Champ's POV
The countdown above the arena had begun—each second ticking down like a thunderclap in my chest, vibrating through my bones.
Inside the colossal steel cage below, the Alpha males had begun to tear each other apart—like wild beasts unleashed after years of starvation. Blood splattered against the cage bars with every blow.
Jiggs and I stood frozen, breath hitched as the chaos unfolded before our eyes.
"This is insane! It's like an Alpha death match!" Jiggs blurted, gripping my arm.
My brows furrowed as my gaze locked onto the center of the ring—where Deux and Silver dominated like gods among monsters. No other Alpha could land a proper hit. No one even came close.
The arena was in a frenzy. Soldiers cheered like drunken animals, stomping and slamming their fists against the railings. Even Elexa, in her sick delight, was lashing her whip wildly against the steel bars, nearly foaming at the mouth in excitement.
"These people... they treat Alphas like caged animals," I muttered, disgust and dread crawling down my spine.
"Champ," Jiggs turned to me, his voice urgent, "While this chaos is unfolding, I'll use the time to find Melior. You stay here. Watch everything closely. Once I locate him... we'll get Deux and Silver out."
I nodded. "Be careful, Jiggs."
With that, he vanished into the shadows, leaving me alone to face the carnage.
Every punch, every brutal slam of a body against the floor made my muscles twitch as if my body was reacting to the fight involuntarily. The timer was now down to six minutes. Only twenty Alpha males remained, and among them—Deux and Silver still stood tall, unscathed, unstoppable.
Strangely, they weren't fighting each other. I wondered—what if they threw the match? Would that keep them from facing the final horror of the "breeding reward"? But no. I knew them too well. They'd never accept defeat, not even for mercy. Their pride wouldn't let them.
The crowd was now divided. Half roared for Deux. Half chanted for Silver. Even Elexa couldn't decide who to root for—screaming with joy every time either of them landed a hit. Her whip never rested.
But amidst the roaring madness... sat one man in utter stillness.
The Omega King, Nihilex.
Unbothered. Untouched. Regal.
He watched the chaos with a poised elegance that made my skin crawl. He didn't cheer. Didn't blink. It was as if he weren't watching a battle—but a calculated experiment.
I took a deep breath.
Then I walked toward him.
There was a vacant seat beside him—an open invitation or perhaps... a trap. But I was an Omega male. I had rights, even in this twisted kingdom. They couldn't stop me.
So I sat beside him.
I expected a reaction. A flinch. A word.
Instead, I caught the subtle scent that lingered in the air around him—sweet, intoxicating... strawberries.
I watched the fight ahead, but in my peripheral vision, I saw him. Perfect posture. Hands folded. Eyes unmoving. No expression. No blink.
Was he watching the fight? Or... was he watching me?
Then, suddenly—he exhaled. Leaned back. Crossed one leg over the other with the precision of a king in control of everything.
"Lavender," he said, his voice smooth as silk, yet dipped in something unnatural. "Quite interesting."
I turned to him, caught off guard. "Huh?"
He didn't move his head but his eyes shifted toward me—just barely—and he smiled, lips thin, cryptic.
"What do you think of the match, little Omega?"
"Little Omega?" I frowned. "Do I look little to you?"
He didn't answer. He returned his gaze to the cage.
He was unreadable. Calm yet volatile. A storm waiting in silence.
"Who do you think will win?" he asked.
"The two Alpha males who've already taken down the most opponents," I replied, steadying my voice.
"They are impressive," Nihilex said softly. "Strong. Resilient. Beautifully made."
I tilted my head. "And you? Who do you place your bets on?"
"We see the same outcome, you and I," he answered with an enigmatic smirk.
Silence fell between us.
Why is he so composed? Why is this man—the Omega King—not the flamboyant tyrant I expected?
He wasn't loud. Wasn't brash. He was still.
And that made him terrifying.
Unlike King Theron who boasts his Alpha dominance and arrogance, this one is different which makes him dangerous.
As the rest of the stadium roared in chaos, Nihilex sat in stillness. Poised. Watching. Calculating.
And then—he turned to me fully.
His eyes... held a dangerous calm. Like looking into deep, dark water. The kind that doesn't reflect back.
"What is your name, Omega?" he asked.
My heart paused.
He wasn't blinking.
He was looking through me.
