A Chronometric Defect

Finally, I see a dragon enter the room. First dragon I've seen. Aside from myself!

"Rawh."

I do so enjoy being a dragon. I focus back on this other dragon.

He's a rather small male. How should I...

*thmp*

*thmp*

*thmp*

*tak*

*thmp*

*thmp*

*thmp*

*tak*

Roh? Why's he hammering the floor with his feet and then claws? Is that some kind of military thing?

"I greet the mighty Drago— YOU! Who are YOU?"

He re-learned to talk so quickly. Does sciolation not eat the connections as Thaddeus had contended? Perhaps it only temporarily blocks the connections between Will and mind, then steals stats from those it weakens.

Wait. Could it perhaps replace their Will with the caster's? That'd be a terrifying talent. Reh— if it did then why do they become inept? Hrr. According to the human god's memories, they'll just die, so, even if that is the real effect in practice, the result is still death.

Rah. By taking stats it shifts ownership of the stats from one Will to another. That's why it kills. So, technically it does replace their Will, in a sense. I wonder if that damages the caster's Will? I mean, they're taking stats by merging with someone else's brain. Hrr.

Mreh! No idea. Back to this dragon. He's not acting proper toward his god. I'll let that slide.

For now.

"Hello, my name is Chronomet. You are?"

"Some random dragon cannot bear the weight of this lord's name! You dare covet the Dragon God's position?! That throne must be his!"

...

Hold it. Did he just...?

...

He did.

...

I'm not worthy of knowing your name.

And I'm envious of a dead dragon.

And I'm inferior to a dead dragon.

And I'm stealing from a dead dragon.

And I'm OWNED by a dead dragon.

My throne IS LITERALLY ME!

...

You just pushed ALL my buttons at the same damn time.

You asked for it. Whatever happens next is on you.

I exert my immense draconic Will externally.

He falls to the floor in terror.

*thud-tak*

He's flailing and his eyes are bulging. He's even clawing his own head.

*skrit*

*skrit*

*skraap*

*sharak*

*kskrit*

*drisk*

I'll let you go in a moment. Deal with the consequences.

*frrrst*

*shrrk*

*skrit*

*shrat*

*kshrak*

*hrrkt*

No, wait. Wait— is he?

Is he choking his own neck?

*skrrrit*

"Huuh—!"

*skrrrit*

"Huuh—!"

HE IS.

He'd rather die?!

I instantly retract my Will aura.

He curls up on the floor, shivering violently.

*skraaap*

*shaka-shaka*

*shok-shaka*

Oookay. I won't do that ever again.

Seems my aura has become a lethal weapon.

"Allow me to reintroduce myself. I am the Chronometric Dragon God! I expect you to call me Chronomet, or use my full name, but you SHALL NOT shorten my name to 'Dragon God.' My existence is far beyond THAT pitiful thing— much less you."

I deepen my voice and lean in.

"Know. Your. Place."

He curls himself into a tight ball of dragonscale.

*shik-shok*

"Yes! Yes! Please don't kill me, my god!"

Now he's a shivering ball of dragonscale.

*shaka-shik*

Why is this dragon so damn scared of me? The housekeepers aren't scared at all. I mean, my aura, sure, but it shouldn't be THAT scary... Right?

He's still shivering.

*shi-shik*

I forcefully lean back, my spinal spikes hitting my chair.

*chak-chak-chak-chak*

He seems to realize something and bolts to his knees.

*shrth-thok*

"Thank you, oh thank you!"

He scrambles up to me still on his knees.

*shirp-thik*

*thrik*

*thik*

*thrik*

*thik*

"Thank you for not eating me, lord Chronomet!"

Reh? Did he think I was getting up to—

He begins licking my feet with his dragon tongue. All whilst still shivering something fierce.

*schlarp*

*schlup*

"Rhem, eww!"

*shlerp*

*shrulp*

"What— what are you doing?!"

*shclerp*

*schlep*

Another, larger male dragon enters the room. He sees the first and immediately panics. He rushes over.

