38 System Hours until the end of the world
The Divine Dragon.
A vast, overwhelming being that coiled alone in His underground realm known as Purgatory.
He was the only true god left in this damaged world.
There were others, once, but a great reset befell the world 100,000 years ago, wiping away all traces of divinity and civilization that came before that point. Well and truly gone, with the Divine Dragon being the only bridge between times, their era might as well have been completely lost to history. Now with that tragedy a forgotten memory to the mortals on the ground, He was Alpha and Omega, the first and last god.
And, as the singular will that overlooked the still recuperating world, should His corresponding duty and authority not have been all-encompassing as well?
Indeed, this was the case. For it was said that all life that came into being - all creation, born lesser or greater, from the smallest insect to the mightiest beast - must first have obtained His blessing before they could be brought into this world. Truly, His dominion over life was absolute.
As souls left their mortal shells, none floated away nor were any assimilated into the ether. No. They sank down. Down into the depths far below the surface, and into His domain.
Before all that however, on the surface far away from Purgatory, people everywhere venerated His name. Yet none of them had a consistent understanding of their God. His wants, His goals, His grand design. All unknown.
Lacking this, the mortals above wrote for themselves what they believed the dragon desired and expanded upon what little their God provided. But that brought with it its own host of problems. Around the world, disparate sects even disagreed on what the dragon looked like, despite the fact that some were privileged to obtain an audience with their God.
Curiously, accounts from even verified meetings still differed.
The only concrete information known was that this elusive deity was in fact a dragon, but with time even this once unifying truth had become a point of contention. Perhaps - though also needless to say - that the dragon’s touch was felt around the world was the only thing in absolute agreement. No one in their right mind declared that the one they worshiped was not this deity, only that others had the wrong picture. Though this would bring up an age-old question: which were more hated, unbelievers or heretics?
Regardless, records that dated back to the period before the deity’s ascension were few and far between. To say nothing of the reshuffling the Great Calamity brought about, even the most prosperous and enlightened of civilizations would eventually crumble and decay over time - their countless great libraries ruined along with them. 1,000 years was more than enough to bury the legacies of most empires several feet under the earth, to say nothing of the span of 100,000. Especially in a world as war-torn as this one.
Even harder still would be for individuals who have experienced the event personally to have survived to this day.
Some of the most ancient among the elder races might have lived through that tragedy, but they were insular and hardly surfaced, if not sealed or insane.
For those who sought the truth regarding their god, they tangentially understood that something terrible had occurred way back then... and that their god’s ascension was deeply connected to it. But to not be content with Calamity told from the perspective of their deity was to commit the greatest heresy, the kind that foredoomed oneself to becoming an enemy of every large-scale institution in the world.
Those who comprehended this much knew that they had found the line that cannot be crossed and stopped dead in their tracks. Those capable of making it that far generally had a sense of self-preservation and knew not to touch the taboos of the strongest being they'd known. Meanwhile, the few fools that stubbornly continued and were unfortunate enough to really discover something worth their troubles had a tendency of being stricken with madness or, if lucky enough, simply disappeared outright.
However, those petty things were not done by the dragon Himself. For few actually qualified to touch upon His true secrets. So long as the majority of people still venerated Him - conflict or not - heresy or not, there was no need for much movement at all. Due to this, while its influence was felt across every social stratum, most people were more beholden to their local lords or to the kings and emperors that governed the land than to the deity. When everyone venerated the same god, how was it possible for that god to show favoritism towards any one party?
As such, commoners were routinely sent off to die in wars of the faith, lives wasted over disagreements in dogma they'd never come to understand. Most believed that their cause was righteous, if only thanks to how proficient those on high had become in spinning rousing speeches over the time.
But at the end of the day, from a perspective that overlooked the grand scheme of things, those small ripples generated by heretics and warring empires alike ultimately amounted to little. The world was still very stable. Nothing too big has happened for ages.
If there was something that made waves within the stagnant pool that was this world, it would be a particular sect that, over the last few centuries, had seen meteoric growth.
