Another world. It was a realm that existed as if layered over the spiritual and demon worlds, yet it was a world of antimatter that would never mix with them, just as water and oil never could.
As for why such a world had co into being, no one knew. There were stories that it had been created by the first of the draconic lineage, the Sacred Dragon Veldanava, to seal away so dangerous existence. But for the two of them, that was a trivial matter.
From the mont they were born, the two possessed reason as well as a powerful fighting instinct; they were the sort who longed for an even higher realm of power.
Consequently, they never ford a pack. They wandered the vast other world alone, challenging every foe they encountered to duels and erging victorious.
They never sought out those weaker than themselves. To them, hunting the weak was rely a matter of survival, but fighting and defeating those stronger than themselves brought a thrilling surge of ecstasy and adrenaline.
It may have been fate that finally brought the two together. Their first encounter sparked a battle that lasted from sunset until dawn, only stopping when both were on the verge of death.
Even after that, they fought several more tis with the intent to kill, yet neither could claim a definitive victory. Through these clashes, they realized they were kindred spirits.
They both pursued the strength of the powerful, both adhered to their own personal sense of "justice," and both possessed an imnse, unshakable pride.
And so, the two ford an alliance. They road the other world together, sotis clashing in sparring matches and other tis standing back-to-back in cooperation. In ti, they evolved into their final form: humanoids.
At that ti, the other world was plagued by a chain of endless wars. The conflict had begun with the confrontation between Feldway, king of the demon people, and Zeranus, king of the fighting people. What started as a clash between two races soon dragged in the Cryptids, escalating into a massive war that plunged the other world into extre chaos.
But the wars of that world held little interest for the two. Since they pursued only the heights of power, they felt no obligation to join a conflict devoid of any true "justice."
Their own kind dismissed them as heretics for this attitude, but they had no desire to call those who used every dirty trick imaginable just to win their "comrades."
Then, just as they believed there were no enemies left to challenge, they witnessed a distortion in space.
It was not the opening of a gate to the underworld that occasionally connected to the material world. Instead, soone had forcibly torn the veil between two worlds, opening a dinsional rift.
Creating a crack between the material and spiritual planes was an extrely difficult feat. If such a thing were possible, the being responsible had to be a powerhouse who transcended common sense. Without a trace of hesitation, the two threw themselves into the closing rift and crossed over to the material world.
What they encountered upon arrival was a being that seed to embody artistic violence.
The very incarnation of violence—a monster that possessed both raw savagery and refined technique.
Standing before this existence, the two felt no fear. Instead, a fierce competitive fire was lit within them, a burning desire to surpass this being.
"Were you the one who called us?"
"Indeed I was."
At those words, the two took their stances and launched a simultaneous attack. With swift movents and sharp claws bared, they pressed him in a two-on-one assault, but he showed no sign of impatience. On the contrary, he seed entirely relaxed.
As though he could effortlessly defeat the two of them without breaking a sweat.
Then, with a speed they could not even perceive, he vanished and reappeared behind them. In his hands, he held a red sword and a blue sword, both forged from magic. They only realized they had been cut after the blades had already passed through them.
"Ghk!"
I, who had been cut by the red sword, felt a sensation like being struck by lightning as the wound burned white-hot, while my comrade's wound froze solid.
Magical weapons with opposing attributes. The opponent before us was superior in every way—experience, technique, and application.
Thanks to their imnse durability, the two avoided fatal injuries. Though they realized that even joining forces would not be enough to win, their fighting spirit did not diminish in the slightest.
Even if victory was impossible, they resolved to leave their mark. With a single-minded determination to show their will, they unleashed their strongest strikes.
Gooooo...
Bringing my hands together, I concentrated the energy within my body and the magicules in the atmosphere into a single point, firing a super-dense magic bullet. Simultaneously, my comrade unleashed a slash capable of cleaving space itself.
At full power, such a strike should have left any opponent scarred. Or so we thought. Yet, as if to flaunt his overwhelming power, the being received our attacks head-on and simply let them flow past him.
My comrade's diverted slash carved the mountain behind him into fragnts, while the energy bullet I had fired erased the peak entirely.
"What the—"
Seeing our trump cards brushed aside so easily, we were paralyzed by shock.
Then, as new wounds were carved into our bodies, we tasted the bitterness of defeat for the first ti.
My comrade's carapace was shattered in several places, and my own armor was in ruins.
