A/N:
" " : Dialogue,
' ' : Thought,
"Italicized text" : Telepathy,
"Bold text": Shadows,
[ ] : System,
| | : Artificial Intelligence.
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Omniscient POV
As Ashwani stepped into the dungeon, he noticed that he was now in a massive subterranean environment, and felt powerful waves of mana coming from within the dungeon. He smiled to himself as he activated his Nano Suit, understanding that the monsters present in this dungeon were at the very least S-Rank, and the boss would require just a bit more effort.
With Phantom Veil active, he knew that the monsters hadn't detected him, so he capitalized on that, releasing drones to map the dungeon and give him details on the monsters. Judging by the height of the dungeon, he came to the clear conclusion that the monsters were of the larger variety, but he wanted to be sure what exactly they were.
After waiting for about 5 minutes, he got his answer, as the drones had completed their tasks. The 'mob' monsters were Earth Golems, A-Rank humanoid Magic Beasts that were regularly over 10 stories tall and made of earth. The elites on the other hand, were Earth Giants, S-Rank counterparts to the Earth Golems, that dwarfed their counterparts to an extreme extent. Normally, these monsters were strong enough to be bosses in A-Rank dungeons, but now they were reduced to guards for the boss, which just made Ashwani more anticipatory of the boss.
The boss wasn't that much larger than the Earth Giants, but its mana signature was multiple times more powerful, so much so that Ashwani could actually feel it from the entrance. But even with that, he smiled like he had hit the jackpot. For him, the stronger his enemies were, the stronger his army would be. If they were machines, he could take them over, and if they had souls, they were going to be added to his army, and therefore, increase his power.
He rushed into the dungeon's depths, his presence perfectly obfuscated from any detection, and soon came upon the closest Earth Giant, and without missing a beat, he unleashed a spell. "Abyssal Bolts!" He said, his voice unheard to the beings around him, and eight spike-covered dark bolts tinged in purple light sped towards the Earth Giant.
He made the Abyssal Bolts spell by combining the Bolts of Balthakk spell with the Void Briar ability from the powers of the Outsider, then infused it with large amounts of Darkforce. The spell that came as a result of this fusion hit with dozens of times more force than any of its constituents, and due to the nature of Darkforce, as well as the amount in the spell, it also hit its targets with crippling debuffs, making sure that its targets are entirely unable to stop the Reaper's scythe, or in this case, Ashwani's blade.
The spell ripped through the Earth Giant's body mercilessly, destroying its limbs and blasting holes into its torso. As it tipped downward, Ashwani built an Energy Cannon on his left arm, but rather than let off a single blast, he charged it up, then fired it as a beam that destroyed the head of the Earth Giant, ending its life. As the monster fell, Ashwani reached out and calmly said out, "Arise.".
In his previous life, he didn't think that the Earth Golems or Giants could be raised as soldiers, until he found out about the Solo Leveling video games, where Sung Jin-Woo had raised golems as his soldiers, and so he tried his hand at it. With his command, the arm of a massive shadow tore from the ground, taking the shape of the Earth Giant. Its body was noticeably larger than when it was alive, and so was the aura of power he could feel coming off it.
"Hmm. Come out." He said, summoning every other one of his shadow soldiers. The space was instantly filled with his shadows, with a cacophony of roars, growls, howls, screeches coming from them. "Say hello to Primon." He said, naming the Earth Giant shadow. "Now, let's make sure he doesn't feel too lonely, and get him some friends." He said, deactivating Phantom Veil, and fully revealing himself and his shadow soldiers.
Almost immediately, multiple powerful mana signatures flared from deeper within the dungeon, and began rushing towards Ashwani and his shadows. He didn't wait for them to reach him, as he dashed deeper into the dungeon to face the monsters, and his soldiers followed behind him. The movement from both sides sent subtle tremors throughout the dungeon, and when they eventually reached each other, the clash released a powerful explosion of force that shook the dungeon.
