Chapter 215

Neo’s eyes locked on the system panel floating in front of him. The words burned into his vision. Gabriel was trapped. Locked inside a prison in the middle of Rot City. A mid-sized demon stronghold, far larger than the small port town he had left behind. His throat tightened. He cursed under his breath. Gabriel was the only angel he could still rely on inside the angel army. If she died there, he would lose his only informant. Without her, the path forward would close. He would be next.

He pulled up the map. Rot City sat six hundred miles away across demon territory. The name alone carried weight. Bigger walls. Stronger patrols. More eyes watching. Getting there would not be simple, and staying hidden once he arrived would be harder still. Yet he already had the outline of a plan. Find a way inside that prison. Take a guard post if he could. Free her from the inside.

He called for his women. One by one they appeared in the room. Martha stood closest, arms crossed, jaw set. The others formed a quiet half-circle around him. Neo met each of their eyes in turn.

"I’m leaving," he said. "A demon city far from here. I don’t know how long I’ll be gone."

Martha stepped forward at once. "I’m coming with you."

He shook his head. "The place is too dangerous. You stay. All of you."

No one argued further. He opened the system shop and bought what he needed. Simple necklaces, each set with a small stone. Matching rings, the metal tinted to the color of each woman’s hair. He placed one necklace and one ring in every pair of hands. The gifts were light, but the meaning was not.

They came to him one after another. Soft kisses. Firm ones. A press of lips that lingered a second longer than the rest. Neo grinned through it.

"I’ll come back as soon as I can."

They wished him luck. The room felt emptier the moment the last of them stepped away.

He triggered the teleportation skill. Space folded. When the world settled again he stood on a mid-sized road under a gray sky. Demon kingdom ground. He opened the map once more. Rot City still sat six hundred miles ahead. No time to waste on foot.

Torch Man mode flared around him. Fire wrapped his body without burning the clothes. He launched forward, cutting through the air in a hard, straight line. The miles vanished under the speed. Two miles short of the city walls he dropped into the trees, killed the flames, and landed in the underbrush. A city this size would notice holy fire. He still remembered the devil woman’s face when she had seen it the last time. Better to walk in quiet.

Monarch mode settled over him instead. Twenty-one star strength. High enough to matter even here. He entered Rot City through a side gate, asked a street vendor for directions, and followed the answer toward the prison.

The fortress rose ahead of him like a mountain of black stone. Thick outer walls. Camera arrays mounted at every corner. Six layers of magical barriers shimmering in the air beyond the first gate. Neo’s mouth tightened. This was no ordinary lock-up. It was built to hold things that did not want to stay held.

He walked the outer wall until a poster caught his eye. The paper was fresh. Bold letters announced an open competition for guard positions. Anyone interested was to present identification at the gate. Neo’s pulse jumped. He pulled out the false ID the Black Fang human had prepared for him and strode to the entrance.

A guard woman waited behind the bars. Tall. Broad-shouldered for a female. She looked him over once, then waved him through. Neo paused on the threshold.

"What kind of prison is this?" he asked. "Group cells or single?"

She lifted an eyebrow and folded her arms under a heavy chest. The motion pushed the fabric of her uniform tight.

"Women only," she said. "One woman per cell. You can try for the job if you want, but the odds are thin. They don’t advertise the part where they usually hire women. If you somehow get in, you’ll be the only man walking these halls. Principal’s office is the door on the right corner. Go."

Neo nodded and kept moving. The corridor smelled of cold stone and faint incense. He pushed open the marked door.

A succubus sat behind the wide desk. White wings folded against her back. Eyes a bright, shining green that seemed to cut straight through him. Neo’s heart slammed once against his ribs. He triggered a quick scan.

Divine Succubus. Rank thirty stars.

He swallowed hard and reached out with telepathy, brushing Gabriel’s mind.

Gabriel. You’re locked in a prison. I’m outside trying to get in so I can free you. Who put you here?

Her answer came clear and fast. A hybrid. Weird one. Looks like a succubus but hits with divine power.

Thank you. I’ll talk more later. I have something to handle first.

He cut the link and stepped fully into the office. The ID landed on the desk with a soft slap.

"I’m here for the guard job," Neo said. "I carry a succubus bloodline. Hire me."

The principal picked up the card. Her green eyes narrowed.

"This says twenty stars. You’re listing yourself as fifteen."

"I got stronger since that day."

She cursed under her breath. "Only three months." Her gaze stayed on him, measuring. She could feel the residual scent of succubus clinging to his skin. She did not know it was Sai’s mark, left behind from nights of hard fucking when the lioness in her had decided Neo belonged to her territory. The principal only knew the bloodline was real and the power was climbing fast.

She studied him a long time. Finally she spoke.

"You’re hired."

Neo inclined his head.

"Collect your uniform from the storage room. You start now. You’ll live in the guard quarters assigned to you. Wing 7A is yours. Your job is to keep the women there under control."