The sky above the Sky Kingdom had never been this red. The setting sun usually brought peace, but today, the orange hues reflected on the palace's jade pillars felt like a creeping omen. Thousands of people gathered in the main square, their cheers soaring high, calling out the one name that held the hope of the entire land; Prince Jiu Lan.
On the highest balcony, the prince stood frozen. His golden robe, embroidered with silver dragons, shimmered every time it caught the day's remaining light. His face was a masterpiece of the gods; a firm jawline, a sharp nose, and a pair of clear blue eyes that usually offered solace. However, if anyone were close enough to gaze into those eyes now, they would not find tranquility. There, only a frozen storm remained.
Jiu Lan tightly gripped the hilt of his sword, Sky Light. His hand trembled slightly—not out of fear, but because of the weight of the burden he would soon carry alone. Below, people laughed, children ran with lanterns, unaware that behind the magnificence of the palace walls, a king was weaving a web of death for them all.
"Jiu Lan, why are you still here? The people are waiting for you to begin the Ceremony of Immortality."
The voice was heavy and authoritative. Jiu Lan turned slowly. His father, Emperor Jiu Feng, stood at the threshold of the throne room. The emperor's robe no longer radiated holy light, but rather a dark aura visible only to those who had touched the limits of forbidden knowledge.
"Father," Jiu Lan whispered. "Stop this. That contract... it is not immortality. It is a mass slaughter wrapped in lies."
The Emperor chuckled, a sound that resembled the grinding of rusted metal. He stepped closer to his son, placing a hand on Jiu Lan's shoulder. "You are still too young to understand. Sacrifice is the foundation of every great empire. If a hundred thousand lives can turn one person into an invincible god, is that not a cheap price to pay?"
Jiu Lan brushed his father's hand away. His eyes sharpened. "The people are your blood, not currency for your ambition. I will not let this Red Eclipse be their final night."
"Then what will you do, my Son?" challenged the Emperor, his eyes suddenly turning pitch black. "Without this contract, our kingdom will crumble under the demon attacks from the border. Only absolute power can save us."
"No," Jiu Lan answered coldly. "Only the truth can save us. And that truth... must die with me."
In a movement almost too fast for the human eye to catch, Jiu Lan drew his sword. The room was instantly filled with a blinding white light. However, as the light faded, the scene there had transformed into a nightmare.
Right as the palace gates were opened for the people to witness the sacred ceremony, the tip of Jiu Lan's sword had pierced the Emperor's chest. Thick red blood splattered onto Jiu Lan's handsome face, staining his porcelain-white skin.
A haunting silence blanketed the square. Thousands of citizens froze. His best friend, Yan Zha, who stood in the front line of the guards, dropped his spear.
"Prince... what have you done?" Yan Zha's voice shook violently.
Jiu Lan did not answer. He pulled back his sword, letting his father's body fall with a thud onto the golden throne. He looked at the scroll of the Contract of Immortality on the ritual table—the scroll containing the names of every citizen to be sacrificed. With black magic fire that suddenly appeared from his palm, he burned the scroll until it turned to ash.
With the disappearance of that scroll, the evidence of the emperor's crime vanished. In the eyes of the world, all they saw was a crown prince who killed his father to seize the throne.
Jiu Lan looked down at his people from the balcony with the cruelest gaze he could muster. He laughed, a dry laugh that pierced the hearts of anyone who heard it.
"Immortality?" Jiu Lan shouted, his voice booming. "This old Emperor was too weak to hold that power! From this day forward, it is I who will lead you into the darkness. The underworld has promised me a throne greater than just this small kingdom!"
"TRAITOR!" someone from the crowd screamed, followed by thousands of other voices filled with hatred.
Jiu Lan let his golden hair tie fall and shatter on the floor. His long black hair unfurled, partially covering his face which now looked like a bloodthirsty demon. He looked toward Yan Zha, giving one last meaningful gaze—a plea for forgiveness that would never be uttered.
From behind the palace shadows, a black mist began to creep. The demon army that had been held back by the emperor's seal now rose, but not because of the father's call, rather because Jiu Lan intentionally opened the gates to cover his escape.
That day, the history of the Sky Kingdom was written in blood. Prince Jiu Lan was no longer the savior, but the most handsome and most wicked demon ever born under the sky.
Yan Zha leaped up the palace stairs with unreasonable speed. As the vanguard commander and Jiu Lan's childhood friend, he refused to believe his own eyes. To him, Jiu Lan was a man who even hesitated to step on an ant on the temple path. However, the sight before him was a reality that crushed the soul. Jiu Lan stood in the middle of the emperor's pool of blood, with an expression as cold as polar ice.
