Scylla came stomping out of the portal that been holding her for a while. She had never felt the sun above her head, nor the marshy lands below her feet, yet it all felt awkwardly familiar. The moment she flapped her boundless wings, it felt like the swamp was hit by a cyclone. Every step she took sent tremors down the earth. When she stretched her neck, the trees overseeing the swamps were ripped apart. The sight was destructive yet majestic at the same time. She truly deserved the title of a queen, the queen of all dragons.

Right next to her stood a man, wearing a cloak made from the scales of the strongest dragon to have ever lived. His hands were deep in his pockets. His expression was as calm as a meditating monk. It felt like the man wasn't worried at all about the giant creature that stood right beside him. And he had a reason not to be intimidated by the dragon, after all, the dragon was one of his pets. One he had nurtured ever since the dragon was still bounded by its unbreakable eggshell.

​​

He was the master of the dragon. He was the one who effortlessly killed opponents whom no one could defeat. He was the man no one should ever anger. He was Arnold Ling, and right now he wanted to play a game. A game of death.

"Reinforcing the building with titanium and installing defences were all good moves," Arnold yelled at the top of his lungs. He wanted to make sure his enemies knew who exactly was going to kill them, "You might've been able to stop your ordinary monsters or humans. But as you can see, neither this dragon is ordinary nor is her master."

He continued, "Devon! I know you're in there. There's no need to cause a massacre here. If you care about your workers or whatever the fck you call them, then walk out now. I'll just kill you and it'll be all over. If not, well... Then I guess y'all are going to die tonight."

Arnold had become somewhat of an expert in engaging his enemies with psychological warfare. He wasn't intending on leaving anyone alive. In his eyes all of them deserved death for what they did to him, Alice, Allen and countless innocents. Don't get him wrong, he wasn't playing hero by exacting justice upon his enemy. He was doing it all because they crossed his path time and time again.

Also, he didn't mean a word of what he said. He only said those things because he wanted to spark distrust between Devon and his soldiers. No matter how strong his army was, no one in their right mind would walk out and fight against a dragon. Arnold knew this after his fight with Tiamut. If someone like Johnny could freeze from fear in front of a dragon, the useless soldiers would be crapping their pants just by thinking about fighting off a dragon.

However, if Devon actually walked out of the base, which Arnold doubted a selfish piece of sh*t like him would do, it would save Arnold some trouble. You see, Arnold wanted to get a hold of the swamp as well as Devon's hideout for his future plans. Thus, letting Scylla loose on them would definitely stir up some undesired trouble for him. It would be a set back for Arnold but it wouldn't affect his plans in the long run. So either way, it was a win-win for him.

He waited and waited. No reply came from the inside. Right when he was about to give them a last warning, a horde of Inhumans, Lizardmen and humans in mech suits came charging out of the building. From a distance, they appeared to be courageous. But the reality couldn't be more distinct.

With no other choice, Arnold gave Scylla a command, "Hunt."

***

A few minutes ago, inside Devon's hideout...

The appearance of Scylla had thrown everyone out of their heads. It was utter chaos. The panic grew stronger into the day as their mental faculties gave way to emotions. All of them have lost their minds.

The only one who looked to be calm was Devon. But even he was shocked beyond anything. He had seen the amount of chaos a single dragon could cause after Tiamut appeared. He wasn't stronger than the syndicate, neither did he had the sources to deal with a dragon himself. Most of his strength laid with his alliance with the Lizardmen but he doubted even they could handle a dragon on their own.

He was confident enough in his traps and soldiers to take care of the syndicate. But just the thought of dealing with a dragon threw everything out of the equation. When all seemed lost, a man's voice echoed through the entirety of the hideout.

"Devon! I know you're in there. There's no need to cause a massacre here. If you care about your workers or whatever the fck you call them, then walk out now. I'll just kill you and it'll be all over. If not, well... Then I guess y'all are going to die tonight."

The next moment, everyone calmed down. They had a way out! All of them could be saved if their leader was willing to sacrifice himself for their sake. He should do it, right? After all, they all had been serving him for so long. Shouldn't he repay their kindness in death? They had committed countless crimes to please him and now it was his turn to save their lives. He should go out... No, he will go out there and die. If he doesn't, they'll throw him out with brute force!

That's what was going through the head of everyone. Devon instantly understood what their gazes meant. But didn't make a move other than shaking his head at their stupidity.

For starters, he knew Arnold was baiting them by dangling the carrot of letting them live. He knew a lot about Arnold. Maybe more than anyone else. He had done his research on him, his erratic behaviour and everything else that he could. He was positive that Arnold was planning on killing them all. He wasn't a guy to forgive and forget. Sadly, his subordinates and followers were too blind to see the truth.

"Leader! You will save us right?" One of the girls shrieked.

"Yes yes, the leader is kind. He'll gladly die if it meant helping us out." Yet another man chimed in.

Slowly everyone started to surround him.

"There's no point arguing with anyone," Devon mumbled before pulling his tab out and tap it twice.

The next moment, there was a loud buzzing sound in the far corner of the room. Everyone turned around to see what was going on. To their horror, the man who was secretly trying to open the gates got electrocuted in front of their eyes.

Unbeknownst to them, the chip inside their bodies had a hidden function. A function no one knew of apart from Devon. Not even Devon's most trusted man Alex.

It was a fail-safe Devon placed inside their bodies to ensure their continued 'support' to himself. He had foreseen something like this to happen and that's why he used the chips.

Before anyone could completely process what the hell was going on, Devon electrocuted a dozen men and women.

"You want me to die? Have you not learned a single fcking thing about me after spending all these years with me?" Devon smiled like a maniac, "Oh, I'll die today. That's certain. But not before all of you! Now pick up the weapons and charge out or else, I'll kill you before that asshole does."

They were doomed. They'll die no matter the choice they made. But Devon was thinking about a different thing entirely. He might've resigned to his fate, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to put up a fight. For him, Gary's survival was the only thing that mattered and he needed time to ensure his son's safety. If Arnold was to storm the building right now, Gary would inevitably get caught in the mess and Devon had to prevent that from happening at all costs. Even if it meant killing everyone off, including himself.