"Oi, Captain, is it just me, or is that big-ass lizard coming right at us?"
"What a coincidence! I was thinking the same thing! AYAYAYYAYAYA!"
Taxidi and Faxon were wandering aimlessly in this void they had recently discovered, having jumped straight into the gap without any flashy preparation when their ship caught sight of a crack in space during their travels through this new universe. They were using the boat that Taxidi had declared as the Son of the Salvadore, also known as the Roaring Salvadore Junior.
After roaming around like tourists in a new country for the past hour, a massive red dragon suddenly took notice of them. It immediately became hostile upon sensing their unusual aura.
"Don't worry Dragon-chan! We're not here to cause harm! We're just here to find something we can permanently borrow!" Taxidi enhanced his shout so it can reach the dragon and raised a white flag atop his hat while dancing gangnam style as a peace offering dance.
Faxon facepalmed while watching his captain's usual antics. The dragon in question didn't even hesitate and started gathering flames in its mouth before unleashing a devastating inferno towards the two pirates.
"Looks like my charisma did work on Dragon-chan here! GIHAHHAHAHAHA!"
"Never change huh, never change"
As the fire breath hurtled toward them, Taxidi laughed it off. Faxon sighed in resignation and gripped the handle of his gun.
He quickly drew it from his hip and fired a shot at the fiery attack, pressing the trigger with a fearless gaze. The explosion enveloped the area, and Foxan's bullet completely erased the flames as if they had never existed in the first place.
"Looks like this dragon has some sort of conceptual abilities, Captain."
Faxon commented after feeling the bullet resist something before it fully neutralized the flames. However, the red dragon was not finished; it vanished from their line of sight like mist in the mountains.
In the blink of an eye, Faxon turned around and pointed his gun at six o'clock. However, Taxidi grasped his arm and lowered his hand while shaking his index finger.
Faxon tilted his head but shrugged, lowering his gun. He didn't even care about the dragon; it didn't have enough power to scratch his butt.
"Wohohoho, you want to play hide and seek Dragon-chan?! I am excite—" started looking around like a moron and shouted.
The pirate didn't finish what he was about to say when something of enormous size surged toward them at an unimaginable speed. A massive dragon appeared, its mouth open wide, ready to devour them like a dessert at a buffet.
But just as it seemed poised to strike, the dragon's movement abruptly halted. Its massive body froze, unable to respond no matter how hard it struggled against an unseen force.
"I got you! AYAYAYAYAYA! Now you're it!" Taxidi jested, undeterred by the fact that the dragon's enormous face loomed right in front of them.
A skeletal finger tapped against the tip of the dragon's teeth as the red beast struggled against the unknown force holding it in place.
[Who are you outsiders? What is your true purpose here?!] the dragon demanded, its voice booming despite its frozen state.
"Looks like it can talk after all, or should I say 'he'?" Foxan mused, holstering his gun while studying the dragon.
"Ahem, ahem! Apologies for our rudeness, Dragon-chan. I am Taxidi, the one and only handsome, fabulous captain of the Salvadore Pirates, and this grumpy, fugly mustache guy next to me is my right-hand man, Foxan."
"Want me to hit you, Cap?" Foxan muttered, shooting an irritated glare at Taxidi.
Ignoring him completely, Taxidi removed his hat and placed it over his chest, bowing theatrically. As he lowered his finger, the dragon suddenly felt its body regain freedom. It sighed inwardly in relief but remained wary.
[You still haven't answered my other question.]
"We already told you earlier; we're just here to find something we can permanently borrow. There's no malicious intent mixed in, okay?" Taxidi shamelessly lied as naturally as he breathed, even though he didn't have lungs.
The dragon, however, called bullshit. It wasn't buying a single word and remained suspicious of the pair of pirates who had 'accidentally' stumbled into the dimensional gap looking for something to steal. There was clearly nothing here worth their time except the dragon itself. This dangerous skeletal creature likely knew that and was probably just toying with him for its own amusement.
Powerful beings with such a carefree attitude were often more unpredictable than the uptight ones in many cases.
Faxon pulled out a beef jerky he took from Feldway's personal stack and ate it with a satisfied pallet. Though, Faxon didn't ignore the funny reaction of the dragon while biting at the same time.
'Can't blame the lizard; I would be super careful and pissed off too if I met a yapping skeleton with a mouth that could probably rival or even surpass a gossiping asian' Faxon thought to himself as he sat in the boat while watching his captain do his thing.
