"Segato, Segato, Segato... haven't heard this name in a long while," spoke an unfamiliar deep voice. Segato quickly opened his eyes and leapt into a defensive combat position. "Relax kid, you're here for the 10 Dragons' Inheritance, isn't that right?" The deeper voice chuckled, and the ground shook with great force. Segato slowly turned behind him and came face to face with a humongous red eye. He was startled so strongly that he fell back to the ground.
"I won't lie. When they said Primordial Dragon, I was expecting something grand. This now feels like an understatement," Segato commented.
The dragon ignored those words, and roared, "You already should know how the process works, right? Offer up the thing most important to you, and I'll give you my blessing and power--"
"I don't need it." Segato stood back up on his feet and defiantly glared at the dragon's eye.
"Eh? Then why are you here?" The dragon questioned.
"I want to speak with all 10 of you, if possible," Segato replied. He was definitely shaking in place since he could tell that if things went south, this dragon could take his life. The flapping of wings could be heard before it was clear the dragon made a large amount of distance between itself and Segato. He could now see that it was a black dragon, with some of its scales and veins pulsating with glowing red energy.
"I can't really do that, even for you," the dragon sorrowfully answered. "The other 9 Primordial Dragons are dead. I am the sole survivor of TEOAT."
That name once more... all of Segato's problems-- both in his past lives that he cannot recall as well as this current one-- seem to revolve about that accursed title and power. It became a sore point to even mention the name to him, so much that I often avoided mentioning it if possible.
I appreciate the concern, but we can't ignore the problems of the past if they followed us to the present and threaten our future, Segato thought.
"Listen up, kid. I am dying. I am sure you can tell that TEOAT poisoned me. To survive, I ate the corpses of the other dragons... I went this far in hopes of finding a successor. Somebody who will help humanity get back on its feet," the dragon carefully spoke while coughing out some blood. Segato's eyes widened at this revelation. "I think you can be the one to do it."
As Segato and the dragon look each other in the eyes, Segato still had to ask the question on his mind: "I think I know why you asked for me to sacrifice the most important thing to me. I am about to lose it anyways. Can I ever get it back?"
The dragon closed its eyes in deep thought, before it responded, "There will always be a more powerful being to be wary of, somebody weaker that will covet what you possess, those that will betray you, and more. The list of possibilities is endless... Therefore the possibility that you can find your own way of living and your own definition of peace and happiness should also exist out there. The decision is up to you. It's always up to you. So make it be true." The dragon's flesh turned into a cocoon that surrounded Segato's body as the soul and other energies started to get absorbed by Segato through his skin. "With this, our contract is complete. The final Primordial Dragon is now a part of the human known as Segato Evelnoke."
Segato woke up and slowly got to his feet. The forced transformation of his body left him feeling very tired and sluggish, but he knew now wasn't the time to rest. His eyes popped out of his head once he started looking around. Ezrah was fighting the other 5 Dragons, but it was somehow at a stalemate. Perhaps it had to do with Ezrah's mechanized appearance and the crazy weapons he was constructing constantly.
"Seems like you're awake. How did it go?" Hooligan inquired.
His sudden appearance made Segato leap back. Apparently too far back to the point where he was flying backwards through the sky while yelling.
"Heeeeeeeeeelp meeeeeee--" Hooligan caught him mid air.
"First time flying the expressway, huh," he joked. Segato face entered a deadpan in response.
"Just put me down," Segato moaned.
"Okay," Hooligan readily replied and immediately let go of Segato afterward.
"I didn't mean literally you bastard," Segato cursed at the top of his lungs. He crashed into the ground, making a meteor-like indent on the ground. He noticed it when he got up. He barely felt the pain from the drop, and he had no visible injuries.
"It seems you got the 10 Dragon's everything successfully installed within your body," Hooligan gleefully confirmed. "At this level, you might be able to fight low ranking Deities. Considering that is the bare minimum strength we needed you to reach to enter the Potato Wars, this is great news--"
"That implies you were trying to sign me up to fight people potentially to the death that can kill minor Deities knowing I wasn't anywhere near that level prior to this, right?" Segato angrily grunted through clenched teeth.
"That's not an important detail anymore, right?" Hooligan replied while he fanned the air.
"Now I actually do feel like I should kill you. You've been putting my life in danger from the get-go, as well as everyone else's. That's not happening anymore!" Segato roared out as he threw a solid punch at Hooligan. The moment it connected with that signature annoying smile, a loud smoke cloud flew up, obscuring everything. Segato quickly realized he couldn't move. The punch did connect, but Hooligan stopped it with one finger.