Just as we thought we were about to die, the being who had subdued us revealed his na.
"My na is Vertis. Neither of you are ant to die here. Submit to , and I will allow you to bring out the full extent of your power."
The two of us looked at each other for a mont, then accepted the offer. Instinctively, we felt that by serving under Vertis, we could reach heights we never could alone.
And so, we were given "nas" and reborn.
I was nad Drago, and my comrade was nad Granger. Gran and I were able to "evolve" into a higher realm in the most literal sense.
My toughness grew even greater, and I gained explosive acceleration, while Granger obtained an even harder shell and blades sharp enough to sever the soul.
***
Though Granger and Drago were welcod as comrades, the two never tried to bond with the others. Like solitary wolves, they simply carried out their assigned duties in silence.
The only things that captured their interest were unfamiliar creatures, high-level martial arts, and powerful beings.
To them, Ignis, Fons, Ventus, Nox, and Terra were excellent sparring partners, and the others likewise gained experience through their bouts with the two.
Before long, the village had grown into a city. A delicate balance was maintained as everyone moved in perfect coordination for "the preparation."
That preparation was the act of lifting the entire land into the sky using magic. When I first heard the plan, I laughed it off as an impossibility, but after hearing the details, I realized it was feasible.
They intended to use the skill [Gravity Manipulation] to raise the city into the clouds.
However, lifting a city of that scale required an astronomical amount of magicules and a complex infrastructure to sustain the skill. They had been preparing for three hundred years, and the work was now in its final stages. The experints were complete; all that remained was to gather the necessary magic power and magic stones.
Two days later.
Vertis remained in the city, while a proxy created through parallel existence managed his clinic in Ingrasia. Fortunately, there seed to be no issues there.
The place where I now resided was a gigantic castle built by the monsters. Claiming that a being of draconic lineage deserved a ho befitting their status, the monsters had sward together to construct it.
Dragon statues flanked the castle gates, and the surrounding air was thick with dense magicules.
"...."
To be honest, I hadn't imagined they would go this far.
But the castle wasn't just flashy; its defensive capabilities were formidable.
I could sense a vast array of defensive spells layered throughout the structure. Anyone attempting to intrude without permission would be quite literally erased.
Such strict security was rare anywhere in the world. It was a testant to the enthusiasm and skill of the monsters who had erected a fortress of this scale in such a short ti.
The monsters on this island had truly beco sothing absurd.
***
Two days later, I sat upon the throne at the highest peak of the castle, pondering the God of Chaos.
This magic functioned like a passive ability. The blessing of Chaos was granted to all my subordinates, and those who possessed it had, astonishingly, beco semi-spiritual lifeforms.
This ant their lifespans were virtually infinite. Furthermore, if a monster died, their soul would return to through my skill. I could then reconstruct their physical body and reintegrate the soul, effectively resurrecting them.
In short, as long as I willed it, my subordinates were immortal.
"Lord Vertis. A problem has occurred."
Drago approached and began to calmly explain the situation.
"Hmm... what is it?"
"It would be better if you saw for yourself."
Following Drago's guidance, I scanned the entire city with magic and detected a significant number of life reactions near the outer walls.
Roughly five hundred individuals were gathered before the massive city wall.
Hmm... they aren't intruders. If they were, they would have attacked. Instead, they were waiting patiently, as if expecting soone.
I could see why Drago was on edge.
I folded my arms and contemplated. Were they enemies or not?
"Hmm... guests, perhaps?"
"What are your orders? If you wish, I shall annihilate them."
I looked at Drago. He was radiating a palpable killing intent; one nod from , and he would have leaped into the fray instantly.
While Drago's instinct to eliminate potential threats was logical, it felt a bit excessive for this situation.
"No, let's et them. Follow ."
"Understood."
At my command, Drago instantly withdrew his killing intent. It seed my orders took absolute precedence over his personal instincts.
Using Spatial Dominion, I teleported outside the castle with Drago and looked down.
A wide variety of monsters were gathered below. There were races I didn't recognize, but Drago seed familiar with them.
"Those people are..."
"You know their race?"
"Yes. Like Granger and myself, they are another race from the other world. They are called the Cryptids."
Cryptids... so that's why they look like creatures of legend. Their leader appeared to be a girl in a blue kimono, accompanied by a copper-skinned woman with gray-tinted twin tails and horns protruding from her head.
User Comments
0 comments from readers