I swallowed hard, unsure whether to speak. But then I locked eyes with him.
"Champ," I said quietly. "My name is Champ."
He smiled. "Champ... A pleasure."
"A-Actually, I don't know if I should be pleased or afraid," I stammered, unsure if I should laugh, cry, or run for my life.
His smile didn't fade.
It lingered—quiet and composed—like the final note of a lullaby twisted into something sinister. There was no twitch in his expression, no hint of malice... and that was exactly what made it terrifying.
That eerie stillness. That polished elegance. It wasn't human.
A chill crept across the back of my neck, like invisible fingers brushing against my spine.
Because in that moment... something shifted deep within me.
It wasn't fear—not the kind that made your heart race or your palms sweat.
And it wasn't recognition—not a memory resurfacing, not a face I'd seen before.
It was something more ancient.
Something primal.
It felt like an invisible thread had been yanked from the center of my chest—subtle at first, then unmistakable—tugging me toward him with a pull that defied reason.
I could feel it.
In his aura—dense and commanding like gravity itself.
In his scent—sweet and sharp, like strawberries soaked in something more dangerous.
Even the air around him was heavier, thicker, charged with a strange static that danced on my skin.
There was a hum beneath it all.
A silent echo inside me.
A resonance.
Like a forgotten song that only my blood remembered.
My mother's presence.
His essence.
It clung to him—not visibly, but undeniably. Like a memory too buried to name, and yet too powerful to ignore.
He wasn't just some figure cloaked in mystery.
He wasn't just the Omega King.
He was something more.
Connected to me in a way I couldn't understand.
By blood.
By legacy.
By a secret the world had tried to erase.
And the terrifying truth?
I was no longer watching him from afar.
I was seated right beside him—within arm's reach of the very thing my soul had warned me to run from.
Trapped in the presence of something ancient... something I could no longer run from.
The nightmare wasn't beginning.
It had already begun.
And I had just stepped into its heart.
A sudden eruption of cheers snapped me from my thoughts. The crowd surged in volume, voices clashing like a tsunami—and I immediately turned my eyes back to the arena.
What I saw made my heart leap into my throat.
Deux—was surrounded.
Ten Alpha males had descended upon him like rabid wolves, each one lunging with savage force, trying to bring him down.
My instincts kicked in before I could think. I jumped to my feet.
"You can do it! Don't let them win! You're stronger than that!" I shouted, careful not to say his name aloud. The last thing I needed was to reveal I knew him.
Beside me, I felt a stillness—then Nihilex's smooth voice broke through.
"You seem... rather fond of that well-built Alpha being ganged up on." He didn't look at me, only sipped his words slowly, like fine wine. "You stood so quickly."
I laughed nervously. "W-Well... he's my bet for the winner. That's all."
"Mmm," Nihilex mused, nodding ever so slightly. "A fine choice. That one's different. Strong. Precise. And the fact that he can hold his own against ten opponents? Remarkable."
Then, with disturbing grace, he turned his head toward me, his tone deceptively warm.
"Would you like something to eat, Champ? Perhaps a drink? Something to help you... enjoy the show more."
My eyes widened. "H-Huh? Oh! No, really, I'm fine—"
"Nonsense," he interrupted calmly, raising his right hand with eerie fluidity.
A soldier appeared almost instantly, like he'd been standing just outside of reality, waiting to be summoned.
"Bring food," Nihilex said smoothly, before glancing at me. "For Champ... yes?"
"Y-Yeah, that's me," I replied, unsure whether to smile or run. "But really, I don't need—"
"It's rude to decline the Omega King," he said softly, eyes flicking toward me with a subtle warning laced in silk.
The soldier disappeared before I could object again.
I sighed, rubbing the back of my neck. "You really didn't need to go through all that, Nihilex. I'm not even hungry."
"It's not about hunger," he replied with a slow smile. "It's about offering something... pleasant. Consider it a gesture."
That smile again. It was soft, charming even. But I didn't trust it. I didn't trust him.
Moments later, not one—but three soldiers returned.
Two carried a small, round table fit for two, while the third balanced a silver tray of delicate finger foods—exquisite little bites that looked like they belonged at a royal banquet, not beside a blood-slicked Alpha brawl.
They set it up in front of us with perfect precision, as if they were staging a romantic film scene—except the backdrop was a brutal, animalistic fight to the death.
