7th of Ab, 225 years since megados eruption
Woke up to a messenger crow from the council. Luckily for me, they were going to count this as self defense. I did give them several warnings. Unfortunately, I have to give them the body. So there goes my breakfast plans. So instead, my breakfast was the leftovers from my homecoming feast.
Oh yeah, something strange happened before hibernation. For some reason, a dead crow just appeared in my den. According to ██, they were in my mind palace. Which is weird, as I only have two eyes. You need three to pull someone into your mind palace. ██ is refusing to answer further questions. Something about it being 'too soon'. (everything about this is concerning)
Anyways, due to the fact that it's been 100 years, a lot has happened with the Esmos. To put it simply, there's now over 154 of them. Aesmo is the 'queen', B-Zesmo are 'royals', and the rest, whose names are surprisingly not a variation on _esmo, are considered 'citizens'. This is an oversimplification of a hierarchy that doesn't actually exist. (You'd count as 'empress')
Yep. The only difference between royals and citizens, is that royals get 1 extra bit of dragon tumor a week. That's it, no other difference. I'm assuming they're only doing this because they're in control of an empire, which needs some sort of leader. Oh yeah, did I mention they're in control of an empire?
Apparently Pesmo's little city project grew into a small country, then the other Esmos joined in on the game until eventually, they accidentally made an empire. Now, an empire needs a strong workforce. Sapients can only work so much before dying. The simple solution was homunculi.
Of course, there's only so many homunculi you can make at a time. Which is why you make homunculi make homunculi. Yep, they figured out self-replicating homunculi, something a dozen dragons failed at doing. (To be honest, the dragons worked alone while we did it through cooperation.) The self-replicating looped, until eventually half of the empire was just homunculi.
So now they're in control of a continent-wide empire. Problem is, none of them actually want to maintain this empire. So they tried to let it fall naturally. Unfortunately, the first rebel leader made the stupid mistake of trying to climb into our home. They got blasted by a laser. (relatively painless. Besmo wanted to use poison.)
This deterred other rebellions from starting. The remaining countries on the continent vassalized themselves to the empire. This was the opposite of what the Esmos wanted. The next attempt was supposed to be letting other dragons cause enough damage.
Now here's where an important figure comes in. The 'dragon slayer'. A self-explanatory title. They've been going around killing dragons at a rate of about 3/year. For the past 100 years. That means 300 dragons died since I went down. For context, back then others were concerned about the population only being 1000. Now it's 700.
Now, you may notice something suspicious. The 'dragon slayer' has been active for 100 years. Quite a coincidence that I went down at around the same time as when they started. A bigger coincidence that they appeared on this continent.
Anyways, because of the 'dragon slayer's' presence, the empire is nearly untouched by dragons. So now, the most recent attempt at collapsing the empire was a civil war between two unrelated religions leading to a bigger conflict. Unfortunately, my return made 'my' religion the most popular one, and also united the empire more than ever.
Normally, I'd ignore all of this, except that Aesmo made me outrank her, thus making the empire my responsibility. Luckily, no one really knows what I look like. Which means I can play the role of the evil destroyer of an empire.
19th of Ab, 225 years since megados eruption
The first thing I need to do is neutralize the 'dragon slayer'. According to Aesmo, they're fireproof, have poisonous blood, and know at least 3 spells; 'aberrant threads', 'call lightning', and 'transmute blood', or similar spells. They also suspect them to have some sort of body enhancing magic, but can't confirm it.
To counter the lightning, I'm going to borrow some gems from Gesmo. They're good at absorbing lightning. For the threads, I'll use 'gravitas' to immobilize them. Finally, for the blood, I'll try freezing it so that it becomes easy to shatter. The problem will be how poisonous their blood is. Unfortunately, no dragon survived long enough for poison to be an issue, so we have no data.
Of course, poison will only be an issue if I get hit, which I have no intentions of. I also have some backup plans, but they're a bit risky. Let's just hope the risk is worth it.
----------------------------------------
Pov Deus
"There's a dragon approaching!"
Report noted. Direction; NNW-. Taking immediate action. Approaching NW gate.
Arrived at gate. No dragons detected. Widening search... one dragon detected. Approaching at significant speeds.
Restraining measures prepared. Preparing lethal backup.
Notice, additional dragons detected NEE- and SWW+. Several spells inbound. Self preservation priority active. Initiating lethal counterattack.
Transform blood into spear. Target distance 12 km, 71 degrees, NEE-3 degrees. Blood engine running at 3%. Throwing spear.
