Monsters formed in dungeons were artificial beings. They were monsters that were given form by the dungeons themselves and created by taking magical energy and shaping it into them. Dungeons, therefore, couldn't actually form limitless hordes of monsters unless they had an infinite source of magical energy. Raul was ready to exploit this.
Raul was a deity. He had limitless magical energy. And more than that he was a grand adonis who now had control over a portion of the dungeon. He was tied to the dungeon thanks to the cow-girl-spirit who was now his loyal, eager servant. However, the real key that allowed him to exploit the portion of the dungeon he had power over was his knowledge and the fact that he possessed the knowledge that the dungeon possessed.
"This is going to be a test of endurance! We need to endure the dungeon's assault on us until we become too much of a resource dump for it to consider us worth the drain. Spirit, begin using the energy I'm feeding you to form more monsters. If you make minotaurs I can outfit them with equipment!" He explained, even as more monsters began to climb the stairwell.
Monsters, living ones, began to appear in considerable numbers. The humans, half-elf, demigod, demons, starmazons, vampire, and cybernetic being in the room all froze as the monsters appeared and began to gain equipment, gifted to them by their true creator; Raul. For a tense moment, only Raul was sure of the future, but eventually, the monsters began to dash towards the door to guard it. As they did Raul chuckled and felt his new powers surging through him.
"I have confirmed the impossible today. Dungeons can be tamed. Dungeons can be made friendly to all life. And to make the most of that knowledge... We must fight here and now!" Raul uttered, even as the mental textboxes in the mind's eyes of his followers began to change as he bestowed his allies with new powers. These were all temporary, but they would be immensely powerful boosts.
"For the sake of a happier tomorrow... For the sake of a world where no one else has to suffer due to the predations of dungeons... For the sake of freedom... Stand firm!" Raul roared, even as the first enemies, the first of the massive army that the dungeon was hurling at the invaders reached the other side of the door that stood between the invaders and the dungeon's monstrous inhabitants. The door was immediately rocked by a tremendously loud impact but stood firm.
Even as monsters began to hurl their bodies against the door in front of me and the diverse monsters and skeletons around me I chuckled. I was going to fully unleash my power on the monsters, and I was going to use this moment to cement the loyalty the warriors and allies around me felt. I dashed forward so that I was at the point closest to where my enemies would be emerging.
As I moved forward I wordlessly activated my sword and shield and pointed my blade at the ornate door that separated the hostile denizens of the dungeon from myself and my allies. As I did I also began to focus on the divine power that flowed through me, particularly as it related to nature. As I did my form began to change and I began to feel my abilities take on new forms. I felt a crown materialize on my head, one made of branches, and I sensed my eyes becoming solid green orbs.
The door in front of me exploded inward, allowing a small army of poisonous creatures to dash towards my allies. I watched as massive spiders, gigantic snakes, and floating pufferfish began to skitter, slither, and float towards my forces. They were also joined by gigantic spider-people and python-people who had mad looks in their eyes. And what was worse was they were just the first wave. I could hear other creatures climbing the staircase towards us.
As I gazed at my enemies and took stock of them I heard movement from behind me. The source of the noise was the light footsteps of the talented mage Sofia, my half-elf "fiance". She reached my side and hurled herself into the action right as the fastest enemies were able to begin to collide with the forces on our side closest to the door. Massive battle axes were swung by the warriors on my side, and they skewered some of the first enemies to dare and attack this newly tamed floor of the dungeon. Sofia, who stood much shorter than the minotaurs, dashed and leaped into the air, gracefully almost floating as her lithe form sailed through the air.
Our enemies noticed her and began to hurl globs of venom at her which she smiled at. She didn't even mind their attacks as she rose her hands and pointed them at our foes. Before the globs of venom could hit her, I rose a hand and generated a wall of wind that deflected the globs back at the group of creatures who spat them at her, and I didn't deflect them back at their original spitter but rather one of the other spitters each. The variously sized orbs of toxic spit hit the creatures who initially attacked with them and the dungeon's room was filled with the pained hisses of the variously poisonous creatures as their own miasmic substances were turned back on them, thanks to me co-opting them.
"Please... As if it'd be that easy." I uttered, even as Sofia took aim at the row of enemies who were engaging various minotaurs and guards. She, rose her hands in the air and lifted the enemies in front of her into the air, causing them to begin to flail about helplessly. I felt the weight of the enemies immediately begin to take a small toll on her, but that didn't stop her from slowly moving her hands and beginning to cause the creatures floating in mid-air to begin to slowly float towards each other.
"Alpha! Now!" She shouted, even as the creatures turned to face her and began to realize that she was responsible for their strange predicament. They began to spit more globs at her, but I again rendered them useless with another effortlessly created instantaneous wind wall that deflected the attempted attacks.
Alpha, behind some of the guards, rose the hands of her mech and began to fire rockets at the clumps of monsters that Sofia had just used her new telekinesis power on. I smiled in satisfaction as I listened to the rockets beginning to sail towards the monsters, ready to take out entire groups of them with each collision and subsequent explosion.
This heartened the rest of my warriors, especially those who needed morale. I was delighted to see them roar in righteous anger and dash forward, which caused the massive, floating pufferfish that floated above the fray to turn and glare at my men. They began to swell and I grinned at them before pointing at each of the dozens of them in rapid succession. As I did I turned the attention of my skeletal followers to them, all of whom roared in anger at the pufferfish and began to hurl their weapons at the fish.
The pufferfish immediately sustained a few losses as spears, swords, and battleaxes were flung into them and cut them to pieces, which confused them and stunned them into inaction long enough for the undead skeletal warriors to be given new weapons. The skeletons continued to hurl their weapons at the creatures, suitably distracting them while everyone else turned their attention to the other warriors.