Once they were done, they vanished, soundless as shadows.
"Eat," Nihilex said gently, gesturing with his hand like a host at a lavish banquet.
I hesitated, my throat dry.
Was this a trap? Was he trying to poison me? Drug me? I wouldn't put anything past Verilios.
But then Nihilex reached for a small skewer himself. It had a neatly sliced peach at the end. He placed it into his mouth, chewed without expression, and returned his gaze to the arena.
Still... I didn't touch the food.
Call it paranoia. I called it survival.
"You don't trust me?" he asked quietly.
"It's not that. I'm just... really full, that's all," I said with an awkward smile, then paused before blurting, "Are you always like this?"
"Like what?" His tone was cool, as if the question amused him.
"Preparing food for guests. Watching bloody matches while eating finger sandwiches."
He didn't answer. Just smiled faintly again and returned his attention to the fighting Alphas.
The tension around us thickened like fog.
I glanced at the arena—but I wasn't really watching anymore. My mind kept drifting back to him. To his presence. To his unblinking calm.
Then his voice cut through again, low and measured.
"Tell me, Champ... what do you think it feels like? To be strong. Chiseled. Dominant."
I turned to him, my brows narrowing. "What are you talking about?"
"The Alpha male form," he said, almost wistfully. "So perfectly sculpted. Hard. Commanding. Don't you think it's a shame we, Omega males, weren't born into such physical grace?"
I didn't answer.
Because the truth?
That thought had haunted me all my life.
"I've always wondered," Nihilex continued, his eyes never leaving the ring, "what it must feel like—when an Alpha plants his seed inside an Omega. That moment of domination. The power exchange. The transformation."
I stared at him.
But he wasn't watching the match anymore. Not truly.
He was studying the Alpha bodies. Admiring them. Fixated on them.
There was something deeply unsettling about it.
It wasn't admiration.
It was obsession.
"Soon," he whispered, more to himself than to me, "our Omega bodies will no longer be weak. One day, we will wear the skin of gods. We'll become them. Wouldn't you want that, Champ?"
His words dripped like honey—sweet, slow, and deceptively warm—yet beneath that smooth surface, I could taste the venom.
A poison wrapped in silk.
My eyes drifted away from him, toward the chaos in the arena. But I wasn't really watching anymore. My vision blurred, not from tears, but from the storm gathering inside me.
Because deep down...
Somewhere buried beneath the fear, the disgust, the revulsion of what he stood for—
A part of me listened.
A part of me leaned in.
A part of me... wanted what he promised.
The strength.
The power.
The body I was never allowed to have.
The illusion that I could finally shed this fragile shell... and become something greater.
And that part of me—small, quiet, but undeniably present—terrified me more than Nihilex ever could.
Because it meant he was right.
Because it meant...
The nightmare wasn't just out there.
It was inside me, too.
"Are we not, as Omega males, inherently more powerful than the Alpha males?" Nihilex's voice flowed like silk dipped in poison—gentle, but laced with something far more disturbing beneath. "Then why must we be the ones to suffer? To bear the weight of pregnancy and pain? Shouldn't we, the true creators, be the ones who feel pleasure—ease—not sacrifice?"
He tilted his head slightly as he continued, eyes still fixed on the bloodstained arena. "It should be our seed, Champ. The seed of the Omegas... that propagates our kind."
I turned to him, startled—not because he raised his voice, but because he didn't. He remained eerily composed, as though he were sharing a philosophical theory over tea rather than rewriting the laws of biology and dominance.
And disturbingly... part of what he said made a twisted sort of sense.
Why shouldn't Omega males be the ones who impregnate?
"Tell me," Nihilex continued in a near whisper. "Would you... one day... wish for our semen to be fertile? Reproductive? Capable of creation?"
My breath hitched. I didn't answer right away. I didn't even know what I felt anymore.
But before I could think too deeply, the crowd behind us erupted.
I blinked.
The match had ended—and I hadn't even noticed.
I'd been so consumed by Nihilex's words that I forgot entirely about Silver and Deux... what they were enduring down there.
"You were right, Champ," Nihilex said softly, like we were merely discussing a card game. "Those two... they're the victors."
And indeed—there they were.
Deux and Silver, standing amidst a field of unconscious bodies, battered, bruised, breathing hard—but unbroken. Titans among mortals.
