Kae
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Dungeon Diver CH840
🕑 Added 2025-04-16 23:00:18 +0000 UTC“With minutes left on the clock to spare! That does it! Every single Demonic Beast is eliminated! Every single Obsidian Clan Berserker! All of the pre-qualifiers from last month! Every single qualifier from the Preliminary rounds earlier today! They are all gone! Eliminated! Only a single entry remains!”
The instant replay, slowing my movements down by over 1,000 times, slicing through the Griffon, shattering their pristine white greater form into thin slices with devastating demonic blows, is repeated on the live feed over and over.
Close-ups of the bright purple eye on the base of my soul sword are shown in perfect quality, then shift back to the visuals of my demonic appearance and growing horns as I emerge from the explosions.
The entry card showing my human face shifts, now looking just like Drako Vermillion.
“What’s happening?”
“Why does that human look like a Demon now?”
“See! I told you the flames were purple! Ha!”
“My bets still paid out! Who cares if it’s a Demon or not!”
“No way! They tricked us!”
“Of course they did! Are you stupid? A Lower Race killing three Obsidian Clan Berserkers? Of course it’s impossible!”
“W-What?”
The discussion in the stands erupts with outrage, excitement, and despair.
No one knows what to think, or how to act.
The imagery of a Demon is showing up on their live feed, but it is not one of the Vermillion Family that they recognize.
Then, a wave of understanding begins to wash through the crowds, and at the same time the Announcer guiding the show catches on, yelling out for everyone to hear while the top of the dome continues to saturate in a dark shadowy aura.
“That’s right! I told you all you were getting a special appearance from a new Vermillion Family member that just arrived from the Lower Realm. Less than 30 days, without a single avatar upgrade, here to present his raw Noble Power to the citizens of the Grand Citadel, and those he will soon rule over in the green zone of the Upper Realm. I present to you, Draco Vermillion!”
In response, I show off even more, lifting my sword in the air and activating my demonic energy manipulation skill to flood the area with even more dense purple soul energy as it begins to meld with my unsealed ether stores.
My Noble Vibrations collide with the outside of the dome again, with greater force than last time, but none of the upgraded automatic suppression arrays are activated. Instead, a small amount leaks out to make the crowds around the arena feel my presence again.
The Announcer begins to show more highlights of my last few fights, but at the same time, the shadows at the top of the dome all start to form together again into the imagery of a long-horned Demon.
All of the playback cuts off, and Miriel’s simulated energy form is the only thing the live feeds focus on again, as this shadowy figure almost never appears in front of the masses.
Though, as his cold aura clashes against mine, more understanding washes over the crowds as to why he is really here.
The deep and commanding voice that welcomed the start of this main event round now echoes through the dome again, down toward me.
I cannot see any facial features on the shadowy monster, nor can I even see where their true body is… but I can feel the devious aura of a figure grinning and looking down at me like prey, or more like I am nothing but a cute helpless animal.
“You’ve won. As expected of a Noble Demon. These 1st Class Lords and so-called Elites are nothing compared to you. What a grand stage to introduce yourself to the Green Zone of the Upper Realm indeed! My grand prize to you will be 100 years of personal training, one-on-one as my disciple, and of course, a Citadel of your own once it is through. Mensa, Ellipsia, or even have a new one constructed to your liking. You are family, so it is only right I treat you with honor and respect. All of the Lower Races watching will be your Lords to command soon. Is this a satisfactory welcome present for you?”
Many 2nd Class and weaker 1st Class Lords outside the arena pass out from the shockwave of energy coming off Miriel’s energy clone, but more suppression and shielding commands are activated again to keep these Vibrations out.
The incredible visual of two enormous Demonic Greater Forms conversing is shown for hundreds of millions of Lords to see.
Some scream out with fright, others with excitement, and many freeze in place with fear or awe.
I reply with a smile of my own.
“Yes, I believe that prize is satisfactory for the average Noble Demon rising from the Lower Realm…”
Then I grip my sword tighter, and swing it around in a circle to create a purple and white sparkling light show around me while I point my blade up at the Demon again.
“Though, I am no average Noble Demon. I believe I have what it takes to sit on your throne. To become a Royal Family Head.”
As I lift my blade in the air, all of the Lords in the crowd surrounding stands that were reacting or making noise before stop. Eyes widen all around the ring, and everyone freezes, even the announcer’s mouth stays wide open.
I hold my ground and confident stance through the eerie silence, as well as the growing cold aura that pumps out from the energy manifestation above me.
It feels like a towering monster, looking down at a tiny bug that just bit a giant, expecting for it to fall.
Instead of rage, or anger, only loud laughter shakes the dome.
Disappointment, failure, even pity is all the Demonic force is able to send through its vibrations, as it expected more from the Noble Demon than a public challenge like this.
To question one's power, and publicly state a wish to take another's throne… to diminish a Demon’s position and honor, no matter the difference in rank, this is a direct and indefensible attack.
“Are you challenging me to a public duel? A mere Noble Demon in your first month in the Upper Realm? Do you really wish for me to make a martyr out of you? This is the grand prize you desire?” Miriel states back in a loud and demanding voice.
