Silence fell for a moment—a heavy silence, as if time itself had paused in reverence for what had been said.
Then…
Alpha erupted into a wild, mad laugh—not an ordinary laugh, but one like the whistle of death rising from the depths of the abyss. A laugh so piercing it shattered the eardrums of all present, its echoes reverberating through the palace walls. The ground trembled beneath the feet of those gathered, as though a primordial beast had awoken from its slumber.
The resonance of his voice seemed to mock the very absurdity of life itself.
Then, suddenly, he stopped—as if drawing a line under this farce. His gaze locked onto the king, eyes brimming with scathing mockery.
In a voice dripping with icy sarcasm, he said:
*"I liked your words, human... At the very least, you have some courage befitting a king. Fine... I'll help you... But..."*
Here, everything changed.
The laughter vanished from his eyes as if it had never existed, replaced by an unbearable coldness—dark, pitiless eyes that seemed to gaze into a distant past where everything had perished.
Slowly, horrifyingly, he spoke, pressing weight into each word as though it were an oath from another realm:
*"If you deceive me... If you dare play games behind my back... I swear—by my forgotten names, by the power no world could break—I will turn this city upside down... and erase your history as though it never existed. Is that clear?"*
No one dared to breathe.
The king nodded hastily, sweat pouring down his forehead:
*"Clear... perfectly clear... Don't worry... We're not that foolish."*
Alpha smiled faintly—a blend of satisfaction, mockery, and boredom.
Then he turned calmly and began walking out of the hall—his steps slow, deliberate, as if the entire world meant nothing to him.
And then... the soldiers burst into frantic whispers, as though freed from a curse of silence:
*"That's Alpha...? Is that really his human form?"*
Another muttered in awe:
*"My God... Even without his powers, his mere presence is terrifying... That gaze of his... It feels like it pierces straight through our souls."*
A third added breathlessly:
*"But... he's majestic in a fearsome way... His features are harsh as a mountain, cold as a bleak winter, yet... there's something regal about him... Like a statue of an ancient king carved from oblivion."*
A fourth soldier whispered back:
*"No... Not a statue... A walking curse."*
Meanwhile, Alpha walked away, muttering to himself in a voice laced with disgust and boredom:
*"Ah... this ridiculous human form... How I loathe it... Standing on two legs is exhausting... These limbs are weak and fragile compared to my true body... Merely speaking in human language is an insult to my existence."*
He paused for a moment, staring disdainfully at his human hands:
*"Hah... Hands fit for holding pens... Not for crushing worlds."*
Then he continued walking through the darkened city—the air cold, eerie whispers filling the space... Everything around him seemed to murmur... And there were no humans here, only corpses... The wind carried the scent of blood... Even the ground beneath his feet seemed to recoil with every step he took.
He mused to himself with bitter philosophy:
*"Humans think monsters lurk in forests... Fools... The real monsters live in their hearts... Betrayal... Greed... Weakness... Those are their true beasts."*
Suddenly, he stopped.
A strange sound approached—heavy footsteps, a slithering noise like something crawling from the depths of nightmares.
Alpha turned slowly... His eyes glinted with the coldness of death.
Then, with a smile that dripped brutality, he said:
*"Hah... Finally... You've found me, you filth."*
Before him stood a horde of grotesque monsters.
Their bodies were twisted in ways no human mind could comprehend, as though they were curses born from dark nightmares... Their skin was cracked, their crimson eyes burned with madness, and their fangs dripped with steaming blood.
Alpha stood firm... He raised his hand slightly and sneered:
*"I was in need of some entertainment... It seems you've arrived just in time."*
Then, with a killer's calm, he whispered:
*"Let's dance a little... Before I return to that so-called palace..."*
His focus sharpened on the monsters slowly encircling him from every alley and narrow path. The sound of their crawling filled the air, their fangs drooling venom, their red eyes like demonic lanterns.
