Page 210
Story: The Dragon of Dreams
Time Error - ―?―???∴?≠???????????∝?∮???――??? : Location Error - ―?―?∴?≠?????????∝?∮?―?―?
- Skuld (The Goddess of Oracles) ~
Sitting on the roof of one of my many old abandoned temples, I looked over the mountainous forest and endless ocean at the stunning sunrise.
-Being isolated in an empty space for so long.. really makes you appreciate the simple things.. doesn't it...- I almost wanted to cry from the beauty of it, but I was too anxious to actually enjoy it. "Haah..."
Following my sigh, I glanced behind myself at the familiar noise that had yet to happen. *Vwomp*
Suddenly appearing with the expected noise, I met eyes with a mature avian woman wearing a long white robe. "It's been a while, Eir..."
Her name was Eir, the Goddess of Balance, and she was someone akin to my older sister, even before we became gods. "So you were here..." Her voice carried a motherly warmth with it, but she sounded worried. "How are you adjusting?"
I turned back toward the sunrise with a slightly bothered look. "Terribly..."
Her worry quickly worsened. "Do you want to talk about it.. or-"
"No... Please don't remind me..." I pulled my legs up and hugged my knees, doing my best not to remind myself of the vision I had when we were first released from The Runes.
"B..but if we talk about it, maybe we can find a way to avoid-"
"Stop... The future I saw was our fate.. it was the result of our karma... Nothing we can do will stop it..."
"Karma? Do you still feel guilty for what happened?" She slowly walked over before sitting down next to me.
"Of course I do... I still regret not being able to do anything but sit and watch from the sidelines, and still despise everyone for their actions..." I glanced at her for a moment before turning away. "Including you..."
Her face darkened with guilt and sadness immediately. "You know there was nothing I could do... No matter how unhappy I was with the plan, I couldn't stop Odin alone, let alone all four of them together..."
"But you could have abstained! Nothing forced you to help them!" I turned to her with anger written all over my face.
"But Odin would have forced-"
"No, he wouldn't have!" I stood up and turned away in a fit of anger. "He isn't omnipotent, Eir! If he was, he would have never even considered that f*cking plan! I don't know what he did to brainwash you all, but he is simply a man who lost his mind to envy and jealousy."
She stared at me with a look of guilt before looking back out to the horizon on the verge of tears. "I'm.. sorry-"
Her voice was cut short, and we both froze in place in an instant. -W..what...- Whipping back around, I looked toward the sunrise in a daze.
"W..where did it go..." Eir was staring at the horizon with wide eyes as well. "W..where did Magni's presence go?!"
After only giving each other a momentary glance, we disappeared from where we were and darted over the endless ocean in front of us, continuing until the sun fell beneath the horizon behind us. *Vwoom*
It was only an instant before we came up to a large tree we were both quite familiar with, but unlike its normal state, the tree wasn't totally enshrouded in the dense fog that even we gods couldn't see through.
But that sudden visibility only helped reveal a sight neither of us could have ever been prepared for.
"What.. the..."
-
- Vasilias ~
*VwwWwWwoommMm* Huddling over Ilios, I leaned down and coated my wings in cubane so I could react to anything, no matter how fast, but when I looked around beneath the ever-descending fog, I saw the two remaining apostles still standing in the same places they had been in the whole time.
-But their expressions...- One of them had fallen over and was shaking from fear, while the other, being the woman I darted past when I came up the tree, just stood there and stared at me in a trance.
It was quite obvious that both reactions were normal and genuine, but I couldn't help but be curious about the enchanted woman. -Even after I displayed such overwhelming strength.. she stands tall without intimidation...-
But as if she knew what I was thinking, when she finally seemed to notice my gaze, she threw herself into a grovel. "Leif Vilulf humbly greets Lord Nott!" Her voice was quite distant, but I could hear her it clearly.
-So, just like Magni, she thinks I'm one of the original Ancient Fenrir...- The only difference was that her having that fallacy was convenient for me. -Maybe I should call her over...-
But before I could even consider doing it, a familiar woman's voice resonated through the air. "~You really are a horrifying creature, aren't you...~"
Immediately pinching a nerve, I rose my guard again and gave her a threatening glare.
But instead of shying away or even just reacting like I expected, she just smiled and came closer. "~You can relax. Even the strongest of gods couldn't survive that.~"
Her attempt at comforting words only made me more uneasy though. "How would you know that?"
Her smile slowly grew wider. "~You just shredded his soul and scattered the pieces in a different dimension, Vasilias.
