After the scream - 1 billion universes remaining

Jason had teleported a few meters away from Isadora, accompanied by Orion and Arden. Seeing her kneeling on the ground, he understood the situation. Even though the world of Monarchy enhanced her physical abilities, she remained a mere mortal. The divine dragon had raised its head upon their arrival.

The dragon was resplendent. Its white scales were of unmatched purity, and its immense wings, a pearly violet, seemed capable of hiding the horizon.

In one of its claws, it held a massive, slender, translucent sword. It was an emerald green, and Jason had no doubt of its sharpness. Knowing the Monarch of Souls, how could he not recognize one of his traveling companions? The divine dragon before them was very real and called Berserk.

Jason had met him only once when he was still a young dragon, a bit full of himself. He had used their encounter to give him a lesson in humility. A lesson he seemed to remember, as he bowed upon seeing him.

"I did not expect to meet you today, Your Highness."

His voice was powerful and cavernous. His words and attitude towards one of the individuals beside her answered several of Isadora's questions: the creature before her was real, and they were not in a virtual world as she had thought. It seemed to be inside a world that existed somewhere in the universe.

Her deduction was correct, but she lacked crucial knowledge to reach the right conclusion. She didn't know the Monarchs and the extent of their power. The dragon before her was not Berserk's body but just his soul. For an eternal being of the dragon race, it wasn't surprising to Jason that Berserk's body could reach the size of the largest galaxies.

His soul must have also been reduced by the Monarch of Souls so that mortals could finish the main quest. After all, he wanted one of the mortals to finish the game.

"You know he created this whole world to find an heir," Berserk continued in a grave voice, now looking at Isadora with an intense gaze as if trying to see into her soul. "I do not wish to question your judgment, Your Highness, but I hope you have not chosen the first mortal you found to awaken my master."

Before Jason could ease his fears, Arden had drawn his katana and was now looking eastward. Several million light-years away, Berserk's true body lay in hibernation, drifting slowly through the void, with his projection in the world of Monarchy being only a tiny part of his soul. He suddenly opened his eyes. He could see, even at such a distance, his master's soul but not its interior. However, he felt watched. He was ancient and experienced enough to understand that what was watching him was far more powerful than he and could probably kill him instantly. He had to bow and let his master handle the repercussions.

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Inside the Monarch's soul, Berserk merely sighed. He knew he was one of the most powerful beings in this universe, but that didn't matter. In the face of an ancient Monarch, he was nothing.

"Come closer, my child," he said to Isadora.

She approached the dragon trembling. Berserk had contained his aura as much as possible, but the pressure emanating from his body remained immense for a mortal's body. He used the blade of his sword to help her reach his head. From his eyes, fine tears flowed, which Isadora carefully collected in a vial.

"We will meet again very soon, my child," he said softly. Before she could understand what he meant, Isadora found herself back inside the tavern.

In front of her stood the old sage, now trembling all over. He hadn't even waited for her to hand him the vial before a message appeared in the sky:

'Congratulations to Isadora for completing the Monarchy quest! She will now witness the Monarch's awakening!'

The message appeared not only in front of the players but also before the inhabitants of Monarchy. A great silence hung over the players, unsure how to react to the events. The NPCs, however, seemed jubilant. They spoke of organizing grand celebrations to welcome the impending "reunions."

Some players had planned to attack Isadora. As soon as she was teleported back to the tavern, they rushed at her with their weapons. They had even prepared spells to restrain her movements and prevent her from disconnecting. Unfortunately for them, the old sage gave them no chance. With a mere wave of his staff, they all disappeared from the tavern. After dealing with the troublemakers, he created a portal before turning to Isadora:

"Follow me. It's best not to keep him waiting."

Once through the portal, Isadora found herself in a tomb. She was surrounded by immense statues, each depicting the same humanoid octopus in different costumes. There was, for example, the octopus in military uniform holding a rifle, the pirate octopus armed with a scimitar, and even the chef octopus with an apron.

It took Jason a herculean effort not to raise an eyebrow at the sight, especially if, as he suspected, they were meant to glorify this dear Mr. Octopus.

In the middle of these columns was a sarcophagus that the old sage approached. He placed around it the five different keys that Isadora had collected. After a short moment, the ground began to tremble. The lid started to open slowly, very slowly but surely.

'Always so theatrical,' Jason sighed inwardly.

The sarcophagus took two long minutes to fully open. Inside lay a translucent octopus with blue and violet hues. It wore a robe with multiple sleeves to accommodate all its tentacles. Its body began to float a few centimeters above the sarcophagus.

It opened its eyes and declared theatrically:

"Welcome, young hero, today is a great day! You will inherit my resplendent title of …"

He did not finish his sentence. He seemed to lose all strength in his body and collapsed to the ground. He didn't even attempt to get up, merely closing his eyes and repeatedly murmuring in a trembling voice:

"I'm sorry… I'm sorry… I'm sorry…" His voice became inaudible after a few repetitions. He finally fell silent, leaving a great silence in the tomb. Seeing his state, Jason began to speak:

"Calm down, Frank, it's me, Jason."

"Jason?"

"Tell me what you see."

"I see as if … as if your souls do not belong to this universe, as if they have transcended its limits. Given their size, I don't think you are still Monarchs, and worse, I feel like you aren't even supposed to exist. Your soul in particular, Jason, is so shattered, as if it had exploded, that I don't know how you're still alive."