A Chronometric Defect

Go figure, I'd arrive the moment after my target's boyfriend gets stabbed. I could've called it even with that and snagged the token, but it just didn't feel right. So I made up some excuse about the possible future and— pff!

She was using it as a coffee table. It'll definitely do nothing when used like that, since both of those humans are powerless. It must help those who are or who want to be dragons. Or maybe it only helps monsters. I don't know.

Either way, if a sciolated dragon got its claws on that token, it might end her entire civilization. I probably saved the whole planet from an absurd massacre.

'Ze dragon got ze coffee table, oh noes.'

Such nonsense.

Anyhow, this so-called 'Molodizer' is about as wretched as a gangster can be, so I ate him. I've taken his gang captive or eaten them based on the Molodizer's memories, by reading their rap sheets, and finally by the memories of the ones I ate. One murderer would've gotten away with it had I relied on the Molodizer and the rap sheets alone. He hid his tracks well, but let it slip to his buddy.

Not sure what I'll do with these few who aren't murderers, since she asked me to get rid of them. I suppose that doesn't necessarily mean killing them, does it? I'll move them to another country and put an inscription on them. It'll make them unable to leave the country for a period of twelve years, or until the country collapses. Roh, plus they should never go near Kilithia or Jerthil.

I picked twelve years because years here are rather short. Seems fair enough. Besides, maybe I'll be back to this planet sooner rather than later. My power has been scaling up quite quickly.

I put inscriptions on the gangsters, then cast transference. I check with my mental map.

Annnd done. Now I'll go snag that token.

I cast transference.

"OH~, JERTHIL!"

I cast transference very, very quickly.

Rah. Hrr. I'll transfer it out here?

*thok*

I Devour it, coffee table legs and all.

[EVOLUTION COMPLETED!]

Rah, hey. The words aren't messed up anymore. Then what if I— no, wait. I'll erase that useless predictive inscription.

Since the corruption seems to be going away as I eat the tokens, maybe not using my Origin properly is what messed up my status in the first place. Normally I use Origin Programs, not inscriptions, to augment my status. This would make sense since, as my Origin gets more powerful, it may be overpowering my inscriptions. My inscriptions also grow alongside me but not nearly as much. Their growth is dependent on the quality of the Mana they recieve.

Roh, no, wait. Wasn't Aitos' Status Inscription giving me invalid data as well? Dang. Why was I using an inscription to begin with?

I remove the faulty predictive inscription.

Status, Lineage.

Lineage: Origin

Type: Void

You are the origin of Void.

Sanity Meter:

Total: 3.18 (1.73÷|) / 6.72(114,618)

(debug: divide by zero)

Heck yes! The status text isn't screwy, though the values still are. This suggests I caused at least some of the corruption. Rhm, I should've checked first then deleted the inscription. Whelp, I guess it doesn't matter. However, the fact any corruption is still on this panel suggests these tokens are a part of a larger whole.

What, exactly, do they make? A Chronovoid, apparently, whatever that is. Whatever I am.

Pathfinder, show dragons.

Two dots pop up on the entire planet.

Hey, what gives? My other copy's out investigating the dragons Jerthil was so pissed about, so they're both me! I'm only directly controlling the copies which are gathering the tokens, so that one... I take it over as well. Its mind merges with mine, giving me direct access to the memories it's already created within my Will.

Hra. He wasn't wrong— humanity is being totally overrun, according to these inscription-verified documents. Plus, they definitely look non-sapient.

Ahra. There's another important matter. While magic is less developed here than on my home planet, which I now know is called 'Dracrovia...'

Sheesh that's hard to pronounce.

I'm sure nobody renamed it, of course, King Shridenia. I'm going to pretend it's unnamed. That's an awful name.

Rawh.

While magic is less developed, the inscriptions here resemble high-tech products from my past life. They're so much more advanced than what we had on my unnamed home planet, at least before I pushed their understanding of inscription forward.

Here, they haven't gone for generalized inscriptions like 'Improvement' and 'Mana Gathering.' Instead, works like 'Data Transmission' and 'Focused EMF' are common. The result is, well—

My other self holds up what is obviously a cell phone.

These guys made cell phones. From tiny, laser-inscribed inscription arrays. I want to tilt my head and go 'hruhhhh?'

I don't know how transistors worked in my past life, so it's all magic either way. Any sufficiently advanced science is indistinguishable from magic, or so it goes.

Roh, but these cell phones don't have batteries. They use Mana. So, reah. Magic? Definitely.

