For a long time, no one spoke.
The only sound in the Bulldogs' den was the groaning of the wounded and the faint hum of flickering lamps. Dust drifted through the air like smoke over a battlefield.
Bia stood at the center of it all — calm, radiant, untouchable.
Drex still knelt before her, blood drying on his lip, pride crumbling under the weight of something he didn't yet understand.
His five commanders stood behind him, heads lowered.
When she finally spoke, her voice carried the weight of inevitability.
"From this day forward," she said, "the Bulldogs are mine."
Her tone wasn't raised — it didn't need to be.
Her words pressed down on them, heavy as gravity itself.
"If any of you think otherwise…" She raised her eyes, golden light glinting faintly beneath her lashes. "Stand. And I'll erase your doubt along with your breath."
The silence that followed was absolute.
Then — like a chain reaction — Drex bowed deeper, one fist pressed to the ground.
Ty followed. Then Kai, Drae, Vin, Luka — and finally, one by one, every surviving Bulldog in the room lowered themselves until the entire garage bowed before her.
Nine hundred men on their knees.
Drex's voice trembled as he spoke.
"Commander… Bia."
A faint smile crossed her lips.
"Good. Then rise — Bulldogs no longer. You are Kogane Dragons now."
The name rolled through the slums that night like a storm front — whispered in alleys, shouted in fights, etched onto walls by trembling hands.
The age of the Kogane Dragons had begun.
Four days passed.
Four days of hell.
Bia woke them before sunrise and left them broken after midnight. The streets became her training ground, the slums her forge.
She made them sprint through mud, climb broken scaffolds with bleeding hands, and fight bare-knuckled until their muscles screamed.
They cursed her, at first — hated her. But by the third day, hatred had turned to awe.
She fought alongside them, every day, never tiring. Every blow they landed, she blocked without flinching. Every strike she returned was measured — brutal enough to teach, merciful enough to spare.
And she never yelled. She didn't need to. Her eyes did the talking.
The Division Commanders endured the worst.
Kai "Blaze" lost his arrogance when she made him throw ten thousand punches in succession — and then start again because his form was off.
Drae "Ratchet" learned patience after she forced him to disassemble and rebuild his own weapons blindfolded.
Vin "Echo" learned humility when she outpaced him — not by speed, but by sheer control.
Luka "Viper" learned fear when his poisons couldn't even irritate her skin.
And Ty "Steel" Graven… learned respect. Quiet, unbreakable respect.
Drex endured it all in silence. He never complained. His hands bled from pushups done on broken glass. His ribs cracked more than once.
And every night, he stood before her and bowed — deeper each time.
By the fourth evening, they no longer feared her.
They revered her.
On the fifth day, when the rest of the gang was sent out to patrol the slums, only three remained in the warehouse — Bia, Drex, and Ty.
The air was heavy with silence, the floor still scarred from training. Bia stood with her back to them, arms folded, the fading sun outlining her figure in gold.
Drex broke the silence. "You've made us stronger," he said. "Stronger than we've ever been. But…" He hesitated. "Who are you really, Bia?"
She turned slowly, her expression unreadable. When she spoke, her words were calm — but they seemed to bend the world around them.
"You've earned the truth," she said. "I am Bia — Goddess of Force and Strength."
Ty blinked, uncertain whether to laugh or fall to his knees. Drex only stared, jaw tight, the disbelief flickering in his eyes.
"A goddess," he repeated softly.
"To you, that may sound like madness," she said. "But you've already seen proof. You've fought me. You've failed to move me. You've witnessed what happens when divine power walks among mortals."
She raised her right hand, palm open to the air. A faint distortion shimmered before it — invisible at first, then rippling like heat haze.
The air itself groaned.
A sharp crack split the silence — like glass breaking, but deeper, more primal. The space before her hand fractured — a thin, jagged tear in the air itself, bleeding faint threads of light.
The room trembled.
