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Chapter 91 – Part 1

Including the lower half of Bastrell’s body, both of his arms, and his back, much of his body had transformed into a shape similar to the Ancient Celestial Dragon. Or in other words, he now looked similar to me. He looked over his newly transformed body with glee.

He looked at his claws, which were sharp enough to slash through even the strong armor and shield worn by the gods, as if they were just thin paper. He laughed, seemingly happy from the bottom of his heart.

To test if his new body would move as he liked, he opened and closed his palms, and suddenly, his facial expression changed to one similar to a child who’d just come up with a good prank to play.

Bastrell stretched out the five fingers of his right hand, and in his palm, what appeared to be a white light formed without any warning. But it was actually a darkness that was spreading outward from the top of his palm, and inside it, countless small lights were starting to shine.

「Oh, so this is how universes, how worlds, are made. To think it would be this easy to create, it feels like all my training until now has been pointless」

The thing that Bastrell had produced in his palm without much effort, was definitely, without a doubt, a single universe.

The eternal darkness was spreading at a speed faster than light, and within it, new lights continued to pop up one after another.

Those were stars. Suns. There were so many suns, it was uncountable. And along with their growing numbers, innumerable planets took form as well. These clustered into nebulae and galaxies, and then the countless number of galaxies soon filled up a universe in an instant.

That was how a whole, single universe was formed. But then Bastrell continued to create more and more universes, building more worlds without an end in sight. Included inside all of those multiple universes he created, was the formation of many, many new worlds.

Life hadn’t budded yet in those worlds, but at this rate, as more time passes, life will be born, and the concepts of life and death will form soon after.

「Let us welcome the fact that I’ve reached such heights, with the utmost joy」

The gods had once aimed to create the perfect lifeform, “humans.” In terms of spiritual power, Bastrell didn’t even come close to overcoming those gods, but in terms of physical power, he was an individual of peak strength that overpowered all other superhumans.

Bastrell’s face and voice had taken on a form that was both masculine and feminine, and his body contained the characteristics of both males and females, making him look adrogynous.

Bastrell was equipped with the reproductive organs of both males and females, all of which were fully functioning. He was a hermaphrodite, and adrogynous; in other words, he could reproduce alone, and there were no differences in mental processes due to gender, so there was no discrimination or prejudice based on gender differences either.

The perfect “human” was originally supposed to be both male and female, and its mind was supposed to think like both a male and female, therefore eliminating any biases in thought processes.

If you look at it from that perspective, Bastrell was basically exactly the same as those “humans,” physically.

However, because of the influence from both myself and Lenia, Bastrell now had the body of an Ancient Celestial Dragon, so he was now an existence that was neither human nor dragon.

All around Bastrell, a countless number of worlds had formed in a single moment, with millions of them not having spawned any lifeforms. These worlds remained in that newborn state, where not much time has passed since their creation.

Every time I used my power as an Ancient Celestial Dragon, my strength and spiritual energy continued to grow higher. But Bastrell’s own power also continued to create more and more universes, as easily as breathing.

「Fufufu, I apologize. It seems I got a little bit carried away for a moment.

You, no, even the tricks of gods who are nowhere near your level, are an experience that makes this puny human’s heart dance」

Noticing my gaze, Bastrell grew shy about how much he had gotten carried away with his joy, as he lightly closed his fist while muttering those words.

At the exact same time he did that, the numerous worlds floating around him all disappeared, popping like bubbles on an ocean wave.

「Now then, I apologize for creating such an unnecessary and disorderly mess, and for having polluted this closed off world with that.

At any rate, oh, were the heavens always that kind of world? Was the demon world always like this?

And as for the dragon world, oh, oh, now that I’ve gained this body, there is a new power swirling inside me, and it sends chills down my spine.

Do you understand this throbbing in my chest?

These eyes can now clearly see the numerous spirits playing in the spirit world; these ears can pick up on the exchange of words between the queens of the fairy world; if I flap these wings, I can reach the celestial world, and with the wave of an arm, I can easily decapitate even the evil gods of the demon world.

All of this is thanks to you and your daughter. I must thank the researchers of the ancient, prehistoric civilizations who created me, and their rulers before them who sought out their research」

「I won’t be letting that happen anytime soon. Come to terms with that now, while you still can」

「My, you do say such cold things. Won’t you welcome your newfound fellow Dragonkin?」

「You did not get a hold of that nature of yours because you asked for it. Therefore, there is no reason to avoid you, who holds the ability to raise your own power in response to mine and Lenia’s.

However, your nature which controls this power is unacceptable to me. Ever since I first saw you, the hatred, resentment, and anger of dead spirits have been clinging all around you.

It is a curse of hatred that could kill a million regular humans, and yet for you, it is nothing more than a source of power for raising your spiritual energy.

Did you know? You can delightfully sacrifice people who have committed no sins, innocent people who are unrelated and uninvolved. All for the sake of your mindless pleasure. That is what can be called, ‘evil.’」

In response to my words, Bastrell’s face looked surprised for a moment, but then it quickly turned into a sneer.

Bastrell was looking at me like he was an adult looking upon an unreasonable child, or a wise man looking pitifully on an ignorant fool, as he admonished me while touting his own wisdom.

「Fufufu, my, my, you’ve sure said something unexpectedly immature. Is this what you call idealism?

Normally, when one collides with a wall, or trips over a setback, their long upheld ideals would fall with them. But for someone as powerful as you, you would be able to easily pierce through such an obstacle.

Dragon, the strongest one, the greatest one, and the sinless one, will you stay in this world?

To be born is a sin, to live is a sin, to die is a sin, to be strong is a sin, to be weak is a sin, to become wealthy is a sin, to be poor is a sin, to have wants and to wish is a sin; living and dying both, everything is a sin, stopping at nothing. That is what countless gods have always preached.

If I will bear sin no matter what I do, would it not be more constructive to live a life that will fulfil my desires?

That being said, fufu, this logic of mine is something that many commoners have always argued about before」

「Right. Those are words that people around me have often said in the past, words that have tainted my ears many times before」

「Then there is no point in exchanging words any further than this. It will only prove to worsen your mood. Is it about time we move on to the main issue at hand here?」

From the scales that covered Bastrell’s limbs, and the wings that stretched from his back, and up to the horn poking out through his black hair, an unprecedented power began to overflow, giving birth to a power that even I must admit is strong.

The power that I could feel emanating from Bastrell had been created from my own power, with which he was most familiar with, and Lenia’s power, which he had only met just earlier.

「How wonderful this is, the power of the Ancient Celestial Dragons! And then the power of the Divine Beast, created by the gods in order to kill the Ancient Celestial Dragons! I shall fight you with the utmost gratitude and love for you!!」