Ashwani and his shadows quickly gained the upper hand, as he and Garou tore through the Earth Golems and Giants, with each of their attacks being much stronger than the last. The way Combo Craze and Combo Frenzy worked was that every successive attack was stronger than the other, and the combo wouldn't reset unless they were either hit, had to actively block an attack, or had gone out of combat. For Ashwani and Garou, this was not much of a concern, as they were both capable of moving faster than the Earth Golems and Giants.
Ashwani cut off an Earth Giant's arm, then used Slaughter, speedily slashing the monster with Black Rift and quickly increasing the counter of his Combo Craze. By the time he released the last slash of the skill, the power of his attack was strong enough to cleave an Earth Giant with a single blow. An Earth Golem jumped at Ashwani, only for a chain to lash out from the Abyss Cloak and strike it with enough force to smash it into the ground.
Ashwani had given the Abyss Cloak a few more abilities since the night he departed from Guizhou, those being Combo Craze, Indestructible, and Eruption – an effect that makes it so every attack it made would release a powerful pulse of energy that would knock back those that were hit by it, and throughout the melee, the Abyss Cloak had hit multiple enemies, amassing power as it defended its master. So when the Earth Golem got too close, it received the full brunt of the accumulated power and was torn in half.
Ashwani, on the other hand, took advantage of the enhancements he had accumulated and used Storm Slash, violently ripping apart the Earth Giants and Golems in front of him. He activated the skill a few more times, and the battle was quickly brought to an end. As he finished off the last of the enemies, he raised all of them, populating the area with massive shadow soldiers that all radiated greater power than when they were alive, leaving the only living beings in the dungeon to be himself and the boss of the dungeon.
After naming each of the 20 Earth Giants, which were all at various levels of the Elite Knight Rank, he was approached by Garou, who knelt at his feet.
[Garou LV. MAX]
[Rank: Knight]
[A promotion is available due to the shadow reaching the required level. The shadow will be promoted if the Monarch's permission is given.]
[Knight 'Garou' has requested permission for a promotion]
[Do you accept its request?]
"Permission granted." He said after reading through the notifications. As he said that, Garou's body violently erupted with shadows that wrapped around him, that soon formed a cocoon of pure darkness. A few seconds later, the shadows unraveled, revealing Garou, who was now emitting an aura of power multiple times greater than before.
[Knight 'Garou' has been promoted from 'Rank: Knight' to 'Rank: Elite Knight'.]
"Good work, Garou. Now, let's go ahead and finish this." Ashwani said, pulling all the soldiers back into his shadow, then rushed towards the boss room. Upon reaching it, he noticed that the height of the room was easily double that of the rest of the dungeon, and at the end of the room stood the boss, which in Ashwani's eyes, had its name over its head.
[Earth Colossus]
It was about 50% larger than the Earth Giants, but it radiated power that was easily multiple times stronger than them. As the sensation of its mana washed over Ashwani, he felt a bit of familiarity with that level of power, and it soon clicked in his head – the Earth Colossus was at the same level as Beru. Although he hadn't met the insectoid Marshall, he had this familiarity towards the soldiers of the Shadow Monarchs before him.
But he had to suspend those thoughts, as he felt a great weight push down on his body. The boss had begun the fight by first casting a debuff skill, and Ashwani saw his Agility momentarily get reduced by 40%. He looked up at the giant's face and smiled, just as the debuff was cleared from his body. "A debuff, huh? I can do that too." He said, then released his improved version of Bloodlust, Dark Hunt.
Ever since the night that he arrived in Anzhou, Ashwani hadn't stopped trying to create new skills or upgrade the skills he already had in some way. The Abyssal Bolts spell was one of the products of this endeavor, another one of them was Dark Hunt, which he made by using Darkforce to bolster Bloodlust.
Darkforce at its core is pure negative energy, and like pure energy, it can be converted or channeled to power or enhance other things, even if they are mental. So, Ashwani combined the different ways that Darkforce could affect the mind with Bloodlust, which produced the skill Dark Hunt.
[Skill: Dark Hunt LV. MAX (Active)]
[175 Mana Required.
Releases strong energy to push foes to a state of mental collapse for 5 minutes.
This skill can be used on multiple targets.
Effect 1 'Terror': -75% to all stats.
