Chapter 294 The Dragon Tribe's Predicament
Although the dragon lord felt embarrassed to talk about their red dragon tribe’s predicament, he did promise to do his best to answer their questions.
Thus, after gathering his thoughts and emotions, the dragon lord soon explained.
“It should be common knowledge by now, but this world is different from Chaos. If this world is considered the material dimension, then Chaos would be the spirit dimension. They are two different planes of existence.”
“Although Chaos has higher level beings, the material dimension is considered the higher dimension due to its stability. And by stability, this Lord means the world’s ability to resist change caused by lifeforms inhabiting it. You can also say that the material world is governed by stronger universal laws compared to Chaos.”
“Thus, it’s very resistant to human changes. For example, humans couldn’t control the world’s elements with magic before Gehenna’s arrival, right?” Lord Narvim casually asked.
Everyone nodded.
Rather, magic didn’t even exist prior to Gehenna’s arrival due to the absence of mana.
“And because the objects of this world possess stronger laws, it makes them all the more valuable in Chaos. This is because it becomes increasingly difficult to progress further at a certain level of existence if one lacks talent in perceiving the universal laws of Chaos.”
“Thus, our Dragon God saw it as an opportunity when the two dimensions connected, thinking he could let the entire tribe prosper by granting them a headstart in perceiving the stronger laws of the material dimension.”
“Alas, our Dragon God underestimated the stability of this world. It was far more stable than our Dragon God could have imagined. This world rejects and suppresses denizens of Chaos. And to make matters worse, we’ve also landed in the Desolate Region.”
“As such, this land of opportunity ended up becoming our cage,” Lord Narvim stated.
“Can’t you just return to Chaos through the Dimensional Crack in the north of the kingdom, Your Excellency?” Astoria asked.
“Return? Of course, we can’t return to Chaos through the Dimensional Crack,” Lord Narvim admitted before adding, “But if we did, all that will await us is enslavement or a massacre. After all, True Dragons have always been highly valued for their materials.”
“Without the Dragon God to protect us, the Great Devils of Gehenna will tear into our tribe like hungry wolves and take everything they want,” Lord Narvim explained.
“What happened to your Dragon God, Your Excellency?” Vaan asked.
“Gone, became one with the earth to create the blessed land of fire underneath these mountains for his descendants,” Lord Narvim replied.
“By letting us temper our bodies in the fire mixed with the Dragon God’s flesh and blood, we’ve become accepted by this world and no longer considered denizens of Chaos. As such, we are no longer suppressed by this world.
“There’s no doubt that we have become stronger as a result. But without a True Dragon at the divinity rank, our tribe’s strength still falls short of deterring the Great Devils,” Lord Narvim stated.
After the group listened to the dragon lord’s explanation, they gradually grasped the dragon tribe’s situation.
At the same time, more questions popped up in their minds.
“Do you know why the two dimensions were connected, Your Excellency? Also, what is this Desolate Region you’ve mentioned?” Vaan asked, growing ever more curious.
The dragon lord was full of knowledge.
He would be a fool not to take advantage of the opportunity presented to him and get all the answers to his questions.
“No matter how stable the material dimension is, the heavens would leave the path to eternity open. However, that so-called path to eternity only exists in the Divine Region, where divine energy exists. As for the Desolate Region, you should be able to guess it; it’s a place devoid of divine energy.”
“There’s generally only one reason for the two dimensions to clash naturally; it means the material world has already started its destruction cycle,” Lord Narvim stated.
“Destruction cycle? Are you saying this world will be destroyed by Gehenna, Your Excellency?” Hester asked with a frown.
“Not by Gehenna. It’s the natural cycle of life and death of the universe itself,” Lord Narvim corrected her misunderstanding before mentioning, “Have you heard the saying: everything was born from nothing, and everything will eventually return to nothing?”
“Does that have something to do with the universe’s infinite expansion?” Vaan wondered.
“You can think that way,” Lord Narvim smiled and said, “But contrary to Chaos’s infinite expansion, which definitely grows larger, the universe doesn’t become bigger. It becomes smaller instead.”
“How does that even make sense, your Excellency? If the universe is infinitely expanding, it should grow larger, no?” Aeliana frowned at the contradictions.
“That’s what everyone would assume,” Lord Narvim admitted that he once thought the same way.
“However, the universe’s expansion doesn’t increase mass. It’s simply an infinite increase in distance. As such, once a star becomes so distant that you can no longer see or even reach it, how can you prove it still exists?”
“If we have an infinite amount of lifespan, we can chase the star for eternity to find it,” Astoria gave an answer after some thought.
“That would be true if you travel faster than the star. But if you travel slower, or even at the same speed as the escaping star, you will never reach it, even if you were given eternity to do so,” Lord Narvim calmly stated before saying, “The universe is like one big bubble. Everything you know inside is called existence.”
“But what do you think lies outside the big bubble? More empty voids of space? No, it’s nothingness. Bubbles will eventually reach the limit of expansion and pop. But, of course, the universe doesn’t just explode into nothingness like that.”
“Once stars leave the bubble and enter the domain of nothingness, it simply fades from existence, becoming one with the nothingness. Hence, the universe will eventually return to nothingness, taking all life with it before a new universe is birthed into being,” Lord Narvim explained.
“Doesn’t that mean we are all going to die, Your Excellency?” Astoria frowned with alarm.
“If you live long enough to witness the death of the universe,” Lord Narvim casually replied.
“However, the destruction cycle isn’t something that just happens in one day. It could take thousands of years or even eons for the universe to complete its perpetual cycle of life and death.”
“Even so, you have nothing to worry about. The universe might be a perpetual cycle of life and death, but Chaos is eternal,” Lord Narvim stated.