Spearheaded by the most recent [Blessed], they claimed that the dragon was no dragon at all. Rather, they preached that the deity was a manifestation of the will of the world, the consciousness of the world itself, and its descent and fated ascension was done to bring balance and guidance to the people in the wake of the Calamity. That they quickly became the most powerful among their peers shortly after their Delve gave credence to their claim.
The major churches themselves often debated whether to amend their sacred texts, though these massive institutions were slow to change and even a century was not enough to shift directions. There were simply too many things to consider when one’s reach spread across multiple planes and continents.
However, most on the inside have already recognized this as truth. The Delve itself was a time-honored tradition, a test of faith and will, and the telltale signs of the [Blessed] after they succeeded were impossible to fake. Indeed, that the [Blessed] were the spokespeople of the deity living on the surface among the people to spread His good word would not be a wrong interpretation.
Therefore, throughout the world, it was commonplace to hear stories telling of daring adventurers embarking on epic quests to find the deity. Everyone knew at least some variant of it, whether told by the local bard or someone who claimed to have attempted it and returned. This behavior was condoned by both the deity and churches alike. The god Himself had a keen interest in meeting those strong in soul - those with unbreakable conviction in their hearts.
These tales told of people who endured the suffocating darkness of the underground. Heroes who navigated through the meandering, claustrophobic caves and fought against unforgiving waves of monsters and guardians that blocked them while on their journey down into Purgatory.
Always left out of these stories, however, was how they had found an entrance.
It always seemed to mystically appear in front of those that had a chance at success, but the exact conditions were never quite pinned down. What was certain was that after its appearance, the brave and foolhardy alike seemed to just have a calling, a calling that drew them into the caverns below.
This call wouldn't go unanswered, as these devoted followers would come in droves, no doubt emboldened by the successes narrated to them from a young age.
Despite knowing that they would meet their God eventually, even the most fanatical knew that the circumstances that led up to such a meeting was important. The living, at least, had the right to bargain. Once one died, they forfeited their ability to make changes in the world. Regardless of the strength or connections they’d cultivated when they were still alive, everyone would be equal in death.
The goals of these brave souls ranged from simple to complex, yet they always led back to one thing - to petition this seemingly omnipotent being for a boon. Whether in a maddened bid for power, a rare chance at communion with a higher being, or a desperate attempt to bring a loved one back to the realm of the living. The answer to everything awaited them, down below.
Fortunately for them, their destination was clear.
As they entered the chasm, they’d find a path without forks or winding passages.
A path where natural laws were ignored, where space was shrunk, and where every direction, even backward, led straight down.
A path of no return unless the destination was reached.
A path leading straight to the Heart of an unfathomable being.
A path leading straight to their God.
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Once on this path, all ultimately found their way into Purgatory. Though, most would not enter in the way that they had intended. A majority quickly found themselves ill-suited for the journey and tried to quit part-way, but they soon came to discover that this was a one-way trip.
These unfortunate souls inevitably failed their quest, their fragile, transient bodies finding rest kilometers beneath the surface. The rest of the way continued as a wayward soul, this meeting destined.
Venturing ever downward.
Always downward.
Even for those with sufficient luck or skill, it was only after an uncomfortable and mind-numbing amount of time passed trudging along those cavernous depths that they finally passed into Purgatory.
Such an endeavor truly tested the limits of mortal tenacity and endurance, weeding out many who were unworthy. Though the sight at the end, as every [Blessed] would recount, was nothing short of life changing. Despite having had this memory burned into their minds, to fully describe the majesty of this deity and his abode was a feat every storyteller had failed to accomplish.
Every story had its own unique lens that captured what the dragon was, retaining but a fragment of the deity’s true brilliance. Though each writer failed to comprehend the true nature of the god, they were able to catch a glimpse.
That was what the original churches were for - a collection of these fragmented visions in the vain hope that everything would be pieced together as a complete picture. But mortals could not avoid their natural tendencies, not even those that were baptized with the knowledge of a higher being. With time, power concentrated, and politicking became commonplace, and the first scholarly communions became behemoths that crowded out room for new systems of belief.
