[Tyson's P.O.V.]
The attack begins today.
The Dragon Prince's Affinity Ceremony—where all the big shots of the supernatural world gather in their glittering robes, drinking spiced wine and clapping politely. Perfect. A nest of fragile egos and inflated pride waiting to be punctured.
My army of a thousand demons stood behind me—fangs out, claws raised, red eyes glinting like coals in the dark.
"Go," I whispered, voice thick with venom. "Paint their gold red."
They roared and surged forward, a black tide crashing into the golden castle gates.
I didn't follow them. No—I had a reputation to maintain.
If you want to drive the knife deep, you don't swing it—you slip it in when they're laughing.And nothing gets you closer than trust.
[Demon Realm | 16's P.O.V.]
"Graaahh!" I groaned, dragging each breath like it weighed ten pounds.
I'd been injected eleven times with Soul Venom—had my skin torn by wild dogs, shocked until my bones hummed, and yet I was still alive. Still here.
Unfortunately.
The cell was quiet now—too quiet. My limbs twitched against the cold stone floor, muscles on fire. And yet, beneath the pain, there was something else.
A presence.Like something ancient curling in my chest.Something... watching.
Just then, the door creaked open.
Lucinda entered.
Her black dress flowed like shadowed smoke, eyes sharper than broken glass. She took one look at me—half-dead and twitching on the floor—and barely blinked.
"We leave for the Twin Realm. Now," she ordered coldly, turning on her heel.
I wanted to shout, "Wait, you forgot your emotional support venom!" but before I could say anything, a violent pulse ripped through my head.
My knees buckled.
The world shattered like broken mirrors. I wasn't in the room anymore—I was somewhere else. A golden castle. Screams. Demons pouring in. Panic. Death. A blood-soaked vision dragging me toward it like a riptide.
Then—darkness.
Pain yanked me back to the present.
"Hey, chump!" someone barked beside me, their voice grating like sandpaper. "Up! Get your lazy butt on the train!"
Lazy? Bro, I literally got half-murdered and you're calling it lazy?
I didn't have the energy to argue. The guard grabbed my arm and dragged me across the corridor toward the train, my thoughts a storm of confusion, fury, and that pull—that whisper—to go to that castle. To find it.
To burn it.
[Train Cell | 16's Inner Turmoil]
They threw me into a steel box thicker than castle walls. No windows. No light. Just me, the dark, and a hundred unanswered questions.
I curled into myself.
But my body didn't rest.It heated.Glowed.
A golden light flickered at my fingertips, then flared, pulsing with something ancient and hungry.
[Nightmare Vision]
Flames. Black fire.
The world burned, a hellscape of screaming souls and molten shadows. The sky cracked above, and from it descended a creature too massive for sanity.
It was... me. But not me.
Its purple and gold eyes burned with fury and grief, its roar split the heavens and knelt the world.
Everyone bowed—even the air seemed to pray for mercy.
It looked right at me.
Lifted me off the ground, closer to its razor-lined jaw—
I screamed and jolted awake.
Sweat dripped from every pore. My heart slammed in my chest like a war drum. I checked my arms, legs, face—still intact. Still alive.
"Run," a voice whispered in my head.
Soft. Urgent. Familiar.
I stood, adrenaline pumping. I turned to the thick steel door and kicked.
BOOM.
A dent. My footprint etched in.
I kicked again.Deeper.
One final strike—
The door blasted off, flying into the desert like a cannonball.
I stood in the doorway, warm wind licking my skin, the scent of blood magic finally gone.
And I laughed. Actually laughed.
Not because I was free. But because I was finally real.
I stepped out of the train. Wobbled like a newborn deer, then stood tall, balancing myself on sand and sunlight.
And I ran.
Faster than my thoughts.
Faster than their lies.
Behind me, a shriek tore through the sky.The demon on top of the train had spotted me—sounded the alarm.
So much for a peaceful exit.
I felt a sting in my neck.My seal glowed red.
I stopped, turned—
Lucinda stood atop the train.
Her hair was loose—flowing like black flames. Her eyes boiled with rage.
She lifted her hand.
I felt the pull. The leash. That invisible command to obey.
I dug my heels into the sand. "Not this time."
But a wave of red mist crashed into me like a hurricane. I hit the ground hard, choking.
And that's when something inside me snapped.
Not broke.Snapped free.
Golden light tore out of my chest, so blinding it swallowed the sky. The mist reversed, slamming into Lucinda and flinging her back.
I rose. Slowly.
My feet hovered inches off the ground.
[Narration]
He floated—suspended mid-air.
His cloak billowed around him, gold embers dancing like spirits at his feet. His eyes, hidden beneath the shadow of his brow, now blazed with blinding golden fire.
The skies above blackened.
Clouds twisted.
A pillar of golden light tore through the heavens, bathing him in divine radiance.
The ground trembled.
Across the Nine Realms, something awoke.
He raised his hand.
The earth split.Cracks laced the landscape like spiderwebs, reaching across realms, swallowing entire structures.
The train behind him buckled. Screamed.
Lucinda and her soldiers tried to jump—escape.
But golden chains erupted from the ground, binding them to the train like cursed vines. The harder they struggled, the tighter the light coiled.
Then came the blast—a golden explosion of raw, divine energy.
It spread like a storm of judgment, sweeping across desert, mountain, ocean, forest—realm after realm—wiping every demon from existence.
Silence followed.
The air smelled of lightning and scorched sin.
And at the center of it all… floated the boy they once tried to break.
He was no longer a servant.No longer a prisoner.
He was something else now.
He was the harbinger of light.The wrath of the divine.The prince of impossible power—Awakened.