Draktharion stood straight and utterly still as he faced this enigma of a man in front of him.
Carius Valarius. The Apex of the Dimensari Race.
Among all the Apexes, he had been labeled the most dangerous of them all. Back when the other Apexes hadn't even met each other, when many of them were still struggling to grow stronger and undergo their third Life Weapon Trial, Carius had already been active.
He had already been planning ways to whittle down the competition and end up as the sole remaining reincarnator on Eldoralth.
He was cold. Ruthless. And most dangerous of all, he was a planner.
Draktharion wasn't much of a planner. He was prideful, a brute to his core. However, even he was smart enough to realize the danger of people like Carius.
As soon as he felt Carius's presence, Draktharion had raised his guard to the absolute peak. His entire body had tensed, and he was ready for battle at any given second.
Yet, despite all of these precautions, Carius's first statement had shattered everything.
Draktharion's eyes narrowed to the point where they were barely visible. His voice rumbled, thick with restrained fury.
"What did you just say?"
Carius watched, unbothered, as Draktharion's rage grew.
The Dragon Apex's muscles coiled like tightly wound steel, his molten eyes burning dangerously.
His wings twitched. His claws flexed, as if seconds away from rending the Dimensari Apex into pieces.
Yet, despite all of that,
Carius stood still. He observed Draktharion like he was studying an inevitable outcome.
"You're not worth repeating myself for."
"You said you would help me see my family again?"
Draktharion's voice was gravel, his teeth clenched so tightly it was a wonder they hadn't shattered.
Carius's abyssal gaze remained fixed on him.
"I will grant you the privilege of seeing your family again." He corrected.
BOOM!
Draktharion stomped forward, his sheer presence shaking the void itself.
"Bullshit!" he roared. "How is that even possible!?"
Carius's tone remained leveled.
"By submitting to me and following my orders."
A faint glow flickered in his abyssal eyes, a small ripple. But Draktharion was far too enraged to notice.
"No!" He snarled, slamming his fist into his palm. "That's not it. How will you make me see my family again!?"
His breathing grew heavy. His heart pounded.
He knew, he knew, he wasn't supposed to believe a single word coming from Carius's mouth.
He was a planner. A manipulator.
But the moment those words had left Carius's lips, something inside him fractured.
A weakness.
One he couldn't ignore, no matter how absurd it sounded.
The Dragon Apex shook his head.
"Some being reincarnated all of us into this world!" His claws flexed. "You're in the same position as all of us! What makes you think I would be stupid enough to fall for this nonsense!?"
His breath quickened, nostrils flaring.
"What lies are you yapping about—"
Then, his thoughts stopped.
"Wait a second… How do you even know about my past!?"
Silence.
It was a horrifying realization, one that Draktharion was struggling to comprehend. He had never told anyone. Not a single soul.
So how did Carius know?
But Carius didn't speak. Didn't blink. Didn't move.
He simply stared at Draktharion.
In manipulation, the most effective tactic was to let the manipulated fill in the blanks themselves.
Or at least, try to.
Carius allowed the silence to stretch.
He let the doubts fester, let the thoughts swirl uncontrollably in Draktharion's head.
And as he did this, he pondered the situation.
'It's possible.'
During the Nexus, when Carius had taken over his grandfather's dimension and turned the entire competition into a deathmatch, he had also gained insight into many things.
One of them was an ability.
An ability none of the Dimensari had ever awakened.
Carius had named it;
Paradox Imprisonment.
It took time to figure out how to use it effectively.
It was akin to the Dimensional Loop, but this one targeted the mind. A terrifying ability that trapped a target in a logical paradox, eventually forcing their mind into submission.
With it, he could distort their perception of reality so profoundly that they couldn't take any action without contradicting themselves.
But to do this, Carius first had to get into their mind.
This was where the second insight had come in.
Because he had taken control over the dimension and clashed wills with the other Apexes, Carius had gained glimpses of their memories.
However, it was only those he had overpowered. For Atticus and many of the other superior Apexes, he hadn't gained anything.
Still, among those he had glimpsed, only two were alive. And he determined this particular dragon to be the best option.
The seconds passed.
Yet, Carius still didn't answer.
Suddenly, something shifted in the air.
A suffocating, yet subtle force. An unseen presence slithered through the space. The air around Draktharion became distorted but the Dragon hadn't noticed.
In an instant, his mind exploded as millions of questions flooded in.
"What if he was telling the truth?"
"What if the being had told him about my past?"
"What if… I could see my family again…?"
Draktharion hated it.
He hated all the questions.
Hated that he was fighting a battle within himself.
Hated that for the briefest moment, he wasn't sure of himself anymore.
Then, Carius spoke.
"I've been in contact with the being that brought us to this world. He granted me three requests if I fulfilled certain conditions."
"I will grant you one of those requests. Submit yourself to me and follow my every order."
The air became scorching as an intense heat radiated from Draktharion's body.
He could feel something encroaching into his mind, something foreign and yet, natural.
The questions and contradictions in his head intensified. His hand clenched so hard that his fist cracked and bled.
With teeth gritted to the extreme, he spoke words that he had never thought he would speak.
"…What is expected of me?"
Carius let the silence linger for a moment before speaking…
And as he finished, Draktharion's eyes widened to their extremes.
"Never!" He roared. "I owe him my life! A dragon's honor is everything! I would rather die!"
Carius's placid gaze didn't change.
"Your life isn't what's at stake here. You were betrayed. Stabbed in the back by your closest aides."
"What do you think will happen to them?"
Draktharion froze. His earlier rage evaporated. His mind spun fast, his teeth grinding against each other.