The man suddenly shouted, "We don’t want your help! Keep your damn dragons away!"
His voice cracked, shrill and defiant, cutting through the auditorium like a blade.
Silence fell, heads turning as the crowd stared, their expressions shifting from shock to confusion.
Whispers rippled.
"What’s wrong with him?"
"Doesn’t he know who the Dragon Lord is?"
A woman near him muttered, "He’s a hero, saved District 7 last week!" Another nodded, "Yeah, took down that gate solo!"
But dissent stirred. A handful of others shouted.
"He’s right!"
"Dragons are dangerous!"
"We don’t trust him!" Alister’s eyes flicked toward them, narrowing as he noticed a faint red aura clinging to each who disagreed with him, pulsing like the mist.
His silver dragon’s tail twitched, its purple eyes glinting.
"I see," Alister said in a low tone, sharp, carrying a quiet intensity that silenced the murmurs.
He slowly stepped forward, his gaze steady on the crowd. "As I stated earlier, I promised to protect everyone in this city, did I not?"
The crowd hesitated, then voices rose, tentative but clear.
"Yes."
"You did."
"Protect us!" A few nodded, their fear softening, while others watched warily, caught between hope and skepticism.
Alister’s lips curved into a faint, resolute smile. "Then I’d better make good on my words."
He stepped off the podium, his boots clicking softly, the silver dragon shifting on his shoulders, its crystal scales catching the light. He raised a hand, voice calm but commanding.
"Clear a path."
The crowd parted, a sea of faces—so awestruck, so uncertain—making way as Alister moved forward, his presence like a quiet storm.
Reporters scrambled, caras flashing, their voices overlapping.
"What’s he doing?"
"Is he confronting that guy?"
"This is live—what is he going to do!?"
Drones buzzed closer, capturing every step. Behind him, Razorgrin leaned toward Ren. "What’s he up to?"
Ren adjusted his glasses, eyes narrowing. "He’s noticed sothing—sothing we haven’t."
Hiroshi smirked, folding his arms. "That’s Alister, always one step ahead." Kaida’s red hair swayed as she nodded, murmuring, "But even if he noticed sothing... what is he going to do on cara?"
Goro, silent, watched with intensity.
Alister approached the shouting man, who stood rigid, sweat beading on his brow, the red aura pulsing stronger around him.
Reporters crowded the edges, caras snapping, their feeds broadcasting to millions.
"Dragon Lord’s moving!" a reporter yelled.
"Is this a confrontation?"
"That guy’s crazy to challenge him!" Alister stopped a few feet away, his slitted eyes locked on the man, the silver dragon’s purple gaze mirroring his, its tail curling tighter.
The auditorium held its breath, the weight of Alister’s next move hanging like a blade.
Alister approached until he stood directly in front of the man, who was wiry, sweat-slicked, his wild eyes darting nervously. Alister sighed, raising a scaled hand to the man’s forehead.
The man flinched, his voice shaky but defiant. "What do you think you’re doing? If this is so attempt to win favor, then—"
With a flick of Alister’s finger, the man’s head exploded, a burst of blood and bone spraying across Alister’s guild uniform and splattering nearby reporters.
SPLAT!
The crowd froze, the auditorium plunging into absolute silence, broken only by the wet drip of blood on the floor. And the drones buzzing above, capturing the grueso scene.
Whispers erupted, hesitant, horrified.
"He... killed him?"
"Has he gone mad?"
"What the hell was that?"
A woman scread, piercing the quiet, and the crowd recoiled, so stumbling back, others shouting.
"Monster!"
"He’s a murderer!"
"We trusted him!"
Reporters scrambled, their voices frantic over live feeds.
"The Dragon Lord just executed a civilian!"
"This is unprecedented!"
"Is this the White Cots’ answer?"
Signs dropped, hands trembling, as fear rippled through the room.
Lady Aiko tensed, her blue eyes narrowing behind glasses, her hand twitching toward her datapad as she stepped forward.
Yuuto’s hand shot out, gently gripping her arm, his silver eyes calm but firm.
"Don’t," he murmured. "He knows what he’s doing."
Aiko hesitated, her lips tightening, but she stepped back, trusting her guildmaster’s judgnt.
Alister, unfazed by the chaos, wiped a streak of blood from his cheek, his slitted eyes scanning the crowd.
The silver dragon on his shoulders hissed softly, its purple eyes glaring at the screaming woman, but Alister’s touch cald it.
His voice steady, sharp, cutting through the panic as he spoke. "Before you label so stray of monster, take a better look at the corpse."
The crowd hesitated, their fear warring with curiosity.
Reporters slowly edged closer, caras zooming in, as guild mbers in the back craned their necks.
The man’s body lay crumpled, blood pooling, but sothing was wrong—his skin shimred, rippling like liquid, then dissolved, revealing a grotesque, humanoid husk.
Its flesh was gray, veins on the surface, its eyes hollow sockets, a faint crimson aura fading around it, now visible for others to see.
Gasps rippled through the crowd, whispers shifting.
"That’s not human!"
"What is it?"
"Was it... a monster pretending to be human?"
Alister’s gaze swept the room, locking on the handful of dissenters who’d shouted earlier, their red auras flickering under his scrutiny.
"This wasn’t a man," he said, voice calm but resonant. "It was a puppet, controlled by soone... or sothing. And he isn’t the only one here." He gave a pointed look to the right, and the crowd parted, spotting the faint red glow on a few others, who shrank back, eyes wide with fear.
Ren, adjusting his glasses, nodded from the stage. "He could tell that man wasn’t human, despite the normal appearance."
Razorgrin grinned, muttering, "Damn, he’s sharp."
Hiroshi leaned back. "Cool and all, but he had my heart in my mouth for a mont there."
The others were about to run, but then golden portals opened up behind them and Valor-Void dragon knights stepped through, each instantly stabbing, decapitating, and cutting down the others, throwing their bodies to join the body of the first man that died, creating a little bloody heap.
A reporter, voice trembling, shouted, "How did you know? Are we were all at risk?"
Alister simply smiled then said, "Let’s just say... I have very good eyes."
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