Dungeon Diver: Stealing A Monster's Power-Chapter 779 -

Lucian Morvale, a meticulous Family Head in the Cyan Zone of the Upper Realm, sends a simple remark down to the Green Zone.

It is truly meant as a technical precaution with no ulterior motives. The Morvale family head has been wondering about this new arrival to the path of Nobility in the Upper Realm for over three and a half years now. It’s not often a new candidate for a new family head comes along—less than one every ten thousand years on average—and, of course, the chances of them actually claiming this role in less than one hundred thousand years in the Upper Realm is very low.

So, there are many rigorous tests and training one must undergo to become strong enough and prove their loyalty to the demons before this is a true consideration.

However, the 3rd, 2nd, and 1st Class Demons that make it up to the Upper Realm are guaranteed life as loyal servants, while Nobles always have a chance of climbing the ranks.

This being said, the arrival of a new Noble always raises some eyebrows. It is even more interesting that the arrival of this Noble stopped the uprising of the Green Zone’s old forces that were suppressed in the last war, and that in doing so, another Noble Demon was killed. The fact that this coincided with the destruction of a Noble Grade world within the same few months in the Lower Realm’s timeline makes things even stranger.

The Morvale family head scanned through the data from the monthly Citadel reports as well and found another odd inconsistency.

He found the ether command records of this new Noble Demon being ejected from the transport function to the Citadel, forcing him to fall down into the Exile Zones upon his arrival.

This Drako Vermillion killed the Noble Blood-infused Cyclops beneath the Citadel in order to escape the Exile Zones and make it to the dueling room in time to cause such an event to take place.

In doing so, this family head knows what killing an Exile Guardian achieves...

It releases the barrier commands on all of the avatars within the zone, and a certain prisoner was beneath Ellipsia that has connections to the world he lost contact with.

While one of these actions alone would not be too out of the ordinary, having them all happen together makes this Cyan Cored Demon that has lived in the Upper Realm for hundreds of thousands of years quite suspicious.

So, he sends this simple message to Miriel:

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"I’ve received new information after the Realm Wave that gives me reason to believe a disturbance in the Lower Realm is disrupting the natural order of my family’s plans here in the Cyan Zone... I’ll be dealing with it accordingly with my Lower Realm Branch. However, I am looking to gather more data. Please do keep a close eye on that new Noble in Ellipsia. A copy of your assimilation plan would be appreciated, and of course, a confirmation once it is complete."

He knows the Green Cored Royal Lord has quite the temper, so a subtle nudge like this should be more than enough.

–

Though, years have not passed in the Green Zone since they last spoke.

Instead, it has been less than two weeks.

The conversation between the two Family Heads and the ominous order from the Vanguards is still fresh in Miriel’s mind.

He remembers just eighteen thousand years ago, the Vanguards voted against his promotion to Family Head, and only truly accepted him six thousand years later once he reclaimed every Citadel in the Green Zone.

However, he feels every interaction with them has a tinge of disrespect within it, making Miriel feel as though they don’t fully believe in his capabilities.

The Vermillion Family Head has quite the opposite perception of himself, believing that none of the higher Zones understand his true potential.

This, paired with the blatant disrespect of Drako Vermillion—the new arrogant young Lord, who is less than five hundred years old—believing he can talk back to a true Royal like him over a video call between Citadels without consequences is infuriating.

Miriel is pushed over the edge when he gets a message from his former family head when he was just a general in the Morvale Army.

It sounds to him as though the Vanguards have planted a seed in Lucian Morvale’s mind, turning him against him too.

Miriel sits in the center of the grand Citadel, his mind deep in the depths of the communication chamber for what feels like hours, digesting this message. But in the end, he decides not to send a response back.

He grits his teeth as dark tendrils of corruption flood out from his body, covering the massive room he stands alone in with corrosive energy that forcefully erodes dense divine energy structures and thick ether shielding.

Miriel takes a deep breath, blinking slowly once, and pulls his aura back before he breaks the ancient tower he stands in.

Then, he sends a telepathic message to a few servants in the Grand Citadel to slightly alter the plans for the event he had planned to welcome Drako in eleven days.

In addition to this, he sends a message to the only other Noble Demon in the Green Zone of the Upper Realm, far off on the Mensa Citadel.

–

Meanwhile, a far more formal request to check on a certain sector of space is sent down to the Lower Realm by Lucian Morvale through a black tower on a massive Demon-infested planet.

It is even larger than Kelfar and houses far more living beings than that violent Noble Grade Demonic World.

However, this world is not exactly accessible by normal means.

