[Timeline One — Silthara Palace — Night — Malika's Private Residence]
The empire had already fallen. Silthara Palace...the symbol of Zahryssar's glory was burning. Entire wings of the palace had collapsed beneath crimson flames.
Pillars that had stood for centuries crumbled one after another; the banners of the Silver Serpent burned into ash.
Outside...the night sky had turned blood-red; thousands upon thousands of serpents fled the capital in their true forms, not because they wished to abandon their homeland...but because remaining inside Silthara meant certain death.
The air itself had become poison.
No, something even worse. Black Lotus pheromones. A prime alpha's wrath was so overwhelming that even Alphas could no longer breathe.
It spread across the capital like a divine curse; every creature that inhaled it collapsed, every heart that resisted it eventually stopped beating, and even the flames seemed to retreat before its overwhelming pressure.
