A mixture of strained smiles and uproarious laughter greeted It-Has-Pockets as she brought her narrative towards its end.

"Oh my me!" one of the gods exclaimed. "It is so bad, it's good!"

"She certainly has an 'inspired' imagination," another god stated flatly.

"More, more!" another shouted over the others. "Panuloka here doesn't like it. Extend his torment!"

The reactions were rather mixed, with many enjoying the story for the "wrong" reasons, while others found the over-the-top nature of it to be delightfully refreshing. It-Has-Pockets found her self-confidence bombarded with doubt, but she rallied and gave the audience a bow.

"And how is it that you will leave this place?" asked Lakapanaka The Refuser.

"Amidst singing, dancing, celebration, and the weeping of tears of joy," retorted It-Has-Pockets. "I will boldly stride out of The First Village and quickly find myself back in the world of the living, intact and sound in mind, body, and spirit."

The gods paused in merrymaking and heckling. After an exchange of furtive glances and unspoken conversations, many grabbed instruments or festive attire and rose from seated positions to indulge the mortal that dared to return to the land of the living. Much as It-Has-Pockets had said it would happen, the gods celebrated her departure with joyful hearts.

"Hey, you! You're finally awake. You were trying to cross the border into the afterlife."

It-Has-Pockets slowly opened her eyes. Her body was prone on a bedroll, and her head was using Bonpricha's lap as a pillow. Her inamorato leaned over her prone form with a look of quiet concern on his face. Alterez was also there, his face sporting a bruised and swollen cheek, most likely as a result of Bonpricha showing him her level of appreciation when he "distracted" her by suddenly fondling her breasts. Likewise, Gambino also kneeled next to her, but he looked no worse for wear.

"Wait, how did you escape the tentacle?" she asked as she sat upright.

"Oh, that thing?" Gambino asked as he just waved it off. "I politely, but sternly, invoked the magical word 'please' when demanding that it let go of me. You may be surprised how good manners can triumph where a hasty use of violence may come up short."

That was something that It-Has-Pockets pondered for a moment, not the concept of politeness, but how simple solutions more easily counter her stories when she makes them more grandiose. After a short period of reflection, she agreed that it was fair, for everything must have a means of being countered if balance is to be maintained.

"I suppose that tracks," she admitted after a while. "Do we need to do the dances again?"

"From the beginning," Bonpricha confirmed. "This time without distractions," she declared as she leveled a gaze at Alterez, "or interference," she continued as she likewise harshly glared at Gambino.

Surprisingly, the pair of them had enough shame to look properly chastised, although It-Has-Pockets assumed all present knew that both of the little rascals were well versed in the arts of properly showing submission, although each perhaps for different reasons.

After a short break, they started dancing again from the beginning, and after about half an hour, they had completed the challenge without much fanfare. They were rewarded with an orb of light that changed color from red to green, and so all correctly assumed that they could rejoin the others outside in the main room.

Intellectually, I know why Alterez and Gambino did what they did, and I knew that they did not act alone. Nabonidus had to have been involved, otherwise, he would have warned me. Everything ended to my advantage, and while I didn't exactly feel betrayed, something about the "how" of it rubbed me the wrong way. It really skirted the line of cheating, but considering that It-Has-Pockets was my final companion, such a technique to acquire a freebie need not be risked again.

Still, it does raise concerns about what other matters they may decide to meddle in "for my own good". They are free to make their own choices, and indeed, I encourage them to act in a way that helps all of us, so it would be hypocritical of me to throw a conniption when they do just that. I may not like the means, but I cannot argue with the results, so I should probably just keep it to myself and enjoy my fortune.

While I would not say that I was in a bad mood, the others certainly noticed how I smashed opponents in our way with far more gusto than strictly needed, and that enthusiasm soon found us to the top of the tower. Now, while I could write a whole book that described each and every floor and encounter, which would undoubtedly fascinate many of you, that isn't the focus of what I want to share with you.

In short, two Emperors, Nanu, and my companions were way more than enough to handle each and every obstacle in our path. The final boss of the top floor only amounted to enough of a challenge to get this single sentence about the whole affair. I suspect that this whole dungeon was not meant for people of our power level, for while it tried to agnostically scale to match us, there was only so much it could do to match the depth and breadth of our powers combined.

Well, the top floor was actually the penultimate floor, for the portal that opened took us to an intermediate floor between here and our ultimate destination. The floor was fairly nondescript, but there were a series of straight and parallel lines on the floor, each one bearing an order of magnitude. So, the first was from 0 to 10, the next from 10 to 100, and so forth, all the way up to the final line capping out at 1,000,000.

