Tyrant Dragon Tironax.
The vicious being, his foul temper, who would stir up storms at any given moment, was a symbol of fear and disaster itself in this world.
He possessed an immense size, reminiscent of a mountain peak, with a massive pair of wings, sharp horns, and spikes that sprouted all over his body. The overwhelming physical power emanating from his bulk could easily crush anyone, and his senses and reaction speed reached transcendent levels, befitting his lumbering appearance. His scales were made of the hardest material in the world, and his incredible vitality and resistance were beyond imagination. Even the wounds sustained while dealing with him could never truly heal.
It wasn't surprising that so many warriors had perished in vain while attempting to slay the tyrant dragon for world peace. If his intelligence hadn't surpassed that of a slightly smarter animal, the challenge itself would have been impossible from the start. He was, quite literally, the apex predator, sitting at the top of the food chain.
And now, that tyrant dragon, Tironax...
Crumble—rumble!
Covered in wounds all over his body, he was thrown down a mountainside, causing a massive landslide.
[Kaaaaa——!]
The tyrant dragon, emerging from the collapsed rubble, roared ferociously. A cry filled with emotions such as rage, pain, irritation, and frustration.
[Hoo? You can withstand this? As expected of a notorious one, you're different from the ones before. You'll be excellent material. I thought this world was a mess, but I think I can be quite satisfied with this.]
However, Hans could sense another emotion within the dragon when he confronted him. A vivid fear that couldn't be concealed even by his ferocity.
[Kukekekekeke, just be quiet. I'll set you free more fully. Your kin will also be waiting for you, so you won't be lonely.]
A burning black sun rose from one of his raised hands. Unlike the actual sun that spreads light into the world, this artificial sun spread darkness. As energy spread in all directions, all life forms within its influence withered away in an instant. And then, right after.
Kuaaaaang——!
A great earthquake shook the ground of the region, and a pillar of black fire shot up into the sky.
It was so devastatingly destructive that a large mountain could be completely vaporized. The resulting earthquake brought agony to distant cities simultaneously, but Hans, already captivated by the sturdy creature before him, had no mind to pay attention to that.
[You're still breathing after taking this? Truly....]
He slowly nodded his head, his eyes glinting. He had great expectations for what kind of masterpiece would be created if that monstrous body, a special product of this dimension, were to be transformed into an undead.
[Kuoooo——!]
[Kyaaa——!]
At that moment, two massive dragon skulls emerged from the tyrant dragon's shadow, wriggling below and biting at its collar. The three large bodies instantly entangled and rolled on the ground.
It didn't end there.
[We need to hunt while inflicting as much damage as possible.]
[It's on the verge of death. We can finish it soon.]
The executives of the immortal army, who appeared afterward, began to attach themselves to the tyrant dragon's body one by one. In order to kill it clearly and cleanly and make it their comrade. Unlike the dragons from other dimensions, it was like a reasonless beast, so there was no need to feel regret. From what I collected through Olivia, they were just bombs that caused problems everywhere.
'Since there's been no income so far, I should take care of things like this.
It had been quite some time since leaving Devore. In the meantime, Hans had passed through two more dimensions and arrived at the fourth, Mileria, but he had not found any suspicious traces of the Heaven-turn society since the beginning.
Compared to the previous worlds, which were on the verge of world destruction, they were forced to face such trivial, ordinary problems as this tyrant dragon.
'Thinking about it, this isn't even a closed dimension yet. I visited first because I had some doubts while analyzing the memories.'
Looking at the situation, it seemed like he had made a mistake once again. Once one became a transcendent being, it was highly probable that their memories would disappear during the process of breaking through mental barriers, so it wasn't strange.
Of course, this situation wasn't all bad.
It would have been more difficult if the Leader of the Heaven-turn society had set something up wherever they went. The fact that their influence wasn't that significant could be considered a harvest in itself.
'Still, it's a bit of a shame that this information-gathering trip keeps bringing up nonsensical things.'
It was a decision made based on the rational belief that more traces would be left in places where operations were still ongoing than in worlds where everything had already ended. To achieve his goal, the next destination seemed to have a higher probability.
'Then, it turned out that there was one suitable closed dimension left.
According to the information gathered from memories, there's a very high possibility of external intervention...'.
As Hans was lost in thought.
Ugh—
A faint vibration echoed from his chest. He glanced at his subordinates who were in the process of dismembering the tyrant dragon Tironax and collecting spoils, and took something out of his pocket.
Ugh—
It reacted even more violently when it came out.
It was a pendant attached to the end of a thin chain made of a rare metal.
Of course, the ornament Hans held was by no means an ordinary object.
[Oh my, you still haven't come to your senses.]
Hans lifted the pendant, brought it before his eye sockets, and shook his head with a slight sigh.
The ornament hanging at the end of the chain was an infernal gaze that stared directly into the grotesque-looking eyeball—.
Behave—.
Black lightning flickered at his fingertips. Without hesitation, he touched the moving eyeball and crushed it. The eyeball repeatedly flinched and squirmed to escape his grasp, but of course, it was just a futile resistance.
'Amazing. How can it resist to the very end even though its original consciousness has already been completely crushed? Is it because of the lingering thoughts in its body?'
In fact, it was a being of high standing, enough to be called a Archdemon. Moreover, its strong attachment to life, triggered at the last moment, must have made it this way.
'I've benefited a lot from it, too. Otherwise, we wouldn't have been able to create something like this.'
After Calming it down again, Hans held the pendant in his hand and nodded with satisfaction. He wondered if it wasn't for this special item that he was able to use the power of the 'Infinite Archdemon' on Mccarthy. He is the pinnacle of necromancers and dark mages. As long as the materials and conditions were met, it wasn't difficult to mobilize all mysteries, such as necromantic demon contracts and the production of magical tools, to create 'demon-infused weapons.'
