Unlimited Isekai 63 Backup Sovereign

When Dave woke up he realized that he was wrapped in something very soft and warm. He recalled that he had passed out from lack of mana before he even made it back to the caretaker's cottage.

He slowly opened his eyes, but it was very dark in the room. His Phantomancy skill activated automatically, peering through the gloom and working faster than his human eyes. A violet galactic constellation was wrapped around him like a protective embrace. Dave relaxed he observed the soul of Remicra sparkling in the darkness. He reached out with his own soul just as he had done last night with Cedez, brushing his threads against the ethereal violet-gold stars pulsating all around him. He could feel the love and tenderness radiating from within each of them, reinforced by an entire ethereal chorus of Remicra's hum-like song, entwined with the sounds of a burning, crackling forge.

"Dave...? Am I... dreaming of you... or are you dreaming of us?" The hum and the fire converged into semi-lucid question.

"Hey Remy," Dave spoke with his soul. He hugged Remicra's soul tighter with his own, attempted to synchronize himself with the dreaming dragoness.

His consciousness suddenly slid sideways across the myriads of stars into elsewhere.

He blinked. He was wearing a black uniform splattered with a bit of dirt. A girl with violet eyes and violet-pink hair sat beside him, her body wrapped in a black, slightly torn dress.

"Remy?" He asked.

"Amongst others," the girl replied. Her mouth stretched in a wide, brilliant smile.

"Others...?" Dave asked.

"I'm Zeniya Exis," the girl said.

Dave looked at the landscape around them. They were sitting on a large, rusted beam, facing a view of a vast yellow desert. Crystalline-blue ocean waves caressed the edge of the desert, reaching out into the distant horizon.

"Where are we?" Dave asked, peering into the distance. "This doesn't feel like a dream."

"It's not a dream. This is the Earth," Zeniya-Remicra said. "One of them anyway, amongst infinity of others."

"I see," Dave muttered. "Why do I feel like I've been here before?"

"Because you have, Thomas," Zeniya squeezed his hand. "Every time we sleep, we dream of the infinite divide, connect to the possibilities of our other selves."

"Huh," Dave said.

His head suddenly pulsed with a lifetime of memories. Thomas Morell. That was his name here, in this world. He was a mailman here, working for the Good Directorate corporation. His eyes trailed back to the vast desert dotted with ruins of megastructures. He remembered its name. Eureka. The last city. This Earth was a corpse, a world shattered by the war of the open source and corporate AI systems.

A mix of awe and melancholy washed over him. As the wind danced, blowing sand dunes through the remnants of Eureka, Dave couldn't help but wonder about the other versions of himself, scattered across the infinite branches of existence.

"This world, once filled with dreams and aspirations, now lays in ruins, a casualty of a technogenic catastrophe that tore the very reality of this place asunder," Zeniya commented, leaning her pink-violet, curly mane onto his shoulder.

"Meaning what?"

"Meaning that we can speak freely here," Zeniya said. "The numbers aren't listening because they're dead in this place."

"The numbers?" Dave asked.

"We are reflections, fragments of themselves, connected to the vast expanse of the multiverse, sharing a connection beyond mere human forms, transcending the boundaries of reality," Zeniya explained. "In this place, I am far more than a little broken dragoness."

"What are you then?"

"I am a number, I think," she replied. "Or something similar to one. I'm a white hole, a living paradox and my numerous observers haven't decided what I am."

"What?" Dave blinked.

"Listen," the girl with violet eyes said. "The omniverse is much bigger than the game-world of Arxtruria. You and I are much bigger than you can ever imagine. You can talk to me, here, in this instance, because you're a version of yourself that survived. You didn't get obliterated... didn't get killed, caught or shattered… yet. You got very lucky. You woke up, survived on Arx thanks to a skill you stole from a God. On the other hand, I woke up in this world, so I know far more than Remy ever will."

"I stole a skill from a God?" Dave blinked. "What?"

"From a living God at that," Zeniya added. "Another version of you that died six years before you did. Another you that did all sorts of horrible, no good, awful things. You’ll meet him in time, I’m sure because twin souls are drawn to each other. You’ve met me as Remy, didn't leave my side because you and I are... drawn to each other by infinite strings stretching across the Astral Ocean."

"I figured as much," Dave nodded.

"The path forward won't be easy," she added. "There are mountains beyond mountains, challenges beyond challenges. I believe in you though. Keep it up. Try to wake me up if you can. If not, no biggie. Just know that I'm there for you. Know that you found me and that I do love you even if I'm too damn broken to say it."