Drex and Ty both stumbled back instinctively. Their skin prickled with a sensation they'd never felt before — raw pressure, the kind that could crush a man's soul.
Then Bia's fingers curled. The fracture resisted, humming violently — and then, impossibly, it sealed. The crack folded inward and vanished, leaving the air still once more.
She lowered her hand.
"That," she said quietly, "is the power I hold. Force itself — the essence that binds every atom in your world. The same strength that keeps the heavens from collapsing."
Neither man spoke.
She stepped closer, her gaze softening slightly. "I show you this not to frighten you. I show you this because I trust you. When the one I serve arrives — when he comes — you will need to understand who and what I am."
"Who?" Ty asked softly, voice hoarse.
"The man who sent me," she said. "Zumi Kogane — the one destined to rule this city from its ashes."
The name felt heavy in the air, as if the world itself acknowledged it.
Bia's eyes glowed faintly as she looked down at them. "If you choose to follow me," she continued, "truly — not just out of fear or duty — I can grant you a portion of my blessing."
Drex blinked, breath catching. "A blessing?"
"Divine Force," she said. "Strength beyond mortal limits. Your muscles will carry weight that should crush them. Your bones will strike harder than steel. You will not become gods — but for humans, you will stand far above the rest."
Ty exhaled slowly. "…And you'd give that to us?"
"If you worship me," she said simply. "If your loyalty remains unbroken."
She turned to Drex, her expression sharpening slightly. "You, however, are different. You have leadership. You have will. If your devotion is pure, I can grant you more — a conduit of strength, a force that flows through you to empower those under your command. A commander's blessing. Your men will feel it. Their bodies will harden, their hearts will ignite in battle."
Drex stared at her — truly stared — and for the first time since she'd met him, he looked humble. All the arrogance, the bravado, the violence — gone.
"What would you have us do?" he asked quietly.
Bia smiled — faint, proud, and terrifyingly calm. "Stand," she said. "And kneel with purpose."
Both men dropped to one knee.
She placed her hands on their heads. Golden light flowed from her palms — warm, alive, and unbearably heavy. It seeped into them like sunlight into stone, filling their veins with quiet thunder.
Drex's muscles tightened, veins glowing faintly gold beneath his skin. Ty's breath caught as the same power filled his lungs, his heart pounding harder than ever before.
When she finally withdrew her hands, they gasped as if reborn.
"You are no longer Bulldogs," she said softly. "You are dragons forged in my image."
Her eyes glowed brighter, voice resonant like a temple bell.
"Rise, Drex Vane — Vice Commander of the Kogane Dragons." "Rise, Ty Graven — Steel Fang of the New Order."
They stood, trembling, awed — and for the first time, not from fear.
Bia turned away, looking toward the horizon through the broken skylight above. The dying sun reflected in her golden eyes.
"The first stone has been laid," she murmured. "Soon, Zumi will see that his empire has begun."
The air in the warehouse was still. Dust hung in the sunlight that slanted through the cracked skylight, catching the faint shimmer of gold that lingered around Bia's hands.
Drex and Ty remained kneeling before her, heads bowed, the faint tremor in their shoulders betraying awe more than fear. The concrete floor was cracked beneath their knees, as though the room itself understood the gravity of what was happening.
For a long time, Bia said nothing. Her gaze lingered on the two men — once brutes and killers, now silent disciples. The faint hum of power still radiated from them, like coals refusing to die.
Drex raised his head slowly, eyes faintly aglow. "Goddess Bia…" he said, voice low, reverent. "From this day forward, my fists are yours. My loyalty is yours. My life — yours. Until my bones turn to dust."
Ty followed, his deep voice steady but weighted with something close to emotion. "I'll follow you wherever you walk," he said. "Not as a man chasing strength… but as one who's finally seen it."
Their words echoed in the empty space, carrying the rhythm of a vow. Then both men pressed their foreheads to the ground. Not in submission. In worship.
For a moment, Bia simply watched them — her expression unreadable. Then, softly, she exhaled through her nose, her lips curving into something that was neither pride nor joy. Something quieter. Something ancient.
