Chapter 11: 2-3: Operation Threesome part 4

I opened the door leading to the Shabti workshop, chewing on the remains of a sandwich. Even when she was too irked to put much effort into it, Archer was still a fabulous cook. I picked up the crystal my Shabti communicated to, examining it for a moment.

Shabti communicated using their stored memories rather than text, which made it impossible for anyone but the person they were made from to read the memory packet. They included memories they believed to be relevant in an ordered manner to give a broad image of what they had discovered. I kept my crystal in the basement of the house, along with the resources needed to create new Shabti. It was going to take a while to sort through all the new 'reports', though, so I was just picking up the crystal to take it into the living room.

I palmed the crystal, turned around, and walked back up the stairs. Noa was curled up on the couch with a blanket, so I sat in a chair instead.

"Ko!" Archer squeaked.

...An admittedly occupied chair.

"There's space for two here, right?" I asked innocently.

"You are not helping." She hissed.

"Not trying to help. I'm trying to give you better self-control so we can start having sex in the daytime too." I held up the crystal. "And I also need to look through the memory packages my Shabti sent, which is a boring job. And the best way to make a boring job bearable is through copious amounts of cuddles."

"I want sex, I don't want you to be unable to function without it." I corrected. "Hell, I'm fine if you become a sex addict as long as you can still quit cold turkey at any point. Because one day you might have to. And if all of your mana comes from me rather than your own supplies? Chances are your MP Regeneration will be next to nil."

"Then when will you decide I'm ready?" She asked.

I raised an eyebrow. "How about when I can stand naked before you and you have the self-control to get up and walk away?"

"…So not for a long time, then."

"Probably not, no."

"Dammit."

I shrugged, throwing an arm over her shoulder and kissing her on the cheek. "We still have snuggles, love."

"That's something, I suppose." She mumbled, leaning into my embrace.

I began going through the motions of checking every individual 'report', flicking through one by one. Most were unchanged from when they last reported, but some had new or interesting information that was definitely good to know. As I went through them, 'new location' notifications rapidly popped up for my World Map. Even if there was nothing else, the spatial data was decent enough, I supposed—

Oh.

Oh.

"Is something wrong?" Archer asked. I had frozen, likely with an odd expression on my face.

"…Fine." I released the crystal, stepping back. "Merely… discovering something that must be addressed immediately. Watch over Noa, I'll be back by nightfall."

Archer nodded, not questioning further. "Be careful."

"Always am." I murmured, staring down at the crystal ball. Archer's presence slowly receded as I walked out of the house. I placed two fingers on my ear, activating Message. "Innocence, I'm sorry to disturb you, but I may require your aid…"

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I inhaled the clean, crisp air of the outside world. It had been some time since I had stood outside of Nazarick. Come to think of it, I'd never actually done so in my Dragon form for fear of being seen. Innocence was a mere speck far below, waving up at me. I smiled down at her, chuckling.

I had instructed the little Angel to follow at a distance, unseen, and to cast an AoE [Destroy Undead] if things went south. My backup, as it were. I doubted I'd need the help, but with this being my first contact with another being of immense power, I believed it better to be safe.

Innocence shimmered out of view, and I spread my wings.

Now, for a creature of my size, you might assume that I'd be incredibly slow and clunky. You would be wrong. In YGGDRASIL, sitting still and moving slowly was an invitation for death. I could move at the same speed in Dragon form as I could human, meaning that when I took off, the trees around me were almost crushed from the sudden air displacement. I shot into the sky at speeds approaching a military-grade jet, air trailing off of me with a faint whistling sound.

I wasn't hiding beneath [Perfect Unknowable] like Innocence, that was a risk I didn't want to take. Instead I had an Item called [Thief's Cloak] equipped. Despite the name, it was a ring that just endowed a Skill that looked like a cloak to the naked eye. Once it was activated, however, you saw nothing at all.

To be perfectly honest here, I originally got the Item for the meme rather than any utility. Simple Spells could see through it, Spells that most Players had on constantly just to avoid getting their shit stolen. But in this situation, where any form of Magic could potentially spell disaster, I was glad I had the thing.

I could've just remade the ring if I didn't have it, but it saved me a bit of effort, so there.

Now, I'm sure you noticed my reference to 'the meme'. Sadly I can't show you it here, but I can at least paint you a vivid picture of how it looked.

First, recall my Level 100 size. This huge, almost mountain-sized mass of blue scales and sharp teeth. Now picture it under a layer of invisibility so thin it's basically just wearing a sheet. This monstrosity proceeds to tiptoe around as if no one was watching, pretending to be the world's most bizarre ghost.

