AN: This chapter, and half of the next will be the last of the Abyss story. Afterwards comes the third person format which follows around the Kitsune and what he does in Necropolis. Which means, folks, we're almost done.

As always, thank you for reading thus far. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please do not hesitate to voice them.

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"Now then," my voice was a growl as I glared down upon the fully enthralled Luna who was simply standing in the same spot as though stuck in a daze, "Where is-"

This was as far as I had gotten in my query, as something heavy collided itself with my body, sending it into the stone ground below. No. I did not hear anything, as I was too focused on the enthrallment process for the human before my person. To which caused my mind to growl and kick at my person for such a childish mistake, and my head to swerve around to stare up at something I hadn't factored in.

A dragon.

However, unlike my own self, this one held a more "Chinese" form about it. Think of a large snake with iron hard scales. We have those here upon our world of Terra, and although those are mostly docile, this one was not. Now, stretch the head a bit so that it resembles something akin to our dragons, but with a scrunched up muzzle with a pair of flaring nostrils. In between such nostrils and its lips were a pair of long tendrils which seemed to constantly flow backwards no matter which direction its head turned. As for the rest of the head, well, it had a short pair of pointed ears, and reminded my person of a goblin child's ears. What is more, the creature had a pair of short antlers in between such ears, and a red halo floating atop them.

As for the colour of its scales, it was rather strange. For they continued to shimmer and blend into the surroundings, making it so that it was completely camouflaged into the background. Save, of course, for the antlers and halo, which made it stand out far too much.

Did it have any limbs? Many of you would ask, and the answer to this is, "Yes, but not what you're used to." In the short of it, the dragon only had a pair of foreclaws. Of which were currently being used to pin my draconic body into the ground, whilst its features switched from glaring into my eyes, and looking apologetic towards my thrall.

"Are you okay?" Asked a high soprano, to which could only come from the dragon atop my person, "He didn't hurt you, did he?" These queries were directed towards Luna, who simply stared up at the she-dragon with empty eyes.

"What-?" the one above my person, before my tail snaked around her thin body and flung her towards a nearby wall. Of which allowed my body to stand in order to glare at this interloper.

"Do you mind?" My voice shook the earth around us, "We were having a conversation, and you just barged in here for what? Just to see if she is alright?"

"But, there's a battle going on," she whined up at my person, "and she's my friend so I came to help."

"And how is she your friend? Did she promise you something?"

The other nodded, "She promised to take me to Papa and Sa'ahn."

"Uh-huh," I did not enjoy what I was hearing, and asked the human directly, "And where are these other two the she-dragon spoke of?"

To which she stared into my eyes with her vacant ones in order to reply with a single word, "Dead."

"What?" Asked a small voice, who simply could not understand what she heard.

When prodded to explain, the human called Luna went on with, "In order to conquer this world, we opted to kill the dragons who were supposedly the old Gods of this world. This led us to King Nero, who directed us towards the dragon's layer upon a high mountainous cliff overlooking the city below. In the end, we killed the first dragon after a few days, and set our sights towards the second continent which was supposedly ruled by a Primordial dragon."

"Papa," muttered the small voice again, to which I simply ignored.

"We didn't know how long it would take, and lost track of time. Days turned into weeks, weeks to months, and months into three years before we finally found the dragon hiding in his volcanic layer. The battle took nearly a full week, before Shojo took it upon himself to sacrifice nearly everything in order to kill it. Unfortunately, he died soon after-"

The female stopped in her words, as I had gripped her body tightly and held her close to my left eye. "You lie," I growled a thunderous growl which caused something within the castle to break away and tumble to the ground. This then led to a series of cries reverberating back towards my person, but paid it little heed.

"Where is your God, Luna? Where is the human called Shojo?" My grip tightened around her body, which caused the other dragon to cry out and rush towards our persons, only to crash into the ground as my tail swatted her body away. "Well?" Endarkened lightning erupted from my person, striking and charring the stones around us, but not actively striking our bodies.

Yes. I was full of rage and hatred, of which caused the madness within to leak out and change my eye colour to a baleful crimson.

"Our Lord God has been dead for nearly a year. We saw the damage the dragon had inflicted, and watched his body wither away to ash."

These words... These words fell into my mind and unleashed the madness within. For I knew them to be the truth, as the female I held would only speak thusly so long as her mind was enthralled by my will. Yes. The same madness which afflicts much of the living dead was also contained within my mind through an iron will. However, its cage is always weakened when a surge of emotions flows past it, and allows it to enter my mind.

Sometimes it is willingly let through, but otherwise it is unintentional. For the madness within my person is enough to shatter worlds and dimensions. Yes. This is how I destroyed the first world within the abyss, but at this time, I was simply throwing a temper tantrum due to the loss of a prey I so desperately desired.

For you see, my dear audience, the gifts given to us by Azazel took the whole of our combined strength, power, and magicks, pooled them into one and distributed such a thing into three equal parts. Once completed, it then placed a sort of curse over the access of such a thing, reducing us to mortal standards. This curse, by the by, forces us to work together in order for it to weaken until it finally breaks and allows us full access.

