"...Where...where am I? What's going on? The last Dragon-Human...what does that mean?" Keal took a step back, his eyes filled with panic.
"Lyra... Sann... where is everyone...? No... this... this isn't right..." Keal began to breathe rapidly, his head buzzing. Cold sweat ran down his forehead.
Images flashed through his mind: the cold laboratory, wires plugged into his body, Lyra's tear-filled eyes, Sann's shattered face... each frame hitting his consciousness like a cutting knife.
He knelt down in the darkness, his hands on the ground, his whole body trembling.
"No way... what... what have they done to me...?"
His breath caught, Keal could barely utter the words. The space around him swayed. The darkness pressed in, as if trying to suffocate his consciousness once more.
Ahead, the Dragon still watched, its gaze not angry, but as if waiting.
"Keal... I know what you have just experienced."
The Dragon's voice deepened, no longer roaring as when it called his name, but with the calmness of a god who had seen the very depths of humanity repeat its mistakes.
"I am Dun. The Supreme Dragon God of this world. And I have come here... to offer you a proposition."
The dark space instantly changed. Behind Dun, patches of brilliant golden light like the sun began to tear through the darkness. With each of his breaths, the air vibrated. The black scales on his body reflected like crystals, his divine power spreading like a tidal wave, forcing the very space to tremble.
A being that could make the stars themselves bow.
Keal narrowed his eyes as the light shone. But instead of being overwhelmed, he gritted his teeth.
He stood up, his hands clenched, his eyes burning red like the fire suppressed in his heart had erupted.
"You are... a god?" His voice hissed through his teeth.
"Are you the one who created this damned bloodline?"
"Then why... why couldn't I save them!?"
"Lyra... Sann... everyone!!!" Keal screamed. The sound tore through the darkness.
"And where were you... where were you when they needed saving!? Why didn't you intervene!?"
"You're a god, aren't you!! Why did you let them all die like that!?"
He roared, pounding his fists against his chest, his head, his heart, as if trying to tear away the thing called "dragon blood" that was burning within him every hour. He didn't want to hear. Didn't want to understand. He just wanted to go back, but everything was shattered.
Before him, Dun remained still. Silent. Not explaining. Not angry either.
His gaze only deepened slightly.
"I cannot interfere in your world... I have my reasons."
Dun's voice was deep, not justifying, not hiding anything.
"But you, Keal... you are my sole and final descendant on this planet."
"Help me save this world from destruction... and I promise..."
"I will bring Sann back to you."
The space froze. Keal's eyes widened. He didn't ask again. Didn't move. Didn't breathe. As if his entire body had just been frozen by that one name.
"That is my offer. And it benefits us both."
"You will be my representative in this world, Keal. All you need to do is agree."
Keal took a long breath. His face wasn't angry, but turned cold, very cold.
"...I don't want to save this world," he said slowly.
"I don't need anyone... except the people in my village. And my brother."
"As for the others, I don't care."
Dun still looked at him, without reacting. But above, the Nova system began to vibrate slightly. Synchronization data displayed:
"Nova Synchronization: 85%."
The darkness around Keal began to crack. Simulated light flooded in, as if his mind was about to be pulled back to reality.
Time was running out.
"Keal, you have no choice."
Dun's voice was sharper this time. No more patience. No more delay.
"Feel fortunate that I am here, at this very moment."
"In just a few more minutes... that technology will reset you to zero."
"You will no longer be yourself. You will not remember Lyra. You will not know who Sann is."
"You... will only be a tool. A biological weapon in their hands."
Dun took a step forward. Each of his footsteps made the ground of Keal's mind crack like glass.
"You understand now, don't you, Keal? Just agree with me... and everything will be different."
"You will be able to control the Dragon Force. The Metamorphosis. The blood that flows within you."
"You have always carried it. But you have never dared to use it."
"You are afraid of it... aren't you?"
Keal stood still. His eyes trembled. His mouth opened slightly. But no words came out.
Nova: [Uploading – 95%]
Cold sweat broke out on Keal's forehead. His hands clenched into fists. His chest heaved. He swallowed hard, his eyes fixed on Dun, his gaze a mixture of fear, doubt, and anger.
Dun didn't step closer. He stopped. His two dragon wings spread out slightly, light reflecting off their black, diamond-like scales. His gaze was no longer forceful, but the gaze of a being who had witnessed thousands of years of blood and destruction, and now... only had one final gamble left.
"Choose, Keal."
The space around them began to shrink. A few beams of light from Nova pierced through the darkness. Keal's face reflected the emotionless command lines that were running. His breath was ragged.
Only a few seconds left before Keal disintegrated from himself.
"From the beginning, you never had another choice..."
"And the time to understand what's happening – has also run out."
Dun stood amidst the crumbling darkness. The dragon scales on his body reflected data from Nova like a cosmic mirror. His eyes were like two chained suns, just waiting to burst into flames when the door was opened.
Keal took a deep breath. His eyes closed for a fleeting moment.
He frowned, then opened his eyes and looked straight at Dun:
"...I never had a choice here in the first place."
"But if..." Keal's voice choked.
"If accepting that condition... can bring my brother back..."
Dun leaned forward slightly. His eyes lit up, the gaze of someone who had waited a thousand years for those words to be spoken.
"Good...!!! Very good!!!"
"From now on, Keal... you officially belong to me."
At that very moment, Keal froze. His eyes twitched slightly, looking at Dun with sudden suspicion.
"Belong... to... you...?"
He didn't say it out loud. But the thought echoed in his head like a piercing needle.
Nova – [Uploading: 99%]
All the darkness shattered. Data flooded the space. Consciousness was pulled back like a string being yanked to its origin. But in the final blinding white light, Dun still stood there, his gaze as if touching Keal's very soul, intense and absolute.
In the instant Keal finished speaking, everything around him suddenly stopped as if time had frozen.
No more movement. No more echoes. No more data. Only Dun's gaze, looking at him as if piercing through every layer of consciousness, emotion, and ego.
Then all the darkness began to dissolve. Not breaking, but dissolving like smoke. And Dun dissolved with it.
But not disappearing.
He... was entering him.
A stream of ink-black light merged into Keal's body, seeping into every blood vessel, every muscle fiber. He staggered, collapsing to his knees. His heart pounded wildly. His bones burned as if being melted from within.
Outside, in the reality of the laboratory:
Nova System: [99%]… [99%]… [99%]… ERROR – unstable data.
Signal temporarily interrupted.
Re-synchronizing…
Then suddenly, the Nova screen became heavily distorted. Command lines flickered continuously, the % progress went haywire, dropping rapidly to 92%… 76%… 43%… 17%…
"What's going on!?"
"We're being... hacked!? How can this be—"
One of the scientists shouted, panicking as he looked at the new lines that had appeared:
[OVERWRITING SYSTEM DATA…]
[SUBJECT RECEIVING EXTERNAL RESOURCE…]
"Stop it! Stop the process immediately!!"
Everyone rushed to the control panel, trying to cut off the circuit, but it was too late.
On the central screen, a new icon appeared: a black dragon's head baring its fangs, its eyes glowing like lava.
[Nova: Overwritten]
[New System Source Established: DUN CORE – DRAGON CLAN DEFINITIVE]