Dungeon Diver: Stealing A Monster’s Power

The Wyvern's gaze doesn't move off of us, and continues to become more skeptical as I try to explain why I'm here.

"I assure you, I am not aligned with the Demons. This agreement you've made with them is not knowledge that I have..."

The massive, blue-scaled monster stares with an unchanged gaze, but I feel the Ether aura around it begin to grow hotter; as it already said, it didn't believe me and wants concrete proof.

The ground beneath its taloned feet starts to vibrate, and I think through all the possible ways I could convince this random creature I'm not aligned with the Demons. However, its logic is quite sound...

From all the knowledge I've already gained from the Goblin King, humans cannot grow much further than goblins; even the King would have trouble facing one of the scaled lizards I was facing with ease moments ago.

The dense Demon's Core in my chest doesn't help my position at all, but I reply with the truth.

"That noble Demon you speak of... The Vermilion Family's next Lord... right? I killed him to protect my world. I fell down to the Exile Zones by accident. It is merely a coincidence we've met. I trespassed to try and make it up to the Citadel."

The Wyvern's gaze finally changes, but it is not in the way I would have hoped... Its growing Ether aura increases in intensity, and it yells back.

"A human... killing a Noble Demon... Do you take me as a fool?!"

The ground shakes, and many piles of black rocks all around us begin toppling over.

The massive monster doesn't move; it still sits in place staring down at us, waiting for an explanation. However, there is none to give.

I contemplate opening up a telepathy channel with Ember, but the distance from here to the Citadel is still thousands of kilometers. I need to diffuse this situation myself.

"I'll prove it by killing the Vermilion Family Head!" Memories from Drako's life rush through my mind, and I see the two conversations he had with the family head on the Demon's homeworld in the Lower Realm.

It was stated that once he made it to the Upper Realm, clear instructions on his family duties, and the opportunity to meet the Royal Family head would become available.

It is safe to say the Demons that attempted to enslave my homeworld are a common enemy to this Blue Wyvern, so the claim I yell isn't out of the realm of possibilities.

Its eyes widen, and the shaking ground paired with the expansion of its aura stops all of a sudden.

"It is possible you're serious... Would a spy sent down here even dare to say such a thing?"

Its tone turns to ponder my words, and I stare up at the massive being for over ten seconds as it thinks.

The tension in the air doesn't break until the Wyvern stretches out its wings, and a thin smile appears on its long face.

"I do not believe your words, but I do think your reason for being here is far more complicated than I've made it out to be. I have a test for you. Complete it, and you'll make it out of here alive while simultaneously getting to the access point before it closes."

A rush of relief washes through me as the Wyvern flaps its wings, then turns its body to whip its long blue tail around, moving hundreds of meters in the blink of an eye before crashing down in front of me.

The movement was so fast I couldn't even see it until it already finished. It covered its scales in dense white Ether that feels searing hot just looking at it for too long.

The shielding that covers its scales moves up its tail and covers its entire back as it speaks again.

"Both of you, climb on. I will take you to the Central Peak. If you are truly enemies of the Demons, and have such ambitions to kill the Vermillion Family head, then taking out the Exile Guardian first shouldn't be a problem, right?"

Ava is frozen in confusion. Everything that has happened in the last few minutes makes no sense at all.

Considering she has little knowledge of the Citadel other than the basic rules and regulations transmitted from Avatars and her brief stay above the clouds when being processed before her contract date began.

I am in a similar state. While the Goblin King has seen the Guardian before, it was in the Neutral Zones and always from a great distance. Plus, with no Ether senses active, all I know is its race.

The imagery of a shadowy cyclops figure that roams the large mountain of Ether stones below the power plant comes to mind, but I don't know anything other than that.

It doesn't trust me, and its words make it sound like it doesn't believe my story about killing a noble demon. However, from its shift in tone, it sounds like it is trying to make the best out of a strange situation.

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While I'm certain it's trying to take advantage of me in some way, in some ways, I'm trying to do the same. So, I reply.

"Very well, point me to the enemy, and I will pass your test..."

I look at the curved tail that leads to the Wyvern's back and hesitate.

"I might be quite heavy..."

Its gaze tightens again as the bright white shielding covers its entire body. Then another pulse of Ether comes out from its forehead, rippling through both of us, focused solely on perception.

Then, its eyes widen.

"Your existence defies reality once again..."

Another wave of white Ether wraps its body again, and it nods.

"Your unique avatar should not be a problem..."

My eyes widen back, as I can't tell if it sees my true form or if it really thinks I have a special Avatar.

This being has unfathomable strength and wisdom, I decide not to question its words any further.

I just nod and take a few steps forward, but stop right before the edge of the Wyvern's tail and turn back to put out a hand to Ava.

"Come on, let's pass this test. If he wanted to kill us, we would already be dead."

I feel the activation of Ava's skill ripple through my Rising Emperor's Domain interface, and a second later, she steps forward with full confidence to grab my hand.

Both of us turn and step onto the Wyvern's tail and walk up it while the monster stretches its wings, preparing to fly.

