Beyond the Sea

Deep under the ground in a sealed off cave, full of multi-colored crystalline structures and lit by fluorescent blue and green plants- a quiet, yet intensifying rumbling was heard. In the center of the cave, the largest crystal structure, reminiscent of Superman's fortress of solitude, began to crack.

This went on for months, as the cracks slowly covered the entire structure, and the rumbling soon became intense enough to cause earthquakes on the surface. And after 5 of such months… it reached the peak, as the crystal structure shattered, and the rumbling finally ended, to reveal an enormous black dragon with glowing blue lines along its body- and its slowly opening eyes.

"Huh…? Oh, I'm back. Man, that was a good nap."

*Yawn*

…

"Wait, I can talk?"

[Congratulations!]

[Party Poppers]

[As a congratulation for subjugating and terraforming a world, you have unlocked a title!]

[Title Gained: The Judge]

[The Judge: You are one who overlooks the world, deciding its fate. Is it beyond redemption? Then it must be purged and destroyed. Is it worthy of redemption? Then provide guidance and protection. Is it worthy of both? Then burn it down and rebuild it anew. For as the judge, you are both the destroyer and the creator.]

"I am the law!" *Snort*

[Evolution Complete, displaying status…]

—-------------------------------------------------------------

[Status:]

[Name: Scourge, Blight, Devourer]

[Sex: Male]

[Age: 16,853,169 Years]

[Race: Lesser Star Dragon]

[Class: Dragon]

[Title/s: The Judge]

[Size: 609 Meters (Length)]

[Size: 269 Meters (Height)]

[Size: 869 Meters (Wingspan)]

[Biomass: 1,128,209]

[Abilities:]

[Smack] [Track] [Prehensile Tail Claw] [Punch] [Rush] [Kinetic Energy Redirection] [Burrow] [Tail Whip] [Sight] [Brilliant Flash]

[Assimilated DNA: 261]

[Mutations:]

[Bioluminescence] [Jump-Jets] [Spinning Tail] [Heavy Knuckles] [Electrodermal] [Deployable Sword] [Cloak] [REDACTED Chosen] [Dragon Heart] [Storm Heart] [Star Heart] [Dragon Blood] [Dragon Body] [Dragon Breath] [Deadly Maw] [Biomachine-Mind] [Biomachine Body]

—-------------------------------------------------------------

[Notice: Storm Control, Lightning Absorption, Lightning Control, Temperature Control, Radiate Aura, EMP Organ, Lesser Dragon Heart and Extra Hearts have been combined to create Dragon Heart, Storm Heart and Star Heart]

[Notice: Lesser Dragon Blood, Superior Vitality and Molten Blood have been combined to create Dragon Blood]

[Notice: Inexhaustible, Venomous Spines, Lesser Dragon Physique, Sharpened Back Spines, Tail Thorns, Exoskeleton, Extreme Temperature Resistance, Spatial Movement and Immortal have been combined to create Dragon Body]

[Notice: Bite, Screech, Command, Sonic Roar, Acidic Breath, Punch Through, Pharyngeal Jaw, Venomous Bite, Lesser Dragon Breath, Electric Jaw and Attack Tongue have been combined to create Dragon Breath and Deadly Maw]

[Notice: Tri-Mind, Triple Brained, Thick Skulled, Biomechanical and Multi-Mind have been combined to create Biomachine-Mind and Biomachine Body]

"16 MILLION YEARS?! I thought I was gonna be knocked out for a century or less?!"

And what's with all these crystals and glowing plants? A quick use of REDACTED Chosen was able to help me figure it out- Starting where I'd been sleeping, there was a massive amount of residual energy that I'd left behind, which had eventually crystallized and apparently allowed plants to grow?

I mean it was still a drop in the bucket to me, and eating a single crystal didn't make a noticeable difference in my energy pool. They were rather dazzling with all of the different colors corresponding to the energy making up their composition- Toxic crystals were a vibrant green, storm or electrical crystals were a light purple, and the fire or plasma crystals ranged from a dark red, orange, yellow or completely white.

I'm no scientist… but I'd hedge a bet they could easily be converted into some rather powerful weapons with ease. It took a bit of testing, but I found that by using the energy from my new hearts, I could also easily grow new crystals, and could even mix their elements. Though just as I'd thought, the fire and plasma ones were volatile as all hell.

[Ability Gained: Crystal Creation]

So many applications…

And I realized the application I needed most- *SHING* -Was a mirror. I certainly feel different, but what's changed? Checking myself over, I was certainly less Kaiju-ish now, and aside from size, coloration and grabber plus thorns on my tail, I was basically just a normal looking dragon.