Whip!
"I finally get to see two Alpha males mate!" Elexa screamed in delight from the sidelines, her voice shrill, her excitement sickening. "One of them will be impregnated! Finally!"
Nihilex rose from his seat beside me, brushing invisible dust from his robe. "Forgive me, Champ," he said coolly. "I'd like to address the audience."
Without another word, he stepped toward the edge of the platform. And as if responding to his very presence, the iron bars surrounding the arena began to lower.
He descended into the battleground—and the moment his foot touched the ground, Silver and Deux... dropped to their knees.
They didn't kneel by choice.
Their descent was not out of respect, nor ritual.
It was submission—pure and absolute.
I watched as their powerful bodies trembled, knees buckling as though the very air had thickened into iron. Their heads bowed low, not in reverence... but in defeat.
And that's when the dread truly settled in my chest.
Because I knew them.
I knew Deux—reckless, defiant, unwilling to yield even under fire.
I knew Silver—cold, calculating, unbreakable even in the face of gods.
They would never kneel.
Not unless something far greater than fear had wrapped itself around their souls and squeezed.
It wasn't a command they followed.
It was a force they couldn't resist.
A suffocating, unseen pressure that bent them without mercy.
And that could only mean one thing—
Nihilex's aura... his very presence... was overwhelming them.
His power didn't scream.
It whispered.
And still—it shattered even them.
Even the strongest Alphas in the arena couldn't stand tall before him.
That's when I realized...
In Verilios, true dominance didn't roar.
It eerily smiled.
"Now that the match is over," Nihilex began, his voice ringing with the elegance of a ruler and the coldness of a deity, "I must inform you... the original rules I announced earlier?"
He paused.
"I retract them."
A collective gasp swept through the spectators like a violent wind. Even Elexa looked stunned, her face contorting in disbelief and frustration. But she said nothing.
No one defied Nihilex.
His word was law.
"But fear not," he continued, smiling slightly. "For I believe my next announcement will bring even greater satisfaction."
Then his eyes found mine—serene, unwavering.
"Champ," he called. "Come here."
"M-Me?" I asked, pointing to myself like a fool.
"Yes. You. No one else."
He said it with a smile. A gentle, polite, terrifying smile.
The kind that offered you a warm meal before pushing you into a pit.
I hesitated. But my legs moved on their own.
I stepped into the ring.
Stood beside him.
Felt every eye burn into me.
"Now that you're here," he said, voice rising just enough to carry across the arena, "I would like to declare the new rule of this prestigious match."
He stepped forward, spreading his arms wide—like a prophet delivering divine scripture.
I turned my gaze toward Silver and Deux.
They hadn't moved.
Still on their knees. Frozen. Statues carved from defiance, now hollowed by something unseen.
Their chests rose and fell—but barely. Even their breathing felt... restrained. Stifled. As if the very act of inhaling had to ask permission.
No words left their lips.
No grunts of pain.
No growls of resistance.
Just silence.
A terrifying, unnatural silence.
It was as though invisible hands held them down, not physically—but at the level of the soul. Not chains or cages... but will.
Not theirs.
His.
Was Nihilex truly that powerful?
Could he crush the spirits of the most formidable Alpha males in Verilios without lifting a finger?
Because in that moment, as I stared at them—unmoving, unblinking—I realized...
They weren't just being still.
They were being silenced.
Could he truly render the two most dominant Alpha males powerless with just his presence?
In Verilios... perhaps Alpha males were never the apex predators.
Perhaps here... they were prey.
"I have decided," Nihilex declared, "that these two Alpha males will no longer engage in sexual intercourse with each other."
A silence swept through the arena like a curtain dropping over a stage.
It wasn't the kind born from shock.
Nor the hollow quiet of confusion.
It was heavier—dense and suffocating—like the air had thickened, pressing down on every chest.
Everyone was still.
Everyone was listening.
Waiting.
Not for the end—but for the moment after.
The moment when the rules would shift.
When the curtain would rise on something darker.
There was an unspoken truth in that stillness—a collective breath held on the edge of unraveling.
Because deep down, every soul in that place knew—
The real twist hadn't come yet.
But it was coming.
And when it did, nothing would be the same.
