Dungeon Diver: Stealing A Monster’s Power

Upon impact, the enormous pillar of white and silver flames reaches the bottom of the realm, and a roar echoes out far enough to shake the grand citadel and reach the far corners of the green zone.

The outline of another dragon is engulfed in the flames, making it seem as though it is entirely white and silver, the only thing peeking through are the purple eyes beneath.

Ember's downward attack doesn't slow, as through the flames, he still aims for the monster's neck, with dense silver threads wrapped around his front claws, claiming to take out the enemy in a single strike and end this war.

Yet, it moves its massive purple-scaled flesh and lifts its head up far enough to move a clawed hand of its own upward to block Ember's strike, with nothing but its own raw strength, and the bottom of the upper realm as its brace on its clawed lower legs.

Another roar, even louder, more demonic, and terrifying, comes back once they clash.

Every time in the past when the translucent white soul flames have hit a target, they burn and disintegrate through them without question: dungeon mass, flesh, avatars, everything.

Ember's silver threads are an energy source from beyond this zone of the Upper Realm. A power that only an overseer can possess. One that could normally outclass any entity in the green zone of the upper realm without question.

However, there are a number of reasons he has not managed to ascend to the cyan zone in many recent visits.

The dragon he just tried to kill is one of them.

The flames tethered with silver energy wash away like this demonic creature was just splashed with a bucket of water and is waking up entirely from its sleep.

Not a single burn mark or crack in its dark purple scales is visible.

This monstrosity is in its fully unsealed greater demonic form. Unlike its bonded pair above the surface, it does not believe in holding back.

Over twice as long as Ember, now 2000 kilometers from nose to the tip of its pointed tail.

It glows with a dark purple glimmer, yet in between each of its energy-formed scales, a white-grey hot glow holds it together.

Ember's latent ability to identify and see through the system itself gives him abilities similar to appraisal, without even having to borrow the skill.

[Celestial Prism] glows under its buffs in hot white-grey light on its status, next to its two energy forms growing it in size and power.

Ember does not share the High Noble Vibrations of the Rising Emperor, yet neither does this dragon below him share any of the High Noble power that shakes the Citadel above.

Dragons are not capable of awakening their own path, at least not in the same way mana-based Lords or the Demons can.

One thing that is possible, however, is utilizing a Celestial Form—a power similarly linked to the strength of one's soul energy, but hereditary or often granted in the 4th Rank Up of the system at level 100,000.

The monstrous roar of the dragon turns to more intelligent sounds, as a wave of telepathy bursts into Ember's mind.

"Back so soon? I was starting to miss you, old friend!" it echoes in a demeaning and sarcastic tone.

The massive demonic dragon thrusts its claws forward to send Ember flying backward, and the sleeping beast flaps its wings to follow him upward into the air.

It is extremely dark down below the realm.

There is a dense black structure below them, sealing off the Grand Citadel's reactor, yet around it, there are only billions of dead worlds drained to black rubble.

The floating citadel itself casts a 1-million-kilometer-wide shadow, blocking the green sky from shining down here, making it an even more eerie, yet magnificent sight to have a dark purple dragon outline clash with a bright white and red one.

"It feels like you bonded with a one in a million talent. The Vermillion Family must have found a Noble Demon on one of those new farms they're using with great potential. Your base strength and energy form is larger than your last three tries!"

It opens up its mouth, and a burst of purple demonic energy in a cylinder hundreds of kilometers wide streams out. Ember twists his body around it, spiraling back downward around the attack and sending another of his own back, across the demonic dragon's side with ruthless precision and intent to kill.

Yet, the silver and white light bounces off, not leaving a mark. The Celestial seals used as a defensive strategy layered all over the monster's greater form repel his attacks before they can seep into the demonic dragon's true form.

As Ember flies by, it follows through in the sky, yelling out to him again through a telepathy link.

"-But even if your body is stronger, every time you come back, your old power as the first overseer gets weaker and weaker. If that's all you've got, it is shameful to see you even try climbing the zones any longer. Give up, you've lost! Accept your place beside the Demons on the Emperor's throne."

Ember leaves trails of white and silver behind him.

Yet, he is only capable of using this power for limited amounts of time, and in small quantities. What the Demonic Dragon says is true... Every return trip, he has to rest more and more between uses, and the power becomes less effective. Yet, it is the only trump card he has to fend off against a force unfathomably strong.

