Dungeon Diver: Stealing A Monster’s Power

I can see, feel, hear, smell, and fully comprehend everything simultaneously that is happening around me for over 100,000 kilometers in every direction.

The ends of the exile zones, where little to no ether is left in the dead worlds, pile up even further than my vision.

The memories of other Citadels are vivid in my mind, but it seems even they are further away than my senses can travel as well. The Upper Realm is truly vast.

However, the Citadel above me is clear in perfect clarity. The conversation between Ember and the Citadel Lord is fresh in my ears and the damage covering the walls of that dueling room paints a perfect picture of what happened, showing me exactly what I must do next.

My conceal skill activates, and I begin changing my appearance.

I continue speaking to the Blue Wyvern that watches me float above the split mountain, giving off an ethereal glow as I am showered in the rays of light from the powerplant above.

"The Guardian of your prison has been killed. Now you may roam freely again. I'm correct, aren't I?"

He replies through the telepathy link I've created, without hesitating any further.

"That is true... but... you showed no signs of Nobility before you fought. Is it possible to awaken this path without being born into it? This—this could change everything—"

"You can ask all the questions you'd like when this is over. I need you to help me now before those doors shut."

While I speak these words, my conceal skill continues changing my pristine, white, glistening true Noble Human Form. Three horns grow from my forehead, and I allow my Demon Lord's Core to flood the outside of my body with dark purple demonic energy.

I even coat my crimson Soul Sword with the darkness, making it glow black and purple.

I activate my greater form, imbuing it with Demonic Energy instead of pure mana to grow, simulating the exact consistency I watched the demons back on my homeworld use.

The Wyvern's eyes widen even more, as its vision is sharp; but the more Ether and Demonic Energy I pour into this disguise, the more it becomes unsure of what it is seeing.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

This is a real Noble Bloodline Transformation. The demonic energy and Demon Lord's Core are genuine as well. However, there is a mana-based Soul Energy core that dominates my body, and the beautiful form and awakening it just witnessed would be impossible for a demon to achieve. It is simply not in their nature.

While the Wyvern tries to wrap its mind around what it has just witnessed, it still jumps into action, flapping its wings and flying through a zone barrier that has been deactivated from its guardian's death.

At the same time, I send another telepathy message to Ava, as I have a job for her to do too if I want to pull this off without leaving any loose ends.

She instantly agrees, with no questions asked, opening up her system storage and zipping around the mountain collecting the soul weapons and corpses of dozens of fallen demonic guards.

–

In the next few seconds, the Wyvern flaps its wings fewer than five times, curving upward all the way up the mountain hundreds of kilometers high.

It feels a rush of energy as many of the ether stones it flies over at close range are drained. A white aura of the Ancient Monster's Ether expands as it feels the invisible cage it has been living in lifted by a mystery man.

The Wyvern's energy form grows in size even larger than my demonic greater form.

Green light flashes as Ava circles the mountain, getting closer and closer to the top.

Then, all three of us collide atop the mountain; and the Wyvern doesn't stop its upward momentum.

I stand on the Wyvern's back, and Ava stands on its tail.

Demonic Energy floods out from my core more and more, surrounding the Wyvern's thick ether aura and creating a pseudo-Greater Form that I can bend to my will.

As we fly upward into the shimmering white light, the Blue Wyvern appears to be turning into a Demonic Dragon that looks exactly like the one Drako Vermillion bonded with, the same dragon Ember killed back on the human world.

The final touch to my disguise is shifting the numbers on my palm to a [1] and doing the same for the Wyvern.

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I share my stealth skill with Ava, and she disappears from sight, using 3% of the stats from over a thousand worlds to hide her being.

The three of us fly through the closing doors into the bright white reactor's light, and the doors shut with a massive echoing thud moments later.

The entire central peak goes silent and dark once we leave, with only a small number of demonic guards remaining, struggling to pull themselves out from the rubble and avalanches that destroyed the mountain of dead worlds.

–

The Wyvern's speed grows faster and faster as we begin spinning and tearing through the maintenance walkways and inner workings of the hot white, green, and silver reactor that connects the central tower down to the exile zones.

Crystal-clear images of the battle within the tower coming to its end are all I see above.

The demon being pinned down by three incredibly strong monsters with similar refined ether auras—surpassing the limits of their avatars—glow bright as Ember hovers above them, listening to the demon warn them about their race's demise if they kill him.

From the memories I've absorbed, the words of this demon, and conversations among the Lords all over the Citadel that I filter through, I understand the implications of this situation very clearly.

If anyone kills a demon, the wrath of their Family Head will exterminate their entire race.

These monsters may have the strength to do so, but there are greater powers and complicated politics involved. Ember would have ended this battle far sooner if it was easy to do so.

