Chapter 917: Dragon, Dragon, and More Dragons.
On that morning, the landscape unfolded with a unique delicacy, like a finely written romance. The sun began its journey on the horizon, painting the sky in pastel and soft hues. The first rays of light touched the landscape with an ethereal caress, bathing it in a golden glow.
On the bank of the tranquil river, majestic trees gracefully leaned, their branches almost brus.h.i.+ng the water in a caressing gesture. The leaves, like pages of a book, were turned by the morning breeze, revealing the hidden story of nature.
The mountains, imposing and enigmatic, served as a backdrop. Their silhouettes stood out against the sky, appearing as mysterious characters waiting to enter the plot. Lazy clouds drifted around the high ridges, casting ever-s.h.i.+fting shadows.
The green fields stretched out, an ocean of undulating gra.s.s dotted with colorful flowers. Each flower was a unique character, with its own colors and scents, playing a special role in this story.
The birds, new and unique creatures created by the G.o.ddesses, were like talented musicians, filling the air with enchanting melodies. Their songs created a natural soundtrack that seamlessly fit the landscape, enveloping it in a gentle embrace.
And as if this sight had come straight from paradise, there were crystal-clear lakes where white swans glided gracefully, leaving traces of elegance in the water. Waterfalls, like veiled curtains, poured their clear waters from high cliffs, creating ephemeral rainbows that seemed to touch the sky.
Violet b.u.t.terflies danced in the air like spirits of nature, their sparkling wings reflecting the sunlight, illuminating the darker parts of the forest with their radiance.
Victor, with his dragon eyes, stopped to gaze at this landscape, and with his superior dragon eyes, he could see that every new animal created here by the G.o.ddesses contained a small amount of his essence, which is why some of these animals had Victor"s predominant characteristic, which is violet, in some part of their bodies.
Such was the case with the b.u.t.terflies, which were too large and powerful to be called simple b.u.t.terflies. "No matter what it is, any animal that comes into contact with this nature will undergo mutations."
His G.o.ddesses were really doing a great job; they were slowly populating this place with new animals. It had reached a point where if Victor were to look deeper into its seas, he would see new fish, fish that could never exist on Earth due to the rich nature of this planet.
Was Victor concerned that these animals would destroy nature? Nah, he wasn"t.
In all the multiverses, universes, dimensions, or any civilization, it was always sentient beings who destroyed nature, with humans being a prime example.
Victor wasn"t worried that this would happen here, the reason being that despite him being from a sentient race, he didn"t need to explore the planet to acquire wealth; he could do it himself with his power and more efficiently. Moreover, as a dragon, nature itself benefited from his presence.
In fact, it wouldn"t be an exaggeration to say that he himself kept this planet running; after all, the energy flowing from his body fueled the planet.
And this same nature would benefit even more when his wives became true dragons; as beings of nature, the environment would be enriched by their presence.
"Wait a sec... In this scenario, wouldn"t even more mutations be likely to occur?" Victor scratched his chin as he pondered this further; he remembered seeing something similar in a game he had played in the past.
"What was it again?... Oh, Monster Hunter... Yes..."
Due to the planet"s strong nature, giant creatures began to appear, and the humans of this world had to adapt along with nature to keep up.
"Hmm... I don"t need to worry." He was the literal G.o.d of this world; he could change anything on this planet. Besides, most of the inhabitants of this planet would not be humans, but dragons and other powerful species, so such concerns would not be necessary.
In fact, it was good that these mutations were happening; that way, he would have more units in his army.
He began to walk back while observing the nature around him, his eyes reaching realms of observation that would make many G.o.ds jealous.
As a dragon and a G.o.d of the highest importance, he could see the "truth" of the world even more than before, and because of this ability, he could say that... "This place is truly blessed."
Everything on this planet was being nourished by the core, which was Victor"s dragon flames. Despite these flames being quite destructive, they were also rich in nutrients.
After all, fire not only destroys, it creates life as well; a flame of a higher order like his was no different.
"The planet is not only stronger than Earth due to its construction and my flames, but its core is even hotter than Earth"s core.... And despite the core being hotter, somehow, it doesn"t harm the planet itself because it"s more resilient than usual."
Everything was in such a perfect balance to make this place a paradise that Victor was speechless. He couldn"t believe that he and his wives had created this place.
Shaking his head from side to side to dispel these useless thoughts, he continued his walk until he entered a wide open area created exclusively for this kind of evolution.
With his senses spanning the entire planet, he saw that his wives were preparing; some were already heading his way. Since they would take some time to fully join him, Victor decided to rest for a while.
Slowly, his form began to change; his body grew, scales appeared on his skin, his fangs sharpened, and claws formed on his hands.
In less than 5 seconds, a mountain of black with violet tones emerged in the midst of this paradisiacal landscape. Upon completing his transformation, Victor looked at his body with curiosity.
Due to s.p.a.ce constraints, he did not remain at his full size, which was 500 meters, but rather at a height of only 100 meters, which was his minimum size. Growing larger than that would be inconvenient.
As a shapes.h.i.+fter, he could a.s.sume the size of the planet in his dragon form if he wished, but he saw no need for it. Not always did size equate to power; in his 500-meter form, he had compressed all his power, making him essentially an uncontrollable force of nature.