There is a good reason it is referred to as the Demonic Realm.

That is because, in this sector of space in the Lower Realm, the density of pure demonic energy far surpasses any other sources of power. It has properties similar to its own foreign Realm.

Mana cannot make it through the thick clouds of black fog that cover enormous amounts of space.

These clouds are so massive, entire solar systems are trapped within.

Divine threads manage to make their way through, but no mana-based life can make its way through these clouds.

Even demons without a direct rift key to this world cannot travel in without getting lost.

Some demons even theorize that the cloud of energy is just a smoke screen to hide the base’s true location. It could be somewhere else entirely... This is because no one has ever successfully found it by venturing in from the outside, though, no one has found any other probable locations either.

Within this massive cloud of demonic energy there are massive pockets of strange white energy with similar properties to refined Qi. Though, the densities are far higher than even medium-quality ether, so no one has ever been able to properly collect it. Many beings have been trying to comprehend this their entire lives, as some have very odd space and time warping properties. These aid the theories that the home world is somewhere within this dense cloud of energies, just impossible to get to by normal means on purpose.

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Somewhere within this massive cloud of demonic energy is the Demonic Realm’s home base, where five massive armies of red, orange, and yellow Cored Demons are trained to carry out ancient duties and traditions passed down from them for millions of years, dedicated to them by Demon Lords—praised as gods from the Upper Realm.

It is not often that a message comes in from the Morvale’s tower, but a fully saturated True Cored Demon listens in on the one-way message from their Lord and begins giving out orders to send a search party into this sector of space. A secondary party is sent out soon after to initiate contact with Alveron’s Empire—a 1st Class Mind Flayer with a large army that a past generation of Demons lost many worlds to in a war over resources about thirty thousand years ago.

–

After these messages are sent, a full day passes.

–

Torvak bonds with his new Avatar just the same as Asic did.

The two brand these four new creations as their Premium Freedom Models. This is because they feel as light as a feather and allow them to move as though they are in true bodies. There are no longer roadblocks limiting them to only use specified ether commands, nor do they forbid using certain techniques.

The only downside is that they do not come pre-programmed with connections to the fast travel Ether Circuits, and many Citadel commands have to be triggered manually.

However, many blocking techniques, mental defenses, and imbuement commands are kept in the subconscious of these Avatars just in case they want to be triggered for easy access. Many additional commands—like the Full Guard Avatar Techniques and other Premium Features—are added as well.

The Blue Ogre is expecting this upgrade; however, he is most excited to equip his new and improved Lightning Club—a Relic Class Soul Weapon.

The essence of an ancient Hydra Clan that used lightning-affinity-based attacks is trapped within this new spiked club.

While only a palm-sized fraction of this old relic’s soul was imbued into the ten-meter-long Soul Weapon, it is potent enough to make the entire top floor of the High Orcs Tower full of static-charged ether—even when it isn’t activated yet.

This small fragment of an ancient soul is an old gift from Ember on one of his past visits, but there has never been an occasion important enough to risk this craft. It took tens of thousands of years’ worth of Ogre Conglomeration ether profits to fuel this procedure.

–

Both Ava and Zashen arrive to receive their new Avatars as well and are taken to separate floors of the black tower in order to begin the process.

Ava has never been through such an extensive procedure and has Asic personally guide her through it. He believes it will take a few days to properly bond when making an upgrade from a basic-grade Avatar to such a high-quality shell.

When Zashen arrives later in the day, he seems to be in a very calm state.

He isn’t very talkative or energetic, which isn’t like him.

However, Ember and Torvak assist him with his assimilation process on a separate floor of the tower.

The final words that are heard before they’re cut off in isolation come from the red-haired dragon in his human form through a grin pointed at Torvak.

"Indeed, he broke through. I can count on one hand the number of Berserkers who actually managed a feat like this. His soul is certainly ready for an Avatar Upgrade... Now, it’s just up to Jay and Seraphel. Maybe I’ll actually make it past the Green Zone this time around. It’s been far too long."

–

The first day beneath the Sea of Corruption doesn’t appear to be any different than the last stage of training.

A smooth surface on the grey sludge makes it seem as though it is still in the calm state it’s been in for millennia.

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However, deep below this sea, in the darkest depths of corruption—where the potency of this liquid is so strong—I feel as though I’m back at square one of training once again.

My body has to adapt and relearn the essence of Noble Vibrations from scratch a third time.

It feels just like the first hour within the High Orc’s Tower.

All of my senses deep below this polluted sea of corruption are masked again.

I can’t even feel further than a few meters around me on every side of my massive Noble Form.