"With our introduction out of the way, now it's your turn Dragon-chan!!"
The dragon is still giving a weird stare towards Taxidi but reluctantly answered
[I don't have a specific name for myself but every being on Earth, including that annoying dragon, calls me Great Red. So I prefer you call me that instead of Dragon-chan; it sends chills down my spine]
"Oh, so your name is Great Red-chan!!"
[It's Great Red]
"Great Red-chan!!"
[It's Great Red]
"Great Red-chan!!"
[It's Great Red]
"Great Red-chan!!"
[It's Great Red]
"Nice to meet you, Great Red-chan! GIHAHAHHAHA!"
[I said it's Great Re—you know what? I give up. Just call me whatever you want] Feeling it was pointless to continue arguing with the skeleton, Great Red shut his mouth.
"Do your powers affect anyone mentally or something?" Foxan asked Great Red, genuine curiosity creeping into his voice despite knowing the answer. "I felt a strange sensation invade my head earlier before you attacked us."
This kind of assault wasn't unfamiliar to Foxan, but it was refreshing to witness a dragon employing mental manipulation on his consciousness instead of the usual brute force. Even if it was mediocre and below his usual standards compared to his previous foes.
Acknowledging that both of these guys could easily beat his ass if they wanted to, Great Red knew it was pointless to hide his power and replied without fuss.
[My power is the concept of dreams itself, which is why I can control most individuals' consciousness. However, there are exceptions, like you two.]
"Both of us are just harmless pirates that couldn't even afford to hurt a fly," Foxan said, biting into his jerky.
[Don't treat me like a kid, the space around the dimensional gap is literally distorting around that skeleton and worshipping him like a mortal meeting a deity for the first time]
"I'm 90 billion years old, by the way," Foxan said casually.
[.....So I really am a kid compared to you.]
Meanwhile, while Foxan and Great Red were casually talking, Taxidi started fiddling with his pocket and pulled out a sticker of a skeleton with a clockwork and ouroboros logo. Slapping it at Great Red without his consent.
Both the dragon and Foxan paused their ongoing talk, dumbfounded by the sudden turn of events. Yet, amidst their reactions, Taxidi continued to apply the tattoo over one of Great Red's teeth and proudly crossed his arms before laughing.
"AYAYAYAYYA! FAXON, WE WILL CALL BOSS VEL RIGHT NOW! TIME TO NAME AND WELCOME THE NEW MEMBER OF THE SALVADORE PIRATE: GREAT RED-CHAN!"
Taxidi continued his laughter but suddenly found his face meeting the ground as an extremely "calm" Foxan hit him with his 'Fist of Respectful Fuck You'.
"Don't just take anyone who piques your interest in our crew, Capitan Retard!" Foxan vented his slight annoyance toward his captain.
"Fubns ubjbdubJsnzz" (Shoujo addicts have no rights on this decision)," Taxidi said, but his words came out as muffled tones.
"Huh?!!!! You've got a problem with me liking shoujo manga?!!"
"Jsbshshjsjssb bananagugugagagbas (Vice captain, as the second head of the Salvadore pirates, you should be ashamed of yourself for squeaking like a middle school girl when seeing a kiss scene)"
"Just let my grown-ass self squeak!! I am way too old to give a fuck about what others are thinking!!"
'How can he understand him? Screw that. What is even going on in my life right now?' Great inwardly sighed to himself, unable to make sense of what the actual hell these two pirates were arguing about.
[I don't know what the heck is going on, but I am not joining your boy band alri—] Great Red's words were cut off as he suddenly felt the entire dimensional gap tremble.
For the first time in his life, Great Red felt a primal fear deep within his existence as a dragon with black and blood-red scales slipped through the fracture. The sheer raw power and immense size of it made Great Red feel like an ant facing a fully grown, hungry lion.
Momentarily forgetting his irritation towards his captain, a crack in space appeared in front of them, shattering like a piece of glass.
'Flashy entrance as always,' Foxan thought to himself with a knowing grin.
'Looks like my day can get worse after all... SCREW THIS!!!!! Can I just die peacefully now? Can I entrust that immature brat to live here again and take my place?' Great Red inwardly complained. Invasions from outsiders were nothing new to him, but this?! He'd rather face millions of Ophis than fight this dreadful abomination that had just arrived.
