Alfez and his family were slaves to the Biyonka household, a lineage that commanded water and ice.
Compared to those in the Underworld, they lived well...
But "well" was a relative term when you lived at the feet of gods. Below them, in the dark where sunlight never reached, humans scavenged for scraps while monsters ruled the day.
To the Elites, they were invisible. To the monsters, they were prey...
That night, Alfez's mother woke gasping. The nightmare had returned.
In her mind, she saw her sister running through the tunnels. Barefoot. Bleeding... A child clutched to her chest. The ceiling dripped black stone. Shadows moved. Then, the sound of a ' jaw closing'..
Alfez stood in the doorway, his silhouette thin against the dim light.
"I heard you," he said.
His mother pressed her hands over her face, her fingers trembling.
"I'm fine." It was a lie she had practiced until it sounded like truth.
Later, as she folded cloth with unsteady hands, she looked at him.
"Some mortals are destined to be weak, Alfez."
"Am I too?" he asked. The question was quiet, devoid of bitterness.
"No," she said,
her voice soft but edged with a sharp, jagged fear. "You have to work harder. One day, one of the Systems[1] will choose you."
"…Hmm." Alfez paused, his eyes fixed on the floor.
"Mom, until then… can I go live with my cousins?"
The color drained from her face.
"No. The Underworld doesn't forgive. Monsters don't just kill bodies; they erase futures. I won't lose you too."
Alfez nodded slowly, but the weight of her fear followed him like a physical shadow...
By morning, he was in the courtyard. Lunia, the daughter of the Clan Leader, moved among the slave children.
Her laughter was too loud, a practiced melody that never reached her eyes. Her Every smile showed too many teeth...
She stopped in front of Reth, a boy whose hands were raw from hauling "ice crates."
"Why do you shake like that?" she asked, tilting her head.
"Kid, Are you Scared, … or just weak?"
Reth lowered his gaze to his boots.
"I—I'm not scared."
"Oh, Really? Then show me."
Lunia flicked her wrist.
A shard of frost hissed through the air, blooming at his feet.
Reth stumbled, falling into the slush. The other children went silent, the air suddenly thin.
Lunia stepped back, her eyes welling with artificial tears. Her voice trembled with a perfect, sickening innocence.
"He pushed me! He pushed me first!"
The atmosphere curdled. Elite guards materialized, water sigils swirling across their gauntlets like predatory fish.
Reth's father dropped to his knees, his forehead hitting the ice.
"Please—my son would never—"
That was his mistake. He spoke as if his word carried weight.
Lunia hid behind a guard, clutching his cloak.
"He scared me," she whispered. "I don't feel safe here."
[The verdict was a cold, mechanical snap...]
"False aggression toward an elite bloodline. Entire household returned to the Underworld."
Reth's scream was cut short as he and his parents were dragged toward the transition gates.
No trial. No mercy. Just the echo of falling bodies hitting the dark..
A few days later, Alfez caught the guards talking.
"…Underworld breach last night. Which sector?"
"Doesn't matter. Slave family. Monsters didn't even leave enough to bury."
Alfez stopped. "Which family?"
The guard glanced down, bored....
"The ones from the ice clan incident. Kid named Reth, I think."
Alfez didn't move.
He remembered Reth's shaking hands. He remembered the father's plea. In that moment, the illusion shattered. The Elites weren't protectors. They were judges without truth.
Gods without responsibility. The System wasn't broken it was functioning exactly as intended.
A quiet, patient resolve took root in his chest. One day, the System would look at ME and fail to understand why it felt afraid.
[Seven days later]
The bell rang through the slave quarters. It was clear, and far louder this time. Alfez's mother dropped the cloth she was holding. Her hands went numb.
"Alfez," a guard barked. Just the name.
He was led to the central courtyard. The ice beneath his feet was polished to a mirror finish. Statues of dead heroes lined the path, their stone eyes frozen in eternal judgment.
At the center stood Lunia.
She was no longer a child at play. She wore ceremonial white, threaded with blue runes that pulsed with a faint, rhythmic light. Beside her stood Biyonka Kael.
His presence pressed down on the air, White System power radiating from him like a physical weight.
Alfez stopped a few paces away. He didn't bow.
"My daughter tells me you have caused unrest," Kael said. His voice was a low hum. "Explain yourself."
Alfez met Lunia's eyes. She didn't look away.
"He's dangerous," she said, her voice mimicking a tremor.
"I saw what you did," Alfez interrupted.
His voice was calm, sharp enough to draw blood.
"Reth's family… my mother's sister… all of them. You didn't save them. You had the power, the authority, the favor of the Systems, and they're still dead. Because you're just a bunch of cowards with power."
The courtyard froze. The polished ice reflected the sudden, sharp tremor in Kael's eyes.
"You accuse my daughter?"
"No," Alfez said, stepping forward.
"I accuse the Systems. White, Red, Black… all of them. They give power to those who will never protect the weak, then watch the world burn while calling it order."
Lunia's smile faltered. For a second, something real flickered in her eyes. Not anger. Fear.
"You dare—" she began.
"Can you please shut up, you spoiled bitch?"
The silence that followed was absolute.
"You had the chance to save those who had no choice," Alfez continued, his voice rising but never breaking. "You had the chance to keep the monsters away. You had everything, and still they are dead. Reth is dead. My aunt is dead. And you're still standing here, playing at being holy."
The Observer crystal nearby thrummed, its light flickering as if hesitant to record the heresy.
Kael's voice dropped to a whisper.
"You are insolent."
"No," Alfez said. "I am just not blind enough to respect a coward."
Kael raised a hand. Frost pulsed along the walls like living authority.
"Enough. Send him to the Underworld. Let him learn what defiance truly costs."
The guards seized him. Steel bit into his skin. As they dragged him toward the edge, Alfez looked back at Kael.
"You can banish me. You can leave me for the monsters. But if I stay alive, the Elites will fear me one day. Not because of your gifts. Not because of the System. But because I remember what you took."
The gates opened. It was Black... Endless...The smell of wet stone and rot rolled out like a physical blow.
Alfez was swallowed by the dark.
The impact lanced through his ribs, knocking the breath from his lungs. He hit the floor of the Underworld and stayed there for a moment, tasting copper. Then, the growls started.
Hundreds of eyes ignited in the darkness. Claws scraped against the jagged floor.
Alfez pushed himself up. He was bloodied, his body screaming in protest, but his heart beat with a rhythm the Systems didn't recognize.
"You," he whispered to the shadows, "are what the Systems left behind."
Hunger and death pressed in from all sides. But Alfez was no longer afraid.
The Systems gave power to protect the protected.
They left the innocent to the dark.
He began to run.
The monsters followed, a tide of teeth and hate. The Underworld twisted around him collapsing tunnels, shifting shadows, the constant snap of jaws at his heels.
Every step burned. Every breath was a struggle.
Yet, he moved. Every instinct honed itself against the whetstone of survival. A spark flickered deep inside him, something untouched by White, Red, or Black.
*I will survive. I will endure. I will teach them fear.*
The gates above had sealed, locking him in a world of rot.
But as Alfez disappeared into the black, he knew one thing for certain.
This night was only the beginning….....
[1] to learn about what these systems are, read auxiliary chp 1