“Hey, Kexell. What do you want?”
Almond floated before the big cloud of darkness and shouted, his voice reverberating ahead.
‘Hmm, he didn’t bring the monsters this time. Which means there must be a reason for his visit here.’
The dark cloud shrank and soon vanished.
Almond sighed and turned around as Kexell arrived behind him, sitting like a human with his dragon arms crossed in the sky.
“Become my subordinate, and we will rule all four worlds,” Kexell said with a serious expression.
“…” Speechless, Almond wryly smiled and said, “Stop joking.”
Kexell’s snouts burst into flames, his eyes showing frustration. “We have to work together, or we will die.”
Almond raised his eyebrows. ‘Does he know something?’
“Why do you say that?” Almond asked.
“My world’s top powerhouses are having a secret meeting with elves, and their top priority has always been killing me.”
“Wait, what?” Almond was taken aback. “Your world wants to kill you?”
“Not that I can die,” Kexell snorted and rumbled loudly. “I am undying! I am forever. I am eternal! Unless I want to die, I will not die!”
Almond’s eyes flickered, feeling a towering will pressure from Kexell. ‘Yeah, this dragon’s will exertion is higher than mine…but it’s strange too…’
‘Maybe…just maybe…this is an opportunity.’
Almond could see the mental attributes of Kexell, and they were unstable, but his will was immensely powerful! It birthed, acted, and centered around a single thing, a single desire!
“What happened to you?” Almond asked. “What did you do to become the enemy of your world?”
Kexell blinked and said, “I did nothing. I am just different, so they want to kill me. The Dragon Emperor or whatever left a prophecy that a cursed dragon who can’t turn humanoid will become the end of our world, and since I couldn’t transform into humanoid after I was born, everyone’s been trying to kill me except for my parents, who died trying to protect me.”
Almond was taken aback. ‘Fuck…Now I get it. His entire will and being revolves around not dying because he has been on a hunt for death since birth. His power is shaped that way according to his desire, pain, and efforts. Those scars on his body that forever sizzle…that must be one of the results of his developed source power related to curse.’
“Well, the dragon emperor wasn’t wrong because I am going to end that world. All the pain and scars on me are proof of my power! Until I annihilate that world, I’ve vowed to carry all the pain I’ve suffered and get reminded of it every second!” Kexell said, his eyes blazing with black flames.
‘Fuck…’ Almond felt a hint of admiration for Kexell.
“But they are working with elves, and maybe the Cyberterra Planet, too. If they work together, we have to work together.”
“How do you know that?” Almond raised an eyebrow.
“I can spy with my Umbral Shadow Eye, so I put them in some stinky dragons, and that’s how I know about that meeting. But that dark elf Arcane Champion sensed it and destroyed my Shadow Eyes, so I couldn’t get much.”
Almond frowned. “Why are they working together when they will have to fight each other…tsk, it looks like they want to weed out some opposition first by working together.”
“Yes, so work with me,” Kexell said, flames bursting from his snout. “We will destroy them.”
Almond sighed. “I have a different plan, and I can’t reveal it to you unless you make an oath to keep it a secret.”
“Humph, that’s easy. If you’ve got a plan, I’ll listen. I am not good with plans anyway.”
Kexell immediately made a magic vow that if he revealed Almond’s plan to anyone, his heart would shatter.
“…” Almond was speechless at how easygoing this dragon was.
“Alright, so my plan is not to fight with others at all,” Almond said with a smile. “I am going to clear the Grimworld’s Tutorial by clearing the 30th Floor next month and ascending to the second layer with this planet.”
“What?!” Kexell was startled. “What is Grimworld’s Tutorial?”
“Huh?” Almond tilted his head. “You serious?”
“What?” Kexell tilted his head to the other side. “Of course, I’m serious.”
“That tower in your world! Even I know about it. You can use your status screen to enter the Tower’s Floors. There are ten floors total, and clearing the 10th Floor meant clearing the Grimworld’s Tutorial, which means you can go to the second layer.”
“Your world and elf world have Towers with ten floors because your worlds already had Mana, and you all had powers, but my world and the Cyberterra Planet didn’t have Mana, so we got a Labyrinth with 30 floors instead of Towers.”
“Oh yeah, I’ve cleared the 8th Floor of that tower,” Kexell nodded. “That’s how I reached Legendary-rank. After that, I usually enter Dungeons to eat monsters and use mystical energies in strong dungeons to make myself suffer to increase my stats.”
“I attempted the 9th floor’s boss, but it was hard. I need to get stronger to defeat it. My stats are low for it, and I need to refine my skills a bit more. It’s hard to kill alone.”
Kexell suddenly snorted, “But wait, your plan is bad! I want to destroy Empyradrake Planet! I want to tear it and blast it into smithereens! But I can’t do that since the planet is too big, so I want to kill all those dragon families and trashy dragon kings!”
“I am not dying before I do that!”
“I understand,” Almond nodded. He knew Kexell’s whole existential meaning revolved around that, so that was a must.
“You are the most powerful in your world, so why haven’t you killed them yet? Do they have anything that can restrain you?”
“Yeah,” Kexell nodded. “It’s an artifact and the current Golden Dragon Emperor combo. And they are more in number. I can’t defeat them yet, so I need to get stronger!”
Almond took a deep breath as he made a certain decision and looked at Kexell with a severe expression.
Feeling Almond’s will towering, Kexell blinked.
“I, Almond Crowshade, will help you get your revenge in killing the Dragon Emperor and all the dragon kings and their families. This is my solemn vow, and if I break it, may my soul be erased to oblivion forever.”
Kexell was startled and roared loudly, sending powerful shockwaves all around.
“Are you serious!?” Kexell asked after roaring.
“I am,” Almond smiled. “But now that I’ve made that vow, you have to trust me and follow my plan.”