Chapter 817: “The Levites”
"Really, Raikis? This little nap of his isn’t enough to keep up the concealment," said the eye-rolling grey dragon.
"There’s no need for that anymore. A billion years is surely enough time for the Cosmos to change in many ways. Boredom shouldn’t be an issue anymore," the white dragon replied, rubbing her eyes as she took a step that closed the distance between her and Lostvayne in an instant.
"Hello, Vayne. Feel like contracting with me now?"
The question made Lostvayne silently sigh before pushing her hands away as they reached toward his neck.
[Even if I didn’t already have a contractor, I’ve told you many times, Wyndella, you’re one of the last people I’d ever contract with. Your existence is diametrically opposed to mine.]
"Ouch... rejected again," she muttered with a pout, then turned to her elder sister.
"Berlal, comfort me."
She closed the distance, pulling Berlal, who was talking with Mofil and Gervod, into a hug. The black dragon sighed and gently patted her head as Wyndella nuzzled her cheeks like a cat.
Wyndella radiated an overwhelming amount of creation law energy that made Arthur keep as much physical distance as possible, while protecting himself with his Aspect.
Noticing this, Lostvayne turned to her and said,
[Wyndella, can you please tone down your Sub-Edict?]
"Mhmm?"
She looked up, blinking, and finally noticed Arthur’s presence, tilting her head in confusion.
"A Progenitor? And why is he all the way over there?"
"Because the energy you’re radiating could kill him if he gets too close," Raikis replied, walking past Wyndella and lightly tapping her back, a gesture that suppressed her energy and relieved Arthur from the constant threat of death.
"Oh... he has a Natural Aspect..."
She muttered, then blinked in surprise as her own words sank in.
"Wait, he has two Natural Aspects???"
Her loud voice drew the attention of all the other dragons to Arthur, including the blue one who had been asleep on the grey one’s shoulder.
"Did I hear Natural Aspect...? Has the Candidate selection still not ended?"
The Blue Dragon, Barda, muttered with an exasperated tone, while the grey dragon silently smoothed the shoulder of her clothes and asked,
"What number is it this time? 15? 16?"
[17, actually.]
Lostvayne’s response made her sigh.
"Seventeen Candidate Selections, and they still haven’t found a replacement? They might as well give up. The Concepts of Time and Destruction clearly don’t like anyone besides the dead guy."
"They better keep trying. I don’t want Ranus trying to force the Concept of Time on me anymore," Barda said, clicking his tongue as he recalled the memory.
Just then, Mofil approached, holding two basketball-sized orbs. He offered one to Barda and the other to the grey dragon.
"Oh, thanks, Mofil."
"You’re welcome, Lady Gindry. I compiled every major event of the past billion years. I assumed you’d want to know."
After saying that, he turned and headed back to Berlal, who was already scanning her own orb.
"I see... so many friends have departed. So many new enemies," she muttered, her voice heavy with melancholy.
Suddenly, her eyes narrowed and her expression darkened as she turned to Mofil.
"The information here about Kelliana. Is it accurate?"
"As absurd as it sounds, yes," Mofil replied.
Berlal blinked in confusion.
"What on earth is that child doing? Is this some kind of rebellion against her father? If her mother were to find out..."
Trailing off, Raikis, who was holding an orb, looked up and asked, "What happened to Kelliana?"
But the answer came not from Berlal, but from Gindry.
"She became a dog for the Eternals, that’s what!"
Turning to Mofil, Gindry demanded, "Give me the coordinates for this Vladi Universe. I’m going to go beat some sense into that girl."
’Vladi?’
Arthur, who had been silently watching their interaction, raised an eyebrow at the familiar name.
As for Mofil, before he could answer, Gervod spoke up first.
"Don’t go anywhere yet, Gindry. The moment you leave this universe, that old man will find us."
"He’ll find us either way. Our concealment is already fading," Gindry shot back.
"But I would prefer if we had some peace of mind before that happens," Gervod said, making Gindry click her tongue before returning her focus to the orb of stored information.
"Also, who’s this Lucifer guy who keeps appearing in events involving Kelliana? What’s his deal?"
Lostvayne answered before Mofil could respond.
[My previous contractor, and the great-grandfather of my current one.]
He walked up to Gindry, placing a hand on the orb she was holding, his eyebrows rising at the unfamiliar contents.
[There are things here from before I even knew him.]
Meanwhile, Gindry turned to Arthur, and after a moment, her eyes widened in surprise.
"Hey, you guys. This one’s one of those!"
Arthur blinked in confusion just as she grabbed his shoulder and leaned in close.
"Those what?" Gervod asked, curious about Gindry’s sudden reaction.
"Those Cosmic Anomalies."
[’Singularities’ is what they’re called now,] Lostvayne called out.
"Whatever fancy name you want to use doesn’t change what they are," Gindry shot back.
At that moment, Raikis warped over, appearing beside Arthur and holding up the orb in front of his face.
"You must have descended from balls of steel, Progenitor. This ancestor of yours dared to provoke the Eternals while still only a Supreme."
"Is that your concern?" Barda spoke up, holding his own orb as he asked,
"Who’s this Immortal Anomaly guy with my former sword, and what’s this about Julio not being able to kill him?"
With that single line, Barda revealed he was the previous wielder of the Galaxy Sword, making him the one Lostvayne had mentioned who had nearly killed the Progenitor Elf.
