"Now, now," a craggy voice drifted down from the sky. "You kids play so rough. Breaking the stadium, scaring the citizens... didn't your parents teach you manners?"
Space warped above Ignarion. A small, wrinkled hand appeared out of thin air and grabbed the Dragon King by the tail.
"And you," the voice scolded. "Threatening an Empress? Rude."
With a casual flick of the wrist, the hand threw the colossal Dragon King back down to earth.
CRASH.
Ignarion slammed into the arena floor, creating a second crater. The impact shook the capital, but the Dragon King didn't roar. He scrambled to his feet and fell to his knees, his face pale with absolute terror.
"Grand... Grand Patriarch?" Ignarion stammered.
Floating above them was an old man in tattered robes, picking his ear. Ryze, the Dragon Ancestor. A being who had slept for a thousand years, A being at the peak of the constellation realm.
Even though Ignarion is also at the Constellation Realm, the difference between a beginner constellation and a peak constellation is like the difference between the Spark Realm and the Constellation Realm. They are basically Demi-Gods.
"Don't just look at me," Ryze grumbled. "We aren't the only ones who woke up."
From the shadows, a young girl holding a stuffed rabbit stepped out. Lilith, the Vampire Progenitor. Valerius immediately prostrated himself on the floor.
"It was so loud," Lilith yawned, revealing ancient fangs. "I was having a nice dream, and then bang."
"And don't forget me." An elderly woman made of vines materialized next to the Elf King. Gaia, the Elven Matriarch. She patted the terrified Aerion on the head. "We felt the Origin energy, Ryze. The boy is special."
The three Old Monsters, Demigods who could wipe the Human Empire off the map, landed around the unconscious young man.
"He's handsome," Lilith giggled, poking the young man's cheek. "Can I keep him?"
"No touching," Gaia chided, though her vines were already curling around the stretcher possessively. "He belongs to nature."
Ryze sniffed the man. "Hmph. Smells like the Void. But he's weak right now." He looked at Seraphina, who was trembling but standing her ground. "You want to keep him, little girl?"
"He... he is under the protection of the Human Empire," Seraphina managed to whisper.
Ryze scratched his belly. "Fine. We won't take him. But we aren't leaving either. I haven't had human wine in centuries. We're coming to the palace to watch over him. If he wakes up and decides to destroy the world, someone needs to spank him."
The threat of war vanished, replaced by the terrifying reality that the three strongest beings on the planet were now houseguests. Seraphina signaled the guards, and they rushed the Fallen God toward the human empire, towards the Obsidian Palace.
"We'll be there waiting for you then" Lilith waved her hand saying bye, like a little girl then took Gaia and Ryze into the shadows, disappearing from the place.
"W-what?, they'll wait for us in our territory?" Kael spoke in a bewildered voice.
"Sigh, let's move quickly" Seraphina said, still eyeing the young man.
a day later, the Obsidian Palace was shrouded in a heavy, suffocating silence. The Royal Recovery Chamber, usually the safest place in the empire, felt like the inside of a tomb.
Empress Seraphina sat on the edge of the massive bed, dipping a silk cloth into a basin of enchanted water. She dabbed the forehead of the unconscious man, her hand lingering on his skin. Her heart was racing, not from the earlier danger, but from the proximity to him.
"You have been staring at him for three hours, Seraphina," a sharp voice cut through the silence.
Leaning against the heavy oak door was Briar, the daughter of Emperor Thorn. She was still wearing her battle armor, scorch marks from her tournament victory visible on the metal. She was a Lunar Realm cultivator, a genius of her generation.but right now, she looked rattled. She crossed her arms, her fingers drumming nervously on her biceps.
"I am monitoring his condition," Seraphina replied, her voice steady but her cheeks flushed. "He is a geopolitical crisis, Briar. The Ancestors are currently drinking wine in the Great Hall. If this man dies, Ryze might decide to burn the capital just for entertainment."
"He's... compelling," Lyra whispered from the corner.
The daughter of Emperor Kael sat by the window, a floating grimoire open in front of her. Her hands trembling slightly. "My scanners show his internal energy is absolute zero. He is empty. Yet... his physical density is higher than a dragon's, it says. It makes no sense."
Lyra looked over her book at the sleeping man. "He looks peaceful. Like a fallen statue."
"He's mine," Seraphina murmured.
The words slipped out before she could stop them. Briar and Lyra blinked, looking at the Empress. The sheer possessiveness in her tone was startling. But they didn't argue. They felt it too, the "Charm." It was a magnetic pull that made their instincts scream that this stranger was the most important thing in the world.
Suddenly, the man on the bed gasped.
His eyes snapped open.
Golden irises, dull and confused, met the ceiling. He sat up violently, gasping for air as if he had been drowning in deep water.
"Easy!" Seraphina reached out instinctively, placing a hand on his chest. "You are safe. You are in the Human Palace."
The man froze. He looked at Seraphina, then at Briar's hand drifting toward her sword hilt, and finally at Lyra. He looked at his own hands, flexing them, feeling the weakness in his veins.
"Where..." His voice was rough, like grinding gravel. "Where am I? Who am I?"
"You don't remember?" Lyra asked softly, stepping forward cautiously.
"I..." The man clutched his head. "I remember... falling. I remember... chains."
