**This chapter is only for readers 18+ and contains disturbing scenes. Please read it at your own risk.**
With the core's power flowing through my veins, I felt the transformation begin.
The air was thick with tension, almost palpable, as darkness seemed to close in like a living presence.
The room trembled imperceptibly, as if reality itself were wavering under the weight of the dark energy I had absorbed.
Every shadow stretched, distorting, and a chill of suspense filled the air, heralding imminent disaster.
Suddenly, a mechanical clang shattered the silence, breaking the apparent calm.
The walls shifted, revealing a series of hidden slots from which complex and deadly machinery emerged.
It was the beginning of the Omega Protocol, a series of deadly traps activated by my enemies.
And although I became aware of the presence of my enemies, I reacted too late, too immersed in my thirst for power.
The first attack was sudden: a wave of sharp blades shot out from the walls, rushing towards me with inhuman speed.
With reflexes amplified by the core's power, I managed to dodge them just in time, hearing the hiss of air cut by their tips inches from my body.
But I knew it wasn't over.
The traps weren't just mechanical; another danger lurked in the darkness.
Silent figures emerged from the shadows, assassins trained in the dark, sent by my enemies to eliminate me.
Cloaked in black, their faces were hidden, armed with gleaming blades.
Their eyes, cold and calculating, were fixed on me.
Their presence was almost imperceptible, but the power I had consumed allowed me to sense them, like a distant echo in my newly heightened awareness.
The first of them lunged at me, blade in hand. Instinctively, I raised mine, blocking the blow with a strength I didn't expect.
The blade of my knife glowed with an unsettling light, reflecting the core's energy.
With a violent push, I threw him away, but already two others were upon me, attacking from different angles.
Their coordination was perfect, lethal.
But now, so was I.
I moved with superhuman fluidity, wielding a much greater force that I felt coursing through me.
My power and stats were growing, almost out of control.
Every movement was accompanied by an evident physical transformation.
My veins pulsed with an iridescent glow, my skin seemed harder, almost metallic to the touch.
My muscles swelled unnaturally, and my nails elongated into sharp claws.
I felt the core's energy permeate every cell of my body, transforming me into something monstrous and powerful.
With a roar of fury, I unleashed a wave of dark energy, which exploded from my hand, overwhelming my attackers and flinging them away.
Their silence turned to muffled screams, then back to the silence of death.
I was breathing heavily, my heart pounding, but the Omega Protocol wasn't over.
A sudden hiss made me turn just in time to see another trap activate: green flames, bright with alchemical fire, erupted from the floor, trying to engulf me.
I jumped back, feeling the unbearable heat brush my face.
There was no respite.
As I dodged the flames, metal cages descended from the ceiling with a speed that tested my enhanced reflexes.
One of them managed to capture me, closing tightly around me.
The darkness grew thicker, as if everything around me was being sucked into an unyielding grip.
As the metal cages closed around me, I felt a crushing pressure envelop me.
The darkness seemed to press against my skin, amplifying every sensation.
My breathing became heavier, each heartbeat a drumroll pounding in my chest.
The core's energy, which had been pulsing beneath the surface, exploded with unprecedented violence.
My body began to change irreversibly.
The veins beneath my skin glowed with an iridescent light, as if filled with liquid lava.
Every heartbeat seemed to pump this light deeper, spreading it everywhere.
My skin itself began to mutate, becoming harder and more resistant, like a natural metal armor.
To the touch, it felt cold and inhuman, with a dull glow reflecting the green flames still dancing around me.
My muscles bulged and deformed, growing disproportionately.
Every muscle fiber seemed to stretch and tear, only to rebuild stronger than before.
The sensation was one of excruciating pain, mixed with a kind of dark euphoria.
My hands extended into sharp claws, my nails transforming into thick, black blades, strong enough to cut through steel.
The transformation wasn't just external; I felt my mind wavering under the core's influence, my thoughts becoming more chaotic, imbued with a thirst for destruction and power.
My face reflected in a shiny surface of molten metal dripping from the ceiling.
My eyes, once normal, now glowed with a deep red, emanating an unsettling light.
The pupils had become thin slits, like those of a predator, and the smile that spread across my face was distorted, revealing sharp and irregular teeth, like those of a beast.
My transformation was complete.
I was no longer just a human with superhuman powers; I had become a creature, a monster fueled by the core's dark energy.
My mind, though still conscious, was now invaded by destructive thoughts.
I wanted to see the world burn, hear the sound of bones breaking, taste the blood and terror.
With a guttural growl, I lunged at the bars of the cage, which bent under my newfound strength.
With one last effort, I tore them apart, and the metal structure crumpled like paper.
I stood up, breathing deeply, feeling the air charged with dark energy and the electric tension of the darkness.
Each step made the floor tremble beneath me, and every movement was accompanied by a metallic, unsettling sound, like the roar of an infernal machine.
I had become a living manifestation of the core's dark power.
And with this new power, I knew I would stop at nothing.
I was the monster lurking in the darkness, the ultimate predator, and my transformation was only the beginning of a new era of chaos and destruction.