The Dawn of the New World

Arnett tried his best not to appear anxious since that was the one thing that would only get him deeper into trouble. The teenager looked back at him with an unwavering gaze, staring directly into his eyes.

Arnett felt like he had fallen under a spell. He couldn't look away or think properly. He could feel someone prying into his brain as if it was a box of toys. His deepest thoughts were being pulled out from the root.

He felt like crying, like shouting for help but he knew no one would come. No one ever did, not even once. All he could do was sit there and take it.

Thankfully he was interrupted soon after by one of the other teens. It was the same girl that placed the barrier around the door.

"Viper, what's the plan now? You said you would tell us more once we got into Argham and here we are."

This teen was in fact Eurig the Viper himself. He had managed to somehow "change" bodies with his own grandson not too long ago. (Ch 656/657)

This would mean the other teens were the various leaders of the human tribes that had decided to join him and accept his offer of having another beginning so late in their lives.

Eurig blinked, breaking the spell Arnett was under and allowing him a moment of reprieve as he redirected his attention towards his new "comrades".

After the first girl spoke up the remaining six of them also gathered around him. They might be in the same boat now but there was no way they could just ignore Viper's past as if it didn't exist. He was a cruel, ruthless and calculating individual throughout his life who only looked out for himself.

And yet, he had gone out of his way to "help" get have a second chance at life. And not only that but give them their new power.

He smiled in his usual confident manner as if everything was under his control and all the answers were made known to him.

"Sure, ask away. I promised you answers and answers you shall get, my dear friends."

The others exchanged knowing glances with one another. They had obviously already prepared the questions. They all pulled their shirts open to reveal dark red vein-like markings over each of their hearts.

"What is this? And how is it related to this new power we can use out of nowhere? You never mentioned anything about it before."

Eurig could only laugh at their cynically despondent view of him. He pulled down his shirt to reveal the exact same mark over his own heart. His was a lot more clear than the other and took the shape of six very small wings, like that of a fly.

"It is the proof of your power. By agreeing to my demands and throwing away your previous shells you have become something new, something MORE than a mere human. I'm sure you all could feel it too right? That rush of power, the ability to smell fear from those around us, to manipulate it even if we feel like it."

"All that is only what's on the surface. Each of your marks will give you an arsenal of your own, a personal suite of abilities that are made only for you. Knowledge about these powers will come to you naturally as time passes."

To show what he was talking about Eurig extended his left hand in plain view of the rest. Large black and red veins began to sprout from within his flesh as his skin became discolored, turning darker and darker while his fingernails grew to twice their size.

Each fingernail looked like it was alive with vicious green liquid pooling on the inside.

"Observe."

He walked over to the infant that was still crying loudly and held his hand over its open mouth. A drop of green liquid oozed out and fell down, swallowed by the newborn.

Silence fell over the room the very next second. The crying had died down but the infant was still moving about.

Arnett's expression turned ugly but there was nothing he could do. He walked back to the bed and embraced Eva as tightly as he possibly could without hurting her. She was shaking like a leaf in the wind, colder than the forest they had just come from.

He began to hum a lullaby to drown out the voices of Eurig and the others, closing himself off completely.

"You'll be okay. We'll be okay. I won't let anything happen to you, no matter what."

Behind him on the other bed, something unimaginable was taking place. Right under their eyes the infant began to change.

His skin turned a shade of dark green. his head grew to twice its size while thick bulging muscles formed around its limbs.

No more than a minute later it was standing on its own two feet. Its facial features were exaggerated to the extreme as if someone had tried to make a doll without actually seeing a real human.

His eyes were bright yellow, protruding out from their sockets like overripe pickled eggs. Four sharp fangs protruded from its otherwise toothless mouth and black veins covered most of its body. It began looking around the room before fixating its gaze on Eurig.

"W-What in God's name is that thing?!" the others backed away in a mixture of shock and disgust.