This time, the darkness was different.
It was not a white void…
but a suffocating warmth, pressing against him from all sides, accompanied by a deep pulse—like the distant beating of war drums.
He felt something moving inside him.
A pulse…
then another.
"Is this… my body?"
Suddenly—
An explosion of pain.
The shell around him tore apart, and scorching air flooded in, thick with the smell of sulfur and blood.
A thunderous cry burst forth—but it was not a human scream.
It was a roar.
A short, instinctive roar that shook the walls of the cave.
He opened his eyes.
And the first thing he saw was—
Color.
Dark purple.
Not a light violet, but a deep shade, as if forged from night and curse combined.
His eyes…
They were not human eyes.
They were dragon eyes—vertical, glowing with a dark violet light, carrying an awareness that should not exist in a newborn.
He moved.
He felt his body.
Black scales tinged with deep purple covered his small form…
though "small" was hardly the right word.
He was far larger than any naturally born dragon hatchling.
His claws were longer.
His tail heavier.
And his bones… unnaturally solid.
Before he could fully comprehend his situation—
A deep, rough voice filled with dominance pierced the cave.
"So… this is the first one?"
He raised his head with difficulty.
And he saw them.
The parents.
On the left side of the cave stood a massive black dragon, its scales dark as a moonless night, its eyes red like coagulated blood.
Its mere presence was enough to crush any weak creature.
On the right…
A red dragoness, her body like a moving volcano, scales the color of frozen flame, her breath escaping as scorching smoke.
There was no warmth in their eyes.
No affection.
No tenderness.
Only evaluation.
As if they were looking at a weapon.
The hatchling dragon—the protagonist—felt that instantly.
"Cruel…"
"Exactly as I expected."
The second egg moved.
It cracked open.
A small red dragon emerged—smaller in size, its scales shining, its roar relatively weak.
Then the third.
Blue, with eyes the color of the sea, its body slimmer.
Then the fourth.
Black, but pale—lacking the depth carried by his own body.
And finally…
Green, emerald scales, eyes cunning from the very first moment.
Five.
Five siblings.
And he was…
The largest.
Not only by birth order.
But by size.
By presence.
And by something deeper.
Energy.
The moment he tried to stand—
A magical wave erupted.
The air inside the cave trembled.
The scales on his body released a dark purple glow.
The ground cracked beneath him.
The younger siblings froze in place.
Even the two adult dragons stared at him.
"Magical energy…"
the black dragon said in a low voice.
"Unnatural."
It was not chaotic energy.
It was dense, profound, heavy—as if sleeping within a bottomless sea.
At the same time…
A terrifying physical structure.
His muscles—despite his newborn state—were taut and compact.
His bones radiated a sense of raw power.
"This is no ordinary hatchling,"
the red dragoness said coldly.
"We'll see if he deserves to survive."
Something tightened within him.
The word survive was not metaphorical.
In this world…
Even dragon offspring, if weak, are left to die.
Yet he felt no fear.
Instead—something else.
Exhilaration.
"So… this is the beginning."
"A merciless world."
"Perfect."
His siblings instinctively crawled toward their mother.
As for him…
He lifted his head.
And fixed his dark violet gaze on his father—the black dragon.
It was not an open challenge.
But it was not submission either.
For a brief moment—
The cave fell silent.
The black dragon stared at him for a long time…
Then smiled—a smile devoid of mercy.
"If he lives…"
"He will be a monster."
And deep within him, inside that new body, amid the energy that had begun to flow slowly…
The first truth took shape:
He was no longer human.
And he would never be weak again.