Year 336 Post-Collision – Day 131 (6 Hours Into Dungeon)
Sunny took five minutes on the floor ten stairway to rest and assess. The Sovereign's Defiance was using negligible energy—Ultimate Skills were self-sustaining—but his body still needed brief recovery between trials.
[THOUGHT DOMINION: RUNNING SELF-DIAGNOSTIC]
[PHYSICAL STATE: 89% OPTIMAL]
[MAGICULE RESERVES: 1,487 / 1,847]
[MENTAL CLARITY: 96%]
[CONTINUITY DEBT: 79.3% (STABLE)]
[COMBAT READINESS: EXCELLENT]
[PROJECTED FLOOR 11 DIFFICULTY: C+ TO B-]
[PREPARATION: ADEQUATE]
[PROCEED WHEN READY]
Ready as I'll ever be, Sunny thought. He drew the Founder's Blade, checked his equipment, and descended to floor eleven.
Floor 11: The Throne of Rivals
The eleventh floor opened into a grand throne room. Obsidian pillars stretched to a vaulted ceiling of impossible geometry. At the far end sat an empty throne of twisted black metal and purple crystal—clearly meant for a king.
But between Sunny and the throne stood nine figures.
Nine challengers.
Each one positioned at a podium bearing a different symbol: Strength, Wisdom, Wealth, Faith, Cunning, Beauty, Honor, Ambition, Fear.
[AKASHIC INTERFACE: ANALYZING ENTITIES]
[DUNGEON CONSTRUCTS: CONFIRMED]
[REPRESENTING: NINE CLASSICAL PATHS TO POWER]
[EACH ONE: B- TO B RANK COMBAT CAPABILITY]
[SPECIAL CONDITION: THEY CAN COORDINATE]
[THIS IS NOT NINE SEPARATE FIGHTS]
[THIS IS ONE FIGHT AGAINST NINE OPPONENTS]
The voice of Asmodeus resonated through the throne room:
"ELEVENTH TRIAL: TO SIT ON THE THRONE, YOU MUST SURPASS ALL WHO SEEK IT. NINE RIVALS STAND BEFORE YOU. EACH EMBODIES A PATH TO POWER. YOU MAY DEFEAT THEM THROUGH COMBAT, NEGOTIATION, OR CLEVERNESS. BUT YOU MUST OVERCOME ALL NINE TO PROCEED."
"THEY WILL NOT WAIT FOR YOU TO FIGHT THEM ONE BY ONE."
The nine figures activated simultaneously.
Strength was a towering warrior in golden armor, wielding a warhammer crackling with force.
Wisdom was a robed scholar surrounded by floating tomes and calculation matrices.
Wealth wore merchant's finery with rings on every finger, each ring a magical artifact.
Faith appeared as a priest in white vestments, holy light radiating from their form.
Cunning was a shadow-wrapped rogue, already disappearing from view.
Beauty manifested as an ethereal figure whose appearance shifted constantly, almost hypnotic.
Honor stood in ancient samurai armor, hand on katana, perfectly still.
Ambition was wreathed in purple fire, eyes burning with manic hunger.
Fear was formless—a mass of writhing darkness with countless eyes.
They didn't speak. They simply attacked.
[THREAT ASSESSMENT: CRITICAL]
[NINE B-RANK OPPONENTS COORDINATING]
[EFFECTIVE COMBINED RANK: A-]
[YOUR RANK: B-]
[DISADVANTAGE: SIGNIFICANT]
[CONVENTIONAL VICTORY: IMPOSSIBLE]
[UNCONVENTIONAL APPROACH: REQUIRED]
Sunny activated Thought Dominion to maximum capacity, perceiving time at 1:1000 ratio. The world slowed to a crawl as the nine rivals launched their opening assault.
In the expanded time perception, Sunny analyzed each rival's nature, attack pattern, and most importantly—their weaknesses.
Strength: Pure physical power, no defense against conceptual attacks.
