Past 1: CH 2 Part 1 The Droplet of Betrayal

The Past I: Sheree Backstory Chapter 2, Part 1: The Droplet of Betrayal The chronological timeline shifted backward, smoothly re-anchoring its grid lines inside the grand medieval fortress exactly two hours before the royal lunch hour. Bathed in the quiet, dim shadows of the towering castle corridors, there was absolutely no one around. Relying on his highly sophisticated alchemical cloaking matrix, Lord Drago utilized his ability to hide perfectly in the moving shadows. He warped his green-skinned, multi-eyed true monstrous form behind an illusion vestige, disguising himself as an old, highly respected royal counselor named Sir Griffin. Walking with a slow, rhythmic click of his boots, the cloaked villain confidently slipped past the main storage columns, sliding through the heavy wooden doors into the roaring heat of the royal kitchen room. Master Chef: [Stirring a massive copper pot of soup, turning around with a comically expressive anime sweat drop on his temple] "Ah! Hello, Sir Griffin! How are you doing today, sir? Are you... are you really certain that you possess that specialized formula inside your robes to secure the princess's wine platter?" Lord Drago: [Disguised as Sir Griffin, flashing a slow, chilling smile as he reaches into his black vest] "I sure do. Behold... the bright green potion formula. It is exceptionally potent. Now, I just need to put a tiny drop... exactly one drop into this royal crystal bottle. Check it closely, and do not ask any further questions why I say so. Okay?" Moving with calculated precision, Drago uncorked the glass vial, letting a single, glowing, radioactive neon-green drop fall smoothly into the crimson liquid. The alchemical data tracks dissolved instantly into the wine matrix, finalizing the poison payload. Lord Drago: "It is finally done. Now... before you go deliver this tray to the throne room, there is one critical thing my regular minions cannot handle alone. They need genuine, high-grade noble knight armor plates to successfully infiltrate the inner guard tracks. So... it is time to unleash your absolute physical transformation out in the courtyard. Besides, you cannot hold that heavy cosmic payload back much longer, can you... Alpha?" Enchainer-Alpha: [His muffled voice vibrating deeply through the kitchen walls from the isolated outer yard]"The exact time has come. I have absolutely no choice left but to kill every single guard out there. But can you cast the silent barrier array? We cannot let a single loud sound wave escape outside into the main city layout." Lord Drago: "I sure can." Muttering a low, guttural alchemical chant, Drago unleashed a massive ripple of dark magic spell designs from his fingertips. The dark purple barrier expanded instantly over the masonry, creating an absolute soundproof barrier shroud. No one near Princess Sheree, the guarding knights, or the civilian city outside would be able to hear a single scream, clash, or bone breaking during the upcoming coup. Outside on the stone tiles, Enchainer-Alpha violently broke his human limits. Because he had a stolen, high-tier Void Hunter core weapon forcefully embedded directly inside his chest layout, his body layers experienced a catastrophic, creepy biological rewrite. His flesh fused directly with bio-mechanical plate layers, his bone-skull faceplate expanding with an intense dark blue fire aura as he morphed into a towering, 15-foot tall Deadly Class Triple-S Rank Ethereal Enchainer monstrosity! A large squad of loyal noble silver Great Knights patrolling the courtyard saw this nightmare creature break into the real world. They completely freaked out, their One Piece style faces warping in sheer horror—because an Ethereal monstrosity of that scale was supposed to be securely locked inside the active Hollow tracks, not pacing freely around the pristine castle grounds! Great Knight 1: "A Triple-S Ethereal has escaped into the real world?! Sound the alarm—UGH!" But his voice was completely choked out by the silent barrier. Laughing with a terrifying, mechanical shonen bass rumble, Alpha lunged forward with absolute light-speed velocity. He single-handedly slaughtered the entire lot of them, his massive claws cleanly crushing their iron armors and wiping their health bars out without making a single external noise. Once the yard was silent, Alpha dragged the heavy armor plates off the dead soldiers, passing them directly to Drago's waiting alchemical minions. The dark knights slipped into the silver armor suits, establishing a flawless, undetectable network of disguised noble palace guards. Lord Drago walked out onto the stone yard, checking the security feeds on his hand terminal. He glanced down at the automated dungeon telemetry logs, noticing that an elite four-player Void Hunter squad had somehow managed to breach the subterranean gates. He shrugged his shoulders with complete, arrogant indifference. Lord Drago: "Hmph... it appears those meddling Void Hunters have somehow bypassed our frontend lines and infiltrated the lower dungeon tracks. I don't care anyway. There are two massive, hyper-lethal boss entities stationed down there in the dark blocks... they probably cannot get past them anyway. For now... we shall remain fully focused on the princess's lunch hour."