Dungeon Diver: Stealing A Monster's Power-Chapter 868

Miriel chokes on the thick air and falls to his knees from the pressure they are all emitting.

The fact that they are speaking through a hologram, and from different zones of the upper realm, while still exerting this much pressure down on him, is like nothing he's ever felt before.

Yet, even as this pressure fills the room, he does not pass out.

Miriel only smiles while standing back up, unsealing both his Noble, then Royal Bloodlines before three of the family heads.

The entire Green Zone of the Upper Realm shudders, and the holograms of the Demons before him shift.

Lucian's eyes widen slightly, as his is the closest and most high-definition imagery. Even the reflections of a long hallway behind him are visible.

In this hall, the outlines of hundreds of Demons standing at guard in cyan armor are fuzzy but easy to perceive now, with Royal Vibrations flowing back through this holographic display. Though, there is a small curve upward in his lip, and the sensation of pride coming through.

The Dark Blue Demon does not have any facial expressions present, but upon Miriel's release, the shadowy imagery of a multi-headed beast wakes up, and its long necks and heads turn downward at its master.

There is a very cold sensation rippling out from this figure, as the shadowy heads fade away and only the single Dark Blue Demon remains. They feel like a statue, looking down with no emotions at all, only here because they were called to do their duty.

Higher above even this, the extremely faded Purple Demon does not move, but the sensation of being looked down on, like a small, harmless dog, is all that comes out from this hologram.

The single silver thread–imbued ether strand trembles, then its presence completely disappears.

The faded Purple Demon speaks, through a static and rough connection.

"Yes, carry out the initiation process. The Emperor approves. This Royal shall suffice. He trusts that the Vanguards will take care of any issues if his ability becomes too high-risk."

Then, this purple figure starts to fade too. Wisps of white figures look like they move in front of them, in humanoid shapes; but in this old memory, it's quite hard to make out what they really are.

All of this is fascinating to me.

I sensed this reactor below the Citadel earlier, but seeing it being used to contact higher Realms, and get a look at some of the family heads, is like I'm walking right behind enemy lines... these are memories the Demons certainly would not want me seeing...

–

More and more memories fly by.

The mission he's sent off on is to work together with an old battle partner from the Lower Realm and destroy a Citadel where Wyverns from the previous era still reside, and wipe every single one of their race from existence, so the Demons can finally rule without any other Nobles training to claim this path any longer.

In addition to this, he is tasked to begin scouting strong Noble Demons from the Lower Realm; and most importantly, the words that stick out to me the most come from the cold and unemotional, faceless Demon from the Dark Blue zone.

"While you complete your initiation, it is vital you never let the Fallen One ascend further than the Green Zone. He must be entirely suppressed before we seal the Upper Realm."

The shock of realizing there actually are Demons stronger than him, even in his Royal Form, has pushed back his plans for revenge.

However, after hundreds of thousands of years of waiting, a few hundred, thousand, or even a hundred thousand more, if need be, is not a problem.

Miriel accepts the words of the family heads, reunites with Sisco Morvale, and a team of 1st Class and Noble Demons from the Morvale family to claim the outer edges of this zone.

I witness the memories fly by, of the systematic annihilation of the Wyvern race, both in the Lower Realm hundreds of thousands of years ago and now in the Green Zone.

Multiple wars, involving the strongest Berserker Races, Ogres, and Orcs, all pass by.

But Miriel does not act on the front lines much.

After easily taking down an entire Citadel full of the strongest race of monsters on his first day in the Upper Realm, he begins to isolate himself below the Grand Citadel and direct his underlings.

Every time this Fallen One returns, his Demonic Dragon takes care of the dirty work. He gains more and more levels, ranking up again, awakening Celestial Energy; but it truly does not matter to him.

Even the day he's finally granted the position as a Family Head, after his strongest subordinate captured and restrained the last Wyvern and set up a final trap to weed out the Fallen One one final time, Miriel is nothing but a silent and resentment-filled Demon.

He chooses the name Vermillion for his family, as a promise to himself that he will see the blood of all the royals one day and take the throne for himself, or tear down the system itself trying.

Even in these last 18,000 years, as he sits and waits beneath the Grand Citadel, draining the low-quality ether from every new Lord that arrives, his anger and resentment only grow.

He builds a dense black prison of corruption below the Citadel, to protect the Realm from his outbursts.

Occasionally, he has meetings with the new promising Nobles that arrive, but he still sees them all as lesser beings to be trained and used as pawns just like he was.

The plan is to bring a new Noble or strong 1st Class Demon up from the Lower Realm every few hundred years, to build up an army as the generations of Demons in the Lower Realm cultivate better bloodline mutations.

Though, it seems fewer and fewer Nobles are being produced as the years pass. They are not as prominent as in the time of the Morvales.

Miriel realizes this, and knows that he will most likely be the last Royal Family Head... and therefore, the youngest one once the Lower Realm is sealed.

Again, just a tool, a pawn, to be used in someone else's game.

The resources in the Green Zone aren't pure enough for him to grow and challenge the figures that look down on him.

He is being suppressed, and again, there is almost nothing he can do about it.

