Humans and demons could never coexist together. They were predator and prey. Mortal enemies that could never truly come to equal footing. Demons feasted on human emotion, and humans hunted demons to purge every trace of them from the mortal plane.

    Hundreds of years, perhaps even thousands, had gone into the war between them. Fueled by fools summoning monsters beyond their power to control, by Inquisitors that zealously killed every demon they came across, no matter the demon’s intention or desire.

    A chasm full of spilled blood spanned the gulf between the two sides. It was so deep that no man could hope to cross it. Nobody had been foolish enough to even try mending that rift. It was an impossible task.

    At least it had been.

    As it turned out, the solution to the Arbalest Empire’s greatest grudge match was actually rather simple.

    It was the same solution that, despite what the rich would swear, existed for just about every single problem in life.

    Money.

    Or, to be more accurate, power.

    When the opportunity to grasp immense strength made itself known, then nobody gave a shit about who was standing at their side. They didn’t care if the person beside them had horns sprouting from their forehead or hair from their ass.

    Jalen let out a whistle, shaking his head in disbelief. He’d seen a lot of things in his life. Some of them had been nice, and some less so. At this point, even getting surprised was a rare occurrence. But seeing something for the first time — that was a rare treat indeed.

    He was getting second servings of it today.

    In a room full of some of the strongest mages in the empire and demons alike, there was only a single thing that anyone cared about.

    It wasn’t their age-old feud. It wasn’t the pile of bone beads on the floor, nor was it the sundered demon lying in two heaps beside it.

    They only had eyes for the book in the center of the room and the man beside it, hawking off runes like he was a vendor in a busy market square.

    “Don’t offer me shit,” Vermil snapped. “I already gave you a list of the runes I wanted. Where among them was something even remotely similar to Blistering Blizzard?”

    “It—it’s a rank 5 rune!” a woman stammered in disbelief, staring down at Vermil from the platform she stood upon. “Formed at twenty percent full! That’s one of the best ones we—”

    “It was not on the list,” Vermil said. “I am uninterested.”

    “But...”

    “Stop wasting time,” a massive man roared, pushing his way through the crowd. The smolder behind the eyes of his mask instantly gave him away as a demon. “I’ve got a Blackened Warp Rune. Rank 4.”

    “Can anyone beat that?” Vermil called, cocking his head to the side.

    A mage raised a hand. Jalen vaguely recognized him from his patterned robes — the man was high up in a relatively large noble family. Jalen had forgotten his name... and the name of his family as well. Neither had been worth remembering. The man cleared his throat. “I’ve got a Shadowswept Night Jaunt—”

    “That is not a Space rune. The only thing I’m accepting for this are space related runes,” Vermil said. “If you have something else, wait for the next rune I put up for auction. I’m in a generous mood today, so wet your hair and sit back down until it’s your turn.”

    The mage, amongst the elite of the Arbalest Empire, sat down like an admonished child.

    “Sold to you,” Vermil said, pointing at the demon.

    “He defeated the Rising Moon,” Yoru said. “He took my arms and I thanked him for it.”

    “He’s been to the afterlife and returned unharmed,” Lee said. “He even brought someone back with him.”

    The demoness stared at them, the confusion in her features pulling her lips open into a wide O of disbelief.

    “What manner of monster is he?” she muttered. “An Archdemon? Is that why I can’t sense his power at all?”

    “Be glad you can’t,” Yoru said. “If you were a threat to him, you would already be dead. This is all a game for his amusement. There are times he pretends to be weak. Times he pretends to be a demon, and times he pretends to be a human. But he is none of them. His motives are not yours to know. He is Spider.”

    “I... don’t think I want to bid anymore,” the demoness said, all the gusto evaporating from her features. “This is the equivalent of him tossing out trash to see the birds fight, isn’t it? I don’t need to be in the debt of someone that powerful.”

    Jalen’s hand landed on her shoulder as his lips split apart in a grin behind his mask. “Oh, it’s too late for that. See, me and Spider — we’re good friends. We play darts together. Every weekend, as a matter of fact... though he’s missed our last few games. Whoops, I’ve gone off track. Fact of the matter is — I could have killed you the second your feet landed on this platform. I chose not to.”

    “No, the demoness muttered, horror warping her features. “Wait. That’s not fair. I—”

    “There’s one thing I’ve never been called,” Jalen said, cutting her off as his smile grew even wider. “You’re in my debt — which means you’re in Spider’s. And I’m going to be rather pissed if you’ve gone and lied to get yourself unwrapped. You said you were going to bid... ah, fuck. What was your name again?”

    “Linestra,” the demoness said weakly.

    “Linestra,” Jalen said. “Very good. As I was saying, I believe you were just about to place a bid. I do hope it’s a good one.”

    “Why is Spider here?” Linestra asked as she approached the edge of the platform and braced her hands against the railing. “What does he want? If he’s this powerful... is he trying to go against Orlen? Why would he interfere with us?”

    “Feel free to ask him yourself,” Jalen said. “He doesn’t bite.”

    “I do,” Lee provided.

    “Thank you, Lee,” Jalen said.

    “I have absolutely no plans of speaking to Spider any more than I have to,” Linestra said with a shudder.

    “That’s unfortunate. Make that bid of yours... but don’t fret too much if you can’t win. Spider is going to want to hear out what you have to say.”

    “What? Why me? I’m not the leader! I barely know anything!”

    Jalen’s smile darkened. “Because I’m not convinced any of the other demons in this room are going to live to see sunset. I fear your little invasion wasn’t nearly as discreet as you thought it was. There are Inquisitors surrounding this entire building.”

    Based on how they’re moving into position... I’d say we’ve got about five minutes for Vermil to finish up his little auction. I can’t remember the last time there were reports of this many Inquisitors all gathered in one place...

    Someone tipped them off. This is going to be a bloodbath.

    How fun.

    I wonder if I can get the battle named after me.