Rey easily allowed himself to be taken away.

Of course, with a very heavy heart, though.

The moment he was separated from Leon, he felt like he had failed as a best friend.

So now he's been trying to console himself by saying that he was doing this for the greater good. That he's just taking out the trash. That this chore will be finished before the day even ends.

As he was escorted through the city and into the dungeons, he memorized all the twists and turns as well as the halls and buildings. It was then that he realized he hadn't planned this out very well.

One, he didn't need to separate from Leon in the first place. He could've just assassinated the three kings and called it a day.

Two, even if he freed everyone, there was nowhere they could go. It's not like he built some sort of base or something.

Three, he forgot to tell Seven that he could go home now. He's probably still at the church, confused or something.

Rey was acting based on what he felt right then and there, something he usually does. But now he was regretting it. He regretted it so much that his eyes were even beginning to glow red from frustration.

"Pick up the pace," Rey demanded of the guards.

They all stared at him in shock.

One of the guards somehow managed to reply, "Eager to meet your fate?"

"Very much so,"

The guards all laughed.

"Looks like this one had too much freedom,"

"Where y'all think we should throw him?"

"He's a pretty big guy, he can always fight in the arena,"

"Nah, he's too pretty for that. A whore house suits him better, get him off his high horse,"

"Might as well just give him to a slave merchant, maybe his owner will make him do both,"

As the guards talked and laughed, trying their best to demean Rey, Rey didn't do anything in refutation. He only listened closely, getting all the information he needed.

It turns out that the dungeons are where the newly caught merchandise is put. It is then decided by the guards themselves where they'll be placed. The dungeons worked like underground tunnels and were accessible to every part of the city, making it easier for people to stock, sell, and buy 'things.' It was even connected to the three palaces, so the kings could come and pick out what they liked. There were even signs in the tunnels, so people knew where they were going.

How convenient.

Rey's life just got ten times easier.

It wasn't until they stopped in front of a cell that Rey decided it was time to act.

"Is this it?" Rey asked.

"Oh, don't want to part? Don't worry, I might come back and buy you myself-"

The guards didn't even have time to scream before Rey's shadows pierced them and ripped them into a million pieces. He then broke out of his own chains and went to observe the cell.

His eyebrows rose in surprise.

It was just a regular steel cell. It wasn't embedded with magic or anything. A demon, monster, elf, and the like could just easily break out and free themselves.

"Interesting,"

He looked at the cell next to his. There was a young beastman in there.

"Hey," Rey called.

The young beastman flinched and covered his face, trembling in the corner of the cell.

"You know you can break out, right?" Rey said, raising his voice so other cellmates could hear, "These are just regular steel bars, they're not made to hold us,"

No one listened.

Even when Rey ripped open the doors of each cell, no one bothered to run away.

It was no wonder why the guards didn't bother to enhance the cells. Their spirits have been crushed so heavily that all it took were steel bars to lock them in. They didn't have a will to live or any hope that they'd be free; it was as if death was their only escape.

It reminded Rey of Leon.

And he hated that.

He ran around the tunnels, opening every cell and telling everyone to run. He even killed a few guards on the way, hoping that it would give them some sort of hope. But it was of no use, no one reacted. In fact, they were even more scared than before.

It wasn't until he heard loud cheers coming from above him that he stopped running around.

It sounded like an arena.

He didn't follow the signs that led to the arena, knowing that he would only attract unwanted attention. So he followed the sounds of the cheers through the tunnels. It led him to an opening that brought him straight into the battlefield of the arena. The only thing that stopped him from entering were the iron bars.

Right at the center was an elf battling a gigantic four-headed monster of a lion, bear, elephant, and snake. The body of the monster was also a mix of multiple beasts. The body was an elephant, the legs were a tiger, and the tail was made up of three snakes. The closest thing Rey has ever seen to this type of monster is a chimera, but he knew that this thing was nothing like a chimera. It was a man-made monster, created in a lab.

It shouldn't exist in this world.

As Rey watched the battle, he knew the elf was going to lose. The elf was already malnourished, and his fighting style wasn't even fighting. He was just dodging and running away, which was a feat of its own considering how insane the monster was. However, it was only a matter of minutes before the monster crushed him. Nonetheless, Rey was planning to save him before that would even happen-

BANG!

The sound of a bullet rang through the arena.

Thud.

And the elf fell to the ground, instantly killed.

The beast crushed the already dead body, stomping it until it was nothing more than a pile of flesh.

"Boring!" a loud voice spat from the crowd, "Bring out someone better!"

The crowd yelled in agreement.

Rey gripped the iron bars, his eyes red with anger.

"Alright, Alright," the presenter huffed through an intercom, "Calm down everyone, let's welcome our next contestant-"

SLASH!

One of the monster's heads, the snake's, went flying off. The monster stomped its legs and ran wild around the arena, all its heads roaring in pain. The audience even had to cover their ears because of how loud the monster cried.

After a while, the beast finally settled down, grunting as it eyed the man standing in the center of the arena.

It was none other than a half-demon. In one hand, he held a dull sword, now cracked and bloodied. On the other hand, he held a wooden shield ready to shatter at any moment. His eyes burned red, and his black hair was bushy and tangled. He was a little short, and his body was littered with scabs and scars.

"Our next contestant!" the presenter yelled, "The most famous, the most popular, our favorite half-demon, 5,200!!!"

On this half-demon's back, right below the neck, was an engraved number, 5,200. It was his name. A number given to him at birth.

Rey stood behind the bars, eyes wide with shock, disgust, and curiosity.

It was his first time seeing another half-demon.

Seeing someone who looked like him.

He wanted a closer look.