Victor lay down on the ground with his chest facing downward, and soon, he began to explore his dragon form more calmly.
His giant dragon eyes looked to the side, and in the next moment, a sphere of water appeared out of nowhere, and then this water sphere changed into various elements.
Fire, earth, wind, lightning, magma, ice, darkness, void, s.p.a.ce, time, light.
Then it began to s.h.i.+ft into various metals and minerals, including those created by humans using other metals. He could create anything from iron to divine metal.
"In this form, it"s even easier to control my powers..." His rough and heavy voice resonated around, leaving Victor feeling slightly strange; he didn"t remember his voice being so hoa.r.s.e and imposing.
"Testing, testing, 1, 2, 3." Conducting some voice tests, he tried to get used to the abrupt change in tone.
While conducting the tests, he noticed something: the surrounding nature simply started moving in his direction. "Hmm?"
Plants, soil, animals, even the air began to move toward him, as if embracing him and saying, "welcome home."
Victor presumed that if he stayed in this position for hundreds of years, his entire body would be covered by the surrounding vegetation.
"Hmm..." Victor didn"t know how to react for a few seconds until he simply shrugged and looked at the distant landscape. On one side was a giant red tree, and on the other side was a similar tree but with greener and more typical vegetation.
Those were replicas of the bodies of Roxanne and Amara; after all, their main bodies were in his soul.
Roxanne and Amara appeared in front of Victor.
"This is quite enviable," Amara murmured as she looked at Victor. n1n
"Yes," Roxanne couldn"t help but agree in this specific aspect.
Victor blinked, although his dragon face couldn"t display emotions like a human, his feelings were shared with the two women in front of him, so they could sense his confusion.
"What are you talking about?"
"... Nature loves you, Darling, even more than us," Roxanne pouted. "That"s the cause of our envy."
"In comparison, your presence is like that of our father, and as nature chooses its favorites, it always gravitates toward those who help it the most, which means you and our father."
"... I don"t understand, shouldn"t it be the other way around?" Victor asked. "After all, you are the World Tree."
"Exactly, but we are not as deeply connected to this planet as you are. We are in your soul, nouris.h.i.+ng your body with positive and negative energy, and your body is connected to the planets, nouris.h.i.+ng them." Roxanne explained.
"So, for nature, you are the World Tree, not us." Amara added and then explained further, "Besides, as our opposing energies are constantly in balance within your body, your energy is even more "preferable" than ours, which only have one characteristic."
"Because of that, we compare you to our father. The only difference between you two is that you have positive and negative energy, while he has the primordial energy that can be transformed into these two energies if he wishes." Roxanne concluded.
"I see... In that case, why didn"t it come to me when I was in my human form?"
"Because your powers were contained," Roxanne replied.
"Oh."
"In dragon form, your own body is your power; you can"t contain it even if you wanted to." Roxanne explained.
Victor narrowed his eyes a bit and tried to "contain" his power, but as Roxanne had said, it was impossible.
He could lower the energy output, but he couldn"t simply "stop" it; his body itself was now like a constantly functioning energy battery.
"... I understand. To keep this giant body functioning, a lot of energy is required, so it"s impossible to stop completely, huh."
"Correct." Amara and Roxanne spoke in agreement.
"Hmm..."
"I suggest you get more accustomed to using your dragon form; after all, it"s one of your true essences," Roxanne said, while Amara s.h.i.+vered slightly at this topic.
With his evolution, Victor"s soul gained two true essences that reflected his soul: one was his dragon body, while the other was that cosmic horror with no exact form.
In fact, one could argue that the cosmic horror was his true essence, and the dragon form was just a "sh.e.l.l," but that wasn"t entirely correct.
After all, Victor"s soul had the appearance of a dragon externally, while internally, it had the appearance of that cosmic horror, so both were his true forms.
"That"s true... It"s not like I can train with the other form, can I?"
"Indeed... To use that form, you need to be in a completely isolated location, or your mere presence would drive any sentient being insane," Roxanne explained.
"Umu." Victor nodded.
"Although I prefer my humanoid form more; after all, I can use my martial arts techniques in that form... I won"t neglect my dragon side, though. I feel like I can do much more in this form than in the humanoid one."
"That"s because your soul aligns with your body in this form, so the transition of power is smoother and without fatigue," Roxanne said as she examined Victor"s body.
"Think of it as two gears working correctly, while in your human form, although it works, it"s not as efficient... Because of that, more things are open to you in this form than in the other," Amara explained.
"Mm." Victor nodded in agreement.
While they were discussing, presences began to be felt, causing the three of them to stop talking and look in the direction of the group.
Soon, a group of women led by Violet arrived, and their first reaction was shock when they saw Victor"s dragon face.
Jeanne, Rose, Morgana, Zaladrac, Aphrodite, and Scathach felt a s.h.i.+ver down their spines when they saw Victor in that form. They took deep breaths to sense his "scent," and almost instantly, they entered an excited and animated state. Their dragon characteristics, which had been hidden, emerged unconsciously as they looked at Victor.
"Darling... You look really handsome in this form," Violet expressed with a loving smile on her face.
"Darling... You look really handsome in this form," Violet expressed with a loving smile on her face.
"Mm, thank you." Victor smiled slightly, revealing teeth that could easily destroy mountains.