The pressure and weight of this sludge down this deep are quite noticeable as well.

I have to mutate my body once again. Though, after learning how to understand and master my Noble Vibrations twice before, the method of doing so is a bit easier this time around using my intuition. Mentally and strategically, at least. The physical battle is far worse this time, and I can feel my Poison Resistance being pushed to limits it never has before, mutating and merging with my natural ether refinement process.

This is because, at these depths, the sludge moves through my skin like divine energy does in the atmosphere above.

I must learn to breathe in and out, with this black goo entering my lungs, and filter it out like I would normal air.

It is the most deadly poison I’ve ever come across, tens of times worse than the sea above.

While it certainly would kill a human from the toxins alone, it has properties that attack the system itself within it too.

I have to use my Noble Vibrations and all of my willpower to not let this corruption completely take over.

I can tell if I don’t actively resist it, I’d be consumed, and my access to the system would be forcefully taken and altered.

It’s hard to fully comprehend what it would be altered to after being consumed, but I do know that it is a sinister and relentless attack.

While no actual consciousness is fueling this corruption’s actions, the thought of a being controlling something like this is horrifying.

It almost takes a full day before I get used to my environment, and my grasp on my Noble Vibrations and ether absorption becomes consistent. In these 24 hours, I’ve taken in another full 30 million Low Quality Ether, similar to the full time spent in my last stage of training.

–

However, this is not the pinnacle of my day down in this dark abyss of liquid corruption.

The final stage of training here isn’t just to adapt to this new dangerous environment—it is to open my mind to even greater possibilities so I can become a High Noble.

I’ve been extremely productive, and quite simply put, obsessed with creating and manipulating large-scale ether structures and machines using my new vision and dominance over my surroundings.

However, when Seraphel activates his Greater Form, it gives off energy readings like nothing I’ve ever witnessed before.

For starters, he grows almost one hundred times in size, spreading his long blue wings over two hundred kilometers in wingspan deep within this dark black ravine.

At first, I cannot fully grasp the size of his form, so I even activate my Astral Form beneath the ocean to try and spread my perception further and truly take in the sight.

The massive Blue Water Artifact inside the containment case I brought over from Ellipsia for him to use gives off the same strange aura as his Greater Form. I can’t quite understand what is so special or unique about it...

Though, once my senses begin to adapt to this sea’s environment more, I see the massive Blue Shard of Crystal that is imbued with Water Magic and unbelievable amounts of ether floating in front of Seraphel’s matching blue eyes. The intricacies of the problem all over his body that I couldn’t see before start to become more clear.

They look like dense tendrils of ether. Like the hot white energy is being confined to thread-like patterns similar to divine energy. However, they’re covered in a substance I cannot see through, with a far denser material that feels like it’s suppressing or sealing what’s within. They’re like tightly bound steel bridge cables with infinite layers reinforcing them.

The moment I notice the first thread’s intricacies, more show up in my vision by the hundreds, then more and more revealing thousands and then millions.

It looks like Seraphel’s entire body is tethered with these foreign ether threads. Keeping him constrained, while simultaneously looking like they make up his entire being. It is such a strange sight to see.

Each one is imbued with countless commands—far more complex than anything I’ve seen on the Citadel or within any of the older black towers.

The deeper I look into each thread, it appears as though more and more commands and complex locks and encryptions mask what they’re really doing.

I hyperfixate on small portions, and the deeper I look, the more I find. Yet, the less I understand. It’s like they’re never-ending, a fractal that continuously forces my perception to dig deeper, and the massive Blue Wyvern’s entire being is being locked from exerting its true will on reality.

After staring at the state of the teacher that has been guiding me through this training the last few weeks, I feel as though the sea I’m sitting in now is nowhere close to the suppression and endless pain this Wyvern must be going through every second of every day.

The jaded, lifeless gaze that stares down at me makes far more sense now...

This very gaze shifts to the shard of blue crystal, then he consumes it without hesitating at all. I watch his entire massive physique ripple with the dense ether and this unique aura of water magic.

It feels like mana or soul energy... but there is something more to it.

The wave of energy stimulates the millions of seals that are tightly squeezing every particle that makes up his physique. His voice then echoes into my mind as I watch the Blue Wyvern’s eyes close, a light grin flicker on his face, and the threads start to loosen.

"The seal will become semi-malleable, but not for long. You have one attempt to crack it, as there are no more Celestial Grade Water Stones left in this Zone of the Upper Realm. My life is in your hands, and I trust you will find a way to do the impossible. That is because if you fail and allow my seal to solidify, your odds of becoming a High Noble will dwindle as well."