame now recognized in underground networks across three cities
Global News Reaction: Light Faction denies 'rumors' of demon cult rise
Player Choice Event (Locked): Aria – Decision Point in 72 Hours
Velarion Title Acquired: Infernal Sovereign of Ash
World Arc: Corruption Dawn – Phase I Complete