Chapter 65

Gal Dragon had recently found boredom to be rare.

During the countless turns this star made around the sun, it had been a monotonous existence.

Compared to his perfect self, the world was filled with clumsy beings.

Most creatures on this star were killed by others before fulfilling their original destiny, and even those who survived lived short lives, crushed by their own destinies.

They were too primitive to warrant even a glance, and even if he were to care, they were nothing more than fleeting beings compared to himself.

Realizing this, Gal Dragon eventually found everything dull and ceased to feel interest in anything other than himself.

From that point on, he merely existed.

It was an extension of a meaningless life.

Among the insignificant creatures of nature, there were beasts that killed themselves, but just as they couldn’t find a reason to live, he couldn’t find a reason to die.

Being a perfect being, he was free from the curse of forgetfulness that afflicted lesser creatures.

As the layers of consciousness built up day by day without meaning, he began to regularly slip into a long slumber.

He merely repeated the act of sleeping, driven only by vague hopes for the future as he couldn’t live in the present.

When he awakened and stepped outside the nest, he saw that the evolution of lesser beings was painfully slow, making it seem unlikely they would ever catch up to him.

There was something surging in his chest, yet its cause remained unknown.

And this time, on his fourth awakening.

This awakening felt a bit special.

Gal Dragon sensed a bothersome presence invading his territory.

Not a natural being, but one that was artificially created.

A creature conceived by a large monkey that, despite crawling on the ground, coveted the essence and reason of his being.

After a significant battle in the past, they had stayed in their respective territories without encroachment. However, it seemed that during his slumber, the monkey had created and unleashed a creature resembling himself, called Titan.

After tearing apart a few ugly and gluttonous beings roaming his garden, he swiftly charged at the monkey and assaulted it from the sky, inflicting wounds upon its body.

While it was true that the monkey didn’t understand his own nature, its origins and form were akin to his own being.

Even though he knew that if they were to fight, there wouldn’t be a proper contest as there had been before, he thought to give the monkey a light wound as a warning to not trespass into his territory.

However, when the large monkey, Terato, was injured and bled from his attack, an unexpected occurrence took place.

As Terato’s blood touched the ground, it turned into a being like the Titans he had torn apart prior to his arrival.

He was surprised because such a power hadn’t existed during their past encounter.

Although he quickly retreated, the hundreds of Titans born from Terato’s blood began to roam outside, causing problems.

While he was busy organizing the debris that was ravaging his territory without any intelligence, Gal Dragon encountered a small elf.

While cleaning up the remains of Terato with the help of spirits, he reacted to the sudden ambush from a location relayed to him by the spirits.

At first, he was angered by this small monkey that had disrupted his efforts to finish a bothersome task and return quickly.

He intended to tear it apart in an instant, but surprisingly, this little monkey withstood all of his attacks.

Not only that, but it processed the mana inside its body to create weapons capable of piercing him.

As the perfect being amongst all existing creatures on this star, he understood.

Even if its power was weak, the essence that formed its energy was optimized to kill him.

It wasn’t merely the natural mana that existed everywhere and awaited observation; it was a refined energy crafted with intention and will.

It was interesting.

He recalled having seen a similar species to this small monkey in the south long ago.

Weak monkeys without fur or claws.

Apart from being able to make slightly more precise tools from the objects found in nature, there was nothing particularly special about their species.

But this little monkey was different.

It seemed to be crafted by some being with the most beautiful proportions.

He could feel the energy emanating from a being that transcended the laws of nature.

And when he saw its fur, which reflected the sun and waved like ripples whenever they clashed, he deemed it truly beautiful.

What was even more beautiful was its interior.

Being a perfect being who had completed his own world from birth, his eyes could see the flow of mana.

Thus, he could only admire the movements of the mana flowing within this monkey.

The complex movements of the mana produced the most perfect solutions at every moment.

Unlike him, who merely controlled, dominated, and suppressed, he couldn’t find even a single flaw in its beautiful laws.

The innate difference in their levels was so vast that he would certainly be defeated, yet still, he was captivated by this rare, miraculous being.

For the first time in a long while, Gal Dragon felt the emotions of desire and possessiveness.

He had hardly experienced feelings of desire and possession towards all that existed in the world until now.

Collecting substances of the same color as his scales and occasionally peculiar stones seen in nature had been his only hobby for a while.

