Chapter 157: The Emperor and the Empress
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/CUT!/
/ROAAR!/
/SPLURGE!/
'A white flash suddenly breached the ground, blasting the earth into the skies.'
'Like a blade slicing through the wind, the white flash of light passed right through his shoulder, cutting Silver's right arm cleanly!'
"!"
/CRACK!/
/BOOM!/
...
/A few seconds earlier.../
"..."
I have the advantage...
I'm winning... I can do this.
A level 3 is winning in a direct confrontation against a Level 5 monster.
Although, considering my Stats, this isn't really...
/Tremble.../
"Hm?"
The ground...
"!"
/Crack!/
'White flames poured out like a volcano eruption, unexpectedly and without warning, blowing away the earth and the bodies of the monsters, making brilliant crystals fall from the sky like rain…'
'In the midst of this chaos, a white flash parted from within the chaotic flames, ambushing the creature that was clashing against the Tyrant!'
'A moment of distraction when all retreat paths had been removed from the picture...'
"?!"
'As the flash dissipated, Silver grabbed his injured arm with a twisted expression.'
'Retreating immediately, the humanoid creature vanished from its location, reappearing far away crouching on the ground to lick its wounds…'
…
/Rapid breathing…/
"Huff… Huff… BLERG!"
'Silver, after retreating from the fight with an instant teleportation, immediately kneeled on the ground tired, one hand clenching onto his now empty shoulder while he vomited something on the ground…'
'A mixture of blood and colorful potions… It was oddly artistic...'
"Damn…"
My luck finally decided to take its debt...
Things were going so well in these past few weeks, and of course, as per the law of lady luck, something would happen now of all times...
/BOOM/
'Staring at the chaos far away, Silver painfully covered his wounded shoulder as it closed up, his flesh wriggled as it tried to regenerate, but doing so proved to be quite the task...'
First… I need to retreat and access the situation a bit…
And deactivate this.
/Crackle.../
'The green flames that were surrounding his body slowly vanished, leaving behind a bare, naked man in the middle of the forest.'
'Due to the flames, his previous clothes had already burned up, leaving his bottom friend free in the wind...'
'His horribly charred skin returned to its previous healthy look while his bright blue veins vanished, returning to how they were supposed to look.'
'His hair that had solidified, becoming akin to a hard scale on his head went back to its smooth and glossy appearance.'
These flames won't be useful anymore…
I was using them to protect myself from the unending waves of monsters the Dungeon was throwing at me.
But now that they've all been pretty much exterminated, they serve no purpose apart from putting an extra strain on my already tired body.
'He touched his chest, nodding to himself.'
My dark skin was also a side effect of using these, just like when… Well, those are old times.
Now... I am someone else.
/Fwoo…/
'Silver's eyes darted around, immediately focusing on a small object falling in the air.'
"Found you, friend."
'His remaining arm stretched outwards and the air twisted, the next moment, a burnt arm appeared on his hand.'
'He immediately squinted his eyes.'
"Shit, it's worse than I thought." He said with a frown, biting his lips in regret
Those white flames completely vaporized my skin, and my muscles are charred…
But it's manageable and recoverable... If I treat it soon enough.
Otherwise... It'll take some good full months to grow it back...
Sometimes I fell like a lizard.
"Still… Not now..."
'Realizing his arm was too damaged to be reattached to his body, Silver stored it inside his inventory after "washing it" with several potions.'
'It wouldn't do much, but it would heal it over time for sure, his arm was resilient, it wouldn't rot due to being in the open for a few minutes, especially when he closed the wounds on it.'
'If he was scared of that, he would've just frozen it.'
/Gulp... Gulp... Gulp.../
'He also drank a few more potions now that his stomach had a bit more space… And his headache recovered a bit.'
'His body was 'healed', and his resources had been somewhat replenished.'
"Haaa… Alright, I feel a bit better."
/BOOOM!/
/ROAAR!/
/RAAAAA!/
'Two distinct roars echoed in the forest, one deeper than the other… One louder than the latter.'
"It's not... Urg this hurts... Unmanageable." He said as he removed a large torn from his leg
/Splurt!/
"Haa..."
I can do it.
'He raised his head to look at the distance, he had no desire to flee, no fear in his eyes.'
'He knew he had to defeat them, else, if he couldn't take a Level 5 monster, how would he take on a level 6.'
'He had to take on constantly harder challenges if he wished to raise to higher Levels!'
"The Tyrant and his mate… One of the few forms of monster cooperation in the Dungeon."
Like in the middle floors, you have the Bloody Hive and those damn hornets.
A few floors bellow, you have the Merman and the slightly rarer Merman Leader to command them…
The Tyrant of the plains is a special monster that can only spawn once per week after several conditions have been achieved, but sometimes, a new creature may appear together…
"Out of 4 appearances, there is a chance his mate will appear as well…"
For a total of a 25% spawn rate...
The Empress.
/ROARR!/
/FUOM!/
'A white beam of light was suddenly released at the sky, illuminating it.'
/BOOM.../
'The energy cannon collided against the ceiling, making the entire floor tremble slightly.'
