The dream world, a low-grade world just a few steps away from reaching mid-grade. It was also Zick's best world, with a mature economy.
This was the unique world that Zick got coincidentally. It was named such by him because of the rare power system.
In this world, anyone who dies near an area with accumulative terror, a strange power source of this world, turns into a gray mist. Anyone who touches this fog then enters a dream created by the host's memory.
Completing the dreams bestows a portion of the host's power and knowledge, but failure leads to terrifying penalties.
People who complete these dreams were known as a player, manipulated by Zick. They even had a status window so that Zick could watch all their progress.
No normal person liked these players.
It was because clearing dreams lead players to accumulate terror in their bodies. Therefore, when they die, they convert to a dream realm too.
Some players used the power they gained the way they seemed fit too. However, in the end, it was just an experiment ground for Zick.
Truthfully, Zick was delaying this world to evolve into mid-grade. He did not have the capability of keeping such a treasure to himself. He might just have to extract the world's core in the worst case.
Increasing the flow of time was not a good thing all the time.
Zick along with Arianell and Yuriel appeared in a palace. Aurel greeted them almost immediately.
In this expedition, Zick gained 12 low-grade world cores, making it the highest number he had ever accumulated.
"Rest up for today, we can talk at night." Zick patted Arianell's head and sent everyone away.
Zick could feel it, even if he absorbed only one world core, he would step into the next level. After that, there would be only a little gap left to cover up to reach the peak of god rank.
Zick prepared to absorb the world core in full swing.
....
Arianell leans her cheek on Aurel's shoulder.
There was silence between them as they sat on the bed, side by side. However, it was not awkward. It was always like this whenever they were alone, they talked to each other through the bond.
"Will father go on a trip with us again? It was fun to see the galaxy as a whole with everyone." Aurel transmitted with a light voice.
Arianell began thinking over what Aurel said and replied: "We went to that multiple world conglation, just a few months ago, so I don't know...father might take us if we ask him."
Arianrll winked at Aurel, trying to imply something.
"Yes, father will take us on a trip if we asked, but that would disturb him right?"
Certain memory surfaced within their head
As the twin dragons matured, they got more and more curious about the things around them. The question that bothered them the most was — just what exactly did Zick want to achieve?
Zick worked like a madman with no rest, if just looked on externally. He kept doing one thing or the other, trying to improve himself in any way possible.
Normally, gods try to enjoy themselves by doing things they find interesting, however, that was not the case with Zick. There was never such a moment for him.
The term 'rest' did not exist for him.
This caused Arianell to question Zick involuntarily.
"Father, what exactly do you want to attain?"
The answer to that question was quite delayed, unlike Zick. Who spoke after a few seconds.
"What do I want to attain?" A smile appeared on Zick's face, the answer to this question had been with him for a long time.
"I want to rise to the top, making every last being bow before me, as I look from the top. It's a selfish wish that I want to pursue no matter what."
Getting such a serious answer, both of them felt their mind getting heavier.
A question arose within them.
What did they want to do?
Zick's determination shook them a little.
They both were obsessed with Zick, which was not normal at all. The main reason was — that they were influenced by the first timeline.
Though not everything, a portion of memory was slowly recovered by them. It was probably the only thing that could reach them from the first timeline.
It was the memory of them living with Zick, it was a very small memory, but all it showed was their happy moments with him.
This memory helped them understand the reason for their obsession. They just loved Zick so much, that it affected their mind even a small fragment of memory was received.
Even in this life, they had received many things from Zick.
They wanted this life to go on forever, That was their wish.
Meeting Zick every day, feeling the warmness of his palm every morning, every night. Get his praise and stay near him.
Hence, they asked another question to Zick.
"Then, what will you do after attaining your wish, father?"
And the answer to that was immediate: "I wonder, we can live more like a normal family then if you want to."
Family, this word resonated deeply with both of them.
Both Arianell and Aurel smiled.
"Let's do our best, sister," Aurel said.
"Amh." nod
.....
Every being needs a reason to live, and Zick was no exception to this.
'I can leave all this aside and live an easy life, but that is not how I want my life to be.' Zick looked at the prism-shaped world core in his hand.
Zick wanted to enjoy his life to the fullest. Everyone has a different way of living, they would all make varying decisions.
And the way Zick wanted to live was....Very straightforward. It was to step above others' dead bodies to rise above the others.
He was enjoying the difficulty of life like never before. The pressure that was on him was nothing but a variable that colored his life. Whether he was going to overcome the obstacles or succumb to them was always mysterious.
'But, isn't it more fun this way?' Zick laughed lightly to himself.
So what if he died the very next moment?
That could not shake Zick.
Many gods already showed their apprehension toward Zick. It was due to the amount of potential he showed.
It took around 1,000 years for a god to reach the great god's rank. But here he was, already reaching the nearer to that stage within a decade or so.
Zick's potential was very high, he had draconic power, regenerative power, and a chaotic divinity that had evolved dozens of times. All this made him stand out more than anyone.
Gods were already joining hands to take care of him, especially the light faction, who were able to gather information on him. It was clear that Zick would become a formidable foe if left alone.
But, Zick was not at all moved by all these external threats.
'Fight, I will keep fighting until I reach my goal or...embrace my death!'
In the end, it did not matter, this was what he chose to do.
'Someone can make a move against me soon, I only have a while left.'
Zick began absorbing the world core in his hand. His divinity surged, breaking through its current limit after a while.
.....
As Zick had deduced, a storm was brewing in the dark.
The black serpent, a sub-faction in the dark faction. There were many sub-factions like this, having the same species gathered in them. Calling them a clan was more appropriate.
At this moment, the head of this clan was discussing with other clan lords. All of them were passionately debating with each other.
This discussion circled around a new god, namely Zick. A new dragon god, with shocking capability and potential.
He proclaimed himself to be the god of chaos.
"Is there no other way to deal with this matter?" The Serpent clan lord spoke in a troubled voice.
"There is, but this one is still the best. The fact that you're worried is the weird thing here. Do you think he has a chance to defeat us?" The Falcon clan lord mocked.
"No, but Taweir might interfere in this."
"Nothing to worry about! He is just one god, what can he do against the four of us? We aren't moving because of our pride, but we can join if taweir decides to interfere."
All four of the clan lords sitting at the round table had greed hidden deep within their eyes.
Zick's wealth made them all more inclined to an assault.
"As long as I get the dragon child with the time attribute, I don't care." The lord of the alligator clan spoke with a dismissive tone.
Arianell and Aurel were both the main reasons why many were interested in Zick.
Thankfully, no supreme being was interested. They did not care as long as both of them were on the dark faction side.
It was thanks to the dragon clan mainly, making a dragon slave would only cause a river of blood to form — the saying went here.
As for these four fools? They were just being controlled by their greed. Just because Zick did not join the dragon clan, they were moving around fervently.
Nothing but doom awaited them in the future either way.