And as I stood in that ring, shoulder to shoulder with a king whose mind I could not read and whose calm was more terrifying than any rage I'd ever known—
I knew, without a shadow of doubt—
Whatever came next would shatter everything I thought I understood.
Then, slowly... Nihilex turned his head toward me.
"Champ," he said in that maddeningly gentle tone. "Which Alpha would you like to choose between the two?"
I blinked, caught off guard. "Choose? Choose for what?"
He smiled—not warm, not kind, just composed, unnervingly so. "Simply... choose the one who stirs your interest."
I hesitated, then drew a quiet breath.
Without speaking his name, I pointed toward Deux.
I couldn't risk saying it aloud. Not here. Not now. He might recognize me. Worse—someone else might. And in a place like this, familiarity was a weakness.
"Very well," Nihilex replied, smooth as ever. "Then the remaining Alpha... shall be mine."
Something about the way he said it sent a chill crawling up my back.
What was he planning?
Why couldn't I read him?
His mind was a fogged mirror, always reflecting but never revealing.
"And now," Nihilex continued, stepping forward like a conductor before a grand orchestra, "I will declare my new decree for these two Alpha males."
I watched him closely, my heartbeat uneven.
"These two," he said, gesturing to Silver and Deux, "shall undergo a gene-altering phase—one that will rewire their biology. Their bodies will transform... and both of them shall become capable of pregnancy."
My heart stopped.
What?
My eyes flew wide as the words left his lips.
"They will be feminized," he said with that same unnerving calm, "beautifully, thoroughly, and irreversibly."
My hands began to tremble.
No. No, this couldn't be happening.
"And as for us," he added, turning his eyes toward me with a quiet finality, "Champ and I shall also undergo the gene-altering procedure... but in reverse. Our bodies will evolve, will be more masculine, more dominating. Our reproductive cells will become fertile. Our semen... will be the seed that bears new life within our chosen Alpha males."
The crowd erupted.
A deafening wave of cheers burst through the arena, echoing off steel walls like thunder trapped in a cage. Voices collided—screams of delight, applause sharp and relentless, manic laughter rippling like a wildfire with no direction, no mercy.
But I...
I didn't move.
I stood there, rooted to the floor as if the weight of the world had just dropped onto my shoulders.
Nihilex had chosen Silver.
I had chosen Deux.
And suddenly, the pieces slid into place like a blade sinking into flesh.
That meant...
I was the one meant to impregnate him?
My mouth opened slightly—instinctively, uselessly.
No words came out.
No breath.
Only the cold burn of realization flooding my veins.
It didn't make sense. It couldn't make sense.
My mind rejected it like poison, trying to twist the logic into something else, something less horrifying.
Because no matter how I turned the thought around...
It all led to the same impossible truth.
Me.
Deux.
And a fate I could never have imagined—even in my worst, most surreal dreams.
Even if you turned the world upside down, if you reversed time, rewrote fate—I'd never imagined myself doing that to him.
If anything... I'd rather he be the one who—
"Champ," Nihilex said, as if reading my mind. "I bestow this privilege upon you. Aside from myself, you shall be the first Omega male in history to impregnate an Alpha male."
I swallowed hard.
Suddenly, two soldiers in gleaming blue uniforms stepped onto the platform. In their hands—control collars.
No.
They marched toward Silver and Deux with mechanical precision. Before I could even lift a hand to stop them, something terrifying happened—
I couldn't move.
My limbs—paralyzed.
It was as if my body belonged to someone else.
His power.
I turned my eyes toward Nihilex, struggling to breathe.
He was smiling.
A soft, pleasant smile.
Like this was all just a performance.
Was he doing this to me? Was he controlling even me?
If he could dominate Omega males... then who exactly could resist him?
I watched helplessly as the collars clicked into place around Deux and Silver's necks. The soft hiss of the locking mechanism felt louder than thunder in my ears.
Fear twisted in my gut.
"Elexa," Nihilex called out calmly, "Escort the two Alphas to the Alpha Breeding Facility."
Elexa—who had been practically vibrating with joy—rushed forward, eyes wild with obsession.
"At last," she purred, placing her hand possessively on Silver's shoulder. "You always come back to me. You were mine once... and now, I can play with you again."
She raised her whip, preparing to strike him across the back.
But before it fell—she froze.
Nihilex's voice was quiet, but it cut through the air like a razor.