Preparing next spear. Confirmed hit on target; all left wings. Target falling at predictable rate. Aiming at 11 km, 63 degrees, NEE-2 degrees. Throwing spear.
Approaching dragon ETA 7 seconds. Approaching with claws extended and jaws open. High heat detected in jaws. Assuming violent intentions. Non-lethal counterattack procedures prepared.
Releasing thread netting. Dragon unleashed fire. no damage accrued. Confirmed violent intentions, initiating lethal measures. Severing neck and limbs.
Notice, final dragon attempting to flee. Priority 3: destruction of enemies. Reform spear. Target distance 17 km, 52 degrees, SWW+11 degrees. Blood engine running at 15%. Recoil protection prepared. Firing spear.
Preparing next spear. Confirmed hit on target; head. Target falling without resistance. No further action required. Blood engine deactivated.
Notice, unknown entity detected. Unable to identify. Request help from nearby sapients.
"Query. What is that entity?"
"What do you mean what is it? It's another damn dragon! Four! Four f..."
The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
Ignoring further audio input. Self-analyzing for damage. None found. Despite appearance, entity is not dragon. Recommended not to initiate negative relations. Maintaining observation of entity.
Entity has started approaching. Slower than expected, most likely not attacking. Preparing backup in case of attack.
Entity now within communication range. Attempting to obtain information from entity.
"Please identify yourself."
"What?"
"Please state your name, race, and reason for being here."
"Can I refuse?"
"Please state your race at minimum."
"Only if you tell me what you are."
"Understood. I am Deus, a homunculi created 102 years ago. My current priorities are self-preservation, protection of innocents, destruction of enemies."
"I see... I'm a dragon. I'm here to neutralize you, as you are a threat to me."
"Clarification required. I do not detect you as a dragon. What makes you different? Argument, I am not actively threatening you."
"Wh- I'm a normal dragon! Well, physically normal at least. Also, you can kill dragons. That makes you a threat to dragons. I am a dragon, therefore you are a threat to me."
"Query, why do you have three eyes then? Argument, I do not actively hunt dragons, I simply defend myself or innocents. I am not a threat to anyone, unless they make me their threat."
"Wait what three eyes?"
----------------------------------------
26th of Ab, 225 years since megados eruption
Some idiots made a mess before I got there. Put the whole area on high alert. Ended up not fighting the 'dragon slayer'. Also, turns out they're a homunculi. So that's how they've managed to live so long.
I'll have to postpone this to a later time. Mainly because of the council. They really want to know what happened to me while I was gone. Apparently it's "unrealistic for someone to be trapped in a mind palace for 100 years and escape unscathed". I'll have to clarify that I in fact was not trapped in a mind palace for 100 years, it was more like a few minutes. The rest of the time was spent trapped in the mind of an angel instead.
11th of Aes, 225 years since megados eruption
Fuck that was probably the homunculi we lost track of early on. Everything lines up perfectly. The time, their strength, even the fact they're active on the same continent. I guess it's a good thing I didn't get into a fight unprepared then. If its poison is anything like Besmo's I'd be in for a bad time.
21st of Aes, 225 years since megados eruption
Alright, I managed to convince the council. The angel corpse helped a lot. So that's one problem I solved.
Now it's time to introduce a new problem. As I mentioned, I'm the god of a religion now apparently. Now, as I mentioned before, I don't really know what to do about religions. Anything I do that isn't complete annihilation will just make it stronger. Hell, maybe complete annihilation will just make me part of a different religion. That's what happened to Lucy.
I asked for any advice from the council, but their idea of advice was just to take advantage of them. My problem is that I don't need that advantage. If anything, the attention that gets directed my way is detrimental. I already had to chase away some idiots a few months ago, I don't want to do that every few years.
No offense to the Esmos, but their ideas weren't exactly helpful either. Yes, killing all dragons would solve the issue, but that just leads to other problems. And also it's illegal to kill without reason. No, getting married will not deter suitors. Most of mom's kills were because of that exact issue.
I'll have to think of something eventually, but for now, that's enough thinking. My head hurts for some reason.
Here's some more stuff that happened while I was away;
1. Fesmo is in control of a forest. Well, 'control' is a bit generous. It's more like everything in the forest understands that Fesmo can kill them at any moment. Well, I guess the bees have it better. Fesmo has fully tamed them. They help out in the farms that Tesmo made.
2. Besmo tested a lot of poisons to try and find the strongest one. Unsurprisingly, it's from a mushroom. More surprising is the second strongest poison, which was from a deep-sea fish. Surprising, as that particular fish hadn't been discovered before. So don't ask how Besmo managed to get it.
