Dragon Across the Multiverse (Si-WC) (Patreon)

Chapter 39: Perfect Timing

As soon as Velzard said that, the presence that had been watching us for the past several minutes suddenly disappeared as if it had never been there, causing both of us to let out identical smirks.

“So that’s the God of this world, huh?” Velzard muttered in disappointment, saying the word God with a mocking tone before losing interest and looking off to the side. “How disappointing.”

“Not every god we run into will be as strong as your brother was, you know?” I replied, also losing interest since the presence hadn’t felt malicious, only curious and somewhat cautious.

It seemed the Creation God had grown curious about what had happened to Hiraku and decided to take a look, only to find us instead. Normally, I would have blocked his sight, but I was curious about what he would do, so I allowed his clairvoyance to observe us.

“Will we run into one stronger soon?” Velzard asked, glancing at me from the corner of her eye, curiosity clearly visible in her blue gaze. “Perhaps at the level of my brother?”

“Depends on which version of your brother we’re talking about,” I said casually with a shrug. “If we mean when he still possessed omnipotence and omniscience and was referred to as the All-One, then no, not anytime soon. I wouldn’t feel comfortable traveling to a universe like that right now unless it was for something quick I could finish and leave immediately.”

There were terrifying existences out there that could still erase me on a whim, even as I was now.

“But if we’re talking about when your brother took the name Star King Dragon Veldanava as the first True Dragon… that’s another story. There are plenty of beings on that level. Though I can’t promise we’ll meet one soon, especially since we’ll be returning to the Cardinal World fairly quickly, and you know what awaits us there,” I added, giving her a pointed look.

Velzard sighed softly before turning fully toward me. Then she leaned up and pressed a brief kiss to my lips, a gentle smile forming on her beautiful face.

“Don’t worry. When the time comes to confront my brother, I’ll be right beside you every step of the way,” she reassured softly, caressing my cheek.

“Whether it’s against my brother or anyone else, know that I will always choose you over anyone else.”

She finished by giving me another kiss before stepping back, looking quietly content.

“Thanks, Vel. That means a lot coming from you,” I replied, shortening her name.

Her eyebrow lifted slightly at the nickname, but since she didn’t comment, and instead seemed faintly pleased despite her neutral expression, I took it as approval and continued.

“I’m glad you got your power back. It was honestly getting a bit lonely at the top, so I’m hoping you and your sister catch up soon,” I said with a smile, gently caressing her hair before placing a soft kiss on her forehead.

“Tsk, don’t ruin the moment by talking about another woman, idiot. Especially when that woman is my sister.” Velzard clicked her tongue in mild annoyance and looked away with the faintest pout.

Chuckling at her cute expression, I quickly kissed her on the lips when I saw her about to respond, no doubt with another insult, stealing the words from her mouth and causing her to moan softly as she leaned into the kiss.

Pulling away after a few moments and leaving a slightly flustered Velzard behind, I tilted my head curiously.

“Speaking of getting your power back, how are you handling your new Cthulhu, Lord of Divine Ice after getting rid of that pest, Twilight Valentine?”

Twilight had previously served as Velzard’s Manas, but after recovering her power, she had told me she used the Shroud I gifted her to remove him completely. With that nuisance gone, I had Ciel merge her two Ultimate Skills—Gabriel, Lord of Patience and Leviathan, Lord of Envy—into Cthulhu, Lord of Divine Ice.

Velzard was now the third person, besides myself and Velgrynd, to possess a Lovecraftian-based Ultimate Skill, which Ciel and I had determined to be the strongest classification among Ultimate Skills.

“It should only take me a little longer to fully master it. What I can say, though, is that my abilities have never come more easily to me. Fufufu… it still astounds me that you and that Manas of yours can evolve Ultimate Skills like that, something I once thought impossible,” Velzard said with a soft giggle, shaking her head before looking at me with a faint smirk.

“I suppose it’s only a matter of time before you fully surpass my brother back when he was all-powerful.”

“I’m in no hurry to get there, if I’m being honest,” I said with a small shrug as I pulled Velzard closer into a side hug. “Though I’m glad you’re not having any trouble.”

“As expected of my lover,” I added with a slight smirk, leaning down to kiss the crown of her head as I snapped my fingers and opened another portal in front of us, this one leading to the Eminence in Shadow universe.

Velzard practically preened in my arms at the compliment, which I found adorable. Honestly, both she and Velgrynd were so starved for affection that even small praise like this brought them noticeable joy.

‘Oh well… Guy and Rudra’s loss, my gain,’ I thought with a pleased smirk.

“Now come on, let’s leave this world. I want to show you where we’ll be staying for the next few months before we head to the Cardinal World,” I said as I guided us toward the portal without once looking back.