The only way for anything, including gods, to survive that kind of attack is to dodge it, but he was still trying to detach his tether from that unfortunate elf's body when it hit him. ~"
-His tether?- Although her reasoning did make sense, and mostly lined up with what I believed as well, I couldn't calm my nerves so quickly.
"But, even if he is dead, how do I know some other god won't try and kill me when I let my guard down.
.." I squinted my eyes as I looked at her cloud-like face, vividly remembering Magni mentioning that multiple gods shared his views.
"~Huhu, I like your caution, but they wouldn't dare wander here. The gods that want your downfall are afraid of that fog above you.~" She calmly pointed above herself.
-What?- It caught me a little off guard. "Why would the gods fear such a simple thing?"
"~Pfft-hahaha!~" The genuineness of her laugh helped ease my nerves slightly, but that only lasted a moment. "~Simple?! Is a conglomeration of tens, if not hundreds, of billions of souls simple to you? No wonder the others envied your kind so much.~" Her smile was washed with greedy confidence.
But it only made me tense up more. "Wait... The fog is made up of.. souls?" I nervously glanced up at the swirling fog as a slew of emotions and thoughts raced through my mind.
But the woman continued before I could think much about it. "~Indeed it is. But more accurately, they are lost souls trying to absorb enough energy from mana to reincarnate but have been caught in an endless maze with no exit.~"
"W..what do you mean..." I gave a quick glance at the two apostles again to make sure nothing had changed before finally starting to ease up my tense body. -She has only helped me so far, so.. maybe.. I can trust her a little...-
As if knowing I was deep in thought, the cloud-like woman waited till I turned back to her to continue.
"~Just understand that only you, Ilios, and souls strong enough to maintain a 'conscious mortal tether' can exist and function normally in it.
Even the souls of gods can get lost if they aren't careful. ~"
-That's not what I was asking about, but...- Before I knew it, my curiosity started replacing my anxiety. -How fascinating...- Hastily turning back to the woman with a gleam in my eye, a smile came to my face. "Then this rune.. what does it do?"
Her smile turned warmer the longer we talked. "~Hmm, I guess you could think of it as giving the souls an escape route.~"
-So, the rune isn't for divinity but instead to help souls reincarnate? Is the beam of divinity really just a convenient byproduct of the process?- But before I could fall deeper into thought, the woman interrupted again.
"~In any case, I'm running out of time with that scary fog descending again, so I will take my leave.~"
-What? She should have several minutes left before it descends enough to be problematic...- But instead of questioning her, I figured she had her reasons and stayed quiet.
"~Let me give you one last piece of advice before I go though.
..~" She appeared next to me as if she teleported before continuing in an out-of-place, warm voice.
"Be wary of the Holy Kingdom, okay? After this, I'm sure they will try to make countermeasures against you.
.. Just.. don't die on me...~" And without even giving me time to think about her words, she gently rubbed the top of my head and disappeared without a trace.
I stood there, not sure how to react for several seconds after that. -What the...- My brain was simply stuttering as it struggled to make sense of what happened, but the instant I finally reorganized myself, I noticed that something about her felt familiar. -But what is it?-
But that was when several fuzzy memories from my previous dragon sleeps suddenly surfaced in my mind. -Wait a minute... She couldn't be her, could she?-
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 46
- Page 47
- Page 48
- Page 49
- Page 50
- Page 51
- Page 52
- Page 53
- Page 54
- Page 55
- Page 56
- Page 57
- Page 58
- Page 59
- Page 60
- Page 61
- Page 62
- Page 63
- Page 64
- Page 65
- Page 66
- Page 67
- Page 68
- Page 69
- Page 70
- Page 71
