The Scumbags Guide to Enslaving Demon's

Malrec read desperation in Austin Veyron’ bloodlust.

”You’re going to take it from me.” The demon lord’ hissed through gritted teeth, voice rasping around his exposed chain-core. ”You’ve already taken pieces. Complete it. Devour the core. Claim the mantle. Then you will know why I had to do all of this.”

Austin Veyron didn’t flinch. His hands stayed pressed against Malrec’ chest.

The chain-core pulsed beneath his palms like a heart—not a human one, but a fist sized knot of green fire threaded with contract strands and names etched into metal.

Every beat sent commands through the lord’ s remaining chains. Every word tasted like ownership.

The monster wanted that taste whole.

Strength. Absolute control. Security against every future threat.

Austin Veyron’ mouth watered.

Then he forced himself to look away. Past Malrec, through the broken remains of the challenge seal and toward the southeast beacon still screaming over the ashes.

Sarielle was alive because he’d refused that easy option. Kaela’ rescue team was still marching because Austin Veyron had refused to devour them.

He could still choose.

Not choosing still mattered when the monster inside wanted to tear everything he loved apart.

”I’m not devouring you,” Austin Veyron said quietly.

Malrec laughed dryly. ”Then you lose.”

Austin Veyron activated DEVOUR.

Small. Careful.

He sliced it open like Elena had taught him to diffuse a bomb strapped to a living person: cutting what had to go without damaging what mattered. Letting the threat burn out without taking every life it touched with it.

DEVOUR fizzled.

[Command unrecognized: DEVOUR.]

[Assumed action: core extraction.]

[Risk assessment: near- certainty of backlash.]

Austin Veyron confirmed.

Green fire webbed across both of his arms.

Resistance flared around the chain-core’s outer surface the moment his palms made contact. Names whispered against his skull: soldiers, traitors, handlers, lesser lords, bargains made decades ago. Thousands of people the registry wanted to push inside him by force like every last one was already expendable.

Austin Veyron refused them entry.

He pushed each one away from the extraction buffer individually.

Malrec screamed.

”What are you doing to me?”

”I’m taking the knife,” Austin Veyron replied quietly. ”Not the people it’s threatened.”

The lord’ chains whipped toward them like lashes. Austin Veyron caught two in Root-Grasp before the third sliced through his side. He didn’t stop.

Tears of blood dribbled down his ribs as he pulled. The system tried again to warn him that Regenerative Mass was shutting down, that Fullform was keeping him alive for the moment if he allowed the transformation, that if he had a stronger body things like this would be easy.

Austin Veyron told it to shut up.

Instead he tugged the chain-core free inch by painful inch.

Every movement felt like agony.

Malrec’ legs gave out from under him. Every color drained from his eyes but the green writhing in his chest.

Out in the street, Malrec’ army stared wide eyed at the mantle that controlled them step back from their lord’ s corpse with more than half his power still intact.

Free.

The chain-core lolled limply in Austin Veyron’ hands once he wrested it free. Smaller now, but still a fist sized knot of flame and chain-stuff that continued to beat.

Weakly.

Malrec slumped forward onto one knee.

The entire ground trembled beneath them.

[Core extraction: complete.]

[Holder authority: terminated.]

[Former- lord authority: null.]

[Vacant mantle detected: Establishing claim over Grand Meridian district]

Electric tendrils ripped the sky open above the black stone courtyard.

Above Austin Veyron’ head, a lattice of green chains solidified from the chaos like a crown.

[Claiming Territorial-Lord Mantle.]

[Granting: territorial authority, asset registry control, contract enforcement.]

[Warning: architecture will not conform to holder]

Hunger screamed victory in his mind.

All he had to do was accept.

Every chain left in the district would recognize him as their leader. Every soldier Malrec led against them would march for Austin Veyron’s colors instead. The war camp, the supply routes, every demon of note within district lines would fall in with a word from him once he claimed. Security. Peace. Total control.

Freedom.

Austin Veyron heard Elena calling his name far away over the wreckage.

”Stand down, Austin Veyron.”

He felt her tug against his bond instead. Seven at her side, patiently waiting. Kaela off to his right shoulder keeping vigil like she always did when her sister was in danger. Far below them sirens were screaming as the rescue flare winked out and the convoy led Sarielle away from this fight. Rin bounced up on the truck bed waving against the curtain of ash.

She gave Austin Veyron a thumbs up too, grin too wide to care who saw her blatantly ignore every covenant law they grew up with.

Austin Veyron knew what she was waiting for.

