[CH598+ Continued] Dungeon Diver: Stealing A Monster's Power

I hover down to the ground as the artificial sky turns dark, and the pillars of stone mold back into the floor.

A bright Rank Up notification glows in my mind's eye, waiting to be accepted, while my Soul Sword feels the presence of three items drawing me closer to them.

One feeling is far more compelling, so I fly down to hover above Redgrave's still-bright yellow glowing sword, which gives off the heat of a True Core even when its wielder is dead.

A new system panel hovers between my blade and the glowing one on the ground as I descend.

[Consume]

[YES][NO]

When I press [YES] and the two artifacts touch, the yellow blade on the floor glows bright white, turning to silky yellow liquid before my eyes, then siphoning into the tip of my own sword.

I expected a dramatic light show and process like when the weapon was crafted, but it all happens extremely fast. The blade in my grasp gives off the feeling that it is still hungry, and a food source like that hardly quelled its appetite.

My Sword feels stronger already, but the ease with which it consumed another living weapon, and the fact that it is still sitting at [Lv. 0], makes me realize I've yet to comprehend the potential of the new weapon in my grasp.

This feeling of awe and wonder only grows as I walk over to the Supreme Grade Firestone densely packed with divine threads and immense power; it, too, is consumed in less than a second.

Even the pile of glowing yellow shards from the fiery hound's collar turns to liquid and is pulled into my blade without any light show or sense of satisfaction.

It's as if the blade was expecting to finally quench its thirst after days in the desert, but all it got was a single drop of water.

Power surges through the now vibrant red sword, but it's desperately craving another battle. The blade's status still reads [Lv. 0] even now, but I can feel that its strength has grown a considerable amount in the last few minutes.

Once the last drop from the collar disappears, the blade goes dormant, falling back to a solid black state; yet I sense the presence of a static connection through my body and mind as it continues watching through my eyes.

I let out a sigh and power down my greater form as the heat in the room dissipates, and Ember flies over, powering down his greater form as well.

We both stand in the center of the massive black room with nothing but the silver demon statue looking down at us.

The same ancient voice reverberates in my mind while silver text flashes before me.

[All Conditions Met. One Soul-Bonded Pair Remaining.]

[Would You Like To Start The Trials?]

[YES][NO]

It shimmers in a metallic silver font, wavering in the air.

When I look away, the text is locked above the statue's head, right in front of its array of nine arms.

Ember reads it too, then grins and looks over to me.

"We can wait as long as we need to before beginning the first trial. The third rank-up isn't always instant. It may take a few minutes if it's a big one. It's best we take the time to rank up now while we still have that luxury."

I nod and sit down on the empty floor, letting go of my soul sword, and it rotates around me in a dormant state without me having to exert any effort whatsoever.

Ember sits down in an identical position about 100 meters away, and I speak up, feeling over 18 million pairs of eyes still watching in shock after the massacre they just witnessed.