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Seventeen-year-old Truth Medici scavenges for scraps to eat; weathers his parents' abuse; and battles derelicts, killer pimps, and demons in the soul-crushing stretch of desperation he calls home. Even the cops steer clear of the toxic Harban slums. But just across the canal live the magical elite, with their wealth, flying carpets, gorgeous mages, and custom spell beasts, all thanks to the patronage of the almighty Starbrite Corporation. Getting there, and taking his three vulnerable siblings with him, is Truth's only dream.

He should have died in the womb. Or when his family was murdered. Or when the house burned down around him. Or when he woke up in the dump sick and missing fingers. Even the magic ring with a ghostly grandpa trapped inside it was sabotaged. A reasonable person would roll over and die. Tian isn't that reasonable. And as it happens, neither is Grandpa Jun. In a world where immortality can be cultivated and miracles forged, a broken boy will defy the heavens and soar.

Truth knows everything about the mind-controlling Starbrite. Well, everything except for who it is, where it comes from, and where it is right now. Without anything to identify his world's creator, the question remains: Can he actually kill the malignant entity believed to have the lifespan of the stars themselves? Somewhere, high above the calamity it's caused, Starbrite still reigns. Unseeable and enigmatic, it touches the world through the minds of its slaves.

If Truth Medici has learned anything, it’s that the country isn’t neatly divided into safe and dangerous zones. Everywhere is a battlefield and a hunting ground. Everyone is both predator and prey, slumrats on the run from bigger rats. Truth is finally one of the bigger rats, so elite that ordinary people can’t even see him. But though he may be a walking ghost, he’ll be acknowledged one way or another. Truth holds the power to slay the very oppressors who made him what he is. And he’s resolved to wield this power toward a righteous end.

Truth Medici has three questions: Can he rescue his siblings from the clutches of the evil Starbrite Corporation? What will it require of him? And where does he need to go next to make it happen? When he meets Justinian Merkovah—a strangely ageless spellcaster, teacher of religious law, and nomadic exorcist—he's one step closer to discovering the answers. With his experience providing security to the rich and terrible, Truth accepts a gig as Merkovah's bodyguard. What better way for Truth to grow as a mage?

Truth Medici knows life isn't fair. But for the first time, the balance is in his favor. Cultivation has taken him from desperate slumrat to burglar to mercenary to bodyguard to terrorist, and now he's the revered prince of a kingdom to come—immortal heir to a dynasty hidden for millennia. Pampered by succubae, demons, and sprites, Truth is more than ready to embody the might of his ancestors, who've prospered in secret for centuries. With an aura that reeks of power, he'll make his presence known. His word and will are law.

When it comes to instigating an apocalypse, it's been a promising start for Truth Medici. But to really get things rolling, he has a monumental undertaking ahead of him: break the systems that keep the immortal Starbrite alive and finally shatter the source of his power. Invisible and impervious to magic, Truth is the one man capable of decapitating the mastermind behind the wicked system controlling his world.