He couldn’t give it to her.

The mantle wasn’ wasn’t wrong. Not by itself. Just twisted power shaped from the same insanity his own family treated lives like resources. Austin Veyron could claim it promise to wield it better than Malrec had. Promises never meant anything when strength got this close.

Malrec spat blood onto the ground at his feet. ”Take it, Veyron. You want it.”

Austin Veyron wanted it. Bad.

Isn’t that always the problem?

He could see where that decision led.

Stuff yourself on power like that and no one could ever hurt you again. Peace kept by force, borders monitored under penalty of death.

Freedom without ever having to consider what anyone else wanted.

”Answer me,” Malrec grit through bloodied teeth. ”Why won’t you claim what’s yours?”

Because Austin Veyron wouldn’ be any better than every monster they fought.

Every monster they shot dozens of brothers and sisters trying to protect themselves from.

His knuckles skimmed the chain-core’ fragmented surface. Passed over the pattern of standing chains where Malrec’ own should have been.

Saw every person who might have otherwise lived suffer and die because some demon whispered in his head that they deserved it.

The world stuttered around his boots. Momentarily unsteady on its feet like it thought the same thing.

Austin Veyron couldn’t let Rin die like this and claim the mantle.

Not after everything.

Not after watching Malrec look his monster square in the eye and accept him anyway.

He couldn’t claim the mantle.

Not after what happened to his brother.

He wouldn’t.

Austin Veyron squeezed his fist around what remained of the chain- core cut it free.

”We have questions for you too.” He called over his shoulder loud enough for the distant crowd to hear.

Malrec lurched backwards. Right into the arms of his own guards.

He didn’t know what to say to that.

Austin Veyron didn’t care.

The crown lattice shattered like it had been punched by a god.

[Mantle claim denied.]

[Authority core instability detected.]

[Alternate designation recommended: Freehold Claim]

Austin Veyron braced himself for the system’s derision.

Instead the readme shifted.

[Freehold Claim: Assertion of territorial defense without asset registry.]

[Limitations: incapable of compelling allegiance, registering people, or enforcing binded contracts.] [Benefits: leadership of chosen allies, shared territorial defense, faction authority granted through trust.]

Malrec stared down at his feet like he expected to feel green chains bursting from the ground.

Austin Veyron barely managed to keep his voice level. System had rewarded his surprise by handing him its insult along with its loophole.

Austin Veyron accepted the Freehold Claim.

Roots burst up through street at the ring fortress’ feet in response.

Not chains. Something better.

Twisting through the broken cages. The overturned weapon racks. Every door they kicked open rushing to find friends during the escape. Every person who’d fought beside Austin Veyron today felt it deep in their bones before they saw the first tendrils of green reaching up from the ashes. Safety, not force. People who wanted to fight beside him because it meant something more than pain or fear dared them too.

[Grand Meridian Freehold: acknowledged.]

[Population: voluntary pact status granted to all known allies.]

[Ownership authority: not found.]

Malrec visibly deflated without the mantle binding him tight.

”You don’t understand,” Malrec spat. ”You just traded away every kind of power there is!”

Austin Veyron slipped the chain-core fragment into his pocket. Pull his hand back when his suddenly stopped shaking.

”No,” Austin Veyron replied. ”I refused yours.”

His grip on DEVOUR relaxed. With a final roar the challenge seal evaporated and every person fighting for Grand Meridian started moving.

Not all of them ran.

Malrec’s army didn’t bolt. Silent now that they knew who won, the hollow eyed prisoners too terrified of their former captors to run started tearing fight cages apart. Austin spared them a glance over his shoulder.

Two things tried to tether him to that spot as he turned away.

Hunger. And the familiar arms of what he was walking away from.

Austin shook his head clear.

Green fire erupted along the street, reflecting off knife- blades and fresh battle scars as Austin Veyron’s enemies made their choice for the first time in years. Maybe someday they could ask each other what freedom tasted like. Learn something better in return.

Earn the trust Austin Veyron hadn’t been given by fighting beside him today.

One of Malrec lingering soldiers stepped out from the surrounding crowd. The bloody edges of his eyes should have recognized enough cruelty to grant him honor in rest if Malrec ever stopped hunting people like them.

”You think you can just waltz in here and save everyone you ever screwed over?” he spat.

Austin smiled at the soldier he used to know.

This wasn’t heroism. Redemption. It was freedom.

Real freedom.

The kind of freedom that asked questions.

”This is what we deserve.” Austin Veyron said, turning back to his own kin. ”Now go out there and show me what happens next.”