Therefore, the only way to get away with such a feat would be if their own flesh and blood killed their own, and for good reason.

This demon race is obsessed with power and the perception of control.

So, I'll play their game and give them exactly what they want.

A demonic grin spreads across my face, showing off my sharp teeth and features as I channel dense ether and demonic energy into my Soul Sword and prepare for impact.

The Wyvern slams into the underside of the Citadel's base without any hesitation or fear, using hot, sharpened ether on its pointed head to tear through the green structure.

We plunge upward through an empty room with moving floor mechanisms, and the impact makes the entire structure of the building shake.

Milliseconds later, we fly hundreds of kilometers upward, crashing through the next floor. This room houses strange avatars in the shape of demons with other monster souls powering them, trapped in some kind of mind-control spell.

All of these servants look frantic and stressed at first, but this is soon waved away as the shockwave of our entry blows them all to the walls of the room, knocking them out cold from our natural intimidation.

More and more floors are broken through, quicker and quicker as the Wyvern flaps its wings through the green divine structure, breaking multi-kilometer-wide holes into it as if it's just flapping through thick air. Some are storage rooms, others have more servants watching surveillance systems, and a few are empty rooms similar to the first floor.

I hold on, charging my blade, and prepare for the final floor where my target sits, pinned down and helpless.

I activate [Screech], simulating the sounds of a demon and dragon letting out a horrific battle roar as we break through the floor. I leap upward with my sword leading, piercing and shattering the Noble Demon's Divine and Demonic Core in a single strike as more and more of the floor dividing us breaks apart.

–

Ember watches from above as this occurs, sending waves of telepathy to the other warlords, and they all leap backward once the room begins to flood with waves of Demonic Energy far stronger than anything Andras produced during their fight.

A massive shockwave of Ether and Divine Energy is released as the Citadel Lord's Avatar is shattered, and he is killed in front of tens of millions of Lords watching live.

A truly demonic sight unfolds as the corpse of this Noble Demon, Andras Vermillion, is lifted into the air on a glowing purple blade. A black-horned demon riding a monstrous demonic dragon radiates more ether within the holographic interface than any of the other fighters in the ring.

Strange readings show all the excess Ether, Demonic Energy, and Divine Energy from Andras being drained into this overwhelmingly powerful demon's sword and flooding into its body.

The whole Citadel shakes in fear as they both let out roars again, and the dueling room goes black.

–

The Citadel goes silent at the sight of this darkness, but moments later, questions immediately erupt among its residents.

"W-What happened?"

"It's blacked out again? Why?"

"Another demon came in to kill the Citadel Lord?"

"That human did say he was dishonoring the Vermillion Family name by admitting defeat..."

"Could... this be another test...?"

"No—it couldn't be..."

"What's going to happen to the Ogre Conglomeration now...?"

"Yeah... we're not going to be exterminated now, right? I-I mean, it was a demon that killed him..."

–

When the darkness fades, only two living beings remain in the dueling room for the public to see.

A demon and a dragon, slowly flying around the top half of the room.

Below them, many corpses covered in dense Demonic Energy lie, dissolving as their shattered avatars return to the atmosphere.

This includes the remains of the Noble Demon Andras Vermillion and his soul-bonded dragon. Beside them, a dual-sided axe lies dormant and black, a spiked club near it as well, and two long blades crossed—all left where the Warlords were last seen.

Their remains are unrecognizable, like melted piles of flesh covered in the same demonic energy that trails behind this mystery demon.

Even a small pile of demonic energy-covered remains, glowing with flickers of white fire, sits on the dueling room floor where the human was last seen. Given the darkness, it is impossible to know what truly happened from the public's perspective.

All they know is that it was gruesome—and not even close. This Demon completely overwhelmed them.

The demon that crashed the show speaks in a cool and calculated voice, its wise eyes sending shivers down spines as the holographic live feed zooms in on its face.

"The Vermillion Family name is not one to be thrown around lightly or used to win petty duels. Do not compare true Noble Demons to the weak showing this false Lord, Andras Vermillion, has made you believe is the pinnacle of power. There are far greater forces above that you must fear."

The strange demon's eyes glisten with dark purple energy, shining with an ethereal white glow from deep within. Then it grins, letting out an aura of intimidation so strong the entire dueling room's walls begin to shake and crack before the public's eyes.

As the walls splinter, waves of that intimidation leak out from the central tower, and tens of millions of Lords feel its full strength—even thousands of kilometers away.

The demon speaks again, raising its purple sword, which bears an eye at its base that looks even more malicious.

"I, Drako Vermillion, declare myself the new Lord of the Ellipsia Citadel."