Sky City City, the ancient sacrificial ground.
A full moon hung high in the sky. At the center of the sacrificial ground, the black chains had grown increasingly solid. What had been illusory shadows a few days ago had become semi-corporeal. Black mist slowly drifted around the chains, and a king who had been sleeping here was about to awaken.
Meanwhile, in a dark alley in the Lower City, a richly dressed young man with mud smeared on his body and face walked along in a daze. Even when the ferocious eyes hidden in the darkness fixed upon him, he remained completely unaware.
The young man, in his twenties, was named Agye. He had been born into a wealthy merchant family that dealt in luxury furs. Sky City lay west of the "Dark Marsh Forest," less than fifty kilometers from the largest forest on the Sorcerer Continent. Three towns with populations exceeding one hundred thousand lay along the route, making it even more convenient for Sky City to enjoy the "Dark Marsh Forest," this treasure trove of natural resources.
Agye's family was responsible for purchasing and processing high-grade furs, then transporting them over three hundred kilometers to "Eternal Winter City," where they sold them to the nobles and royalty of the Iceborn.
The reputation accumulated by the family over generations, along with quality far surpassing that of their competitors, made their luxury furs highly valued by Iceborn nobles and royalty. When Agye was sixteen, he began accompanying his father between Sky City and Eternal Winter City.
At Agye's age, he naturally had no interest in the family business. The reason he was willing to travel back and forth between the two cities was that he could see his Iceborn fiancée, Mo, in Eternal Winter City.
It had originally been an