Dungeon Diver: Stealing A Monster's Power

The Saint replies while my divine perception continues to seep out and locate 16 individual gravity wells of red and orange core hunters approaching.

"A demon with a green core? No... no. The one I witnessed plant the throne was a True Core Yellow, yet his aura was overwhelming even thousands of kilometers away... It was like witnessing a being that was not meant to be on this mortal plane. You do have quite the interesting theory, though. A green core is definitely something I've considered in my studies before. I too at one time believed there was a clear-cut way to rise above the True Yellow, but over the years I've come to have my doubts."

My gaze shifts back to him with a confused look, as I assumed with all of his knowledge of the Originators, Demons, and the system itself, my question about this green core would be nothing but a common-sense assumption.

He continues and makes me think about the rarity of the purple ring on my finger further.

"Just because I do not believe a green core exists, doesn't mean there is no other way to ascend."

He pulls out another recording crystal and shows me more tablets of writing I cannot comprehend. These particular recordings look far crisper and more recent; however, the tablets of stone themselves look much older and more ancient than the first set of recordings he showed.

"This is a piece from my personal collection, a tablet I found myself long before the system arrived on this world. It roughly translates: 'Those who are common, but wish to one day walk amongst the gods must let go of the body and walk between your world and the fabric of reality.'"

He shuts off the recording, and my mind is split between a few things.

The first thing is that it seems this man and his cult-like following of studying this ancient text have found their own way of preserving the mind, energy cores, and soul while substituting Qi in place of the physical body, tethering it all together with divine energy, as his interpretation of the text.

However, I have eyewitness proof that Qi is not necessary to achieve this feat. I've seen the green serpent, cyan and dark blue knights, and even Celia herself within her construct in pure energy forms.

Though, the interpretation of walking between this world and the fabric of reality does make me wonder if this has some reason as to why there are no physical beings above this rank in this world. The Divine Construct was in fact a separate space in a pocket dimension of its own...

Lastly, the age of the stone compared to the others makes me speculate the legitimacy of the writing even further. It was made here when mana was not rich on this world.

Yes, the Saint and other order members have had access to Qi and divine energy before the system arrived; but I still wonder if the Originators themselves used divine energy in its current form to reach this feat. Or, if they had solely Qi and the Saint's interpretation is correct and all of the newfound knowledge of divine threads today is misconstrued...

With many clashing thoughts racing through my mind, I choose not to jump to conclusions.

The last time I checked on my teammates beneath the Crimson City, Ember's consciousness was stirring. Once he wakes, all of my unanswered theories will have a truly knowledgeable source to combat them.

For now, I set these theories aside and reply with the most important news.

"We're being surrounded. Eleven red cores, and five orange. Half are approaching from the west to arrive in the 8 Great Regions, while the others come from the south, soon to be intercepting your Region, Raven."

I turn to both of them, and by the shocked looks on their faces, neither of them sensed these faraway sources or expected my response to be this at all.

Raven is the first to respond.

"They've sent scouts. This is definitely a spying expedition from Central."

Her tone is serious, but I don't feel any fluctuations in her energy levels or eagerness to fight.

The Saint, on the other hand, becomes rather startled once he hears Raven's words.

"We must leave..."

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His gaze meets the black tower in the distance, then he looks back toward Valor City where we came from.

I take a moment to think, then nod, and look back at Raven, understanding her cool and calm reaction now.

"You believe they're already well aware of our alliance?"

She nods.

"Yes, in their eyes, I should be dead right now. They likely know your strength already from the energy fluctuations broadcast to them during our fight through our transmission link. Them sending scouts is just a standard procedure most likely. They're going to check on the progress of the throne's awakening, the state of the nations nearby, and will most likely want a report on both of us to confirm their beliefs of our alliance. If we hide, it may do worse than just allowing them to see us working together."

I reply, coming up with a new plan.

"Then they aren't aware of my growth afterward, killing Sebastian, the string user..."

She shakes her head.

"Most likely not, but the scouts that arrive will have ways of accurately detecting divine energy fluctuations. They often come to my region to spy on my progress. This means they will get an accurate scan of your teammates as well."

