[Mask of Nobility: The Beast in Silken Robes]
Night had draped its veils over the headquarters, the silence unbroken save for the distant chirping of crickets. I sat in a dark corner, polishing my new blade, "Sin," with a soft cloth, contemplating the faint purple glow that had begun to settle into my soul. Suddenly, the door opened, and Skyro stepped inside.
My hand froze. This wasn't the Skyro I knew; he wasn't wearing his usual stained combat gear. Instead, he wore a formal black suit made of luxurious fabric that shimmered under the candlelight, with a crisp white collar and an impeccably tied necktie. He looked like one of those nobles we made a living killing.
Nero straightened up in his seat, looking at him in astonishment: "Where are you going, sir, dressed so elegantly?"
Skyro looked at Nero coldly, then adjusted his shirt cuffs adorned with silver buttons: "There is a secret auction tonight... the elite of society will attend; gang leaders, politicians with thousands of corpses behind them, and the cream of the blood merchants. Things you wouldn't see in your dreams will be sold there."
Nero jumped up excitedly: "I'm coming with you, sir!" But Skyro raised his hand firmly: "No, your place is here to protect the headquarters and Gina."
Then he turned to me. My sharp eyes met his hawk-like gaze. "Ray... do you want to go? It wouldn't hurt to see how the filthy world is run from behind the curtains, to see the faces pulling the strings."
I nodded silently. I wasn't interested in jewelry, but I was interested in seeing the "prey" in its natural habitat.
"Of course... you'll have to change your clothes," Skyro added, tossing me a large box. "You can't enter that place looking like a butcher fresh out of a slaughterhouse."
I put on the suit he gave me. It was tight around the shoulders due to my massive frame, but it was skillfully tailored to hide the explosive power beneath its elegant fabric. I looked in the mirror; I saw a beast tamed by a piece of cloth, but my eyes betrayed this calmness.
[Arrival: The Scent of Perfume and Decay]
We got into the luxurious black car. The leather seats were suspiciously comfortable, and the tinted glass isolated us from the world of the poor and hungry outside. The car sped toward the upscale district, where palaces built on the tears of laborers stood.
The car stopped in front of a legendary mansion belonging to a top politician. I stepped out, feeling the cold air wrap around my face. I straightened my suit jacket and stood next to Skyro, who looked like a king walking through his kingdom.
We entered the grand hall. Classical music flowed smoothly, and crystal chandeliers cast golden light over the heads of the attendees. Nobles were laughing, women wore dresses encrusted with diamonds, and servants moved silently like ghosts, carrying expensive glasses of wine.
"Wait here a moment, Ray," Skyro said, spotting someone in the corner, then disappeared into the crowd.
I stood alone, hands in my pockets, my eyes roaming the place like a wolf amidst a flock of fat sheep. Suddenly, a young woman approached me, wearing a long red dress, with a confident and arrogant smile on her face.
"Oh... handsome," she said in a voice attempting seduction as she drew closer. "Do you need a dance partner? You seem like a stranger here."
I looked at her coldly, a gaze that made her feel as if a sharp blade had passed over her neck. I didn't utter a word, just glanced at her with frank contempt that betrayed my disgust at her fakeness. Her smile vanished instantly, her face paled, then she turned and walked away quickly, trying to hide her embarrassment and fear.
Suddenly, the noise of side conversations cut off as if a knife had severed the airwaves. Everyone's necks turned toward the outer entrance like sunflowers chasing a false light. Sharp applause and sycophantic cheers were heard rising to pierce the quiet of the night.
From a luxurious black car, long like a royal coffin, that person stepped out. He radiated an aura sourced not from muscle, but from "dominion." A man with features handsome to a suspicious degree, elegant to perfection, wearing a suit white as snow that contrasted sharply with the blackness of his heart which I felt wafting from him like smoke. He walked slowly, distributing faint, fake smiles to the sycophants who screamed his name madly: "Welcome, Lord Lucian!"
He looked at the people around him as if they were insects crawling beneath his shiny shoes, and that annoying smirk never left his face. He was the star this filthy theater was waiting for.
Skyro approached me, and I saw in his eyes a look of contempt no one had ever witnessed. "Look at him closely, Ray..." Skyro whispered, watching Lucian. "That is Lucian, the spoiled son of the Vance family... the second richest family in all of 'Draka' after the Royal Family."
Skyro continued through gritted teeth: "His father owns half the gold mines and currency banks in the Kingdom. They are the only ones who dare to compete with the King in extravagance, but this Lucian... money isn't enough for him. He is drowning in power up to his ears, and now he has come searching for the strength that puts him above everyone else. He thinks dragon blood can be bought with paper checks."
I looked at Lucian shaking hands with a politician with sickening arrogance. He embodied everything I hated in this world; the person born with a golden spoon in his mouth, who now wants to swallow the entire world.
Skyro cut my train of thought, patting my shoulder: "Ray... let's go. The real auction is about to start downstairs. There, the beautiful mask falls, and the monsters reveal their true nature."
[Behind Closed Doors: The Monsters' Den]
I walked behind Skyro through the long corridors of the mansion. A hallway led to a room, a room led to a door, and a door led to a basement. The place was a maze designed to hide secrets. We finally reached a massive iron door, guarded by a man rivaling my size, wearing light armor under his jacket.
