NOTE : the first chapter is a little bit special, it's longer than usual, with more than 2770 words. I intentionally made it this way because I wanted the first chapter to be special. To be honest, I don't really know how much is too much, for me, I believe the more, the better!
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Space, millions of kilometers away from Earth, the center of the universe.
Here lies a palace, so immense that even Earth's largest cities appear minuscule in comparison. In front of the palace, a grand path leads to his two massive doors, resembling a river cutting through magnificent gardens on both sides. Within these meticulously tended gardens, every tree and bush is trimmed to perfection. Adorning the tallest trees are apples, while peaches grace the smaller ones, each fruit is a flawless masterpiece. If any being from across the cosmos saw those fruits, they would likely die from shock. Known as the "peaches of immortality" and the "Forbidden fruits," they are among the rarest treasures of the cosmos. Even the gods themselves possess only a scarce few, it is said that the "peaches of immortality" have vanished entirely from the universe.
A bit closer to the palace, there lies a giant pond. The sight of it in front of the palace resembles an illustration from a fairy tale. The water inside is as clear as the sky, but as you approach, the bottom becomes less visible. Standing by the edge, all you can see is darkness, hinting at its depth. With keen eyes, one might discern some movements resembling giant serpents swimming in the depths.
Behind the pond stand the two gigantic doors guarding the entry of the palace, so immense that you could likely fit two Eiffel Towers through them. These doors are masterpieces themselves, completely black with intricate golden details on their surface. Each golden art piece tells a different tale, but they all share a common protagonist, a tall man with draconic features, horns, wings, and eyes, bearing every trait of a dragon in his human form. In one illustration, he battles other dragons, in another, he contends with gods. Throughout most of the representations, the man is engaged in combat, portraying a timeline of his life. At the bottom, a younger version of himself fights beasts to consume them, as you look upwards, the man ages, facing increasingly formidable foes, from humans to monsters, demons, and even entire pantheons of gods, all by himself. Finally, at the apex of the doors, he sits on a magnificent throne, gazing down upon the people before the doors.
Beyond those doors lies a vast hallway, with columns flanking the path leading to the throne room, each column bears a flag displaying the emblems of every galaxy the ruler has conquered, showcasing his might as a conqueror and warrior. Adorning the walls on either side are magnificent artworks, so realistic that one feels transported into the worlds they depict, next to them beautiful doors leading to other parts of the palace. At the base of each column rest decorative armors and weapons crafted from the rarest materials in the universe, Divine metal, Mithril, Valyrian steel, and the purest gold known to existence. At the far end of the path stands a monumental door, reminiscent of the entrance, separating the throne room from the rest. This door, entirely black and crafted from pure obsidian, bears golden details depicting the illustration of a colossal dragon. The dragon's eyes are so meticulously detailed that they seem almost lifelike.
In the throne room, at its center, stood a giant throne crafted entirely of obsidian and gold, flanked on each side by towering obsidian sculptures. Suspended from the ceiling hung a magnificent chandelier made from the purest crystal in the cosmos, each tiny crystal appearing to contain its own miniature galaxy. Adorning the walls on either side of the room were relics from the past, each artifact capable of evoking envy even among gods. Among them were treasures such as the glass sword «Chillrend», the «Great Crystal of Aantonaii», and the king's shield «Pridwen». Positioned behind the throne were three immense stained-glass windows.
The central window depicted the figure of the tall draconic man, while on the left stood a towering woman with fox ears atop her head and nine fox tails trailing behind her. On the right was portrayed a young girl with horns and wings, mirroring the features of the man.
Next to the throne stood two individuals. On the right was a tall man, standing at 195 cm. He possessed semi-long, perfectly trimmed black hair, along with a neatly groomed beard. A long scar on his face, adding to his rugged appearance. Despite his intimidating aura, there was a certain approachability about him. He was wearing a black three-piece suit, the top button left open, exuding a sense of casual elegance.
On the other side stood a woman, 181 cm in height. Her silver hair cascaded gracefully to her shoulders, and her eyes, a striking white, bore intricate symbols within them. She was dressed in a full dark blue women's suit, emanating an air of sophistication and authority.
Seated upon the throne was a young-looking man, radiating beauty that defied description. Appearing to be around 28 to 30 years old, with mesmerizing golden eyes reminiscent of dragons, who seemed to glow, and long white hair flowing down to his waist. He wore a magnificent black and golden crown atop his head, complementing his regal attire. His robe, adorned with golden details, further enhanced his majestic appearance. His muscular physique, though not overly bulky, exuded power, with muscles tense and compressed, visibly displaying strength.