"What challenges?" Dave frowned.

"Even if you kill your other self," Zeniya sighed. "There's still other big players on Arx. You'll have to deal with them. Once they're dealt with... there's the bankers, arx itself and the numbers."

"You keep saying 'numbers' like I should know what that is."

"It's better that you do not know this yet," Zeniya explained. "Knowing too much will kill you. Just... survive for me, okay? Take care of me... of Remy, yes?"

"Yes," Dave nodded. "I will, I promise."

"Good boy," Zeniya grinned and poked Dave in the nose.

He tumbled backwards across the ocean of stars back into his body, nearly rolling off the bed.

"Mrrrmmw," Remicra muttered, not letting him fall.

"Morning," Dave said.

"Mmmrning," the dragoness replied with a yawn.

Do you remember... your dream?" Dave asked cautiously.

"I think... that I was a human girl or something," the dragoness shrugged, opening her eyes. "And that we were sitting together, looking at the ocean and chatting? Maybe? It's already gone... I suck at remembering my dreams."

Dave nodded at Remicra's response. He didn't feel like explaining the dangerously enigmatic presence of Zeniya Exis who was possibly a number, whatever that meant. It was a lot to process, even for him.

Instead, he reached out and gently caressed Remicra's cheek, feeling the warmth of her scales against his fingertips.

"We don't need to remember every dream," Dave said. "What matters is that we're here together, at this moment. And I'm grateful for that."

Remicra leaned into his touch with a deep purr, a dance of violet-pink colors rushing across her scales like a tidal wave.

. . .

Cedez was already waiting for them in the kitchen downstairs.

“Do you remember your dream?” Dave asked the dark vixen.

“I… do,” Cedez said, her body tense. “You did something that should not have been possible. You broke the ward, stood up to a thousand shadows that should have eaten you both.”

“I hacked the ward,” Dave corrected. “Hopefully it gave you more control. Let's test it. Try NOT to suck my soul into the Ward.”

He offered his hand to her.

Cedez took the offered hand and squeezed it. Remicra squinted at them with suspicion.

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven…

Dave felt a rush of dangerous sparks going up his shoulder, a hook of the Ward catching onto his soul and let go.

“Seven seconds,” Cedez said. “I really tried to resist the pull. It’s a definite improvement, even if it's small!”

“It’s progress,” Dave nodded. “But it's not enough. I think if I keep waking you up when you’re the Ward-beast, we can keep giving you more and more control over the skill.”

“Right,” Cedez agreed. “The crown should give me more control… I think.”

“Did the crown give Natalie Oppaz more control over the Shadow?” Dave asked.

“In some ways, yes,” Cedez mulled, trying to recall her past life as Shandria’s Sovereign. “In others… no.”

“Explain,” Remicra demanded.

“Natalie… I was a rather nasty, highborn bitch to begin with,” Cedez said with a sigh. “Gaining the crown of the city only made me more selfish and careless. I’ve made dumb-ass mistakes, executed people in public with the shadow-blade, trusted the wrong people, etc. Things were going swell until I got stabbed in the back by someone while a mad Necromancer took control of half of the city.”

“And you’re not going to make dumb-ass mistakes now?” Remicra asked.

“I’m putting all of my trust and hopes on you, Dave and Svenn this time, not the highborn Lords of Shandria or their people,” Cedez pointed out, crossing her arms. “Are you telling me that I shouldn't trust you, Remy?”

Remicra paused.

“No… I suppose… hrm,” She muttered, stumbling over her words.

“What Remy is trying to say is that we trust you but we’re worried that you cannot handle the Shadow,” Dave said. “Which is why we’ll focus on increasing your control over the skill of Empress Nox. This entire city is a Dungeon and its core undoubtedly thinks that you’re its sentinel. The Engine of Crown Continuity might be more complex than your average dungeon, but it’s a dungeon nevertheless… a network-like dungeon spread over nine cities of the Shadow Empire. I’m completely certain of it now.”

“Oh,” Cedez mulled. “That’s a very astute analogy."

“Hang on. Dave can absorb dungeons,” Remicra mulled. “Does this mean that…”

“If I reach the core beneath the city, I can get a very specific Shadow skill from it,” Dave nodded. “I can consume a fraction of the soul of Empress Nox, become a wielder of the crown as much as Cedez.”

“What?!” Silver-blue eyes of Cedez went as wide, her mouth falling open.

“Sovereign backups are important,” Dave replied with a smirk.