I enter the canyon of dungeons and make my way down to the labyrinth.
There are hundreds of hunters farming in the dungeons all around, and dozens of Crimson Army hunters training on the mid-level floors of the labyrinth.
I dungeon walk all the way to the top, to the 99th floor, materializing with all of my mana and divine energy suppressed when I arrive in the final boss room.
I see a [Lv. 6908] Arch Demon, and a dark maroon-colored earth dragon sharing the same level, guarding this final floor.
Before they can even sense my presence, I send a wave of telepathy into the demon's psyche.
"Pluto, that was your name, wasn't it...? I've returned to renegotiate our deal, as the outside world is changing far faster than expected."
The three-meter-tall demon with red skin, curving black horns, and sharp white eyes turns its head to meet mine.
"The Flame Emperor, you've returned... I must admit, I didn't believe this labyrinth would grow so quickly. It usually takes decades, sometimes even centuries, for a labyrinth to mature."
Its eyes sharpen.
"But don't think your swiftness has changed the terms of our deal. I have a higher power I must obey in the Demonic Realm. Even if you are a peak-tier Arch Demon, I cannot swear my loyalty to you."
I step forward and take a look toward the earth dragon as Pluto jumps on top of it, and they both fly over to stand right before me.
I think back to our meeting long before I knew the true powers of this world. I, too, had no reason to believe I'd be reaching the upper floors of this labyrinth so fast when I first made a deal with this demon.
My eyes trail upward to read the system text in the boss room.
[Floors Available: 99/100]
[Mana Necessary to create next Floor: [0.0 Quintillion / 14.9 Quintillion]]
When I first made the deal, it took days for my doubles to farm just a few trillion MP. Now, the staggering amount necessary to level up the final floor from 99 to 100 could be completed by my double in just a few hours, considering all of the excess mana available in the artificial mountains.
I respond to the demon as he jumps off his dragon and meets me eye to eye less than five meters away.
"Our deal... It was that I'd let you return to the Demonic Realm to deliver the mana I've worked so hard to farm... and in return, once you have your freedom, you'd make a link of loyalty with me... and also, I'd give you a skill of your choosing. Was that it?"
I look up at the ceiling, rolling my eyes, not seeing much upside in this deal anymore.
The Arch Demon replies.
"You also assured me I would one day meet a Demon Lord in person, one that claims the throne of this world years down the line when that time comes."
I smirk.
"Well, as I said, times have changed. That throne is awakening in the next few days... and in order for this world to not be claimed by my adversaries, I'm going to need to change the terms of our deal."
I look up at the system text, then back down at the demon.
"There's a way to continue growing the floors, correct? Capping at level 7000 isn't going to cut it. I'm going to need a far stronger army than that. And..."
The demon's eyes widen as he responds.
"Already? The throne is awakening now? How is this possible? And—no—we cannot risk creating an extended labyrinth. We would have to grow it another 100 floors before I'd have the chance to return to my—"
I cut him off, letting some of my aura leak out from my purple barrier, instantly making him choke on his words and fall to his knees behind his dragon.
"Maybe I phrased things poorly. This isn't an offer, it is a demand. We'll be upgrading this labyrinth, or I'll drain every last drop of mana and create a new one with a demon that wants to cooperate."
Every few milliseconds that pass, I let the pressure from my aura rise by an increasing amount, making the floor crack and the entire boss room shake, while a small amount of my true core's essence leaks out from my barrier.
All of the bones of the demon and dragon are shattered, and their skin is melted and peeled off, pushing them both deep into the ground of the dungeon floor until I see their HP bars drop below 1%.
Once they do, I retract all of the pressure back into my barrier and put on an obviously fake smile while levitating, opening, and pouring regeneration potions into their mouths.
A few seconds pass while green glowing light brings them back from the brink of death, and the demon crawls out from the hole in the boss room floor, now with a face showing far more fear and understanding.
"Y-You... You're an Ascended Arch Demon... That yellow power... How—"
I cut him off again, not knowing what he's rambling on about, but satisfied that he's understood my point.
"The reason I cannot let this mana be siphoned back to the Demonic Realm is because I will be the one who claims the throne."
The Arch Demon's eyes widen at my words, and I can feel many emotions conflicting in the creature's mind.
Its odd attraction of loyalty to another being far away starts to fade, and more admiration and awe toward me begins to grow. However, far more fear, unease, and distrust also permeate from the demon too.
I nod and speak again before these negative emotions grow further.
"I'll honor every part of our last deal. I will grant you a skill right now, anything of your choosing. Whether that's a human-only ability, an elemental power, or one of dungeon monsters, I will find it. Once this labyrinth reaches 200 floors, if you still wish to leave, I will honor it. And if you give me the chance, the demon lord you meet will be me."
I inwardly grin to myself while the admiration grows and the fear and distrust fade away, and the demon responds.