I shake my gem dragon head. Then what are those 'dragons' which seem to be invading at regular intervals? Some kind of Mana tech gone rogue? I should leave a copy here to study their inscription techniques, if only to ensure I don't make the same mistake.

I cast transference with my copy to begin my newest study program. Rokay, I've done enough local intel gathering.

Pathfinder, show inscriptions made by dragons.

My location pops up like a blazing red beacon. I'm not one red dot; the dots slide and flow around me like a wild hurricane. Like someone's GPS went bad. Hraw. It looks pretty funny.

But it's also interesting. The inscriptions are moving around outside my body? I should look into that later.

Pathfinder zooms out. Once I get halfway across the planet, I see another red dot. Roh!

I cast transference out to the red dot, closing my map.

Ahra! This— it's a transference array on a massive scale! Similar to my temple's portals, but less elegant and not as well-designed. Hrr, a dragon made this? I thought they were sciolated? Hra.

I check the array for the location of its other end. Reah, another planet in the same solar system.

Pathfinder, show dragons!

My two dots show up. This time, I let it zoom out to the solar scale. Surprisingly, there's only one other dot— on the planet with the array.

Whaaat is going on here? Interesting.

I cast transference, moving myself to a location close to the third dot.

Here, I see a dragon inside a well-lit cavern, standing at a very large table. Inscription supplies are strewn about upon it.

Roh hoh hoh. A Demigod dragon! Bigger than the Dragon God, in fact! He'd give Dracosect a run for his spot.

I watch the dragon scrawling something carefully on an inscription slab.

And— he's not sciolated!

Rawhaw! Yes!

I do a draconic fist pump.

Which alerts the dragon to my presence.

"You, who is creeping around. Show yourself."

Creeping?! HOW DARE HE! I'mma dragon!

I restrain myself from loudly roaring at him.

Rawr.

Instead, I scale myself up to his 330 meter size. Then I silently waltz directly up to him.

"Creeping, you say? This is my normal body color. It's not my fault you can't see properly."

"Aha, a fellow dragon, no doubt. Your imperious tone gives you away quite handily! I must admit; your body's coloration is verily desirable."

He nods his dragon head, then continues.

"I want to add you to my hoard. Immediately."

"Interesting, because I was thinking the same."

"Mmhmm? I do not possess a gemstone body."

He's right. Now that I examine him, he's got a neon ice-blue sheen with pure white spikes. His eyes hold the expected dragon-gold glow. His most unique feature is a scar across the right side of his chest armor.

"I have a different philosophy on hoards. My grand name; is Chronovoid. I am—"

I pause to raise the tension.

"— a deity. You, dragon. You are witnessing but a tiny sliver of my vast and immense power."

"My grander name is Kaliwot. I have no time for the bravado of lesser dragons."

DID HE JUST—

"Kaliwot, I recommend you retract those words. Else, I'll end you with but a single claw. You won't like it."

"Hraw! A single claw."

He shakes his dragon head.

"Do go away."

He waves his claws at me 'shoo, shoo.'

That's IT!

I cast transference on the both of us. Suddenly, we're in space, me in his shadow. He looks around panickedly, then fixates on me. My body is barely visible amongst the blackness of space, but we dragons have what could be considered a sixth sense for treasures. I look like a gem, so reah: he sees my transparent body.

I scale up, up, and up. I keep going until I reach almost my full size; minus the drops in the bucket taken away by my copies currently on other planets.

It makes nearly no difference at this size. I'm much, much, much bigger than a few hours ago. Plus, I've continued absorbing the mass I've gained. My size is still expanding at this very moment.

Kaliwot looks at my huge translucent self. It glints and glows spectacularly amongst the rays of the nearby star— which I picked for its luminosity. He's unable to see my end in any direction. He curls up into a ball of dragonscale and shakes.

I speak directly into his mind without using my voice or mind magic. That's a thing deities can do without an Origin Thread, apparently. According to the human god's memories.

"Kaliwot, do you retract your words?"

Which are correct, since it does work, but... It doesn't seem I'm doing it right. Except it's working anyway. Don't know, don't care!

His head pokes out and vigorously nods.

He's going to break his neck! Roh, yes— I make such a good impression, don't I?

I shrink back down and cast transference. We're both back at his dingy little cave abode.

He's lost a bit of my draconic respect for that one. He should've at least treated my previously equally-sized self as, well. An equal.

In fact, I'm not even going to use his name. Just as he did toward me.

"What say you, dragon?"

...

He's not speaking.

...

...

Am I petty? No— I'mma dragon.