One of the beasts lunged at him with blinding speed. Alpha calmly opened his palm—then, with a strike swift as a phantom, crushed its skull and hurled its body aside. But... as the corpse hit the ground, it burst open, spewing thick green blood that smoked like acid, corroding the earth.
Alpha paused for a few seconds, observing... A faint, mocking smile touched his lips:
*"Hmm... So your touch isn't just deadly... It's disgusting too... Poisonous blood? How intriguing."*
He raised his hand, examining the blood splatter near him, then remarked coolly:
*"Well then... The rule is clear now... No wounds... No scratches... Or I'll be in trouble."*
The remaining monsters surged forward—dozens of them charging like a black tide, moving with horrifying synchronicity, attempting to surround him from all directions. This was a battle against creatures that felt no pain, feared no death, whose sole purpose was to tear him apart.
But Alpha was not one to retreat.
Without changing his expression, he leapt into the air, twisted his body mid-flight, and slammed down with devastating force—creating a shockwave that sent some flying. He lunged at one, tore off its head with a precise motion (careful not to touch the blood), pivoted to another, and delivered a crushing blow to its chest, reducing its body to splinters in midair.
Others tried to pounce from above, but he moved with terrifying fluidity—dodging, weaving, kicking, striking—every motion calculated, lethal, as though he were dancing through death itself.
The battle was fierce, brutal. The ground was littered with monster carcasses, their toxic blood filling the air with choking fumes.
And yet... Alpha remained unscathed.
For a brief pause, he glanced at the ashen sky and mused:
*"Heh... A weak human in human form... Yet a killer from another world."*
Then he turned back to the remaining monsters...
*"Well then... Who's next?"*
Under the city's dim, fractured light, Alpha fought on without pause—his movements precise, terrifying, like a dance in the eye of a storm. He weaved through the horde like an untouchable shadow.
A massive beast leapt at him from behind, its venomous fangs gleaming, but Alpha spun with lightning speed, seized its upper and lower jaws with each hand, and split its head in two like an old door, hurling the corpse aside before its blood could explode.
The sound of the earth burning under the monsters' blood filled the air... A foul stench spread—a mix of rot and poison... Yet Alpha moved as though it meant nothing, as though he were walking through weightless ash.
The monsters began to falter... but they did not stop. Instead, their frenzy grew—scaling walls, climbing shattered houses, attacking from every angle, from below and above.
Yet with every strike, Alpha noticed something strange... The corpses of the monsters he killed did not remain intact. Slowly, they crumbled—their bodies breaking apart like ancient, weathered stone, turning to black dust that scattered in the wind, vanishing into nothingness.
Alpha paused, observing this eerie phenomenon.
*"Hmm..."* he muttered coldly, watching the dust fade. *"Their bodies don't remain... So even their death is temporary? Or is this just filthy dust that needs to be swept from this world?"*
He scoffed, then continued walking over the ash-covered ground, stepping over it as though it were the remnants of a long-forgotten battle.
But then... he halted.
He felt something watching him—a cold, heavy gaze... Unlike the monsters before.
Slowly, he lifted his head.
And there, high above in the ashen sky... stood two strange figures. Their bodies were slender, yet the aura around them was indescribable. Their crimson eyes burned like pure, glowing blood, staring down at him in deadly silence. Small horns curled from their foreheads—twisted, demonic symbols etched into their very being.
Their lips were stretched into wide, cold, venomous smiles—as though mocking all of existence.
Their robes were a deep, bloody red, fluttering ominously in the wind. A sinister, crimson light emanated from them, staining the dark clouds behind.
Alpha did not move... His cold eyes studied them intently... But his expression shifted—growing more serious, more focused.
He did not like those smiles at all.
Tilting his head slightly, he slipped his hands into his coat pockets and muttered coldly:
*"So... The small insects are gone... Now the real stench emerges..."*
His dark, gleaming eyes locked onto them—no trace of mockery left. Only silence... And readiness for a new battle. A different kind of battle.
The city behind him was dying in silence... And the sky before him was about to birth another catastrophe.