My neck had elongated and my central horn had disappeared, my top arms with my wings had now almost fully become proper wings with only some large claws remaining of my previous hands. My main set of arms before the evolution had been capable of grabbing things, but had lacked finer control, while my hands after the evolution were larger with fully opposable thumbs, and when I sat on my hind legs I could actually manipulate them in the same way a human does… I mean if they had claws I guess. My tail was the only part that had remained mostly the same, with it still being over half of my total body length and still sporting the grabber and thorns.

Overall I was happy with these changes, and rather enjoyed my new look. Well… that's enough vanity I suppose, I can feel something calling to me on the surface.

I shattered the crystals in my way and walked toward the only exit, the hole I originally dug to get in. Reaching the shaft only to look up and see it was also full of crystals, with most being razor sharp and likely a deathtrap to most Kaiju that fell in. I saw multiple fossilized and even recent bones nearby, so clearly I was right on the money.

They weren't much of an obstacle to me, as I went straight up- breaking everything that got in my way. Reaching the top I can see multiple Kaiju and lesser creatures on the now vibrant and thriving island. Each and every one of them either lies down or lowers itself toward me.

Honestly it feels rather awkward, even if my mind is telling me that all is as it should be. I shoot into the air instead of dealing with this situation, and begin looking for whatever is calling me. I find it within minutes, and am left standing underneath the original Breach, the entrance that led me here originally. For whatever reason, it seems to be working again, even with the original structures used to maintain it being long since turned to dust.

It also seems to be glowing a brilliant golden color instead of the psychedelic mess from before. I can instinctively feel that once I go through it, I won't be coming back, at least not for a long while. But while being king of this little world is nice… I yearn for more. I fly through the portal.

[Ability Gained: Dimensional Travel]

[Dimensional Travel: A required ability for traveling to different realities. Requires evolution into [Lesser Cosmic Wyrm] for free use, or a catalyst. If a catalyst is used, you will not be able to choose your destination]

[Catalyst used! Activating [Dimensional Travel]]

Please not 40k pleasenot40kPLEASENOT40K!

.

..

…

Hippity hoppity

…

..

.

I feel like a piece of gum being chewed, stretched and finally spit out. All of this taking hours and hours before I'm unceremoniously dumped into the ocean on the other side.

I spend a minute just getting my bearings again, before beginning to make my way to the surface and cloaking myself before flying around the planet to find out where I'm at.

Hmm… the world seems… primitive? Not middle ages or anything, but multiple places are still pre-industrial, with carriages aplenty, and the few cars around looking vintage. Flying above a city, I focus on a nearby newspaper… May 11th 1914.

So pre WW1?

The hell am I supposed to do here?!

?!

What was that? I look out toward the ocean, where I'd just felt an energy spike from something quite a bit beyond what humanity at current should be capable of. Zooming over and diving into the ocean, I see the sinking remains of a rather large ship or submarine, along with thousands of sunken ships dotting the ocean bottom.

But I only dimly notice these things, as in front of me… is one big ass lobster. Gunmetal gray and with glowing inscriptions dotting its carapace. That… looks familiar. It's the Leviathan from the Atlantis movie. As I move toward it I get a little bit apprehensive.

Was it always this large? It's a bit under twice my length, and a hell of a lot bulkier, making it realistically many MANY times larger. I fire a plasma beam straight toward its head, which is met by its own beam attack, creating a giant bubble of energy which explodes and throws us both back- me more than it.

I have to hastily dodge as one of its giant pincers pierces through the thrown up silt, and I quickly hit it with a blast of pure acidic miasma. While it does cause whatever material it's made of to warp, it surprisingly doesn't break or make a hole.

Our back and forth continues for a few hours as the seas and earth churn around us- multiple tsunamis and earthquakes wrecking any nearby coastal settlements. I'm in disbelief that Atlantis created something this damn strong! My claws can pierce its body, but only after cutting through the densest potion and digging out a small glowing blue crystal does it finally cease moving.

I didn't take much damage, I'm far too fast for that. And with the exception of its own laser, nothing it did could touch me. The problem is that it was tough beyond what any metal should be, making the battle just boil down to me slowly but surely making a hole to cook it from the inside.

The crystal was neat though, and I ate it along with the rest of the body right afterward. It didn't soften up after death- making it take a few days to eat it all, after which my teeth ached.

