Chapter 326 Dungeon Fusion
"Wait!"
I quickly stopped Zeshion, who was already turning his back to Noir's corpse. He stared at me as if looking at a paranoid friend, showing a wry smile.
"What's wrong, Will? The fight's already done; there's no need to keep your guard up any longer."
He walked closer to Noir's corpse and even went as far as kicking his decapitated head away. Zeshion then walked toward me and patted my shoulders, smiling reassuringly.
"See? He's already dead. Nothing else could happen now."
"..."
However, my sense of things still being unfinished was getting stronger. I turned to Goddess Zeta, who was busy holding back the cracking space outside, behind Alpha and Blanc. However, judging from her expression, it seems like she's still fighting against it even now.
"...! Watch out!"
Suddenly, I felt a wave of unfamiliar energy running across the wide space. I warned Zeshion, but he, too, seemed to have noticed the unusual fluctuations and readied his stance.
However, what happened next was something we both didn't expect.
Noir's corpse, the one that remained hanging on the wall, and even the decapitated head got absorbed by the dungeon's wall and floor, respectively. It happened so fast that there was no time to interrupt it.
"What?! What's going on?"
Zeshion's expression quickly turned serious as he looked around, trying to feel where Noir's corpse went. I also sharpened my senses, especially my eyes, as I tried to pinpoint his current location.
Everyone was looking around, wary of their surroundings. At that moment, the entire dungeon started to shake violently, as if a magnitude-8 earthquake had just struck.
"D*mn! What's happening?!"
Ajax cursed as they stayed protected by Blanc's barrier. However, the ceiling started to show signs of giving away, making all of us think of one thing.
"Everyone, let's evacuate to above ground!"
With Zeshion representing the consensus of everyone, nobody dared to waste their time in that place anymore. I, too, regrouped with the girls, running with them as we tried to escape from the dungeon.
Fatima was limping, so Igni had to piggyback her while heading up.
We ran, following the same route we used to enter, and exited the dungeon. After doing so, we then flew up, courtesy of Minerva, and landed on the ground just before the castle.
From Vermeil's initial indiscriminate attack, the castle's appearance took on a darker color. Some parts that could burn ended up burning, but still, the castle maintained its general shape. I guess the castle wasn't really made of normal materials, seeing how it managed to survive a god tamer's full-power attack.
As we reached the "above" ground, the earthquake was still ongoing. From what I could see, the source of it was seemingly the power core of the dungeon. Its energy was radiating outside at an unprecedented pace, destabilizing everything around it.
At that moment, a powerful presence suddenly appeared, causing everyone to look up in both fear and awe.
The energy waves that just appeared were reaching the level that I've only encountered once—beyond-god level!
To add to that, the energy signature was familiar. I gritted my teeth, unable to believe the scene unfolding before my eyes.
"Noir!"
The one who appeared, exuding power that exceeded that of a god tamer, was none other than the supposed-to-be dead Noir. His appearance changed greatly, from the previous half-naked, half-embedded appearance, into something like a mix of an angel and a demon.
At the center of Noir's chest, there's a large glowing bead—the familiar-looking blue core that he was holding when we met him previously. I was wondering where it went; who would've guessed it managed to find its way back to his hands?
"... D*mn it, Blue... I can't... Hold on!"
As soon as Noir appeared with his powers seemingly revamped, Goddess Zeta fell to her knees, her nose bleeding. The space that she was focusing her entire being on to prevent opening was rapidly expanding despite her interference.
Like a large wormhole, the flying castle entered it without any resistance. The surroundings turned a murky black as we traveled into the crack of space. A location that can't support any form of life.
"Ember!"
At that moment, I turned to Ember immediately. As if reading my mind, she quickly created a barrier to enclose all of us, protecting us from the corrosive properties of the Void of Space.
The others were doing the exact same, erecting a space-element barrier to protect themselves and stay alive.
[That was a close one, Zeshion...]
Noir spoke, his voice not reaching us as sounds but rather as information straight into our brains.
"Ugh...!"
I fell to my knees. His voice was being sent forcefully into our minds, after all. The damage it did to us was enough to knock any other tamer out of the burden on their minds, but fortunately, we had a psychic with us.
Minerva managed to resist some of the invasive telepathy and let us stay mostly unaffected by his voice. Still, if he can make us fall to our knees from him talking to us alone, I fear for what's to come next.
[If you chopped my head a second faster, then I'd probably have died in the truest sense. However, my assimilation was already finished at that point!]
His mental voice sounded elated, as if feeling like he was without a match in the whole wide world right then.
[Now, I am one with this dungeon! A dungeon master, per se! With my new powers, I can take all your lives with a simple snap!]
The blue orb at the center of his chest pulsed in response to his declaration. The four wings on his back, the left two seeming angelic while the right two being demonic in appearance, flapped in excitement as he flew down closer.
[As I am now, I can finally complete my longstanding dream! I can dominate the entire world and place it under my control!]
He seemed almost delirious after gaining new powers. However, what he said was practically on point. A beyond-god level is completely beyond what the current world can face, after all.
Updat𝒆d fr𝒐m freew𝒆bnov𝒆l.c(o)m