I had no doubt I’d return eventually, whether to show the girls who hadn’t seen this world yet or for some other trivial matter, so I didn’t feel bad about leaving like this.

=====

Alexandria — Two Years Later

Stepping out of the portal, we arrived in Alexandria, and I could immediately tell just how much things had changed in the two years I’d been away.

For one, there were now almost five times as many buildings in the city, which meant Liriel and the girls had been busy bees when it came to recruiting more members for Haru. There was even a stadium off to the side that was most likely being used to train the new recruits.

From what I could sense, the population had already surpassed one thousand, which was great, it meant less work for me to do and just laze around.

“This is where we’ll be staying, huh?” Velzard muttered as she looked around with a blank expression for a moment before turning to me. “Mind if I make a castle for us in that cliff?” she asked, pointing toward a seaside cliff.

“Ah, sure, go for it. There’s plenty of room. Just don’t go too overboard, remember we’ll only be staying here for a few months,” I replied with a slow nod.

While I wouldn’t mind living in an ice castle like the one she built back in the Cardinal World, it wasn’t really my style, if I was being honest. I leaned more toward houses made of wood or stone that blended naturally with the surrounding nature, like the one in my demiplane that was modeled after Imladris or Rivendell.

Of course, I wasn’t about to tell her that since I wasn’t an idiot with a death wish.

A happy Velzard meant a pleasant next few months living here, after all.

“I’ll get started then,” Velzard said with a pleased nod. Rising onto her tiptoes, she gave me one last kiss on the cheek before disappearing.

“Haah… that silly dragoness just didn’t want to deal with introductions, huh?” I muttered to myself as I sensed several familiar signatures rapidly approaching my location.

Right on cue, a feminine voice suddenly rang out in the distance.

“Booooossssssss~ You’re finally baaaaacckkkk~”

Turning toward the voice, I spotted the unmistakable figure of Sara—Delta—charging toward me on all fours with a massive grin on her face, her tail wagging wildly.

Slightly behind her, the rest of the girls were also rushing in my direction. More than one of them was crying in relief and happiness from what I could sense, the most obvious being Beta (Natsume), Gamma (Luna), Epsilon (Livia), Victoria, Sherry, and finally Marie.

I could only smile in amusement—

—and a moment later, the black missile slammed into my chest.

I let myself be knocked to the ground as Sara’s black-haired form wrapped around me in a crushing hug that would have shattered every bone in my body if I were a normal human.

“Boss is back! Sara is so happy~ Boss! Boss! Let’s go hunting!” Sara rambled excitedly as she rubbed her head against my chest, marking me with her scent while sniffing me all over.

“Hahaha, it’s good to see you again, Sara,” I chuckled happily as I brought my hand down to her head and started scratching behind her ear just the way she liked, causing her to melt on top of me as she let out happy grumbles and giggled. “You sure got much bigger while I was away, huh?”

“Hihihi~ Yep! Sara is now almost as tall as the Boss!”

“Akari-sama!”

Multiple cries of my name rang out next, and before I knew it, I was dogpiled by a combination of elves, humans, and therianthropes.

All I could do was lie there as the girls talked over each other, welcoming me back with tears and bright smiles. Even the ever-calm Liriel—Alpha—was not exempt from joining the others.

“Welcome back, Akari-kun~”

“Akari-sama~ I missed you sooo much! Waaah!”

“Akari-sama, I’m so glad you returned to us! I always knew you would!”

“Akari-sama, this Livia has eagerly awaited your return~”

“It’s so good to have you back, Master.”

“Boss, I have so many questions that only you can answer!”

“Danna-sama, I’m pleased at your safe return~”

“Akari-sama, I’m beyond overjoyed at your return to us~”

“Akari-kun, I missed you~ Please don’t leave us again!”

“Are you hungry, Master?”

‘Did they think I wasn’t coming back, perhaps?’ I wondered silently, my gaze settling on Liriel, who had silent tears running down her beautiful blue, almost purple, eyes and a trembling smile on her lips.

Yeah… they probably did.

Since everyone was speaking over each other, I could only offer the first elf I rescued in this world a reassuring smile, which she tearfully returned.

‘Don’t worry, everyone. That was my last rendezvous to another world for a while. The next time we travel between worlds, it will be together,’ I promised silently.

It took some time for the girls to properly calm down. Every time things started settling, one of them would jump me again and the chaos would restart.

In the end, it took Liriel firmly putting her foot down, after she had composed herself, for the girls to finally settle and allow me to stand.

Looking at each of them as they lined up in front of me, I took a moment to admire how much they had grown during my absence before letting out a small smile.

“Sorry for taking so long to return, everyone. I was acquiring more tools and personnel for my future plans,” I said gently.