"Jiu Lan! Tell me this is all just an illusion!" Yan Zha screamed, his sword drawn but his hands trembling violently. "Tell me that is not you! Tell me that you are under the influence of magic!"
Jiu Lan did not turn around. He kept his back to his friend, staring straight at the black mist that began to shroud the throne hall. The mist was not mere smoke, but the breath of thousands of demons who had been locked at the bottom of the Earth. By burning his father's contract scroll, Jiu Lan had automatically transferred the seal of the curse into his own veins. The pain felt like molten lead being poured into every inch of his blood vessels, yet his face remained unshaken.
"This world is too boring, Yan Zha," Jiu Lan's voice sounded so foreign, heavy with the resonance of dark power. "Being a hero only gave me empty praise. But being a demon? That gives me true immortality."
"You're lying!" Yan Zha lunged, swinging his sword.
Clang!
Jiu Lan parried the attack without looking, using only a single finger coated in pitch-black energy. The impact created a shockwave that shattered the jade pillars around them. Yan Zha was thrown back, his chest tight from the pressure of such massive energy.
"Go, Yan Zha. Take your men and run to the northern fortress," Jiu Lan said. The sentence sounded like a tyrannical command, but hidden within were the coordinates of the only place that would not be attacked by the demon army later. Of course, Yan Zha, who was consumed by anger, would not realize it.
Outside the palace, the screams of the people began to break out. The Gate of the Underworld had opened completely. Mountain-sized creatures with glowing eyes began to crawl out of the shadows. Instead of attacking Jiu Lan, those terrifying monsters actually knelt before him. They smelled the scent of sin so thick from the prince's body—a sin that was actually a sacrifice, but in the eyes of demons, it was an invitation.
Jiu Lan stepped forward, passing his father's corpse without even a glance. Every step he took left scorched footprints on the palace's silk carpet. He walked toward the balcony, staring at the sky which was now completely extinguished, covered by the wings of the flying legions he had summoned.
The people who once adored him were now pelting the palace with stones and curses. "Murderer!" "Traitor of the nation!" "Human-faced demon!"
Jiu Lan accepted all those shouts as the accompanying music for the death of his old identity. He raised his hand high, and at that very moment, dark aura exploded from his body, forming a jet-black cloak that fluttered in the storm winds. His beauty was now a lethal weapon—he looked like a god of death descending to claim the world's life.
"Starting tonight," Jiu Lan's voice echoed to every corner of the kingdom, severing all remaining hope. "The Sky Kingdom has fallen. And I am the sole ruler upon its ruins."
He then turned, walking into the vortex of black mist with thousands of monsters behind him. He left Yan Zha slumped weakly, leaving behind a history that would write his name with the thickest ink of hatred.
However, as the shadows were about to swallow him completely, Jiu Lan stopped for a moment. Without anyone seeing, a single tear of blood fell from his left eye, evaporating before it could touch the floor. He reached into his inner pocket, ensuring a small protective charm—the only thing that could prevent the demon plague from attacking the civilians—was still active under his control.
His footsteps led him toward the bottomless abyss behind the palace, where the strongest demon army awaited him. There, a three-meter-tall demon general with curved horns greeted him with a terrifying grin.
"Welcome, Young Master Sinner," the demon growled. "Are you ready to begin the true slaughter?"
Jiu Lan stared at the demon with glowing red eyes that hungered for destruction—or so it seemed.
"Show the way," Jiu Lan replied flatly.
However, just as he was about to jump into the eternal darkness, the sound of a thunderous explosion was heard from the direction of the palace's main gate. Not the sound of a monster, but the sound of an ancient bell that should not be able to ring unless someone performed the Forbidden Life Exchange.
Jiu Lan flinched. His head snapped quickly toward the back hall. Who? Who dared to perform that ritual at a time like this?
If that ritual succeeded, then all of Jiu Lan's plans to bear the sin alone would crumble to pieces. And even worse, the life of the person performing the ritual would be bound forever to his now-cursed soul.
Jiu Lan ran back through the mist, ignoring the shouts of his demon general. He burst into the secret room hidden behind the throne, only to find someone who should have already been in the safe zone.
There, in the middle of a magic circle glowing with a blinding white light, stood a girl with slashed hands, her blood flowing onto the ancient altar.
"What are you doing?!" Jiu Lan roared, his voice breaking with genuine fear for the first time.
The girl turned, her face deathly pale but smiling softly. "I know you are lying, Jiu Lan. And I will not let you go to hell alone."
The white light exploded, swallowing the entire room.