Chapter 31: Ch. 31 The new deal
"Gali?"
"Magnus? Where'd cake-chan go?"
"Cake-chan?"
"You didn't hear that… More importantly, where are we?"
"How should I know? I just went to bed then woke up here."
"Me too! But wait…where is here?" The two look around to find themselves floating in an endless expanse of nothingness.
"I don't know why but oddly I feel like we've been here before."
"That's because you two were here once, thirteen years ago. Long time no see unpolished gems. Well long time for you that is, it's a fly's lifetime for me." Behind a floating office desk a familiar condescending face sits cross legged in his chair watching battles of varying magnitudes on floating screens.
"YOU!" Both Magnus and Galileo were filled with a storm of emotions and questions after realizing whose presence they were in. They had somehow returned to the reincarnation agent's 'office'. They hadn't died yet, or had they? What was the odds of someone getting both of them in one night? If there was someone skilled enough to do it, what does that mean for their people in Clover? Their minds were running rampant trying to figure out what happened.
"Calm down, you're both still alive…. I'm speaking to the two of you through your systems while you sleep, so basically this is a dream. Both of you sleeping safe and sound like the little babies you are back in Clover. I wasn't sure if I should have 'spoiled' that for you, but you guys looked like you were about to shit bricks." He laughed mockingly.
"What do you want suit? I thought we were done with you." Galileo said irritated he was disturbed from his dream.
"Also, I'd like an explanation for the misgivings about this world's order." Magnus was upset these newcomers disrupted his plans.
"Mind your tone ingrates."
"Or what? I'm probably stronger than you no-" Before Galileo finished talking a massive bolt of green lightning descended from nowhere. Galileo laughed and tried to eat it but found himself in for a devastating shock. Magnus stared in disbelief as a true dragon who feasted on lightning was being tortured with it.
"You want a go too?" The deity said in a cold tone. Magnus didn't say anything. He couldn't even sense the gap in their power but for him to dispatch Galileo so easily (and ironically) was actually worrisome. "No? Sometimes silence is the best answer" he watched a clock that floated in the space for a moment "that should be enough time." He snapped his fingers and the lightning disappeared leaving a charred and stunned Galileo struggling to compose himself. "Had enough?"
"Y-you bastard…" he didn't dare move though
"You will do well to remember you're just a baby dragon, nothing in the eyes of a real deity. I came here to offer the two of you some information and a deal, now I'm regretting it."
"What deal?" Magnus asked.
"When I sent you here to this world I hadn't expected much from the two lumps of coal hoping to be the fake stars of some anime, but I must admit you've piqued my interest. The emperor of the entire realm? That's a display of ego worthy of a world traveler. Watching you turn that waste of timber into the thriving city it is now showed me you have the potential to do it. With the proper guidance you could be the emperor of ten thousand realms."
"There are ten thousand realms for me to own…"
"Yes. I will personally help you get there, however you're going to have to sort this realm out before that can come to pass."
"Hmm…so in other words I have to conquer this world first."
"Precisely."
"What do you get out of this?"
"It's simple actually. I want to see greatness. Someone whose might knows no limits, someone who could command the very heavens and make the earth tremble! How interesting would that be? Also make sure your people give me a little praise when you do. Think of me like a patron."
"Hahahaha simple enough."
"What about me?" Hearing them talk made Galileo excited for his end of the deal.
"…I'll be honest, I don't have anything for you." The god says condescendingly.
"What!? Why not?" Galileo was confused.
"I don't see you going much farther, you have great potential, but you have nothing to show for it. You aspire to be nothing at all…How can someone so useless be so prideful? That kind of ego only belongs to hot garbage."
"He's got a point. You don't really do much worthwhile nor have you any ambition. Pretty trash Gali."
"…"
"I only brought you here because Magnus would most likely decline if his rival wasn't given the same opportunity as himself." Galileo looked at Magnus who could only shrug, what the god said was true.
"What do you even want out of this life Galileo?" Magnus asked him seriously. "Sightseeing?"
