GREED: ALL FOR WHAT?

Legion-8 recognized it when he saw it. He exclaimed, "This is the realm heart."

This is the second time he has seen something like this, so he is not mistaken about what it is. It is truly the realm heart. The dragon of creation also knew that. It also knows what it is here for. It knows that whoever gains control of it becomes the realm lord. There isn't a realm lord yet, so the dragon spirit has brought him here to fill that position.

The dragon made that declaration to the consciousness inhabiting this space. "I have come to become the realm lord. Make way for me just as you made way for my ancestor."

He spoke with pride and with confidence. But Legion-8 was not so confident.

Legion-8 felt horror in his heart when he heard that declaration. He asked no one in particular, "What is this fool doing? Does he want to die?"

A dark figure congealed in front of the dragon. This figure is dark, but the outline of its figure is discernible from the darkness of the world. They stood out so much that the brightness of the realm heart was overshadowed.

The figure's body contained tens of thousands of tiny spots of light of various colors. The head of the figure has just one eye that looks like a whirlpool of stars on its face. There was nothing else on its face. It didn't have any legs, but it had numerous arms. Its torso was connected to the bright spherical ball.

Legion-8 felt pressure similar to the one he faced recently from Tssandulighafan. He felt like he shouldn't speak or breathe too loudly, but the dragon snickered and said, "So you have shown yourself. What say you?"

Legion-8 cursed, "Fuck."

His concern is warranted. The dark, powerful figure said to the dragon, "Nothing short of your death will appease me."

But the dragon was not concerned about the threat. It said with disdain, "Your days are over, Mother High Heaven. You have fulfilled your purpose and will now be replaced."

The world froze with this declaration. The trial has officially started.

A voice spoke to Legion-8, "Fight Mother High Heaven and survive for up to 10 seconds."

The dragon spirit was the one that spoke. Legion-8 is familiar with its voice. It will declare the objective to be achieved if the trial is to be passed.

Legion-8 was not happy with the objective. He grumbled inwardly, "I wonder how this guy even survived up to 10 seconds against Mother High Heaven."

Mother High Heaven is a force on the level of a world god. To fight her and survive for ten seconds is a feat that he didn't think was possible for anyone who is not a world god. He would have thought he was being cheated if not for the fact that objectives are based on the achievements of his predecessors. If the foolish dragon had not survived up to 10 seconds, then he wouldn't have been asked to survive for that long either.

The world resumed soon after. Legion-8 found himself in the body of the dragon confronting Mother High Heaven. He didn't know it before, but this dark world was freezing. It is so cold that his thoughts are slowing down.

Maybe the dragon had roared and erupted with power in a valiant attempt to resist Mother High Heaven. Maybe they fought, and the dragon struggled to survive for up to 10 seconds. But Legion-8 doesn't plan to do any of that. Not when he can sense the insurmountable power within Mother High Heaven that is capable of killing him through the trial.

He didn't resist. Instead, he said, "Please spare me."

The cold in the surrounding area stopped rising. He took that as a good sign, so he continued. "I am sorry for defying you. I didn't want to do it. The dragon spirit made me."

The figure of Mother High Heaven stilled, and the anger radiating out of her ceased. She continued watching him for a while. Then she laughed.

Her laughter battered his mind in waves. She laughed as the pressure of her existence increased. It is not an illusion at all. He is certain that this Mother High is not just an image. It is the real thing.

She said to him, "You made a good decision, Legion-8. If you had fought me, you would be breaking the rules of the realm, and I would have killed you as punishment for it."

He understood why. His experience with the first sage has taught him not to underestimate any being with the power of a world god. His meeting with Tssandulighafan confirmed that anything related to world gods is dangerous.

This trial might look like a dream of an event that occurred a long time ago, but it could easily turn into an event that is happening right now. He will not be fighting a memory of Mother High Heaven as the foolish dragon. He would be fighting the current Mother High Heaven as himself. If he dies in the fight, he might also die in the real world. He is not willing to risk it at all.

He said to Mother High Heaven, "It is the smart decision to admit defeat."

Mother High Heaven snickered and said, "It is a smart decision, but most dragonlings are not wise enough to make that decision. This is memory is a battle between the dragon spirit and I. To get in between us is to bring the fate of this foolish dragon upon yourself. Dragonlings don't know this, and even if they do, they would still fight me to acquire victory for the dragon spirit. Their pride blinds them to reason."

Legion-8 nodded. "They will fail if they do. But why is the dragon spirit still fighting you? There's already a realm lord, so I doubt it is possible for you to be usurped or for any dragon to become the realm lord."

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A/N: If it isn't clear, Legion-8 is the spineless dragon. He turned down a chance to go down in a blaze of glory. What a fool.