While his attacks aren't making a dent, that doesn't mean they aren't useful. When Ember swoops upward, less than 1000 kilometers away from hitting the bottom of the realm, and has another dense beam of Demonic Energy coming his way, he covers his side in a dense array of soul energy and silver threads.

The attack is reflected, just the same, as at range, the Demonic Dragon cannot keep its Celestial Prism buff activated on portions of its attack that are not directly connected to its body.

Ember then yells back through the link while sending a roar and a counter pillar of flames.

"I was created in the same light as the demons. You know this better than anyone, as my memories are yours. Not all of them, but enough to understand... Demons and Dragons are opposite sides of the same coin. Giving up is not an option for me, I will always come back to climb until I succeed."

He grins, feeling hundreds of thousands of new worlds flowing into his shared borrowed stats pool, and prepares for another clash.

–

These shockwaves, of massive Dragons colliding, almost the size of entire worlds, can be felt over 20 million kilometers away near the Sea of Corruption.

Abby flies upward into the chaos of the Wyverns' fight without any fear in her eyes.

Her staff burns bright green in her hands and her greater energy form that revealed itself fully on Kelfar when she was consolidating her True Core is activated.

It looks like a green, yellow, and white sparkling copy of herself pulses outward.

It even makes an exaggerated energy manifestation of her dense green True Core.

The energy form is not enormous like all of the monstrosities around her, but it is still large, roughly 200 meters tall.

The debris and shockwaves bursting through the air flow through her like she is a hologram. Yet, every kick off the air she makes leaves indents in reality, leaving sparkling green gravity waves in her wake.

She feels extremely warm, like a mini star is streaking through the air, upward, past many Wyverns that let out horrendous roars and waves of energy at their old leader, trying to follow him upward.

At the same time, it's like she is not even there. If one were to blink, and she flew right past, it would be impossible to sense her presence.

This is a natural emergence of a Celestial Form, one commonly referred to as the Immortal Healer in the history of this system when members of other races obtained it.

The same hot white-hot energy that shields the demonic dragon from Ember's attacks now materializes within the white and yellow sparkles that trail behind Abby's body.

As she passes dozens of Wyverns, she recognizes many as though it was just yesterday they were fighting, alive, and in their mana-based forms. Emotions of pain, sorrow, regret, and loneliness ripple through her as she witnesses them follow out mind-controlled actions they would be ashamed to watch themselves do.

These emotions she feels are not her own, they are all of the Wyverns around them as a collective, their instincts and memories watching through the staff in her grasp, and also, that of the enormous Blue Wyvern high above her in the sky.

Her core, the staff, and the energy waves coming off the Blue Wyvern are all pulsing at the same frequency.

Abby watches Seraphel get attacked from all sides by another blast of black lightning, imbued with dense High Noble Vibrations, and a mutated version of the same [Celestial Prism] buff glowing on its status.

Just like the Demonic Noble Bloodline transfusion flowing through its veins, this energy comes from somewhere else too.

This entire army is the product of one Demon's testing... The feeling is extremely similar to the Kings of Kelfar she briefly encountered. Yet, those were far older and watered-down versions of what that Demon was capable of.

It must have been what it achieved while still in the Lower Realm, and now this army is their greatest creation yet.

While horrific and evil, there is a beauty to the monstrous power being displayed above her. It is a relentless, demonic tactic to aim to take down the Leader of the Wyverns. To use the strongest Wyverns of the past, and infuse them with the strongest blood the Demons could find in order to take down their enemy.

Images of this army tearing through forces of hundreds of 1st Class and even Noble Demons in the past flash through Abby's mind.

The yellow lightning of that Wyvern, fighting beside Seraphel, is in the forefront of her mind.

Now, to watch it burn holes through the blue water-imbued Celestial body, while other Wyverns around swarm in to throw attacks of their own at the unhealed wounds—it is sad.

Abby finally catches up with their ascent into the sky, to get right in the middle of the battle, waves of water and lightning both surging through her without even moving a single hair on her head. She lifts her staff in the air and starts to activate a handful of Glyphs that her instincts tell her to focus on.

The massive blue eyes of the Wyvern's Celestial body shift toward her once she does, wide with shock but filled with hope, even while getting struck down by another six thick black lightning bolts.

"You came... it's really here. The Wyvern's Inheritance."