Deviant: No Longer Human

The villa they were in—a sprawling estate nestled deep in Romania's countryside—was quiet, the kind of quiet that came with thick stone walls and carefully placed wards. But the bed was far from empty.

Hei Lian lay at the edge of the mattress, her wrists and ankles bound with cold, enchanted chains that glinted faintly in blue light.

Her body was bare, her skin gleaming softly in the yellowish glow of the bedside lamp. Her dark hair fell messily over her face, partially covering her closed eyes.

The sheets beneath her were stained, a mix of blood and sweat from the hours before. She wasn't moving, unconscious from exhaustion, her breathing shallow but steady.

Wang Xiao's gaze lingered on her briefly. Hei Lian had pushed too far after the Shura attack, and he'd been left with no choice but to "educate" her thoroughly.

She needed to understand her place, and he had ensured she wouldn't forget.

He stood, his expression thoughtful as he turned to Ji Xuehong. "Let's check on the Shura King."

Ji Xuehong gave a small nod, glancing briefly at Hei Lian before following Wang Xiao.

The faintest hint of amusement tugged at her lips.

Hei Lian had learned the hard way: beneath Wang Xiao's unnerving calmness lurked a monster far more wicked than she'd imagined—and Ji Xuehong had no doubt that this brutal lesson had been etched into her very soul.

____

In the basement!

Sizzzzzle...

The fire beneath him burned steadily, its heat searing through his flesh. The Shura King, chained to the wall of the stone chamber, hung limp, his body battered and bruised, his once-commanding presence reduced to a smoldering ember.

Wang Xiao stood before him, the flames reflected in his eyes as he examined his handiwork, satisfied with the setup.

"You…"

The Shura King's voice rasped from the silence, hoarse but still filled with fear. His bloodshot eyes cracked open, glaring at Wang Xiao with what little strength he had left.

"Our King wants to meet you!" he spat, each word a struggle.

Wang Xiao turned slightly, his lips curling into a faint smirk. "He can come here if he's so eager. I'm not in the business of making house calls."

The Shura King growled, his fury growing, but the fire beneath him flared once more, silencing his rage with a sharp hiss of burned skin.

For two days, Wang Xiao had worked both the Shura King and Hei Lian, extracting every detail they had to offer.

"Purgatory," the Shura King had said, his voice trembling with both anger and fear. "It's a part of our world—one of the most important zones in the Netherworld."

The Netherworld, as they called it, wasn't a mere realm. It was an ancient, titanic world, far beyond the scale of Earth. Where Earth had its planets and stars, the Netherworld had once been a collection of celestial bodies that their ancestors had torn apart and fused into one colossal globe.

Now, it was divided into zones, each serving a specific purpose.

Purgatory, it seemed, was at the heart of everything.

"Why send Shuras here?" Wang Xiao had asked, his tone casual but his eyes piercing.

"To test," the Shura King had admitted begrudgingly. "Our King wanted to see if your world was worth... taking."

"Taking?" Wang Xiao's lips twitched, amusement flickering across his face. "Bold of him to think he could."

The Shura King didn't reply, but Hei Lian, in a separate session, had confirmed Wang Xiao's suspicions.

"He seeks strength," she had said, her voice cold but resigned. "If you're the strongest in this world, he wants to meet you. If you're weaker than him…" She trailed off, the implication clear.

Slavery. Subjugation. The Yang Faction didn't negotiate—they conquered.

The Yang Faction, Wang Xiao learned, was one of four dominant powers in the Netherworld.

Their name, like much of their language, didn't translate perfectly.

— "Yang" was the closest equivalent, representing light, the sun, and masculinity. Aggression and domination were their calling cards, with Shuras serving as their elite warriors.

But the Netherworld wasn't limited to the Yang Faction. The Shura King had hinted at the other factions, each ruled by its own king. Their power structures were ancient and rigid, and their world was governed by a history so old it predated anything Wang Xiao had ever known.

What intrigued him most, however, was the mention of "arrays."

"They're the gates between realms," Hei Lian explained. "Only the strongest can survive the passage. Lesser beings would be destroyed."

Wang Xiao's mind raced with possibilities. These arrays were the key to controlling access to the Netherworld.

If he could learn how to manipulate them, he wouldn't just defend—he'd take the fight to them.

But there was more.

Hei Lian had said hesitantly. "Your Hell Spirits… we've encountered them before."

The made his blood run cold.

If this was the same realm Yin Yue hailed from, it wasn't just a coincidence—it was a link to something far larger.

The Shura King and Hei Lian had also hinted at an impending disaster: the collision of their world and this universe.

"We don't know what caused it," the Shura King admitted, his voice hollow. "But the signs are clear. Purgatory is destabilizing."

Wang Xiao didn't need further explanation. If the Netherworld and this world collided, it wouldn't just be a battle—it would be annihilation.

Two realms weren't meant to occupy the same space.

Standing in the upper halls of the villa, Wang Xiao gazed out at the dense forests below. His mind filled with possibilities and contingencies, but one thing was clear—he couldn't afford to wait.

The Netherworld was vast, far too vast for him to conquer alone.

And while the Shura King's condition made it clear that he held the upper hand for now, there were undoubtedly beings in the Netherworld who could rival him—or worse.

He couldn't act blindly. Enjoy new stories from empire

For now, preparations were his priority. Building defenses, gathering intelligence, and finding a way to exploit the Netherworld's ancient transportation arrays.

If they sent more, he would handle them.

And if it came to it, if the Yang King forced his hand, he would step into the Netherworld himself.

"I'll burn it all down if I have to," Wang Xiao muttered, his voice low but filled with cold determination.

But not yet. First, he needed to know the rules of the game.