ocean-life Chapter 732
Chapter 732
chapter 732
[level up] x5016
[use absorption]
skill: dark mist
upgrade: divine grade
[yes][no]
[congratulations! rising emperor's domain milestone reached!]
[80,792/50,000 worlds claimed]
[new perk unlocked: path to domination]
info:
generals may now borrow an additional 1% each of total borrowed stats.
[fast travel][i] is now available for all generals.
the rising emperor may now borrow an additional 5% of all base stat points and mana control efficiency from all subordinates under the allegiance of the rising emperor.
the caster may only borrow or share exclusively; both actions cannot be performed simultaneously.
members affected by this perk are not required to be within range of the rising emperor's domain.
this buff stacks with the [authority among worlds] perk, [ruler of worlds] perk, [world collector] perk, [world domination] perk, [imperial reach] perk, [expansion] perk, [dominance] perk, [authority] perk, [power holder] perk, and [ruler's gaze] perk if used simultaneously.
_____________
the moment i kill andras vermillion, a burst of notifications rushes into my mind. over 1 million additional low quality ether flows into my stores, a large amount of levels bring me to [lv. 38,205], and dense divine and demonic energy enters my body.
one strong noble grade world now floats beside the exile guardians world. behind it, 999 new 1st class worlds float as well. there are 2,841 2nd class worlds, and 75,709 3rd class worlds that enter the dark void within my mind too. half of all these worlds are drained completely of their mana and life, and were just being used for stats bonuses.
however, many worlds still house hundreds of millions of awakened, and this rise in links makes the amount of borrowed stats available to me skyrocket by over ten times in an instant.
this was expected... my main focus is now the [dark mist] skill upgrade i receive and the new true core attribute that comes with it.
from below, i can read this demon's status and see it using this divine grade skill, but the domain of darkness that fills the room has a far different aura rippling through it. it feels like a unique true core attribute, but the vibrations of a noble being make it distinct and far more powerful...
this ability flows into me along with all the demon's energy, and activating the domain in an identical fashion becomes second nature.
i see as though it is as bright as day in perfect clarity as the darkness shrouds the room again, and i send waves of telepathy into everyone within the room as the wyvern and i fully burst through the floor.
the instant the darkness hits, ava leaps into action, using a shared image of the room through my eyes via the [spectate] perk in my rising emperor's domain to navigate even while she is blind.
i jump off the wyvern's back, and it dives down while i soar upward. ember steps through the air closer to me, activating his hybrid dragon form, then fully transforming into his full black and red dragon appearance.
as the wyvern and true dragon pass each other in the darkness, they recognize one another by their energy signatures.
"you've returned..." the wyvern whispers in the darkness.
"follow the others and trust in my plan. the grand citadel will be reclaimed, but we must be patient," ember replies, sending a strong wave of telepathy piercing through the darkness.
demonic energy envelops his being, and i share my concealment skill with ember to let him alter his appearance to match the demonic dragon disguise i flew in with.
ava's speed increases even more as she's granted an additional 1% of borrowed stats, and she darts around the room in darkness, setting the stage.
the many corpses of demonic orcs and cyclops guardians in her system storage are perfect for the deception. the goblin queen takes out soul weapons nearly identical to the warlords' and places fallen beasts in their positions.
two large guards are used for zashen, and the massive longswords of spear-wielding guards are crossed to replicate his image. leftover avatar flesh still dissolving from many of ava's kills is placed beneath where ember once stood.
i send waves of demonic energy from my palms down at the displays, and ember adds to the effect, casting a small amount of white fire down where his corpse should be.
the warlords watch as the demonic dragon they witnessed crash their duel transforms into the dense ether signatures of an old forgotten friend. without hesitation, they all climb onto the wyvern's back, including ava, and dive into the hole created in the center of the room.
–
however, some interesting knowledge is sprinkled within, it is not all useless.
hundreds of business meetings flash before my eyes—a growing panel of vermillion family demons strategizing to acquire planets from stronger races and legacy businesses that surpass them in wealth across various citadels.
these long, meticulous plans unfold over millennia. tens of thousands of duels and sparring sessions against 1st class lords who dare to challenge the demons, as well as the overseeing of the exile guardian under the citadel, play out in vivid detail.
the memories of this noble demon looking out from the top floor of the central tower, gazing down at the city, are interspersed with its memories from its home world—gazing up at the sky.
it is torn between the knowledge that it is no longer the strongest, though it holds power over millions, and the simplicity of its past life—believing itself the strongest but confined to a small world.
this very thought races through its mind during its final duel. saddened by the fact that it was defeated by 1st class lords, it remembers a time when its natural greed for power was not suppressed by the family head. maybe if it trained on its own, and grew according to its own rules, it could have beat these lower lifeforms. the demon reflects on how it became dull and submissive—a pawn in someone else's game.
a strange, blissful release echoes in my mind. even as it curses those who opposed it, andras vermillion is strangely content in his final moments as i crush its core—knowing that whoever killed him is following a path he never could.
–
many more intricacies of long-term plans and numerous commands for avatars to trigger certain actions within this citadel rush into my mind as i circle the empty room on ember's back, filled with the fake corpses of warlords below me. the central tower continues to tremble.
the walls of the dueling room i stand in crack more and more as my aura spreads, and the servants on the lower floors of the tower forcefully shut down the citadel-wide broadcast once they realize their ruler has been killed in such a manner.
–
instead of the holograms across the city going dark as before, they all completely shut off, signaling the duel's end and confirming the chaotic display is truly over.
the crowds throughout the citadel erupt with mixed reactions.
"what... just happened...?"
"one of the earlier broadcasts in the volterra district announced another noble demon was going to arrive here. was this planned?"
"no... how could they plan such a thing? maybe he was just watching and decided to kill a demon that betrayed their values. this drako vermillion looks much stronger than the last citadel lord..."
"you're right. he only had a single world on his palm, and he killed all those fighters and the citadel lord with raw strength alone..."
"he seems even more ruthless than andras."
"now all the powerful organization leaders who protected us from the demons taking over have been killed... is it really over?"
"i don't know. w-what's going on?"
"yeah, this is all too weird..."
"are the humans, ogres, orcs, and berserkers being exterminated or not?"
"i-i don't know, but the citadel is still completely locked down. we can't leave or send any messages for help, so we're at the whims of this demon."
"he can kill us all in a heartbeat if he wishes. maybe he's a rank above a noble demon? how else could he achieve such a domineering victory?"
"no way... what if he set all of this up... and he'll turn us into servants, not just the races that offended the demons?"
"we'll just have to wait for an announcement. there's nothing else to do... we're truly powerless. the citadel is his now..."
the awe and tension from this duel between the lower races and the demons ends in a manner no one could have anticipated.
the vermillion family has demonstrated its dominance by killing all who opposed them, along with the noble demon that failed to uphold its family's honor.
the new ruler's intimidating presence ripples through the minds of every lord for tens of thousands of kilometers to the edges of the citadel, even after the broadcast cuts off.
–
not a single soul outside this isolated citadel knows what has transpired.
monthly surveillance transfers are sent to the grand citadel every 30 days, so it is not unusual for there to be no news for long periods; the grand citadel is millions of kilometers away.
what is unusual, however, is receiving an emergency system message signifying a demon from one of the 5 great families has died.
this is what rings in the vermillion family head's system interface as an automated series of notifications are sent out the instant andras is killed.
simultaneously, four more automated notifications ping in the systems of other family heads, lighting up system messages across all of the higher colored zones of the upper realm.