2 WHO ARE YOU?
The roar of the newborn dragon rolled across Adamawa State like thunder.
Then, for a brief moment, the world became quiet again.
AETERNUS hovered above the frozen street beneath the shattered heavens, his eight crimson wings spread wide against the crimson glow staining the sky.
Far below him, the neighborhood looked almost unrecognizable now.
Buildings burned in the distance.
Smoke drifted upward through cracks in the atmosphere.
Somewhere farther away, people were still screaming.
The world had changed in less than an hour.
And somehow, he had changed even more than the world itself.
AETERNUS lowered his gaze to his claws.
Blue frost flames flickered between crimson scales as unfamiliar instincts moved naturally through his body.
Every breath carried power.
Every heartbeat felt unnaturally heavy.
No… Not unnatural.
Draconic.
The realization sent another thrill through him.
The system was real.
The monsters were real.
And the strength flowing through his veins was real too.
Slowly, he forced himself to calm down.
The scales covering his body began retreating beneath his skin.
His enormous wings dissolved into crimson particles of energy before disappearing completely.
A few seconds later, he stood on the frozen street in human form once again, breathing slowly while traces of cold mist drifted around him.
Then reality returned to him all at once.
His family.
AETERNUS immediately turned and sprinted home.
The front door slammed open hard enough to shake the walls.
“Mum!” Julie Olaniyi instinctively stepped backward.
For a second, she simply stared at him.
“…Who are you?” The question hit harder than he expected.
AETERNUS stopped moving.
“Mum…?” Even to his own ears, his voice sounded different now—deeper, calmer, carrying a strange weight beneath every word.
Julie’s expression shifted between shock and uncertainty.
The young man standing before her barely resembled the son she knew.
His skin, once warm brown, had become unnaturally pale beneath the morning light.
White hair fell loosely around his face, streaked with crimson and icy blue.
His sapphire eyes glowed faintly, beautiful in a way that almost didn’t feel human anymore.
Even the temperature around him seemed colder.
Mayowa stood near the living room doorway, equally stunned.
“Ayo…?” AETERNUS blinked.
Then understanding finally hit him.
He turned quickly toward the cracked mirror hanging beside the hallway.
The moment he saw his reflection, he went completely still.
“…Oh.” For several long seconds, nobody spoke.
He really had changed.
Not just his appearance.
Something deeper felt different too.
His posture.
His instincts.
The way power moved quietly beneath his skin.
Even his own reflection felt unfamiliar.
Those eyes especially.
They no longer looked like ordinary human eyes.
Julie approached carefully, as though afraid sudden movement might provoke something dangerous.
“What happened to you?” The fear in her voice was subtle, but he heard it immediately.
And for the first time since gaining his power, excitement gave way to guilt.
He hadn’t meant to frighten them.
But at the same time… a part of him couldn’t stop feeling happy.
“Mum,” he said quietly, “I think… I finally became what I always wanted.” Julie stared at him for another moment.
Then, slowly, her expression softened.
Because she understood exactly what he meant.
Ever since childhood, Ayomide had loved dragons with almost frightening intensity.
While other children obsessed over football or superheroes, he spent years reading myths, sketching winged creatures into old notebooks, and talking endlessly about ancient beings that transcended humanity.
It had never been a phase.
Sometimes even Julie worried about how deeply he disappeared into those fantasies.
And now— somehow— those fantasies had become reality.
“You really became a dragon?” she asked softly.
A small laugh escaped him, almost disbelieving himself.
“Yeah,” he admitted.
“Apparently I did.” Mayowa slowly circled him, still staring openly.
“This is insane,” she muttered.
“You don’t even look human anymore.” AETERNUS rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.
“I noticed.” Despite everything happening outside, the moment briefly felt strangely normal again.
Like siblings trying to process something impossible together.
Then his expression shifted.
“There’s something else.” Julie and Mayowa looked at him immediately.
“My name changed.” Julie frowned.
“Changed?” He nodded slowly.
The words felt strange in his chest, yet oddly natural at the same time.
“I’m not Ayomide anymore.” Cold mist spread faintly around his feet.
“My name is AETERNUS ASGORATH MORNINGSTAR.” Silence filled the room again.
Even Mayowa felt goosebumps rise along her arms hearing the name aloud.
It sounded ancient.
Heavy.
Like something that belonged to another age entirely.
But before anyone could respond, another thought struck him.
Dad.
Tomi.
Temitope.
Damilola.
His heartbeat tightened instantly.
His father should still be at work.
The girls were supposed to be at school.
Outside, the world was collapsing.
AETERNUS looked toward Julie immediately.
“Mum, did you get the system too?” She nodded slowly.
“A blue screen appeared in front of me.” “Same here,” Mayowa added.
Relief eased some of the pressure in his chest.
At least they were alive.
“At least you’re safe,” he murmured.
