We use teleport crystals to return to the Crimson City, and I'm led out into the desert, about 50 kilometers away.
There are no main trade roads connecting this far out, and the only major landmark here is the edge of the dark abyss on the horizon.
A large rectangular prison made of mana-manifested stone comes into view, far out in the middle of nowhere, with nothing but a single door on its front and two level 1400+ guards from the Crimson Army standing watch.
There's a large man with earth magic and body hardening who has high-grade armor crafted by Bri and an earth-imbued longsword that I made for him before I left.
The woman by his side uses air magic. Her bow was crafted by me too, and much of her other high-grade gear also appears to be crafted by Bri, making them up to par with her new level gains these last few weeks.
I feel the aura of my body double's surveillance, even 50 kilometers away, but we're greeted very respectfully once we arrive.
They show us two small bows as they open the front door for us, and the woman speaks.
"Welcome back, it is an honor to see the Flame Emperor's Inner Circle all together. "
At the same time, the man hands me a ring of keys holding over 40 in total.
I take them and llead our group of five into the dimly lit structure, finding it funny how she's given my teammates this name.
We're all supposedly deceased after our mission into the Dark Continent and wear items with high-grade concealment attributes, so our appearances are always changing.
There is an air of mystery around who we are and where we came from that many army members and even citizens of the city have begun to speculate on in their freetime.
It makes me think about my other teammates. Arie and Luna are still off on their venture into the Abyss in search of their old home that was swallowed by the darkness.
I haven't heard back from them in months, and out of curiosity, I bring their names up in my Rising Emperor's Domain interface to see if I can open a long-range transmission; but to my surprise, all of their information is tinted dark purple.
My gaze tightens even more when I try to make contact, but nothing goes through. Either there is interference, or they're unable to answer my calls. I can see their location, over a thousand kilometers away, deep in Sector 4; but the color of all their vitals and stats looks exactly the same purple shade as my Demonic Energy Manipulation skill's text when I view it inside my own status.
I trust them to make it back when they've discovered what they need to, so my attention turns to the rows of cells.
Dozens of high-level Association Hunters are here, locked behind bars.
The cells are all made of a very interesting pink crystalline structure. There are smooth walls, floors, and ceilings; but as we walk through the center of the building, seeing cells on either side of us, there are only small openings in the semi-transparent pink bars to see the captives behind them.
The center of the hall is lit by a few orbs of glass with [Flash] imbued mana crystals inside them.
It's clear one of my body doubles used my new [Crystal Creation] skill, and what looks like millions of MP worth of mana crystals to create indestructible cells inside this temporary prison.
To ensure safety, it seems all the captured B-class hunters have handcuffs made of the same pink crystal material, combined with a black bar of mana-blocking Qi.
It disrupts the connection to the system and doesn't allow them to use any mana or skills while in contact.
Far down at the end of the hall, I can sense the 10 cells with prisoners that have golden collars around their necks. They too have the handcuffs, but their cell reinforcement is multiple times denser than the others.
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[CH399+ Continued] Dungeon Diver: Stealing A Monster's Power
FantasyA story following a young hunter named Jay. He has grown up in a world where dungeons, monsters, and humans with leveling systems are a cultural norm. At the age of 20, he awakens a skill that allows him to steal the abilities of monsters. While oth...