He raised one hand, and the gesture somehow commanded silence despite the chaos.

The shouting died down.

The confused orders stopped.

Even the slaves who'd been trying to use the confusion to rest or escape froze in place.

Jack's flat voice carried across the pit with surprising volume, reaching every corner of the massive space.

"My name is Jakar," he announced, his tone carrying absolute authority despite its emotionless quality. "I am the new demon in charge of the pits."

Silence.

Complete, total silence as thousands of demons processed what they'd just heard.

"Kragoth is dead," Jack continued. "Master Pho has appointed me as his replacement. The slave pits, all of it now falls under my authority."

A guard near the front opened his mouth as if to question this, to demand proof or verification.

But something in Jack's posture, in those glowing red eyes, in the way he stood on that platform like he owned not just the space but everyone in it, made the demon close his mouth without speaking.

"Change is coming," Jack said, his voice somehow growing more intense despite remaining flat. "New management means new expectations. New consequences for those who fail to meet them."

His red eyes scanned the crowd, and every demon they passed over felt the weight of that gaze.

"I don't care what you were before this moment," Jack continued. "Slave, guard, overseer…. those distinctions matter less than your willingness to follow orders without question. Those who serve effectively will be rewarded. Those who resist will learn why Master Pho chose me to replace a demon who'd held this position for decades."

The Blood Frenzy state made his presence feel more dangerous than it should.

The red glow of his eyes, the way he seemed to vibrate with barely contained power, the aura of violence that surrounded him.

All of it combined to create an impression of someone who could and would back up every threat with devastating action.

"The fortress is under new management," Jack said, and those words carried implications that went far beyond the slave pits. "Adjust accordingly. Work will continue. Production will increase. And anyone who thinks the chaos in the fortress means they can slack off or escape will discover exactly how much worse things can get."

He let the silence stretch, let the threat sink in. But they couldn't yet comprehend what was happening.

The guards shifted uncomfortably, hands tightening on weapons they knew would be useless if this demon decided to make an example of someone.

The overseers looked at each other, silently questioning whether to accept this change or risk challenging it.

And the slaves, the thousands upon thousands of broken, exhausted demons who'd long since given up hope of anything better, simply stared with hollow eyes that had seen too many overseers come and go to believe anything would truly change.

But something was different about this one.

The way his presence seemed to fill the entire massive space despite being just one demon on an elevated platform.

This wasn't just another brutal overseer.

This was something else.

Something more dangerous.

Something that made even the guards, demons who'd spent years terrorizing slaves without consequence, look uncertain about their own safety.

Among the crowd of slaves near the front, pressed against the barrier that separated workers from guards, stood a demon whose small eyes had gone wide with confusion.

He'd been here when the thunder started, working his shift, trying to survive another day in the endless grind of pit labor.

The chaos had given him a moment's rest, a brief respite from the backbreaking work that defined his existence.

And then this demon, this "Jakar," had appeared on Kragoth's platform like he owned the place.

But Tarvek knew better.

He'd seen those eyes before.

Not red like they were now, but yellow.

Brilliant, unmistakable yellow that had burned into his memory during that terrifying encounter a week ago.

The yellow-eyed demon.

The monster that Loryn had been searching for.

The creature that had made guards disappear without a trace. The predator that had stared into Tarvek's soul and then simply... vanished.

That demon was now standing on the overseer's platform, announcing himself as the new authority over the slave pits.

'What... what is happening?' Tarvek's thoughts raced, his mind trying to reconcile the impossible.

'The yellow-eyed demon is taking over? But his eyes are red now. But the voice is the same. The presence is the same. That's him. That's definitely him.'

Fear warred with confusion in Tarvek's chest. Part of him wanted to flee, to get as far away from this monster as possible before those eyes found him again.

But another part, a smaller, more desperate part, wondered if this change might somehow be better than Kragoth's brutal regime.

'He killed the guards who were abusing their power,' Tarvek thought, remembering the demons who'd disappeared. 'The ones who were cruel. Maybe... maybe this won't be worse?'

But even as the hope tried to form, reality crushed it.

This was a demon who'd killed several guards without leaving evidence.

Who'd stared at Tarvek like he was prey.

Who now stood on that platform radiating power that made even the guards look nervous.

Whatever was coming, it wouldn't be better. It would just be different.

Possibly more dangerous.

Definitely more unpredictable.

Tarvek's eyes remained fixed on the platform, on the demon who called himself Jakar, a monster who'd somehow convinced Pho to give him control of the slave operation in the fortress.

'What mayhem is coming now?' Tarvek wondered, his body trembling despite his best efforts to stay still and unnoticed. 'What kind of chaos has that thing brought with it?'

Around him, other slaves whispered nervously.

Some had heard rumors about a yellow-eyed demon hunting in the fortress.

Others knew nothing except that Kragoth was dead and this new overseer looked far more dangerous than his predecessor.

All of them shared the same basic fear, that whatever came next would be worse than what they'd endured before.

Because it always was.

New overseers meant new rules.

New punishments.

New ways to suffer.

The particulars changed, but the reality of the pit never did. Work until you collapsed.

Get beaten if you complained. Die if you couldn't keep up.

And then, as if sensing Tarvek's thoughts, Jack's red eyes moved across the crowd.

Scanning. Searching.

And locked directly onto Tarvek.

The slave froze completely, every muscle in his body going rigid as those glowing red eyes found him in the crowd of thousands.

The same eyes that had been yellow before. The same predator's gaze that had stripped away every defense and stared into his soul.

Jack stared at Tarvek.

Five seconds.

Ten seconds.

The entire pit seemed to hold its breath, thousands of demons watching this silent exchange between the new overseer and a single slave who looked like he'd been caught doing something forbidden.

Tarvek couldn't move.

He couldn't breathe.

He couldn't think beyond the certainty that those eyes saw everything and were judging him in ways he couldn't begin to understand.

And in that moment, Tarvek understood with absolute clarity that whatever was coming next, whatever changes this "Jakar" brought to the pits, his own life would never be the same.

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