Prologue: The Spark Before the Storm
The world was once whole.
Before the age of Demon Kings, before the Holy Church rose to power, before magic bled into steel and science—there was only one will that governed creation: the will of the Creator God.
But like all things divine, even the will of a god could be challenged.
Twelve Demon Kings, born of chaos and forgotten sin, sought to shatter the Creator's design. Their purpose: to awaken their slumbering master—the Demon God, sealed beyond the edges of the world. To do so, they spread corruption like wildfire, tainting humans, beasts, even the sky and stars.
When hope dimmed and kingdoms fell, the System was born.
A fragment of the Creator's power, the System was never meant for all. It did not choose armies. It did not choose kings. It chose seven.
Seven souls.
Seven paths.
Seven weapons to halt the end of days.
But even the System was not perfect. Each of the Seven was gifted a different kind of power. Some could devour demons. Others could twist time or command phantoms. Each ability defied natural law.
And among them was one—unknown, unseen—who received something far more dangerous.
A shop.
Not just power, but choice.
Not just survival, but evolution.
Aayu was not born to a noble house. He was not raised in a tower of books or forged in the crucible of battle. He was a shadow from the gutters of Velden's undercity—a liar, a thief, a survivor.
But the System saw something else in him.
A mind sharp enough to wield its power.
A heart cold enough to bear its weight.
And a hunger vast enough to never be satisfied.
Now, as the world teeters once more on the brink of annihilation—Demon Kings stirring, the Church whispering prophecies, and empires waging silent wars—Aayu walks unseen among them.
With eyes that read truth.
With a shop that can forge gods.
With a fate that will either save the world…
…or end it.