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Regardless, within their ancient libraries, one could find innumerable differing accounts, though religious scholars who dedicate their lives to studying these reports and ancient ones who have lived to see a majority of them get entered can see a few trends.
Some said that they felt the dragon’s suffocating gaze befall them as they entered. Unnerved yet determined, they looked to their surroundings to ground themselves. All before them was a vast, empty expanse of brown and gray. But, as they looked up expecting to see a ceiling of similarly gray stone, they would be met with the dragon’s many eyes instead.
Pushing past Purgatory’s gates, as mortal eyes locked with those of the divine, they felt as though they were seen through in an instant. Those who met in this way would go on to proclaim that the deity was omniscient and that He used his great and many eyes to overlook the deceased as they were purified - the surveyor of the cycle of reincarnation.
Others would lament that while the entrance of the domain was a blindingly brilliant sheet of cascading white light, the deity’s domain itself was dark, darker than anything they had experienced before. This left them unable to see anything at all, and their meeting was forced to be done blind. Those who met in this way would go on to proclaim that the deity was omnipresent, convinced that the feeling that they had in front of the deity was there even after their meeting, persisting even as they reached the surface.
Perhaps, blind as they were, with their most reliable sense cut off, they were able to better experience a facet of the deity others found ineffable.
However, those testimonies would prove to be rather few and far between, reserved for only the most devout of believers. Ironically, most of those with lesser faith would go on to proclaim that they saw the dragon in the flesh.
And, for these individuals of little faith, it was a sight that changed their views. They saw the deity’s vast and winding body that extended far past Purgatory. With their own eyes, they would see the deity’s scales, which shined with a resplendent light, compelling them forward.
They could feel, with all their soul, the all-consuming power of the dragon washing over their mind.
Those who meet in this way would go on to proclaim that the deity was omnipotent.
That the deity had a certain charm that compelled others towards him was consistent with all these stories. To the souls of the dead, this was even more pronounced - feeling an irresistible influence compelling them to go toward Purgatory. To these poor souls, it was a warm and inviting light, one that guided them to their next life.
Interestingly, this charm was the final and ultimate test of spirit, a test that many would find themselves unprepared for, tired and weary after scaling the obstacles that impeded the path here.
Those that failed to resist this calling, those that chose to linger on after meeting the dragon, were thus robbed of the glory of returning as newly crowned [Blessed].
Their awe costed these poor souls their window to leave. And, with the way back closed, they could only venture forward, pushing deeper into Purgatory.
Herein lay a vision that could never see the light of day. Herein, they were greeted by the recently deceased, a veritable sea of souls, piled en masse outside the radiant core of the world. The more perceptive individuals might have, at this point, developed a sinking feeling within their chest, coming to realize the sight for what it was. Those tortured souls served as a portent, and not merely because when they themselves would die, they would inevitably join them.
No.
This inkling was of what awaited them but a few moments later.
Those fallen souls sought peace, solace in the light. Though peace was what they would inevitably find, it was not in the way that anyone had hoped.
Though perhaps such a description had put things too mildly, as framing the feeling of one’s memories and personality - the very makeup of one’s very existence - being comprehensively erased as a 'disappointment' would be an understatement no matter how it was phrased.
From the steady yet madding decay into mindlessness to the feeling of fragments of oneself being stripped away piece by piece, even the most apathetic would have been desperate for another chance at life.
However, for those present, it was far too late for them to be having regrets. Here, their movement was no longer under their control, and they could only wait for their inescapable oblivion.
Though perhaps once born into a world like this, freedom was never on the table to begin with. Their fates were not theirs to write from the moment they crossed the threshold from the Starry River; their fate of becoming one with the World Core foredoomed from the moment they reincarnated into this world. Such was the sadness of those at the bottom. In a certain sense, every world was equally unequal. Only, in this world where a singular being dominated the absolute peak, such inequality could only be more pronounced.
Faced with such a sight - like the souls of the deceased - these faithful petitioners will quickly realize that their god was not the kind sort. But remorse alone was not enough to get them out. As in here, they will have seen something they should not have seen - the true body of the dragon.
