The evil whispers were still echoing in Anthrax's head as the ground beneath his feet began to shake violently. The shaking began from far below, as if something enormous was moving in the depths of the earth. Dust began to fall from the ceilings of the old buildings around him, and small cracks began to appear in the concrete walls.
"What's happening?" Anthrax muttered as he tried to maintain his balance. The snake patterns on his skin moved faster, as if panicked by something he couldn't understand.
"The temple... the temple is crumbling... your power has awakened something that should have remained dormant..."
The whispers in his head sounded weaker now, as if the distance between them had grown.
Anthrax felt the strange connection he had felt with the mysterious entity begin to fade.
"Wait!" Anthrax shouted in his mind. "Don't leave me! I don't know what to do!"
But the whispers grew fainter, like a radio losing its signal.
"Remember... you are the heir... the power is yours... use it... or die..."
Then there was complete silence.
The tremors beneath the ground grew stronger, and Anthrax could hear a terrible sound—like giant rocks grinding together, or something enormous trying to break free from its prison. He remembered the giant red eye he had seen in the temple, and his body shuddered.
The military tanks at the end of the road began to roll back, soldiers shouting orders in panicked tones. Even with all their advanced technology, they were clearly unprepared for this unexplained geological phenomenon.
"REVERSE! REVERSE!" a commander shouted through a megaphone. "ALL UNITS RETREAT TO A SECURE PERIMETER!"
But it was too late to retreat.
The ground in the middle of the main road suddenly cracked with a deafening sound. The crack spread rapidly, tearing through the asphalt like paper. From within the crack, a blinding blue light began to emanate—the same light Anthrax remembered from the ancient temple.
And then, the impossible happened.
A giant pillar—the same pillar he had seen in the temple—began to rise from the ground. The pillar rose slowly but surely, pushing aside layers of dirt and concrete. Strange carvings on its surface glowed with an intense blue light.
Soldiers began firing their weapons at the pillar, but their bullets simply bounced off without leaving a trace. The pillar was made of a material far harder than anything they had ever encountered.
Anthrax stared at the scene with a mixture of awe and terror. He realized that what was happening on the surface was a side effect of what he had done in the temple. Touching the Legacy Core had not only changed him—it had awakened something that had lain dormant beneath the Layered City.
A second pillar began to appear across the street, then a third near an old apartment building. One by one, the ancient structures rose from the depths, dramatically changing the landscape of Layer 9.
But the most terrifying thing was the sound.
From deep in the cracks in the ground, a low, deep rumbling sound began to emerge—a sound that was neither mechanical nor natural. It was alive, organic, filled with a rage that had been pent up for millennia.
Anthrax felt every cell in his body react to the sound. The snake patterns on his skin moved with incredible speed, and he felt his transformation speeding up. The scales on his hands became more pronounced, his eyes began to take on reptilian, vertical pupils.
"He's awake," whispered a new voice in his head—not the same voice as before, but something deeper, more ancient. "The Sleeping Dragon has awakened, and he's furious..."
"Dragon?" Anthrax whispered in a voice that was increasingly distorted. "What do you mean dragon?"
But before he could get an answer, the largest crack in the middle of the street suddenly widened with a deafening roar. And from its depths, a pair of eyes the size of houses opened—the same eyes he had seen in the temple, but this time much closer, much more real.
The eyes glowed red like molten lava, and as they stared at Anthrax, he felt an overwhelming force pressing down on him. Not physical force, but something more fundamental—the pressure of a being who had lived for millennia, who had witnessed the rise and fall of civilizations.
The soldiers around the area began to scream in terror. Some of them threw down their weapons and ran aimlessly. Others tried to shoot, but their bullets were useless against the creature that was rising from the earth.
A giant head began to emerge from the crack—a head covered in shiny black scales, with horns that curled like a crown. It was a dragon, but not one from children's fairy tales. This was a perfect predator, a killing machine that had survived since prehistoric times.
Its mouth opened, revealing rows of sword-sized teeth, and its breath came out in a stream of steam that made the air vibrate. When it let out a sound—a roar that shattered the glass of the surrounding buildings—Anthrax felt his bones vibrate.
"He's looking for you," the voice in his head said. "He can sense the power of your inheritance within you... you stole what was his..."
"I didn't steal anything!" Anthrax protested. "I don't even know what happened!"
"Ignorance is no defense... you woke it, now you must face the consequences..."
