The Demon's Menu - Chapter 16: Fire Execution

After millions of years spent hunting and battling, the forces of darkness were finally pushed back and eradicated. But as Twilight’s lifespan approached its inevitable end, he made a fateful choice—to reincarnate into the future, where a golden age was prophesied to unfold.Now reborn as Twilight Nightfall, a boy who had lost everything to the world, he remembered nothing of his former life.Stripped of purpose and will, he strayed on the path of despair. Yet, in his darkest moment, a reason to live revealed itself.Chosen as one of the sovereign system holders, Twilight was granted an opportunity to prove himself.With sufficient potential, he could earn the highest privileges, rise to the rank of seeker, and represent humanity in the Astral Realm—a game-like world filled with mythical races, limitless resources, and boundless opportunities.Follow Twilight as he ascends to the apex of the Astral Realm, dominating players and rivals alike while gradually piecing together the shattered fragments of his past life, becoming a legendary figure in all worlds.

After the judgment, the ire of God was revealed with the words: “Be cast unto eternal damnation!” And so it was that humans and jinns alike found themselves scattered across the Nine Circles of Hell, left to burn and suffer for eternity. Until after an untold number of eternities, an angelic voice called out, announcing God's decree: “One soul shall earn the chance to return to grace.” Humans and jinns found a shimmering screen appear before their eyes, tallying their sins and something called 'Fragments of Divinity'. “Cleanse away your sins,” said the voice. “Do what must be done!”Now, a human known as Wretched Nameless One—the only human found in the Ninth Circle—sets out on a journey to claim his spot in Heaven, tasked with fighting hellish monsters and devilish hell-dwellers competing to return to grace. Will he escape eternal torment and rise to grace or return to the everlasting cleansing fire once more?

What life is left for a warrior when there is no more enemy to fight?

…He knelt before her in the posture of a soldier giving honor to their Queen. And she didn’t even know it.

“Harth,” he rasped, “I come empty-handed. I bring no weapon. Because I swear to you, I will never choose to harm you. Never draw your blood—in anger, or in fear. I bring no shield. Because I vow I will never defend myself from your eyes, your hands, your mind. I am yours.”

*****

After a year of peace in Anima, Tarkyn finds himself… lonely. As the Captain of the Queen’s Guard and a lion-shifter, he has met every female in the tribes, but never found his mate. Certain he must have overlooked someone, Tarkyn undertakes a grueling ritual, pleading with the Creator to reveal her. But the ritual presses him to the end of even his formidable strength.

Yet, the Creator heard his cry…

Discovered on the brink of death by his mate, Harth, and nursed back to health, Tarkyn now faces the most difficult battle of his life. Because Harth isn’t just a stranger to the Anima, she is a weapon of the humans who tried to destroy them.

Can the love of a warrior and his enemy bring peace to Anima? Or will they be torn apart forever by war between their peoples?

*****

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STANDALONE STORY: While Tarkyn’s story is a part of the Anima world and fans will be reunited with some of their favorites as side-characters, Tarkyn and Harth are new POV characters and their story is a new plot arc, so their story can be enjoyed without reading the previous books! But please add Falling in Love with the King of Beasts, and Taming the Queen of Beasts to your library to enjoy later!

Ten thousand years later, ice has melted. The Soul Federation Scientific Exploration team found an egg with a golden and silver pattern on it in the far north of the land, and after examining it with an apparatus, they found out that there were vital signs inside. They hurriedly brought it back to the institute for hatching.

The egg hatched, but it was a baby, a baby exactly the same as a human – a baby born out of an egg.