Chapter 74: Something entered the world
The southern region of the Pacific Ocean remained as calm as it had been for countless years.
Beneath the endless stretch of dark blue water, schools of fish drifted through the depths while ocean currents moved silently across the seabed. Nothing appeared unusual. Nothing suggested that a phenomenon capable of shaking the foundations of the world had just taken place.
Without warning, a dungeon materialized.
It appeared for only a brief moment.
The dungeon gate was unlike anything that existed within Ethereum.
A massive vortex of purple energy emerged from empty space, twisting and folding reality around itself. The surrounding seawater trembled as an invisible pressure spread outward. Strange runes flashed across the surface of the gate before vanishing almost immediately.
The dungeon’s appearance lasted for less than a second.
Then it disappeared.
The purple vortex collapsed inward and vanished as though it had never existed.
However, something remained.
An egg.
A single brown egg decorated with intricate golden lines fell from the place where the dungeon had appeared.
The object descended slowly through the ocean.
It drifted past schools of fish and clusters of coral before eventually reaching the ocean floor. The currents carried it across the seabed until it rolled into a patch of dense underwater vegetation.
There it came to rest.
Silence returned once more.
No one witnessed the event.
No satellites recorded it.
No monitoring station detected it.
The purple dungeon did not belong to any known classification within Ethereum’s ranking system.
If someone had possessed equipment capable of analyzing the phenomenon, the results would have terrified every supreme overlord on the planet.
The readings would not merely have exceeded the S Rank limit.
They would have surpassed the limits of the scanners themselves.
The existence of such a dungeon would have shattered everything humanity believed about monsters, dungeons, and the hierarchy of power.
Yet none of that happened.
The egg remained hidden beneath the ocean.
For several hours, nothing changed.
Then a crack appeared.
A sharp sound echoed from the shell.
Crack.
The golden lines spread faintly across the surface as though energy had begun flowing through them.
Another crack followed.
Tiny fragments broke away from the shell.
A pair of deep crimson eyes slowly opened within the darkness of the egg.
Those eyes were ancient.
Cold.
Predatory.
The surrounding seawater became strangely still.
Even the nearby marine creatures instinctively retreated as though some primal fear had awakened within them.
The crimson eyes continued observing the world from within the cracked shell.
Growing stronger with every passing moment.
Far away from the Pacific Ocean, Victor had no idea that such a terrifying existence had entered the world.
His attention remained focused on a much more immediate goal.
For the past two days, he had been clearing the dungeon.
The dungeon itself was not particularly dangerous for him anymore. However, it contained an enormous number of monsters, which made the process incredibly time consuming and also his method was too inefficient.
Victor moved through the dungeon relentlessly.
Wave after wave of monsters fell before him.
Firestorms swept across the battlefield.
Explosions illuminated entire chambers.
Walls cracked under the force of magical bombardments.
Throughout those two days, Victor continuously experimented with every spell available within his arsenal.
He tested combinations.
He adjusted mana output.
He observed how different spells performed against various enemy types.
The dungeon eventually became little more than a testing ground for his growing magical abilities.
Standing amidst the remains of defeated monsters, he let out a slow breath.
"It is possible, but it takes too much time," he thought.
His gaze swept across the ruined battlefield.
The efficiency was simply too low.
His current methods allowed him to clear dungeons, but they did not allow him to clear them fast enough.
The upcoming challenges would require significantly greater destructive power.
"I need something more efficient."
With that conclusion in mind, Victor left the dungeon.
The journey back to Atlantis was uneventful.
Although the Atlantian civilization existed beneath the ocean, its people still lived in a manner remarkably similar to surface humans.
Most citizens preferred the safety and comfort of the city rather than venturing into dangerous underwater regions.
That was precisely why Victor had chosen this particular dungeon.
Few people visited the area.
Fewer witnesses meant fewer complications.
Soon, he returned to his residence.
Without wasting any time, he entered his room and sat down cross-legged.
The moment he settled into position, the grimoire emerged before him.
Its pages flipped automatically.
A new spell revealed itself.
Victor’s eyes narrowed.
An Adept Rank fire spell had appeared within the grimoire.
A faint smile appeared on his face.
"Good."
