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Gustav's consciousness faded away as he and his allies managed to defeat the last threat of his planet.
He had received big wounds from the monster attacks, as it detonated part of its body around his lower torso and pretty much blew away half of his body.
Even as a dragon the wounds were massive. If it wasn't because of this transformation's stamina, he would had been gone already.
He leveled up continuously after the battle, and through that, he regained a lot of stamina and health. Each level up healed him a bit more, he felt like his lower half slowly regenerated back as his body slowly reduced its size and he went back to his human body form.
But due to fading unconscious, his mind faded away somewhere else.
He felt like he was going to die.
Although he was healing back, his very soul and mind were breaking and shattering. The attack of the monster, its detonation attack, damaged his soul greatly.
If it wasn't because he had the Heaven Physique and Psyche, he might had died there. Fusing skills saved his life this time…
His consciousness flickered in and out, as it was carried across the membranes of the Universe and the Dimension where he resided.
Across the paths of countless souls, he traveled amongst the infinite cosmos and was greeted by strange sights. What was happening now?
He knew that the other Dimensions were the threat, but his own Dimension was immensely vast.
His consciousness kept traveling amidst the Dimension where he was born, across it, he saw countless membranes, thousands of universes self-contained within membranes of cosmic essence… and as he traveled and kept pursuing deeper and deeper, a glowing sphere of white light greeted his sight.
It was… beautiful.
It glowed with a brightness he had yet to even experience completely, yet it was also so strangely familiar. What was this, truly?
Why did it felt so familiar to his own self all out of the sudden? It was as if his body and soul had a part of it.
He tried to speak to it, but he could not, even if he tried hard.
"Who… are you?" he asked.
"I am the one that provided nourishment and energies to your transformation when you defied the Dimensional Laws of this Dimension, Gustav. I am the Core of your Dimension. Some call me the Dimensional Core." Said the glowing white orb, of such beautiful and glistening brightness that made him go almost insane.
"You… when I fused the skills and that physique and psyche…!"
"Indeed. I've noticed your great efforts. Even though you've saved only a single world, your world, you've saved the entire Dimension. The invasion from other Dimensions began within your world, and you protected and saved it bravely. I thank you with all my soul for what you've done for all the Universes within your Dimension." Said the entity.
"I was doing it just so I could save myself and those I care about; I really didn't thought about the bigger picture. Actually, is this just only one dimension?! Just how many universes does a single dimension have?" asked Gustav.
"Oh, many… But there's no time to speak. Your consciousness is being dragged back to your original world. Gustav, the Ragnar?k is just beginning, soon enough, the various Universes across our Dimension will suffer from invasions. As the Guardian of the Earth, I want to ask for your aid… Dimensional Guardian, I will give you this title."
FLASH!
The Dimensional Core covered Gustav's soul as it blessed him with great power.
"Dimensional Guardian?! Wait… hold on!"
"Seek me across the Universes, save the Dimension and grow stronger. I will be waiting for you." Said the Dimensional Core, leaving Gustav with a greater responsibility than he would had wanted…
FLASH!
Gustav flashed away from the scene, as the Dimensional Core remained in silence.
The beautiful and shiny crystal glanced across the multitude of Universes across its Dimension, all of them compressed into massive bubbles where many Universes were contained everywhere, these bubbles were Omniverse Bubbles. Each one containing an enormous amount of universes… and there were many of such bubbles surrounding the Dimensional Core.
"…Gustav, please, hurry up…" sighed the Dimensional Core, as it felt the pressure of a truly abyssal being slowly beginning to devour the very Dimensional Fabric from the entirety of the Dimension…
"Grrr…! I will devour… I will devour you!"
The voice of a monster that got its tentacle cut off could be heard from outside this Dimension. The Dimensional Core knew there was not much time…
And Gustav was perhaps the only hope amidst the many powerful entities that existed in this Dimension.
Gustav opened his eyes as he found himself within the embrace of his loved ones… Kireina and Anna.
"Huh?"
He was resting over his bed, as if everything that happened before was just a bad dream.
"Master, you're finally awake!" Kireina divided herself in three as she rained Gustav with kisses and hugs, and a lot of love.
Anna did the same, missing her beloved master.
"Master… You slept for a whole week…" she sighed.
"E-Eh? That much?!" asked Gustav in disbelief.
"Indeed, you slept for way too long! Honestly, who do you think you are to slack off so much?" asked Kireina while pouting, Katrina glared at him with dead-serious eyes, and Katarina was just the same as Kireina.
"I… sorry." Sighed Gustav.
"No, it is fine. He was greatly wounded, even his soul was very wounded. He required to rest. Don't be like that, Kireina…" sighed Anna, reprimanding Kireina.
"Okay! I guess…" sighed Kireina.
Kireina glared back at Gustav and the trio hugged and kissed him once more.
"What happened? After… we defeated the monster?" asked Gustav.
"Well… it is simple, Gaia helped us go back to your Inner World, and then, we had been waiting for you to recover ever since then… Nothing much than that." Said Anna.
"Gaia did said she wanted to talk with you immediately after you woke up, but let's go take a bath first…" said Kireina.
"Alright…"
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