Dungeon Diver: Stealing A Monster's Power-Chapter 819

"Report this news to Bri immediately. The Great Belt of Brymia is an ally of ours... if they're sending more Demonic Troops out that far, it means somehow information leaked from that incident... Your updates will be very valuable."

"Understood, it will be done."

After a few mental one-way messages to Bri and Alveron, preparing them for what they're about to hear, I reply to the admin that notified me of his work, as I feel his presence leaving the Inner City now, back toward his post.

"Good."

The two wolfmen's presence is nearby, moving through the underground tunnels, but the geotrackers on them are not as sensitive as the natural ones I have available through links of loyalty. In addition, they were very weakened during this crown cycle process, so all I know is they are in one of the cells nearby, less than a hundred kilometers away.

However, my immediate attention is on the fact that about 10% of the Lords and unintelligent beasts in this room are blinking bright white.

Myself and Ren included.

I hear voices mumbling throughout the quiet room.

"Looks like it's finally starting."

"Agh! I was really demoted after losing so quickly last month, I'm really stuck in round 1."

"Those humans were selected too... I guess they were weak after all."

A few heads turn back toward us, but they aren't the ones with blinking avatars. The other Lords that were selected start to move toward the front of the room and begin making a semi-straight line to wait in front of the sealed cell door.

About half a minute of random mumbling and anticipation follows, then the door slides open, revealing a 1st Class Demonic Servant with bright white glowing hands.

Its eyes scan the room, mentally calculating something, then triggering a few ether commands in the floor in front of him. Then, he speaks, making his words echo through the minds of everyone in this room as though a telepathy skill is being used.

"All Round 1 Participants approach now for transport. This will be a solo event, but teaming is allowed. If you'd like to travel in groups up to four, that will be permitted."

A massive green lizard creature with stone-like skin takes a heavy step forward in front of the servant, and onto the white platform glowing beneath its feet.

The Demonic Servant doesn't change its expression at all, it only moves its hands slightly, and a fast travel orb forms around the monster.

Strands of ether move through the white translucent sphere and into its hand and ankle cuffs.

A matter of seconds later, they blink white and fall to the floor at its feet. Then the Servant steps aside, and instantly the orb of light is whisked away out of the room into the long and narrow hallway.

A few more flashes of white light stream by, as other monsters from random cells are being sent off.

Another monster with orange fur and black eyes walks up next, letting out a growl like a massive angry cat, and the same procedure starts again.

I look back toward Ren, still completely unconscious after over two days, and try to shake them awake a few times. Even light telepathy messages in their ear, but I get no response. It's not like there are any injuries, or anything necessarily wrong with this elf's body that I can see.

Although I can't see past the outer layer, all of the ether and divine energy flows look identical to before this incident. It seems like some shock response, or maybe a natural resting state for an elf race that I'm not aware of... I decide to pick Ren up and worry about what happened later.

Carrying this frail Lord like a baby in my arms, on top of my cuffed wrists, I walk forward and watch the line move by for a few more minutes before it's my turn.

I don't say a word, and the Demonic Servant doesn't say anything back, or even look my way.

The only thing that happens is a bright white flash of light surrounds us, and our black restraints are lifted, falling to the floor.

All of the restrictions on my avatar shell are lifted, not that it really mattered.

Moments later, the orb speeds off into the hall and begins moving fast through new corridors I haven't been to before.

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We fly through many crossroads and begin moving upward, and outward, back toward the outer ring of this green dome.

A few other white flashes come out from other cells in passing, but in less than a minute, we arrive at another doorway and are thrown out as the ether orb disappears.

The floor is bright white at first glance, and when I look to my left and right, the vague outline of other Lords can be seen, but many kilometers away, and they're all very separated like me.

I look forward and see the room go on for a few hundred meters, but the back wall is bright green.

Then, I look side to side again and realize the back wall is ever so slightly curved.

"This is the outside of the dome..." I whisper to myself, now mentally picturing this thick white platform wrapping its wall all the way around the inner dome.

Behind me is a black wall, and above, it looks as though it goes on forever—open air, fading to a tight green tint.

Quickly I link with Ava, but apparently, she was not selected to participate in this round.

No additional notifications have pinged in my ear again, and from the amount of other Lords being transported below us, I know not everyone is here yet...

I shake Ren lightly again, but get no response.