Wisdom: Perfect calculation but predictable—follows optimal paths too rigidly.
Wealth: Relies on artifacts; disrupt the artifacts, disrupt the fighter.
Faith: Holy energy; vulnerable to sovereignty-based denial.
Cunning: Already invisible, attacking from stealth—but Sovereign's Defiance saw through it perfectly.
Beauty: Distraction and charm magic—useless against Ultimate Skill consciousness.
Honor: Bound by rules of engagement; can be exploited.
Ambition: Reckless aggression; will overextend.
Fear: Psychological warfare; completely ineffective against someone who'd died once already.
Seven hundred simulations ran in the stretched moment.
Strategy crystallized.
"I can't beat you all in direct combat," Sunny said, time returning to normal speed as he spoke. "Not fairly. So I won't fight fairly."
[CONCEPTUAL SYNTHESIS: ACTIVATING]
[SOVEREIGN'S AUTHORITY: MAXIMUM OUTPUT]
[CREATING TEMPORARY LAW...]
Sunny slammed the Founder's Blade into the throne room floor and commanded:
"In this space, under my sovereignty: RIVALS CANNOT COORDINATE. Each of you fights alone. Your paths to power are singular—you can't work together. That's the nature of what you represent."
The metaphysical law rippled outward from the blade. Asmodeus's dungeon resisted—this was its trial, its rules. But Sunny was a B-rank sovereign with an Ultimate Skill explicitly designed around defiance.
The clash of authorities shook the throne room.
For three seconds, reality hung in balance.
Then Asmodeus laughed—genuinely amused:
"CLEVER! YOU RECOGNIZED THAT MY TRIAL'S THEME ITSELF CONTAINS THE CONTRADICTION. NINE PATHS TO POWER THAT HISTORICALLY OPPOSE EACH OTHER, FORCED TO COOPERATE? YOU'RE RIGHT—IT'S NARRATIVELY INCONSISTENT. VERY WELL. I PERMIT YOUR LAW. LET'S SEE HOW YOU HANDLE THEM SEPARATELY."
The nine rivals stumbled as their coordination network severed. Each one suddenly fighting alone, unable to time their attacks with the others.
The tide shifted instantly.
Sunny smiled. "One at a time, then. Starting with the easiest."
Rival 1: Fear
The formless mass of darkness with countless eyes surged toward Sunny first, attempting to overwhelm him with terror. Waves of psychological pressure crashed against his mind—every fear, every doubt, every moment of inadequacy weaponized.
Sunny stood absolutely still and activated Deathless Defiance—the sub-skill that made him functionally immune to death while his claim persisted.
"You're trying to scare someone who's already died once," Sunny said calmly. "I drowned in an abyss for three years. I was broken down and rebuilt by a primordial. What fear could you possibly show me that's worse than that?"
Fear's attack failed completely. The psychological assault found nothing to grip onto.
Sunny walked forward and placed his hand directly into the writhing darkness.
[SOVEREIGN'S AUTHORITY: REALITY DENIAL]
"I refuse your existence in my presence. Fear has no power over those who've transcended it."
The darkness evaporated. Fear dissolved into nothing, unable to exist against absolute refusal.
[RIVAL DEFEATED: FEAR]
[REMAINING: 8]
Rival 2: Beauty
The shifting, hypnotic figure approached next, trying distraction and charm. Their appearance cycled through every possible form designed to captivate—beautiful faces, alluring bodies, perfect symmetry.
Sunny didn't even look directly at them. His Akashic Interface simply read the entity as pure information—seeing through the illusion to the construct beneath.
"You're mathematics pretending to be aesthetics," Sunny observed. "Beautiful to those who process visually. Meaningless to someone who perceives conceptually."
He gestured dismissively. Conceptual Synthesis activated, creating a temporary counter-spell:
"ILLUSIONS CANNOT AFFECT TRUE SIGHT."
Beauty's form flickered, unstable. Without the ability to mesmerize, the entity had no combat capability. It was pure deception.