'And Silver immediately felt his stomach grow cold, if even for just a second.'
"!"
That… They can't be…
Are they trying to make the floor collapse to force me out of hiding?
'He quickly denied his own thinking, a monster wouldn't be so self-destructive, damage to the Dungeon itself is often caused by mistake or in the middle of a fight.'
'Monsters can and will often neglect Dungeon damage as you go deeper, but that is due to the Dungeon's tolerance for damage increasing as the floors grow wider and wider.'
'Even if the damage may be enormous, it would be only a little tickling for the city-sized floors deep down.'
'Because of this, Silver shook his head.'
"Impossible, even with their combined might, it isn't enough to cause me any harm apart from tiring themselves…"
'Silver suddenly had an epiphany.'
Unless... I see.
'Thinking of a possible solution, Silver rested his head on the tree's trunk.'
The Empress' intelligence is higher than that of the Tyrant, so this should be within the realm of possibilities...
Overall, the Empress is outclassed by the Tyrant in every single way, power, speed, size, stamina, brutality, intimidation… And she is overall a High Level 4 monster.
A party of well-coordinated Level 4 adventurers can take it down as long as they have at least 2 Level 4s doing the vanguard, given they are offensive adventurers by nature.
There is no point in sending 2 Level 4 mages to deal with it...
They'll only get themselves killed unless they are irregular mages that know a handful of combat and casting techniques.
Even so, that is incomparable to the Tyrant that needs at least 2-3 beginner Level 5 adventurers to get the job done, and there is a high chance one of them receives high damage of the likes I just received right now.
So they would have to have a decent party or be even stronger.
And albeit may lose in many aspects, she greatly outclasses the Tyrant in the lethality of her Magic and in Intelligence, to the point a Level 5 will surely die if they are hit by her magic.
Unless of course, it was one of those very situational adventurers that have high magic resistance and Constitution...
And yes, we're talking about the very Tyrant whose intelligence makes him smart enough to retreat and ambush others… She is a step above it.
/BOOOM!/
/Tremble.../
'Another beam of white light crashed against the ceiling, making large rocks collapse like rain.'
'But...'
"This one was weaker than before."
It's clear now.
Her objective isn't to collapse the floor.
But instead to make the remaining monsters gather here, as shown by the already gathering monsters...
And at the same time, she probably wants to put some pressure on me as well…
"It's a bluff… A monster is fucking bluffing…"
How… Weird.
"My body is still a bit stiff... But I need to move."
I understand now why they say that the Tyrant is the gatekeeper of the Deep Floors, if you can't defeat it then you shouldn't even consider descending further.
"The Deep floors..."
As for the rest, the Empress' Magic, the white flames she creates aren't exactly hot, my arm may have been burnt, but that was because I wasn't ready for them.
The problem is how she can use her flames in different ways and not just breathe them out like the Tyrant.
This variety makes her one of the monsters with the highest Magic arsenal in the Dungeon, as on average each monster has 1 spell to use.
"She made her flames into a sharp line, and that focused line cut my arm, almost cutting my chest as well."
It makes me curious as to how she does it...
/Boom!/
'Seeing another fireball rise into the skies, this time a dark red one, Silver's thoughts were put to a halt.'
"I'm sure of it, the Empress must've been created from the very start, but instead of attacking me head first, remained underground, waiting."
"And the moment my fight with the big guy got into her range, she burst out to give me a fatal attack."
I avoided it, but at the cost of an arm, I was careless, I thought that after so long, there was no way she would appear…
She was really sneaky as well, but that is merely an excuse, there is no place for that here where a mistake may cost your life.
/Crack.../
'Silver slowly rose from his seat, pulling a pair of boxers from his inventory and putting them on.'
A lesson is a lesson...
"I'll keep it on the back of my mind."
/Phew…/
/BOOOOM!/
'Silver inhaled and exhaled while the Empress continued to bombard the ceiling.'
'His fight against the Tyrant was tense, not because it was strong, but because of the many monsters surrounding it, he had to try his best to avoid them all, and as such, his fighting style became centered around long distance, wide range attacks.'
'But now, he has a chance…'
"I'll end you two before your reinforcements arrive!"
/Fwoosh!/
'Silver vanished from his location, going right to where the fun was brewing…'
…
'In the middle of a valley full of red grass, with many sections of it overturned, full of monsters' corpses, a tall Dinassour lifted its head, aiming towards the skies.'
'White flames gathered within its jaws as it opened them, revealing a spiraling white vortex… Gurgling like the innards of a Volcano.'
/RAAR!/
'The flames gushed out like a geyser, a fireball turning the heavens aflame...'
"HAAA!"
/BOOOM!/
/RAOR!/
'But at the moment the Empress spat out the fireball, something happened!'
'A small creature just the size of its nails kicked the ground nearby, creating a tremor as it flew like a rocket towards it.'
"ROAR!"
'The Tyrant tried to stop it, but the flames on its mouth prevented it from acting well, as it feared burning up its partner…'
'But this was calculated, Silver wanted to be there at the right time when the monsters were the most vulnerable!'