His words caught the attention of all the dragons, and Gindry hurried over to Lostvayne, taking her orb and scanning it for the ’Immortal Anomaly.’
"Oh wow... and I thought the Lucifer guy was crazy. This one’s worse. Much worse. He’s even connected to that Witch who nearly drove Akasha mad... he’s double much worse."
Raikis muttered to himself in disbelief at some of the things he was seeing Jamie had done.
"So, the witch who stole Akasha’s power used it to create an immortal even Julio couldn’t kill? And he has Barda’s old sword too? I’m very curious."
Berlal’s quiet remark somehow carried to everyone’s ears, and seeing the amused smile on her face, the other five dragons fell silent and bowed their heads lightly.
Gervod then spoke,
"A moment of silence for our sister’s next unfortunate target. May his soul rest in peace."
""""Mhmmm.""""
"Really?"
Berlal deadpanned at her siblings after their little act, and Barda shook his head.
"Berlal, anyone that chatterbox Galaxy Sword is content with would definitely be interesting to you. If you find him, ’peace’ will become a foreign concept to him."
"If you want ’peace’ to stay a concept for you, I suggest you keep quiet now, Barda."
"Yes, Ma’am." Barda immediately fell silent after that not-so-subtle threat from Berlal. The black dragon sighed, then turned to Arthur and said,
"Let’s stay here for a while. I want to see the final result of this Progenitor’s sword’s fusion."
"Sword fusion?"
Wyndella’s ears perked up at that, her eyes shifting to Lostvayne, who silently shook his head. She glanced back at Berlal, but the black dragon pulled Raikis away from Arthur and pushed him toward Wyndella.
"Explain, Raikis."
Then she focused on Arthur and asked,
"What is your name, Progenitor? And what race’s origin are you... that negative divinity of yours is quite intriguing. I’ve never seen anything like it before."
At that, Gindry came over and added,
"Yeah, that’s right. I noticed it earlier, too. At first, I thought you simply infused some negativity into normal divinity, but it’s actually a totally different type of energy. It’s still like divinity, but an anti-version of it. Some sort of anti-divinity."
Arthur first answered Berlal, "My name is Arthur, and I’m the Progenitor of godslayers."
Then he turned to Gindry and added, "Yes, it is quite literally Anti-Divinity."
Hearing Arthur’s race, all the other dragons, except Berlal, and even Mofil, reacted with surprise.
"godslayers exist now? So Luka finally got her wish, huh?" Wyndella said, shaking her head.
Berlal, who seemed indifferent despite being the one who asked about his race, focused on the question she actually wanted answered.
"Between your divinity and anti-divinity, do they react like matter and antimatter when they collide?"
Arthur replied, "Not exactly."
As he spoke, energy began to rise along his hands, and seeing this, Lostvayne immediately exclaimed,
[Wait, Master, don’t!]
But it was too late.
Arthur’s energy manipulation was faster than the sound of Lostvayne’s warning, and by the time Arthur registered the words, the divinity and anti-divinity had already risen to his hands and formed orbs on his fingertips.
The ’gravity’ in his anti-divinity pulled the divinity orb close, and when they collided, they burst with a loud pop, nullifying each other.
Berlal’s eyes widened as she observed the interaction between the two energies, then she smiled. "It seems both the sword and its master will be accompanying me for a while."
"!"
Her expression made Arthur finally understand why Lostvayne had tried to stop him.
’Did I...just shoot myself in the foot?’
[Yes, Master, you just shot yourself in the foot—twice.]
Lostvayne’s reply was discouraging to hear.
Meanwhile, Barda, the blue dragon, approached Arthur and silently examined him before saying,
"Hey, Berlal, you’re going to have to step back for a while, maybe a million years or two. This one’s affinity for time is remarkable! His Aspect fits perfectly within his soul."
He slammed his hand down on Arthur’s shoulder and declared,
"I’ve decided. I shall make you the next Eternal of Time, so Ranus can never bother me again."
Gindry immediately flicked Barda’s head and pulled him away from Arthur.
"What kind of burden do you want to put on the poor boy? He’s barely thirty years old."
"What do you mean, barely thirty? He’s ALREADY thirty," Raikis interrupted. "When I was thirty, I was already fighting on Cosmic Battlefields!"
As soon as he said that, Wyndella smacked him on the back of the head.
"No, you weren’t. Stop lying. When you were thirty, you were still running from Old Man Aleksas’ training."
At that, all the other dragons immediately wore nostalgic expressions.
"Ah, right. Old Man Aleksas’ training. Days I never want to relive."
When Gervod said that, all the dragons nodded in agreement.
Their reactions made Arthur curious.
’What exactly happened in this ’Old Man Aleksas’ training’?’
Then he froze as a realisation hit him. "Wait, did you just say Aleksas?"
The moment Arthur spoke aloud, Lostvayne said,
[I suppose it’s time Master learned exactly who you all are.]
He looked at Arthur and added, [You may have picked up their names from the conversation, but for clarity’s sake...]
He gestured toward the Black Dragon.
[Berlal]
Then the Red Dragon.
[Raikis]
The Green,
[Gervod]
The White,
[Wyndella]
The Blue,
[Barda]
And finally, the Grey,
[Gindry.]
[The six of them are the oldest dragons to ever exist in this Cosmos, aside from the Progenitor of Dragons himself. They have gone by many names through the ages, but the best way to identify them is by their shared last name.
They are the Levites.]
