Location: Dracas Estate – Courtyard, 8:47 PM
The last words still echoed.
"You're not here to remember who I was.
You're here to understand who I'll be — forever."
Silence spread across the crowd.
Some stood frozen in awe.
Others whispered.
A few… quietly left.
They couldn't handle it — the weight of the power, the reality of the man before them.
But Damon?
Didn't blink.
Because they weren't the ones he called for.
The Invitation Within
He turned.
Walked toward the mansion doors.
And without looking back, spoke five words:
"The ones who know, follow."
Only a few stepped forward.
Nova, her face unreadable but her soul certain
Zeke, silent and sharp-eyed
Arielle, fists clenched but loyal
Elina, half in shock, half in love
Rico, calm as death behind Damon's right shoulder
And two new elites from the Dracas circle — killers turned believers
The mansion doors closed behind them.
The rest?
Left outside.
Whispers. Regrets. Fear.
Some walked away.
Others stayed… but would never know more.
And that was exactly how Damon wanted it.
Inside the Heart of Power
The inner sanctum of the mansion glowed with low firelight.
Art lined the walls — not for show, but for memory.
Weapons. Documents. Faces of the fallen.
ARCHAIOS flickered to life, greeting each guest by name — tone filtered to match their emotional history.
At the head of the long black-marble table stood Damon.
He removed his jacket.
Showed them the scars.
The eyes.
The inhuman perfection.
Then he spoke.
The Truth Unleashed
"The world believes I vanished.
They were half right.
The man I was… did die."
He stepped closer to the table.
"I was hunted.
Betrayed.
Bitten by monsters beneath the earth and sky.
And I didn't run. I consumed them."
Gasps broke from Zeke. Elina covered her mouth.
"I am now both vampire… and werewolf.
But my soul is something even older."
He lifted his hand.
The air trembled — his aura flaring briefly, ice and heat merging like breath before a storm.
"I'm not aging.
I'm not dying.
Not today. Not ever."
"This world?
It'll bend to my will through blood, business, and belief."
He looked at each of them, firelight casting a soft glow on his gold-crimson eyes.
"You're not just here to serve.
You're here to build forever with me.
A dynasty that doesn't just survive this world…
It owns it."
Final Scene – Decision Time
Silence again.
But this time?
It was sacred.
Nova finally asked:
"And those who choose to walk away?"
Damon's voice never wavered.
"They'll forget they ever stood this close to eternity."
And then?
He held out a black coin.
The symbol of his true empire — the dragon crowned in fire.
"Take it…
or walk away."