It seems he's truly out of our control. I'd thought— perhaps? Perhaps he won't be able to kill the warp bug, and we'll be back to square one. It wouldn't be the worst outcome. He'd owe me for not having carried out his task, and we'd learn new data. Maybe he would cooperate with us to take it down before it went out of control. He seems to care about his debts.

Draconic pride or whatever.

Of course, when it comes to monsters, Pure Evil— feh.

The Chronometric Dragon God— this damn monster never follows expectations.

He tells me to wait a few minutes, then shows up exuding so many magnitudes more power than I've ever witnessed in my entire life. Even if this were a trap, it wouldn't have meant a damn thing. He was beyond ready.

First of all, we know he was in the Tengerii and Achiton regions. Both at the same time, for what it's worth, but he was over there. Killing him here wouldn't mean diddly, but still, we knew both his halves were far away. If we wanted to kill him, I thought maybe... Maybe separating the two might be a good start?

No, of course not.

He tells me he's going to use transference magic. The next thing I realize? He's standing in the same blasted field I am. Did he really use the tough-as-nails transference magic all the way from Tengerii? Maybe his new name includes 'God' for a good reason.

But how'd he get that name? It's unclear. He claimed to have used free points, but I can't fathom how that would turn a monster into an actual, bonified god. Then again, we don't know how the original Dragon God did it either.

What he did next, however, was unthinkable. Perhaps even for the previous Dragon God. He looked at our experiment logs, shuffled them around a bit, then flew up into the air. Above his body, he used magic to form a massive silver pole. It shined like some kind of metal. Then, the pole seemed to, well— vanish.

The shockwave was immense. It was like he'd launched a magic attack of impossible proportions. Just the ground moving threw me off my feet long before the blast of air and sound reached my body. When it did? It burst my eardrums and cracked my bones.

I knew he wouldn't toss magic at the thing. That'd be a fool's errand. So, now that he's healed my eardrums, I ask:

"What the hell was that?"

"I like to call it: pile driver."

"That doesn't... Mean anything."

"Rah. I created an immense and massive cylinder. Then, I changed its quantum vectors such that it gained extreme momentum."

The hell is he saying?

"You... You... Threw a heavy pole really hard?"

A long pause.

...

"It seems I did."

Then just SAY that!

"Why didn't it stop your attack?"

"It's much younger than myself. I overwhelmed its psychokinesis with raw power."

Much younger, he says. He's three days old.

I look over the carnage. He somehow instantly cast the anti-blast spell he used in Tengerii, but kept it away from the warp bug. None of our units died. Why didn't he shield me, though?

"I didn't protect you because I thought you'd be fine. Sorry."

"So you CAN read minds."

"Not without eating you. At least, not yet. Do you happen to be particularly tasty?"

Jerk. He's predicting my thoughts... Like the Dragon God would. No, I suppose he is a dragon god— considering his name.

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At least with this, I can confirm that his intellect is increasing, as is expected of an ascendant dragon. I'll share this with the others. Assuming they don't execute me after they find out what I've done.

"Ah, so, sir Dragon God—"

"Call me Chronomet, for short. Or use my whole name. I'm not a descendant of the Dragon God. Well, not anymore."

What? So he was but lost his lineage? More valuable data. Especially regarding experiment two. They'll want to hear about this, since the implantation procedure never worked in past experiments.

"Chronomet, then. Is it dead?"

"Very dead. I'll go grab my loot. Dragons never give up their loot."

Loot? As his name suggests, he's still a dragon... God. Just not a descendant of the original. I wonder why he lost his lineage, and why he had the name 'Pure Evil' in the first place.

Considering his new name, though? I might need to rethink Raiz's opinions. The Dragon God was nothing more than a stupidly powerful, stupidly smart flying lizard. I can't tell how powerful Chronomet is, but I think he'll surpass the Dragon God.

If he hasn't already.

As I'm thinking so, I watch him fly over to the destroyed warp bug. I notice it's no longer chewing at my insides. He's right: it's deader than dead. No way would that insane thing stop eating for a moment, otherwise.

