Kae
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Dungeon Diver CH741
🕑 Added 2025-01-08 00:00:06 +0000 UTC“Later today?” Seraphel replies.
I nod. “Yes. I have a few tasks I must finish first, then I will come to train right away.”
“Very well, I look forward to it.”
The transmission feed to the High Orc’s Tower cuts off, after mutually ending the connection.
While Seraphel dropped an overwhelming amount of knowledge about reality itself on me these last few minutes, my mind feels more clear than ever. I know exactly what to do next.
It is certainly a result of having my Noble Form activated for this long.
My thought processes and depth of understanding of my environment have drastically increased. No fatigue is building up at all; it feels as though I can stay using this ability forever. I’m not quite sure what my body’s reaction will be if I decide to deactivate this form, but I have too many things to do in the meantime to worry about that just yet.
I turn around while letting my conceal skill change my appearance and cover my body in demonic energy while activating ether commands to open up a hatch in the floor just like Ember did moments before my call.
In the same moment, I send waves of telepathy through the tower directed solely into the control rooms housing thousands of demonic servants.
“All of you that have witnessed today’s events and wish to serve your new Citadel Lord, report to the first-floor lobby. I have an announcement to make.”
Instantaneously, teleportation arrays light up all over the tower.
Directly following Andras Vermillion’s death, all of the Demonic Servants had their slave contracts severed.
Many were unable to think or move for themselves, as they are lords of many different races trapped in the avatars of demons to do their mindless labor on the Citadel.
Though, even with these chains lifted, none of them dare defy the will of the new Noble Demon that killed their past leader. If anything, they are in a worse position than they were in before. Yet, teleporting to the lobby to receive new contracts is better than giving up and dying. So, in a matter of seconds, all servants within the tower do as they’re told.
Once I manually float down through all of the many training rooms, empty offices, storage rooms, housing suites, and control rooms of the central tower, I make it to the large white lobby where the Warlords entered from the main road earlier today.
A sight of 8,942 Demonic Servants lined up in rows is what I see as I enter the room from the ceiling.
I allow my purple barrier to suppress my mana control and divine aura to a manageable amount. My Ether control is also possible for me to mentally suppress; but the Noble Vibrations coming off me are impossible to keep from radiating outward.
No one in the room below can comprehend it, or understand what is happening; but a natural state of suppression vibrates through all of the lower races below me and they instinctively bend down on one knee.
I assume this is common courtesy to their Citadel Lord, but there are many intricacies at play here when I open my mouth to speak using [Screech] to fill the room with Drako Vermillion’s Noble Voice.
“The Ellipsia Citadel is now under my control, but my rules of management will be different than your previous Lord.”
My gaze sweeps over all of their palms to see varying amounts of worlds.
A select few that are specialized for guard patrols and Lord management in high-risk zones have anywhere from 25 to 100 worlds in their possession.
Others, who just work in the control rooms within this tower have 0 worlds.
A majority, who survey the weaker districts in the outer ring of the Citadel, but mostly work inside the tower, have 1 to 5 worlds.
It’s impossible to tell at first glance what class worlds they possess, and if they’ve been granted the nicety of owning their old homeworlds; as I still cannot see directly into the avatars’ systems but I can easily change this with a single statement.
“You will all swear loyalty to me, and learn a great secret of this new Citadel’s Lord. If you maintain the silence of this secret, and help me achieve my goals; I will give you all the chance of true freedom, with new avatars to fit your original bodies, and will do my best to locate your home worlds if you do not yet have ownership of them.”
Many of the kneeling Demon Avatars’ eyes widen, as they never would have expected this offer from the ruthless demon they witnessed kill their old Lord for merely admitting defeat to 1st Class Warlords.
If anything, they expected their new lives to be even worse…
Instantly, I feel hundreds of links popping up all throughout the neat lines of kneeling servants who still don’t dare raise their heads.
I float down further, to be right above them, less than 300 meters up in the air as more and more links surge into me.
Surprisingly, when they do, I can see the true souls and original races of the beings within these avatars. Their diversity is just as vast as the many worlds I absorbed from Andras when I killed him.
Dozens of varying species from 5th, 4th, 3rd, and 2nd grade worlds rush into my status; and their thousands of worlds do as well.
None of the new worlds are particularly strong. Only a handful of the elite guards hold 2nd grade worlds. The majority of the Demonic Servants hold dead 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade worlds to serve just as the avatars’ stat buff perk.
Every new servant that joins also gains access to the World Wide Connectivity System, but I make sure to give them limited access, only to trade and communicate amongst those in the Upper Realm, as to not interfere with the delicate balance still being stabilized below.
The small percent of worlds that still have life, however, are added to the lower realm’s connectivity system, and they are given the same opportunity as any new world would.