###ROOOOOAAAARRRRRR###

He huddles up further.

I yell in a perfectly draconic roaring voice.

##"I ORDER YOU TO SPEAK!"##

"Yes! Yes, your godliness Chronovoid! I retract my words! Your power exists beyond a realm I can comprehend! My silly and foolish mind was unable to understand!"

Raha, there we go.

"Then, you now understand?"

"No, I wouldn't dare! COULDN'T dare! Please, spare me, your godliness! This tiny dragon is too far beneath your notice!"

I nod my head.

But I spit out my words with draconic fury anyway.

"BETTER."

He uncurls himself and pounds his head into the cave floor. Solid rock.

*THOOD*

Ouch? It was wood last time...

"I am but a dust particle atop your smallest scale, Chronovoid! A dust particle that shrinks to nothing should I enter your vicinity! I am becoming nothing, as nothing but your perfection is worthy of existence itself!"

That's not what I meant when I said 'better,' but I see how it could be interpreted that way. He's a smart dragon to pick the safer interpretation.

"Rise."

He bolts up.

"YES, MY GOD!"

"I am very fair to those who enter my hoard—"

"I WILL JOIN, MY GOD!"

"You must prove yourself first."

He looks at me with a fair bit of worry.

Reah, you did this to yourself. But don't worry, I'm not that mean or nasty. Otherwise, I would've hit you. Which... Wouldn't have ended well for your, reuhm, quantum structure.

"First, why are you invading that human planet and how are you doing it. Speak normally. I don't like yelling unless it's from Dracosect— my most loyal follower. He knows how to make me happy and proud."

Kaliwot bows, gesturing with one hand, then stands.

"Yes, my god. I have an inscription here which I made with my blood."

He holds up an inscription slab.

"I want to capture the human cities, to reclaim my hoard's most precious item— my dragon token."

Rah, so the token I ate was previously owned by Kaliwot, but he managed to lose ownership.

The slab he's holding seems to contain some kind of transformation array. It transforms his blood into non-sapient dragons? How weird. I can kinda guess how it might work. It's similar to a golem, but it's made from dragon tissues.

I decide to ignore that weird technique and focus on the token.

"I've eaten that token already."

"You've e— eaten it, my god?"

"Yes. The form I just showed you is only an immeasurably small portion of my total power. I've already eaten most of the universe. Eating a mere token is nothing."

"T-the, u-u-universe, m-my, g-god?"

I nod my head.

"That's right."

He's fighting the urge to run. Because, well, there's nowhere to run, is there? Hraw hraw. How might you run from a universe devourer?

"This token. What caused you to lose it? And don't stutter. If you need a moment to collect yourself, or want to write words, you may. I am unconcerned by your method of conveyance. I only expect that your wording is clear and concise."

He forces himself to stop shivering uncontrollably. It doesn't work, obviously, but he tries anyway. After a few moments he's able to talk— but his voice wavers and jitters. He's also speaking very slowly. Poor guy.

"I was defeated by... Their strongest... Mage, my god. He... Gave me... This scar."

He shakily points to the scar on the right side of his chest.

I figured as much.

"This mage is dead, I take it? Reaped by time, long before one of my lovely dragon species could expire— yes?"

He shakily nods his dragon head.

"That is... Correct, my god."

I pull out my draconic throne and sit.

His eyes blaze with amazement and... Greed.

Roh, yes. You adore my new and improved throne, don't you?

"Then, dragon. If you were me, how would I deal with you?"

This is a tough test. I haven't so much as injured him. If his fear drives him to cower and, rah, lie about his view of my personality? Positive or negative, I don't care; lies are disgraceful for a dragon.

I'll ignore him and leave him caged here.

Without the token he's been coveting for so long, so he won't have a goal to strive toward.

It's a large cage, an entire planet, but if I remove the other end of his transference array? He won't have much hope of ever leaving, either. We dragons can easily fly into space, but interplanetary travel is deadly for a Demigod.

Too much radiation and too little Mana.

Plus, orbits are a pain. One might think they're heading straight for a planet, but by the time they get there, the planet's already long-gone. Good luck chasing it. Then what? Fight the sun's gravity for an entire year? With what Mana?

We dragons can be solitary creatures. We're not like humans, where solitary confinement is a horrid torture. But I imagine the other planet is where he's gotten these inscription materials; losing the other end would be a severe blow indeed.

He can't yet exit the transference array himself. He's too big, funnily enough. He needs to expand it quite a bit more. Though, it's odd how he continued to grow after losing the Deification Token. Maybe there's something more to them.