[Biomass: 1,128,209 -> 1,278,209]

[Size: 781 Meters (Length)]

[Size: 313 Meters (Height)]

[Size: 1,094 Meters (Wingspan)]

[Atlantean Leviathan blueprints: 33.3%]

[Abilities Gained: Crystal Sense]

[Mutations Gained: Exotic Metal Composition]

[Crystal Sense: Gain the ability to sense Atlantean crystals for the purpose of location and communication]

[Exotic Metal Composition: Your skin now possesses the toughness of the pride of the Atlantean navy- able to shrug off all conventional weapons while being heavily resistant toward all else]

Interesting. With the exception of some of the mass produced Kaiju, everything I've ever eaten has given me 100%... which means there are more of them around. I was tempted to head in and see Atlantis, but with that new Crystal Sense, I could get a rough idea on where the rest were hiding.

Once again taking to the air, I began heading for the next targets. Sadly, the second Leviathan wasn't nearly as tough as the former- since it wasn't turned on and was mostly destroyed. Well at least it was easier to eat.

…It was also at the center of an enormous underwater crater.

[Biomass: 1,278,209 -> 1,428,209]

[Size: 926 Meters (Length)]

[Size: 370 Meters (Height)]

[Size: 1,296 Meters (Wingspan)]

[Atlantean Leviathan blueprints: 66.6%]

[Abilities Gained: Crystal Detonation, Piercing Beam]

[Crystal Detonation: Cause an Atlantean crystal to go hyper critical and cause an explosion equivalent to its total energy]

[Piercing Beam: Release a portion of the Atlantean crystals potential energy in a thin beam capable of piercing all but the strongest of armors]

If that's the same type of detonation that sank Atlantis, then I'm gonna be very careful of when and where I use it. Well, off to the next. This time took me quite a bit further than the last, as I ended up above a very iconic landmark. The pyramids.

No fucking way…

The signal was coming from underneath the largest one. I saw a lot of people nearby, and knew that even at my fastest speed that this would cause a lot of damage. So to hopefully get them to bugger off, I created a giant storm overhead, with its power intensifying by the second and making it an ordeal to stay anywhere close as hundreds of lightning bolts shot down.

A few hours later and all of Egypt was being hammered by the storm- no place having it worse than the pyramids. Most people had left, and I wasn't kind enough to care about the rest. I uncloaked myself and dove downward, smashing through the pyramid and into a giant cavern with the final Leviathan.

The Leviathan woke up almost immediately, and we began clashing. This time our sizes were about even, as was our defense. And again it caused natural disasters in the surroundings, Egypt now being hammered by earthquakes in addition to the storm. Something that many would claim to be biblical in nature.

This time didn't take as long as the first, since after the initial struggle, I was able to hold it in place and literally melt its face off- something that still took longer than I'd like, and caused the surrounding kilometer or so to turn red hot and melt into glass.

I grabbed the remains before heading back toward the entrance to Atlantis- didn't wanna get my picture taken if possible.

[Biomass: 1,428,209 -> 1,578,209]

[Size: 1,079 Meters (Length)]

[Size: 431 Meters (Height)]

[Size: 1,510 Meters (Wingspan)]

[Atlantean Leviathan blueprints: 100%]

[Abilities Gained: Ultra-Compressional Grip]

[Mutations Gained: Metallic Muscle Fibers]

[Ultra-Compressional Grip: Your grip force has been increased by an order of magnitude, anything caught in your grasp can consider itself dead]

[Metallic Muscle Fibers: Your muscles have been replaced with very strong metallic fibers- increasing your strength, durability and speed of healing]

The final Leviathan took about a week to be fully digested, along with the mutations to finish. After which I felt positively tanky. Scanning the world, there was only a single large source of crystal energy left, surrounded by thousands of smaller ones… Atlantis itself.

Well… let's go pay them a visit. I can sense where it is, and could dig directly down to reach it, but I'd rather not flood the city. Instead I went further away and began digging down toward a nearby volcano, and just like the main underwater entrance, made it similar to a sink trap, where I went down before heading back up and combining with the volcanic upflow.

An hour later I was just beneath the volcanic cap, directly beneath where I could feel were a lot of people and machines. I was going to head straight for the city, but I could feel the main source of crystal energy heading my way, and breaking out now would likely make the volcano explode.

As the main truck arrived, I was able to sense the (currently at least) crystal version of the Atlantean princess inside. The amount of energy she was releasing was more than 10 Leviathans… and the temptation to eat her was high.