As my footsteps move up its scales, concentrated Ether moves to match my movements, and it lifts its tail upward, withstanding the immense mass I carry with ease.

We make it to the middle of the monster's back, and it flaps its wings hard enough to bring us off the ground, trailing thick streams of divine energy, mana, and Ether behind as we begin moving in the same direction we were traveling before.

–

Flying right above the surface of the Exile Mines, less than 300 meters off the ground, I can still sense faint signatures of Lizardmen and hundreds of Fourth-Class Ether Stones flying by beneath us.

I try to visualize and pinpoint where we are heading in relation to the crude mental map I've pieced together from the Goblin King's memories, but this entire area of land in the Exile Zones is a complete unknown to me.

The only memories I have are of taking a long winding path around these zones, and my curiosity only grows the further in we fly.

Minutes pass, and our speed only increases, making me believe the stalling I've done fighting these past hours will probably be overcome. Entire plots of Exile Zones fly by beneath us, as Ava continues updating me through our internal telepathy link every time we pass through a barrier that is impossible for me to see.

The Wyvern stays silent, just flapping its wings and cycling dense Ether through its body; using up more stores with every flap of its wings than I've ever used up in my entire life.

I can't get a proper read on this mystical creature at all. As confused as it is about my existence, I'm equally confused about his. The wise, resounding voice breaks me out of my pondering after over half an hour passes.

"We should be nearing the edge of my claim soon. It borders the edge of the middle ring and the bottom of the Central Peak. My current avatar contract forbids me from leaving, so I must watch you complete my test from the sidelines."

I raise an eyebrow at its words, and simultaneously, the Wyvern's body tilts upward with its next wing flap, reacting to the shift in the ground's tilt.

Instead of flat mines with occasional pits, now we're flying up a steep incline that looks like it will never end.

Sounds of large amounts of stone moving hit my ears, along with the echoing vibrations of teeth grinding.

Loud thuds of footsteps fill my senses as well, along with grunts and screeches that vibrate through the air for all to hear.

An eerie cold, demonic presence radiates from in front of us, but it doesn't feel like it's coming from a single point.

The Wyvern keeps flying upward, and a bright light shines through the dense green fog far away, high in the sky.

Soon after it appears, the Wyvern's flight path shifts to begin flying in circles rather than moving forward.

"We're on the backside of the mountain. While you could pass through the zone barrier and leave my claim without ever fulfilling my test, you will have the Wyverns as an eternal ally if you do. Your appearance has been the first that has truly piqued my interest since the fall of the grand Citadel."

It pauses as my mind fills in the imagery of what my imagination hears.

An enormous mountain of Ether stones and dead, drained black rocks is before us.

It is thousands of kilometers wide.

The bright, glowing white light in the fog is the underside of the power plant.

Once a month, many Lords dump their worlds into the incineration artifact, and many dead stones are dropped down here. It stays open for many hours, and a black-market business formed to create opportunities for Lords to use this as an access point to and from the Citadel.

While a gang of Orcs mostly runs the Exile contract business and covers the logistics of renting out plots to lower-class Lords, like the Goblin King for example, the true owners of this Citadel are still the Demons, and they want to be in control and get a piece of every profitable avenue they can.

The Central Peak, a wide mountain rich with Third-Class Ether Stones and above, is now covered in Green-Cored Ascended Demonic Beasts.

I've only seen similar creatures once before in my life. That was within the Abyss that surrounded the throne on my homeworld.

However, memories of a long-lost past of Drako Vermilion, on his homeworld when he was a young fledgling Demon, come to mind. He fought off Ascended Demonic Beasts that covered his planet.

The Goblin King has seen what covers this country sized mountain, and I can instantly visualize the enormous Demonic Sand Worms churning through the rocks at the base of the mountain. They are surrounding it to make sure no illegal intruders come from unauthorized zones, making these grinding sounds ring through the air.

The heavy thuds, grunts, and screeches are the Demonic Orcs and Ogres that circle the higher, well-carved-out paths of the mountain near the middle area. They overlook and guard the areas above where the Demonic Sand Worms make their nests, circling the peak and making sure all approaching Lords take the single neutral path on the opposite side of the mountain that we're on to make it to the access point.

Lastly, right beneath the blinding white light, standing at the top of the peak, a 250-meter-tall Ascended Demonic Cyclops holds a Soul Weapon with a ball on a chain, overlooking the entire peak as its guardian.

Creatures like this are mindless and feral, infected by darkness and only good for war and destruction. The Demons often only use Demonic Beasts for training in the Lower Realm.

However, exceptionally strong ones are forcefully ascended to the Upper Realm, as there is always a use for tools like this.

As this visual comes to life in my mind, the Wyvern descends and slows its circling until it comes to a thud on the ground right in front of the final zone barrier between its land and the Demon-Owned Central Peak.

"This is your test. If you are truly an enemy of the Demons, and have killed the Vermillion family demon as you claimed, I want you to fight your way to the top of this peak. Surely, killing another Noble Demonic being shouldn't be a problem for you."