"Congratulations, [Hero], on ascending the tower and defeating the [Demon Lord]," came the neutral and seemingly canned voice. "Each of you proceed to the lines before you, and, to the best of your respective abilities, position yourselves where appropriate for your age so that your accomplishments may be recorded for posterity."

Poor Nabonidus found himself alone on the 0 to 10 line. It-Has-Pockets, myself, Jericho, Skull, Chooka, and, just barely, Torborg stood on the 10 to 100 line in order from youngest to oldest. Bellwright Muddlespoon, Nanu, and Alterez stood on the 100 to 1,000 line, with Alterez seemingly smug about being older than Nanu, if by a small amount. Serarnin stood on the 10 to 100 line, and they assumed the position of something akin to a pushup to stretch themselves out so that their hands could be on the 100 to 1,000 line. Bonpricha stood alone on the 1,000 to 10,000 line, and I estimated that she would have been a little over 2,400 years old.

But what really made jaws drop and eyes open wide was Gambino with arms full of Bambina in a princess carry. Well, not the act itself, but where they stood. Way up there on the 10,000 to 100,000 line, near the low end, stood Gambino. It didn't even occur to me to ever ask their age, nor did I even think that kobolds could live that long. Come to think of it, I know so little in the way of true facts about kobolds in general or about Gambino and Bambina as individuals.

They rarely offer up information about themselves, and when they do, it is usually in the form of seemingly outlandish and improbable events told in passing. I had thought they were so immersed in their own stories and personas that they perhaps had lost touch with reality, but considering their actual ages, they very much would have been alive and could have been present for any number of the events in history that they claimed to be part of.

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

Some pretty lights shone over us from an aperture in the ceiling. That seemed to be enough to analyze us without going around the room to state our name, age, and something interesting about ourselves, which was a blessed comfort.

"We would like to congratulate our returning champions who have helped the newest incarnation of the [Hero]. Congratulations to 'Gambino' and 'Bambina'." The voice sounded rather disjointed and spoke with a different pitch and cadence when mentioning specific names. "You are now encouraged to moderately applaud their accomplishments."

As prompted, we clapped and cheered, and the pair of them bowed to us, which was a tricky but not impossible feat for Bambina considering how she was being carried.

Directly following that, a portal opened to the final floor. Meanwhile, terrible and triumphant music started playing, but the static and washed out nature of it really made it unappealing.

"And so, at long last, the party of the [Hero] valiantly…"

While the voice of whoever continued to wax poetically as if it were a recording (which it probably was in some sense), we ignored it and proceeded through the portal.

[Now Leaving "World Heart Dungeon".]

[Now Entering "World Heart Dungeon - Apex".]

We found ourselves in a place from nowhere. There was no floor or ground, as if we walked on an invisible plane. All around us, we beheld a sight of the cosmos, and that constantly changed at an accelerated pace to show the birth and death of stars and planets. While the sights did not repeat exactly, one could often witness our own planet, Gyldvir. What made the sight more disturbing and ominous is how our planet's moons were often chained up, as much as one can put chains on a spheroid.

There wasn't anything of note other than a strange machine in the middle of, well, everywhere and nowhere I suppose. It was a terminal of some sort, one complete with a runeboard for our language and for commands, and a flat, crystalline screen that could showcase carefully crafted illusions to act as a visual interface. The experience of my many lives came to the rescue to inform me that it was functionally, if not conventionally, a "computer".

I, along with everyone else, examined it carefully, and I found it to be most fascinating. [Enchanting] provided the "brains" of how it worked, and [Illusion] magic crafted the display of information on the screen. It was a most interesting marriage of two distinct disciplines, and considering that there were two Emperors here, each of which specialized in one of those two disciplines, I found this to be a very happy coincidence that certainly wasn't preordained in any way.

Nabonidus quickly assumed control of the device, his hands moving as with practiced grace as he navigated menus of information.

"I am using my visions of the future to learn how to use this machine and what content it has available for display. In the time it took us to walk over to it, I have already performed a thousand iterations of examining it," he explained matter-of-factly with no hint of smugness. "In short, this device contains every imaginable setting for our world. Like, what races exist, their features and characteristics, what Blessings are available and what Skills are part of those Blessings, what kinds of monsters spawn and under what conditions, and so forth. While it doesn't have information on specific individuals, it covers pretty much everything on groups as a whole.

"Yes, Chooka, you can look up the sexual preferences and inclinations of races and genders as a whole, including upper and lower limits. Yes, Bellwright, we could theoretically change the descriptions of your Skills to better capture your magnificence. Yes, Jericho, we could make the other races a little stronger so that your race can have more of a challenge.