The most popular captions for the gif image were 'U don't seeee meeee…' or 'I is very sneaky.' I borrowed the ring from a friend as a Halloween prank but ended up getting one of my own once my little joke went viral. Sure, it wasn't exactly as grand as when I nuked Asgard, but it was still one of my proudest achievements.

God bless memes… they always continue to spread, no matter where you are.

Eh. Now I'm missing Momonga. He would've loved that joke.

...Whatever.

I slowed my flight, banking. I didn't land exactly where my destination was, but rather a-ways away from it. I slipped the ring into my Inventory and began to walk.

Before me was a mountain that had once been called Mt. Kaidinias. Its slopes were barren, with little vegetation to be seen. Behind me was a grand city that once housed a mighty civilization, now falling to ruin with no one to inhabit it.

I wasn't too concerned about being seen now… after all, this land was filled only with the living dead.

He knew I was coming, as I intended him to. I came to speak with him, not to attack.

Up the mountain I climbed, the steep cliff no more than a gentle incline to me. I perched on the highest peak, curling my tail around its base and settling down into a sitting position. Then I waited.

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Time passed. I stared down at the second peak, down at a cave entrance that was guarded by stone-still Undead. Time passed, wind whistling around and setting the caves in the mountain singing. The sun was beginning to set when I was finally greeted, which made perfect sense considering who spoke.

A disformed foot stepped out of the cave. No, not a foot, merely something meant to appear that way. A mass of corpses shaped to resemble a clawed appendage. A second foot. Then the creature stepped fully out of the cave, revealing itself in the cold moonlight.

It was a mass of corpses, roughly four hundred thousand in total. It took the shape of a Dragon, some hundred and fifty meters from 'head' to 'toe'. But I already knew the truth of this creature. He wore the Undead as an armor to defend his pitiful form. He was indeed a Dragon, but one who had shed his greatest defenses in exchange for power. A True Vampire that had turned this entire country into Undead and used them as slaves to do his bidding.

"Greetings." I called. "Fellow of my kin." My voice was gentle, but so overwhelmingly loud it echoed back moments later from far away.

"Greetings." The Dragon below me responded, tilting his head. "Might I ask why you have chosen to disturb my peace?"

"Mmm." I chuckled. "In time. First, I wish to know more about you. Might I ask your name?"

A single glowing red eye examined me from between corpses. "Certainly, but only if you introduce yourself first."

I made a show of thinking for a moment. "…To be perfectly honest, my name has lost meaning over the eons… were I to speak it your Spell would not translate it as you wish it to. Though, in the previous age, people often called me 'עתיק'." I frowned. "Mmm… doesn't translate well at all, does it?"

"Ancient." The corpse mountain murmured.

I smiled. "Ah, yes, that's the one. Ancient. Though, more singular… Ancient One, would be a good translation. And you?"

He considered for a few moments. "I am Cure-Elim Los Malvar, the ̷͠ ̴͢͞ ̸̛ ̧̡̕̕ ̵̴̶͘͟ ̡͡͝ ̛͢҉̸̀ ̨̢̢͘͢ Dragon Lord." He paused. "Ah… it would seem that, too, has lost its meaning…" He chuckled raspily. "The Elder Coffin Dragon Lord will suffice, though I believe that 'Lord' has mostly lost its value when compared to your age. Were you under the influence of some Spell I would be skeptical, but I had ample time to scan you for every trace of Magic I could. Am I correct in assuming that this is your true size?"

I blinked, glancing down at myself. "Ah… not quite, I'm afraid. If I were to stand before you in my true size, the surface of the earth would crack beneath my weight."

"Then truly, you have beaten me in terms of age." The red eye examined me warily. "Now, could you please tell me what you came here for? I have stayed in this mountain for many centuries, and do not intend to step aside if that is your aim."

I laughed, a deep booming noise that shook the mountain below and dislodged an avalanche of snow. "No, no, I care not for this mountain. In truth, this whole world is mine, and everything upon it is merely here for me to watch over. Should you wish it I could create a new mountain range at this very moment for you to fill with more of your Undead."

Cure-Elim relaxed, though not by much. He was still coiled, staring up at a predator he had no hope of fighting. "…All right." He said slowly. "I suppose I cannot dispute that claim, considering you could doubtlessly destroy this world on a whim. What, then, do you want?"

I raised an eyebrow. "What do you want?"

He paused, visibly confused. "Excuse me?"