"You can truly grant elemental skills...? This is impossible, no demons can wield the elements of natural mana-born beings."
I activate all of my elemental skills, making shimmering balls of light of each of them rotate around in circles.
"Of course, anything you wish, and at the superior grade."
As these words leave my mouth, an idea hits me, and I have one of my body doubles leave their job creating dungeons to come fulfill a task of mine.
Instantly, one dungeon walks in to meet me here, and I share skill orbs that contain every elemental skill that I own that is stuck at [Extreme Grade].
It disappears in a blip, tasked to force-feed them to monsters that have enough proficiency points in this labyrinth on the high floors to use upgrade crystals, then kill them on the spot. Notifications of all of my extreme elemental skills upgrading to superior grade fill my inner ear.
The demon looks back at his dragon, then to me, and replies while these notifications fill my ears.
"An earth element, like my bonded dragon. This is what I want."
I nod, sending a telepathy wave to my double, who is farming on all of the higher-grade floors in this labyrinth, collecting rare loot while it continues to upgrade my elemental skills.
"Very well. I'll need some of your blood, and the dragon's too."
I can tell the demon is hesitant but is more so scared to say no after all that's happened in the last few minutes.
My double returns after waiting for the dead monsters to drop their loot, I collect a few liters of each of their blood.
Once my double returns and drops piles of high A-Grade loot, and a Superior Grade Earth element skill orb, I thank it, and it blips away, back to creating dungeons far out in the dead zone of Sector 2.
With a thin grin and in a nonchalant manner, I toss the skill orb to the demon and begin bonding the high-grade loot with millions of MP worth of mana crystals in my storage, along with high B and low A-Grade earth element stones to create blood-bonded armor, weapons, and enchanted gear for both the demon and the dragon.
They both stare in awe, as it looks as though I'm merely touching each of the raw loot materials, surrounding them in a flash of white light, and seconds later they give off intense auras of power, stacked with full stat buffs and percentages ranging from 300-500%+, with the ability to grow far more once the user goes through battle.
Once done, I look up at the demon and cross my arms.
"Swallow that skill orb, and the skill you desire will add onto your status. Plus, all of this gear will make you tens of times stronger in an instant. Do this, and we have a deal—the labyrinth shall surpass 100 floors today."
The Arch Demon is still in a state of shock and stares down at the blue orb with earth magic swirling in its center.
It takes a deep breath, then swallows the newly crafted item. Its body is enveloped in a bright white and blue glow.
Moments later, the superior earth summoning skill appears on its status, and if what it said is true, this is the first Arch Demon to wield elemental magic.
The demon places its hands out and summons large balls of dense and pure earth in its palms, then begins to laugh out loud.
"Incredible... The legends were true. There really are Ascended ones capable of manipulating the system itself..."
It equips the blood-bonded gear I've given to it, and the earth dragon equips the items I've crafted for it too, momentarily shrinking down into the human form of a demonic figure with dark brown skin and jet-black horns.
It makes me wonder if the ranked-up form of a dragon is dependent on the race of the being it's bonded with, but I don't pry, because I want to take advantage of this moment to ask something else.
"Now that you've accepted my gifts, our deal is set in stone. Though, I do have one last question for you. You called me an Ascended demon, because of my divine core... and now believe I'm strong enough to challenge the throne. Please, do explain what you mean by this..."
The dragon expands back into its dragon form, and the blood-bonded armor expands with it. The demon stops floating about testing his new powers and raises an eyebrow, then looks as if he's remembering something.
"Oh—that's right, you're a rogue... This makes me even more curious about your background. I thought only Arch Demon descendants and loyal contracted Beasts from the 5 Kingdoms were capable of becoming Ascended ones."
He pauses, waiting to see if I react to his words, then continues to explain while floating back down to the boss room floor.
"The path to becoming an ascended is a well kept secret. I am not high enough rank to know it. The only way for a demon to ever dream of walking this path is to bring back an offering to one of the 5 great families—that being the collected mana from a labyrinth on a mana-based world. This of course doesn't mean you will be chosen, but it is the most common way to become accepted into their ranks. It is a lifelong mission for all fledgling demons and greater demons to make it this far. Even the outer Ascended ranks, the Red Core Demonic Knights—these Arch Demon's would normally be powerful enough to rule most mana-based worlds. However, I was not aware a True Yellow Ascended like yourself was already here to claim it."
I'm at a loss for words at the demon's explanation, as he says it all with a straight face like it is common knowledge.
I slowly nod and respond while reaching into my item storage to pull out one of the red divine fragments I managed to steal from Sebastian.
"These Red Core Demonic Knights you speak of, and the power structure of demons within these 5 great families... Tell me more..."
____________________________
Author's Note:
If you're enjoying Dungeon Diver and want to follow Jay on his journey 20+ chapters ahead of schedule, check out the Patreon link in my profile bio.
There's custom chapter art for every new daily upload too!
Thanks for reading:)
____________________________