CREAK.
The massive double doors of the chamber didn't burst open. They slowly, agonizingly groaned inward, the wood splintering under an immense, invisible weight.
The temperature in the room dropped thirty degrees in a second.
Ryze, the Dragon Ancestor, walked in.
He didn't look like a warrior. He looked like a hunchbacked old man in rags. But to the three women in the room, he looked like death incarnate.
Briar stiffened, her survival instincts screaming at her to kneel. Lyra dropped her book, her face draining of blood. Even Seraphina, a Solar Realm expert, felt the air leave her lungs.
Ryze ignored the women completely. To him, they were ants. His reptilian yellow eyes locked onto the man in the bed.
"So," Ryze's voice sounded like dry leaves scraping over stone. "The 'God' is awake."
The young man's muscles tensed. Even with his blank mind, his body recognized a threat. He looked at the old man and felt an ocean of power that could drown the world.
"Who are you?" he asked, his voice steady despite the fear rising in his gut.
"I am the one who is disappointed," Ryze rasped. He took a step forward. "Ignarion knelt to you. The Vampires fled from you. But now that I see you up close... you are hollow."
Ryze lifted a single, withered finger.
"Let us see if you break."
There was no spell incantation. No flash of light. Ryze simply exerted his Will.
BOOM.
An invisible hammer of Demigod force slammed into the bed.
"No!" Seraphina screamed, her shield spell shattering instantly before it could even form.
The force hit the young man.
CRACK.
The bed disintegrated into dust. The stone floor beneath him cratered.
The young man didn't fly back. Instinct took over. In the split second before impact, his body moved on its own. He crossed his arms, shifting his weight to ground himself, his muscles screaming.
The force slammed into him. He gritted his teeth, his knees buckling. Blood sprayed from his mouth. His bones creaked, threatening to snap under the weight of a mountain.
"Haaa..." He groaned, forcing his head up.
He didn't collapse. He stood in the crater, bleeding, trembling, glaring at Ryze with golden eyes that flickered with a dangerous, dark light.
Ryze paused. A flicker of surprise crossed his ancient face. "Oh? You blocked a fraction of my intent? Not bad."
The Dragon Ancestor's eyes narrowed. "Then let us see if you can survive this."
Ryze raised his hand, the air in the room beginning to twist and scream. He was going to crush the boy properly this time.
"STOP!"
It wasn't a command. It was a desperate shriek.
Briar moved.
She knew she couldn't stop him. She knew Ryze was an Ancestor, a being who ate Solar Realm experts for breakfast. But the "Charm" overrode her fear. Her body moved before her brain could stop it.
She threw herself in front of the young man, her sword raised with trembling hands. Tears of terror were pricking her eyes, but she stood there. "If... if you kill him, you start a war with the Empire!"
Lyra moved a second later, stumbling forward to stand beside Briar. She was shaking so hard she could barely speak, but she began chanting a barrier spell, putting her fragile body between the monster and the man.
Seraphina stepped forward, her royal aura flaring desperately. She didn't attack Ryze, that would be suicide, but she stood tall. "Ancestor Ryze! If you kill him in my chambers, you violate the Guest Right! Do the Dragons have no honor?"
Ryze froze.
He looked at the three human women. They were weak. He could kill all three of them with a sneeze. They were shaking, terrified, smelling of fear. Yet, they stood between him and the stranger.
Ryze looked at the young man, who was wiping blood from his lip. The boy wasn't hiding behind the women; he was trying to push Briar aside, his eyes calculating a way to fight back despite his injuries.
"Heh."
The pressure vanished instantly.
Ryze lowered his hand. The room returned to normal, leaving the girls gasping for air, their knees almost giving out.
"Honor," Ryze spat the word out like a curse. "You humans and your words."
The Old Monster turned his back on them. "He is tough. But he is empty. He is no God...."
Ryze walked to the door, stepping over the ruined wood. He paused, glancing back at the young man. "You have good instincts, boy. And it seems you have good pets. Rest up. The other Ancestors will want to poke you later."
With that, the Dragon Ancestor vanished into the hallway.
Silence returned to the room, broken only by the young man's ragged breathing.
"Are... are you alive?" Briar dropped her sword, her legs finally giving out. She slumped to the floor, her face pale. She looked at the young man with wide eyes. "I thought... I thought we were dead."
"I... I'm fine," he rasped.
He looked at them.
Seraphina, the Empress. Briar, the warrior. Lyra, the scholar.
They were strangers. They were terrified. Yet, they had jumped in front of a monster for him.
A warmth spread through his chest, not the burning power of the void, but something softer. And deep inside him, one of the many shackles binding his soul vibrated. It didn't open, but the rust flaked off.
"Thank you," he whispered, his voice sincere.
Seraphina stepped forward, her hands trembling as she wiped the blood from his lip with a silk handkerchief. Her eyes were dark, intense, and filled with a terrifying mix of relief and obsession.
"You are safe now," she vowed, her voice low. "But Ryze is right. You are weak. Until you remember who you are... you belong to us."
The young man looked at the three women surrounding him. He was trapped in a golden cage, hunted by ancient monsters, and devoid of his memories.
But looking at the fire in Briar's eyes and the intelligence in Lyra's gaze, he realized one thing,
He wasn't going to be lonely in this cage.