'The Empress was indeed bluffing, but she didn't account for Silver's ability to come in and out of any situation, that was beyond its scope of thinking.'
'So by showing such an opening, he took the opportunity instantly!'
"Huuu... HA!"
/Smash!/
/BANG!/
'His two feet smashed against the lower jaw of the Empress, sending her head recoiling backward as she wailed in pain, her teeth shattering as blood splattered all around.'
'It was an on-point dropkick… Risingkick? Because it was coming from below?'
/CRACK!/
'But the Empress refused to be thrown away!'
'It's foot dug into the earth as it stabilized her posture, her body turning around as her massive tail demolished everything on its path!'
"HA!"
'Silver, however, remained unmoving.'
/BAM!/
'He too used his foot, blocking the tail, catching it as he left a trail on the hard ground.'
'The earth of the Dungeon was much harder than on the surface, especially in this location, as such, he could actually try to stop her attacks while using the ground as a platform.'
"URG!"
'His entire body tensed as he spun, dragging the Empress with him.'
'His arms turned red as steam was released from his pores, his teeth almost shattering as he clenched them...'
/FWOOSH!/
/CRASH!/
'But Silver threw her away like a rag!'
'And while she flew in the air, Silver jumped after it...'
/ROAR!/
/FLASH!/
/BURN!/
'Brimming with anger at what it had just seen, the Tyrant released its flames without restraint!'
/Grin…/
'Silver smiled, he was waiting for this.'
/CRACK!/
*Gravity Reversal*
(I'll be trying this from now on to explain a bit better)
'Time seemed to slow down as Silver turned his face to see the Tyrant looking at him with his bloodshot eyes and its burning mouth, the flames within danced around its teeth.'
'It may think that he was an easy target because he was in the air, but it couldn't be more wrong.'
/Goum.../
'Silver's left hand turned dark-purple and solid, like a crystal.'
'His skin started to peel off, collapsing into the center of his palm as a dark sphere the size of his fingers started to form…'
/Tremble.../
'At the same time, the ground around him started to rise, including the two dinosaurs that suddenly lost their footing, swinging their foot around in confusion!'
'His face soon became red due to the effort he was putting in, his arms started to become red as well as some of his veins burst!'
'He lifted his hand, pointing it at the skies.'
"Rise!"
/FWOOSH!/
/ROAR/
/BEAMM!/
'At the last second, Silver flashed away, and the beam of fire passed through the area he was previously in… Crashing against a tall tree in the horizon, burning it to ash.'
/ROAR!/
'But as the Tyrant spun and trashed in the air, the flames followed its mouth, wreaking havoc in the world around it, burning everything on its way to cinders!'
"First! I'll take this!"
An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth...
A right arm for a right...
/Shine.../
'For a moment, his Halberd flashed blue, as if understanding his goals.'
/CUT!/
/SPLAT!/
"ROARRR!"
'It carved the monster's skin as its edge cut a trench right across its right eye!'
'As the Tyrant screamed, Silver disappeared once more, he had to make the most damage as possible while everything was still in the air...'
"Urg... !!!"
'He suddenly felt lightheaded, and everything that was falling started to fall back down to the surface.'
'His nose bled slightly, and as he wiped his nose, he shook his head so he could refocus.'
I pushed myself too hard, too much Mind at once to try and lift those humongous creatures.
'He gritted his teeth once more, tasting iron.'
"This is little, nothing I can't handle."
"Hup!"
'Silver reappeared on top of the Empress with a fierce expression.'
'She could do little to stop him as he placed his left hand on her forehead.'
"HAA!"
/SPLAT!/
'His hand suddenly accelerated forward, becoming an afterimage as it dug inside her flesh, passing through her protective scales… But not through her bones.'
"RAAAAR!"
'Now was the time, the Empress shook her head fiercely as she fell from the skies, trying to shake him off.'
"Too late, I have already touched your forehead..."
/Burst!/
'Red light flashed from within her wound, something was happening on the tip of his arms…'
/BOOOM!/
'An explosion of enormous proportions took place, and soon after, something massive clad in dark smoke fell from the clouds before crashing against the ground…'
/Gasp!/
'A sudden breath was heard from within the smoking hot object and something walked out from within the black smoke…'
"Cough!"
"Haa…"
'It was a half-naked man with one arm… Now fully naked as his underwear turned to ash once more.'
'His skin was red, but by the second, it recovered its original color...'
"One down."
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Notes
I tried to add more words, but in the end, I barely managed to add 500 words worth of content while I edited it.
I wanted to make the fight with the Empress longer, but in the end, he pretty much fled, recovered, went back, ambushed her, punched her a few times, used a Plasmid, and exploded her head.
She was weaker than the Tyrant yes, but I don't know, perhaps there was a better way to make this comparison.
Once again, if it wasn't clear already, Silver is technically strong enough to face the Tyrant alone, his Stats are more than enough for this.
But since he is fighting alone, he has to account for much more, so this becomes harder... A challenge.
Otherwise, even if he were to receive a Status update and become stronger, if he were to fight a Level 6 and win, people would complain about inconsistency.
Don't worry as I'm thinking about the power scaling.
Anyway, see ya!
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