"I did say low class Deity. I am a high class Deity, you moron." Segato's body instinctively told him that he was in grave danger, but he still couldn't move, no matter how hard he struggled. "This is a mid-class Deity skill, Divine Protection. Anything within a certain distance of us can be directly suppressed by our our aura. I am showing you this so you don't make a mistake later during the Potato Wars. Make no mistake, Segato, your strength has reached the level where it is capable of being a threat to my kind. It is not at the level of being able to bring it to extinction." The pressure finally lifted up, and Segato collapsed in a heap.
"How... long..." Segato coarsely mumbled. Hooligan turned his back to Segato and put his hands on his hips.
"I can whip you and Ezrah into shape within the remaining time period. You'll not only be able to resist skills like that, but gain similar level power of your own. I guarantee it... but it isn't like me to be so serious all the time. So let's go back home and eat some chicken and waffles!" Segato slammed his head into the ground and knocked himself unconscious. "Isn't that a bit overkill for a reaction?"
Ezrah and Segato were lightly sparring each other everyday without powers before doing individual training, thanks to Segato's begging. He requested this to improve his basic combat skills and benefit from Origin's Ordinance. Today Segato would be training alongside Talenhutt to awaken his own Ordinance. The only people who fully understood and knew about me outside Segato and Ezrah was him due to his Ordinance and Layla only since Segato decided to tell her everything in the end. Thanks to that, I have not needed to conceal anything around this man... primarily because it would be pointless rather than me not wanting to do so.
Talenhutt seemingly dulled a large amount of his other senses to detect the awakening conditions and traits of the Ordinance. However, he wasn't having much luck--
"How do you deal with him talking 24/7?" Talenhutt groaned.
"After a while I just got used to it? What does he sound like to you?" Segato asked while he shrugged.
"Honestly he sounds like the Grim Reaper is narrating all my sins right before he reaps my soul," Talenhutt replied while he wiped sweat off of his forehead. "I know he isn't doing it intentionally, but Hubris subconsciously covers you in a barrier that significantly reduces the overall effectiveness of others' Ordinances. Even with him stepping aside and you letting me in, my enhanced senses receive backlash after backlash. It's almost as if whatever this Ordinance is also has a will of its own. As if owning one of those wasn't enough."
We tried in Segato's sleep, even. That was even more dangerous than him being awake, since he breathed fire and nearly roasted Talenhutt alive while snoring.
"We also tried exhausting all my energy in one go using Layla's powers, and somehow it came back instantly. Still need an explanation on how that one even occurred," Segato added.
"There is a sense I haven't tried to check you with yet. Segato, do you believe in ghosts?" Talenhutt inquired.
"If you asked me when I first got to Flipside, no. Now? By far," Segato spoke.
Talenhutt nodded in confirmation, then said, "We can try knocking your soul out of your body temporarily and then use my sixth sense to get a proper analysis of your current predicament. Fair warning: you'll have to fight ghosts during this process."
"Like I can't handle th--" before Segato could finish his sentence, Talenhutt quickly pressed his palm against Segato. Almost immediately after Segato should have left his body, a large number of hostile ghosts appeared.
"Kill... kill the Mad Emperor!" they chanted.
"What the hell? Why are there so many! ... Right, he can't hear me or help me. Time to get to cracking and smacking!" Segato shouted while he cracked his knuckles.
"I'd like to remind you that you've been trying hard to not exert yourself," Hubris calmly spoke.
"Crap. Well where do I go then?" Segato asked aloud. Almost as if on cue, an eerie looking train appeared from a fissure in time and space.
"Hop on there. We can return to your body once Talenhutt gives the confirmation," Hubris hurriedly called out to Segato.
It looks likely to be filled with more ghosts... at the same time, Hubris seems to have known that this ghost train would have shown up. I can ask later! With that Segato quickly hopped aboard a train car. To his surprise, the murderous intent of the ghosts changed immediately to fear, and they begun to flee.
"It's the Mad Emperor's evil locomotive! Run away!" The ghosts screamed.
"Ha. Dunno what you're going on about, but that serves you right. Wait, did the train just take off?" Segato asked.
[Hold on to something. Now.] Before Segato could react, the train lunged forward at full speed and disappeared into a newly appeared fissure. The sudden jump in velocity caused Segato to slam into the car door in the back. He didn't feel much pain, but he definitely understood the fear the ghosts from earlier were expressing. The interior of the train begun to twist and crack, as if preparing to devour its passenger.
Only 2 words formed in his mind: Not AGAAAAAAAIN!