I activated [Prevention], [Initiation], [Dragoon Might], [Sharp Spear], [Long Attacks], [Spear Finesse], and [Monster Hunter] as I took the first step into the dungeon floor.
A narrow bridge lead to a vast, cavernous expanse before me.
The ceiling stood a few hundred meters above. Tall stone platforms around seven hundred meters wide jutted out of a churning sea of black, oozing fog from which tendrils of darkness twisted upward before dissipating near the platforms’ edges, and where countless transparent beings waded like fish in a river. Narrow bridges connected the platforms, long and winding.
Blurry creatures covered in shadowy blankets hung like bats from the bridges and platforms.
The platforms themselves were teeming with other kind of monster: entangled masses of shadow that writhed around skulls.
High above, floating under the platforms, and traversing the air between the many bridges, what looked like pale and limbless ethereal corpses moved lazily as if moved by a breeze that wasn't really there.
It was utterly silent.
I focused on one of the skulls covered in shadowy masses and appraised it.
[Steward of Death, Lvl 1552]
I nodded in approval, then appraised the blurry creatures.
[Wraithbound Cohort, Lvl 1489]
Next was one of the creatures swimming in the shadowy bottom.
[Chamberlain of Curses, Lvl 1502]
Finally, the floating pale corpses.
[Wailing Major Domus, Lvl 1595]
Additionally, a heavy and thick blanket of E'er filled the dungeon floor, the energy arranged in a way that prevented sound from propagating similar to the sound-proof enchantment Mortals added to almost every building I've been in so far. This one, however, was everywhere around me.
I brought my thumb and middle finger together and snapped them.
Not a sound was made.
Magical silence? I thought, taking a soundless step forward and readying my spear. That's actually super cool. Does it work with Power Tongues? I wondered and took a deep, silent breath, then said in Infernal, “Disperse!”
My voice was louder than it should've been, almost like I shouted at the top of my lungs.
The sound echoed in the dungeon.
Every monster within earshot turned to me and started wailing.
AH, YES! WHY DON'T YOU???? I retorted and took a stance, using my wings to cover my front and back.
[Heavenly Weapons of the Conquering Golden Suns] floated around me, the five spears ready to move at a thought.
Around five hundred Wailing Major Domus rushed me, floating towards me as if pushed by an invisible gust of wind, their mouths unhinged and crying out for death.
Pressure from everywhere assaulted me, the sound trying to slowly sneak into me and cause instantaneous death.
[Prevention], as per the skill's name, prevented me from being affected by movement-altering effects, largely diminishing the pressure, but not entirely.
Not knowing -and not willing to know- if the instant death effect would affect me due to the Laws of Life governing my body or if I was immune because of them, I used the only thing at my disposal to fully counter a magical attack.
That is, Infernal.
“When the Enlightened One, the Lord Who Looks Down With Compassion,” I started chanting and took aim with my spear, activating [Throw Spear] and chucking it at one of the Wailing Major Domus.
The pressure vanished the moment I uttered the first word.
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The weapon hit cleanly, piercing the monster between empty eye sockets. Then, it hit the one behind it, and the next.
Although the weapon was moving at several times the speed of sound, the monsters did not die. Instead, they continued moving towards me as if nothing had left gaping holes in their bodies and heads.
“Was practicing the profound path of transcendent wisdom,” I continued chanting in Infernal, dispelling the monsters' wails. I mentally made the conjured weapons fly toward the first one that survived [Spear Throw].
The golden weapons rushed it, piercing it from five different directions.
Again, it did not die, but got stuck in place by the ethereal spears, the monster's wails not stopping.
Once the hundreds of Wailing Major Domus were one hundred meters away from me, their wails increased in pitch, going into ultrasound.
The noise clashed with my Infernal recitation, stopping and forming a dome of displeased E'er ten meters around me. The effect shook in discomfort and disgust, its shape corrupted and becoming undone.
The Stewards of Death and the Wraithbound Cohorts were approaching on “foot”, crossing the bridges towards me while hovering a few meters from the ground.
“He gazed deeply into the five aggregates,” I kept it going as my spear returned to my hands, and thrust in the stuck monster's direction, activating [Heavenly Punishment of the Conquering Golden Suns].
Solar-natured E'er, bright gold and hot like noon during the Aphelion, gathered around my spear and shot forward, projecting a five hundred meter long and fifty wide spear made of solid sunlight.
