There's no other sapient dragons; I've pretty much confirmed that via Ainthia. According to her memories, even the Dragon God was only a slightly smarter animal.

The so-called 'godslayer' was an old and very powerful human who vanished after killing the Dragon God. She didn't know how he did it, but my guess it that he was a god himself. The Dragon God was, according to her at least, considered the strongest among the gods. Not by a small margin, either. Which means either the Dragon God was outsmarted, or that these other gods are far stronger than she knew.

I'm betting on the latter. The Dragon God might've been unintelligent, but he was definitely powerful. I doubt there's any way to outsmart literal kilotonnes of dragon. Not when the godslayer would've been smaller than the Dragon God's toe claw. There's only so much one can do with their brain. Ultimately, one needs sufficient raw power to back it up.

Rah.

We dragons are fine with being alone. I, too, am fine with being alone. The issue for me is that the longer I've been alone, the less I've been able to connect with the people I want to be around, protect, or otherwise interact with.

It's only been three days. I already feel like I'm turning into a reality-eating horror monster. Which... Is because I am. Aitos pretty bluntly pointed out that I've been steadily losing my orange scales. I didn't notice it was constant. I thought it only happened whenever I got a power-up. But, he's correct. My orange scales are fading to black. Right now.

Slowly losing my entire dragon body makes it... Mildly difficult to maintain a stable perspective. So, I just.

Gragh.

I wanted someone to relate with.

Man, oh man. Literally: man. Why, Aitos? You were lying to me from the beginning? No, I understand why. I really do. Literally, again, since I can read your memories. Every time I read them, I still wish you'd chosen differently.

He hated me from the start— from the same moment he found out I'd killed those Haitos citizens.

Alright. I get it.

Maybe we were already at an impasse and I didn't realize. I tried to make it up to him, and, according to his memories? He did start to waffle over whether I was as Pure Evil as my name would suggest. It seems his newfound draconic instincts were pushing him to be more accepting of a dragon's open and honest nature; even if that nature is sometimes cruel and heartless.

Indeed, he retained much of his original human nature. I'm not sure why this happened, since being a part of my body means having all the same instincts and emotions I feel. Yet, his personality didn't quickly shift, like mine did.

Except... I almost wish it had.

He talked about his doubts to the mayor. The mayor, who shall forever remain nameless, has put a lot of effort into manipulating Aitos over the years. Emotional pleas, contradictory rationales, logical traps...

He wants to rule his city; Aitos is in his way.

Thus, when I ate Aitos? This long history of manipulation, combined with Aitos' retention of his human tendencies, enabled the mayor to contort Aitos' opinions of my every action. They both made a lot of faulty assumptions rather than simply demanding that I explain myself. As a dragon like Aitos should.

I'd have been happy to discuss just about anything. We dragons take great pride in conducting ourselves openly. After all, I hold sufficient power to crush any and all machinations. Moreover, I also possess more than ample intellect to detect such tomfoolery before it becomes a problem. So, I do. Including right now.

Had the mayor not manipulated Aitos, I strongly believe he would've realized my words are entirely honest. My actions, though flawed, are also honest. I haven't tried too hard to justify myself, either. I've made so much effort and taken so many precautions to be a better dragon. I even deigned to lower my proud dragon head to a city of little non-dragons.

This is not normal dragon behavior. But, I decide my own normalcy. I set my own rules. I decided these people were worthy of my grand self's efforts, and so they shall recieve nothing but the best I can muster. Exactly as I would expect. Had Aitos not intervened? That's what they would've gotten. Not whatever half-ass nonsense he's been doing.

Worse, if I'd not been so busy with Tengerii after getting improperly transferred, I'd have gone back there to clean up his poor behavior already. Rah, if only I were stronger! This is exactly why dragons always need more power. We require it to keep our immense pride and spotless image intact— especially when it comes to such a misguided subordinate.

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

Unacceptable. Today, I have failed both Aitos and Haitos. I, a dragon, have failed. This is worse than if I'd simply massacred the lot of them. And what excuses do I have for my lack of attention? None. Not a single one.

But what Aitos claims upset him is not what made him fear me to such a degree that he's become unable to think clearly. In fact, it wasn't even the mayor, though I strongly doubt Aitos would've done this had the mayor not been so manipulative.

In Aitos' memories, I can see exactly what flipped his opinion from suspicion to sheer panic.

image [https://timjames.net/data/acd/images/045.png]

Aitos' status inspection inscription, the one hidden inside his communication array, has turned the distrust between us into an unbridgeable divide. It's not like I'm unwilling to forgive him or that I've attacked him for looking at something he shouldn't. I understand why he wants to know my status. I'd have told him if he'd simply asked. I'd let him look with this very same inscription if he wanted proof, but, weirdly enough... That's also not the problem.