But… If there was a group of people that deserved to be helped or saved, it was the Atlanteans. They were an extremely kind people, a people who had been exploited by mercenaries in pursuit of profit due to the threat of global war.

The only people I can think of who may be kinder, would be the people from the Monster Hunter franchise. Nevertheless, unless they were extremely dumb, I wouldn't mind lending them my assistance.

Ah, and here comes the lover boy to save the princess. May as well make my entrance then.

Rourke (AKA - main baddy) POV

*CRACK*

What the hell was that? I already had enough problems due to Milo leading a bunch of other idiots for an assault. I looked over the edge of the hot air balloon, to see a gigantic crack spreading over the ground as sulphuric fumes and an orange glow invaded the cavern.

Then, as if a volcano exploding wasn't bad enough, a giant reptilian arm reached out of the lava to grab onto the pod containing the crystal asset. Bombs and bullets didn't seem to have any effect, as the arm easily ripped the pod free from the chains securing it, while beneath, the rest of the creature emerged. Even as most of it was left beneath the lava, its head was already far above the hot air balloon, and I saw it slowly look down at me as it opened its mouth- where I could see flames beginning to gather.

My god…

Back to Protagonist POV

The hand holding the pod with Kida felt like it was holding dry ice, but I ignored it to turn every Non Atlantean being/ally to ash- starting with Rourke. The Atlanteans and Milos crew were caught off guard from the moment I'd emerged, and seemed undecided on whether or not to attack me.

"If you value your lives, I'd suggest not attacking me. On that same note, we should get back to the city, since the volcano will erupt any minute now."

Now they just looked freaked out at hearing me speak, but they really didn't have much time for consideration.

Most looked to Milo for guidance, and he smartly decided against attacking me, as we all instead made our way to the city- them still flying and me on foot (a single flap would kill them after all).

Once I got near the city, I released Kida onto a large central platform, where the pod containing her broke apart while she connected to the city, causing it to briefly make all of the runes and inscriptions light up blue. It also pulled the guardian… heart… face? Rock things up through the ground to start spinning around her. This sped up to the point where she started firing off blue beams towards the surroundings.

Very quickly, this caused the golems/guardians to start waking up, emerging from the water or breaking structures that had been built on them over time. They then made their way to the edges to create a shield around the city. I decided to help out a bit by shooting down any stray rocks being shot by the volcano using Piercing Beam.

Then came the eruption, as a massive wave of lava went across the shield, before solidifying.

During this I was simultaneously enjoying the view, and shedding the crystalised skin on the hand which had held Kida. I'm not sure how, but it had turned the surface into a dark blue crystal with red veins running through it, and was slowly spreading. I ended up having to cut a portion of my hand off which promptly turned into a large crystal the moment it was severed.

I remember it turning Rourke into a similar crystal before he was shattered and died in the original story… but I'm not sure of the mechanics of it, or even if it would have been enough to kill me. But the fact it could affect me, let alone harm me at all was surprising.

*CRACKLE*

And that should be signaling the end. The lava had solidified, before having glowing blue runes and inscriptions running through it, which caused it to start breaking apart and falling off the sides of the shield.

*BOOM* *CRACK* *BOOM*

My head was on level with the platform which had split Kida and the original heart crystals apart, as they remained in the air while she was lowered down to the ground. I could feel how the heart crystal seemed to analyze me, as I did to it.

Catching me off guard, it fired a blue beam directly into me. Thinking it was an attack, I was prepared to obliterate the city, consequences be damned, but…

[Mutation Gained: Crystal Heart]

…

I unconsciously looked upward…

I… see.

"Thank you…"

And I left for the surface before anyone could question me- leaving the Atlanteans and Milo's crew bewildered. If I stayed much longer then I'm not sure I'd be able to stop myself from just eating the crystal… and it knew it. Thus it had given me something else to focus on.

It had made me aware that it was basically a tiny fragment of the original crystal, one that was deep in the reaches of space. Not something I'd be able to reach anytime soon, but something that was a hell of a lot more appetizing than it was, and something I'd certainly return for one day.

I didn't feel like wasting time, I wanted to get my hands on a way to reach it, and the fastest way was to get stronger and unlock some more abilities. The heart of Atlantis could accomplish insane feats of power by draining a host of their vitality… but what about if I used the same ability? With my insane levels of vitality, and with the Crystal Heart it had granted me… I had my catalyst to leave this dimension.

…Even if it did feel like I'd aged a few million more years in the process and lost my new heart.

[Catalyst used! Activating [Dimensional Travel]]