[Book 3] That time I got reincarnated as a slime,no, a DRAGON?

Rimuru's POV

I looked at the man on front of us. His body condition was so terrible that it was a miracle that he was still alive.

"Haha... Don't mind the old me. I am sure I look pretty ugly, so do excuse me." He said as he slowly stood up from the chair he was sitting on and walked towards one end of the room.

"Please follow me. I have a lot tell you, and I am sure you have a lot to ask if me as well." The man said in a hoarse voice, but his tone carried a power that was rare to see in people. Seeing his sudden movement, Vena released her aura, but the man didn't flinch at all. He didn't even speak anything about her releasing her aura.

"You are quite interesting... You don't look to be a God. I don't sense much Chaos Energy in you." Hila said, looking at him as if he was some type of animal at zoo. The man opened his mouth to speak, but Ciel was the first one to speak.

"A mortal. He is a pure mortal. His lifespan is not increased by improving his body conditions using Chaos Energy, rather he used technology to improve his body." Ciel said, and it was only then that I noticed it. His legs were replaced bionic limbs. Though they had the same colour and looked no different than any other leg, the flow of Chaos Energy in it was a simple way to see that it was not natural.

The man looked surprised that somebody managed to guess it, before chuckling. "That's right miss. I used technology to increase my lifespan. After all, this saves more time." The man said in a merry mood.

"Saves more time?" Chloe asked confused.

"Alright. Let me explain. I am pretty sure you must have guessed it by now, this is not your ordinary place. This is an entirely different universe than yours, will atleast a replica of another universe."

"Replica?" Nereus asked.

"Shush! Let me finish. You will get most of your answers." The man said in an irritated tone. In reality, if any other mortal had done so, showing such disrespect, he would be incinerated to ash, maybe even worse. But right now? Right now, nobody cared about it. This man was too much of an anomaly. His soul did not match his body, he did not flinch even in front of Vena's aura, and not to mention that look in his eyes. He is, most definitely, a man with many mysteries.

"Right. So as I was saying, this is an another universe compared to yours. Now, you must be wondering if there are multiple universes other than yours. The answer to that is, not exactly. At one time, only a single universe exists. Once that universe comes to an end, a new one is born on its place. It's a perpetual cycle, like everything else. But! There is one thing that's a problem. When a universe comes to an end, everything inside it comes to an end as well, no questions asked, no exceptions!

My universe was the same. It came to an end. One day, we were thriving, the next, we ceased to exist. Our souls were destroyed, completely broken down to pure primordial energy. All to create a new universe it is impossible to survive the end of an universe. Luckily, the higher ups of our world caught on to this fact, but unfortunately, it was too late.

We searched for thousands of ways over millions of years and finally found a way. The way to save the universe. We found a place that exists outside the universe. Outside this perpetual cycle of creation and destruction. It was a place that was at a higher realm. We called that place....

THE SANCTUARY.

It was no different than a small world. A blue world, with nearly three fourths water and the rest land. Nearly eight billion humans live in it. That world, the sanctuary is the only way to survive."

The man stopped speaking as we finally approached the wall, which had a door in it. He fumbled with the keys in his hand before finally opening it. Inside was a small room. Though we all managed to fit, it was by no means big enough for us to spread out. The man continued to look around for something as he spoke up again.

"The way to survive is simple, create a connection to the sanctuary. Connect yourself, connect your universe to it. If you successfully do so, your universe will be freed from this continuous cycle, just like the sanctuary. The sanctuary would create an accurate replica of your original universe, which would then be destroyed in place of your universe and keeping your true universe safe. Ah-ha! Found it!" The man said as he took out a box.

"Why are you telling us all this?" Lucien asked suspiciously.
"Yeah. It looks mighty suspicious. I don't even need to explain why, do I?" Ryu supported Lucien and so did all of us.

"I know. There is no such thing as a free lunch after all." The man said with a smirk in his face.

"You are right. I do need your help with something." The man said with a smile as he placed the box on a worn out table in the corner. It was only then that I looked around. The room was completely bland and empty, apart from the three massive cupboards, one on each wall. These contained all sorts of items, from pendants, necklaces and other jewelleries to guns, weapons and even books. It was a complete mismatch of items.

"By the way, do any of you know about Azatoth?" The man asked as he slowly opened the box.
"Azatoth? Why do you ask? We do know about him, but he hasn't shown himself for millennia." Ryu said, while her eyes were fixed on the box.

Azatoth. The last time I heard about him was from Nihilanthian. He said something about him being my senior.

"I see. So he is still in seclusion, huh? That's so much like him. Haha-cough, cough...." The man's chuckles turned into abhorrent coughs midway through as he slowly composed himself and calmed down.

"*Pant**pant* Sorry about that.... I really shouldn't be pushing this body too much. You see, Azatoth, along with Anubis, Ambrosia, Knox and Pandora came to this universe as well, before you." The man said as he took out what seemed to be a recording device.

As soon as Anubis' name came out of his mouth, a terrifying aura spread through the room. It disappeared as quickly as it appeared, but the killing intent on Hila's eyes were impossible to hide. Even Vena's face contorted, as if she had eaten something foul.

"Hmm... Looks like Anubis is not really someone closer to you, huh?" The man chuckled not really caring about the bloodlust in the room. Out of all the names he spoke, I only know Azatoth and Knox. As for the others, I will have to ask later on.

"I will continue my story now, with the help of this video. It should make the explanation easier." The man said as a hologram appeared in front of us.

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I hope you guys like it. I have found a way to connect 抖阴社区, but it requires using my dad's connection, since for some reason our network provider is unable to connect with 抖阴社区.

Anyways, I will try to upload as much as I can, and whenever I can. Just hoping 抖阴社区 fixes this issue quickly.