What I see next makes me want to cry. The damn warp bug had grown big enough to step on buildings.

It was at least eighty or ninety meters tall, if not more.

Yet Chronomet's entire body morphs into a huge mass of black spatial goo, which fully covers the warp bug's immense shattered carcass.

Is... Can that... Thing... Be... A dragon?

...

I'd read the reports. As usual, it's different seeing it in person. It looks like space itself opening a tear in reality and gobbling up the warp bug.

I watch that spatial blob turn right back into a dragon.

image [https://timjames.net/data/acd/images/054.png]

Said dragon-blob is... Flying toward me.

"Alright, I'm done. Thanks for the data. I hope we can collaborate in the future."

"No offense, but I don't. You're a dragon amongst monsters, Chronomet."

He seems to take that as a compliment.

I continue.

"However, why did you... Eat it? Can't you get stronger from eating whatever you want?"

He lands on the ground next to me.

*THUD*

Even though the report said he got smaller, he's still intimidatingly towering. I'd say 15 meters. Can he change his size however and whenever he wants?

"Oh, so you know about that? Rawh, alright. I ate it to gain more talents."

"More... Talents?"

"Reah, watch."

Without him expending any Mana, the long wooden fence I've been standing next to rises into the air.

*shunk*

*chok*

*chik*

Then, it twists, warps, and is compacted into a small marble of impossible density.

*krrrrn*

Once again, his black blob form eats it.

"Mmm, fiber. Did you catch the difference?"

"No Mana."

"One of the former warp bug's talents. Causal Decoherence. It technically does use Mana, but it also alters the rules of reality in a wide area, which feeds it back to my body. So, the net result is no Mana usage. Now, I don't need to send Mana outside my body to alter the physical properties of things, like I did with pile driver. I can decide that you no longer possess Mana, or blood, or bones. Then, raha! The laws of reality make you into a pile of soon-to-be-dead flesh."

The hell? He didn't just get a power-up. He's learned to warp reality upon a whim, without using any of his own strength. If he was already a god before, I think I've fed him enough power to make him uncontested.

Well, shit.

"Is that... What the warp bug was doing to us?"

"If I had to guess? It was trying to make you become 'food.' But that's not a physical property of reality, so it didn't work. It might've, if you gave it more time."

On the one hand? I'm more glad than ever that the warp bug is dead. On the other...

"So... You can eat skills?"

"It's not a skill, it's a talent. I'm not sure why you guys aren't aware of talents. But yes, I can eat anything."

Er, I am aware. I've just got a strict secrecy directive. I won't say it.

"Why are you telling me all of this?"

He smiles.

Oh, dear gods. I fall to the ground, trying not to pass out from sheer horror. Except, I can't take my eyes off his teeth. Teeth which... I can't even see. I just somehow know they're there. It's like a sixth sense. Like I can see his whole body with my mind, even though my eyes can't.

Logically speaking, his appearance shouldn't be so scary, so why is my body petrified? Sweat is pouring off my face. This is like nothing I've ever felt before.

"Because, Leario. I want you to tell the Emperor to wash his neck. Tell him. His situation is already hopeless today, and it will become ever more hopeless tomorrow. Tell him to kill himself if he wants to die intact. Chronomet... Is coming."

Then, the feeling of oppressive terror vanishes.

He's gone.

...

Well, crud.

If I report this, I'll be executed.

If I don't, everyone's going to wonder why Pure Evil— Chronomet showed up and killed the warp bug. When the missing documents are discovered, I'll still be executed.

...

No?

No, I can use this. I'll tell them about his new name and what it means. Then I'll use the fact he was already aware of our activities. Especially the Haitos operation.

They might suspect me, but so long as I play along, they won't have anything solid. When they check how the Haitos operation got leaked, it'll confirm my story and remove all suspicion. Chronomet— you saved me. In killing the warp bug, you might've saved us all.

I scramble to my knees and pray.

*shkra*

*shrik*

I'm not the religious type. Yet, he somehow knew exactly what to say, and do, to fix my entire predicament.

Should I care whether I'm religious?

I'm praying to an actual god.