The battle between the monster and the half-demon began immediately. Though 5,200 held only a dull sword, he was able to cut through the monster with ease. Rey wondered if that was a special ability, something like his own shadow manipulation ability. 5,200 even had glowing red eyes, something Rey has never seen anyone have before. Then there was the enhanced strength and speed, something that was unnatural for humans to have.

The more Rey watched them battle, the more he began to realize some things. The more he believed that 5,200 was definitely like him. That he wasn't the only half-demon that existed in this world.

Despite how well 5,200 fought, Rey could tell that he was going to lose. That dull sword will eventually break. The shield is already gone. The red eyes are dimming. Fear was seeping in. 5,200 was going to lose.

Right as the beast was about to pounce on the exhausted half-demon, Rey shot his shadows forward, piercing the beast in a thousand places. The beast fell without a cry, instantly dying in the arena. Then, Rey easily broke through the bars that separated him from the arena and coolly walked his way to the open. He made his way to 5,200, reaching out his hand to help him stand. Except, 5,200 never took the hand, he only stared at Rey with fear in his eyes.

And now that Rey was closer, he saw that this person didn't look any older than fifteen. He was just a kid.

Seeing that the boy wasn't taking his hand, he kneeled down to eye level instead.

"I'm Rey Atland," Rey introduced, "I'm also a half-demon-"

"The beast may have fallen, but we have another fighter in the arena!" The presenter's voice echoed, not bothered by the fact that their lab pet just died, "And look at that, it's no other than another half-demon!"

The audience cheered loudly.

"Never seen him before. Must be a newbie in the arena! Let's get this battle started!!!"

Rey didn't bother to listen, eyes only on the boy on the ground.

5,200 trembled as he looked at the audience yelling around him. He scrambled his way up and grabbed his broken sword, pointing it towards Rey.

Rey sighed and stood up, "We don't have to fight,"

5,200 shook his head and said, "F-fight,"

"We don't have to listen to them,"

5,200 shook his head again.

"Two bad, one die," he said, pointing at himself and Rey.

Rey didn't know what he was saying, but he got an idea.

One must die in this arena.

Then 5,200 pointed at his neck with tears in his eyes, not wanting to fight against his own brethren, "Name?"

Rey scrunched his eyebrows, angry.

When he was in slavery, he was put in chains, drugged, beaten, and detained with so many magic spells that there was no way to escape. But he still fought back with everything he had. Here, this boy was obviously stronger than everyone else. There was nothing holding him back. No spells. No magic. Nothing here was made to hold someone like him. So what was there to be afraid of?

"There's nothing to be afraid of," Rey uttered in a low voice, a dark aura oozing out of him, "Nothing here can hurt you,"

Just as the boy was about to attack Rey, a strong burst of wind pushed him back.

Black shadows formed around Rey, swirling in all directions.

"Watch," Rey rustled the boy's hair, "You're like me,"

Rey tensed his hands, and his nails turned into sharp claws. Then he jumped high into the air and right into the stands. In one fell swoop, he instantly killed more than a dozen people. It didn't matter who he killed, he deemed them all trash for just being an audience. Screams echoed throughout the arena, and people started scattering and running for their lives.

"Don't run away," Rey muttered, "I need an audience,"

With one swift move of his hand, shadows raised around the entire arena, locking everyone in. Tendrils came out of the walls and began piercing through everyone who moved. Then, Rey easily found the presenter and threw him in the center of the ring, right in front of the young half-demon.

He assumed that the presenter was most likely the leader of this arena, which was why he went to capture him. Now that he sees the boy's reaction to the presenter, he realizes that he was right. The boy shook in fear. He trembled so much that he couldn't even stand anymore. He even rolled himself up into a ball and hid his face.

"You had better grovel right now!" The presenter yelled, "I'll beat you!"

The boy flinched at his voice, trembling even more.

Using his leg, Rey smashed the presenter's head onto the ground. Hard enough to see stars, but not hard enough to kill him.

"Look at me," Rey said.

The boy didn't look. Too afraid to even raise his head.

The presenter laughed and said, "You think he'll listen to you?! He only listens to me-"

Rey stomped on his head once more. Then he used his tendrils to tie him up before walking towards the scared boy. He forced the boy's head up to look at the tied up presenter struggling in place.

"There's nothing to be afraid of," Rey said again, "You're stronger than him,"

The boy shook his head, tears rolling down his cheeks.

"If you don't kill him, I'll kill him,"

The boy only cried.

Rey sighed. He wanted the boy to kill the presenter. By doing so, it should give him some sort of hope. But if he wasn't going to do it, then Rey would kill the presenter himself. There's no way Rey would let someone like him breathe another second in this world.

With a snap of his fingers, the tendrils began to stretch the presenter, about to rip him into scrambled pieces.

"NO!" 5,200 suddenly shouted.

Rey didn't stop.

"Me," 5,200 cried, "Me, I want,"

Rey stopped and released his hold on the presenter, "He's all yours,"

Like he saw Rey do, 5,200 tensed his hands till they were claws. Then, as he slowly made his way to the presenter, still trembling and crying tears, he raised his arm and slashed the presenter's face. And like this, the boy continued beating and ripping his fear apart.

Rey stood on the side quietly, watching and waiting until there was not even a breath left in this arena.

As he let his shadows fall back and let the sunlight reach the bloodbath of the arena, Rey thought about Leon.

What would Leon think?

Would Leon still be by his side? Even as he destroys a kingdom?

Or would Leon have stopped him, trying to save the humanity left inside of him?

Or maybe Leon expected this to happen? That he really is just a character in a book?

Leon doesn't care at all, does he? That's why he's not here right now.

The Leon who would follow him to the ends of the earth, is not here right now.

It was painful to think about.

His already heavy heart grew heavier.

He felt lonelier than ever.

He shouldn't have left Leon.

He shouldn't have left him.

He shouldn't have.