"Come here, you son of a bitch. Don't you dare control my mother."
The words fell like hammer blows in the forgotten corridors of the temple.
It was more than a threat.
It was a divine declaration.
The air around them vibrated with silent fury. Tiamat and Ouroboros felt it immediately—the call of the bloodline, the echo of the first Dragon. Scarlet froze for a second, watching Strax as if she saw something that was no longer just Strax.
His aura was different now.
Distorted.
Greater.
Older.
Scathach tried to react, but her sword... hesitated. The blade trembled in her hand as if it recognized the blood of the one who now faced her.
"You're in there," Strax said, his eyes fixed on hers. "I know you are. You don't know me. But I know you. I know the feeling of you. I am your son."
His voice faltered. Just for a second. A thread of emotion tore through the shield of fury that surrounded him.