This man is named Olbrunah Draconis, the Dragon Emperor who reigns over the universe. Known as the most beautiful man in the universe, he possesses a charm that even the gods of beauty envy. Recognized by the most powerful beings of the universe as the strongest entity to have ever existed.
From his palace at the center of the universe, where everything began, he governs with unmatched authority. Despite his power and renown, in the highest-ranked galaxies, most "normal" people never saw him and beyond his name and the knowledge of his colossal dragon form, stretching over 974 meters, they don't know anything about him. Only the strongest leaders of the mightiest empires and galaxies have witnessed his presence, and the others who saw him are either long deceased or have ascended to such levels of power that they no longer interact with ordinary beings.
Despite his captivating appearance, there was an air of boredom about him. As he looked at the people who were parading before him, he didn't even change his expression. Ignoring most of them, he let his two most trusted subordinates take care of the various situations.
When the last person for the day left, he suddenly let out a long sigh. His two subordinates started looking at him, sensing something unusual. Suddenly, a majestic voice echoed around the throne room.
"Herzal, how long has it been since the last time I left this place?"
The man named Herzal responded in a serious tone, "Around 647 years, 3 months, and 10 days, my Lord."
The emperor, Olbrunah, let out another sigh. "So long" he murmured. Then, looking at his two subordinates, he declared, "That's it! I don't want to do this anymore! Let's do something fun!"
This time, the woman spoke up. "What do you want to do, my Lord?"
"I don't know, something fun with my dear wife and baby daughter! Perhaps we could go to one of the hells and destroy some demons to mess with the underworld gods, or maybe visit a paradise and jump from cloud to cloud. It could be a fun adventure.»
«You have a very special definition of fun, my Lord.» said the woman.
"Don't be like that, Mabel," he interjected, a hint of amusement in his voice. "Back in the days, you were the one making deals with demons for fun, just to access their hells, steal everything from them, and kill them."
The silver-haired woman, Mabel, started blushing and said, "Don't talk about my embarrassing past! I was young, it's normal to make mistakes!"
Herzal chimed in, "If being 3400 years old is considered young, then everyone in the universe must be a baby."
"You!" Mabel exclaimed, her glare so intense that if looks could kill, Herzal would have perished a thousand times.
Olbrunah started laughing uncontrollably, "HAHAHAHAHA!" wiping a tear from the corner of his eye. "It's good to see that despite all those years wasted here doing this boring job, you didn't become boring people and stayed true to yourselves."
"Anyway, Herzal, what did I do 647 years ago? I don't clearly remember." Olbrunah inquired.
"You left the palace to go to the planet Guipra in the galaxy Adastreia. A group of young dragons wanted to rebel, and their leader, Vanam, challenged you to a one-on-one fight to take away your crown." Herzal explained.
"Oh, I remember now! That kid thought he could beat me just after training for 1200 years. What a foolish bunch. What did he become?" Olbrunah recalled.
"After the fight, he was in pretty bad shape because of you," Herzal continued. "You said it was a lesson for all young dragons. If they wanted to challenge you, 'The King of all Dragons', they had to wait at least 3000 years to become an Elder Dragon and train for 3000 more years to even survive a single attack from you. Today, he is the overlord of the Adastreia sector and has become very loyal to you."
"AHAHAH! It's good to see that even after thousands of years, a good beating is always the solution to set a kid on the right path!" Olbrunah exclaimed with amusement.
"Anyway, Mabel! Where is my beautiful wife? I need my daily dose of Vitamin Rei!" Olbrunah joked.
"The empress is currently in her laboratory, my Lord. She said she was working on a way to allow ordinary people to travel from galaxy to galaxy using only technology.» replied Mabel.
"AHAHA! What a hardworking woman, always seeking new ways to improve the lives of common peoples!" Olbrunah exclaimed with admiration. "She's such a perfect wife, I don't even know how I found her." he added lovingly.
"That's true," Herzal chimed in. "I don't understand how a battle maniac could find a woman as perfect as Her Majesty Lady Rei."
"Fuck you, Herzal. I'm the best husband in the universe!" responded Olbrunah with a laugh. "I'm handsome, strong, extremely loyal, and I love my family more than anything!"
"You forgot extremely narcissistic in the list." added Herzal with a chuckle.
They looked at each other for a couple of seconds, then they both started laughing.
"AHAHAHAH!"
"AHAHAHAH!"
"Let's go see my lovely wife. Mabel, open a portal to her laboratory!" said Olbrunah eagerly.
