Alpha awoke, his hands shackled with chains suspended in the air. His knees were on the ground. Everything around him was white. Cubes floated midair all around.
The first thing he noticed were figures standing before him, each with their face covered by white bandages, in the middle of which was a single, blood-red eye.
He tried to move his head but couldn't. The chains held him tightly, immobile.
One of the figures pointed to another, who stepped forward and wrapped white bands tightly around Alpha's wrists over the chains.
Alpha tried to speak, but his voice was weak.
A dry voice said,
"You are here because you crossed the line."
Silence fell again, all eyes fixed on Alpha.
The floating cubes started moving rapidly, surrounding him from every side, restraining his every movement.
He felt pressure pressing down on him from all directions.
On a screen in front of him, images of him fighting appeared, marked with red symbols.
The figure spoke again:
"You will remain here under surveillance. Any attempt to escape will have dire consequences."
Alpha had no choice but to stay where he was—trapped, thinking of how to free himself.
Someone approached him sharply:
"These bandages on your hands suppress your energy. They are the cause of the chaos happening around us."
Alpha looked at him with indifference.
"Who are you?"
The man smiled confidently:
"We are the ones who will change this world—and destroy it if necessary."
Alpha glanced at the bandages on his hands thoughtfully.
"If they block my energy, then that means you fear me."
The man who restrained him smiled knowingly:
"We fear your power, but we also know how to restrain it."
Another stepped forward:
"Don't try to fool us or play games. We're here to impose order."
Alpha replied quietly,
"You're trying to control something far greater than yourselves."
The first man shouted:
"We decide who lives and who dies. There is no place for those who oppose us."
The men stood firmly around Alpha, showing no hesitation.
One spoke firmly:
"We will keep you shackled until your power fades—until you are no longer a threat to us or the world."
Alpha looked down at the chains binding his hands, then at the bandages covering them, and said,
"These restraints won't stop me from rising. You will pay for this."
He tried to move his hands, but the chains were too tight—no escape.
The second man asked,
"Tell us, where does your power come from? How can we stop it forever?"
Alpha answered in a low voice,
"My power isn't just from this world. You control some things here, but there's more beyond your reach."
The cubes of light in the sky grew stronger around them; the atmosphere thickened with invisible tension.
Alpha said, threatening,
"This won't last long. I'm coming."
Suddenly, Alpha took a heavy blow to the face, forcing him back slightly.
The attacker growled angrily,
"Do you think we're here to play with you?"
Before he could continue, another man intervened firmly:
"Stop! Don't kill him. Whoever kills him will be killed by the leader."
Everyone fell silent for a moment, their gazes a mix of caution and tension.
Alpha looked around at the men, then said quietly,
"Who is this leader? What do you want?"
A man who seemed to be the leader's deputy spoke due to the silence and deep sigh,
"We're here to destroy your world. Do you think there's any other reason?"
He laughed coldly,
"Hahaha…"
Alpha lowered his head, voice dripping with cold sarcasm:
"Is your ambition here with you?"
One replied with arrogant mockery,
"And what if it is?"
Alpha slowly lifted his eyes, a sharp gleam like a sword flickering within them, and smiled coldly:
"Do you think you can defeat it with your pitiful level?"
Then, as if whispering to the world around him, he added,
"That's fine…"
He raised his hand slowly, his words echoing in their minds like a ghostly chant:
"The Second Form."
Suddenly, the opponent before him recoiled, feeling a sharp murderous intent pierce his body, like blades of pure energy.
At that moment, the ancient black chains binding Alpha for thousands of years shattered, scattering into the air like dust from a forgotten age.
With them, the inscribed bands on his wrists—the symbols that had always restrained him—slowly faded away.
In deadly silence, Alpha's skin whitened until it resembled marble. A pale silver crescent moon appeared on his forehead, glowing softly—a symbol of an ancient era returned for vengeance.
He spoke in a sharper tone:
"The Second Form."
Pressure intensified on the attackers, the ground trembling beneath their feet.
The air grew heavy. The walls began to crack. Stillness exploded into terror.
Alpha shouted,
"Come... let's destroy this place!"
He focused all his energy between his hands, gathering it into a breathing sphere of light that grew and screamed.
Then, his voice carried pain and resolve:
"Though I may lose my memories sometimes... and half my power...
It doesn't matter. What matters is that I save this world...
Save my kind...
And save all the dragons!"
And in a moment,
Boom!!
The entire place exploded in a white flash, silencing every sound, every scream.
All that remained was ash—and the gleam of the moon on his forehead.
In the aftermath of the great explosion...
Everything quieted.
No sound.
No movement.
Just scattered ashes, and fragments of a mysterious battle's memory.
Then...
Alpha appeared, falling from the sky, his body collapsing like a burning feather, swaying through the void.
Half of his body, specifically the left side where the old tattoo stretched, was charred a dark red, emitting hot steam.
The burn spread like a cursed scar, carving a path from his shoulder to his neck and part of his face, as if a divine punishment or ancient seal was replaying itself.
His eyes were closed, his body still, and the tattoo pulsed slowly... like a second dying heart.
Far away, inside a secluded room in a distant isolated world, a man stood wrapped in bandages, nothing visible on his face except two red eyes drawn on the cloth.
His voice was deep, filled with sorrow and certainty:
"My lord... where do you think he will fall?"
He paused, as if hearing a sound no one else could, then continued:
"We do not know... but his chance of survival, or reaching any of the realms...
Is only 0.00000001%."
Silence reigned...
Then...