The first rays of sunlight touched the young prince’s face. He frowned and let out a low groan.

“Mmh... Lucio, five more minutes...”

...
No answer?

Perfect. He’d finally given in to his whims. A well-earned victory.
Luci smiled, hoping to steal a few precious minutes of sleep. The cool morning breeze from the open window brushed his skin, sending a small shiver down his spine. He tugged at the blanket to snuggle in, or at least tried to.

His hands met resistance.

Hmm?

A strange feeling crept into his chest. He opened one eye... then the other.
The room had a high ceiling, bathed in golden light. The curtains were wide open to a bright blue sky, streaked with the silhouettes of flying creatures. Everything looked peaceful, almost serene.

Except for one small detail.

Looking closely, those weren’t birds in the distance. They were... demons?!

Luci bolted upright, heart pounding. This wasn’t his bedroom. This wasn’t his castle. It wasn’t even the right kingdom!
And more importantly, he was chained?!

Thick golden chains, firmly attached to the headboard, bound his wrists. He yanked at them, panicked. No use. He was tied to a silk-draped bed... in a demon tower... and almost naked.

Grrreat. The start of a very good day.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Time to assess: spacious bedroom, probably at the top of a tower. Wide view. Strange but luxurious furniture. Gold chains at his wrists and neck...
At least the kidnapper had taste.

But how the hell had he ended up here?

...

Asher!
Of course! It all came rushing back.

He slapped his palm with his fist.

The rain. The balcony. That intense moment. Then... the flight.

He must’ve passed out.
And that idiot Asher brought him here, undressed him, and chained him to a bed. …Charming.
Had he decided to eat him? Keep him prisoner?
Or was this just an adult version of their old “prince in distress” roleplay?

Ouuuulala...Hehe...

The thought made him blush despite himself, but such fantasies weren’t befitting a royal. Luci shook his head to snap out of it.

Suddenly, a monstrous roar echoed in the distance. A chill ran down Luci’s spine. That snapped him out of it.
As curious as he was, staying here to find out how this story ended was not an option! He always had a taste for risk, but not for suicide.

He grabbed the chain and pulled hard.

It didn’t budge.

“Of course… that would’ve been too easy, huh?”

Luckily, the genius who chained him hadn’t added a magical spell on it. This would be child’s play to break with a little spellwork.

He grasped the left chain with both hands and began murmuring an enchantment in Latin. Soon, his arms and hands glowed with a red aura, symbol of brute strength.

“Fortis vincula...”

A sharp tug.

CLANG!

The chain snapped. Now free on one side, he quickly escaped the bed. No time to worry about the dangling remains of the chain. He rushed to the screen where his clothes had been tossed and hastily dressed. His cape was missing, but there was no time to worry about it.

He had to get out. Now.

He crept toward the door and pressed his ear against it.
Footsteps. Heavy ones.
Too heavy to be human.

Nope. Not that way.

He backed off. The balcony, then.

The view was wide and steep. Definitely the tallest room in the city. Only one building seemed higher, radiating a frightening, wild energy. It both terrified and fascinated him.

He stepped closer and looked over the edge.

A long drop.

Very long.

The wall sloped slightly. The outer surface was uneven, adorned with balconies and ornamental stonework. Maybe he could rappel down from ledge to ledge.

That way, he might reach the ground.
Or plummet to his death.

Risky, sure.
But not impossible.
And between climbing and ending up as a demon’s breakfast… Luci would take his chances.

He just needed something to descend with.

He glanced at the chain still fastened to his left wrist.

“That’ll do...”

He wrapped the chain around a sturdy ornament, tested the tension with a pull, then whispered shakily to himself:

“Okay… time to go.”

He climbed onto the railing, took a deep breath, and began rappelling down, feet pressed to the stone wall. He reached the first ledge, dropped the chain, let it fall, then repeated the motion.

Everything was going fine, until a roar tore through the sky.

A scream so loud it seemed to freeze the entire city.
Luci froze.

“…Oh no.”

He sped up. Two drops. Three.
He was gliding faster and faster.

CRACK.

The ornament he was using as an anchor snapped.
The chain slipped.
And Luci fell.

He tried to grab something—
Too late.

“NO NO NO!”

His body scraped the stone wall. In a desperate move, he yanked the chain and pulled the broken ornament still hanging from it close to him.

“Lux maxima!”

A flash of white magic engulfed his arms. He drove the jagged metal into the wall. The stone cracked and hissed as the magic burned into it, slowing his fall—
Until he crashed into a bed of tangled vines… then into a bush.

BAM!

He blinked, dazed. The improvised blade stabbed the ground between his legs with a heavy SCHLINK.

Luci gulped.

“…Thanks, God.”

Another monstrous cry rang out.

Luci bolted upright, grabbed the chain, and snatched his “makeshift knife.”
He ducked into the nearby foliage.

Demons. Everywhere.

The street teemed with creatures: tails, wings, horns, pointed ears...

No way he could walk out like this.

He needed a disguise.

Across the street, a sheet hung from a window. Without thinking, he dashed out, snatched it, and wrapped it around himself like a cloak. On the way back, he grabbed a decorative skull from a nearby wall and slid it over his head. The horns stuck out just enough from under the makeshift hood.

With a bit of luck, maybe no one would notice.

Now, he was a runaway prince… dressed as a demon, with a single mission: Get out of this hellish city, without ending up on a skewer.

Luci crept through the narrow alleys of the demon city.

Despite the tight knot of anxiety in his stomach, he couldn’t help but glance around, wide-eyed.
It was… another world. A realm unlike anything he’d ever seen.

The buildings were carved from white or volcanic stone, some with jagged edges, others smoothed by time. Stained glass windows shimmered with colored light, reflecting the glow of enchanted torches.
The streets twisted like living things, winding between floating bridges and hanging walkways. Magic pulsed in the air like electricity.

And everywhere demons.

Of every size and shape. Some had wings. Others had horns. Some floated. Some crawled.
Children tossed icy spheres like juggling balls. Merchants shouted in a singsong Latin.
Laughter echoed off the walls. Tails whipped the cobblestones. Hooves clicked. Claws scraped.
Luci felt like he had wandered into a surreal dream, a fairytale gone slightly… demonic.

He clutched his makeshift cloak tighter, head bowed beneath the skull mask, avoiding every gaze he could.
Don’t draw attention.
Just find a way out. A gate, a tunnel, a bridge, anything.

But the deeper he walked, the narrower the paths became, the more crowded the city grew. His breath quickened. He dodged horns. Ducking wings. Sidestepped claws and bumping shoulders.

And then, he stepped out onto a wide, open square.

Before him stood the towering spire.
Luci froze, stunned.
The energy emanating from the massive tower was… divine.
Enough to power a kingdom for a decade. He was almost jealous.

Could it be Asher who built this?

Drawn like a moth to a flame, Luci took a step closer, mesmerized—
And bumped right into a small demon passing by.

“Hey—Attende, insolitum olfacis, nonne?”

“P... V... Veniae!”

Startled, Luci stumbled back—
And tripped over someone’s thick tail.

He tumbled to the ground, hitting the stone hard.
His hood slipped.
The skull rolled across the cobblestones.
His little knife clattered nearby.

And the golden chain slipped free from beneath the cloak, catching the morning light.

The crowd fell silent.

One by one, eyes turned toward him—
Yellow. Green. Crimson.
A towering winged creature paused mid-bite, a fruit frozen between its fangs.
A bluish demoness stepped back, tail puffed up like a startled cat.

A circle formed.

In the middle of it, an unmistakably human boy.

Luci stayed perfectly still, breath held tight in his chest.

...Oh no.