Chapter 342: A Kingdom Without a Sky.

Location: Tower of No Return — Demonic Kingdom

Time: 10:15 PM

The sound of heavy footsteps echoed through the corridor as Yuuta was escorted out of his cell.

His wrists remained bound, and although the priests had removed the restraints that had held him against the wall, his exhausted body could barely keep pace.

Two black-robed demons walked closely beside him, while several heavily armed soldiers followed from behind.

As they continued through the fifth floor, Yuuta finally began to understand how enormous the prison truly was.

Rows of reinforced cells stretched along both sides of the corridor, disappearing into the darkness ahead. Behind some of the iron bars, he could make out prisoners huddled together, while others remained motionless even as the demons passed.

Just how many people are imprisoned here?

He wanted to examine them more carefully, but one of the soldiers shoved him forward before he could slow down.

Yuuta stumbled slightly before regaining his balance, his jaw tightening as he continued walking. He didn’t protest.

Instead, he silently memorized the passages they took, the stairways they descended, and the guards stationed at every turn.

Lord Valthor remained at the front of the group, occasionally glancing back to make sure Yuuta was being escorted properly.

His excitement hadn’t diminished in the slightest, and whenever one of the soldiers handled Yuuta too roughly, Valthor’s attention immediately shifted toward them. The guards quickly learned to be more careful with their prisoner.

Yuuta found the behavior increasingly disturbing, but he wasn’t about to complain if it prevented the soldiers from hurting him further.

They descended from the fifth floor and continued through several lower levels, passing one guarded section after another.

By the time they reached the ground floor, Yuuta understood why escaping the Tower of No Return seemed nearly impossible.

Even if he somehow broke free from his restraints, he would still have to cross multiple floors filled with armed demons before reaching the outside.

Eventually, the group arrived before an enormous gate at the end of a wide passage. Several heavily armed demons stood guard around it, but they immediately stepped aside upon seeing Valthor approaching.

Yuuta raised his head.

This has to be the exit.

His heartbeat quickened despite his exhaustion.

Since waking up, he hadn’t known where the demons had taken him or what existed beyond the prison walls.

If he could finally see the outside, then at least he might begin understanding where he was and whether escaping was even possible.

Now... I can finally find out where they brought me.

The massive gate began to move.

Stone and metal groaned as the two enormous doors slowly separated, allowing an unfamiliar light to pour into the dark passage.

After spending so long surrounded by the dim crimson glow of the prison, Yuuta instinctively narrowed his eyes and raised one hand as far as his restraints allowed.

The demons led him forward, and Yuuta crossed the threshold.

For the first time since his capture, he stepped outside the Tower of No Return.

He had expected to see a remote fortress, perhaps some hidden demonic base or an isolated structure built far from civilization.

Even after everything he had witnessed since demons first entered his life, some part of him still expected to recognize something beyond those gates.

Instead, Yuuta slowly lowered his hand.

His crimson eyes widened at what lay before him.

What greeted him didn’t feel like something that should exist in reality.

An enormous kingdom stretched beyond the tower, its countless black structures rising into the darkness.

Some resembled ancient fortresses, while others stood like towering monuments whose purposes he couldn’t begin to understand.

Massive roads extended between the buildings, and enormous bridges connected structures so distant that Yuuta struggled to comprehend their scale.

Farther away, towering statues stood between the buildings, their enormous figures barely visible beneath the crimson light. Beyond them, more structures continued into the distance until Yuuta could no longer tell where the kingdom ended.

Yet what disturbed him most was the darkness itself.

Yuuta slowly raised his head, expecting to find the night sky above him.

Instead, there was nothing.

No moon, no stars, not even the faintest trace of natural light existed overhead. An endless blackness covered everything, leaving thousands of crimson flames scattered throughout the kingdom as the only source of illumination.

Those flames burned from towers, streets, enormous braziers, and distant structures, painting the entire kingdom in shades of black and red.

From where Yuuta stood, the sight resembled the descriptions of hell he had seen in books and fantasy stories.

Except this time, there was no page to close and no screen to turn off.

Yuuta stopped walking.

"What... is this place?"

He had known demons possessed their own kingdom. Stories, manga, and fantasy novels had always portrayed such places as distant worlds filled with castles and monsters.

Even after learning that demons truly existed, he had never seriously imagined what their civilization might look like.

Knowing such a place existed and actually standing inside it were two completely different things.

His gaze gradually dropped toward the ground beneath his feet.

Beyond the stone path, the soil appeared unusually dark and rich, while the air carried a damp heaviness unlike anything he had experienced before. There was something strange about the atmosphere, as though the entire kingdom existed beneath an immense weight.

Yuuta looked upward again.

Don’t tell me...

If that endless darkness wasn’t an ordinary night sky, then perhaps there was no open sky above this place at all. The kingdom might be hidden somewhere far beneath the surface, or perhaps even beneath the depths of the ocean.

He couldn’t prove either possibility, but the thought alone made his heart sink.

Where the hell have they brought me?

Before he could think any further, a scream rose from somewhere below.

"HELP ME!"

Yuuta immediately turned toward the sound.

Only then did he realize that the exit of the Tower stood upon an elevated platform overlooking a much lower road. Far beneath him, groups of humans were being dragged through the kingdom under heavy demonic guard.

Unlike Yuuta, they weren’t being carefully escorted.

Chains connected them together in long lines as demons pulled them forward like livestock. Their clothes were torn and filthy, barely covering some of their bodies, while strange markings had been placed across their foreheads.

Men and women stumbled over one another as they were forced onward, and even children could be seen among the terrified crowd.