"I…"
"As I thought…trash. I wasted my time expecting you to be another diamond in the rough like Magnus."
Galileo actually was content with a life of random adventuring. There was nothing wrong with not wanting to own the world or be some kind of hero of justice. Right? He thought so but even still Magnus and the god struck a nerve. "(Who are they to look down on me? They think they can just talk all this shit about me and there will be no repercussions?) Hold the hell up! You got me fucked up and you got me fucked up! I'm Galileo Vermillion the terror of the capital, people tremble in fear at the sight of me! I'm a damned true dragon and a demon king, a little pretty boy and some divine nerd are NOT going to keep disrespecting me! I'll kick both your asses! I decide what's worthwhile in my life, and if you got a problem with it shut the hell up bastards." Galileo's chaotic aura flared up causing all of the void to quake.
"*Yawn* shut up trash." Another bolt of green lightning dropped on Galileo but he caught it with one hand while glaring back at him.
"(Whoa…did he really just evolve right here? Hahaha!)" Magnus watched excitedly as Galileo pulled the lightning in, compressed it into a javelin and threw it at the deity who batted it away into the abyss. "(That rage of his is something else. He's still too easy to manipulate though.)"
"(So there was a diamond hidden somewhere in that pile of trash)" the god was also excited to see his development. "Don't get cocky that was low level divine lightning, you're still ages too early to fight me. You'd be hard pressed to beat this projection of my soul."
"I'll come fight the real you!"
"I'll be counting the millennia till then baby dragon."
Galileo started to attack again but Magnus stopped him. "Calm down Gali, he still has vital information we may need." Knowing Magnus was right he stopped, but he was still mad so he sat in the 'corner' grumbling to himself. "I assume this information pertains to the enemies summoned by the world?"
"Correct. The world disapproves of champions it didn't create, for better or worse it would prefer someone of its own choosing. Hence the arrival of your otherworldly enemies."
"Didn't you say we shouldn't have that problem with the higher quality of the world."
"The perfectly crafted system I made for the two of you worked better than expected. Everything you have from it is the real deal from someone in their respective world, and it rewrites the structure of this world to make it a truth. Natsu's dragon seed, Zangetsu, those crazy bloodlines of yours, all of it. As you get stronger and increase the range of your powers so increases what your systems can do. Also, your careless giving away of powers has also helped throw the world off balance. And mystic arts? The overwhelmingly powerful techniques you call universal phenomenon shouldn't even exist in this low of a realm.
"So it's your fault dumbass!" Galileo's outburst was answered with a quick but crazy strong blast of neutral energy.
"One last thing, that seal Maki created all those years ago resulted in the separation of the ten thousand great races. With the seals being broken it's only a matter of time before they all come flooding back here. It will be your job reestablish order in the coming chaos.
"You want us to clean this mess up." Magnus inquired.
"You'll be compensated for it, otherwise I can reduce the powers of your system so at the least you won't have to worry about any more of these surprises. You can kiss those mutations and any chances at more otherworldly energies goodbye though." As he finished up his speech a doorway opened up beside them and the room began to fade. "If you accept hurry through that doorway to your destiny." Magnus and Galileo both charged through without a second thought. "Your family and friends will be counting on you to not get them slaughtered, good luck."
Magnus wakes up in his bed with the sun shining brightly through his window "ten thousand races worth of possible subjects…what a thrilling concept. I'm going to have to make major adjustments to my plans if we're going to have to protect the whole continent. Gali better help out too this time." Magnus sits up and notices a small gift box sitting at the end of the bed… "Isn't it a little too late for birthday presents?" He says inspecting it, the tag says 'to Magnus' and instead of a sender's name it said 'don't die'. Magnus immediately knew where it came from and opened the box excitedly, pulling out a single golden earring with a round green jewel dangling from it. "Hahahaha! You can't be serious, is this really what I think it is? A potara earring? What a useless gift, a fusion between Gali and I would never work. His idiotic nature would definitely get in the way of doing anything efficiently."