"What do you want?" I repeated. "What is your deepest desire, Cure-Elim? What is it that drove you to enslave that many Undead, only to hide yourself behind them like a frightened mouse?"

"With all due respect…" The Undead rasped. "I would be a fool not to take measures to defend myself against you."

The other eyebrow joined the first. "Do you truly believe that such a paltry number of corpses would so much as slow me if I wished you dead?"

Silence.

"I thought so." I shifted, making myself more comfortable. "I believe you have worn that shell for so long you think of it as a second skin, which tells me that you fear death more than anything else. You waited until the sun set for the greatest possible chance of survival, which tells me you are both patient and willing to go the extra distance to get something done. And finally, you hide yourself away, which tells me you don't care for the disruption of society." I tilted my head. "Am I wrong in my assumptions?"

"No." He rasped. "You are not."

He didn't lie. Didn't try to make excuses. His pride wouldn't let him, and that was something I was beginning to see the value of.

"So tell me." I said again. "What is it you want?"

He silently examined me for a time. "…I want immortality." He finally said.

I nodded, not showing my inner amusement at the overused trope. "A fair goal. But you and I both know that true immortality does not exist. Agelessness exists, as do many ways to unnaturally prolong one's time in this world. No matter how much you look, how much you seek, how much you know, you will always have at least one flaw."

Silence.

"Please understand." I shifted. "I am not intending to belittle you, merely to comprehend your goal. Paint me a picture, please. What is it that you want?"

He sighed. "…You are correct, and logically I understand your words. But still, I refuse." Red eyes flashed. "I refuse to die. To let everything I've ever done go to waste. To give the others of my kind the satisfaction" he spat the word, as if it left a vile taste, "of watching me perish." His gaze bore into mine. "Surely you can understand that, no?"

"Oh, more than you could possibly imagine." I chuckled.

"Of course." He relaxed slightly, smirking. "So you understand, then, why all these people had to die?"

I shook my head slowly. "Look. I did not come here to preach. These people are dead. The loss of life is tragic, but anger would not solve anything. I have slain entire worlds on the battlefield so that I could one day be free. It is not my place to pass judgement." The moon was high in the sky, bright and full. I glanced up at it in bemusement. "All I'm trying to do is get you to think."

"You want me to think." He repeated, narrowing his eyes at me. "To paint you a picture, no?"

"Precisely."

"And if you do not like what I say?"

I tilted my head. "Nothing."

"Nothing?"

"Nothing." I spread my wings, letting their muscles relax as they lay against the cool mountaintop. "We could continue to talk, or you could ask me to leave. Either way, I hope to part on friendly terms. You are the first of my kin I have spoken to in… a very long time." I made sure to infuse the last few words with an almost wistful note.

"Very well…" He sat back, at last beginning to genuinely consider the question. "Well, I suppose immortality is my end goal. It always will be. The driving force behind my every action. But I have neither infinite time nor infinite resources, so I doubt my plans will come to fruition for a very long time."

"Hmm." My lips twitched. "I see. If I may make an assertion, here…"

He gave me a flat look that clearly says 'you already have'. "Go ahead."

"In this picture, you take only two things into account, things you do not have and never will. Things you have no control over. Time, and resources." I tapped a claw against the rock of the mountaintop. "You will never create more time, and you cannot manufacture resources from nothing. However, you failed to take into account one thing you do have. Infinite patience."

He raised an eyebrow. "And what value might my patience be?"

I was admittedly leading him in circles, something that would've pissed him off by now if he wasn't genuinely interested in what I had to say. Cautious, yes, but he knew I wouldn't be here for no reason at all. Hopefully his temper held, since I was about to turn my 'old sage' vibe up to eleven.

"Consider, if you will." I began. "A pool of life-giving water. It creates itself from nothing, and will refill itself at a steady rate for all of eternity if left untouched. You discover this pool and learn that it can let you forego food and drink forever if you just wait. But after months of drinking from the pool, you realize that if you were to destroy the pool, you would unleash a great flood upon your foes that would drown them utterly without hope of rescue. To do this, however, you would have to give up the pool's waters forever. What would you do?"

He blinked.

I smiled.

This little thought experiment highlighted a key difference in thought between humans and Dragons. Humans lived briefly, and would happily burn the world because they would never have to rebuild the cinders. But Dragons… Dragons lived forever. And this particular story was made specifically with Cure-Elim in mind.

He didn't need a flood. As long as he could survive indefinitely, he would just sit by the proverbial pool and wait for his enemies to die.