"Only I am permitted to touch or harm that Alpha."
A silence fell like ice.
Even Elexa looked shaken.
Her hand lowered slowly.
"I understand, Omega King," she said softly, and with trembling restraint, she led the collared Alphas away.
I couldn't bring myself to look at Deux.
Even with the collar around his neck, even as they dragged him away—I kept my eyes locked elsewhere.
Because if I looked at him, I'd see it.
The confusion.
The betrayal.
The helplessness.
And worse... I'd see the question behind his eyes.
Why me?
Why you?
My chest tightened.
What would he think of me now?
What could he think—after all this?
I couldn't read anything inside his mind. It's just a blank canvass of what he is thinking right now even if we are connected by our bond. It must have been the controlling collar that it's making him dormant.
And then, just as the weight of guilt began to bury me, I felt it.
That gaze.
Cold and deliberate.
Nihilex had turned back toward me.
He didn't speak a word.
He didn't need to.
He just smiled—that same smile he always wore. Calm. Empty. Beautifully terrifying.
The kind of smile you see on a painting that watches you even after you've turned away.
My stomach twisted, a slow, burning knot curling deep inside me.
He was planning something.
Of course he was.
He was always planning something.
And I was already a piece on his board.
There was no telling what lay behind that gaze—what sick blueprint of the future he was quietly unfolding, string by string.
Then, at last, he spoke.
"It's time we head to the Alpha Breeding Laboratory, Champ," he said softly. "There's something I wish to show you."
He took a step forward.
Graceful. Effortless. As if the ground itself welcomed his every move.
And to my horror...
I followed.
Not because I chose to.
Not because I wanted to.
But because my legs—my body—moved without my consent. Each step felt foreign, like I was a passenger trapped inside my own skin.
Something invisible had latched onto me, pulling me into his orbit.
No.
It was more than that.
The moment I stood beside him, I wasn't just next to the Omega King—I was inside his gravity. His dominion. His twisted realm where control wasn't demanded—it was taken.
I wasn't walking of my own will.
I was being drawn.
Possessed by a will stronger than my own.
And the most terrifying part?
It didn't feel like the climax.
It felt like the beginning.
A slow descent into something I couldn't name—into dark corridors where answers didn't exist, only revelations meant to break me.
I wasn't walking toward clarity.
I was being led into a nightmare wearing the mask of destiny.
And I knew—
I wouldn't wake up the same.
...
...
...
Within moments, we stepped into the Alpha Breeding Laboratory.
The atmosphere shifted instantly—sterile, humming with low electrical current, and filled with movement. Soldiers dressed in forest-green uniforms moved briskly from console to console, focused on tasks I couldn't even begin to understand. Everything was clinical. Efficient. Cold.
Nihilex walked ahead, as if this place belonged to him—which, I was starting to realize, it probably did.
We entered a glass chamber.
Inside, resting on a pristine white bed beneath sterile lights, was a figure.
At first glance, I assumed he was an Omega male—his features were soft, his skin pale and flawless, his frame lithe and graceful. His chest, though not exaggerated, held a subtle swell, his pinkish nipples slightly pronounced. His body was fully exposed, unashamedly so, revealing a delicate waist, and a manhood that resembled mine—small, altered, almost ornamental.
But the most jarring part?
His belly.
Full. Round. Alive.
A hand instinctively covered my mouth.
There was no mistaking it—he was pregnant.
"A pregnant Omega male?" I asked, my voice low and uncertain.
"You're mistaken," Nihilex replied, stepping beside the bed with reverent calm. "That... is an Alpha male. One who's undergone the complete gene-altering procedure. What you see before you is not just transformation—it is victory. The formula didn't just rewrite his body. It copied Omega DNA... and imprinted it into every Alpha chromosome."
My knees weakened.
This wasn't a theory.
This wasn't a prototype.
This was real.
I stepped forward and, almost without thinking, reached out—my fingers trembling—as they brushed against the tight, warm skin of the Alpha's distended stomach.
There was movement.
A gentle shift.
A life... stirring from within.
I gasped, breath catching in my throat.
Was I supposed to admire this?
Or fear it?
It was a marvel of science... and a horror of nature.
"This Alpha male will give birth soon," Nihilex murmured beside me. "Beautiful, isn't it? Watching an Alpha stripped of intimidation... made delicate... carrying life."
