Last Egg: Reincarnated as a Dragon in a Game

493  Into the darkness

Vesuvius fell forward through the gravity-warped space, his sense of time and distance distorting without anything to indicate it. The starry background of the universe twisted into unrecognizable patterns as if the very fabric of the universe had been pulled taut and distorted.

Traveling through this blurry mess of shapes and colors was not only tiring but also disorienting, yet he persisted, driven by the knowledge that he was approaching the culmination of his journey.

Suddenly, something tugged at the very essence of the warped space, and the dragon immediately went to alert, a barrier forming around him as he braced for another attack.

But as the warped space unfolded, drawing him back to the material world, more and more of his mana flowed into the barrier, its darkness becoming deeper and mirroring the absolute darkness around him.

However, instead of an enemy fleet, his eyes were met with absolute blackness, a darkness so profound it seemed to devour the very light that dared to encroach upon its domain. Lights from distant stars stretched and twisted around this void, creating a surreal halo of warped starlight.

His heart skipped a beat as he finally reached the goal of his journey—the supermassive black hole at the galaxy's center.

'So, this is it,' he thought, his gaze locked onto the cosmic spectacle before him. Around the void, a brilliant accretion disk swirled, a maelstrom of cosmic debris heated to immense temperatures.

This ring of fire cast eerie, dancing shadows across Vesuvius's scales, illuminating the darkness with a ghostly, distorted glow. 'The entire galaxy held by this single body of distorted matter, time, and space.'

Yet, despite the celestial violence that unfolded before him, Vesuvius felt no pull, no force threatening to tear him apart. His affinity toward gravity shielded him.

'This is the place where both time and space break down, the perfect place to complete my baptism of elements.'

With an unsteady flap of his wings, the dragon's massive body glided toward the abyss. The closer he got, the more he felt time dilating and moments stretching into what felt like an eternity.

His domain exploded out and spread, his absolute control over gravity annulling the time-distorting properties of the black hole.  'Not yet; I want what is in your very center, not just this weak surface distortion.'

Even though the dragon tried to calm his nerves, reassuring himself that it was safe, a deep worry constantly tugged into his consciousness. He didn't even know what was waiting for him. Would he get stuck in a time anomaly? Vanish into another dimension?

Black holes were a mystery to even the brightest scientists, and he was just flying straight into one of them.

As the dragon descended closer and closer, allowing the powerful gravity to pull him and accelerate his journey, he couldn't help but gasp at the magnificent form of the black hole, devouring everything, even the elusive light.

'So much power... my star feels so weak compared to this.'

The accretion disk's luminous fury contrasted starkly against the blackness that stretched as far as he could see.

As Vesuvius edged closer to the swirling maelstrom of the accretion disk, the chaotic ballet of matter around the black hole's event horizon reached a fever pitch. Particles accelerated to nearly the speed of light and collided with a ferocity that turned them into deadly bombs.

Each collision didn't just release energy; it unleashed cataclysmic bursts, painting the void with vivid, but terrifying, streaks of distorted light that seemingly fell down into the blackness.

Without warning, a cataclysmic explosion of matter nearby erupted, unleashing an energy wave of apocalyptic magnitude. n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

 Before Vesuvius could even brace himself, the wave struck with the force of a huge nuclear bomb, washing over his armor in a tsunami of heat. His once-impenetrable armor glowed ominously, tiny glowing fractures webbing across its surface like cracks on thin ice.

Another explosion detonated to his left in a blinding inferno that engulfed him in a shower of searing heat and energy.

The dragon, only just comprehending the full scale of the threat, felt the runes etched into his armor flicker and fade as more cracks marred its dark surface.

'Ohh...' before his thoughts fully formed, another explosion, this time from below, struck with the fury of a mountain-sized hammer. Chunks of his armor were torn away, lost to the insatiable darkness below.

'Curse this!' With no time to spare, Vesuvius's eyes blazed with a newfound determination, and his domain shifted.

A black barrier, dark as the black hole itself, formed around him, but the onslaught was relentless. More and more particles collided, each explosion sending shockwaves that threatened to shatter it.

Vesuvius refused to retreat after being so close to his goal.

His horns and claws shone with the light of distant stars, a stark contrast to the encroaching darkness. Complex magic symbols sprang to life across the barrier, interlocking in an intricate dance of light and geometric patterns, their gravity-defying luminosity a beacon in the darkness.

Suddenly, an instinct, more potent than any gravitational pull he'd ever felt, tugged at the very core of his being. Instinctively, his magic adapted, weaving new runes into the fabric of his shield.

'This...'

The magic within the barrier flared to life, its glow intensifying until it became a blinding beacon in the blackness.

Without Vesuvius feeding it more energy, the barrier became self-sustaining, drawing power from an unseen source and growing stronger with each passing moment.

'... is the effect of constellation magic.' For the first time, Vesuvius grasped the true potential of his magic's evolution. By linking it with the celestial bodies, he could amplify its power beyond measure.

Usually, he wouldn't expect such powerful effects if he just connected to distant planets or stars in the sky, but now that he connected directly to the black hole below him, the effect was magnified to a scale he'd never imagined.

With the barrier now impervious to the colliding particles, their explosions no longer caused even the slightest disturbance upon its surface. Vesuvius, emboldened by this newfound strength, flapped his wings with renewed vigor, descending into the darkness.