On the Way Back
On the way back, I, the Red Dragon, got straight to the point. I didn't want this damn divinity one bit. Frankly, all it had done was pile on responsibilities I never asked for. Aren't responsibilities supposed to go to people who actually hustle?
Even back in my days lurking on community sites in 21st-century Korea, the ones stuck with duties were always the active types. Sure, they griped about it, but they were the ones putting in the work, right? No community hands off the reins to a lurker. In that sense, this divinity felt downright unfair to me. My track record?
Just the stuff "I" did 200 years ago. Compared to that, Aidan and Yggdrasil were honestly pretty petty feats. I couldn't wrap my head around why everyone was making such a huge fuss.
In that light...
How can I get this divinity stripped away?
Menes's response was the best news I'd heard all conversation. Stripped of divinity. Meaning, I could finally shrug off this burden on my shoulders. A shot at kicking back in my nest and enjoying life as the Red Dragon. I had to press her on it.
...Sigh. You seem to think it's just the divinity getting yanked.
Isn't it?
Of course not. Losing your divinity means having everything that makes you you ripped away.
Hmm. Go on.
...You've already attained divinity, so your body is no longer of the material world. It's bizarre that you're still here, but surely you've sensed something off?
She was right—my body had felt weird before. A bloated heaviness, like I was stuffed full. But without real discomfort or major changes, I'd brushed it off as no big deal.
...Probably because you're an primordial being of such raw strength, you barely notice.
She stared at me like I was an idiot.
Huh? What do you mean?
Those who gain divinity postnatally usually ascend by force. Their bodies are remade as divine, then pulled to a realm fitting their new form. That's ascension.
What does that have to do with me?
But you're a primordial dragon, the mightiest in the material world. Your divinity's only minor god rank, so your flesh is holding it together.
Then it shouldn't matter at all. Even a minor god rank—
That's what I mean by your shell barely holding! It's insanity—your very existence could vanish!
Why me? Why only me with this crap? This world was clearly built to torment me. Suddenly divinity shows up, and stripping it means death? What kind of absurd nonsense was this?
But I couldn't give up. She was a god, after all. She'd have some fix for the hassle I hated most. So I asked point-blank.
So, what the hell do I do? How do I shut up these damn voices, this endless nuisance?
...I just can't fathom it. Who dreams of ditching the divinity mortals beg for?
She clutched her head in disbelief before answering.
The best option is for you to heed the Pantheon's call...
No.
...As expected. So here's the next best thing.
She flicked her hand through the air, projecting a scene straight into my mind. Quite the spectacle.
"Ah, High Priest Maximilian. Here's the donation."
"Thank you, brother. May your papers this year pass smoothly."
⟨ Vision of Menes's Temple ⟩
It was her temple. Kinda looked like a library given her domain of knowledge, but the divine aura confirmed it.
The reason countless followers' voices flood your head? You lack a proper temple.
Hoo...
They pray for much, but priests handle the trivial stuff.
I saw it all in her temple. They sought much from their god, but ultimately found solace knowing someone watched over them. In other words, priests and a temple gave believers their faith.
So, what you need right now is...
A temple and priests. Build my own religion, huh.
Exactly.
Hearing Menes's advice... honestly, I hated it. Sounded like a headache just thinking about it. But sadly, it seemed the only way.
...Sigh. Fine.
I had to decide. But I couldn't stop there. My goal was shedding this pesky divinity. No way I'd settle.
But I'll take them with me.
...Who?
The Mage Tower wizards. I'll have them analyze me.
I wasn't letting them go. Menes gaped at me in shock.
...You're that desperate to ditch divinity.
Tell me how to bring them here without making them kin. Otherwise, I'll convert them to my faith by any means.
...Sigh. Fine, I'll protect the wizards coming here. Don't attack them just because you sense my aura.
Then our deal is sealed, Menes.
Deal? This is your one-sided bullying.
So what can you do about it? Just watch.
...Chaos god indeed. Fine, it's a deal.
Or rather, we wrapped up peacefully.
Back in the Pantheon, Menes found her chat with the Red Dragon a total headache.
What kind of god acts like that? Modern gods have no manners.
Primordial gods were creations of the Creator like the Red Dragon. But he was born when the material world formed, making Menes technically older. Yet he talked down to her and whined endlessly—naturally, she was floored.
Still, he's intriguing, no?
...
Beul's words hit home, though. The Red Dragon was an outlier. The sole surviving primordial dragon, with power and experience to match. No wonder he threw his weight around. Menes eyed him with fascination.
But...
Isn't this just more trouble? Why not let him live as is?
Menes puzzled over him. He claimed to want ease, yet wrecked two nations, made a domain to dodge prayers—only to brew bigger hassles. Now he wanted the Mage Tower dissecting him to drop divinity? Living simply seemed easiest, so why complicate it?
Beul knew the answer.
That's why he's the God of Chaos.
...Ah.
He was chaos incarnate. No matter how he raged for peace or shunned hassle, he'd never escape that yoke.
So that's why you want to meddle?
Yes. Better than him becoming the true 'Apocalyptic Red Dragon,' right?
Especially after the last Prophecy, Inspiration, and Foresight God's warnings of apocalypse. That was Beul's take. Menes agreed.
For now, the Red Dragon operated under some logic. Predictable enough to counter. For rule-loving Beul and Menes, it was the lesser evil.
...Gods, I hope he doesn't stir more chaos.
Me too. If only he'd pair up, have kids, and coast. Doesn't look likely.
Leviathan seemed decent. Whose follower is she?
Dunno exactly, but probably the Red Dragon's—
And so they slipped into gossip, hoping he'd behave.
...Deep down, they doubted it.
Meanwhile, at the Mage Tower.
Once the Red Dragon and Menes's "talk" ended, they relayed to their followers.
Select a few from the Mage Tower. I'll entrust them with 'divinity analysis.'
Mm, I heard too. Proceed swiftly.
Things moved fast after. The Red Dragon's crew, who'd barged in, politely withdrew. The Tower urgently assembled a team for the juicy new project: probing divinity.
Word spread like wildfire. Beings with divinity rarely stuck around the material world—they ascended on the spot. Defying that rule? Scholars swarmed with interest.
But...
"Heard?"
"Yeah, the Red Dragon?"
"He really got divinity."
To their ears, it wasn't research fodder.
"Killing something like that? We'd etch our legend."
"I'd become the new Red Dragon myself."
Ambition burned in their eyes. No wonder.
Mortals needed monumental feats to seize divine power. Without etching it into minds, they stayed mortal.
But slay the Red Dragon? Especially one with divinity?
His divinity, power, fame—all theirs.
They couldn't look away.
"He's still material-bound. Means we can kill him."
"Round up allies. Warriors to claim the Red Dragon."
"No priests, obviously. We won't repeat Verinal's blunder."
Thus, sons of Murder and Theft joined hands.
To amplify their half-baked god-powers.
To surpass even their fathers.
Feeding that blazing ambition.