3. Hesmo managed to cultivate the tumor to the size of a small island. It is now floating in the blood lake. If you didn't know what it was, it'd just look like a weird brown-ish island. It acts as the primary food source of the Esmos.
4. Mom's sick. Unfortunate, but not unforeseen. By the time you're 6 thousand years old, you'd expect some health issues to start appearing. I expect her to live for only 700 years, less if dad has any bad ideas. Luckily, dad is distracted by a horse that can't die.
14th of Alm, 225 years since megados eruption
A dragon lord died yesterday. Apparently they were trying to achieve immortality and drank some cheap elixir. If they had asked for help, then I could've warned them against using kogu fish, the one besmo claimed was the second strongest poison.
That led to an interesting topic though. Based on what the 'dragon slayer' said, they aren't hunting dragons on purpose. It's just that dragons constantly attack them, and they end up killing them in self-defense. Kind of like what I do.
Now the more I think about it, the more I realize that dragons are the biggest threat to themselves. And not just in a dragon kill dragon kind of way, but also in a 'dragon does something dumb that kills them' kind of way.
I mean, they have the title 'dragon slayer'. Why the fuck would you actively search them out? I did it because I thought they'd get in the way of me destroying my own empire, but what excuse do other dragons have? Especially those on other continents. You're safe over there!
I guess what I'm saying is that dragons are often self-destructive, and that the end of the age of dragons was inevitable. I wonder why dragons are so willing to risk their lives though. Is it some sort of psychological thing that I'm too psychopathic to understand? I should ask mom, she studied this sort of thing in the past.
----------------------------------------
"Hey mom, why do others throw their lives away so easily?"
"Is this about last week?"
"Sort of. I've been thinking about the extinction problem we seem to be facing. I realized something; most dragons die either by another dragon, or by doing something that has a significant risk of death. Why would you risk your life so easily?"
"Well, have you considered if there is anything others want that is worth the risk?"
"Yes, but I can't think of anything worth dying for. I mean, I understand drinking a risky elixir in hopes of immortality I guess, but why would you chase after a 'dragon slayer'? Especially when you're far away from it and it's not a threat to you?"
"It's part of their desire. Yes, the 'dragon slayer' can kill dragons. But then what would it mean for the one who can slay that 'dragon slayer'? Wouldn't it mean they're stronger than all the dragons the slayer slew?"
"So what?"
"...Did you know that every dragon has an innate desire? The desire to be the best dragon. By slaying the 'dragon slayer', they are able to prove that they are one of the 'best' at combat. It brings them one step closer to their desire."
"Every dragon? Then what about us? What about Liberos? I don't think any of us have such desires."
"That's right, and is that not strange? Liberos only wants to read. I want a nice family that cares for each other. You... well clearly you're not trying to be the best."
"What... never mind. So what you're saying is that every other dragon gambles their life away in hopes of being just a little bit better than everyone else? All because 'they desire it'?"
"Well, it's a bit hard to explain for you..."
"Why?"
"Do you desire?"
...
"Well... I guess I want a nice home?"
"Is that your desire, what you want above all else?"
"I- no? I mean, I'd like a nice home, but don't want to risk my life for it. It's like mining; something I like, but can go without."
"So then, do you desire?"
"I guess not?"
"That's why it's hard to explain. Trying to explain desire to you is like explaining color to someone who's blind. All you need to know is that they're risking their lives because they feel like they need to, or else it isn't worth living."
"I see. I guess I'm fine with that explanation."
"Good. Now for my questions. First, why do I smell angel on you? And second, why do you have an extra eye?"
----------------------------------------
25th of Alm, 225 years since megados eruption
I don't know what happened. I remember talking to mom for a while, then she asked... something. For some reason, I erased the memory of what happened. But why? Usually I can tell why, there's enough lingering details usually. But this time around, there's nothing. I erased that memory with all the mana I had.
Whatever, I at least remember the conversation before that. Especially the part about desires. Made me wonder, do I have a desire? Something that I want no matter what. I can't think of any. Apparently that isn't normal. It's bothering me a lot more than the memory loss.
I asked the Esmos, and all of them have some sort of desire. Well, at least they said so. Some refused to reveal what their desires were, but that's fine. What's more notable is specifically Aesmo's desire. "See you die (affectionately)" Without context, it sounds like a threat. But really it's more of a "outlive your natural lifespan" kind of desire.
Which reminds me, how did the Esmos live for so long? Even they don't know why. As far as they can tell, they feel the same as they did 100 years ago. The current theory is that they just stop aging after a point. No idea how that happened.