- Page 72
- Page 73
- Page 74
- Page 75
- Page 76
- Page 77
- Page 78
- Page 79
- Page 80
- Page 81
- Page 82
- Page 83
- Page 84
- Page 85
- Page 86
- Page 87
- Page 88
- Page 89
- Page 90
- Page 91
- Page 92
- Page 93
- Page 94
- Page 95
- Page 96
- Page 97
- Page 98
- Page 99
- Page 100
- Page 101
- Page 102
- Page 103
- Page 104
- Page 105
- Page 106
- Page 107
- Page 108
- Page 109
- Page 110
- Page 111
- Page 112
- Page 113
- Page 114
- Page 115
- Page 116
- Page 117
- Page 118
- Page 119
- Page 120
- Page 121
- Page 122
- Page 123
- Page 124
- Page 125
- Page 126
- Page 127
- Page 128
- Page 129
- Page 130
- Page 131
- Page 132
- Page 133
- Page 134
- Page 135
- Page 136
- Page 137
- Page 138
- Page 139
- Page 140
- Page 141
- Page 142
- Page 143
- Page 144
- Page 145
- Page 146
- Page 147
- Page 148
- Page 149
- Page 150
- Page 151
- Page 152
- Page 153
- Page 154
- Page 155
- Page 156
- Page 157
- Page 158
- Page 159
- Page 160
- Page 161
- Page 162
- Page 163
- Page 164
- Page 165
- Page 166
- Page 167
- Page 168
- Page 169
- Page 170
- Page 171
- Page 172
- Page 173
- Page 174
- Page 175
- Page 176
- Page 177
- Page 178
- Page 179
- Page 180
- Page 181
- Page 182
- Page 183
- Page 184
- Page 185
- Page 186
- Page 187
- Page 188
- Page 189
- Page 190
- Page 191
- Page 192
- Page 193
- Page 194
- Page 195
- Page 196
- Page 197
- Page 198
- Page 199
- Page 200
- Page 201
- Page 202
- Page 203
- Page 204
- Page 205
- Page 206
- Page 207
- Page 208
- Page 209
- Page 210 (Reading here)
- Page 211
- Page 212
- Page 213
- Page 214
- Page 215
- Page 216
- Page 217
- Page 218
- Page 219
- Page 220
- Page 221
- Page 222
- Page 223
- Page 224
- Page 225
- Page 226
- Page 227
- Page 228
- Page 229
- Page 230
- Page 231
- Page 232
- Page 233
- Page 234
- Page 235
- Page 236
- Page 237
- Page 238
- Page 239
- Page 240
- Page 241
- Page 242
- Page 243
- Page 244
- Page 245
- Page 246
- Page 247
- Page 248
- Page 249
- Page 250
- Page 251
- Page 252
- Page 253
- Page 254
- Page 255
- Page 256
- Page 257
- Page 258
- Page 259
- Page 260
- Page 261
- Page 262
- Page 263
- Page 264
- Page 265
- Page 266
- Page 267
- Page 268
- Page 269
- Page 270
- Page 271
- Page 272
- Page 273
- Page 274
- Page 275
- Page 276
- Page 277
- Page 278
- Page 279
- Page 280
- Page 281
- Page 282
- Page 283
- Page 284
- Page 285
- Page 286
- Page 287
- Page 288
- Page 289
- Page 290
- Page 291
- Page 292
- Page 293
- Page 294
- Page 295
- Page 296
- Page 297
- Page 298
- Page 299
- Page 300
- Page 301
- Page 302
- Page 303
- Page 304
- Page 305
- Page 306
- Page 307
- Page 308
- Page 309
- Page 310
- Page 311
- Page 312
- Page 313
- Page 314
- Page 315
- Page 316
- Page 317
- Page 318
- Page 319
- Page 320
- Page 321
- Page 322
- Page 323
- Page 324
- Page 325
- Page 326
- Page 327
- Page 328
- Page 329
- Page 330
- Page 331
- Page 332
- Page 333
- Page 334
- Page 335
- Page 336
- Page 337
- Page 338
- Page 339
- Page 340
- Page 341
- Page 342
- Page 343
- Page 344
- Page 345
- Page 346
- Page 347
- Page 348
- Page 349
- Page 350
- Page 351
- Page 352
- Page 353
- Page 354
- Page 355
- Page 356
- Page 357
- Page 358
- Page 359
- Page 360
- Page 361
- Page 362
- Page 363
- Page 364
- Page 365
- Page 366
- Page 367
- Page 368
- Page 369
- Page 370
- Page 371
- Page 372
- Page 373
- Page 374
- Page 375
- Page 376
- Page 377
- Page 378
- Page 379
- Page 380
- Page 381
- Page 382
- Page 383
- Page 384
- Page 385
- Page 386
- Page 387
- Page 388
- Page 389
- Page 390
- Page 391
- Page 392
- Page 393
- Page 394
- Page 395
- Page 396
- Page 397
- Page 398
- Page 399
- Page 400
- Page 401
- Page 402
- Page 403
- Page 404
- Page 405
- Page 406
- Page 407
- Page 408
- Page 409
- Page 410
- Page 411
- Page 412
- Page 413
- Page 414
- Page 415
- Page 416
- Page 417
- Page 418
- Page 419
- Page 420
- Page 421
- Page 422
- Page 423
- Page 424
- Page 425
- Page 426
- Page 427
- Page 428
- Page 429
- Page 430
- Page 431
- Page 432
- Page 433
- Page 434
- Page 435
- Page 436
- Page 437
- Page 438
- Page 439
- Page 440
- Page 441
- Page 442
- Page 443
- Page 444