Sunny walked past it toward the throne. Beauty faded behind him, trial failed.
[RIVAL DEFEATED: BEAUTY]
[REMAINING: 7]
Rival 3: Cunning
The shadow-wrapped rogue struck from behind—perfect assassination technique, blade aimed at Sunny's spine.
[THOUGHT DOMINION: ATTACK PREDICTED 0.7 SECONDS PRIOR]
Sunny activated Phantom Movement, teleporting five meters forward. The assassination failed.
He spun and smiled at the still-invisible Cunning.
"I can see you perfectly. My Ultimate Skill processes reality at a level where stealth is just bad data obfuscation. You're not invisible—you're just poorly rendered."
Cunning tried again—feint left, strike right, poison dagger to the neck.
Sunny dodged every attack without effort. His Sovereign's Defiance was predicting not just where Cunning would attack, but where Cunning could possibly attack given physics, anatomy, and weapon reach.
After thirty seconds of futile assault, Cunning made a mistake—overextended on a thrust. Sunny caught the rogue's wrist with Sovereign's Authority active, denying the entity any leverage to escape.
"Cleverness without wisdom is just complicated stupidity," Sunny said. He pulled Cunning forward and drove the Founder's Blade through their core. "And I have both."
[RIVAL DEFEATED: CUNNING]
[REMAINING: 6]
Rival 4: Ambition
The purple-fire-wreathed figure charged with pure manic aggression. No technique, no strategy—just overwhelming drive to WIN, to CLAIM, to DOMINATE.
"Finally, someone who fights directly!" Ambition's voice was raw hunger. "I'll crush you and take your throne and—"
Sunny activated Crushing Momentum.
The ability he'd synthesized months ago had evolved with the Ultimate Skill—now each consecutive hit didn't just increase damage by 15%, it increased by 25%, and the stack cap was twenty instead of ten.
First strike: normal power. Second strike: 25% stronger. Third: 50% stronger.
By the tenth strike, Sunny's attacks were hitting with 250% power.
Ambition tried to match aggression with aggression, but it was mathematical. Each exchange, Sunny got exponentially stronger while Ambition stayed constant.
Strike fifteen: 375% power. The purple flames began cracking.
Strike twenty: 500% power. Sunny's final blow was an empowered Pressure Blade carrying the full weight of his accumulated momentum.
Ambition's core shattered. The purple flames guttered out.
"Ambition without discipline is self-destruction," Sunny observed. "You burned too hot, too fast."
[RIVAL DEFEATED: AMBITION]
[REMAINING: 5]
Rival 5: Faith
The priest in white vestments approached slowly, holy light intensifying. This one was different—calm, centered, powerful.
"Your defiance is impressive," Faith spoke in serene tones. "But defiance is still rebellion. True strength comes from surrender to higher purpose. Faith requires—"
"I'm claimed by a primordial Leviathan," Sunny interrupted. "I already have faith. It's just faith in her, not whatever god you're representing."
Faith's expression flickered—this wasn't the response the construct expected.
"You follow a monster?"
"I follow strength. She claimed me, tested me, made me more. That's my higher purpose. Your generic holy power can't compete with specific primordial authority."
Sunny channeled his connection to the Leviathan—the claim that bound him to something vast and ancient. His Abyssal Sovereignty pulsed with oceanic pressure.
Faith's holy light met abyssal darkness. The two powers clashed—divine versus primordial.
Faith was stronger in pure output. But Sunny's connection was real, not a construct simulation. The Leviathan's presence bled through the bond, just enough to tip the balance.
The holy light cracked. Faith staggered.
Sunny struck with the Founder's Blade, empowered by the Leviathan's claim. The priest construct dissolved into motes of failing light.
"My faith is absolute," Sunny said. "It's just not faith in you."
[RIVAL DEFEATED: FAITH]
[REMAINING: 4]
Rival 6: Honor
The samurai in ancient armor finally drew their katana. The movement was perfect—centuries of technique compressed into one motion.