"Where are your cards?" the guard asked in a deep voice.
Skyro pulled out a golden card etched with mysterious symbols. The guard examined it then stepped aside to allow Skyro entry. When I tried to pass, the guard placed his massive hand on my chest to stop me.
Fire ignited in my eyes, and I was on the verge of breaking his wrist, but Skyro turned and said in a commanding tone: "He is with me... leave him."
The guard withdrew his hand hesitantly, and I entered behind Skyro. I found myself in a massive hall, hidden underground. The seats were red velvet, and the lighting dim, suggesting danger. There were thousands of people; politicians with pale faces, international arms dealers, and gang leaders with scar-ridden faces.
We sat in one of the side seats. In the center, there was a huge stage covered by a giant red velvet curtain, like a dam holding back the world's horrors.
Moments later, Lucian (the one in the white suit) entered with an army of heavily armed guards and sat in the front seat reserved for the elite. Silence fell as the curtain opened, and a thin man wearing a tall hat and a foxy smile walked out.
"Welcome to the Annual Auction," the presenter said in a booming voice. "Today, our collectibles are not for everyone... they are for those who possess the daring and the price."
[The Bidding: Price of Cursed Beauty]
The show began. The presenter brought out a huge box and lifted from it a red diamond the size of a fist. It radiated a strange, bloody light.
"The Rare Red Diamond!" the presenter shouted. "There is only one in the world. Not just for decoration, but it can be smelted to forge blades that cut steel, or to adorn the thrones of emperors!"
"Let's start the bidding at one hundred gold coins!"
Shouts rose in the hall: "150!" .. "200!" .. "500!" .. "800!" Greed shone in the attendees' eyes. Suddenly, total silence fell when a hand was raised from the front seats.
"One thousand five hundred gold coins," Lucian said in a calm, cold voice, as if buying a loaf of bread.
Everyone was shocked. 1,500 gold coins was the budget of an entire city for a year. No one dared to increase. The presenter slammed the gavel: "Sold to Mr. Lucian!"
Lucian turned toward the audience and smiled that annoying smile that makes you want to smash his face. His financial power rivaled any military force.
Suddenly, the lights dimmed completely. Terrifying silence prevailed, then the ground shook with a deep sound as if its core was crumbling. A steel platform rose from beneath the stage, atop it a massive glass vessel surrounded by blue magical chains glowing with a strange light.
"Ladies and gentlemen..." the presenter screamed, madness gleaming in his eyes, "We present to you... the Core of Eternity... The Heart of the Last Dragon!"
He lifted the cover, and a piercing crimson light flooded the entire hall. Inside the vessel was a massive heart, ten times larger than a human heart, still beating! Yes... it was beating slowly, and with every beat, dark purple steam emerged, overflowing with energy that made the air in the hall heavy to the point of suffocation.
I froze in place. I felt the dragon blood in my veins beginning to boil, and my blade "Sin" behind my back began to vibrate madly, as if wanting to burst out and tear this cursed auction apart. I turned to Skyro, and I was shocked by what I saw.
Skyro... the man I had never seen tremble, was now shaking violently. His eyes were bulging, his face pale as a corpse, but he was smiling an ecstatic smile, the smile of someone seeing God before their eyes.
"Skyro?" I whispered cautiously. "What is wrong with this heart? Why are you so terrified?"
Skyro swallowed hard, looking at me with eyes filled with a mixture of terror and obsession: "This... this, Ray... is what will make you the strongest. It will make you the undisputed ruler of this world!"
I furrowed my brows and asked him in a sharp whisper: "How? Just an old heart?"
Skyro leaned close to my ear, his voice trembling with ecstasy and fear: "The King of Draka... King Baron... is the only one in this world who possesses this heart right now. He was born with it, because he is the only Pure Blood, the original royal blood carrying the essence of dragons in his veins."
I asked him, curiosity gnawing at my mind: "And what does the one who possesses this heart do?"
Skyro gripped my shoulder tightly, his fingers digging into my flesh as he whispered: "The Great Power, Ray... he who possesses it never dies. No matter how you try to kill him, no matter your strength, you won't even be able to touch him! And the reason is the Reflection Technique."
"Reflection?" I asked in astonishment.
Skyro nodded, trembling: "Yes... Reflection. The greatest power found in the history of 'Draka,' and every breathing being wishes for it. Listen to me well, Ray; any attack, or even the thought of attacking King Baron, will never reach him. The strike will reflect back on you, with force multiplying your strength a hundred times!"
My eyes widened, and I felt a chill run down my spine. A hundred times?
Skyro continued, panting: "If you decided to stab him with your sword and attacked him with all your might, you wouldn't scratch his skin. Instead, you would find yourself stabbed a hundred times in the same instant and die immediately. Fighting him means your inevitable suicide. King Baron is the 'Mirror' that shatters anyone who looks at it with hate."
Then he pointed with his shaking hand toward the beating heart on the stage: "And this heart displayed before you... is the only way to become like him. Whoever buys this heart and implants it in their chest... will turn the scales of Draka upside down. He will become a god walking on earth, and no one in this world will dare to raise their eyes against him."