Last Egg: Reincarnated as a Dragon in a Game

POV Xerxes:

The crushing waterfalls of phosphorescent liquified time roared as they fell into a gaping, circular hole in the ground. The time spun inside in a wild vortex.

'Thank you, dragon. I saw the divinity and now I can ascend.' The blurry form of the mage levitated above the well of time.

The faint divine energy of time flowed around him, shielding him from the powers of well. He stared into it as it devoured and reborn the time in an unending cycle. The history, future, and present flowed and interlocked below him.

'Such a beauty.'

He felt his understanding of time grow with each second.

'Time is unending. It has no start or end. It simply is.'

Suddenly his head turned towards the brightly glowing tunnel with the roaring river of time illuminating it, 'The dragon is coming. Too late, once I finish will become the fifth race. I the great mage Xerxes will become the great time lord!'

He waved his staff, and the shattering of glass reverberated through the entire dungeon. All the crystals in the dark tunnel he saw shattered one by one, the glowing eyes of the monsters replacing their glow.

'This should hold you back.'

The wave of his time mana swept through the tunnels, sending ripples through the lakes and rivers flowing below him.

'Now, it is time to ascend! Baptism of elements and concepts, the ancient ritual to make my body one with my element. With divine energy, I might even survive.'

Xerxes raised his staff above his head, and the mana rumbled around him. All the time and mana in the air rushed toward him.

The river of time rippled, and billions of time droplets of time shot toward him like a hail of arrows.

"Ahhh!" His body vanished within the bath of energy, and his skin burned away as the mana and the river of time soaked into his body.

POV Vesuvius:

The two black silhouettes enshrouded in smoke, ash, mist, and snow flew like an avalanche deeper and deeper into the dungeon, following the glowing river beneath them as if it was a road.

The river gradually turned darker, making the dragon recount the reaper's words, 'Something is sucking all the time contained in it. Whatever will be its result, it will not be good.'

He channeled mana into his eyes, and the world around him turned more colorful as he saw all the mana and magic moving around.

All the mana from the air flew alongside the river, deeper into the dungeon, and converged to a single point. The point felt like a sun of mana as the energy radiated out of it penetrated and passed through the dungeon's walls.

"We need to speed up, dragon!" The cold voice of the reaper chilled his back, and the blurry black shade flew by him.

Ding!

//

Quest updated!

Previous Objective: Track the time mage

New Objective: Stop the time mage before he can complete the baptism of elements

Reward: Calculated upon the completion

Failure: The time mage becomes stronger. The time mage will break out of the dungeon's confinement.

//

'Ohhh, no. This thing is escalating more and more. I never even heard about something like this happening. How can something escape from a dungeon?' The dragon shuddered, imagining the cowardly time mage breaking havoc across his kingdom.

He flapped his wings with renewed vigor and speeded up towards the cold black point that was the reaper.

However, the wave of energy swept through the tunnel like a wave of light, followed by darkness as all the crystals shattered and the glowing river dimmed down. The dust and fragment of crystal rained from the ceiling like a snowfall of crystal, reflecting the light of the magma blazing in the dragon's armor.

Hundreds, no, thousands, of shining eyes lit up in the dark tunnel.

Their eyes gradually turned green, and they all stared at the dragon, filled with hunger. The claws and scales glinted, the mandible clacked, and tentacles wiggled in the shadows.

Even Vesuvius couldn't tell how many monster species were there.

'Phh, well of Xerxses... more like a monster ZOO.' The dragon's bad sense of humor worked at its full, making him internally chuckle as he pushed back all his worries.

Ding!

//

New quest!

Objective: Survive the attack of the corrupted time-devouring monsters

Reward: Calculated upon the completion

//

'Another quest? The system is really going overboard this time. I hope the rewards will be worth all this hassle.'

The next second, roars and growls echoed through the tunnels, and all the monsters exploded with anger and hunger as they started to fight. The blood and viscera sprayed the floor and walls while the shockwaves swept through the dark corridors.