'Of course, if it weren't for various coincidences and luck on our side, it would have been impossible to create an item with this much power.'
In any case, the Infinite Archdemon was also a being who had ascended to the status of a demigod. Perhaps because the protagonist had an evil god alignment, and considering the situation in Devore, where there were no beings that could be called gods, unlike in normal dimensions, the demons in charge of 'concepts' each held a god-like position.
Even if it were a degraded version, creating an item imbued with the power of such a being without loss wouldn't be easy.
'If I hadn't obtained the true body of a demon in a state of brain death, not completely dead despite being sentenced to death... I wouldn't have even thought of using it.'
Even after going through all the processes to complete the product, it was impossible to create multiple pieces due to the immense load that continued. What more can be said when Hans can only maintain one of these?
'Anyway, I want to make more, but I can't because I don't have the materials.'
However, He now knew the process, so if a similar situation arises next time, it will be easier to proceed. The first one was purely a coincidence, but once successful, the second one becomes easier. If more research is done in the process, the problem of being able to use only one may be improved
.
'Then.'
As Hans looked at the pendant.
[King... It's all cleaned up....]
[Hmm.]
Hans indifferently glanced around at the voices coming from a little distance away. The landscape around him had already changed to the point where it was unrecognizable from the beginning. Not only were there messes everywhere, but where a large mountain once stood, only a deep crater remained. What more could be said?
'...As time passes and rain accumulates, it will become a lake. I was a bit suffocated by the bustling mountain, but wouldn't an open lake be perfect?'
Of course, Hans didn't care much. He shamelessly justified himself and ignored the cruel destructive phenomenon of nature.
'Then let's move on to the next step. We've gathered quite a lot of useful material for the 'final usage of the tyrant dragon.'
No matter how harmful a bird it may be, you cannot arbitrarily exterminate it as a foreigner. Even if you push yourself harder when there is enough time to be reasonably satisfied, it would just be a waste of time. Thus, the visitor from another world quietly disappeared as he had arrived.
Like Devore, He had pre-set a world declared closed long ago...
to—
'Cosiyas'.
After the stranger left.
The incident that occurred at the Mountain became known to the world only after a considerable amount of time had passed. The tyrant dragon Tironax's notoriety was so high that no one dared to approach, even when witnessing the clearly abnormal phenomenon of the pillar of fire and the earthquake.
What people were able to realize much later was that where the mountain once stood, there was now an unheard-of lake, not recorded in any chronicles. Not only the tyrant dragon but also several notorious dragon species had disappeared at once.
And that story was passed down to future generations as a legend and a mystery of Mileria, under the name—
'Dragon Lake.'
***
[...What?]
The moment I crossed the dimensional gate. The first emotion Hans felt was bewilderment.
'What is this place?'
For a moment, He wondered if He had come to the wrong place.
He had to.
Because everything here was so different from the memories of the dimension he originally wanted to visit.
The Cosiyas dimension was a dimension belonging to the so-called 'civilized world.' Science and technology were at a similar level to Earth, but with the development of magic engineering, things that could be considered over-engineered by Earth's standards had become closely integrated into daily life. But what I see now...
[...It's already a dead world.]
Simply calling it ruins wasn't enough. The ground was covered with fragments of broken concrete, and all sorts of scrap metal and colossal fissures, invisible from the floor, were cracked like drought-stricken paddy fields. It was definitely land, but it was practically an island.
'The magma is also cooling down.'
He shook his head, looking at the bottom of the fissures through the "Abyss Eye." And immediately flew high into the sky and surveyed the entire world.
'The sea level is too low. At least everything has rotted away.'
The sea, the cradle of life, looked like that, but there was no life. The atmosphere was filled with toxic substances instead of oxygen, and the planet had lost its warmth and cooling due to the direct radiation. Hans, who specialized in detecting life, expanded his senses as much as possible, but he reconfirmed that all life forms, not just flora and fauna, but even microorganisms including bacteria, had become completely extinct.
[I can't feel any energy in space.]
It reminded me of Earth's mysterious barren lands... No, it was far more severe than that. It was miserable and withered, as if something other than what was originally there had squeezed the world reflected in his eyes. How could it be that even the 'spirit of death' couldn't be felt, even as the entire world was dying? Hans's body, which was flying rapidly and looking at the ground, stopped in mid-air. And slowly raised his head to look up at the sky.
'This world is already over.'
The sky was shattered and completely in pieces. What existed beyond it was not the universe. Nothing. Literally nothingness was engulfing this entire destroyed world.
'There is no possibility of saving this world. Well, there was no one left to survive from the beginning.'
This was nothing more and nothing less than a 'broken world.' That would now be the only word to describe this place, Cosiyas. Then, he suddenly realized something. The system message that always appeared when entering a new world had not been displayed until just a moment ago.
'Is the ruler of the world the administrator, and has the Akasha system that encompasses all dimensions already abandoned this world?'
He quickly cut through the air again and began scanning the entire world. It must have been the Lord of the Heaven-turn society who had done this to this place. He had to do anything to get the original target, even if it was the slightest clue. Because he didn't know when he would be able to come to a world like this again. Then, at one point. His body, which was spreading its energy as widely as possible, stopped.
[This...]
Upon reconfirming, it was indeed true. A faint vitality. And this reaction was definitely...
'A human? Were humans still alive at this point? How?'
It didn't matter since they were already dead, but even awakened people protected by the system wouldn't last long if they came here.
But to last until the end in this worst-case scenario...
Hans's body shot out like lightning.
To where the sole survivor in this destroyed world was...