Leon watched as the dragon and amphiptere wrestled. Nine times out of ten, the amphiptere won- after all, not only was she larger and stronger, but she was also old enough that the paralyzing effect of her gaze was blooming, whereas the dragon lacked any of these advantages. Moreover, she had been born in the wild and had to hunt for sustenance.
And yet, the dragon managed to put up a decent fight. Nemes moved with strangely fluid steps, reacting rapidly and precisely to Cetus’ attempts to take him down.
‘It’s only because Cetus is playing, though.’ Leon thought, grimacing. If she began to utilize the arcane, Nemes would have no chance. He couldn’t manipulate the arcane, after all.
‘I still don’t understand why Iroh is allowing Nemes to continue believing that the arcane within him belongs to Apophis.’ Leon thought, his gaze flicking to the shackles that clung to Nemes’ legs and neck. Soon, another set would bind his wings.
Leon shook his head, pushing these thoughts away and refocusing on Cetus’ and Nemes’ scuffle. It was getting heated.
Nemes grabbed hold of Cetus’ throat and pushed her to the ground, coming close to victory- but he had won only two minutes ago, and Cetus was apparently unable to let that stand.
The shackles that clung to her wings lit up, telling him that she was manipulating the arcane. Aether flooded into her body, delving into every muscle in her body as her tail whipped forward with tremendous speed and might- enough to break bones.
Leon lunged forward, only barely catching the blow on his forearm before it could strike Nemes. The blow carried enough force to push him backwards a step, and enough force to make his entire arm feel as though it was aflame.
Nemes quickly made distance between himself and Cetus- not that it made a difference, as there was no way Leon would allow Cetus to attack one of the most valuable creatures on the continent again.
Leon’s body became wreathed in an avatar of Aether, doubling his size instantly- enough that his hand could wrap tightly around the amphiptere’s throat. He tossed the overgrown and winged snake to the other end of the field. He threw her harder than he had meant to, though, and she slammed into the enormous alloy walls with enough force to make a small crack in them.
“Shit,” Leon muttered. The communicator wrapped around his wrist lit up as it sent out a call for the medics and received multiple calls from his higher-ups.
He had definitely taken it too far.
***
Iroh sat within his office, rubbing his smooth chin absent-mindedly. A few feet away, a monitor displayed Nemes’ room.
‘Apophis, Gaia’s Nemesis and the World’s Destroyer… how did you get a hold of Orun’s Token?”
The God of Life, Orun, had created the token using the last remnants of his life force. It was ironic, but Orun had been in a perpetual state of dying and being reborn. On the thirty-sixth cycle, Orun had tried to create the Token of Life, but had failed.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
Instead, he made Orun’s Token- a token that would send your soul to an alternate reality. Nobody had any clue whether it worked or not, because Orun had destroyed it.
‘He destroyed it in this reality.’ Iroh corrected.
All of the evidence pointed to one thing; that an alternate reality was destroying their own. The rifts in reality were allowing the echoes of a destroyed world through, and they could not resist. The gods had gone silent millennia ago. The spirits had disappeared from the world. The dragons had gone extinct. No divine creatures remained, leaving them no way to retaliate against the abominations that seeped through the rifts.
The only thing that anyone knew of that could cause something like this was Orun’s Token. No other thing on Eclite, whether it be alive, divine or an artifact, could mess with reality in this way.
‘And from what Nemes has told us, Apophis comes from another reality. He had to have been the one to use Orun’s Token.’ Iroh thought, ‘Apophis… that thrice-damned dragon. Not only has he brought ruin to our reality, but he has also possessed the only divine being we know of.’
No matter how hard he tried, he could not find a way to separate Nemes and Apophis. He had to figure it out. Apophis was renowned as the World’s Destroyer for a reason, and it wasn’t because he was a tree hugger.
Iroh caught his reflection on a metal wall and grumbled. His bald head hid that he’d have grey hair, but it did little to hide his age. Wrinkles covered his face and his flesh sagged.
‘I’m going to need to start modifying my body at only seventy. The stress must be getting to me…’
***
Nemes sat within his room, littered with cuts and bruises from his scuffles with Cetus. They had all been tended to by the Greenhaven Institute, but they’d last for days regardless.
He couldn’t concentrate, though. The image of Cetus’ broken body on the ground wouldn’t leave his vision. Leon’s enormous, powerful figure made him shudder. If he tried to escape or fight back, what happened to Cetus would happen to him. He was almost certain of it.
He had been told that Cetus was going to be fine, but Nemes had a hard time believing it- especially since Leon was the one who had told him. The man had just killed- or come close to killing- the first ‘friend’ he had ever made.
“I could solve all of your problems,” Apophis told him, “Even with the meager Aether and Ether reserves that this body has, I could destroy the Greenhaven Institute.”
“I’m not stupid.” Nemes said.
“It wouldn’t even require relinquishing control over your body. If you just do as I say, you’ll survive.”
Nemes knew that the dragon was lying, but… curiosity won out.
“And how would you do that?” Nemes asked.
“All I need you to do is find a tear in reality. I can sense one nearby.” Apophis said, bringing up ‘tears in reality’ for the second time.
“What even is a tear in reality?” Nemes asked, not even noticing that Apophis hadn’t answered his question.
“Realities have collided, and this one is weaker. Tears in this reality have been made, and the echoes of a greater world are on the other side.” Apophis said.
Just then, Apophis was interrupted by the door sliding open. Only an hour had passed since… the incident, and so it came as a surprise. Iroh stepped through the door and motioned for Nemes to follow him as he said, “Come, dragon. We’ve got some things to test out.”
Nemes followed him through the halls as he had done with Leon, and he soon arrived at a room very similar to the one that he had woken up in when he had been given his metal horns and translation implant.
“We’re going to try to gather more data on your Aether and Ether. It’s going to hurt, so we’re going to put you to sleep for it. Are you prepared?”
Nemes was a bit surprised. They hadn’t asked for his consent the first time- although they weren’t really asking for his consent this time, either; only if he was ready.
There was nothing he could do other than prepare himself mentally and nod, and soon, he was made to lay down on a massive surgical table and promptly knocked out.