Kae
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Dungeon Diver CH990
🕑 Added 2025-09-13 23:00:07 +0000 UTCEmber stands up from his isolated place in the forest, and when he opens his crimson eyes, a white flashing light glows behind them.
Thin outlines of glyphs appear like reflections in them, like images of the glyphs are playing on a screen in front of him, but there is nothing of the sort.
A grin stays on his face while he jumps up into the air and starts to float back toward the tear in space at the center of the domain.
An elf's voice echoes through the air, “They’re fighting already… Jay and Maria- they went into the Central Domain.”
“Yes, I can see. Stay here and open this Domain to the rest of the Garden once it's all over.”
Ember’s body begins to ripple with an extremely dense Primordial Aura, and the glyphs in his eyes shine brighter.
As he passes over Ren, and the rift that looks down into all the zones below, the elf nods.
A white flash of light surrounds Ember, and out of it emerges his hybrid form.
His feet and hands grow long claws, the undersides of his arms, chest, and back all grow scales in areas to protect his vitals.
A pair of wings sprouts out of his back, and so do a miniature pair of horns that are covered in scales too, making them far different than Demons’ horns made from pure bone.
All of these scales that cover his body look slightly translucent.
They’re jet black in color, and some are even a potent crimson on the underside of his wings.
However, they look like they have a glossy finish on them. The Primordial Aura saturating his body is making mirror-like illusions that distort the truth.
Behind each scale, the same blinking white glyphs start to show like they’re reflections.
Even deeper down, the true color of these scales shines with a dull golden light, but it’s only seen at obscure angles through the Primordial Aura’s lens.
When Ren sees the sight above, the wide eyes of this elf stop blinking entirely.
“What… is that form…?”
Ember raises a hand and looks upward as he floats higher and higher.
“It’s something I’ve crafted to deal with Marcellus Imperial. I’ve lost count of how many times that Demon has killed me. The fact that he’s activated the seal has given me enough power to use this one more time.”
“You—really need all of that to take on a Purple-Cored Royal?” a nervous voice sounds back.
Ember chuckles as his clawed hand touches the top of this hidden domain.
“I agree, this is realms above what a purple core should be able to achieve. Even if you saw some of the older eras with your own eyes, you still do not know the raw talent that spawned when the Source was still volatile. That Demon is in a class of its own…”
A bright ripple of glyphs begins to spread out across the curved invisible barrier in the sky.
The Ancient Dryad’s Aura that is still present in this Domain reacts fondly to Ember’s Primordial Aura to help out and move some of the key glyphs with more efficiency, but there are many layers that he has to manually brute-force open himself.
This is no normal Domain Barrier. It shares similar properties to the Central Domain, using a strange kind of Primordial Aura that repels anything it touches that is not on its level.
Ember mumbles to himself but still makes strands of aura flow down so that they hit Ren’s ears.
“In the other systems, we would call an existence like him True Anomalies. Most of the time, they all kill each other in the earlier eras. Those that actually survive, or have racial genes that allow them to live long enough, they would either rule as the Overseer until the energy ran out, or kill everything inside before breaking out.
“I thought I placed enough backup plans to make sure none of them would survive, even when the Demon’s Overseer remained in power. It worked quite well, actually. Most of the first generation died because of it. The lot of them that actually managed to survive all degraded into First Bloods with no memory of their prior existence, and left with not even a shadow of their potential. Marcellus managed to avoid his fate… and he’s been the faithful eyes and ears of that Overseer for the mortals ever since. This is our last chance.”
Glyphs start to shoot apart in the invisible ceiling above, and the intensity of Ember’s Primordial Aura becomes multiple times greater with every passing second. He pulls it inward, and it condenses around his chest, a narrow pathway through his arm into his hand, and all throughout his brain. No aura goes unused as this hidden domain begins to open.
—
Maria’s barriers of icy glyphs shatter while a dagger pierces them with ease.
Just before it hits us, I turn us into a vibrant, fast-moving energy, and we disappear through the Primordial Aura pathways my mind creates flowing through this forest in the Central Domain.
We reappear out of sight, and extremely close to another Primordial Tree’s trunk, close enough to let my aura seep in through its outer protection layers, and be the dominant force even though that Demon’s Aura fills up the entire domain.
We’re close enough to two other trees nearby, and with a little extra effort I’m able to let my aura seep into them too.
Links of loyalty sound in my mind, and we disappear and reappear a few quadrillion kilometers away right after.
The dagger is far enough away that we don’t even have to summon any kind of protective glyphs to try and slow it down.
Even when we did before, the beautiful dagger didn't even look like it was facing any resistance. It may just be a waste of our ether pools to even try stopping them for now.
However, as we blip in and out of range from this weapon across the forest, linking one tree at a time, it seems almost necessary to try.
“Putting up some resistance is part of the act. It may be a waste of ether, but it will give us more time before he realizes why we’re moving like this.” Maria’s voice sounds in my head as she forms another few layers of glyphs.
At this rate, we’re going to have to dodge thousands of times to hit every tree, but she’s right. Pretending to block every few Primordial shadow steps may entertain him for longer.
I can feel the ether in Maria’s pools slowly deplete, and I cycle more into her through our contact. Not only does she need it more, but having equal pool levels allows for a calmer and more synchronized mind.
Small dots of perception start to appear all over this Central Domain.
Not only are they granting me worlds in the Lower Realm, but also eyes right here on the battlefield. Even when my aura is out of range, I can still see clearly within a small bubble through the mind of the Primordial Trees.
This awareness is not limited to only the trees inside. I can still see everything outside this Central Domain. The perfect circle of ritual sites filled with thousands of Primordial Trees shows in perfect spectate feeds in the back of my mind.
In fact, there is a spreading sensation even further out in the Primordial Garden.
It is far away, in the outer settlements. I start to feel new ancient races swearing their loyalty. Subconsciously, my Primordial Aura floods into their beings just like it did for Ulgar, Axel, and Vardon. It is enough to reach some of the trees far out in the domains not owned by demons.
Slowly, my perception of the entire Purple Zone begins to piece itself together. As it does, I see the small thread I must follow in the next few seconds to regain control.