Great Red was wholeheartedly ready to say goodbye to the world but was flabbergasted when the black dragon opened its mouth.
[Looks like you found someone interesting to mess with again, Taxidi], the giant black dragon said, letting out a carefree laugh that was a complete contrast to its menacing figure as lights began to surround it. It shrank at a rapid pace, stopping in the blink of an eye as a handsome man with black hair floated in front of Great Red instead of the monster earlier.
"Don't worry kid, I am not here to stir things up"
The handsome guy chuckled as Foxan slowly got up from the ground, tossing the remaining half of his jerky down his throat without chewing it.
"You really like to make a dramatic entrance, boss," Foxan whistled, glancing at Taxidi, who was still lying down.
"Oi, get your act together already, Capitan Retard," Foxan lightly shook Taxidi with his foot but was instead met with a very familiar sound.
"Don't tell me—"
Foxan grabbed his coat and raised him up. A huge snot bubble was forming at the bone head's nose, while he let out a snore that surpassed even his dead grandpa's nuclear cough.
"*Snoreee~~~*♫ Hey Jude, don't make it bad. Sniff a lad's sock and eat it like shawarma ♫" Taxidi sang in his sleep, his voice surprisingly good and melodious—if you could ignore the utterly wrong lyrics that is.
Velrath shook his head with a wry smile. Foxan's face twitched in irritation, while Great Red was utterly confused about what the actual hell was happening to his life right now.
"Just let him be, Foxan. You'll drain your patience with him," Velrath advised to simmer down the irritated pirate.
Sighing to himself, Foxan suddenly had a brilliant idea. He held Taxidi with both hands and raised him like a lion cub, staring Velrath dead in the eye as his lips parted.
"Permission to throw him off, boss?"
"Permission granted."
Without any hesitation, Foxan tossed the sleeping Taxidi out of the Roaring Salvadore Junior, letting the skeleton—still deep in his beauty sleep—free fall into the endless void below them.
"♫ Into the unknown, Into the unknown~~♫" Taxidi mumbled on his sleep while putting his hand on his forehead .
Immediately ignoring the falling Taxidi, Velrath gently put his hand on Great Red's face. He visibly flinched from Velrath's touch but didn't say any side comment from it.
"Your name is Great Red, right?" Velrath asked in a soothing manner.
[Yes.] Great Red barely managed to respond.
'This is quite an adorable reaction,' Velrath inwardly laughed while gazing at Great Red's frightened figure. Watching dragons get scared of him never ceased to amuse him.
"Just stay still; you'll receive a slight power-up as my apology gift for the inconvenience these two caused you."
[What do you mean—]
Velrath's smile faded into a solemn expression as he interrupted Great Red and began the naming ritual.
"Spread your wings and shatter the chains of destiny, surpassing all limits. Become the embodiment of every being's dreams and unleash havoc upon all who stand in your way."
"If everyone had a box just for wishes and dreams that had never come true, the box would be empty, except for the memory of how they were answered by you. As you feel the weight of every individual dreams,"
"I, Velrath, the Dragon God of Destruction, who has seen the dawn of creation itself, bestow upon you the name—"
"Great Red!"
Great Red's wings instantly expanded to an immense size, wrapping around his entire form like a protective cocoon. Not a single part of his body remained visible as an unending torrent of magical power surged around him like a raging tsunami.
The cocoon pulsed rhythmically, like a giant heartbeat, while a crimson aura enveloped it completely. Velrath smirked, sensing another dragon approaching after the stunt he just pulled. Meanwhile, Foxan watched intently, visibly interested in what would emerge from the cocoon once the evolution was complete.
A portal slowly opened beside Velrath. Foxan's hand instinctively moved to his gun, but Velrath raised his right hand, ordering him not to open fire on the one who summoned it.
A girl stepped out of the portal, her outfit being a complete mismatch for her appearance, and glanced at Velrath and Foxan with a deadpan expression. The two men exchanged knowing looks before shifting their focus to the black-haired girl.
"Did your dad leave you to buy milk? What's with that fatherless outfit?" Velrath patted the girl on the head, fully aware that she was much older than she looked.
"Boss, be serious," Foxan chided.
"Okay, okay, just chill for a moment, mate," Velrath replied, raising both hands in surrender.
The girl didn't seem to care about his shameless behavior. Instead, she grabbed the hem of Velrath's shirt and pointed at the cocoon.
"What did you do to Baka-Red?" she asked in an emotionless tone.