Dragon Gods Reign

[Dragon peaks]

Looking over the ever-growing number of Locis dragons landing before him, Darganth smiled faintly.

“So my name alone still commands this much respect, that's good.” He mused.

“Naturally, no Locis would even forget of your greatness, of that I take care.” Irsyr answered him.

“I know but even you can't force something like that on the younger ones.” Darganth replied with a chuckle.

Pausing for a moment, Irsyr nodded in satisfaction as his gaze wandered over the dragons before them. Even those Locis who are far too young to have ever met Darganth personally were looking up to him in reverence.

Leaving their conversation at that, at least for the moment, Darganth silently sat on the throne he had created while watching Allaire's and Jennia's speechless expressions.

“If this counts as only having very few members, how many dragons do the more populous species have?” Allaire asked in disbelief.

“Millions, for some species even more, all scattered throughout the multiverse. Though few of them form groups even remotely this large so the scale seems smaller.”

“Somehow the prospect of there being millions of gods in the multiverse no longer seems as ridiculous as it did before.” Jennia said agape.

“When compared to the millions of worlds in it it definitely isn't. Not to mention, a good number of them aren't that relevant, the majority of them are part of pantheons as barely more than slaves to the leader. So although they are powerful, they have little choice on what to use that power for.”

Hearing this Neandra grew intrigued as to how the society of gods was structured.

“So most pantheons are essentially just kingdoms that have more powerful individuals on all levels?” She asked.

“Not really, at least not many. In general, they can be categorized into three groups, those ruled by all members collectively, those ruled by one powerful god that eclipses all others under him, and those ruled by a group of gods that hold most of the power. And yes, of the last two groups, some do take after mortal kingdoms. But due to gods rarely viewing themselves as beholden to such things as tradition or the opinions of others, all of this is barely more than a rough explanation that can vary extremely.

This ambition and drive also leads most gods to want to form their own pantheon and entirely after their ideals, though they often have to settle with joining one that is as close as possible to these. Of those that can't do either for whatever reason, most just choose to stay unaffiliated, largely remaining neutral as long as it doesn't directly involve them.

And to add to that even more complexity, there is still the difference between the different pantheon’s common gods, those that I previously called little more than slaves. Their origin, treatment, and all that can vary massively. For example, some may find that their growth will be suppressed while for others this is just a nurturing phase until they have the power to become part of the ruling council or whatever system they have.

What I wanted to say with all these words, is if you want to one day have your own subordinates, you still have quite a bit of planning to do.”

Having attentively listened to Darganth's explanation, Neandra began to realize that she severely underestimated what it meant to be an ascended being. At the same time, she found relief in the fact that she had Darganth to fall back on, something that eased her nervousness for what the future held even if she only admitted it begrudgingly.

Continuing for a few minutes after this, their conversation was suddenly interrupted when Darganth noticed something.

“Did even more of the original generation die?” He asked Irsyr.

“Yes, they are down to fifty-eight. Luckily none of the three that died since your death had their soul completely destroyed, with one being confirmed to have successfully reincarnated himself.”

Nodding in acknowledgment, Darganth took a moment to mourn their deaths. The so-called 'original generation' of a dragon species refers to those he personally created, giving this title enormous weight among dragons.

And considering the time it has been since he created the Locis clan, these dragons were extremely old and powerful. This made it practically impossible for most beings to directly resurrect them, with practically only him back at his peak being reliably capable of doing so. Cehlya was the only other being capable of it but the restrictions Vunreon has placed on her power to do so mean she could only revive one every few ten thousand years, if not longer.

The other option, reincarnation, had far lower requirements to achieve though it also would force them to start anew. In contrast to Darganth, whose soul still remained the same and was actively helping him grow faster than dragons normally do, they would only retain their personality and varying amounts of their memory.

So while most could reincarnate on their own or do so thanks to the help of others, not all choose to do so and instead remain in the afterlife. The main reason for most is that even if they do reincarnate, they are still considered to be dead. Their new life is exactly that, a second chance to start anew.

With the risk to die again before surpassing one's previous self being quite large even if they rely on their friends and family, most dragons choose to just remain in the afterlife. There they are guaranteed to spend eternity in a paradise for dragons that Cehlya established and hope to maybe be fully revived.

“Honor them as usual. Sadly their loss came right when I need their power but for now, none of us can change that. Maybe one day I will once again revive fallen dragons on a large scale but that will be quite a while from now.” Darganth said.

“I already did.”

Following after Irsyr's words was a silence that lasted a couple of seconds before he broke it himself.

“The ascended ones are all here now.” He said.

“Great, then I can start.” Darganth answered him though instead of doing so he let his gaze wander across the crowd.

Taking merely a moment to count the number of ascended dragons before him, he was noticeably pleased by it. With over a thousand two hundred they constituted nearly one percent of the entire Locis population, something that would be unheard of in nearly all other species. And while this number was lower than just the number of gods, not to mention ascended individuals as a whole, of nearly every other major species, it was enough.