However, this is still not our full strength, to which comes with a small secret. "Only by absorbing the other gifts, will the bearer be allowed access to their full strength." This then continues with another, "Once a bearer holds all three gifts, then a path opens before them to attain true power."

Yes. Only by having all three gifts, will one be able to obtain the title and race called Ageless. This I do hold, and will continue to hold it until I deem it necessary to release it back into the ether.

No. I did not come to this world of Azara with the humans, as I was currently busy upon the second world called Forge. It was here that I had desired for many things, one of which being my own tower-like dungeon full of monsters and mysteries.

If only I had not done this, then I, the human Shojo, and the Golem Aruuma would have all been within a single space where I would have ended their miserable existences. Thus, taking full control of the magicks within them, and have an ease of time in conquering the rest of the worlds. Instead, I opted to stay upon Forge, the second world, whilst the humans had a head start.

As to why the golem was with us, well, it desired more of the riches within such a greed filled world. For it was a merchant at heart, and was thusly before it became a God of Numbers. This led it to travelling the whole of the world, before returning to my side in order to venture forth into the next.

No. I did not find any camaraderie with the creature, only great annoyances. For it would not cease in its incessant prattling of its adventures. Of which caused my person, and my servants, to target it first.

For now, Madness and the tantrum I threw after being denied for so long.

*

The destruction I caused during this tantrum was less than the destruction upon Lavara, but more so than my first encounter with the "Tribunal". In essence, I used my emerald flames to destroy much of the castle. Which, in turn, set off a few nearby houses as I searched for more to destroy, which would lead many of my Undying to rush from their duties in order to subdue my person until I calmed down.

"How?" Many of you would ask, "How would they be able to perform such a feat?" Or perhaps the better questions should be, "Why?"

Why should they stop my person from rampaging throughout a world I cared so little about? The answer for this is not as simple as one might believe, as they each did not have a stake in the worlds we visit, but to my person. For you see, every time I allowed the Madness to come forth and bring destruction upon all before my eyes, I become that much closer to being nothing more than a mindless Undead.

Of course, such a prospect is a long ways away, but it has happened many times before with others. To which we were given the opportunity to watch, as an unknown Lich gave in to the madness of his mind, and became a feral behemoth of rage, death, and destruction. So much so, many within the pantheon of Azzarath's Gods did come down and subjugate the monster. For its might was far greater than normal means, and was able to control even my own Undying.

And yet, it was obliterated without even another thought, but soon afterwards we were given the explanation of the lingering madness within each of the Undead. "Do not let it out," spoke one of the Gods, "For if it does, then pray we do not come for you."

Instead, I told my Undying, and they their personal servants, to stop my person by any means necessary in order to calm my mental self enough until I could rest the control away from that which controlled our madness.

Thus, they did so, by sending wave upon wave of ghostly undead to swarm my body, and even sent a few down my gullet as I did try to eat them. In the end, much of the city was destroyed, many of my draconic servants had perished and would be "respawning" upon the morrow, as well as the odd dragon and Luna had disappeared.

The good news out of all that had occurred, was that they had found the lion beastman hiding within a small cottage near the city's forest. How they achieved such a thing was beyond my person, but they did bring him forth once I had calmed down and had coughed up many of the undead which flew into my gaping maw. However, even though I spoke of how calm I had become, they would continue to keep close as I still held an odd crimson light within my emerald gaze.

"Thank you, Brutus, and to everyone involved in my subjugation," my voice was slow and steady, as I sat upon the ruined throne in my Draconian form. To my right stood the Lich who would not stop staring upon my body with such an empty gaze, whilst to my left was Sia. Of whom also had the same gaze as the other, to which I simply sighed. "Yes, what is it this time?"

"You destroyed the city, My Lord God," spoke the skeletal wolf beastwoman, "and killed most of the people and servants within."

"I am well aware of this, Sia. Though I lose control due to the madness, I am not completely blind during the process. Besides, the dragonfolk will simply respawn upon the morrow, as had many of the children and adults so long ago."

"Yes, but what of your dragon self? They will note it and report back to their families and friends."

"Sia," my eyes, now of solid emerald orbs, stared into her own pair of emerald points within the sockets, "Do they know it was I who had become a dragon?" At the shake of her head, I reached out to pat her right shoulder, "Then what use does your worrying have?"

"My Lord God," Brutus spoke up, causing my person to turn towards his, "She is merely worried about your well being, and decided to simply place your mind elsewhere."

"Brutus. Sia. I. Am. Fine," my clawed hands reached up to rub my temples as an imaginary headache afflicted my person, "The Madness is locked away as it should be. So can we just continue with the interrogation?" With my right clawed hand, I pointed over to a bound and gagged lion beastman in torn clothing.

To which I simply used my own magicks to lift his body, dragging it over until it was within arm's reach. "Now then, my dear King Ramses. You will give me exactly what I desire, which entails... Everything."