"Dragon… of Energy Devouring…?" Garrett repeated with a stunned expression.
He was currently standing in a large realm where black miasma wafted up and down, the wails of the damned passing through his ears. It was quite eery, but Garrett felt strangely at home.
"That's right. You belong to the Lineage descended from the greatest Primordial Human, Lucifer. Here's the basics of what you are and who you are." Nidhogg replied as he sent memories into Garrett's mind, allowing him to parse them and understand everything.
Once he was done, Garrett's eye shone. "I thought so. I told the detectives that the ones who killed my parents that day had superhuman abilities, and they kept speaking about weird things like Lineages and bloodlines!"
The young man's face became ugly as he clenched his fists. "But everyone kept telling me that I must have been imagining all of that due to the shock of losing them. They eventually gaslighted me into thinking I was wrong, and I buried those memories."
"If it weren't for you, I would have continued to be in the dark." Garrett finally said with a sigh.
Nidhogg remained silent.
"Hm? Wait, Nidhogg… Nidhogg… where did I hear that name… Ah, that's it. It was the name of a despicable and cruel Evil Dragon, who was trying to sap the Tree of Life, Yggdrasil, of its fundamental essence!" Garrett stated with a sudden look of remembrance.
Nidhogg's face warped, and the Dragon coughed plaintively. "That would be me, yes. However, as for 'Evil' Dragon… well, if you wish to consider me that, then so be it."
Garrett calmly gazed at the slowly shifting form in the miasma that represented the Energy Devouring Dragon. Clearly, his earlier innocent words were intentionally spoken to evoke some sort of response.
"So you don't believe that you are evil?" Garrett asked as he threw the ball right back to Nidhogg. The Dragon's eyes narrowed, but he decided to humor his Inheritor.
"I am an energy devouring being, someone that saps various energies from various sources for my own nourishment. This includes the Life Energy of living beings as well as the Death Energy from undead. That naturally makes me a predator and all living things my prey, or as you have called it 'evil'."
"To the deer, the lion that is ready to pounce from the bushes while it eats is evil. To the rodent that is scurrying out of its burrow, the eagle high above that is swooping down to capture it is evil."
"A predator and his prey have a relationship of hate on the fundamental level. When you slaughter a chicken, it doesn't thank you with what little sentience it has for robbing it of its life, no, it curses you to the depths of hell."
Nidhogg coiled lazily, his snout coming into view. "To you, those gangsters planning to sell that girl were evil, yet to them, I who absorbed their life force was the evil entity, though since they were unable to perceive my existence, it would be you who they would label as such."
The Dragon snorted with derision. "Good, bad. Positive, negative. They are terms and concepts that are subjective, based on the opinions of each individual. They can never represent the truth."
"The only objective is Truth and Logic, essentially what is right and wrong. Right and wrong is not decided subjectively, but objectively using the facts of the situation processed in the most mechanically logical way."
Nidhogg raised a claw, making a '1' gesture.
"First of all, let's take you as an example, Garrett Marshall. You awoke to my power more than 6 months ago. And yet, all you have done since then, was chase after the man who spat on you for being poor and chasing his daughter, something which he had every right to."
"Logically speaking, you have little to nothing desirable about you as a husband. You have no parents, so his future grandchildren would lack one set of grandparents. You have no money, meaning that his daughter would suffer in the initial years of her marriage or have to rely on his wealth to feed YOU."
"You have no certifications or qualifications because you dropped out of school to join the military. You were honorably discharged from the military due to beating up a superior who tried to rape a child during your tour, leaving you with no way to advance."
"The only thing good about you is your handsomeness, which assures that no matter your partner, your child will have good physical genetics. In other words, that's the least you can offer right now, and even that would fade in time."
Nidhogg paused its brutal revelation, to which Garrett had been listening with an expression so dark it froze some of the surrounding miasma.
The Dragon snorted boredly. "Oh please, don't glare at me like that. I just gave you an example of objective cold logic. That man thought the same as I did, which was why he nipped your affection in the bud."
Garrett was silent for a long while before speaking hoarsely. "You know… I actually agree with you. People have always thought me to be an emotional person because of how expressive I am, as well as how quick I am to act or respond to things but…"
Nidhogg smiled. "I have watched you for years, so I know very well what kind of bastard you truly are, Garrett Marshall. It's why you and I synergize so well, because we understand ourselves more than others give us credit for."
Garrett smiled strangely. "I did not kill Mr. Jones despite my power not because of fear of retaliation or making things difficult with her, but because killing him now or at all, has no value to me."
