"This is where theory becomes reality," Loryn said, his voice carrying something approaching reverence. "Where components become life."

He led Jack to an active pool, one where the blood churned more violently than the others.

The surface bubbled and frothed, responding to the magic circles that pulsed with increasing intensity.

"Watch," Loryn commanded. "This one should emerge in moments."

The blood began to move in patterns, spiraling inward toward the pool's center. The churning intensified, and something started to form in the depths, a shape that grew more defined with each passing second.

The surface broke.

A hand emerged first, clawed and dripping with blood, reaching upward as if grasping for something.

Then an arm, shoulder, head, the rest of the body following in a smooth motion that suggested this wasn't birth so much as arrival.

The demon stood in the center of the pool, blood streaming off its body in sheets.

It was humanoid, roughly seven feet tall, its skin a dark red. Horns curved back from its skull, and its eyes glowed with hellfire.

But what struck Jack most was how complete it looked.

This wasn't a newborn struggling to understand the world. This was a fully formed warrior, its posture suggested it was ready for a fight despite being born moments ago.

The demon's eyes found Loryn, and something passed between them.

Recognition, but deeper than that. Something absolute, like a newborn bird imprinting on the first thing it sees.

"They know me," Loryn explained, his voice soft with satisfaction. "Instinctively. I'm the first power they feel, the first presence they recognize. In every sense that matters, I am their father."

The demon stepped out of the pool, blood still dripping from its form, and immediately dropped to one knee before Loryn.

No command given, no instruction needed. It simply knew to show deference.

'And this is why he's indispensable,' Jack realized, watching the exchange.

'Pho needs him. Without Loryn, the fortress's military power stagnates. With him, it grows endlessly. Industrial-scale demon production. Disturbing, but from a pure capability standpoint... effective.'

Slaves approached with clothing and basic equipment, dressing the new demon.

Within minutes, the demon looked like any other Dread-rank warrior in Pho's service.

"How many can you create in a day?" Jack asked, his flat voice carrying across the chamber.

"Depends on the available materials," Loryn replied. "With full resources? Thirty, maybe forty Dread-rank demons. But the process isn't just about quantity. It's about quality. Each one must be perfect, or it's worthless."

He gestured, and the newly created demon rose and walked toward an exit, following a slave who would guide it to wherever new demons were assigned.

"Every demon I create shares a bond with me," Loryn continued, turning to face Jack fully. "It's not just loyalty or programming. It's something deeper. They feel my presence, my condition, my state of being."

His skeletal fingers moved to his belt, where a small knife hung in a leather sheath. He drew it slowly, the blade catching the light from the magic circles.

"Let me demonstrate."

Before Jack could respond, Loryn drew the blade across his own forearm. The cut was deep and blood immediately began flowing from the wound in a steady stream.

Throughout the factory, demons reacted.

Jack heard it first, a change in the ambient sound.

Footsteps, suddenly urgent, moving toward this chamber from multiple directions.

Then voices, calling out in concern that bordered on panic.

Within seconds, a dozen demons had entered the creation chamber, all of them moving toward Loryn with visible distress on their faces.

They didn't attack or threaten. They simply needed to see their creator, to confirm he was alive despite feeling his pain through whatever mystical bond connected them.

"I'm fine," Loryn said, his voice carrying to all of them. "A demonstration. Return to your duties."

The demons hesitated, their eyes locked on the bleeding wound. But when Loryn repeated the command, they obeyed, filing out of the chamber with obvious reluctance.

Loryn wrapped his arm in cloth, stanching the blood flow with practiced ease.

"You see? It's better than any normal demon. My children feel when I'm harmed. They come immediately, driven by instinct stronger than fear or reason. Anyone who kills me would face an army of demons who'd tear them apart without hesitation."

He looked at Jack, his hollow eyes gleaming.

"Which is why this factory needs minimal security. The demons themselves are the security."

'That complicates things,' Jack thought, watching Loryn finish bandaging his arm. 'Can't just kill him anywhere. The created demons would swarm whoever did it. Need to either separate him from them completely or find a way to sever the connection first. But that's easier said than done.'

"You mentioned an experiment," Jack said, changing the subject. "Something designed to hunt the yellow-eyed demon. Is it here?"

Loryn's expression shifted, pride mixing with frustration.

"Ah, yes. My masterpiece. Or it will be, once I finalize the last few complications."

He started walking toward another section of the chamber, gesturing for Jack to follow.

"The demons you've seen created today are soldiers. But they're designed for standard duties. The experiment is something different. Something designed specifically to kill Nightmare-rank threats, maybe even low Disaster-rank if my calculations are correct."

They reached a stairwell that descended deeper into the facility, past even the collection levels Jack had seen earlier.

"It uses a dark orb binding system," Loryn explained as they descended. "I plant a marker on a target, usually a small crystalline fragment attached to their clothing or equipment. Once the marker is in place, I release the experiment. It hunts until the target is dead or the marker is physically removed and destroyed."

"And it can kill the yellow-eyed demon?" Jack asked.

"If he's what we think he is? Absolutely. The experiment has overwhelming physical power, regenerative capabilities beyond normal demons, and resistance to most common magic types. It won't stop, won't tire and it will not give up until its target is eliminated."

They'd descended far enough that the sounds from above had faded completely.

This deep, there was only silence and the occasional drip of water from somewhere in the darkness.

"So when do I see it?" Jack asked.

Loryn stopped at a massive door reinforced with more metal than ice.

His skeletal fingers traced the runes carved into its surface, and his expression carried a mixture of pride and genuine concern.

"Not yet. It's... unstable. Three demons died during the last test when it broke through its primary restraints. We managed to get it back into containment, but barely."

He looked at Jack, his hollow eyes carrying an admission of vulnerability.

"Until I finalize the control mechanisms, it stays down here. For everyone's safety, including mine. The damn thing nearly tore through reinforced walls last week. Its power exceeds even my most optimistic projections."

'But when it's complete,' Loryn thought, not saying the words aloud, 'Pho won't be the only power on Floor 24. With the experiment under my control, with an army of loyal demons, with someone like Jakar serving me... everything changes.'

"Master Pho gave me a deadline," Loryn continued, starting back up the stairwell. "Two, maybe three days to finish the control system. He was quite clear about the consequences of failure. Something about becoming a statue in his garden."

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