My Dragon King System-Chapter 347: The Architect Pt.2

The Architect studied the floating status screen with clear fascination as his eyes moving rapidly across the information displayed before him.

"Impressive," he murmured, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "To think the Seventh Universe would have another Ruler after the last one." He glanced at Aiden with a peculiar smile. "By my records, you’re the second human of the seventh universe to have accomplished an unthinkable feat."

"Hmm." Aiden’s expression shifted slightly. "Given my status, I am plagued with knowledge from every corner of my universe. I do not recall there being a first."

The Architect’s smile widened. "But there is. And the human I refer to is standing right in front of you."

He placed one hand over his chest and bowed with theatrical flair.

"My name is Nolan Graham."

Aiden’s eyes narrowed. "You’re human?"

He was partly surprised but also partly not. The Architect didn’t carry the overwhelming presence that defined a Herrscher. There was power here, certainly, but it felt different.

Nolan straightened from his bow, while still maintaining his grin. "Yes. And you would know that because you read my mind the moment I told you I was human."

Aiden’s lips curved into a faint smile. The subtlety didn’t go unnoticed.

"Although, to be fair," Aiden admitted, "I got nothing but a headache out of it."

That was an understatement.

When Aiden had invoked his authority as Lord of the Mind Sea to extract information about this "human," he’d been met with an obstacle that had never occurred before.

An obstacle of Excess Information. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

At first, he’d gained access easily. That had been the initial confirmation that Nolan truly wasn’t a Herrscher—for if he were, Aiden wouldn’t have been able to breach his mental defenses at all.

But the problem came immediately after.

The moment Nolan’s thoughts began flowing into Aiden’s consciousness, they became overwhelming. There were simply too many of them.

He was flooded with information. Memories. Knowledge. Theories. Experiences. Concepts that spanned timelines and realities and epochs that shouldn’t exist in any sense.

Even Aiden, as Lord of the Mind Sea with near-infinite capacity for processing mental data, couldn’t hold it all.

The sheer volume became incomprehensible Nonsense. A torrent so vast that meaning itself began to dissolve under its weight.

Aiden had been forced to eject it all from his mind before it could damage him.

The backlash had left him with an intense pain searing through his skull.

Of course, he hadn’t shown it. His regenerative abilities had already begun mending the strain almost instantly. But it had happened nonetheless.

Nolan chuckled softly. "Ah, I see." His tone was light, almost apologetic. "I guess it’s only natural, given that I know things which predate even the creation of the dragons of the Seventh Universe."

Aiden stared at him for a moment before saying.

"Are you the previous ruler of the Seventh Universe then? Perhaps you became human after letting go of the authorities and the body befitting a Herrscher?"

Nolan laughed and shook his head. "No, no, it’s none of that." He waved his hand dismissively. "But I can tell you this, that fellow is long gone, and I don’t think he’s coming back. I know because he told me."

"Huh?" Aiden’s face contorted into a genuinely puzzled expression.

Nolan continued, unbothered by Aiden’s confusion. "Yup. In truth, he was the one who asked me to make this system ahead of time. And when I asked him why, he simply said that one of his creations, specifically the Black Dragon, would one day seek a way out. When that happened, I was to appear and offer him the system as that way out."

"Hm." Aiden nodded slowly in an expression of thoughtfulness. "That finally makes more sense."

He paused, then added, "But what isn’t making any sense is how you, a human, are in this place and have lived for that long."

Nolan opened his mouth as if to explain, then stopped himself. He tilted his head and smiled sheepishly. "Explaining any of that is only going to be logically contradicting." Then he quickly added, "But you know what? Let’s just both agree that my existence will remain a mystery for now."

"Hm..." Aiden narrowed his eyes at him, his expression was still puzzled, but chose to say nothing.

"So tell me, Aiden," Nolan continued brightly. "Why have you come?"

Then, as if he’d just remembered something important, he held up a finger. "Oh! I left the Black Dragon the key to this place so that if any of his vessels ever wanted to do away with the system for good, I could have it removed. But I’m afraid if that’s the same reason you came, I cannot undo it."

He gestured toward Aiden. "You see, you’re not just a dragon anymore. So taking the system away from you will not rid you of what you’ve become."

"Slow down," Aiden said, raising one hand. "I did not come to have the system removed."

"Ohh?" Nolan’s expression now shifted into confusion. "Why then have you come?"

Aiden sighed. "If I’m being honest, I didn’t have much of a reason except to put most of my curiosity to rest. But I also thought that maybe if you were a Herrscher, then I would be seeking an alliance with you."

"Uhm..." Nolan laughed awkwardly, scratching the back of his head. "Why would you want an alliance with another Herrscher?. Sorry, run me up to speed with recent happenings in the universes. I haven’t been able to pay any attention to them in last five hundred and thirty thousand hours."

Aiden made another puzzled face. He looked down as though gathering his thoughts, then lifted his head back to Nolan with an awkward expression that clearly said are you serious?

Nolan shrugged.

Aiden sighed heavily. "Okay. Long and short of it is this: The rulers of other universes have noticed the Seventh Universe has no ruler, and they do not recognize me as one either. So we are running the potential risk of being invaded by another universe or more than one of them. I’m not entirely sure myself."

"Oh? Oh, that’s too bad." Nolan made a sheepish face and waved his hands defensively. "But I’m sorry I cannot be of any help to you regarding any of that. Invasions and violence? I like to stay out of those things."

"Hm, I see..." Aiden nodded thoughtfully and chose to respect his wish.

Then he gestured around the room with one finger, pointing at everything. "Can I ask what this place is? I know it’s not my universe, but I’ve also just discovered it’s not another because I don’t feel like I’m being bound by any rules."

"Oh, this place is just my house," Nolan said casually. "It also doesn’t exist in any universe because live outside of all of it."

Aiden was genuinely taken aback. "How is that even possible for a human?"

Nolan laughed and opened his mouth to begin explaining. "So you see—"

"No, hold on." Aiden raised both hands in a stopping motion. "Hold on, hold on."

He took a deep breath in and exhaled slowly.

"I admittedly came here with a few curiosities," Aiden said. "Now I have a lot of them. And as much as I want them all answered, something tells me one question will only bring forth ten more."

There was a brief pause before he added, "So I’m going to have to continue this conversation much later."

Nolan smiled. "I understand. And since I found this chat fun, I’ll do this..."

He raised one hand toward the air in front of him.

"System, Aiden will now hold master control of you."