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

While the first known Noble Grade Destroyer Class Soul Weapon of this era is being born, the Upper Realm remains calm and still.

The Lower Class Lords in the Ellipsia Citadel are living better lives than they have ever known before.

Under the rule of this New Drako Vermillion Demon Lord, the servants who would normally strip them of every ether they could in taxes and fees are now shoveling millions of ether into their economy in exchange for trash worlds.

One million ether was given out in the first week, and now the servants are back for more with another million ether, scouring the lower-class markets for even more worlds.

Word has spread fast.

They even approach the black and grey markets, which would usually be shut down and charged fines for existing, but now, they look the other way as long as they can get a good deal for these trash worlds—overpopulated, with little to no resources left.

Usually, this means the dungeon divers on these worlds are overleveled, and their societies have many precautions and regulations for farming the remaining dungeons. Often, trying to create new contracts on these worlds is a negative investment almost 100% of the time.

Tens of thousands of 5th, 4th, and 3rd Class Lords are now able to live better lives and enrich their home worlds even further.

—

At the same time, inside the top floor of the High Orc Tower, Asic is finishing up assimilating with the Avatar upgrade and new Soul Weapon pairing.

A pile of shattered divine-energy-imbued mana and ether rests on the floor in a circle surrounding a massive, glowing High Orc statue holding a sharp, radiant battle axe.

It has been erupting with ether and divine threads for hours now, rejecting all portions of the old avatar and the impurities that have built up in Asic's body over the last many tens of thousands of years since he transferred his consciousness and cores into a new sleeve.

Torvak watches intently from the other side of the room, standing next to the other three shells of black avatars and their Soul Weapons.

For the first few hours of this assimilation, he helped stabilize Asic's bond with a large amount of his power, but after the initial link, it has been all up to the High Orc to finish the process.

The majority of the mana and ether necessary to complete the bond were already exerted during the crafting process. So, while it appears that the silhouette of the ancient 1st Class Warlord is exerting himself to the limit, inside his mind, this High Orc is actually having quite the pleasurable experience.

After a long week of crafting, he finally gets to bask in the glory of his creation.

At last, the immense white glow and pressure in the room fade, allowing Torvak to see the completed bond on the other side.

Asic swings his glowing dual-sided axe in front of his body a few times, leaving streaks of white ether behind it, then runs forward, zipping side to side in the room.

For a moment, he's moving almost too fast for Torvak to see, which is surprising, given that the old High Orc isn't even using any buffs or skills. With Torvak's lightning attribute, his reflexes and perception are usually far better than his crafting partner's.

He smiles and speaks up while struggling to track the High Orc with his shifting gaze.

"I take it the bond was a success."

Asic appears right in front of the Blue Ogre and lets out a laugh.

"Oh, it's a success, alright! I feel better than I have in forty thousand years. The command restrictions are all lifted too... It really worked..."