Effect 2 'Delirium': Traps foes in targeted nightmarish illusions for the duration.]
As the skill hit the Earth Colossus, it stumbled as its body weakened and its mind was assaulted by fears it hadn't even known it had made tangible to it. Taking advantage of that, Ashwan activated Quicksilver, then speedily attacked the boss, re-stacking his combo that had reset. In what seemed like the blink of an eye, he struck the boss 10 times, with each successive strike dealing more and more damage.
Although it was under the effects of Dark Hunt, the Earth Colossus flailed its arms around and stomped its feet, causing the earth beneath its feet to violently quake and release jagged spears, while mainly trying to hit the illusions it was seeing, which meant that it was inadvertently yet unsuccessfully defending itself. This didn't save it from the assault, as Ashwani got a few more hits in, then unleashed Slaughter, killing the Earth Colossus before the last strike of the skill hit.
The tattered corpse of the Earh Colossus dropped to the ground, and Ashwani landed beside it. "Heh, to think that I'd get my first General in less than 3 months. I wonder what Jin-Woo would say if he could see this." He said, then extended his hand as he commanded the monster to serve him. "Arise." As the command left his lips, his surroundings were covered by an all-encompassing darkness.
The darkness lasted for a few seconds, and when it cleared, Ashwani smiled, satisfied with what he was seeing. In front of him was a gigantic shadow that was even larger than the boss, much like his other shadow that were larger than their former selves.
[Soldiers of a high grade can be named]
[The name will remain until the soldier is dismissed.]
[Please set the soldier's name.]
[??? LV. 1]
[Rank: General]
"Gigas. You'll be in charge of the other Golems and Giants. If I get actual Giants in here, and they aren't as strong as you, you'll be in charge of them too." He said, and the massive shadow knelt in deference and reverence to him. Now that he had finally finished with the dungeon, he went over and picked up the boss loot. He received the standard gold and potion drops, as well as the miscellaneous item drops, but he also received something else. A Runestone.
[Runestone: Earthquake]
[You can absorb the skill by breaking the runestone.]
He quickly broke it and inspected the skill.
[Skill: Earthquake LV. 1 (Active)]
[200 Mana Required.
Releases energy into the ground, causing a wide area around the caster to quake and release multiple Earth Spears.]
Although he was tempted to test out the skill, he refrained from doing so, and put Gigas into his shadow. As he walked towards the dungeon exit, he decided to finally check his status.
[Level: 86
Strength: 735
Vitality: 760
Agility: 800
Intelligence: 610
Perception: 760
Bonus SP: 2]
He had leveled up 38 times from the S-Rank dungeon, and he had equally distributed his bonus stats points, making his base stats hit 254 points. With his Rings adding 50% of his base stats, and his Nano Suit adding 90% of his base stats, all of his stats were now at a minimum of 610 points, then Black Rift and Abyss Cloak gave him the extra boost. At his level of strength, he could easily fight and defeat two of the weaker Monarchs in a head-on fight, without the aid of his army.
Having achieved such resounding success with his raid of an S-Rank dungeon, Ashwani decided that he would speed through the other Instant Dungeons for the sole purpose of getting into the Demon Castle earlier. Upon reaching the exit, the environment of the dungeon faded, like a layer of reality was being peeled away. Ashwani, with Phantom Veil active, opened up a portal to the location of the first A-Rank dungeon, then stepped through.
…
Two hours had passed since Ashwani began his rush through the six other Instant Dungeons, and since then he had completely demolished the dungeons. Each dungeon was exponentially easier than the last, as his army continued to grow, and he, against his own expectations, leveled up six more times.
The second dungeon had a humanoid Magic Beast as its boss, that being a Crocor, with the mobs and elites being Lizardmen of different levels of strength. With the death of that boss, he gained a new Elite Knight level soldier, which he named Gilla, as well as a new skill from a runestone that it dropped.
[Skill: Strengthening LV. 1 (Active)]
[100 Mana Required.
Forms an aura of mana around the user's body, increasing their strength by 30%.]