"This is hell..." one man muttered weakly as he walked.

"Where are my children?! Please! Where did you take them?!"

"Help us!"

Their desperate voices rose from below, mixing with crying, screaming, and the rattling of chains.

Yuuta’s attention suddenly settled on a woman struggling to keep a small child close to her. The boy could barely keep up with the procession, and each time he stumbled, his mother desperately pulled him back to his feet.

When one of the guards approached, she instinctively moved between the demon and her son, trying to shield him despite the chains restricting her movements.

The guard shoved her forward without hesitation.

Yuuta’s expression darkened.

He had seen people die during the demon invasion. He had watched the Shadow Corps sacrifice themselves in front of him, and he had already experienced enough brutality to understand what demons were capable of.

Yet watching hundreds of helpless people being transported through an entire kingdom as though they were nothing more than livestock created a different kind of horror.

They were being taken somewhere.

And judging from the direction his own escort was heading, Yuuta realized they might all be going to the same place.

"What are you doing to them?" Yuuta asked, unable to stop himself. "Where are you taking those people?"

The demon soldiers beside him looked over with cold expressions, but none touched him. Valthor’s earlier warning remained fresh in their minds, and whatever status Yuuta possessed as the Last Sacrifice was apparently enough to make even armed demons cautious around him.

Valthor, however, turned around with the same disturbing excitement he had shown inside the prison.

"Oh, my great sacrifice." A pleased smile spread across his face as he gestured toward the chained humans below. "Them?"

He looked down at the prisoners almost casually.

"They are ingredients."

Yuuta stared at him.

"...Ingredients?"

"Yes."

Valthor spread both arms toward the darkness above, his black robes falling away from his hands as his expression filled with religious devotion.

"Ingredients for the awakening of the God of Shadow... Our Mother!"

His declaration immediately drew a response from the demons surrounding them.

Cheers erupted.

Several soldiers raised their weapons while others laughed, their voices spreading across the elevated platform as Valthor continued staring upward in worship. Even some of the black-robed priests joined them, welcoming the coming ritual with unmistakable excitement.

Yuuta didn’t share their joy.

He stood among them with his wrists bound, listening to hundreds of prisoners screaming somewhere below while demons celebrated their coming deaths. His gaze returned to the woman and child struggling through the procession, and he felt a helpless anger building inside him.

Soon, Valthor’s group began moving again.

Yuuta was forced to follow, escorted by the black-robed priests and heavily armed demons as they descended from the Tower’s elevated platform and joined the path behind the long procession of human prisoners.

From here, Yuuta could see everything much more clearly.

Hundreds of humans moved ahead of him in chains, packed together in long lines as demons surrounded them from every direction.

Whenever someone became too exhausted to maintain the pace, the sharp crack of a whip echoed through the darkness, followed by a scream as they were forced back onto their feet.

Yuuta’s jaw tightened.

Another whip struck someone farther ahead, and his hands instinctively curled into fists. The sight made his blood boil, but his wrists were bound, his body was exhausted, and demons surrounded him on every side.

Charging at them now wouldn’t save anyone. He would only get himself restrained again, or worse, lose whatever small opportunity he still had to escape.

There has to be something I can do.

Yuuta forced himself to concentrate on the path ahead. He studied the roads they crossed, the structures they passed, and the direction in which the procession was moving. He didn’t recognize anything around him, but gathering information was the only thing he could accomplish in his current condition.

For now, just watch.

He quietly examined the demons escorting him. Most were tall, heavily armored soldiers who showed no interest in speaking with him.

Their only concern seemed to be making sure he reached wherever they were taking him, and trying to get useful information from them would probably accomplish nothing.

There was, however, one exception.

Yuuta’s gaze slowly shifted toward Valthor.

The black-robed demon walked near the front of his escort, occasionally glancing backward just to make sure Yuuta was still there.

Unlike the soldiers, Valthor was genuinely fascinated by him. The demon’s obsession had been uncomfortable enough inside the prison, but now Yuuta began looking at it differently.

I can use him.

If Valthor considered him some kind of sacred sacrifice, perhaps he would answer questions the other demons wouldn’t. Yuuta just needed to keep him talking without making it obvious that he was searching for information.

He waited for several more steps before finally speaking.

"You’re Valthor, right?"

The reaction was immediate.

Several demons around Yuuta turned toward him, their expressions becoming cold. One of the armored soldiers even released a faint killing intent, clearly offended that a human prisoner had addressed Valthor so casually.

Valthor stopped walking, causing the entire escort to slow with him.

"Did you..." Valthor slowly turned around, staring directly at Yuuta. "Did you just call my name?"

Yuuta stopped as well.

Shit.

For a second, he wondered whether he had made a mistake. Perhaps addressing a high-ranking demon so casually had been a terrible idea, especially when he was completely surrounded by soldiers.

Yet instead of becoming angry, Valthor’s expression gradually transformed into something Yuuta had already learned to dread.

Pure excitement.

"Ahhh..."

Valthor placed one trembling hand against his chest, looking almost overwhelmed.

"To hear my own name spoken by the divine sacrifice..." His lips spread into an ecstatic smile. "Perhaps living this long truly was worth it."

Yuuta stared at him, unsure what to say.

Even the nearby demons seemed uncertain how to react as Valthor stepped closer, his expression filled with anticipation.

"Please."

He leaned forward expectantly.

"Say it one more time."

Yuuta remained silent for a moment, wondering how this demon somehow managed to become more disturbing every time he opened his mouth.

Still, this was exactly the weakness Yuuta needed.

"...Valthor."

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To be continued.