This Demon's corruption, and hatred for the system and those that try to control him, grows even more as he's left in isolation.

So much so, that I begin to feel and understand that he has even created contingencies upon his own death. If he is to be betrayed by any of the family heads, or killed by this Fallen One, he will still leave his scar on history, and completely consume and destroy the Green Zone of the Upper Realm.

Even the memories of my own arrival to the Upper Realm as Drako Vermillion fly by, but they are but a small droplet in the vast ocean of memories and emotions this true monster has.

There are millions of packets of data that have been compressed and stored away that I don't have the time or mental power to unravel right now, but they are neatly stored deep in my mind palace.

–

All of a sudden, time in the current day resumes again.

The flash of memories ends in this very moment, watching my own Sacred Body be torn to pieces by the blast from the opposite point of view.

I've killed this Demon, but I have not won this battle yet. He planned for a scenario like this.

This is the second time my entire body has been destroyed today... but this time, it certainly hurts more than the first.

It is because it's not just the energy form that is being torn apart, it is my ether and mana pools, directly tethered to my soul and system.

My Sacred Body cannot even withstand the horrific blast. frёewebηovel.cѳm

Though, it is not entirely lost. The pristine white celestial particles are all still contained inside this floating sphere I've created.

In fact, some of the pieces of my soul bounce back off of the defensive arrays toward my cores that rest in the center of this creation. Though, from nearly the same exact point where Miriel's cores burst, oily waves of Royal Grade Corruption continue to pour out, even after his death.

It is like they are flowing out from a single point in space, connected to some kind of storage dimension, making the density of corruption in the environment thicker and thicker.

In order to not be completely consumed myself, I try to take control of the absurd power using the very skill that created it—Celestial Grade Corruption. The simultaneous use of my new buff, the Royal Bloodline Transformation, makes my three cores vibrate with an intensity far greater than the High Noble waves they were sending out before...

I'm using all of the Grand Citadel's mass and energy right now to build this array using the creation aspect of my High Noble breakthrough; but I feel these waves becoming even stronger, vibrating through reality with even more intensity...

Some waves feel extremely hot and sharp, while others feel dense and cold... Every one of them pulsates like a new heartbeat... and I feel myself struggling to unseal this buff.

The exact sensation of Miriel breaking through from a High Noble to a Royal is still fresh in my consciousness; but the conditions to trigger the same kind of breakthrough for myself aren't available completely.

The three cores in the center of this growing pool of corruption start to sparkle with the same light as my Noble Human form, getting ready to adapt this new transformation into something entirely different...

Yet, the pressure pushing down around me is suppressing me too much. In the depths of my mind, I can feel and see tendrils of dark, oily, corrosive energy trying to tear apart my system from the inside.

Even as I activate my Corruption skill, I cannot take control of the darkness that surrounds me. It's been infected and mutated too far. The Royal Demon's attempt to break through to a higher frequency has created a substance far too strong for him to control. Now, I'm having the same problem...

Visible cracks on the outer layer of this white sphere in the air start to form.

Not only is there dark corruption on the seams, it has also started to bleed through each hexagonal defensive array holding it together. The entire orb is on the verge of bursting, yet the corruption that erupts out from a single point in its center is not slowing down.

Even the cracks in space, threatening to turn the Green Zone inside out and implode on itself, are getting larger. The more pressure these waves of dark corruption pour in, the more stress it puts on the fabric of reality holding this zone of the Upper Realm together.

The cracks widen with every passing millisecond, yet no corruption leaks out into them to relieve the stress. The tears and fractures in space react in a strange way with this zone. As they open up wider, less space is left here to interact with; and the growing pool of corruption becomes even more compressed.

I feel the seed of my Royal Form ready to blossom, but the frequency of my vibrations is being distorted by these cracks in space and the mental and physical compression from the black pools.

Every time small glimmering versions of my body start to rebuild, they're eaten up faster than I can grow.

I want to contain this blast, but without a form to hold it, this is going to be catastrophic.

I want to yell but have no mouth or lungs to do so.

All I have is a mind, and the visual representation of my divine, soul energy, and demon core. They are all very cracked and fractured... Some of this damage is from the blast that occurred just moments ago, but other, older dark fractures that haven't healed are from earlier in the fight when my body was destroyed for the first time.

There are only two other instances in my life I faced an issue like this... One was inside Celia's construct, when I was testing the limits of my divine core, and learned that my Mythic Grade Absorption skill allowed me to mutate my cells, and awaken an astral body later on after the fact. The second time was inside the throne on my way up to the Upper Realm, when I used the Divine Grade Absorption skill paired with a True Core ability in order to mutate my body, mind, and system further; allowing me to keep my flesh and bones when traveling to this plane.

Now, I'm faced with my hardest challenge yet. I need to push my unique skill even further to survive, and save the Green Zone of the Upper Realm.

As my cores crack even more while I think to myself, and the waves of half High Noble, half Royal Vibrations seep out from me, attempting to break through, I open my status and upgrade a single skill.

[Upgrade]

[Absorption] [Divine -> Celestial]

Cost: 100,000 PP

[YES][NO]

I press yes.

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Author's Note:

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