The third dungeon was fully populated by Nagas, a high-level dragon-type race of Magic Beasts that regularly live in damp areas that were proficient in both magical and physical combat. The boss was much stronger than the others, and also possessed a powerful regenerative factor and the ability to grow drastically in size. Its weapons were a pair of tridents that let out powerful jets of water that could shred through most metals, even if they were infused with mana. Even then, it fell to Ashwani and his army, and was added to it.
The fourth dungeon was a B-Rank dungeon situated in the Himalayan Mountains, and it was entirely populated by Yetis, with the boss being a larger Yeti that had all of its attacks bolstered by ice. Unfortunately for the Yetis, they were entirely outclassed by Ashwani's army, and soon got added to the army as more powerful versions of themselves.
The fifth, sixth and seventh dungeons were all C-Rank, with two of them being populated by insect-type monsters, with one practically being a mirror image of the C-Rank dungeon where Sung Jin-Woo killed Hwang Dong-Suk, and the other was populated by mantises. The last of the dungeons was a beast-type dungeon which was populated mainly by Dungeon Jackals, with the boss being a Knoll, a humanoid hyena monster.
By the time that Ashwani was done, his army's total numbers had shot all the way up to over 2,300 soldiers. After he had finished with all of his dungeon raids, Ashwani finally completed the hidden mission, adding 10 points to each of his stats, increasing them to 270, and getting not just one Blessed Random Box, but 5 of them.
He got the key to the Demon Castle from the first box, and saved the other 4 in his inventory. He knew what he wanted as of now, and had gotten it, so he saved the others, just in case he would want something deeply enough for the system to react. He took out the key to the Demon Castle and inspected it, with its description causing him to raise a brow in surprise.
[Item: Demon Castle Key
Item Class: S
Type: Key
A key that allows you to enter Dungeon: Demon Castle. Can be used at the Roxxon Corporation Building in Los Angeles, California.]
"I knew those bastards were bad for the environment, but they really are that evil." He said with a laugh, as he opened a portal to the building. He walked over to the building and used the key, then stepped into the Gate that formed. As he walked into the Gate, he saw the environment that he expected – a city engulfed by flames and destruction, and he smiled, his mind filled with anticipation.
After walking down the street he entered for a while, he came across the very first enemy of the Gate, Cerberus. In front of the true entrance to the Demon Castle, illuminated by the flames, was a massive three-headed black dog, with horn-like bone growths on each head. Over its head in white was its name – [Hell's Gatekeeper Cerberus]. But despite its size and power, it shrunk away in fear of Ashwani, who had let his aura loose.
Even just going with his base stats, Ashwani was so much more powerful than the Cerberus that it wouldn't matter if he simply used his bare fists and nothing else to fight it. And so, in what seemed like a blink, all three heads of the monstrous dog were cut off, the battle ending near instantly. Much like Sung Jin-Woo, Ashwani gained three items from the dead Cerberus: the Warden's Necklace, the Cerberus' Fang, and the Castle Door Key.
He looked to the dead monster and smiled. "Arise." He said, raising one of the few monsters that Jin-Woo regretted not getting. Mere seconds later, the Cerberus now stood in shadowy canine glory, and Ashwani looked at it for a few seconds before eventually naming it Deadbolt, given its duty to guard the entrance to the Demon Castle… and he could shorten its name to Bolt, if he felt like playing with it.
He used the Castle Door Key and walked in, the only thing between him and the true Demon Castle being a hallway filled with horned gargoyles perched on pedestals, and a door at the end of it. As he walked down the hallway, a notification popped up from the system.
[A Quest Has Arrived!]
[Normal Quest: Kill The Demons!
The Demon Castle is filled with demons. Hunt them all down to get special rewards.
Quest Completion Requirement:
Eliminate all demons.
Reward(s):
1. Item of your choosing.
2. Highest Quality Runestone.
3. Bonus Stats +100.
4. Hidden Reward.
5. Hidden Reward.]
"Huh? Interesting." He said with a smile, just as he reached the door. "Well… time to give these demons hell." He said, opening the door, ready to begin a massacre.
Chapter End.
Word Count: 3,234
Thanks for reading!