*tot*

*tot*

*tot*

*tod*

He aggressively licks my other foot, blatantly trying to outdo the first dragon. They start competing to lick harder.

*schlaep*

*schlarrp*

*schlerup*

*schelerp*

Holy shit they're BLEEDING.

"STOP! STOP THAT!"

They slam their heads into the floor.

*thud-crnch*

*thud-crnch*

Entirely, physically, through the floorboards.

Aren't these hard enough for me to stand on? How?

The first is still shaking like a leaf, but the second is also terrified and shivering.

This doesn't look good. It looks bad. Like, REALLY BAD.

A third dragon enters the room; this time, the large female. She looks much the same as the males, though, because she's a dragon. I can only tell thanks to my Origin thread.

She sees the first two, and—

*tot*

*tot*

*tot*

*tod*

*thud-crnch*

Right into the floorboards.

Rughhhh. It seems the DRAGONS were the ones traumatized by the former Dragon God.

What in the hell did he do to them? What an asshole!

Maybe the dragons directed their frustration outward, and that's why they've ended up hated by other species. A leader has to take responsibility for their behavior. They'll never see the consequences of—

I look down at the three shivering dragons.

— this, until it's much too late. Perhaps that's precisely why dragons were the first to be sciolated.

"Rise."

*chrk*

*chrk*

*chrk*

The three rise INSTANTLY. So fast that their feet break clear through the already-damaged floorboards.

I note that the tallest female is still much shorter than my sitting form. Her head's barely above my ankles. Granted, we dragons have rather large ankles due to the shape of our legs and feet.

"You may speak."

The three look straight at me, paralyzed. They continue shaking.

The smallest one's still shaking the most. Ragh.

I give them an order.

"Your names, starting with the most powerful of you three."

The female swiftly bows.

"My god, I am Remillia."

The mid-sized male swiftly bows.

"My god, I am Taytha."

The smallest male swiftly bows.

"My god, I am Unlo."

A fourth male dragon enters the room. He sees the three, then rushes over and swiftly bows.

*tot*

*tot*

*tot*

*tod*

I notice him tilt his head slightly and look at the floor. Seeing the broken floorboards and blood, he also starts shivering. His head immediately goes back to staring straight down.

I roll my eyes. At least they're smart.

"I've removed the gods' sciolation from every dragon on the planet. Some even on the other continent. You all won't fit in this room."

They uniformly drop to their knees.

*THRUD*

"THANK YOU, MY GOD!"

"Call me Lord Chronomet."

"YES, LORD CHRONOMET!"

"Alright, let's move this outside."

The four get up and bolt outside, as if competing to get a little further away from myself. Unlo is leading the pack, despite his smaller size. I retract my throne and follow.

Outside, all the humans gathered around drop to their knees and pray as they witness my presence. The four dragons see me and drop in prostrate, shivering.

*THUMP*

This is getting out of hand, but I know what I must do.

"Everyone, rise."

They all stand. The non-dragons are all smiling, some still clearly praying. The dragons are all staring at me without even blinking. Unlo's eyes are even twitching. Utter terror.

"This city is now renamed 'Chronomet's Nest.'"

Some people start murmuring, but the dragons still stare silently without blinking.

Rictor, the head housekeeper, speaks up.

"My lord, that is such a warm and caring name. You truly are a wonderful god."

I regally nod my dragon head at him.

I open my mental map and examine the city.

Alright, out to the east is a flat rocky area. Then, the ocean lay behind that.

I cast transference on everyone and move us over there. I include all of the dragons and non-dragons in the city who hadn't reached us yet, since I noticed the entire city's population was headed toward me anyway. There's close to a million standing here. Far fewer dragons, though. Maybe eight or nine thousand.

Still, this is truly a massive crowd.

They seem confused at first—

*SHRUMP*

— then every dragon drops in worship toward me almost in unison, shaking something fierce. Many are holding their breath.

Wait, what? Why are ALL of them like that? How come none of them responded like Unlo did at first? Did they somehow figure out who did the transference? Or...

What the hell did I do?