My thoughts raced.
This... this is what's going to happen to Deux... to others... once Nihilex succeeds.
"And now," Nihilex continued, turning away, "there's something else I'd like to show you. You'll be the first Omega male to witness it."
We left the chamber and entered another sealed room, deeper inside the lab. This one glowed faintly with emerald lights, the temperature slightly cooler.
There, I saw another figure—an Omega male dressed in a long green robe, his back to us as he worked at a glowing console, lines of code dancing across the screen like falling rain.
As we approached, Nihilex gestured casually.
"This is Nixon," he said. "The newly appointed commander of the Technological Faction."
Nixon glanced at me briefly before returning to his work. "The Omega gene-altering formula is in its final stage of completion," he reported. "Thanks to the data Melior left behind, I've almost completed it. The formula should be ready for testing."
"Excellent," Nihilex said with a soft smile.
I frowned. "Omega gene-altering formula?"
Nixon turned slightly, explaining with clinical precision. "It's the inverse of the Alpha gene-altering formula. It enhances Omega males—makes them physically more masculine. Enlarged manhoods, stronger physiques, a more dominant scent profile. Our semen becomes reproductive as well. In every measurable way, we'll match or surpass traditional Alpha traits."
I couldn't speak. My mind was spinning.
"And what's left?" Nihilex asked.
"I just need a test subject," Nixon replied.
The room went silent.
Then, Nihilex reached out and gently placed a hand on my arm.
"This one will do," he said.
I froze.
"What? Wait—why me?" I demanded, instinctively pulling away, but his grip was calm... and unmoving.
"Why not?" he replied, eyes still eerily gentle. "Isn't this what Omega males have longed for in Verilios? To walk without shame? To stand among Alphas, not as submissives—but more than what they are? Strong. Intimidating. Desired."
His voice dropped lower, hypnotic. "You'll never feel heat again, Champ. You'll never be reduced to craving. You'll become what the world said you could never be."
I opened my mouth to respond, but I couldn't speak.
Because a part of me—
A dangerous, silent part—
Wanted it.
And that terrified me most of all.
Before I fully became an Omega male, I used to dream of being an Alpha.
It wasn't just a childish fantasy—it was something drilled into me by my father. By Uncle Henry. Something that had been painted as the pinnacle of worth. The goal. The ideal.
And now... that dream stood before me, within reach.
The chance to finally possess the body I had always yearned for—the strength, the power, the presence of an Alpha male—was right here.
But for the first time... I hesitated.
Because the price wasn't just my body.
It was everything else.
A new life. A rewritten identity. A path I could never come back from.
And worst of all, it meant leaving behind who I was.
Leaving behind who Deux and I were.
We might never be the same.
"What's holding you back, Champ?" Nihilex asked, his voice like silk pulled over a blade. "You seem... unsure. Do you not realize how lucky you are? This—this is the dream of every Omega male in Verilios. And you... you are the first chosen."
I stared into his eyes—those calm, bottomless eyes that never betrayed a flicker of emotion—and drew in a slow breath.
"If my body changes... what else changes with it?" I asked, voice low.
Nixon answered before Nihilex could. His tone was clinical, detached. "Your physical stamina will spike. You'll grow stronger. More dominant. More aggressive. Emotionally, however... things will shift. Drastically."
He adjusted something on the console. "Your capacity for love, for empathy, for emotional attachment—those traits linked to Omega biology—will be wiped. You'll become intimidating. Logical. Assertive. In short... the embodiment of an Alpha male, though your genetic core will still technically remain Omega."
I clenched my jaw. "Then I refuse."
For the first time, Nihilex smiled.
Not out of amusement.
Not out of anger.
It was the kind of smile you give when the game's already over.
"You misunderstand, Champ," he said softly, "this was never a choice. I'm not asking you. I'm commanding you."
I barely had time to react.
Suddenly—my arms moved.
On their own.
Like marionette strings had been pulled from above.
My fingers reached for my shirt, and with mechanical obedience, I began to strip it from my body.
"Ngh—stop—" I tried to speak, but no sound escaped. My mouth refused to move.
Nihilex's voice echoed beside me, low and unwavering.
"In my presence, what I desire—happens. You are no exception, Champ."
I was trembling now.