"I challenge you to single combat," Honor spoke formally. "No tricks. No sovereignty manipulation. Pure skill."
Sunny considered. Honor was probably the strongest pure martial combatant among the nine. But also the most predictable.
"I accept," Sunny said. "On one condition: we use the same weapon length."
Honor nodded. Fair request.
The duel began.
Honor struck with masterful precision—every cut perfect, every stance immaculate, every technique flawless. This was B-rank swordsmanship from someone who'd spent lifetimes mastering the blade.
Sunny had spent four months learning to use a sword.
But he had Thought Dominion running 47,000 combat simulations per second.
Every technique Honor used, Sunny had seen before—not in this fight, but in his Media Catalog. Anime sword fights. Manga duels. Kendo documentaries. Fantasy combat. All of it processed, analyzed, optimized.
He didn't match Honor's perfection. He exceeded it by treating swordplay as solvable mathematics.
Honor's technique was perfect. Sunny's was optimal.
Strike, counter, parry, riposte—the duel lasted exactly seventeen exchanges. On the eighteenth, Sunny found the microscopic gap in Honor's defense that no human eye could see but quantum-speed prediction could calculate.
The Founder's Blade pierced Honor's heart.
"Your technique is flawless," Sunny said respectfully as Honor dissolved. "But perfection is predictable. I don't fight fair—I fight to win."
[RIVAL DEFEATED: HONOR]
[REMAINING: 3]
Rival 7: Wealth
The merchant approached confidently, every ring on their fingers glowing with magical power. Artifacts of immense capability—each one worth kingdoms.
"Gold conquers all," Wealth declared. "No amount of skill or strength matters against infinite resources. I have artifacts that—"
Sunny activated Sovereign's Authority and commanded:
"Your artifacts don't work in my presence. I deny their activation."
Wealth's rings went dark. The magical items failed, rendered inert by metaphysical denial.
"That's—that's not possible! These are legendary artifacts! They can't just stop—"
"They can if I say they can," Sunny walked forward. "You relied entirely on bought power. But sovereignty trumps wealth. Always has."
Wealth tried to defend with mundane combat skills—laughably inadequate. Sunny didn't even use his blade. He simply walked forward until Wealth stood between him and the throne, then exerted his presence.
The sheer weight of B-rank sovereignty mixed with Ultimate Skill authority crushed Wealth's construct form. It crumbled like sand.
"Money can't buy what you don't understand," Sunny observed.
[RIVAL DEFEATED: WEALTH]
[REMAINING: 2]
Rival 8: Wisdom
The robed scholar surrounded by floating tomes spoke with precise calculation:
"I've analyzed all your previous combat encounters. I've modeled your abilities, your tactics, your decision trees. I have calculated 147,000 possible scenarios for this engagement. In 87% of them, I achieve victory through—"
"You're thinking linearly," Sunny interrupted. "Running calculations, following logic, pursuing optimal outcomes. That's predictable."
Wisdom's expression showed offense. "Predictable? I have simulated—"
"147,000 scenarios. I heard. I've run 850 million in the time we've been talking." Sunny tapped his temple. "Thought Dominion. My processing speed is quantum-level. You can't out-calculate an Ultimate Skill designed specifically for calculation."
Wisdom went silent, tomes spinning faster as the construct tried to catch up, tried to model Sunny's advantage—
Too late.
Sunny struck while Wisdom was locked in analytical paralysis. The Founder's Blade pierced the scholar's core before the construct finished its emergency calculation cycle.
"Wisdom is knowing what to calculate," Sunny said. "Intelligence is knowing when to stop calculating and act."
[RIVAL DEFEATED: WISDOM]
[REMAINING: 1]
Rival 9: Strength
The golden-armored warrior with the warhammer was the last standing. They'd watched all eight rivals fall, learning, adapting.
"You beat them through tricks," Strength growled. "Through clever words and reality manipulation and calculation. But can you beat pure, overwhelming force?"