However, even that began to feel habitual, to the point where he only gathered a few when he occasionally ventured outside his nest.

It was ultimately difficult to maintain interest in materials without will that had predictable outcomes for a long time.

But this little monkey was different.

Even amidst brief clashes, it changed unpredictably every moment.

Mana transformed into lightning. Into flames.

While wielding solid substances, it continuously adapted with different principles.

How could a lesser being be capable of such feats?

He doubted he could manipulate mana in so many diverse ways himself.

Gal Dragon expected and was curious about how far the actions of this monkey could go.

It wouldn’t be difficult to kill it with full power, but he wanted to see more. He wanted to possess it.

Although the Titans, who intruded in a clueless manner, annoyed him, the little monkey disrupted his attempts every time he tried to tear them apart.

Desperate emotions were also defined outwardly.

Surprisingly, this small monkey seemed to feel pity for the much larger Titan and wanted to protect it. In nature, that would normally be the opposite.

At a moment when he had deflected a dangerous blow aimed at his core, he felt a bit regretful yet satisfied as his heart seemed to falter when he showcased his powers.

For the first time in a long while, he felt genuinely satisfied because he would finally possess this little monkey.

When he asked for its name, he was pleased with the defiant spirit it had, even while the situation was becoming hopeless.

The name Araya felt oddly agreeable.

He even felt grateful to the tree known as El Prigion for having created such a being.

After not killing the Titans that had bothered him one last time, and playing with and disposing of them, just as he was about to take Araya back to his nest, Gal Dragon’s expectations were shattered once more.

Before his eyes, a small world was being reborn.

Though small, this steadfast world encroached upon the territory controlled by his own world, stealing away some of the control.

As Gal Dragon witnessed this, he became completely absorbed in Araya, ignoring the fleeing Titans.

He couldn’t comprehend what trick such a mere insignificant being had employed, but it had become a being of equal standing to himself.

He intuitively recognized that this was not a permanent phenomenon like his own or Terato and Prigion, yet it was still a miraculous event.

It would be no surprise if a worm grew wings and soared through the sky, devouring creatures a hundred times its size.

I want it. I truly want it.

I want to make it entirely my own.

Much more than everything he had long gathered in his nest.

More than the domain he had nurtured and lived in for a long time.

He merely wanted to possess this being named Araya completely.

Araya resisted Gal Dragon until the very end.

Each time, Gal Dragon felt anxious.

Every time he saw Araya’s standing diminish through his own eyes, he felt sorrow.

Even when he shouted for her to give up and quickly become his, she never granted him an opening, even if he now tried with all his strength to subdue her.

As the sun and moon changed three times, Gal Dragon surrendered with anger.

Seeing Araya reach her limit, he sensed his desires would ultimately remain unfulfilled.

Thus, intending to erase his regret, he prepared to use the powers he hadn’t used since the fight with Terato long ago.

But even that surpassing his expectations, when she ultimately withstood it, it led him to bring the now ragged Araya to his nest.

While it might be impossible to restore the shattered world, he did his utmost to recover its surface.

He placed Araya, his most precious treasure, in the spot where he kept his treasures in the nest.

On the highest spot, where it was most visible.

He continued to watch over her until his next awakening, and while he briefly went to deal with the debris of Terato that wasn’t fully handled, Araya awakened.

To Gal Dragon, simply observing Araya was a delightful experience.

The sight of a creature smaller than even his claws moving around while being mindful of him.

Moreover, since she satisfied his aesthetic sense, he was even more pleased.

Her beautiful face and eyes. Her fur resembling his scales.

Additionally, the body hidden under the green substance, which was not visible, was beautiful as well.

With limbs extending proportionally and straight, and skin as white as snow.

Despite her seemingly delicate appearance, her body was solidly built with well-developed muscles, making her seem magnificent to him, despite being an aesthetic sense belonging to another creature.

What he was most fond of was her lack of unnecessary fat.

A perfect being should be completed solely by himself.

Such beings have no reason to pass on the information of life through the acts of reproduction and childbirth.

Thus, the organs for producing milk to rear offspring were meaningless.

They were cumbersome, taking up unnecessary space and receiving more resistance from air or water than needed.

Therefore, Gal Dragon watched with a disappointed expression as his new treasure attempted to create and wear clothing, which was merely to cover her body.