The problem is that his inscription seems to be showing a completely different version of my status panel.

One I didn't know existed.

What in the world is going on? I also don't know. I've checked his inscription's sigils; they don't seem to be wrong. So where does it get all this garbage data from? I'm forced to assume there's a mistake neither of us can pinpoint. We invented this whole inscription category yesterday. Perhaps there's a few glitches we haven't yet worked out?

But there's no way Aitos will accept that we're both in the dark. Since the moment I caught him trying to kill me, he's been thinking I tricked him into believing I had flaws he could exploit. He actually believes I'm perfect.

Reh, grrrah...

Rawh. Well. That's very flattering, but I honestly am clueless about my status.

"What ever am I going to do with you, Aitos?"

"Kill me."

"I'd hoped an intelligent individual such as yourself would want to talk this out."

"You want to talk with your arm? It has cancer. Saw it off."

"Why do you think there's no recourse? If I were so bloodthirsty, you'd be long dead."

"You always sound so calm and collected, no matter how absurd your actions or claims. I can't possibly tell if you're being honest since I can't comprehend you."

"That's because you've repeatedly made assumptions. Why do you not request explanations?"

A long pause.

"What's there to explain?"

"For starters, if I can read your memories, then I don't actually need you for anything, do I? So why do I keep you around? Ask yourself."

"Maybe it's some sick game."

"Do I seem that bad?"

"Your name is Pure Evil."

Always my damned name.

"That's not fair and you know it."

"Oh, look! The reality-eating space parasite is complaining about fairness, such a shame!"

"Rahraw. Okay, there's one reason. You're funny."

"Are you really going to list my good traits after you caught me trying to murder you? What is this if not a sick game?"

"I, reeeh... Wanted someone to talk with. I didn't mean to kill you to get that; I originally wanted to build a working relationship. Dragons don't need such relations, but I—"

"Pure Evil, you're not a dragon and you know it."

"Parasite dragon. Satisfied?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"I saw your talent. Dragon God and Pure Evil. If my assumptions about you are as wrong as you say, then Pure Evil isn't the parasite, is it?"

I hesitate to confirm his suspicions, but he's right. I won't lie.

"I don't know what Pure Evil is either, but it's what I'm named after. I presume that means it's my most powerful lineage. I think it's also what gave me my perfect Mana conductive tissues. Parasite, however, is something you can't see on my status sheet with your inscription. It's Parasite with a capital P; that was the creature's name. I managed to kill and merge with it even though it completely ate my body. My brain as well, however that works. So, I'm not 'a parasite.' I'm Pure Evil, who inherited Parasite's power to consume anything."

"You have THREE LINEAGES?!"

Regh. I didn't realize that was a lineal inheritance. The status sheet doesn't list it as one. But, if we've become the same creature... Rah, it totally counts as a lineal inheritance.

"Reuh. That's a good point."

"Oh my everloving gods. I thought you were trying to convince me to stick around. Instead, you act like you're stupidly blundering onto the fact that you're even more powerful than I knew, which I ALREADY CAN'T UNDERSTAND!!! Why in the WORLD would you do that?!"

"I'm not as learned as you give me credit, Aitos. I honestly was born three days ago. I didn't even know the status panel had an age—"

"Then why'd you know your lifespan is infinite?"

"I was lying. Or at least, I thought I was. I didn't want you to feel pressured by the fact your life was bound to mine. That you'd die if I did. My lie just happened to be true."

A pause.

"Wait. Your lie was true? Age isn't the same thing as lifespan. How can your age be infinite? Can you... Warp the laws of reality once you've consumed them?"

Damnit. Why did he notice that? Did I just get stuck in a logic trap via my own enviable cognition?

Then... Then, I can only appeal to his sense of decency. I'll speak the truth. Even— if it's embarrassing.

"What the hell, Aitos? How do you always figure me out, yet you won't believe me when I say that I'm lonely?"

A much longer pause.

"DID you make your age infinite?"

"Reh, you saw the talent."

"Graaaaaaaaaugh!"

"Aitos?"

"I need time. Can I have that? Or are you going to discard my caged Will right now?"

"I've never once wanted to kill you, Aitos. I still don't. I'm just not a fool who would leave a cancerous arm on my body simply because I'm fond of it. You can have all the time you want. Forever, even."

A pause.

"Sigh. You know what? Just get rid of me."

"Aitos... Please... Won't you reconsider?"

"Are you able to alter my memories?"

This time— it's my turn to pause.

"Y— ... —es. But I never would!"

"Then prove you won't."

"How?"

"Kill me."