I was sitting on the floor watching the passage of time of a world from its creation to the birth of the first life and evolution of the races living in the world as civilizations are created or destroyed in an endless cycle.
The worst thing about it was the endless boredom, I knew only a few hours were passing but my mind felt like it was racing to the same level as this world making it seem like millions of years were passing while I stood still, my mind was so overwhelmed with all the information accumulating over millions of years of this world that I couldn't think normally bearing this weight in my mind just because I went into a meditative trance after some effort.
I saw the history of this world until its eventual destruction, disappearing as if it had never existed, but from the fragments of this destroyed world, a new one was formed restarting the cycle I just saw.
I went through this same cycle dozens of times and yet it seemed like just a blink of an eye, landscapes, races, civilizations, stories, and everything I had seen in each cycle was similar while also being different, even though the only constants were the beginning and the end that will always exist.
Sigh
"Of your nightmares, this has to be one of the worst for me." (I)
Before the end of another cycle, I forced myself out of my sister's nightmare with sheer force of will shattering the surroundings with my own Aura.
"One of the things that many mortals have difficulty understanding is how immortality feels, many still desire it without understanding what they are giving up and the consequences that will come not immediately, but throughout an existence that seems to have no end." (Caitlyn)
My sister appears in front of me, she was wide awake and walking on her own legs instead of floating on her pillow like she always does, her face serious with every word spoken.
"Of our sisters, I am the youngest and I already understand part of what I speak from my own experience while I have been able to deduce the rest through the experiences of those older than me." (Caitlyn)
"Understanding what "Life" is can be difficult even with millions of years of experience, the infinite changes that even the shortest of lives cause in a world, how each life is unique in its own way and the infinity of possibilities, all this contained in a fleeting moment that disappears as easily as it comes into existence." (Caitlyn)
"Seeing the cycle of a world as I showed you just now was one of the ways I made many others go crazy as punishment, their closed minds were not able to comprehend what it showed or they simply denied everything for lack of wisdom." (Caitlyn)
"I'm not sure I understand myself..." (I)
"But you did, the use of your Aura now shows that you are able to understand something of the characteristics that your Authority now encompasses and your Soul has been marked." (Caitlyn)
I look at my hands, the Aura was moving as I wanted, but it wasn't completely, just a part of my Aura and yet it felt different, the weight and depth I feel is almost unrecognizable with the past.
"How long has it been?" (I)
"Several days, I'd like to give you a rest, but part of this is still punishment for what you did, so let's continue." (Caitlyn)
With a snap, the surroundings change, taking me into a new nightmare without knowing what to expect from this training.
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Pov Silvia's:
My hands are stained with blood that I tried to lick off, since I became the daughter of Zenos the taste of blood has gained a sweetness on my palate, a flavor that I have learned to enjoy more when the source comes from someone I don't like, almost like a wild feeling that must come from my instincts as a Dragon.
I look around, the village destroyed, each of the deaths almost instantaneous, my desire was not to cause unnecessary suffering or teach a lesson, just extermination was welcome and that's as far as I got.
Only after the deaths did I go to destroy the village, without wanting to leave any traces that these people ever existed.
"I didn't expect you to kill them all."
"They were beyond salvageable, at least I managed to save some from becoming corrupt." (I)
"They thought that doing the same atrocities as Humans would be justifiable to win, I can understand doing this to Humans that they already hate, but to their own race that is already on the brink of extinction..."
"Everything can always be justifiable with the convenient excuse of being for the greater good or necessary sacrifices." (I)
I look at the young people with chains still around their arms, malnourished bodies, some successful Humans and others Beast Men, there were even children among them, and in a better state were the babies whose innocence had not yet been contaminated by this world.
Each of them was unconscious lying on the ground in sheets I made to safely contain them, then I look at the elderly woman who appeared wearing a dark blue dress.
But my eyes don't spend much time on it before I see the corpses in the surroundings ranging from children to elderly Beastmen.
I arrived at this village wanting to invite its inhabitants to live in the Dungeon, saving them from this centuries-old conflict that brought them to the brink of extinction in this world, but what I found was them doing research with knowledge stolen from Humans to create even more of the poison that I destroyed this world, they were testing on young Humans who I don't know how they managed and on young people of their own race, they were doing their experiments on full display when I arrived with everyone treating them as normal.