I float with my arms crossed for a full 3 minutes as many servants explore the features available to them and begin communicating with each other telepathically.
Some even begin to whisper out loud and look side to side. I allow them to do as they wish and not punish them for stepping out of line, because in doing so, it builds trust with the servants on edge about pledging themselves.
Once the waves of servant links coming in reach over 90% of them, trickles of more begin to slow down, and I call out again.
“Last chance. Swear your loyalty, or I will not allow you to leave this tower with the knowledge of my offer that you’ve already witnessed.”
A second surge of links pours in, but it soon dies down just as before, leaving a few hundred servants still on the edge.
One in particular stands up from where he kneels and yells out.
“Lord Andras will always be our leader, you cannot—”
Before he’s finished speaking, I’ve pointed a single finger toward him, and let a beam of concentrated demonic energy shoot downward, covering the servant's avatar and melting its core and mind to nothingness instantly.
All that is left is a black spot on the floor as I scan the crowd for others that still wish to serve this old lord.
About half a dozen stand up, and I can feel their evil intent even before words leave their mouths. All I do is point a finger their way and they’re disintegrated too, leaving black spots on the room's floor.
Shimmering divine threads and ether float through the air to where they once stood and flow into me as I absorb their worlds and energy.
When the room fills with silence again, and no more speak against me, I use my telekinesis skill to lift the few hundred that have still not sworn loyalty to me in the air, and use earth magic imbued with dense divine threads and ether to create a prison they cannot escape no matter what they try.
With no effort other than a flick of the wrist, I throw the kilometer-long floating prison to the back of the lobby and nod to myself as I will check on them later and give them a second chance.
For now, I look down at the 8,451 servants that have obeyed with a smile. They have granted me access to 24,870 new worlds to bring the token concealed under the [1] on my palm up to [105,662]. While the majority of these worlds do not even compare to my home world, and over half are dead without a single sign of life on them, the high quantity of those that do still gives me a subtle boost in borrowed stats that is noticeable.
I sift through Andras’ old memories and address my new loyal subjects with their first orders.
“Continue your work as usual, aggressively collect taxes from all businesses in Ellipsia. If all they have to offer are worlds without life, collect Ether instead. Dead worlds are of no use to me… Carry on business as it was before, I do not want citizens believing their lives will be any different just yet.”
All of the remaining servants keep their heads down after what they just witnessed. I use ether commands to open the front door of the central tower leading to the street.
“Go on. Guards and Enforcers, get back to work.”
Almost half of them that have worlds on their palms leave the tower in an orderly fashion.
The other half stays with their heads down as I close the door and point to the ceiling.
“Those of you that work on surveillance and world quality control, I have another task for you… I want this entire tower, except the top floor, stripped down to its bare bones. All of the dueling rooms, suites, and servant facilities, I want them broken down and raw materials placed in your storage systems… From the Citadel’s ground floor here, up thousands of kilometers to the base of the private floor where the 1st Class Demons rest, I want it empty to the walls. I need room to craft a new device when I return.”
All of the remaining servants’ eyes widen, and many reflexively look up at me and past the ceiling. Then, at remembering the fate of those in the prison at the back of the room, they shiver and look back down.
“Don’t worry, as long as you keep this project a secret, and maintain your loyalty toward me; your small actions are inconsequential. Though, betray me and you will end up nothing but a stain on the floor...”
I nod a single time, then float over to the opening exit of the central tower and leave them to follow out the strange project I’ve given them.
Once I float out into the street, I activate a new ether command, similar to the one I used to temporarily shut off the entire Citadel’s Power, but only use it to do so in the areas I fly through.
Many blocks of the city go dark, as I wish to not be seen on the automated surveillance systems that will send images to the grand citadel every month.
Blocking out these portions of the city that I float through might be even more suspicious; so I have a countermeasure for this too. All over the Citadel, I randomly turn off portions of the surveillance feeds, making untraceable patterns seem like random flashing power outages.
My direct pathway to the outer ring of the Citadel, en route to a small 5th Class Human district, cannot be tracked.
Comments
Thomas Grimshaw
maybe, he hasn't checked his notifications yet....
IdolTrust
I would have thought he would have got an new perk by hitting 100k worlds. He might turn the tower into a location that his people can travel to by making a device to amplifier his purple shield/barrier.
Scott Frederiksen
Until he gets their loyalty or uses sneakiness they'll probably just see a demon. 🤷♂️ Maybe?
Tim Scripter
TFTC!
Tim Scripter
A god amongst men, they might say!
small_brain_boy
Ok so not only is he a 3rd class Human walking into a 5th class area, but he is a Noble Human. People are gonna be so confused 😂