It feels unnatural to not have my hands free, so I toss Ren on my back, and use small amounts of mana control and divine threads below my purple barrier to hold their arms and legs in place, locked around me.

"This will do..." I whisper under my breath, trying to figure out what's going on by adding more mana to my eyes and boosting my perception to see further down this curved wall, but see hundreds, even thousands of other Lords as equally confused.

Then, many holographic screens begin popping up in front of every single Lord on this outer ring.

I turn my head back to in front of me, where a projection on the green wall begins to materialize.

At the same time, thousands of ether commands push upward from the white floor and start seeping into my avatar's shell, as well as Ren's, and manipulating the crown configurations and standard settings.

I let it happen, and watch carefully as a Demonic Servant appears on the screen, floating in open air, while below it, a 3D view of the green dome materializes.

Around this dome, behind where the massive black wall behind me stands, the visuals of what looks like arena seating for tens, or even hundreds of millions of Lords is shown.

Small dots are visible in the stands, but it almost all looks empty to me.

The visuals come back to focus on the Demonic Servant.

"Welcome to the Grand Citadel's monthly Arena Event. If you're tuning in now, the main fights will start in 6 to 10 hours. We'll be seeing a brand new addition to the Vermillion Family's Noble Lineage tonight, so this is not an event you want to miss!"

The Servant smiles and raises his hands, then points down at the green dome.

"For now, this messaging is mostly directed at our participants, and of course those that choose to come to the show early. Admins, I know you're watching, as we have had a large influx in new Lords and Beasts this month. Even our first round may have some exceptions that make it all the way to the main event."

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The visuals of this hologram turn away from the Servant and begin flying around the dome, zooming in on the white ring that surrounds it entirely.

Small dots turn into visuals of monsters and Lords, all glowing white as their ether commands are updated.

"For all 107,852 of you that have been selected for Round 1 of the preliminary tournament matches, please do allow me to explain the rules."

My eyes widen at the amount of entries, but at the same time a light ding sounds off in my ears and the ether commands around me fade back into the floor.

A glowing green number [1] appears above the 5 grey crowns rotating above my head as the Demonic Servant's voice continues to ring out.

"You have all been given 1 point to start with. In order to qualify for the main event, you must accumulate 1000 points inside the dome."

This very dome begins to shift colors, turning white, then becoming glossy like glass, and eventually turning into a mirror, exactly like the outside of a blackzone.

"If you wish to forfeit before the 1-hour time limit is up, you may leave anytime, and teleport right back to the position you stand on now."

Two greyed-out boxes show up in my vision: [Forfeit] [Move On to Main Event].

I assume that one will turn active once I enter this dome, and the other once I reach this 1000-point threshold.

"In order to gain points, you must defeat other Lords within the dome. Eliminating them will transfer all available points to the Lord that finishes the elimination."

I raise an eyebrow, quickly understanding the rules—meaning I must either eliminate 999 weak Lords with their starting points in order to move on, or face off against other Lords that have already done many eliminations to stack points faster.

I feel a leg twitch on my side, as Ren shows the first signs of being alive in over two days, but when I mentally send them a message, still nothing comes back.

"I don't know how you're going to get any points like this..." I whisper, while the Demonic Servant speaks again.

"If you're eliminated, you will be teleported back to this starting point, and lose all of your points to the Lord that killed you in the dome. However, if you forfeit early, the points you've earned will be taken away from the pool within."

I raise an eyebrow, as it also seems these new ether commands added give the safety of being teleported back here after simulating death within this dome. However, I don't trust it to work on my real body below this avatar shell at all... So, forfeiting for me is not an option.

"Do know, you cannot forfeit mid-battle. It takes a full 3 seconds to activate the escape array."

A sly expression comes over the Demonic Servant's face, and the visuals on the hologram zoom out again, showing the shimmering mirror-like dome in all its glory.

"Of course, this is just a brief overview of what's to come. There are many additional surprises and opportunities to gain points waiting for you participants inside. A little hint for those of you that are confident you will be doing more than running for your life; there may be more benefits in the main event for those that leave with more than the minimum points..."

This zoomed-out view shows even more black dots in the massive arena stands starting to arrive, but they are still over 95% empty.

"With that being said, Round 1 Participants, enter the dome. I look forward to seeing the strongest of you again at tonight's show!"