Nidhogg nodded. "Never strike out unless there are benefits to be gained. As long as that continues to be your motto in life, then you and I will retain a fruitful relationship."
Garrett continued. "I let you take over my body despite knowing I can block you because I knew I could passively learn more about my abilities from you."
Nidhogg clapped. "Clever, but I also knew that. It's impossible for me to takeover you without your willingness, the Progenitor made sure of that. All I can do is give you a minor headache, and try to shake things up."
"I chose this mafia group because they have a certain cache of money, weapons, and goods that can make us rich quickly. I actually don't care about that girl, but someone has to take the fall for the sudden disappearance of the thugs." Garrett finished coldly.
"I only grasped that one near the end. It's why I made sure the thugs left nothing, not even a desiccated corpse. As for her, I drained her a bit, but it will look like she made a struggle and managed to overcome them. I would like to restore her, but I am the Dragon of Energy Devouring, not Energy Giving. I only take, never give." Nidhogg replied with a sigh.
The two silently observed each other before nodding at the same time, satisfied.
Garrett spoke neutrally. "From now on, I'll call you partner. Here's to hoping that our goals stay aligned for the longest possible time."
Nidhogg snorted. "I have the shorter end of the stick in this relationship. Just make sure to follow the overarching goal of the Progenitor who granted you this power, or the backlash will be something you will remember for eons to come, even after reincarnating into new lives."
"Oh? That bad?" Garrett murmured with surprise.
"Worse." Nidhogg confirmed solemnly.
There was a short spell of silence between the two.
"And? What exactly is the grand goal established for a weak soul like mine? I hope it's nothing arduous." Garrett asked with a hint of sarcasm.
Nidhogg smiled strangely. "Oh, nothing tough, you only need to reunite with the other God Serpents and serve the reincarnation of the Progenitor on his journey throughout the universe."
Garrett was rendered speechless at that.
"Is it… negotiable?" He asked, unwillingness apparent in his voice.
"Nope." Nidhogg replied with a euphorically filthy smile, perfectly displaying that he deserved to be called an Evil Dragon.
Garrett faceplamed. "Well, whatever. It's just another person to take orders from. From what you've shown me, their power should far eclipses mine, so I doubt they would need me 24/7. In fact, I might be benefiting more from being close to him."
Garrett's idle musing made Nidhogg's expression change greatly. He was shocked that the fellow had deduced the truth about the situation so easily.
Did someone like Superman require bodyguards?
Would those people be able to always be around him, like when bank vaults were smashed open or Superman would be brawling in the sky with a titan? Wouldn't they be able to stuff some gold bars in their pockets while no one was looking?
This was what Garrett assumed, but if he knew more about Draco and Eva, he would realize how much he had underestimated just how blessed he was to have been born a God Serpent Inheritor.
Likely, Lucifer had never predicted that his actions would turn out unnecessary. His vision of Draco would be similar to the previous timeline's version, in between a rock and hard place and in dire need of elite help.
However, Lucifer could never have predicted that his own Lineage would be so stupid as to seal the bloodline of his clone and cast it away, leading to the God Serpent Inheritors never finding him in the previous timeline.
At least, the presence of this timeline didn't waste his efforts, but it made them unnecessary since Draco and Eva were far stronger than they should be at this point in time.
"So, what's next?" Garrett inquired from Nidhogg.
"Well, first, let me return your body to you. Then I guess you should enter that game and join that guild. It's imperative that we meet the Progenitor's reincarnation and find out his plans." Nidhogg replied as Garrett felt himself leaving this miasmic realm and returning to his body.
From a casual suit, he shifted back to his black hoodie and brown t-shirt as well as black trousers. He flexed his palms and stretched a little, before heading deeper into the base and looting everything he came for.
"Well, Mr Hudson, I now have enough to buy your entire estate ten times over." Garrett muttered to himself with a smirk.
However, he didn't linger much on it and quickly left. He had to establish himself as quickly as possible in order to fulfill his own goals, which were known to only him and his affiliated serpent, Nidhogg.
Back in town, he lowered his hoodie and looked like any normal youth of the day, nothing strange about him. His handsomeness won him a few rude catcalls, but he ignored them and entered a shop that sold Virtua Helmets.
He used his ill-gotten gains to purchase the most expensive one they offered before exiting with a smile. Next up was to rent a new apartment or buy a new villa, since his old place was a hovel.
Garrett smiled, finally feeling like he was moving up in the world.