The cold air bit at my exposed skin, making every nerve feel raw and vulnerable. My chest rose and fell in shallow, frantic breaths, bare beneath the harsh white light above me. I had never felt so visible—and yet so powerless.
My body was no longer mine.
I couldn't command my hands. I couldn't clench my fists. I couldn't even turn my head to run.
I had become a puppet—each movement not a decision, but a consequence of someone else's will.
And then... my legs began to move.
One step.
Another.
Steady. Controlled. Mechanical.
They carried me forward, across the sterile floor, toward the white medical bed that gleamed like an altar beneath a surgical spotlight.
I didn't want to go.
But I did.
Not by choice.
By force.
And when I reached the bed—my knees bent, my body lowered—I laid down.
Willingly? No.
Obediently? Absolutely.
I wasn't strapped in.
There were no restraints. No cuffs. No bindings.
But I couldn't move.
I didn't need chains.
I was already caged.
Frozen in place, as if Nihilex had sunk invisible claws into the very muscles of my body and whispered—submit.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Nixon move.
He approached his console, fingers gliding across glowing glyphs, the screen casting an eerie green hue across his face.
Something clicked.
Something began to whir.
And I knew...
Whatever was about to happen—I wouldn't be the same again.
A nearby machine began to hum with life, producing a slow, steady stream of translucent liquid into a small, pressurized container.
Then came the syringe.
Long. Silver. Precise.
He drew the formula into it with surgical calm.
"This is the first test run of the Omega Gene-Altering Formula," Nixon said. "I've never administered it before. I don't know how the body will react."
He looked at Nihilex.
"There's a chance—his body won't survive the transformation. The worst-case scenario... is death."
My breath caught in my throat—a sharp, ragged gasp that never made it past my lips.
I was frozen.
Not with fear, but with something far worse.
Paralysis.
My limbs refused to answer me. My voice—gone. My body had become a coffin of flesh, sealing me in with panic and dread.
This was it.
Not a battle.
Not a choice.
Not even a sacrifice.
This was a slow death.
A quiet execution—on a pristine white bed, beneath the sterile glow of laboratory lights, with no struggle, no final words... just stillness.
And then I looked at him.
Nihilex.
He didn't flinch.
Didn't hesitate.
Didn't care.
There was no pity in his eyes.
No cruelty, either.
Only a terrifying, unshakable calm.
Like a god admiring his creation before it broke.
"That's perfectly acceptable," Nihilex said, stepping closer.
He leaned down beside me, his hand brushing softly against my cheek.
"If you die here, Champ," he whispered, "then let it be my gift to Alaric. To watch the only thing he ever loved—his son—be destroyed."
My eyes widened, the shock hitting me like a blow to the chest.
He knew.
He had known all along.
About who I was. About my bloodline. About the truth I'd been hiding, even from myself.
But what chilled me wasn't the revelation.
It was his reaction.
He wasn't shouting.
He wasn't taunting me.
He didn't gloat.
There was no sadistic laughter. No theatrical rage.
Just silence.
And that still, measured gaze.
That unnerving calm.
It clung to the air like a suffocating fog, wrapping around my throat tighter than any scream ever could.
He didn't need to raise his voice.
Because his silence said everything.
And somehow... that made it a thousand times worse.
His composure wasn't mercy.
It was power—cold, unshakable, and absolute.
And in that moment, I realized something far more terrifying than death:
You don't fear the monsters that rage.
You fear the ones who smile.
...
"Let's begin," Nihilex murmured.
"Time to rewrite you... little Omega." Nixon whispered.
The needle kissed my skin—cold, clinical, merciless.
And then—pierced.
A sharp sting followed by a slow, sinking chill, like ice water being poured directly into my bloodstream.
I felt it.
Immediately.
Undeniably.
The serum was inside me.
And with it came the truth.
This wasn't transformation.
This wasn't evolution.
This was erasure.
Of identity.
Of emotion.
Of me.
It had already begun—silently, steadily—like a poison dressed as a promise.
I could feel it spreading.
Creeping through my veins like a whisper, winding its way into every cell, rewriting what I was—who I was.
First, a numbness in my fingertips. Then a tremor in my spine.
Each pulse of my heart delivered more of the change.
And all I could do...
Was feel it happen.
I was being overwritten.
Not reforged into something new—
But dismantled.
From the inside out.
End of Chapter 48