Rising from his throne, Darganth didn't even need to start speaking to gain the undivided attention of the gathered dragons.

“I must say, it has been a while since I experienced such a sight and I missed it. Dragons in numbers to block out the sun, all standing together for one unified purpose. Sadly, as much as I am thankful for you clamoring for revenge in my name, it will be years before it will come to fruition.”

Pausing to let the murmured outcry of disappointment and nonetheless understanding pass, Darganth continued after a few seconds.

“But that doesn't mean that there won't be anything to do in the meantime. Whether the three primordials will go down silently or not, Vunreon will be consumed by the flames of war just like it will happen to Ikrus beforehand. And in contrast to the past, I won't ignore this one so you'll have more than enough chances to run wild, Independent of if it will be against the primordial's servants or the foreign invaders.

Till then we'll first turn our attention to Ikrus. Beginning from the next meeting of the emperors we'll start our conquest of this world and bring it in as the first piece of an empire of dragons. Those that bend the knee will live, those that don't will find only death, even Ikrus itself.

But I hope that the elders among you will hold back and leave most of the fight to the younger generations. Here they aren't invincible but also not without chance so I want those among you who feel addressed by this to use the opportunity to gain experience. I don't doubt that your elders will watch over and advise you but I implore you not to rely on them and grow at any challenges that may block your path.

As for the ascended ones among you, I ask you to fly out and seek out your fellow dragons and inform them of my intentions. Then, once the war starts, our kind will fly out as one and teach each and every single being in the multiverse what most seem to have forgotten. For before us dragons, even gods should learn to fear.”

Ending his speech by releasing his full presence in a burst of mana, his action was soon mirrored by the dragons before him. With the exception of the area near Darganth that was protected by his dragon's authority, the entire mountain range soon became filled with hundreds of overlapping draconic presences.

Feeling the universe itself quaking from this, he looked towards the skies with an amused smile and shouted, “You started this so live with the consequences. It was thanks to Irsyr that you could go on this long without having the people ascend but it seems like it made you grow arrogant. Once someone ascends their fate is no longer yours to decide, especially if they are my people. Manifesting a projection of your power to attack someone here was too far, otherwise, I would have gladly worked with and not against you.”

Seeing the protections around the dragon peaks momentarily flaring to life as they blocked the pressure the universe put on them in response to Darganth's challenge, they were relieved just as quickly as Irsyr aided them. Using his presence to push the pressure of the universe away, he threw a challenging look towards the skies as the first signs of another projection being created emerged.

As soon as he did Ikrus stopped, obviously not willing to risk the damage that the destruction of even a weak projection would incur to itself. Not satisfied with this, Irsyr mobilized his mana for just a fraction of a second, but even this was enough to strike fear into even a mostly emotionless being like a universe will.

Having attacked Ikrus directly, he demonstrated his ability to harm it whenever he wants to, making it fearful even if this attack resulted in damage that was repaired in only a couple of seconds.

“Do all universe wills have this little self-preservation instincts?” Jennia joked after a few seconds of silence.

Chuckling, Darganth nodded affirmatively. Taking a few more moments to watch the spectacle of thousands of ascended dragons rising into the skies only to disappear as they teleported out of the universe, he took one more look at the gathered dragons before following the others back into Irsyr's lair.

“Now that this is done it is time to discuss our plans.” He said, joining them by taking a seat between Jennia and Allaire.

The first to speak after this was Neandra. Unsurprisingly for Darganth, she didn't plan to go with him into the pocket dimension.

“I wish you good luck but sadly I have more pressing things to do.” She said.

Knowing that she still had to learn how to use transcendent mana while also continuing to rule over the beasts, he just acknowledged her choice with a nod.

“In theory, I could deal with this alone, I am just asking if one of you wants to join for fun.” He said.

“As much as I wished I could join in, I also have to return to my subjects.” Venrie said a few seconds later.

“Then it's just us four, isn't it?” Yldra said.

As soon as she did, Irsyr shook his head. Looking at him questioningly, Yldra waited for her father to explain.

“You've already used a creative interpretation of the duration of my task for you to skip my training so no. If I let it slide a second time I doubt I'll get another chance.” He said.

“Oh, that...” Remembering this only now, Yldra quickly realized that debating this with Irsyr was futile.

Instead looking towards Darganth for help, she was shot down just as quickly.

“I must agree with him. Maybe afterward you won't only manage a draw against me despite using nearly triple the power.” He told her as encouragement.

Sighing in resignation, Yldra sank into the backrest of her chair with a pout.

“Then it's just the three of us again.” Darganth said to Jennia and Allaire.

“Mhm.” “Yup.” Both nodded in confirmation in response to this.

“Then have fun. As much as I'll miss you, we now had a few days together and I know we'll see us again soon.” Enilla said to Jennia.

“Of course.” Jennia answered.

Continuing for a bit and agreeing on the next morning as the day they would set off, the conversation slowly drifted into small talk.