Then his expression hardened again.
“I’m going to find Dad and the others.” Julie looked worried immediately.
“Ayo—” “AETERNUS,” he corrected gently.
The correction surprised even him.
The new name already felt strangely natural.
Julie sighed quietly before nodding.
“…AETERNUS, please come back safely.” His expression softened slightly.
“I will.” Mayowa crossed her arms, trying to hide her fear behind annoyance.
“You better.
I’m not explaining this nonsense to Dad by myself.” A small smile appeared on his face.
For a moment, things almost felt normal again.
Almost.
“When I get back,” he said quietly, “we’ll figure everything out together.” Then he turned and walked outside.
The neighborhood had become eerily silent.
Several cars sat abandoned in the middle of the road.
Gates hung open carelessly.
Somewhere farther away, smoke drifted above the city skyline while distant explosions echoed through Adamawa.
AETERNUS walked slowly at first, scanning the surroundings carefully.
No monsters nearby.
No civilians either.
Only the unsettling silence of a world trying to survive its first apocalypse.
An elderly man peeked out from behind a gate as AETERNUS passed.
The old man froze instantly after seeing his glowing blue eyes.
“A-are you human?” he whispered.
AETERNUS paused.
For a moment, he genuinely didn’t know how to answer.
“…I’m still trying to figure that out myself.” Then he continued walking.
When he reached an empty stretch of road, he stopped and looked upward toward the fractured sky.
Part of him still couldn’t believe any of this was happening.
Then another thought surfaced.
Flying.
A slow grin spread across his face.
Let’s try that again.
The transformation began almost instinctively.
Crimson energy erupted around him while freezing blue flames spiraled outward across the street.
Frost spread rapidly over the concrete beneath his feet.
This time, however, the pain felt more controlled.
More familiar.
Scales flowed across his skin like living armor.
His body expanded rapidly as four pairs of enormous wings burst outward behind him.
A massive tail struck the frozen ground while purple energy crackled through the air around him.
Within moments, the crimson dragon stood in the center of the ruined street once more.
Even in his hatchling state, his presence carried overwhelming pressure.
Nearby walls cracked beneath the force of his aura.
AETERNUS slowly spread his wings.
The movement felt natural now.
As though this body had always belonged to him.
Then he launched upward.
The ground exploded beneath him as the dragon ascended into the sky.
Cold wind crashed against his scales while Adamawa spread out beneath him in terrifying clarity.
Smoke rose from collapsed streets.
Cars burned across intersections.
Some monsters still hunted through parts of the city while survivors fled desperately between buildings.
And above all of it— the shattered heavens loomed like a wound across reality itself.
For several moments, AETERNUS simply flew in silence.
So this is freedom.
Not imagined.
Not dreamed.
Real.
The sensation almost overwhelmed him.
For years he had fantasized about dragons, flight, transcendence—about becoming something beyond ordinary humanity.
Now reality itself had answered those desires.
Then a heavy rumbling echoed through his chest.
AETERNUS frowned slightly before realizing what it was.
His heartbeat.
Deep.
Powerful.
Almost ancient.
The realization should have frightened him more than it did.
Instead, part of him liked it.
His gaze moved toward the distant hospital district.
Dad should still be there… Worry slowly replaced some of his excitement.
Power didn’t matter if his family died before he could protect them.
Then suddenly— every instinct inside him screamed.
Danger.
AETERNUS twisted his massive body sideways instinctively.
A gigantic black spear tore through the air where his head had been moments earlier.
The shockwave alone shattered nearby windows.
His pupils narrowed immediately.
Far below, standing atop a destroyed building, was a towering humanoid creature nearly ten meters tall.
Its dark skin resembled layered armor, and crimson light glowed from beneath cracks running across its body.
Another spear of black energy slowly formed in its hand.
The creature stared directly at him.
Then it smiled.
A cold feeling settled inside AETERNUS immediately.
This thing was intelligent.
Not an animal.
Not mindless.
The creature pointed its spear upward.
“You,” it said, its voice distorted and heavy, “should not exist.” System notifications exploded across AETERNUS’s vision.
[WARNING.] [HIGH-RANK ENTITY DETECTED.] [ENTITY HAS IDENTIFIED USER AS A THREAT.] [SURVIVAL PROBABILITY CALCULATING…] [ERROR.] [ERROR.] [ERROR.] The creature vanished.
AETERNUS’s instincts exploded.
Behind— Too late.
The black spear slammed into his side with catastrophic force.
Pain erupted through his body as his massive dragon form crashed through multiple buildings below.
The earth shook violently.
Concrete collapsed around him.
Smoke and debris swallowed the street.
Deep within the destruction, glowing sapphire eyes slowly opened again.
And for the first time since obtaining his new power— AETERNUS understood something terrifying.
He was not the only monster that had arrived on Earth.