The warrior raised the warhammer. Energy gathered—not magical, not conceptual, just raw kinetic power building to devastating levels.
This was it. The final test of floor eleven. Everything else had been overcome through intelligence, sovereignty, and Ultimate Skill exploitation.
This was pure combat. Power versus power.
Sunny looked at Strength and smiled.
"Actually? Yes. I can."
He activated every combat ability simultaneously:
Crushing Momentum reset and building Sovereign's Authority reinforcing his existence Deathless Defiance guaranteeing survival Adaptive Armor hardening to maximum Thought Dominion predicting optimal counter Pressure Blade channeling through his sword
"Because I'm not just one path to power," Sunny said, walking forward. "I'm all of them. I have strength, wisdom, cunning, ambition, and more. I'm a synthesis of everything you represent and things you can't imagine."
Strength swung the warhammer with B-rank force—enough to shatter castle walls.
Sunny didn't dodge. He caught it.
[SOVEREIGN'S AUTHORITY: MAXIMUM]
[DENYING: WEAPON'S MOMENTUM]
[CLAIMING: SPACE THE HAMMER OCCUPIES]
[RESULT: IMPOSSIBLE STOP]
The warhammer froze in midair, caught by absolute metaphysical refusal to allow its movement.
Strength stared in disbelief.
Sunny smiled and channeled Crushing Momentum through the Founder's Blade—twenty stacks accumulated from the entire floor's combat, all released at once.
500% enhanced strike. B-rank power multiplied by five. Empowered by sovereignty. Guided by perfect prediction.
Golden armor didn't just break—it vaporized.
Strength fell, defeated by someone who'd combined every path to power into one overwhelming synthesis.
[RIVAL DEFEATED: STRENGTH]
[REMAINING: 0]
[FLOOR ELEVEN: COMPLETE]
The Throne
With all nine rivals defeated, the throne at the far end pulsed with invitation. Sunny walked toward it slowly, exhausted but victorious.
Asmodeus's voice returned, carrying genuine respect:
"IMPRESSIVE. MOST CHALLENGERS SPEND HOURS ON THIS FLOOR, BARELY SURVIVING EACH RIVAL. YOU DISMANTLED THEM SYSTEMATICALLY IN FORTY-THREE MINUTES. YOU UNDERSTOOD THE TRIAL'S DEEPER MEANING—THAT TRUE KINGSHIP REQUIRES INTEGRATING ALL PATHS TO POWER, NOT CHOOSING ONE."
"SIT, CHALLENGER. YOU'VE EARNED THIS THRONE."
Sunny sat on the twisted metal and crystal throne. The moment he did, power surged through him—not damaging, but recognizing. The dungeon acknowledging his right to proceed.
[FLOOR ELEVEN REWARD: ASMODEUS'S FIRST ACKNOWLEDGMENT]
[AUTHORITY RECOGNIZED]
[KINGSHIP POTENTIAL: CONFIRMED]
[DEEPER FLOORS: UNLOCKED]
[NEXT TRIAL: THE CRUCIBLE BEGINS IN EARNEST]
The throne dissolved, revealing a new staircase descending deeper.
Sunny stood, sheathed his blade, and allowed himself a moment of satisfaction.
Eleven floors down. Thirty-six to go.
But Asmodeus was impressed. The Djinn of Kings saw potential in him.
That was worth every exhausting minute of combat.
He descended to floor twelve.
[END CHAPTER 28]
[FLOORS CONQUERED: 11/47]
[TIME ELAPSED: 7 HOURS, 26 MINUTES]
[ASMODEUS'S JUDGMENT: "EXCEPTIONAL"]
[COMBAT PERFORMANCE: OPTIMAL]
[MENTAL ACUITY: SUPERIOR]
[SOVEREIGN CAPABILITY: PROVEN]
[NEXT: FLOORS 12-20 (SPECIALTY TRIALS)]
[DIFFICULTY CONTINUES ESCALATING]
[DJINN EQUIP: GETTING CLOSER]