Pov Dungeon Core

  “We have lost contact with half of our forces. We still know that they are all alive, but the dungeon stone is signal-blocking, and it seems like it has already changed all of the dungeon stone to the new variant that’s even strong enough to resist diamond-rank damage.”

  “You wouldn’t be here because we all expected that. Tell me what you suspect.”

  “I’ve had a few experts look at the first few floors that are mimicking its real original first floors. The experts say that there are strange energy signals every once in a while hidden in the walls and that there are a lot of dungeon rules layered upon each other. In fact, they seem to be taking up, if their predictions are to be believed, an amount of mana that should not be possible for this deep of a dungeon.”

  “You have still not gotten to your point. You wanted to speak alone, and I gave you that chance. Don’t make me regret it.”

  “Yes, sorry. It’s just that it’s my belief, from what I’ve learned from people reporting back, that it looks like a labyrinth. And, well, there have always been myths and legends told about labyrinths that change shape, trapping anyone who enters. I believe that this dungeon has a way of making that happen, and that’s why we have lost contact with so many. It’s not that they made it further in; it’s because they are most likely in other parts of the labyrinth. And who knows how large it actually is.”

  That analyst is way too smart. He has been shunned most of the time that he has been here just because he’s platinum rank, but he sure can come to some correct conclusions. And now he’s talking to the old commander of the forces outside.

  The old commander refused to take his party into the dungeon, so people finally got the chance to replace his command. He still retains quite a lot of influence, and in the end, it seems like he’s more focused on keeping the situation as calm as possible. But things aren’t going well for them at the moment.

  There was another huge meeting going on with yelling and demanding answers. Everyone knew that they had lost contact with a lot of diamond ranks who had entered my labyrinth. We had yet to kill anyone, even though a few of them were alone now, but we were still waiting for the right moment. Everyone had also noticed how my presence was becoming more and more all-encompassing on the surface.

  They were trying to use some devices that were actually working to block me from spreading my influence upwards, but since we were now officially at war, I didn’t see a reason why I shouldn’t do what I wanted to do. So soon, they were operating out of a zone that was quite small as I spread my influence upwards and outwards.

  I was doing it slowly because I didn’t want to frighten them with how fast I could actually claim territory. What I was also doing was making sure that my presence was even stronger, so if I were to do something on the surface, it wouldn’t send up a flare announcing what I had done.

  Unfortunately, I have not been able to make one of my most dangerous creatures, the fruit flies, into proper platinum ranks as their bodies simply couldn't handle it. I would need to make them bigger, but that would also make their effect that allows them to fly through objects not work as it does when they are at their small size. I think I just need to find a proper talent to make it work, but I have yet to find such a thing.

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  I could already flood the surface with my monsters, not even needing a way to transport them to the surface. They know this, but they aren't afraid because most of them up there are diamond ranks, and they think that they are untouchable. While for some, that's true. I can’t do anything against peak diamond ranks even if I send millions of the best platinum ranks I could make. But the weaker ones would still die.

  The reason we were hesitant was because there were still some citizens left who were basically under house arrest and left to their own devices, but they couldn't leave either. Every once in a while, some of them were taken for interrogation.

  Fortunately, they had mind readers, so they actually didn't need any torture to ensure that everyone spoke what they knew. Cooler heads seemed to have prevailed in that department, as some actually still wanted to start torturing.

  There was also the other problem of Vivian. She was one of the most listened-to experts, mainly because of her grandfather. She was getting things pretty correct, but I was still glad to see that even she hadn’t figured out the new kind of gateway, even though she had sensed and figured out their locations. Another problem was her grandfather.

  He was a mystery to everyone, even to the spy who worked closely with him. From what we can understand, he's basically bringing his entire clan here—not just the people, but everything including wealth and industry.

  He’s the expert on dungeon fortresses, and while most still don’t think I’m a fortress, they do know about my surrounding dungeon stone sphere, which has helped him remain one of the most influential people up there.

  His moves were finally approved when he managed to convince everyone, after the first few diamond ranks went missing, that this wasn’t going to be a war won in a few months but instead in decades.

  None of them liked what he said, but, well, to make it to diamond rank you couldn’t be too stupid—even though I could see that a lot of the diamond ranks were just boosted up there, and, well, the difference between them and the ones who struggled to get there was immense.

  The Pixies have also been quite busy, and it seems like they have been producing dungeon melters in mass, as they have brought almost 50. There are multiple plans going on about how to use all of them, and I have no doubt that they will be bringing even more.

  Unfortunately for them, I’m not stupid. They are waiting for me to advance so they can strike while I’m unconscious, but if they only knew that those dungeon melters, while useful, won’t help them as much as they expect.

  While we hadn’t expected so many dungeon melters, we certainly planned for it—and a lot more. Even in the labyrinth, their plans wouldn’t be so simple. In the underground world, almost all of the ants have also retreated back to the dungeon, but there are still so many working on bringing in real stone so we can disrupt the melters’ beams. This special mix of dungeon stone and real stone will take a while to get through, even with a melter.

  Their civilization had spread quite wide, and they really were so industrious. It was a bit sad to see them coming back like this, but I was glad that none of them were truly disconnected from me. Even now, dozens of billions of ants—a lot of them dungeon monsters, but still a huge portion being real creatures—were helping not just to protect me but their own home as well.

  Sometimes, when I think about the dedication and fervor the ants had to protect their home, to protect me, I kind of felt bad for the diamond ranks. Just a tiny bit bad, as they were real arseholes right now. But if things ever got to the point where I needed to take the leash off of them, well, I didn’t expect much to survive of our enemies. Yet the cost right now would be too high. There were too few of them at diamond rank at this moment.

  One thing was clear: there wouldn’t be ant civilizations full of diamond ranks, and even the best of the best, their champions, only a few could reach that far. While the percentages I suspect could reach diamond rank were quite low for ants, they made up the difference thanks to their huge numbers.

  On the other point of the scale were the orcs. Their percentage of people I think could reach diamond rank was the highest amongst all other species, even adventurer species, but their birth rate was quite low. So I think in the end, they would have about the same amount of diamond ranks. Right now, both species only had two so far.

  Those four were quite strong, but like every other one of my creatures that has reached diamond rank, they were all newly advanced. From what I can tell, diamond ranks need quite a bit of time to get properly used to their power, and even then, they are just at the beginning of their rank. Also in diamond rank, every minor breakthrough meant quite a lot more power.

  I wonder how long they will wait before me not advancing makes them decide to use the dungeon melters. Hopefully, it will be a while, because every day that passes without them properly trying to get to my core is a day I grow stronger.