I laugh back, not backing down.
“I fooled everyone here into believing I was a human, to give the Lower Races some hope that maybe they had a chance at power after all… Only for them to see the cruel reality of Demons’ domination of the Upper Realm… then again… maybe it wasn't a show for them, but an act to buy more time and fool you.”
Darkness fills every corner of the dome around me after these words, and I simultaneously send messages to my generals and allies scattered across the Upper Realm.
–
A ping sounds in Maria’s ear while she watches the live surveillance feeds of the Ellipsia Citadel.
In the last few minutes, there have been multiple waves of blue light coming from the direction three other generals headed off to just hours ago.
Yet, her vision is far more concentrated on the scans of incoming forces from another direction.
The Mensa Citadel has an army on the way, just as she expected.
There appears to be one high-level energy source, that of at least a Noble Demon’s energy readings, two at that of a 1st Class Demon, and over 10,000 around the 2nd and 3rd Class strength level, in the form of Demonic Servants.
Their exact imagery is still not clear on the live feeds, as they are still over 500,000 kilometers away. But, at the speed they're traveling, it's only a matter of minutes before they arrive.
She uses the Citadel’s communication systems to alert Torvak and Asic, who are down below in the High Orc Tower’s public district, putting the final touches on the 8 thousand Ellipsia Citadel’s freed slaves that used to be Demonic Servants as well.
“Time’s up. We have company. The final phase of the Green Zone takeover has begun.”
She turns off the transmission device once both the Warlords receive this message, pulls out her soul sword, and calmly walks down a narrow corridor until stopping right before a sealed room.
With the activation of a simple ether command, the door slides open, and inside two braindead 1st Class Demons rest in rejuvenation pods.
Beside them, their dragons sleep.
However, they will never wake up again.
Before any of the four beings in the room even register she has arrived, blue and white light fills the air.
Crystalline Source Resin shimmers in rainbow-refracting patterns in the form of clear cuts on the Demons’ and Dragons’ necks and through their cores. All four avatars and bonded souls are shattered to pieces like glass exploding under too much pressure.
Level-up notifications ring in her inner ear, and at the same time, the warning messages that two Vermillion Family Demons have just been killed are triggered through every Demon in the 5 Great Families.
Maria wastes no time, and jumps upward, activating ether commands to leave through the Central Tower’s ceiling, then pointing her gaze off in the distance where the real enemy approaches.
–
Simultaneously, Abby, Arie, and Raven all dive down deep below the Green Clouds of the Upper Realm.
All three of them have their Greater Forms activated, using all of the speed they can to fly forward, staying inside a dense green aura from Abby and her glowing staff as she leads the flight up front.
This green protective bubble of restoration makes both Arie’s and Raven’s bodies pulse with sparkling green and yellow light, and every time another wave of Blue Noble Vibrations explodes out from where they're headed, they flow through them like their bodies are translucent.
When the three generals break through the lowest level of clouds, the scene of an enormous army of Demonic Wyverns, Berserkers, Ogres, Orcs, Cyclopes, and even some unidentifiable beasts all staring forward in mind-controlled, mindless states, surrounding the coast of the Sea of Corruption, is a terrifying sight.
These three, out of any of the generals, know what kind of power can be infused into monsters after their death while training on Kelfar.
The fact that even as the sea before them glows bright blue, sending waves of radiation outward that destroy hundreds of thousands of kilometers’ worth of landscape, and even melt the leftover towering pieces of the Citadel sticking out from the sea, the Demonic Army stands ready for battle, unfazed.
–
The Fast Travel Orb that was purchased hours ago from the Central Tower of Ellipsia, holding a Scarlet Clan Berserker and a Dragon in its human form, finally approaches the Grand Citadel.
A Demonic Servant on duty begins to trigger the automated commands and prompts, but is unusually slow today.
The majority of this Admin’s mind is elsewhere, consumed by the once-in-a-lifetime staredown of the Grand Citadel’s Lord, a Royal Family Head, and a Noble Demon that just publicly challenged it for dominance.
–
Even in the Lower Realm, many galactic players are moving their pieces. It is as though the fabric of reality has waited for a perfect breaking point where all chaos can break loose, and now it has chosen to snap.
A telepathy message from deep space, from a True Cored Demon named Pluto in the new temporary task force of the Lower Realm’s Vermillion Family, is transmitted to Bri, a Yellow-Cored Human calmly cultivating on a ring of civilized structures rotating around a red star.
“We’ve officially moved out. The attack on the Great Belt of Brymia is starting.”
Bri gets up from her seated position, and instantly calls Alveron and every commander to bring this to their attention.
Everyone picks up instantly, but the Yellow Cored Slug that floats in alone on its home planet has its active mind present elsewhere. It is focused on the security feeds watching a frozen asteroid millions of kilometers away, built as a temporary prison before the generals left the Lower Realm. It begins to crack, and the ice holding the Army of 1st Class True Core Demons from the Morvale Family inside shatters to dust, allowing these enemies to finally move free again.
Comments
Kae
yes, ty fixed!
Vergandi
In vermilions response to the challenge I believe you meant martyr not mortar?