The Saint interjects.

"We can conceal them all within the temple if we move fast enough."

I grin.

"No. That will not be necessary... Don't worry, this is very good. Raven, return to your region and conduct business as usual until they leave. I will not halt progress on expansion of the trade routes into the Dead Zone toward your region. If they already know we're working together, we must hide in plain sight. Make sure they get an accurate reading of your current unchanged strength level. Saint, stay concealed in the temple. I will be staying here, in the Dark Continent, out in the open for them to see. I don't want a single one of them injured or killed."

Raven replies.

"Understood."

Then sends another message through our telepathy link.

"I'll stay in contact with you here."

She takes her hand off my shoulder and disappears while I feel her geolocation rocketing off to the south to make it to her home volcanic region before the scouts arrive.

The Saint gives me a smile and reaches into his item box to pull out a handful of recording crystals.

"These are copies of the most influential texts. You may find hidden meaning in them that I do not. If you wish to talk more, please do visit the temple. I'm sorry our meeting was cut so short, and that I did not approach you earlier."

I smile back.

"You've arrived at the perfect time. I thank you for your insight and perspective on the awakening of the throne. I have a far greater understanding now than I did just yesterday. I'll continue my exploration alone, this silver light you speak of interests me. I want to see it for myself."

Then, I accept the blue recording crystals as the Saint bows in midair, then hurries off back toward Valor City in a flash of white and yellow light.

I turn back toward the abyss now, and once both of them are out of range, allow my true core's aura of divine thread to finally seep out from the purple barrier that holds it back.

However, instead of showing my full power, I hold back over two-thirds of it. Since my battle with Raven, I've recovered greatly while using hibernation, gained an immense amount of mana control, and most importantly, drained the True Core energy from Sebastian.

I want to give these spies a good taste of my power, but not the full amount.

As this version of my aura seeps outward, I hover forward, following the slow contraction of the dark demonic energy that creates a massive zone of black mist in the center of the Dark Continent.

Still, even with my aura of perception reaching out over 2,500 kilometers in all directions, it can hardly reach even a few meters into the darkness of the abyss.

Many months ago when I first saw this mass of darkness, and fought the weaker monsters that dwelled in its outer borders, I never imagined the scale of what truly lurks in its depths.

Even now, there is an air of mystery about what it will reveal once all of the darkness drains away to reveal the doors.

I open up my Rising Emperor's Domain interface while I hover above the darkness, moving closer to the center, and scroll down to Arie and Luna's names.

Their geopoints are still disconnected, last seen at the entrance point near Sector 4, outside of Solara.

However, some of their vitals do update every once in a while when I check back in.

They are all dark purple, unlike the light blue text that everyone else has.

It is just another routine check, however, at the bottom of both Luna and Arie's status today, a new buff is present on both of them. I can't help but plunge my full focus into it while the 16 scouts from Central all arrive in the 8 Great Regions, and Raven's Nation.

Luna's is the first to catch my attention, as it reads [Demonic Essence of The Ascended Chimera]. I click in to read more details, but nothing shows.

At the bottom of Arie's status, a new item reads [Demonic Essence of The Ascended Scorpion].

There are no stat boosts or interesting detailed reports on his item either, however both of these additions to their status' glow much brighter than the other items, skills, or buffs. I don't know what exactly they do, but I can feel the power surging through my interface.

It's an intensity that makes me believe they have walked down a different path than me, but have managed to grow on their own terms these past few months. I can't help but smile as I look down into the depths of the abyss.

The feeling this bright purple glow gives off feels similar to that of the Saint traveling with me, yet also shares many similarities to that of an Arch Demon.

It makes me happy to know they've been progressing, but far more curious to know what secrets Arie and Luna have uncovered in their months within the Abyss in search of their home.

I think back to all of the old stories Arie told me about his village, and Qi exposure, meditating on originator stone at a young age before he even awakened a skill. They now hold far more weight in my mind knowing that this too must be connected to the massive black tower I drift closer to in the center of the abyss.