I waited for the group to quiet again as they hurried to dismiss my apology before continuing.

“I have much I want to talk to you about and some gifts to hand out, but before that, I just want to say that I’m impressed with how all of you have grown in both height and power since I’ve been away,” I complimented them with a smile, causing some to blush, others to preen, and a few to do both.

“It was only expected that we continued our training, Akari,” Liriel said calmly, arms crossed. “After you spent all that time teaching us and gifting us power, it would have been an insult to you if we had remained the same as when you left.”

Her words drew immediate agreement from the others as they voiced their own thoughts.

“That’s right, Akari-sama.”

“I just hope we don’t disappoint you, Akari-sama.”

“Thank you, girls, but you give me too much credit,” I said, shaking my head. “I only taught you the basics. It was all of you who refined them and worked to get this far, so don’t downplay your own merit.”

That earned several shy smiles, but I wasn’t finished yet.

“Finally, just as I predicted, all of you have grown into true beauties in your own right, no doubt the envy of many others,” I added, my gaze lingering briefly on Livia—Epsilon—who had always worried about her figure. Now, however, she was easily among the curviest of the group.

Noticing my attention, Livia blushed but still smiled proudly, puffing out her chest toward me.

The others showed similar reactions.

“Now, with all that said, what do you all say we have a meal so you can catch me up on everything you’ve been doing over the past two years?” I asked with a warm smile.

“Of course, Akari-sama. It would be my absolute pleasure~”

At my words, my personal maid Marie immediately stepped forward with a bright smile, bowing demurely.

With that settled, we all began moving toward the mansion in the distance, which I noticed had grown significantly larger during my absence, as the girls crowded around me, making small talk along the way.

I really missed these girls. Each of them has their own quirks… but that’s what makes it special.

‘I just hope they don’t become too jealous of Velzard when I tell them about her. I’m especially worried about Liriel, since she’s always taken pride in being my first subordinate and strives to be as useful to me as possible.’

I cast a small glance toward said elf—

—and found her already looking back at me with a soft smile.

=====

A Week Later

It turned out the girls had been far busier than I initially thought.

Thanks to a combination of my extensive training, their strength far surpassing their canon selves, and the use of my Bounty Tracker app, which allowed them to locate any important target, they had truly outdone themselves and crippled the Cult of Diablos.

Aside from dealing with the targets shown in the anime up to Mordred and the demon from the Fourth Realm, Ragnarok, the girls had essentially eliminated everyone else.

At this point, all that remained before we could completely destroy the Cult was to deal with the remaining canon enemies and rescue Aurora, granting her a proper body. Every other Knight of Rounds had already been located and eliminated.

Normally, that level of interference would have caused future canon events to spiral wildly off course. However, thanks to the combined effects of Universal Calibration and Gone and Forgotten, that hadn’t happened.

The Cult didn’t even realize how badly they had been crippled. Every member the girls eliminated was erased from collective memory by Gone and Forgotten, preventing any large-scale alarm.

A slightly terrifying thought when you really considered it…

—but these people were scum, so I felt no pity for them.

Just like in canon, each girl had excelled in her respective field, and most of them were now recognized worldwide for their achievements, which I was genuinely proud of.

The only real hiccup came when I told the girls about Velzard, specifically that she was my lover and effectively my right-hand woman, second only to me in power.

Liriel and Sara had taken the news the worst. Delta had been the only one openly vocal about it, but I could tell Liriel was upset as well.

Velzard had been busy constructing her castle, insisting it be perfect, so I hadn’t yet properly introduced her to the others.

I had a feeling that meeting wasn’t going to go smoothly.

At the moment, however, I found myself in the Midgar Kingdom, more specifically, at the Midgar Academy for Dark Knights.

Canon had officially begun, and I had a role to play here before we moved on.

It would also be nice to see Alexia again…

…and Cid, to a lesser extent, if only so I could troll the psychopath.

‘I wonder if anything changed for him after my little “gift” last time,’ I thought with amusement as I walked through the academy in the blue-and-white uniform.

Thanks to a bit of hypnosis and mind manipulation, I had enrolled myself as a second-year student without any issues.

School had already ended for the day, and I was currently making my way toward Alexia’s location, timing my arrival perfectly.

As I rounded the corner, the scene that greeted me made me smirk.

Cid was nervously stuttering through a confession to Alexia, one he was clearly doing on a dare to maintain his “mob” persona, while she looked at him like he was absolute trash.

“…W-Would y-you p-please go o-out with m-me?” Cid stuttered, head lowered to hide the smugness he thought no one could see, and hand extended toward Alexia.

‘Showtime,’ I thought as I quickened my steps.

Just before Alexia could respond, I called out, completely ruining the moment.

“Hey Alexia, long time no see~”