The spell radiated profound magical knowledge.
Merely looking at the symbols was enough to understand that it was vastly superior to the Novice Rank spells he had mastered previously.
Victor closed his eyes.
His consciousness sank into the spell’s structure.
The outside world gradually faded away.
Hours turned into an entire day.
Within his mind, countless magical runes formed and dissolved repeatedly.
He analyzed every component.
He studied every connection.
His comprehension ability pushed itself to its limits as he unraveled the spell’s mysteries.
Finally, after a full day of uninterrupted concentration, a familiar notification appeared.
[Ding! You have comprehended the Adept Rank flame spell, Infernal Ray.]
At that moment, a surge of power erupted throughout his body.
Mana flowed through every channel like a raging river.
His physique strengthened.
His spiritual energy expanded.
His connection to the fire element deepened significantly.
Victor opened his eyes.
A faint crimson glow flickered within them.
The air around him grew warmer.
The notification displaying his combat power appeared shortly afterward.
[Combat Prowess: 13,000 Stars]
Victor examined the result carefully.
The increase was substantial.
His mastery of Infernal Ray had elevated his combat capability to an entirely new level.
More importantly, the spell itself possessed frightening offensive potential.
Although it remained an Adept Rank spell, his understanding of it had reached an extraordinarily advanced stage.
Its practical power now approached the level of certain Elite Rank spells.
"Not bad."
Victor rose from his seat and stretched slightly.
The progress exceeded his expectations.
Unfortunately, it was still insufficient.
Time remained his greatest obstacle.
He calculated his remaining schedule.
Even with his comprehension talent, advancing naturally toward the Elite Rank before the upcoming event would take too long.
There simply were not enough days available.
His gaze shifted toward the grimoire.
For several moments, he remained silent.
Then he made a decision.
"The Mythical Rank spell will have to wait."
His current foundation was not yet stable enough for that level of magic.
Attempting it now would only waste valuable time.
An Epic Rank spell offered a far more realistic target.
If he could master one successfully, his combat power would increase dramatically.
Victor immediately contacted Diana.
A short while later, she arrived.
"What do you need?" she asked.
Victor looked directly at her.
"Do you have any Epic Rank fire spells?"
Diana nodded without hesitation.
"Yes, I do."
She raised her hand.
Several spellbooks emerged from her storage ring and floated gently through the air before landing on a nearby table.
The room instantly filled with powerful magical fluctuations.
Victor approached the collection and began examining each spell carefully.
His objective was clear.
He did not need a spell designed for single target combat.
He needed devastation.
He needed something capable of erasing armies.
Something that could clear massive numbers of enemies in a single attack.
One by one, he rejected the available options.
Eventually, his eyes settled upon a particular spellbook.
"Sun Flame."
Victor picked it up.
The description immediately captured his attention.
The spell transformed the caster’s mana into an artificial sun.
The size of that sun could continue expanding until it rivaled an entire city.
Once formed, the overwhelming heat would spread across every corner of the affected region.
No area would remain untouched.
No enemy would escape the burning temperature.
The spell was destruction incarnate.
A satisfied expression appeared on Victor’s face.
"This is the one."
Diana glanced at him.
Even she understood how terrifying such a spell could become in Victor’s hands.
Without wasting another moment, Victor sat down once more.
The spellbook opened before him.
His eyes scanned the first page.
Then the second.
Then the third.
Soon, his consciousness immersed itself completely within the spell’s framework.
Another intense comprehension session began.
Far away, deep beneath the Pacific Ocean, the mysterious egg continued changing.
The cracks across its surface spread rapidly.
Dark energy leaked from the openings.
The crimson eyes inside the shell burned brighter than before.
Then it happened.
A horrifying aura erupted outward.
The pressure exploded across the ocean like an invisible tsunami.
Every monster within one hundred kilometers that ranked below A Rank died instantly.
Their bodies collapsed without resistance.
Their souls were extinguished before they could even understand what had happened.
The ocean itself seemed to tremble.
Across the entire world, countless dungeons reacted simultaneously.
Dungeon cores vibrated.
Ancient monsters stirred from slumber.
Hidden creatures opened their eyes.
It was as though every dungeon on the planet had heard a summons.