Largely incorporeal, it was a floating, bubbling mass of mana and soul matter. Bereft a coherent shape, at times draconic features would take form, only to quickly dissipate into the collective soon after. It was a roiling tempest of mercurial soul matter spinning around a magnificent metallic World Core.
This was the deity in actuality.
For the audience granted prior was merely with deity’s fleshly body - vast and awe-inspiring and filled to the brim with divine might as it might be, it paled in comparison to the truth. It was nothing more than a vestige of its pre-ascension state. A profoundly powerful puppet, but a puppet, nonetheless.
The husk wrapped the entirety of the domain. And, under the deity’s careful control, fused with it. Judging by this connection, it would not be wrong to say that he was Purgatory, and the Purgatory was him, though it would not be entirely correct, either.
For how could a mere domain fulfill this Draconic God’s greed and ambition?
Presented with the choice between a World and a subsidiary realm, the choice was obvious. And, by making such a decision, the path ahead was clear.
Champion of the World?
Lord of Purgatory?
Godhood?
All practice.
All tentative steps taken to prepare him for the true test.
The first step culminated with the molding of his original body.
Jutting out from Purgatory in all directions were three sets of wings, each an ascending sheet of white light that stretched far into the rocks above. There, they formed an uncountable number of imperceptibly small veins that ran all over the world. This was the true nature of the tunnels every hero delved.
Thus, his form penetrated every inch of the world and drew upon its essence. His heart became the world’s heart, each beat so in sync with the very breath of the world that they could not be perceived as separate entities.
After those preliminary experiments showed such promising results, the deity’s control extended far past Purgatory, hoping to engulf the world from the inside. However, it was only recently that this endeavor began in earnest.
The deity was in a truly unique situation brought about by an unthinkably fortunate opportunity.
With ambitions that reached the skies, he dug into the earth, becoming what he was now.
Where gods would generally be assimilated by the world, becoming something akin to natural laws over time and lost their individuality and sense of self, this dragon was able to do the same in reverse as he fused the world unto it instead.
This was no easy feat. Sacrifices had to be made to achieve this momentous accomplishment.
His corporeal body, the one that those ambitious mortals sought an audience from, became nothing more than a tether and a chain, for both Him and the world.
Mortals could only comprehend a being that enveloped a divine realm.
Their understanding could only go so far, after all. They'd mistaken His body’s position to be a barrier, and He a guardian that ensured no wayward soul ever had a chance to escape once they entered. They mythologized Him to be a warden, the first and only gate necessary between the world of the living and the world of the dead. A shield against baleful specters that would want nothing more than to harm the souls of the living.
Through their fanciful tales, people believed this being to be a vital part of the world’s functions. And with time, this became a sentiment repeated in the hearts of every believer. This faith, taught generation after generation and reiterated again and again over millennia, acted as a seal of approval in a world missing proper consciousness - in a world where the will of all sentient beings were the will of heaven.
Now, over the years, this temporary measure was close to being replaced.
The Will of Heaven was now the Will of God, and His consciousness alone was the world’s will. At least, that was the end goal.
Yet despite this dragon’s immense power and control, he was currently the most agitated being in the world. All of this stemmed from one thing.
Status
Name: Par∎∎∎∎s Luce d’C∎∎thondaria Titl∎∎: Expand? Age: 120,173 Total Level: 20∎∎ Ma∎∎:
985,∎∎8 / 2,508,903,5∎∎,190
Race:
Divine Dragon (Proto-World Will[∎∎])
Racial Skills:
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Divine D∎∎ains:
Light, Souls, Corruption(Incomplete[∎∎])
Domain Skills:
Ex∎∎and?
Main Class:
Shini∎∎ G∎∎rdian of Purg∎∎ory[∎∎]
Skills:
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Subclass 1:
Soul-Mana Alchemist
S∎∎lls:
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Subclass 2:
Burning Light Archmage
Skill∎∎
Expan∎∎
Subclass 3:
Mana-Soul Alchemist
Skills:
Expand?
General Skills:
Expand?
Blessings:
Expand?
Conditions:
Contract[∎∎], World's Annointed, Champion[∎∎], P∎∎∎ Co∎∎up∎∎on[13.07%], Marked