The thirty Wailing Major Domus that got hit simply ceased to exist, there one moment and not there the next.
1800% Tenacity plus 16000 Strength, multiplied by one hundred was enough, it seemed.
Long range, wide-area attacks was a smart decision, after all.
“And perceived that they were all empty, thus freeing himself from self-essence,” I continued, focusing on a specific Wailing Major Domus in the middle of the group in front of me and activated [First Campaign of Eternal Conquest: The Heavenly Suns Descend].
Solar Energy gathered around me and catapulted me towards the unfortunate monster at a speed far greater than I was expecting.
My body, protected by now improved Mythical armor, crashed against the creature, obliterating it from this dimension.
Upon contact, a bright flash of light surged, spreading a golden wave of light one kilometer in all directions almost instantaneously.
All monsters that were within range got hit by the wave, their bodies ignited by [Heavenly Mercy of the Conquering Golden Suns], golden light burning their corporeal forms.
But their wails continued.
“Hear, wise disciple: form is emptiness, emptiness is form,” I chanted, chaining [First Campaign of Eternal Conquest: The Heavenly Suns Descend] into [Second Campaign of Eternal Conquest: The Heavenly Suns Seize].
As if reversing the wave emanated by the First Campaign, a second, wider, and stronger wave surged inward from all directions, rushing toward me from two and a half kilometers away.
Like leaves in a storm, the monsters that were previously hit by First Campaign's wave got thrown in my direction.
Silent and dead.
With only a second to chain the Second Campaign into the Third Campaign, I focused on a group of monsters atop a platform far away, beyond the reach of the First Campaign's wave, and activated [Heavenly Punishment of the Conquering Golden Suns] to boost its power with [Third Campaign of Eternal Conquest: The Heavenly Suns Triumph].
“Form is not different from emptiness; emptiness is not different from-”
A five kilometer long and five hundred meter wide burst of Solar Energy shot forward, vaporizing the stone platform, the bridges connecting to it, and many, many monsters.
Бляяяяяядь... I uttered, or tried to, but the magical silence prevented my thoughts from coming out as sound. I covered my mouth with a hand as I floated down to land on the bridge and watched the utter destruction in shocked silence.
The dead monsters landed around me, pulled by the Second Campaign's gravity vortex.
My skin and Hair absorbed their released E'er.
I snapped out of it and changed the path E'er followed when entering me from Hoplite to Heavenly Golden Sun of Eternal Conquest, keeping the 90% to 10% ratio of Class to E'er pool I had going since the previous day.
The dungeon was so packed with E'er that spending eleven thousand E'er in the last 12 seconds didn't really register since I absorbed massive amounts constantly.
A quick check confirmed my available E'er pool being at 14960/15000, and filled up the next instant. It ticked down a few thousand to upkeep the toggled skills, but got filled up again right after.
There was now a five kilometer long gap in the terrain in front of me, covering a little less than a quarter of the new dungeon floor.
I guess that's my new ultimate attack? I wondered, reconsidering the combo in a new light while walking across the bridge. That's absurd, I concluded and stopped at the edge of the broken bridge, looking down.
The churning fog of oozing darkness was quite a distance below, maybe one and a half or two kilometers down.
With my Glow now ten times wider and brighter, the entirety of the dungeon floor was illuminated as if noon, which was pretty neat. True, wading through darkness to fight cursed and undead had its allure. Bringing ultimate punishment and utter destruction with the power of the suns, however, was way better.
And the range will double when [Solar Expansion Through the Eternal Heavens] levels up... I recalled, biting my lower lip. Up to two hundred and fifty kilometers... fuck me retarded... I cursed and shook my head, waiting for the skills to recharge.
I wanted to use them again, of course.
Shorvanna had told me that I could die if I tried rushing the dungeon.
I planned to prove her wrong.
Much more importantly than proving the Goddess of the path of the Warrior wrong, however, there was a matter that required me to clear the dungeon within two weeks. I had to be back at the temple by the 19th of the seventh month at all costs and by all means.
I had thirteen days left and only cleared the first floor, which was a bit concerning.
Why?
It was Lapia's birthday.
So, I stepped off the edge and let myself float down towards the churning dark ooze far below toward the Chamberlains of Curses. I wonder what the Floor Guardian is...