"In short, while we can read and examine everything, we can, collectively, make some permanent edits to our world's settings. Keep in mind that our primary goal is to activate the 'Isolation Protocol', and, to put it in simple terms, if every change here has a cost, we only have so much currency to spend.

"I know all of you have hidden agendas, and, as the only real responsible adult in the room who can be trusted to not make a complete mess of things, I will be the final author to make our changes, while our Emperor will review and finalize everything. This will be more efficient too, as you only need to imagine what changes you would want, and I can interview each of you in turn in my hypothetical future to discreetly collect the details."

His words made sense, and they cut like a knife when he didn't hesitate to outline how all of us would edit things for our own personal gain. He stood at the machine, his body still, the screen unchanging for short periods of time, before he would rapidly navigate through menus to present desirable information on screen.

We each had a lot to think about. Nabonidus did proceed to outline how much currency we had to affect change and how much said changes would cost. He did find the Isolation Protocol, and with that cost considered, we still had a respectable means to change the world in small ways.

Then he brought a very detailed closeup of anatomy on the screen for Chooka to witness, presumably so he could get it out of her system so she would stop pestering him in either this reality or hypothetical ones.

"Why does it kinda look like a little worm?" she asked.

"It's called 'foreskin', sweetie," answered Bambina. "We", she continued as she pointed back and forth between herself and Gambino, "had it removed last time we were here. We thought it would be funny if all males everywhere woke up one morning and realized a small but relatively unimportant part of their manhood was missing. I personally find the change to have been aesthetically pleasing."

Chooka frowned at the sight on screen and smiled mischievously at Bambina's confession.

"Yeah, I have to agree that it was a good change."

The men in the room looked at each other and shrugged noncommittally. Other than Gambino, none of us had any skin in this game, if you catch my meaning.

Tentatively and suddenly, Bonpricha approached me. She had been profoundly confident when ascending The Tower, but as we approached the summit, I could read signs of apprehension and distress in her microexpressions. Something was on her mind.

"Emperor," she greeted. "We find ourselves in a place truly outside of our world where the rules do not apply and the gods do not hold authority." Adorably, she actually fidgeted with her fingers and she clutched at the sides of her pants. "This presents us with a rather unique opportunity, one that I have been waiting for for so very long and that I hope you will accept."

Most of the eyes in the room turned her way as she declared her confession.

"A while ago, I gifted you an egg and made a deal with you. While terms were not explicit, I hope that you will now accept my offer." With that she got on her knees before me and held her hands in front of her, fingers interlaced in a posture of begging. "Please, grant my wish and adopt me into your flight as a Princess, and I will serve you faithfully."

Her words shocked me, and my face, much like all others gathered, showed surprise. Nanu's eyebrows threatened to ascend into the heavens, they were raised so high. Even Chooka, who had been so engrossed in further conversation about changes in anatomy over time and possible future changes, ceased her chatter with Bambina to turn our way.

I sensed no duplicity from Bonpricha, and indeed, if there was ever a declaration of heartfelt truth, this was it. What she suggested would be impossible normally, but here, in this place, the rules do not apply. Furthermore, from the perspective of dragons, she asked for one of our deepest desires and the ultimate taboo, that one flight could consume another by one Emperor dominating another so utterly. She would be at my mercy in all ways, and this deal, should it proceed, would be entirely within my power to dictate. And so, I chose my words carefully such that I could respond in a way that would not insult her.

"You have labored for centuries to selflessly protect our world. Your flight has won victory after victory as a result of countless sacrifices. Few outside of your flight are aware that any of it even happened. You have personally given all that you have to guide and protect us, all without reward.

"What you ask is only possible here and now, or, you would have to somehow wait for The Tower to appear again and align circumstances with another Emperor, which is a highly improbable scenario. I am your only hope for your request to be granted, and what you ask for will cause a disruption between the flights. It is practically heresy to our peers. You would be a great boon to me, assuming I could somehow survive the others in their attempt to rip me apart.

"And, for all that, my answer to your request is-".

I paused for dramatic effect, and Bonpricha stared up at me with desire, hope, and fear in equal measure. She had put all of her cards on the table before even beginning negotiations, and so, she held no leverage in this deal.

I took in the gazes of those around me, and a chorus of emotions were displayed. Mostly, they wanted me to go through with it. Through our bond, some expressed feelings of greed or approval for the appropriation of resources, others found the unprecedented situation to be a novel opportunity for science and discovery, and some thought it would be a sweet act of kindness.

With all matters considered, I gave Bonpricha my final answer.

Next chapter will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.