[Book 2] That time I got reincarnated as a slime,no, a DRAGON?

CH-21

Rimuru's POV

"So what are those numbers written beside everyone's name." Dagruel asked.

"Those are their points. Points are earned by killing Gods or their apostles. The points that you get are directly related to which era that God belongs to." Veldanava replied.

".. Just like a game." Leon muttered under his breath, but Veldanava managed to hear it.

"You've got that wrong Leon. It is the other way around. The games in your world have the point system because of this." Veldanava said pointing to the screen in front of us.

"You get points for two things. Defeating Gods, or their apostles. Obviously, this system has a major flaw. What 'defeating' entails is not very clear. Also, those who fight from the backlines and logistics don't have justice done to them. Regardless, it is something that has been going on for ages. Rimuru, you have 45 points. 5 points each for defeating three apostles of the fourth era Gods, and 15 points each for defeating two sixth era God, that is Velgrynd and Veldora." Veldanava said, clarifying my points.

But wait.

"Three apostles? I don't ever remember defeating Luna or Guy in a fight. Rather, I haven't even fought them seriously."

"They need not be from this world only, you know? You have caused quite a problem for the God of your previous world you know?" Veldanava said.

I try to remember anyone who might fit the bill of being an apostle. There was one that I could think of. A dragon that caused me to literally rethink everything about the world that I did know.

"... Qaris..." I mutter out loud.

"Yep. Along with Qaris, the mediator of your previous world, you also defeated Xenos, the observer of your previous world."

As soon as he mentioned Xenos, a sudden memory came back to me. I remembers the last order he had given Ciel, who was nicknamed C.C. at the time.

Azatoth: Tell command centre that Xenos is alive and has a mind of its own.

That would explain everything. So he was an anomaly just like Qaris.

"Wait. Doesn't that mean that there is only one apostle left alive in my previous world?" I ask.

"Well, that should be the case.... But, your sister.... Yeah. She followed in your footpaths, I guess. She managed to kill the defender of the multidimensional barrier of your world, making it the fifth world, after this one, to break its barrier." Veldanava said something that caught me, Leon and Chloe by surprise.

"Wait. So the fifth world was our previous world?" I ask.

"Yep." Veldanava confirms.

"Wait. Wait wait wait. Who was the guardian of the multidimensional barrier?"

"It's someone you have fought against once." Veldanava said.

As he says that, I tried to recall anyone who might be on the same level as Qaris.

...

.....

Yep. No one came to mind. Seeing that I was completely clueless, Veldanava dropped a hint.

"What was the first mission you failed?"

After hearing this, I go back in my memories, digging deep into what my first defeat was. I had tasted a lot of defeats. But the first major one. No doubt.

Ah! I realise now.

"That stupid worm!" I exclaim out loud. Everyone looks at me as If I had finally lost it. But I couldn't care less. I waited for confirmation from Veldanava.

"That's right." Veldanava said while trying to stifle his laugh.

"That stupid worm." Veldanava said, trying to imitate my tone.

I don't even rebuke him. What Qaris once said to me came to my mind. There is a God in this world. Not only that but it is my fate. To become a God killer.

"Anyways. As is the case with monsters, Gods that have lived for a long time are obviously stronger. As such, defeating a God of the earlier eras grant you more points, and so does their apostles." Veldanava said, bringing me out of my thoughts.

"What do you want us to do? Gather points?" I ask.

"No. I want you to protect the Cardinal World. Unlike this world, or your previous one, many Gods try to interfere in their World to create new Gods. One of the prime example would be the third era God Eternal. Eternal would divide himself into two parts. «Eternal :Despair» and «Eternal :Hope»

Despair would spread chaos around the world, while Hope would help the natives gain power to go up against Despair. Despite all this, he would kill the strongest humans and save their power which Hope would then provide to the next hero. They continued to do so till Finn" Veldanava said pointing at the first spot on the leaderboard, of sorts, "managed to kill Eternal and take his place as the new God.

Even though he is a sixth generation God, he is still as strong as a third generation God. But, that doesn't mean you will lose to him. He can become much more powerful than you, but that comes witha time limit. If you managed to survive till then, it's your win, without a doubt."

"Why are you telling us all of this?" Guy asked.

"Why? It's simple. You might have to fight him after all."
"Huh? Why would we fight him? It's not like we antagonized him." Chloe asked.

"Did you forget Chloe? The entire reason the worlds were separated from each other? They weren't seperated to prevent the war. They were separated to make them easier and prevent collateral. This means, there must be some fighting still going on how to obtain more power." I clarify Chloe's doubt, but that in turn leaves a bigger question. How are fights fought? What are the rules? And most importantly, how much have we been dragged into the war?

"You are completely correct Rimuru. To decide who will take the world core, a battle is fought. It can be a one on one battle, team battle, like a 5v5 or it can even be a proper war with thousands of not millions participating from both sides. The winner gets the world core of the loser."

"Wait. If the world core can make Gods stronger, why not just obtain a World Core of a world which doesn't have a God." Dagruel asked.

"It's a valid question, but in reality, it is not that simple. If even one God tries to obtain an unherited core, all the other Gods would no doubt take action against him and try to take his world core. After all, there is a law which states that we Gods cannot take World Cores of worlds without any gods." Veldanava said.

This came as a major surprise. Not only to me, but to Guy as well. We both look at each other, and confirm our thoughts with a simple nod. What surprised us wasn't the law itself, but the fact that it was a law.

"If there is a law...," Guy spoke up.
"...That must mean there is someone powerful enough to enforce them." I finish the sentence.

Hearing this, Veldanava grins.

"Who knows? They say that there is still a first or a second generation of god still alive. But we have no idea. Who knows? He might be dead. He might be alive. We have no way to know." Veldanava said with a sly grin. There's no way he doesn't know. Someone or the other must have broken this law and got punished. Rather, the entire law must have come into effect solely because someone tried to do it and was stopped.

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I hope you guys like it. I finished it in a hurry, so there might be typos and other error. Anyways, I am feeling better and my health is getting better.