Her thoughts slipped inward, heavy as the pulse of her own divine heart.
It's been a long time since mortals have bowed before me. It feels… strange.
Her golden eyes softened, the faintest trace of melancholy crossing them.
Once, entire armies knelt at my feet. They chanted my name before battle, built temples in my honor. But now…
Her gaze drifted upward, through the fractured ceiling to the pale sky beyond.
Now I kneel for another. A human… no, not just a human — the Monkey King himself reborn. Still… I gave myself to him. My strength, my will, my eternity. And yet, somehow, it feels right.
Her fingers flexed slightly. Golden threads of energy coiled faintly between them, pulsing like a living heartbeat.
She sat cross-legged upon the floor, the movement graceful and absolute. The air stirred, a ripple of unseen wind gathering around her.
"Raise your heads," she said. Her tone was soft, yet it pressed against their ears like a command carved into the soul.
Drex and Ty obeyed instantly.
Bia closed her eyes, bringing her palms together before her chest.
The faint clap of her hands meeting rang through the warehouse — but the sound didn't fade. It expanded.
A deep, resonant boom followed — not noise, but force. It rolled through the building like thunder beneath the skin of the world.
The light dimmed. Then the golden aura exploded outward from her palms, flooding the warehouse in blinding brilliance.
The air trembled. Metal groaned. The walls shook but did not fall — as though even they were unwilling to interrupt divinity at work.
The pulse washed over the men like a tidal wave. They gasped — not in pain, but in transcendence.
Golden energy coursed through their veins, searing yet pure. Their hearts hammered in rhythm with the hum of the divine pulse. Their eyes flared gold for an instant, the light reflecting off tears they didn't realize had fallen.
Strength — real strength — filled their bones. They felt it in their blood, in their lungs, in their souls.
Every scar, every wound, every ounce of exhaustion vanished beneath the warmth that flooded through them.
Drex pressed a hand to his chest, feeling his heart race like a drum of war. He could feel the Goddess's power within him — not consuming, but empowering. His fists felt heavier, not with burden, but with purpose.
Ty's breathing deepened, his muscles thrumming with controlled energy. He had never known peace could feel so powerful.
Both men looked up at her, eyes still aglow, and in that instant they understood — she wasn't merely strong. She was Force itself.
They spoke together, their voices overlapping in solemn unity.
"We swear it, Goddess Bia. Our strength is yours. Our will is yours. We are your Dragons, forged by your hands."
Bia opened her eyes again, the golden radiance fading to a gentle glow. She regarded them quietly — two hardened men reborn in reverence.
For the first time in centuries, she felt the pulse of worship flow toward her again — the divine link of faith, the silent heartbeat of those who believe.
It was intoxicating. And yet, deep within her, it stirred something bittersweet.
How strange, she thought. To feel worship again… while my own devotion belongs to him.
A small smile tugged at the corner of her lips — warm, knowing, touched by something deeply human.
Zumi… my king. You've made me remember what it means to be followed — not by fear, but by choice.
She lifted her hand once more, letting the golden energy coil around her fingers before it faded into the still air. The warehouse was silent again, but no longer hollow. It hummed faintly with power, as though the walls themselves now bore witness to divinity.
Drex and Ty remained kneeling, the golden glow still lingering faintly in their eyes, both too awestruck to speak.
Bia stood slowly, her coat shifting in the lingering light.
"Good," she said quietly, voice like silk over steel. "Then let this be the start. You've been remade — not as dogs, but as Dragons. When Zumi Kogane arrives, you'll show him that the slums kneel for the right master."
She turned toward the open doorway, sunlight spilling across the cracked concrete floor. The city outside burned orange beneath dusk's glow — a city that was slowly, surely, beginning to change under her command.
Behind her, two mortal men bowed low, reborn under a goddess's shadow.
And for the first time in centuries, the Goddess of Force felt the weight of prayer once more.