The sky over Lust's dominion was red. Not the soft, rosy blush of a sunset, but a raging, blood-slick red that made the air feel like it was boiling even when it wasn't. Hell's sky rarely changed.
Serica Vell didn't mind. She had been born here—at the top of one of the Archduke bloodlines, the Arkwoods, who ruled the domain of Lust with silver tongues and bloody hands. Her mother was the Archduchess herself. Legacy. Strength. Expectation. Her entire life was carved from those three things.
And today, her system would awaken.
As she stood on the balcony of the trainee citadel, crimson robes whispering around her, it came like a spark behind her eyes.
[You have awakened the S-Tier System: Romance Catalyst.]
Main Directive: Romantic experiences generate combat power. Target required for emotional tethering.
She read the words. Read them again. Her lip curled.
"You've got to be kidding me."
She was supposed to awaken a system of dominance, manipulation, or flame. Something grand. Something worthy of her bloodline. Not… whatever this was.
And then, like the final dagger, a name appeared.
Target Identified: Kairo. Evaluation: Unranked.
Her face burned. An unranked? A mortal-born? This was some sick joke from the System Gatekeepers. But she had no choice. In Hell, power was everything. If she had to flirt her way to a battlefield transformation, so be it. She'd break bones between kisses if necessary.
The Hall of Lust's central arena brimmed with young trainees. Some looked hardened by experience. Others trembled like they didn't know where they were.
She stood alone until her name appeared on the mission board.
Team 47
1. Serica Vell
2. Kairo
3. Rin Vos
4. Thresh the Ironmouth
5. Lirael of the Sunken Hall
Her fingers twitched.
He was in her group. The boy. The system's "target."
Of course.
And then she saw him. Standing awkwardly at the edge of the board, reading his name like he wasn't sure it belonged to him.
So this was Kairo.
This was her path to power.
She hated this already.