Dungeon Diver: Stealing A Monster’s Power

The green fighting dome starts to change color again, shimmering white, then revealing a whole new environment unlike the hundreds of biomes that were scattered about before.

The 40,000 km wide arena is split into only four parts.

One is completely empty, with only a smooth dark green floor, and thousands of kilometers of open space from the floor all the way up to the top of the dome.

Another section is filled with impossibly tall and thick trees. I can count them out, less than 200, and they all reach up high toward the top of the dome, creating a thick jungle of trees as dense as the skyscrapers in the inner city.

The third section I spot is a mountain range, with enormous peaks, the size of entire planets in the Lower Realm.

Nothing is to normal scale. This is clearly an event mapping that prepares for many Lords to multiply by ten or even one hundred times in size when using their greater forms, so larger, more sturdy environments have been built.

The fourth section I see is made up of over a thousand floating rings.

They all look dark, made of thick stone-like material, but have bright white ether commands surrounding them. They move around, some in slow predictable motions, and others in erratic, crazy patterns.

The rings range from 1 km wide, to 15 km, to some over 200 km in diameter.

There is fire trailing from some, electricity buzzing on others, and earth or ice magic falling from the sky on a few. The flashing colors are eye-catching, but the announcer's voice and massive hologram are what pull away my full attention from the colorful sights before my eyes.

"Alright Lords, the main event is about to begin! These are the matchups we've been waiting all day to see!"

As he says this, the crowds in the stands encircling the arena—exceeding 200 million—start to cheer and jump up and down with more energy than any of the events before.

"I'm sure all of you are very familiar with the challengers that qualified last month to continue fighting, but I will give them the introduction they deserve!"

More images start to fly by on the big screen of extremely strong Lords from biomes and fighting environments I've never seen before. A large amount of the crowd seems to recognize these faces, and even some of the Lords in the waiting room I stand in now whisper to each other about watching these fights last month.

At the same time, the entire dome is flooded with dense white ether commands, creating a foggy mist from the visuals I can see, but in the eyes of everyone watching, the four-part arena still looks crystal clear.

I don't know what it is... but there is far too much going on to analyze it.

The announcer yells out about a minute later, "That's right, 79 qualifiers from the last event are coming back. And for the challengers... the beasts submitted by the demons, we have 236 entries ready to give you all the show you've been waiting for!"

The visuals swap down to the dome itself, focusing on the portion of the arena that is completely flat and smooth.

Moments later, the floor starts glowing purple, and white orbs of light glow all over it in even patterns.

The outlines of monsters start to show up, with dark purple, black, and white radiation leaking off of them. I have my suspicions on what these are, but they become very real in my mind once close-ups are shown.

Demonic Beasts look around with glowing purple eyes and bright white soul weapons.

Many are mindless Cyclopes, High Orcs, Ogre Variations, and even some Berserkers. Near the back I even spot a few mammoths and serpents. Yet, they all look like mindless drones, standing in place ready for orders.

The white orbs around them disappear, and the announcer's voice comes back.

"The Demon's Defenses are set in place, now let's make some noise for the mana-based fighters!"

Seventy-nine flashes of white light start to randomly appear all over the ring. Though they only float in the air in random places, the ether orbs carrying them do not let them loose.

Once they cease, Lords in this room begin disappearing one by one as well.

The wolfmen, Ava, and Ren all disappear before my eyes before I too am teleported into the dome, floating deep within the jungle full of enormous, tower-sized trees over ten thousand kilometers tall.

The announcer's voice still rings in my ears as the restraints around my wrists and ankles glow white and unravel to fade away.

"Activate your fighting forms! Grab your Soul Weapons! Get ready for the Main Event!"

As the flashing white orbs all over the arena appear, the crowds get even more excited, and a bright 1-hour clock hovers in the sky.

"The rules are simple! A battle royale death match with tiered prizes. Small, Large, and Grand Prize! To win a small prize, granting you a permanent Avatar Upgrade outside the Arena, and a guaranteed ticket into next month's main event, you must win 10 points in this 1-hour match!"

I feel the white orb around me begin to grow weaker, as it's set to naturally decay, and some of the thick ether commands in the atmosphere start to seep in. I start to analyze them as the Announcer continues.

"If you are one of the new 214 Lords that passed the preliminaries today, eliminating each other will be worth 1 point per kill... Killing one of the 79 qualified from last month will be worth 3 points, and lastly, killing any of the Demonic Beasts will be worth 5!"

At these words, the commands in the atmosphere become very clear to me... they're layered aura-suppressing shields, like the air is filled with a thick sea of metal we're going to have to swim through.

I can already feel the effect it's having on the gravity inside this ether orb, meaning that fighting at full power will be a bit more difficult.

Though, at the same time, it will make it so shockwaves of ether or mana won't interfere with battles happening elsewhere in the arena. It will make for far more intimate fights, like everyone is in their own isolated pockets of space.

Having higher gravity and less freedom of movement will be much harder for the fighters in this dome, but it will certainly make the show better for the audience outside.

"To win this tournament's large prize, you must stack up 100 points! That will include a permanent avatar upgrade, and a 1-year contract to wield a Relic Class Soul Weapon of your choosing!"

The orb around me completely disintegrates, yet the clock in the sky still has not started to tick down yet...

I pull 1% of borrowed stats, just to heighten my senses and be extra safe I'm not missing anything, but the dark forest I float in, thousands of kilometers off the ground, is silent.

Above in the sky, there is nothing but the bright green dome.

"Finally, to win the grand prize of this month's Arena Event, you must be the last Lord standing! Eliminate every single Lord in this ring, have them submit a claim on a lesser prize early, or make them drop out entirely! Its contents are not available to be publicly shared... but if you win, you will go down in history as one of very few in the Arena Hall of Fame!"

[Drop Out] [Accept Current Prize]

Two options float in my vision, one glowing white, and the other grey as I don't have any points to claim a prize...

"To start the clock on the match, we have a special guest, one that rarely gives us the honor of feeling his royal presence..."

My eyes widen at these words, and the imagery that appears in the sky above.

Through the tops of the tall artificial trees, I see a life-like projection of a shadowy figure without a face. They have long horns protruding out from their forehead, and make the entire top of the dome grow cold and dark.

I can feel thousands of layers of ether commands between myself and the holographic projection cease to work properly as they should, and a deathly cold presence wash through me like sharp icicles.

The familiar voice of Miriel Vermillion echoes through the entire dome.

"It is not often that I watch the Arena Event here in the Grand Citadel. Though, this month, there will be a special show... Win the Grand Prize, and you will be getting a personal congratulatory reward from me..."

The feeling of a devious aura washes through me, but I can't see any actual movement on the shadowy demon's face.

Over 200 million Lords in the seating area outside have all been struck with this terrifying cold aura as well, and went completely silent. Large amounts of them have even passed out, and lost their grasps on the system itself.

I feel the shadow in the sky turn its gaze my way, like it is amused, looking at a bug or a small child.

"And do not forget to stick around after the show, there will be a reveal of a new family member after all!"

The intensity of the cold increases abruptly, then dissipates just as fast.

The whole sky returns to green, and warmth radiates through the arena and all the stands again.

The 1-hour clock in the sky ticks down, and the Announcer's voice returns to my ears as all of the passed-out Lords in the stands regain their grasp on the system, and wake up cheering like it never happened.

"A once in a century appearance! Those who felt our Lord's presence will not forget it! The timer has started counting down! Let the main event begin!"