Thousands upon thousands of monsters fought, and with each one that fell, the green glow in the eyes of the remaining one brightened up.

'Ohh, no. Don't tell me that they can grow stronger by killing themself.'

At the same time, more than a hundred monsters threw themself at the dragon, looking like a black crowd of claws, tentacles, mandible, and teeth, all gnashing at him. They rushed forward like a tsunami of bodies, toppling over each other and their eyes brightly shining.

The dragon didn't even stop as he flapped his wings even faster and opened his mouth, a bright, purple-black frost fire flickering inside. The monsters got closer and closer while the flames in his throat grew in intensity, their light illuminating the dark tunnel as if he had a reflector in his mouth.

'Nothing, but a slight hassle. Not even worthy of my attention.'

Suddenly a wave of mana carrying elements of death and rot erupted behind the dragon and swept through the entire tunnel and the mob of monsters. The light in their eyes extinguished at once, and their bodies collapsed like lifeless dolls.

There were no sounds or moves. They simply died on the spot.

Hundreds of dead bodies piled on the ground, forming fields and mountains of death. They rotted away right before the dragon's eyes, slowly turning into dust. The odor of rot and death filled the air, making even Vesuvius feel nauseous.

'Rot element and probably death?' Vesuvius quickly analyzed the power of his ally just in case their alliance ended.

The small form of the reaper slowly descended down and waved its scythe. Mana and some other energy rose from all rotting bodies and rushed into its cold, gleaming metal head.

'Numbers simply don't work on reapers. If their victims can't suppress the reaper's domain or aura they will simply die. There is no room for a battle.'

The fluctuations of mana in the distance quickly grew stronger and stronger while more and more green eyes lit up in the depth of the black tunnel. The ground shook, and a tsunami of monsters rushed down, giants, undead skeletons, and giant bugs flooding the dungeon.

"Graaah!" A monster jumped from the ceiling at the dragon, looking like a giant monkey covered in scales. Its claws burning in fire, descended upon the dragon.

Vesuvius didn't even care as he flapped his wings, and lightning crackled around him. He shot forwards straight into the incoming horde of monsters that wiggled like a wall of bodies.

His domain moved, and mana flowed through his armor and scales. Lightning and fire burst out, turning him into a giant arrow of lightning and flames that quickly closed on the monsters, their green eyes filled with madness quickly getting closer and closer.

The lightning and tornadoes of fire followed in his tracks.

His eyes were on the reaper, something deep within him encouraging him to kill and compete, 'I am a dragon! I can let myself be overshadowed by a reaper. I must show the dominance here.'

The monsters collapsed all over the tunnels, their bodies dissipating into dust. However, Vesuvius speeded up even more, shooting forwards like a projectile shot from a railgun. The black form of the reaper, looking like a black and purple blur, passed by him, looking like a snail in comparison.

'Hahaha, I have got you!'

The dragon smashed straight into the horde of monsters like a bomb of fire and lightning. Their bodies exploded, fire and lightning dancing and flashing around, tearing their atoms apart.

[+350XP]

[+700XP]

[+1400XP]

...

The dragon's domain followed behind him, and the tornadoes of magma and lightning rain descended upon the horde, their bodies vanishing in the elemental storm. The wave of particles exploded from the dragon's body, the electrons of radiation tearing through the atoms.

In an instant, hundreds of monsters vanished.

[+200XP]

[+600XP]

[+900XP]

...

Ding!

//

You are now level 95

All stats increased!

+5 stat points

+1 ability point

//

Vesuvius felt the triumph as he left the reaper far behind him. He turned his head back, his eyes shining as he saw the tunnels flooded with magma and filled with smoke in his tracks.

The reaper slowly moved forwards, sliding through the air without any care, making the dragon's excitement vanish, 'Wait, don't tell me that I did it for nothing and they don't even care. '