Dungeon Diver: Stealing A Monster's Power-Chapter 816
The same memories from our last contact, that of a Dragon's crimson eye from a battle that took place over the Grand Citadel floods right back into my mind, but it quickly fades away, and the flashes of scenes get even grainier and harder to make out.
Time is moving backward in these memories even further and faster.
Tens of thousands of years pass every second that it feels like I'm watching, and there are even large gaps of time missing.
Before I know it, the perspective of these memories isn't even in the Grand Citadel anymore, though it is in the green zone of the upper realm, looking down on multiple massive Citadels I've never seen before.
Hundreds of colorful Wyverns fly through the green clouds all around, high and low, and all kinds of familiar intelligent races like Orcs, Ogres, Beastmen of all kinds, Kobolds, Serpents, Enormous Insects, and Berserkers are living and prospering together, using fast travel technology to and from these many active citadels.
The longer these memories go on, I do recognize one—it is a massive conglomeration of storage units and ether commands. It looks ancient, even seeing it in the memories here.
I recall seeing a similar scan of a Citadel linked to Ellipsia. It was called the Fortress.
Though, I don't get to admire this memory for long, as even more time passes in jumbled, blurred parts, and more chunks of time are completely lost to dark blotches.
It feels like the grasp on these memories from hundreds of thousands of years ago is nearly lost. I'm hardly even picking up shadows and vague outlines now, but I still haven't been ejected from this elf's mind, so there must be something more... So I keep waiting patiently.
Eventually, this moment of picture-perfect clarity hits me like a cold ocean wave.
I see through this elf's eyes, on a beautiful world filled with lush trees with pink fruits that look similar to peaches full of dense mana and qi.
They are looking over a large cliffside, into a deep valley, and a familiar black tower juts out from the forest, making me realize these are memories from the Lower Realm.
When exactly... I have no idea, but the fact that when these eyes that guide this memory move, and I see other elves with white hair and white eyes running around the woods, it makes me question my knowledge of elves even further.
Demons appear out from large rifts beneath the tower, many with red, orange, and yellow cores; and they yell out, "In the name of the Vanguards, this world is ours. Any that wish to challenge our power, show yourselves now!"
Out from the dense forest around the throne, dark figures carrying throwing knives and bows attack.
They use dark portals that teleport their arrows and knives all over the battlefield, attacking without warning or remorse.
Dark-skinned elves wielding dark magic and holding true cores in their chests attack the demonic forces, taking out a large portion of their army in seconds.
However, two Noble Demons don't waste any time unsealing their bloodlines upon seeing this massacre of their knights and commanders, and completely change the tide of battle, bringing thousands of elves to their knees with the aura alone.
One of the Dark Archers is left standing and challenges a Noble Demon one-on-one, but the other demon just laughs as no one else is strong enough to challenge him and starts slaughtering the natives.
Ren watches from a high cliffside as it looks like their whole homeworld will be taken over by these Demons.
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"What Celia said was true... they really did come after us..." is whispered in a soft tone, but Ren's hands glow white with light magic, staying to watch the battle while all of the other light elves run for their lives.
A massive array of yellow divine threads and light magic, using an inheritance artifact, surrounds the whole battlefield and begins to manipulate what is seen in front of the Demons.
Many of the 2nd and 1st Class Demons are blindsided, and the Dark Elves can take out the commanders and weaker generals with True Cores thanks to these efforts—but the two Noble Demons are on a whole higher level.
The single Dark Archer can hold off one Noble, because he was chosen to hold an inheritance artifact from their elders, and holds small amounts of Noble Blood.
"Will our final world really be taken in this manner..." Ren whispers, watching the other Noble Demon tear through more elves, negating all of the help done from this array.
It even sets its sights on their dark archer, getting ready to team up on him and finish this battle before they destroy this world, as large cracks are already breaking through the surrounding mountains from their auras alone.
However, its dragon swoops in just before a curved soul sword can destroy this archer's bow and crush his divine core.
The same crimson eye stares through the chaos at Ren, and bright translucent flames pour out from its mouth, killing two Noble Demons at once. This Dragon flies upward with the shockwave of two saturated True Cores exploding behind it, straight in Ren's direction. Its soul bond sharing life force with one of the Noble Demons activates, and the black dragon's body begins to deteriorate in real time. It betrayed their forces without hesitation, even at the result of its own death.
It looks like the Dragon is about to speak, but the memory flashes white and comes to an abrupt halt before any words come out.
My eyes open wide as I inhale, and my train of thought returns to the dark cell.
The ring on my finger is burning hot again, and my inner ear is almost giving me a headache from all the ringing. I want to ask a million questions, but just as I'm about to, Ren passes out from the intensity and slumps backward into a sitting position against the wall.
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I dive down to put my hand behind their head before it hits anything hard... but I'm more confused and full of shock than entirely concerned for this Lord's health.
More of my questions are actually targeted toward this dragon that keeps interfering with the past.
–
At the same time, this very dragon welcomes two Demons into the surveillance room of the Ellipsia Citadel.
"Please, use whatever tools are necessary."
A large holographic panel lights up the back wall of the room and shows red dots on a map of the Citadel, pinpointing every single Berserker Giant's location.
The High Orc tower on this map has been completely blocked out by Ember's advanced ether commands, and the two Demons that stand before the hologram and search through it, making copies, do not suspect a thing.
"Do you mind if we pause Citadel Fast Travel and long-range communication for a few hours?" Iko Vermillion asks.
Ember clasps his hands together, "Be my guest. There is nothing to hide, the Citadel is mostly exactly how Andras left it."
They both bow respectfully while shutting off the ability to leave the Citadel with a single flick of a finger. Then Raine Vermillion comments again, looking toward a wall to his right side.
"The two 1st Class guards that assist you here. Are they doing alright? I heard there was a dueling incident with the Warlords before you killed them."
Ember nods slowly, knowing full well he and Torvak were the ones that put them in this position to begin with—melting those arrogant 1st Class Demons' brains beyond repair without killing them. "Yes, they are still being treated. Hopefully the recovery will be finished soon. Maybe after meeting the Family Head I can request a pair of new guards if not."
"It could be requested. I believe there are a few 1st Class left in the Grand Citadel and Fortress. Though, if you'd like for me to take a look at them, I have a greater demonic regenerative bloodline than the standard automated systems here. An injection may speed up their recovery."
Ember inwardly raises an eyebrow, knowing that the two entities behind that door are actually not Demons, but the Rising Emperor's Body Doubles in a resting state. The braindead Demons and their Dragons are on the other side of this hall, a few kilometers away, but it will not be difficult to swap their rooms' contents with simple Citadel Commands.
Ember nods, "Yes, if you'd like to before leaving with the Berserkers, that would be great."
Iko turns from his panel after copying the last of the data. "Leaving with them?"
Ember shrugs, "Yes, why not. I'll pay for the fast travel transport. It would be much safer to send them over to Mensa for your Lord to interrogate there, wouldn't it? Leaving a Citadel unguarded may be exactly what they want..."
Both of the First Class Demons look to each other with widened eyes, as though they didn't think of such a possible gaping hole in their defense strategy, and reply in unison, "Yes, I think that would be ideal."
Ember smiles and opens a door with a swift hand movement. "Excellent."