Hideous there was little to be said about it when I arrived, I wonder if she was here when I arrived or came because she noticed my presence after I finished.
"I didn't expect to find an Elder Dragon here." (I)
"When I arrived this world was already beyond salvation, even the Fairies and Spirits chose to abandon this place."
"But I didn't think it was right to let an entire world fall because of the mistakes of its inhabitants."
"Why not clean them all up?" (I)
"Why don't they deserve this mercy, let them live the next few centuries in the misery they put the world itself in, in the meantime I can still use their lives to take care of what comes after everyone is gone."
"A bad way to do it, to let generations who could be taught differently fall for the mistakes of their ancestors." (I)
"I have already made a deal with the Goddesses of Life and Death, those who die here will be reborn here, it has been happening in the last few decades to not let innocent Souls reach this place."
"Then I suppose you'll want to take the ones I'm collecting." (I)
"I wouldn't dare, I can feel the power of you and I know what your true identity is, or at least what your true identity once was."
"Nature is not a harmonious place as many like to portray it, cruelty is part of the natural order and nature knows how to be ruthless, disregarding things like justice or injustice, but that was my past, now in my current days I see how the selfishness of people Dragons can influence your behaviors." (I)
"I'm not going to get in the way of your plans, in fact, I wish you luck, but I'll still be taking these kids." (I)
"Lucky for them then, I won't stop you, but I would like your help if possible."
"For centuries I constructed a magical ritual using the oceans of this world, the lines of the ritual being the sea currents, its purpose to absorb the vitality being expelled by the contamination caused by the inhabitants of this world, even their vitality is stolen whenever they drink water leaving their expectations lower life expectancy."
"I see where you want to go, at the end of your plan you will have the necessary energy, but not the necessary Affinity for what you want." (I)
"Times are becoming chaotic throughout the universe and I cannot stay here any longer, but I have left everything so that I can continue alone, but I am still missing something."
"I assume you planned to ask another Elder Dragon for help, correct?" (I)
"Yes, but many have their own things to take care of these days."
"Very well, I will help, I will create a Core with my blood and Authority, you can implement it in your ritual, but it will be for single use." (I)
"That will do, thank you for your help, with any luck after all this the Spirits and Fairies can return letting this world have a second life."
"That's a beautiful thought." (I)
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Pov Elsaris:
I was sitting in a cabin on top of a mountain talking to a Demigod of Magic.
He explained how he got there in that city we were in and his plans that had to be rushed due to our attack against the Apostles of Truth.
"So you didn't know about the contaminated or controlled people?" (I)
"No, I only knew about the worm hidden below the city, it has been absorbing large amounts of mana from nature without letting those above the city show to the point that a Titan of Nature almost formed near the city, I realized this a few days ago when passed by." (Nirog)
"I knew this creature wasn't doing this alone, there was someone with bad plans inside the city, so they were preparing the barrier they saw to prevent either the worm or the people associated with it from being able to escape." (Nirog)
Sigh
"Unfortunately I was surprised to see the city's population transform into those things, I thought about killing everyone to save them having to become those creatures, but when I saw you a different idea came up." (Nirog)
"Unfortunately we can't help with anything, I'm only good with the kind of things you don't normally ask for help with." (I)
"I feel your Sacred power, so I imagine you are from the Temple of Blood or directly linked to one of the Daughters of the Goddess of Blood, so I would like to ask you to take this bottle to the Saint who is said to have it now." (Nirog)
"Do you think the Saint can bring these people back to normal?" (Samira)
"As long as they are alive and their bloodlines are still there, the chance is very high of saving most of the population." (Nirog)
"I'm sorry if I seem disrespectful, but as a Demigod you couldn't do that?" (Lilian)
"If it were a purely magical matter then I could do something myself, but something that directly affects the body is beyond my Authority to interfere with, those from the Temple of Blood on the other hand would be within the scope of their Temple's Authority to interfere for something that desecrates the blood and bodies of people." (Nirog)
I exchange looks with my sister and Lilian before agreeing with the Demigod, if it were up to me alone I would just kill everyone as a solution, better that than suffering like this type of creature, but my sister would do it and Lilian clearly agrees with the words of the Demigod in front of us.
"I'll do it..." (I)
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