[CH399+ Continued] Dungeon Diver: Stealing A Monster's Power

Chapter 545

The only thing left behind every time he disappears is the dark absence of light beneath his feet.

It seems as though he can completely vanish and shift his feet positioning anywhere along his shadow.

My eyes track this phenomenon while I continue to throw lightning at him. I even allow him to get closer to me and throw a close-range attack toward him too.

Once my dagger and body are close enough to him, and our shadows from the large light source above meet, he's able to disappear and reappear behind me just like he did in our first exchange.

I charge my body with lightning magic and make a dash forward to dodge his blade again, then let out a sigh.

As much as I really want this skill, right here and now isn't the place to take it.

There are almost a hundred pairs of high-ranking eyes all over me, and the only way for me to take his skill without actually killing him on the spot involves using soul energy and is quite a flashy technique that I can't use without completely blowing my cover.

So, instead, the moment I get far enough away, I let out the most violent display of lightning magic I've shown in this entire event.

It isn't meant as a pure offensive attack; I use it to cast an even light source all throughout the ring.

Then, at the same time, I send a barrage of lightning crescents from my daggers just like I did before when I was testing out his skill.

Without anywhere to run, he realizes that I've discovered his weakness. I see a dark black mist start to seep from his body, most likely the activation of his ranked-up buff, but six crescents of mana-imbued lightning magic make contact with him from every direction before I get to see what he'll do.

A bright flash of white transportation magic fills the ring, and I let my yellow static energy die down to stop the blinding light display.

The Phantom Region Applicant is defeated, but he's in the top20 ranking, so I'll most likely get a chance to face this man again in the 5th stage of the exams.

Rodrigo announces my victory while I slowly walk back to my room, slotting me in the next round of this event to fight the strongest fighter here.

"That's right! The winner is Ray from the Bedrock Region! That means he will be fighting our number one ranked fighter next round! Two lightning users will be facing off next. I, for one, have never seen two people that share this skill ever fight it out, so I'm sure it will be an exciting match!"

He smiles as I walk back into my transparent holding room and continues to speak.

"But first, let's get to the other matches in this upcoming round. Two fighters from the Apex Region will be facing off. Reynard, the Earth Mage, versus Natalie, the healer with newfound power granted to her by a mysterious Flame Emperor. Please, enter the ring!"

The final member of the six-man squad in the simulation trials enters the ring.

He's shaved bald and doesn't talk much.

He wears armor that looks like it's made of stone and carries a longsword on his back that is almost as long as he is tall.

I can feel immense strength and mana control coming off of him, similar to the Ice Mage ranked number three that I fought a few rounds back.

Knowing this, I grant Nat 10% of my base stats, and 2% of my mana control, along with the extreme fire magic for show.

As she walks into the ring to face the huge earth magic wielder in her midst, the rush of power from my buff flows into her, and her timid expression turns to one of determination and confidence.

She grips both of her daggers and yells for the arena to hear the message I whisper in her ear.

"Those who doubt the Flame Emperor's power will not be saved. For what you see now is a mere spark."

The doors close and the timer starts.

Nat's eyes burst with flames, and the red-hot fire gets darker and darker as it travels through her arms and legs.

The only color left in her figure comes from the shiny silver in her daggers and her bright white hair flowing beneath the flames.

The earth swordsman lets out a deep laugh and lifts his blade, forming mana-dense stone all around it while dozens of sharp spears form around his shoulders and over his head.

He swings it downward before Nat even gets within 10 meters of him, and a barrage of earth blades come rushing forward at the healer.

Her flames grow, and her perception of the arena has improved even more drastically than her last matches.

With close to 10 billion worth of mana control experience coursing through her system, fire-stepping through the shards of moving earth is nothing but a graceful movement, as easy as walking in a straight line.

Her daggers imbued with fire collide with stone as she twists and weaves through the flying maze of mana charged rock shards.

Mana explosions fill the entire blue dome with plumes of fire and shards of rock.

Then, there's a collision in the center of the arena that is shielded from everyone's vision.

So much debris flies through the air that it's impossible to see who just killed whom.

Gasps come out of the applicants, and over half of the Directors get up from their seats to move closer to the dome to get a better look.

The Vice, Veridian, Silca, Raya, and Bedrock Region's leaders all are interested in seeing what happened in the results of this match.

Their eyes widen even more when the only person left in the ring once the clouds of mana and fire clear is Natalie, sitting on a pile of rock, twirling her daggers.

I smile and deactivate my buffs while the arena erupts into discussion about her words before the fight.

"After a display like that, it's certain, The Flame Emperor's power is real!"

"I could feel her mana control rise when she spoke his name! This Emperor... they can grant much more than just fire..."

However, there are some skeptics.

"Don't you think it's odd... the only strong fighter she defeated was from the Apex Region too! This could all be a ploy!"

"Yeah, you heard what this year's number one said. It's illusions... they're both in on it..."

Nat walks back to her room while even more questions arise, but Rodrigo calms down the room with a wave of his hands.

"That's enough! Return to your seats! Get ready for our next fighters to face off. The winner of this next match between Emrie from the Bedrock Region and Callum from the Apex Region will decide who faces Natalie, follower of the Flame Emperor, in the semi-finals."

Rodrigo grins as he slips in a nickname to continue stirring the emotions of the crowd.

He looks like he's enjoying himself, because if anyone would know if there were tricks at play, it would be him. I have a hunch the reason he is playing along with my games is because he knows exactly who is causing this havoc.

I cross my arms and look forward to another exciting match as Ember walks into the ring to face the second-ranked applicant, a water mage from the Apex Region. This element is fire's direct weakness, so I'm curious what kind of show he'll put on to make this a convincing fight.

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Author's Note:

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