’Well... now I feel like an ass....’

"Uhh..." Laz was kind of confused at this moment. This wasn’t the situation he was expecting at all as he looked at the slightly shy dragon.

’This beast has been killing non stop ever since it arrived here. Hell... the fucker tried to off me at the entrance back when I first showed up here. So how the fuck is it starting to get human like now???’

’Why am I suddenly feeling like this? This shouldn’t me. My name was a glorious one bestowed upon me by my master so why does it almost seem like an insult now?’ Even Black Worm was having trouble with it’s own emotional state, clearly not understanding why it felt the way it felt. It had killed, hunted and bathed in the blood of it’s enemies when it wasn’t eating them to gain their power. Found by it’s master during the fall of the omniverse, it had been raised as a pet and always carried out it’s duties as it was ordered without feeling a thing, other than the need to make it’s master happy.

’So why do I suddenly feel emotions towards something as foolish as this?’ Black Worm thought. Then a sudden thought entered it’s mind, something it would have never thought of before but also something that had never happened before.

’Master had never allowed me to devour the consciences of an intelligent beast before, instead only allowing me to feast on their energy. But ever since I fully devoured that useless man... I have gained emotions?’ It was smarter than before and while not an academy level thinker, it was no longer the stupid pet it had been before either.

"Well. Fuck it either way," Laz said, taking up his sword and charging towards the beast. Before anything else strange happened, Laz felt as though he needed to chop this shadow dragon down while he still had the chance.

While reeling with the emotions and thoughts going through it’s head, things it had never delt with before, and seeing Laz charge at it once more, it panicked. If it’s mind wasn’t in a terrible mess right now, it would have been able to focus on it’s fight with Laz, but now that things had turned out the way it did, it suddenly felt an emotion that caused it to do something extreme; fear.

It cracked a scale on it’s own body, one hidden within it’s jaw line that would normally never be exposed.

Once it did so, the entire world suddenly turned black as the sky lost all color. What’s more, lightning and thunder were booming out from an empty sky, even before the clouds rolled in, showing just how much energy was in the air at the moment.

All of those fighting fell back, their senses telling them that something dangerous was about to happen, something that could threaten all of their lives.

A voice like nails on a caulk board suddenly boomed out, louder than even the thunder in the skies.

"WHO DARES TO THREATEN MY BEAST?" The voice asked, making many of the weaker ones in the fortress faint just from the sound.

Tamesis was barely able to get a shield up as the crystal monitors in the room she was still hold up in from the shift showed the views from outside the fortress. Without lines or conduits, she could only trust the framework of the fortress to support the energy flow, but knew that it was an extreme waste of energy to do so.

It was the only option she had if they didn’t want everyone in the fortress at the lower two levels dying of their brains exploding.

Even Laz was taken back by the sound as his body fought to keep upright, his blood pumping at a furious rate to reject the power in the skies.

"MASTER!" Black Worm called out, grateful to hear it’s master’s voice once again.

"You foolish beast. I can sense that you forgot my warning to you, to never devour the soul of another sentient beast! Now I will have to spend the time to erase such a soul from your own. Perhaps I should just find another beast to be my pet, one who will not forget my words the first time they had been separated from me?" The voice said as an image appeared in the sky.

As Laz looked on in horror, he could only describe the vision as a mirror floating in the middle of the sky with a swirling mass behind it, something so impossible that Laz thought his brain might burst from even trying to look closer at it.

"DO NOT STARE INTO THE APPARITION!" Came Pooja’s voice from somewhere behind him as those many heads couldn’t help by try to stare closer. Many obeyed, those of strong will who could tell that nothing good would come from looking closer. As for others who were either too weak willed or just couldn’t help themselves, they went mad in mere moments, sobbing and laughing at the same time as they tried to tear out their own eyes.

In only a moment, all of the troops were in disarray, as those who turned away in time tried to restrain those who hadn’t. Even the beast gods were suddenly fighting among themselves as some had succumb to madness without even realizing the danger.

"As for the rest of you, well... I can sense my pet’s intentions and I find it to be a worthy one. There are few places that could raise gods in a limited dimension. It is truly worth keeping this place intact so that I may use it as I see fit. Loyal Black Worm. Open the door with that key so that I may drag this dimension to within my realm," the apparition ordered as the shadow dragon shifted back to a human size with the face of the emperor once again and ran to the door, hastening the opening process by directing it’s own energy into the links and bindings.

Hearing this, Laz suddenly felt a huge amount of dread inside of him. He hadn’t tried to get the key from the door before this as it was a slow process and he figured as long a he could stop the beast and be the first one out they would be safe if he summoned his own ’master.’ But now, knowing that just opening the door would allow the nameless god to drag the entire dimension to where ever it wanted meant that they could no longer open the door while the shadow dragon was here.

And such a thing was what the nameless god wanted anyway.

*It’s not as bad as it seems...* Kat suddenly whispered in his ear.

Laz couldn’t help but smile despite the situation. She had been sleeping so long that Laz had almost forgotten the AI of his armor existed.

"What do you mean?" Laz asked back in a whisper.

*If the nameless god could really connect to this realm, you would all be dead. Just his apparition would be enough to drive everyone mad and fall dead on the spot. This isn’t his direct apparition but a small speck of consciousness it left on the dragon to keep it both in line and protected,* Kat replied.

"How...?"

*The Asura database within me has all known information of allies from across the omniverse. While most allies were trusted freely, some were only with us because there was no alliance that could be had with the Infernals. Those ’allies’ were all investigated whether they knew it or not to make sure that they didn’t stab us in the back and those forces with Chaos gods were the most closely watched, such as this one. But that’s not important at the moment. Once the door opens and the dragon flees, this little bit of thought will be reconnected with the main body’s soul and they really will drag this dimension to his realm.*

"How is that any different than what they are speaking of right now...?" Laz asked, failing to see how now or later made any difference if the end result was the same.

*What that means is that if you can stop the shadow dragon from being the first one out, you will have a chance,* Kat answered.

"Except even that little bit of a soul is overpowering everyone in this place..."

*The soul of a chaos god, even the tiniest bit of it, is overwhelming,* Kat agreed.

*However, it can also be distracted...* Kat then suggested.

"...?"

*Even a being such as a chaos god would lose it’s shit if it came across a divine beast. Didn’t it say something about getting a new pet? Well... what if you flashed something really shinny in front of it’s face and see if it takes the bait. The full soul would be able to control itself, but this thing shouldn’t. Wasn’t that the original plan anyway?* Kat then said, directing Laz’s gaze towards Nagi who, while sitting on the ground, seemed the least affected out of everyone.

Thinking about the girl’s trust in him, Laz could only shake his head in defeat.

’Gods... I’m a bastard...’