"Now, let's imagine that 'pool' existed." I continued. "A living creature that could gush Life Energy forever so long as you never took too much. If you were ever to take all its' Life at once, you would for a time hold the power of the Gods. But after that, you would have no more, since the creature would be dead. Tell me, Dragon Lord Cure-Elim… what would you do?"

"…I would do my best to make sure no one else got anywhere close to it, or even knew it existed." He said, bass voice echoing through the quiet mountaintops. "Because they would only steal it away from me. I would drain the pool every day into a larger basin so it would still refill and I would have plenty to experiment with."

I hid a snort of amusement. Predictable, yes, but I liked that. It made it easy to lead the conversation. "Indeed. Now. One last question. If such a pool existed, would you know about it?"

He opened and closed his mouth several times. His pride likely made him want to say 'yes' since he was confident in his own information-gathering abilities, but his scientific curiosity eventually won out. "I wouldn't."

"No." I agreed. "You wouldn't."

"So does it exist?" He asked, leaning forward. "This 'pool'?"

"Yes." I stated simply. "In fact, I'll do you one better. I'll give it to you. But before I do so, I must make one thing perfectly clear."

Our entire conversation, I had kept all my Skills turned off, locked to 'zero' to avoid spooking my conversation partner. But now I flicked them all on, and for a split second [Draconic Presence] alone nearly knocked the Dragon Lord off his feet.

He was stuck forever at Level 100. I most certainly was not.

"If I entrust this to you, it is your responsibility." I growled, leaning down until my head was only a few meters from his. "Not a tool, a job with benefits. Because if you destroy this, it won't be just your foes who suffer. The ground beneath your feet, the Magic in the air, the very World itself will be shaken. Am. I. Understood?"

He nodded slowly, struggling against the strain of the Skills bombarding him.

"Excellent." I pulled away, effortlessly flicking off the Skills. "I will, of course, be more than happy to tell you anything you wish to know about it, but for now I'll just leave you with the object itself." I reached into my Inventory, hidden within the fold of a wing, and pulled free a single Seed.

This Seed obviously wasn't from one of the Peaches I gave out to the rest of Nazarick. No, this one was of the same kind Momonga and I ate. An original Seed from the First Tree, albeit one I had modified heavily. I didn't need to worry about him removing his Level restrictions using the Peaches from it since Noa had inherited all of Yggdrasil's power, but I had decided to play it safe nonetheless. Editing the properties of the Seed itself was a difficult task, but after many hours of trying I eventually managed to add a single line to the text.

The girl this Seed will grow into will steal the heart of the Dragon caring for her, negating all Undead inhibitions on the emotions she inspires in him.

Cure-Elim was undoubtedly dangerous. He was cold, calculating, and cruel.

Unfortunately, nothing in his life had prepared him for the world-shaking horror of being my newest toy.

I resisted the urge to cackle as he gingerly plucked up the Seed. He had no clue exactly what he was getting himself into. Noa's little sister was sure to be just as innocently dangerous as Noa, perfectly tailored to Cure-Elim's private buried fantasies.

Perhaps once he might've been a threat. Now he was my source of amusement until Momonga got back. It wasn't torture, really… no, that would be adding another line that would make the Seed unable to feel love. I considered doing it just out of spite, but decided that not even being a mass-murderer warranted a lifetime of inner torment.

Oh. Right. I'm still having a conversation.

"That is a Seed of the First World Tree." I began, pulling away. "It will grow to be only a faint shadow of what the original was. Still, the potential it grants is beyond anything this World has ever seen. It will grow wherever you plant it, even should you place it into solid stone. But be warned, once it begins to grow, you will be unable to move it. So hide it somewhere safe, somewhere you will be able to protect it from all who might learn of its existence."

"And you're just… giving this to me?" The Elder Coffin Dragon Lord rasped, recovering his composure. "The key to infinite power?"

I shook my head in amusement. "I'm entrusting it to you. Handing the key to this World's survival down to the next generation. You have the patience and fortitude to guard it for the rest of time should I fall… and should the Tree I guard ever burn as the First did, it will fall to you to nurture the next World to rise from the ashes. Just as the Old Gods did, just as I have." I smiled. "I will be stopping by from time to time. Not to check up on the Sapling, but to tell you more of the World's history. I'm sure you could learn something if you wished."

He bowed slightly. Just enough to imply respect, not enough to actually mean it.

"Farewell for now." I rose to my feet. "I'll be by tomorrow to check in on things."

And with that, I lifted off the ground and began to fly back home.

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