"That bastard really thinks I'm gonna fuse with Magnus! Bwahahahaha, that's the dumbest shit I've heard in a long time! He's way too arrogant to ever use something like this. He probably wouldn't even use half of my moves cuz they're not cool enough for him!" Galileo sat in his own bed thinking almost the exact same thing as Magnus."
The second item Magnus pulled out of his box was a golden ticket reading 'admit one' and on the back 'two days'. "Jenny what's this ticket?"
"(An admission ticket for the hyperbolic time chamber. I don't have the means to bring it to this world via the system, so this is definitely a one-time thing. Whoever uses it, with your consent of course, will have two years of training time over the course of two days in a space reserved for them.)"
"That would be very useful for the coming battles. I should put it to use immediately." He paused to think for a second "On second thought I know someone else who could use this."
"(You're giving it away? Why would you do that? Galileo will use his, and at his current level two years will be enough time to surpass you.)"
"If that's the case he can pick up the slack around the kingdom for me, I'll just work extra hard and pass him again."
"(Who are you planning to give it to?)"
"Isn't it obvious?"
As if on que Noelle burst in the door "MAGNUS, GET UP NOW! Oh you're awake… Well hurry and get ready, we have a lot to get done today." She says plopping a huge stack of papers on his lap. "This is Itachi's report on Joker city and the surrounding areas, Julius sent over research notes into the otherworldly energies, Updated profiles on Meliodas and Madara, a few reports on the Warlord gang, a report from Hodge and some other stuff you need to look over. Diamond kingdom soldiers have been seen advancing towards Clover. They will be at our borders within the week, so we should be preparing to head back today."
"Good morning to you too…"
"Afternoon."
"It's that late already?"
"Yes it is, so quit dragging your feet."
"Hahah yes ma'am."
"We should be ready to leave by sundown."
"I actually want to push that back by a couple of days, there's something I need you to do first."
"Are you sure Galileo? This seems like a very valuable item, too much so to just be giving it away." Captain Dorothy was shocked wide awake when Galileo told her how useful the golden ticket he just gave her was.
"You think I'm going to be doing all the work when our enemies come? That's the magic knights' job" Galileo responds with a casual smile. "(I'll pass Magnus in real time.)"
"Why'd you give this to me though? Wouldn't it be better if one of your siblings got it? Or maybe even Julius?"
"Bring all the other captains with you via dream world, then you can all train together. I thought that'd be the most efficient way to use it."
"While that is a brilliant plan, who's going to guard the capital? Aren't you preparing to go to Heart Kingdom, Magnus is returning to Hodge soon also all of the Captains and myself will be out of commission for the next two days. Yesterday showed us just how quickly our enemies can attack." Julius posed a very serious question that made all of them consider staying behind.
"Don't worry clover is still going to be well protected, remember we just got Madara and Siegfried on our side. Not to mention I'll have Dragon Tale and the guild in high alert. Remember it may seem like two years to you on the inside, but in reality, you'll only be gone two days."
"I'm surprised you put this much thought into everything Gali, but am I not joining you to Heart Kingdom?"
"Nah, I'll take Mera instead. She's dependable enough. The magic knights should be able to function for that little while and your squad can get back to normal faster."
"That will be fine. The Crimson Lion Kings can manage two days without me."
"The Silver Eagles can easily do something so trivial."
"Same goes for the Golden Dawn should, I'm sure they'll even get a gold star while I'm away." The captains found themselves arguing over whose squad would manage the best without them.
"Hmph, small thoughts from men as usual, my Blue Rose can get three."
"Hey, don't go lookin' down on my Green Mantis! They can get stars while I'm gone!"
"(I wonder if those idiots will be alright…)" Yami was the only one concerned with losing stars.
"Seems like you guys have it from here, I got somewhere else to be." Most of the captains don't even notice him because of their debate.
"Good luck in Heart Kingdom Galileo."
"Thanks Julius, happy training." Galileo Vanishes