"It seems I have gathered all the ambient energy in this cave. Now, it is time to force my spiritual pathways open."
Jin began to channel the vile energy through his body. Pain, immediate and absolute, struck him. It felt as though dozens of swords were penetrating every inch of his being from the inside out. Dark, viscous blood full of impurities shot from his mouth. His eyes, nose, and ears began to bleed.
The corrupt energy of the ritual and the dormant spiritual energy inherent in the body collided in a violent storm. Any other cultivator would have their soul torn apart by the conflict and perish, but Jin's experience was unparalleled. Using techniques from the Book of Heaven and Earth, he had learned to dominate the very nature of energy, bending it to his will.
Nevertheless, the process was agonizing. By nature, vile energy and pure spiritual energy are incompatible. Jin was forcing them to merge, an act that resulted in immense, soul-rending pain. The principles of Yin and Yang were being brutally subjugated by a singular, indomitable will.
"This... vessel..." he panted, his voice strained, "...is weak."
He feared the child's body would simply disintegrate under the sheer turmoil raging within it, but he was too far in to stop. Hours passed. Each time the chaotic energy completed a full circulation, fresh blood would spurt from every orifice.
He forced himself to remain silent through the ordeal, knowing that a single scream, a momentary lapse in concentration, could mean his utter annihilation.
Finally, the raging torrent within him began to calm, settling into a new, stable body.
"I... did it," Jin whispered, a wave of profound relief washing over him.
It was complete. All nine of his spiritual pathways were now open, a feat never before achieved in a body so young, forged in a crucible of agony that would have destroyed any other soul in history.
But it was still far from enough. He had unlocked his spiritual pathways, but that did not change the fact that he was still a child. His small body was plagued with hunger and thirst, and the ordeal had left him perilously weak. A foul stench rose from his skin where he had expelled the body's impurities.
Worse, he still did not know where he was, or even who this body was supposed to be.
Suddenly, a voice echoed from the cavern entrance. "I found a way in!"
Alarmed by the noise, Jin's mind raced. He knew that in his current condition, he was defenseless. The thought filled him with a cold fury. He, who was once feared by entire empires, was now forced to feign the helplessness of a child? Pathetic, he thought.
Without hesitation, he lay back down on the altar and closed his eyes, stilling his breath.
The sound of many footsteps approached, followed by a sharp gasp.
"What in the world...!" a man choked out. Another doubled over, vomiting at the sight.
"This... this is monstrous."
They had found the cultists' bodies, hollowed-out husks scattered across the cavern floor, their faces frozen in masks of agonizing death. There were dozens of them. Further in, they found the ten young women, their bodies cold, their dead eyes wide with a silent scream that could break the will of even the most experienced warriors.
And at the center of it all, a small, lone boy lay upon a blood-stained altar. The High Priest was nowhere to be seen, for not even his ashes remained.
"The boy!" one of the men shouted, his voice a mixture of horror and relief. "He's still alive!"
The man lifted the boy into his arms and started toward the mouth of the cave. With the man's back now to the others, Jin dared to open his eyes a fraction.
"Where... am I?" he asked, his voice a perfect imitation of a scared, innocent child.
"You're safe now, son," the man answered, his voice gentle. "We're the Demon Defense Force, in service to the Duke."
"The Duke?" Jin asked, feigning confusion.
"Don't you worry, boy. Our Duke is a benevolent man!"
Upon hearing this, Jin decided on the most effective response. "I'm hungry," he stated simply.
The man immediately paused and rummaged through a pouch, pulling out a piece of dried beef. He handed it to the boy, along with his waterskin. Jin ate and drank mechanically, his eyes scanning his surroundings. They were in a dense forest, surrounded by dozens of armed soldiers.
"Are you feeling better now?" the man asked.
Jin didn't answer. He just continued to observe.
"My name is Gilga," the man offered, trying to coax a response. "What's yours?"
After a deliberate moment of hesitation, the boy replied.
"Jin."
***
Elsewhere, in a cavernous chamber hidden deep beneath the earth, an assembly of black-robed silhouettes gathered by the thousand.
At its center, standing on a dais of obsidian, a man in a crimson robe addressed the legion of worshippers.
"My faithful!" his voice thundered, full of zealous fire. "The Day of Judgment is upon us!"
"The kingdom hunts us in the shadows, believing us to be vermin! Soon, we will rise from those shadows and scourge this land to build our new, glorious order!"
A deafening roar of approval answered him, the sound of a thousand fanatics baying for blood.
"Even now, my own brother conducts a ritual to summon a lesser lord—a worthy sacrifice, but nothing more than a diversion to draw the Duke's eye!" he revealed, a cunning smirk on his face. "We are the true threat! This week, with the collection of one hundred maidens and ten innocent boys, we will have fulfilled the final requirements to summon our true god!"
"And with our god's descent," he roared, "this kingdom of light will be utterly extinguished!"
The cheer that followed shook the very foundations of the cavern.
"But first," the High Priest said, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial hiss, "we honor our lord with the desires he has blessed us with!"
A great stone gate ground open, revealing hundreds of enslaved men and women, their eyes hollow with despair.
"Do not restrain yourselves," he commanded the crowd. "Run wild."
It is the nature of demonic cultivators to indulge their base desires, but this sanctioned, ritualistic depravity was a cruelty of another order entirely.