Mabel nodded, her eyes glowing as the symbols within them started moving. Suddenly, a portal resembling a galaxy opened before them, and she said, "Everything is ready, my Lord."
With that, they left through the portal.
On the other side of the palace, in a large futuristic laboratory, stood an amazingly beautiful woman. Standing at 196 cm tall, she had stunning black hair resembling the night sky, with silver accents at the ends. Two black fox ears with silver tips adorned her head, while nine black tails with silver tips flowed gracefully behind her. Her eyes, a stunning silver color reminiscent of a fox, added to her mesmerizing appearance.
Suddenly, her ears made a small movement, her eyes sparkling in excitement. In a beautiful and soothing voice, she exclaimed, "My husband is coming!" Her nine tails began to move gracefully behind her, as if they had a mind of their own, representing the happiness she was feeling.
The moment the portal appeared, she jumped like a cannonball at the tall man who was emerging from it, with open arms. "HUSBAND!" she exclaimed joyously. The moment she was in his arms, she started rubbing her face on his chest while he caressed her hair.
"My beautiful wife, it's been so long! I was so sad without you!" said Olbrunah affectionately.
"It's only been 6 hours and 42 minutes..." murmured Herzal under his breath.
"OUCH!" he exclaimed quietly as Mabel gave him an elbow kick while making a 'shhh' gesture with her other hand.
Looking at his wife, Olbrunah said, "Mabel told me you were working on a new project of teleportation with technology."
"Yes! I've been working on it in secret for some time now, but since I wanted to study her unique Space magic to see if I could understand new things that could help me, I told her." Rei said excitedly. "Do you want to see my progress?"
"Of course!" replied Olbrunah, equally excited.
He started looking lovingly at his wife while following her around the laboratory and listening to her explanation about her project. He adored watching her talk about her research, she was always so happy and excited about it, and it was in those moments that she shone the most. For him, there was no more beautiful woman in the universe than his wife when she was doing what she wanted. He saw her as the most perfect being. The only other times she was this excited was when she talked about her husband or her daughter.
"… and that's all I've found for now. I need more time to conduct tests and further research on space." she finished explaining.
"That's already extremely impressive. Totally replacing teleportation magic with technology is something never done before, even by those pretentious gods." said Olbrunah with some disdain in his voice when he talked about the gods.
"By the way, my wife, I had a great idea today!" he said.
"Oh?" She looked at him with a lot of interest and excitement, her tails betraying her excitement. 'When my husband has ideas, it always means something fun will happen.' she thought.
"Let's take some vacation!" he exclaimed. "Our daughter will finish her closed training in a couple of days, so we will have enough time to go on vacation around the universe. It will be fun!"
Her eyes started to sparkle when she heard her husband talking about vacation, and even more when she heard that it would be a family vacation with her lovely husband and beautiful daughter.
"Okay! That's perfect. I wanted to spend time with you and our daughter!" she said.
"We will leave in 8 days, this way, we have time to prepare." he said. "Now, my dear wife, you need to come with me."
She looked at him, and he added while taking her in his arms, "I've worked a lot recently. I want to have my wife beside me when I go to sleep." he said lovingly.
Her tails started moving in a hypnotic wave, showing how happy she was. "Of course, my love !" she responded.
They suddenly disappeared.
Mabel and Herzal looked at each other for a couple of seconds and then started laughing.
"Ahaha"
"Ahaha"
"Even after all those years, they never change, huh?" said Mabel. "What a beautiful relationship."
"They deserve it" Herzal said, "After all the shits they've gone through, I'm happy they found each other."
"Let's go prepare everything. If the emperor leaves for a long time, we need to make sure everything is ready to prevent any problems from happening while he is not here." said Mabel while opening a portal.
Herzal nodded, and both of them left the laboratory through the portal.
In a dark, opulent chamber within the palace, a luxuriously bedroom who boasted extravagance beyond measure. Amidst this splendor lay a grand bed, where two figures reclined: a shirtless man, only in white trousers, and a woman with nine magnificent tails. Gazing at each other with affection, the woman lowered her face to plant a tender kiss on the man's lips.
"I will help you sleep, my love." she murmured softly. With those words, her nine tails began to encircle the man, their movements gentle. As she worked her enchantment, the woman began to sing in the most melodious voice in the universe, her tones both captivating and calming. Within moments, the man succumbed to slumber, his breathing steady and tranquil.
She continued to sing for several minutes, her ethereal melody filling the room with tranquility. Once her song was complete, she lay beside her husband, her arm draped over his chest. Like him, she soon drifted into the realm of dreams, their peaceful repose a testament to their enduring bond.