The dragon began to lift its body from the ground, and Anthrax could see just how enormous the creature was. It was over a hundred meters long, with wings that even when folded were the size of a football field. Every movement of its body caused small earthquakes.
Its giant red eyes swiveled around, and when they found Anthrax hiding behind a building, its gaze focused with terrifying intensity.
The dragon opened its maw wide, and Anthrax could see the red light beginning to gather in its throat. He didn't need to be told to know that the creature was preparing to unleash something that would turn the entire area into a molten crater.
"I have to get out of here," Anthrax muttered, and began to run.
His newfound speed saved his life. Just as he leapt from his hiding place, a blinding red flash of fire swept across the area. Concrete melted like wax, metal turned to liquid, and even the air caught fire.
Anthrax ran at a speed that was impossible for a normal human, leaping from building to building with the agility of a giant cat. Behind him, he could hear the dragon moving—the sound of giant feet pounding the ground, the beating of wings creating a hurricane.
He ran toward the darker areas of Layer 9, places where even the locals avoided him. Old buildings that were about to collapse, narrow alleys filled with garbage and industrial waste.
But even here, he wasn't safe.
The dragon's roar was getting closer, and Anthrax could feel the heat of its breath on his back. He leapt from building to building, using his newfound strength to move in ways he'd never imagined before.
When he reached what looked like an old dump, he paused to catch his breath. His transformation was accelerating—scales had covered most of his arms and neck, his eyes had become completely reptilian, and he could feel something growing on his back.
"What's happening to me?" he said in a voice that now sounded more like a snake's hiss.
Heavy footsteps began to sound from the opposite direction. It wasn't a dragon—this one was smaller, but still menacing. Anthrax turned to see a group of people walking toward him.
Five people, all dressed in dark clothing and carrying weapons. They moved with a coordination that suggested military training, but their attire was not the uniform of a formal military officer.
Leading the group was a tall woman with braided silver hair. Her eyes were an icy blue, and there was a long scar running down her left cheek. She carried a longsword that gleamed with a strange light—no ordinary metal.
"Target found," the woman said in a cold, professional voice. "Heir of the Serpent Clan, as reported."
Anthrax took a step back. "Who are you?"
"We are Hunters," the woman replied, raising her sword. "And your work ends here."
One of the men behind her—a large man with arms covered in tattoos—laughed harshly. "Look at him, Vera. He's just a kid. Is he really the Heir?"
The woman called Vera studied Anthrax with sharp eyes. "Look at his eyes, Gareth. Look at the scales on his skin. The transformation has begun. He is a threat."
"A threat?" Anthrax felt anger rising again. "I don't even know what happened! I didn't threaten anyone!"
"Ignorance is no defense," Vera said, repeating the same words she had heard in her head. "Your mere presence was enough to awaken things that should have remained dormant."
She pointed in the direction where the roar of the dragon could still be heard. "The creature awakened because you touched the Legacy Core. How many people will die because of your stupidity?"
The words cut Anthrax to the heart. He had never meant to hurt anyone. He had only wanted... wanted to become stronger, wanted to stop being treated like trash.
"I didn't mean to..." Anthrax began.
"Intentions are irrelevant," Vera interrupted. "The result is what matters. And the result is destruction."
The five Hunters spread out, surrounding Anthrax from all sides. They moved with a precision that suggested they had done this many times before.
Anthrax felt the snake patterns on his skin twitch, warning him. His new power was boiling inside him, ready to be unleashed. But he was still hesitant to use it. He didn't want to become the monster they said he was.
"Don't make this any harder than it has to be," Vera said, stepping forward. "We could make your death quick."
"Or," Gareth said with a cruel grin, "we could make him suffer a little. As payback for all the trouble he's caused."
Something in Gareth's tone—the same tone he always heard from Brak and the other gangs who had bullied him—made something snap inside Anthrax.
His anger exploded.
The power of his ancient serpentine heritage flowed through him like a flood, and for the first time, he didn't try to hold it back. He let it take over, let his transformation continue apace.
Scales spread across his body, his eyes turned completely predatory, and he could feel the fangs growing in his mouth. Most shockingly, he could feel something like tiny wings beginning to grow on his back.
As he looked at the five Hunters, he saw the first signs of fear in their eyes.
"He's changing too fast," one of them whispered.
Vera raised her sword higher. "Charge! Now! Before his transformation is complete!"
The five Hunters attacked at once, moving at incredible speed. But Anthrax was no longer the weak child who had always been the victim.
He moved.