GREED: ALL FOR WHAT?

The formless but powerful dragon king grabbed a landmass floating in the void universe. This landmass is small compared to the others. But it is three times bigger than a plane. Even so, this landmass couldn't compare to the size of the dragon king.

He was able to push it down from its lofty position as an immortal land to the seedbed of the void universe down below in the void. He did this after dropping his blood on the landmass.

In the seedbed of the void universe are several trees. They are as tall as the dragon king and as numerous as stars. The dragon king didn't approach the trees. Instead, he searched for the hidden saplings.

The hidden saplings are smaller than the normal trees and are difficult to find, but they couldn't hide from the dragon king. Nothing could hide from him. He soon found one, so he approached it.

He was far too big compared to the sapling, so much so that he cast a shadow over it. The shadow brought the whole sapling into darkness that couldn't be dispelled by the light of its sun. This announced the presence of the dragon king to the sapling.

He was greeted immediately when he got close to it. A black apparition appeared in front of the dragon king. They spoke for a while. Then the dragon king smashed the landmass onto the sapling. The sapling collapsed with a single hit, and every living thing within it died.

The dragon king wasn't disheartened. He continued his search for more saplings. He found a lot more in his search. Some exploded after agreeing with the dragon king, and some were smashed for disagreeing with him. This continued until the dragon king found a special sapling.

The apparition of this special sapling asked boldly, "What do you want?"

It should have been afraid, but it was not. It is because it was too stupid to be afraid of the dragon king. It is an emotionless entity that runs on fixed rules. Fear is not one of its imperatives. At least, not yet.

The dragon king declared, "Little one, you have two choices. You either do what I want or die."

The emotionless apparition asked again, "What do you want?"

If it had eyes, it would have rolled them, and if it had emotions, it would have felt and displayed exasperation because this is the second time it is asking that question and because it is not afraid of the dragon king.

"I want you to do something for me. It will be very painful for you, and it will cost you a lot of your energy. You may even die attempting it, but it will help you if you survive it. And I will protect you until you grow up into a full realm."

"Now choose. Certain death or a chance of death with a chance at greatness. You better choose wisely. Do not believe that it will be difficult for me to destroy you."

The Will of the realm considered the proposition. It looked at the landmass held within one of the many claws of the dragon king. It also noticed that there was something on the landmass. It could feel the signs of life from whatever it was.

What it felt from the landmass was very powerful. These sensations make it clear to the Will of the realm that it is about to be invaded by something powerful in the form of life.

The Will of the realm balked at the idea. It wants to survive. It really does. But it is against the rules of its existence to allow a world god to tamper with its operation. Especially on its operations related to the birth of life in its budding realm.

The void universe doesn't look kindly on beings such as the dragon king. The Will of the realm doesn't it either. It believes that they are thieves, and one has come to it in its state of weakness.

Unfortunately, the sapling hasn't proven its value to the void universe yet. If it had produced remarkable races with high potential and a nurturing environment to raise them, then it would have received the protection of the void universe.

Now it doesn't have that protection, so it is vulnerable. Should it capitulate or not? Should it die or violate one of its instincts? It considered its choices very carefully as it remained silent for a while.

This decision was made further difficult because the dragon king had stated that it might die even if it agreed. If it were like most of the other realm trees, its decision would be obvious. But it was special. Its mind was more lively than others, and it was capable of compromising.

"What do I need to do?" It asked the dragon king.

"Good answer. It seems you are one of the few with an agile mind. Which race of yours has blessed you with intelligence?"

The apparition didn't answer that question. It had decided to compromise to live, but it would never compromise when it came to the safety of its children. It would rather die than divulge their secrets or expose their weaknesses to be taken advantage of.

The dragon king didn't mind the silence. He sneered and said, "You willful spirits and your stubborn mind. If you survive this, you will prosper, and your children will grow up to be strong. You might even have a realm lord if you are lucky. So not only will you be able to survive this vulnerable period, but you will also be able to survive the end of the universe. What's not to like?"

There were surely a lot of things that the Will of the Realm did not like about the situation, but it didn't state them.

Then the dragon king said in disdain, "It doesn't matter anyway if you like it or not. You have no choice in the matter."

The dragon king asked the Will of the realm some more questions to determine its situation.