Once we were done eating our meals, it was time to move forwards. There was little time to waste in here, especially when we had so many lives to save. The meal was comforting, and we were able to recover much of our fatigue too, but we had to hurry.
"Alright, it's done, let's go. We shouldn't waste a single second if possible." I said to my group. "Tyrannus, the warriors, Emerald, are you ready?"
"Y-Yeah, I'm fine now." Emerald nodded; he had woken up just recently due to the smell of the food. "Damn, I really took a beating, didn't I? I don't think I've ever fought so intensively before in my entire life… I guess this is how the life of a real dragon is, huh? Hahah… Compared to what you and other dragons might have lived… I'm quite pathetic myself, aren't I?"
"Pathetic?" I asked, feeling taken aback. "Emerald, I wouldn't call you pathetic, perhaps reckless and unexperienced. Maybe even a bit dumb at times. And perhaps sometimes quite clueless… But you are not pathetic."
"T-That's a bit of a stretch there…" Emerald sighed. "Couldn't you just say I wasn't pathetic without adding all of that?! It's not like I am unare of my shortcomings…"
"I know, but I had to leave them clear so you could understand how we see you." I sighed, giving the young dragon a head pat, his green feathers were very soft. "You're young, you've got a world to learn about, and many adventures yet to have. I was also as clueless and dumb as you are at one point too, and sometimes I believe I'm still partially rather ignorant, there's always new things I learn with each journey, even when I think I know everything, the world always surprises me with new things, and new challenges."
"…" Emerald remained in silence as he felt slightly moved by my words.
"You're not pathetic, Emerald. You've proven to us that you're improving, your magic, your techniques, your talent… You're someone worthy to call himself a dragon." I smiled, Emerald suddenly started crying.
"Uncle…" He started crying. "I-I'll try to get better… I don't want to be a weakling idiot anymore… So please… teach me! I-I'll try to be a good disciple… Nobody, not even my family, ever treated me like you did…"
"Emerald…" I sighed. "I already have a disciple, his name is Surtr, he's a reckless brat, I think a bit older than you, but he has a brave heart as well.
"Surtr…?" Emerald wondered, beginning to imagine who he could be.
"I'm sure you'll get along well with him as my second disciple." I laughed.
"T-Then…!" Emerald felt moved.
"Of course, if that's what you want, you'll have it." I nodded. "I'll accept you as my disciple, Emerald. From now on, I'll teach you what I can teach you, and you'll learn not only from me, but from our adventures together. I don't know when you might depart on your own path, but until then, you'll experience my challenges, eat the food I make, and enjoy the moments we enjoy."
"Y-Yes… Thank you… I will do my best! I want to grow stronger and… I want to tell my mother and the rest of my family that I've changed…!" Emerald cleansed the tears from his eyes. "I want to become a better dragon! A-A better person!"
"Well said." Benladann smiled, nodding.
"Indeed." Miranda agreed.
"Now, stand back up, let's go." I extended my dragon hand towards him. "We have to end this, the monster that caused you all these problems, we'll defeat it."
"Y-Yes…!" Nodded Emerald, as he grabbed my hand and stood back up. "I'm all healed up and ready for anything!"
"Alright, let's do this."
We stepped out of the hall and into the last gate, countless vines, strange and colorful flowers, and crystals greeted our sight. I took out both golden apples and offered them to the gate.
The gate suddenly opened its eyes, the flowers were all eyes of their own, taking the apples from my hands, and devouring them…
"Crunch, crunch, crunch… GRRRHHH…"
"It's eating them?!" Asked Tyrannus. "What the hell?"
"Calm down." I said, as I watched the entity devour the apples. "Something is-"
The gate suddenly started to tremble, the plants, crystals, and flowers started shaking and moving everywhere, it seemed as if the gates were beginning to be cleared.
However, as that was happening, suddenly, our surroundings slowly started to distort, yet another dream vision emerged.
And perhaps the very last…
FLAAASH!
.
.
.
It has been centuries since Takeru and Jonathan disappeared. Having taken away a clone of the trees he created, he left behind the rest of the still existing ones, contained within their glass tubes.
Unconcerned because of the dangers and other important matters he had to take care of, he left all the leftover machinery and technology he created, including his creations, to Takeru's hands.
The Demon of Dungeons paid no mind to them either, sealing them with his powers and adding them as a part of his Inheritance.
The lifeforms that Jonathan created… had souls, and those souls had minds. Yet he never truly thought about it too deeply.
Perhaps because he was too passionate about his projects to realize the true meaning of what he was doing, creating life and not taking care of it was one of the greatest sin a god could make.
These living beings, these trees made from his genetical engineering and the combination of a piece of Pandemonium slowly grew over thousands of years.
Eons went through even, as their resentment, anger, and hunger grew endlessly… Trapped and without any capability of escape, they slowly perished bitterly, one after another.
They managed to survive very long, but ultimately, only one remained, Subject 04.
"Fa… ther…"
"Why…?"
"Why have… you… abandoned… us?"
Its body slowly started to break free from its containment, as a green-colored flower grew on top of it, a strange Divine Treasure that granted it incredible power.
Crack… crack…
CRAAASH!
With a monstrous fury, it broke through everything their father had created… and devoured it, assimilating it into its body.
The metal, the wires, everything. Not even the Dungeon Spirit, resting within the hidden Dungeon Core was safe from its rage.
"SO HUNGRY…! FOOD…! FOOD!"
"W-What is going- AARGHH…!"
The Dungeon Spirit was completely unaware of this monster's existence, and battled pointlessly for many days, until it succumbed to the creature's endless regeneration and its deadly Demonic Energy Powers.
"Gulp… AAHH…"
The beat felt enlightenment as it devoured and absorbed the Dungeon Spirit's body and soul and gained control of the Dungeon Core.
It learned that its father had long ago died, and that the world had changed a lot from what it once was…
"FATHER… NO… FA.. THER…!"
Filled with frustration, sorrow, regret, and anger, the creature controlled the dungeon's structure, over time, finally learning how to break it open and escape.
Its hunger, no matter how much it ate, never ceased. And the demonic powers flowing through its veins made it go mad the more hunger it suffered.
Eventually, it made its way into the surface, realizing that people started living around it because of the Intimidating Aura that its own existence created, which the lizardmen thought to be a barrier of divinity.
And it was in that night that it surfaced that it met him.
That green feathered dragon.
