Dungeon Diver: Stealing A Monster’s Power - Chapter 1034
A new pattern in these memories flashing by begins to form.
I can feel my consciousness becoming stronger with every passing flash of information. It enriches my Primordial Aura and allows me to push away the forces of silver threads invading my mind, trying to keep these memories a secret.
It even begins to push out some of the residual golden threads, allowing me to see outlines of memories I never would have before.
The first thing I realize is that in every old memory I’ve already absorbed, there is a figure in all of them that was invisible to me moments ago.
A figure covered in golden glyphs and glitching white and translucent memory-breaking light, its outline becomes clear in so many forms.
I see that not only does this soul weapon wielder continuously bond with a power stealer, but the wielder is always soul-bound to someone or something connected to a golden immortal core.
It’s like a shimmering golden shadow, but the entity begins to appear in many different shapes and forms. Sometimes it looks like a wolf, a cat, or a fox-like creature. It grows alongside the wielder of this soul artifact and always lends a hand in the wielder’s demise or their ascension out of the constructs that hold galaxies together.
Every time I try to watch these journeys outward, the golden cracks creep back into my mind. My aura is not strong enough to perceive it, but my mental processes are fast enough to backtrack and stop the golden threads from completely severing my train of thought.
I witness this golden soul tie take the form of a flower that attaches itself to the core of worlds and gains power from their soul ties in this way. It also lives other lives as enormous sea creatures that resemble squids, or whales, or hybrids with teeth, claws, and body parts I cannot even recognize. They devour and dominate entire Upper Realms that resemble vast oceans. In some galaxies that maintain their ether in the origin plane, I even witness this golden entity take the form of a creature I can only describe as a serpent that devours stars.
There are enough passing timelines to show that this golden shadow sometimes appears in the form of a dragon, but it even appears in humanoid and demon-like forms too.
Every world, system, and era has their own rules and entities they worship. It makes the concept of dragons being some mythical, untouchable creature no different than an entire galaxy worshiping a mouse or a grasshopper in the same way.
Demonic-looking creatures are the righteous saviors of some systems, prevailing over seemingly cute and cuddly creatures that threaten to consume entire realms with their appetites for energy or overbreeding to create unsustainable populations to fill galaxies with their kin.
Yet, no matter how strange and varied the systems, cultures, and lifeforms are in every memory, the aura that comes off this golden entity remains the same.
I can feel its serene nature, one that feels black and white at the same time, and unbreakable in the heat of battle.
I witness this aura manifest in the form of white fire, translucent acid, and many other talents that all share the same nature.
They all carry the same will that Ember does in this life.
The deeper I pour my consciousness into perceiving these memories, the more full of depth and energy signatures they become. They flash by faster and faster, until I feel the sensation of freefalling taking over my body.
The visions churn past my mind faster and faster.
Each time a new one appears, I feel like I can see just a tiny bit more of these golden shadows, like the threads are slowly being pushed away and the glyphs are less harmful.
It’s my sole focus in this moment, to the point where I forget that outside reality is even passing by. I only want to confirm one thing, and my consciousness won’t leave until I do.
The actual content of the memories themselves starts to blur as they pass by me. I don’t even look at the soul weapon or its wielder anymore. I only stare into these changing and morphing golden shadows.
All of a sudden, the memories racing by me stop, and for a frame in time, I pierce through one of the golden seals and see a crimson dragon’s eye deep beneath it.
The eye blinks once, and my mind is invaded by golden threads.
I’m flashed back to reality, in this Void with Maria, slicing through a silver Realm wave.
However, in the same moment that I come back, I feel a satisfying clicking sensation echo through my blade.
It severs the far side of this Realm wave and opens up a clear path to the other side.
I feel the soul tie pulling me through this chaos become stronger than it ever has before, yet I become conflicted and confused at the sight before me.
An enormous golden dragon fills my vision in the Void. Its Primordial Aura and energy signatures feel exactly like the countless faceless shadows I just absorbed into my memories. The most riveting thing about Ember’s appearance is that he still holds the same crimson eyes that he always has, the same I just witnessed stare back at me from a collection of memories that were not from this galaxy.
The Realm Wave’s tear closes behind me, and my blade stops absorbing more silver threads.
It’s still extremely present, but there is a far more powerful force of gravity pulling us toward it.
Space and direction still work in a very strange way in this darkness. As we drift closer, he stares directly at us, but also is looking away toward something else without even having to move his head. Our own auras are not strong enough to view it yet. His overwhelming will shields us from directly seeing what it is, but it’s very clear once a wave of demonic purple and silver threads pours out from behind him, bending around his body like a sun’s rays peeking out from an eclipse.