Fara dashed forward, laughing maniacally as she closed the distance that separated her from enemies. Fara held onto her axe and used it to cut through her enemies, focusing specifically on the driders. She was an effortless, flawless warrior, easily the single most skilled mortal warrior I had ever seen. She was almost dancing between her enemies, swinging her axe with a casualness that defied belief given how heavy the thing was. She was empowered by my abilities, but only a little bit.
Riezel was behind her, actually flying in the air and shooting her rifle with practiced ease and deadly efficiency. The enemies that were left untouched by Fara were immediately shot by the plasma rifle that the succubus wielded. The succubus's plasma rifle was an immensely handy thing that she was now confident in wielding. I watched as she casually fired off numerous bolts of plasma, each of which shot through the air before slamming into driders and sending them sailing back even as they began to melt.
Behind me stood Alpha and Zaria. Alpha was slowly advancing on our enemies, protected thanks to her exoskeleton while firing off her deadly projectiles. Behind her Zaria slowly spun her staff, casting potent support magic that bolstered the power of my forces, enhancing the strength of the minotaurs on our side as well as the skeletons of humans and ants that were helping us push back the tidal wave of foes we faced.
As I began to move into position to get truly involved in the battle, my new allies showed off their power. Hui Yui dashed at me with her newly enhanced super speed. She swiftly appeared in front of me with a smile on her face before turning around and leaping into a crowded group of enemies.
When she was surrounded by our foes, before they could turn on her, she rose her hands and then mixed super speed and strength by clapping her hands together. To my surprise what she was doing was a technique of some sort and I felt it produce a potent shockwave that sent her enemies sailing harmlessly into the air. The sound of the shockwave was deafening for my allies, but I could hear through it and I chuckled when I heard the vampiric princess laugh. I was also able to watch as she began to use super speed to dispatch some of the very same enemies she had just sent sailing, effortlessly sailing through the air and murdering driders and python-people alike.
Lilith also appeared beside me but unlike Hui Yui she didn't part from my side. She glanced at me and winked and then turned her attention fully towards our foes.
"I... owe these monsters some payback. They may not have been the exact ones who hunted Hui Yui and I down centuries ago but they are creations of the same dungeon. And now I'm strong enough to dish out some pain." The grand-succubus and fellow archdemon of lust informed me. She pressed her hand to her lips and I heard the sound of a soft kiss emanate from her before she lowered her hand and blew on it.
A gigantic, lip-shaped projectile exploded out of it and towards the monsters who were in front of us. I watched as the projectile collided with the monsters and moved through them, turning those it hit into stone, petrifying them. I then turned and gazed at Lilith, approvingly. She laughed quietly when she felt my gaze on her, and I heard her heartbeat quicken.
"That was a new power. I have gained many of those." She whispered, not quite blushing but unable to meet my gaze. Her kiss projectile was wreaking havoc on the enemies in front of us and seeing it made me laugh softly. Dozens of foes were being turned to stone as the kiss made it's way further and further down the mob of monsters my allies and I were facing.
"I wonder if it's been long enough..." I whispered, as my newest partner and ally kissed her hand once more and unleashed another devastating area attack in the form of a kiss, one she angled to catch monsters who had escaped her notice before. I turned my gaze back at my foes and as I did I began to alter myself.
The battle came to a sudden pause when everyone began to notice Raul growing in height. Even enemies were distracted for a few moments, as Raul activated his "Aura of Joy" power and stunned them by making them feel a strange, divine sense of joy and wholeness that their minds, inhibited by the dungeon, weren't supposed to be able to feel.
Everyone on the battlefield, even the undead creatures, froze in a combination of uncertainty, awe, and joy. Their gazes were locked on Raul as he began to become taller and taller. He grew over the course of a few seconds, only stopping when he was even taller than the minotaur he had defeated had been, and the instant that he finished growing he began to speak.
"Enough! Monsters... I banish you!" He said, powerfully and loudly. As he spoke, he began to radiate a glorious green aura, and the ground underneath him began to glow as he began to radiate heat. He rose his hand in the direction of the door and his mind reached out and grabbed all of the enemies in a telekinetic grip. The enemies were powerfully and firmly frozen in his mental grip. With a flick of his hand they were clumped together and then hurled out of the chamber, sent spinning down the staircase that led deeper into the dungeon and into the remaining armies the dungeon had been preparing to hurl at the heroic god. He then closed his fist and pulled his hand back to his side.
He rose his other hand and a single ball of energy appeared in front of the open hand. He tapped the thing with a light nudge and the ball shot forward. It remained a tiny orb until it made it past the doorway. The instant that it made it past the doorway the orb expanded at the speed of light and cut down the army of monsters the dungeon had been determined to launch at the invaders, eliminating them all and leaving nothing behind. The invaders only saw the orb expand and go down the stairwell, but their senses weren't as keen as Raul's.
The deity himself closed the door that led deeper into the dungeon with his mind and he immediately altered it to become unopenable to anyone but him. The door began to change and go from being made of stone to being made of gold, with a seal etched onto it that signified that it was only openable to him.
"Today... We claim the Emerald Cavern!" He roared, the second after the door was sealed shut. The deity rose his hand to the sky triumphantly, holding his glowing blade aloft.
"From today onward... A future free of the suffering brought on by dungeons is no longer a hopeless, childish fantasy! Today, here and now, we've shown the world that dungeons can be claimed and redeemed! That together, humanoids, monsters, spirits, and gods, can come together and do the impossible!" He declared, to the uproarious applause of the people he had quietly assembled. He felt the awe his actions inspired in his followers, all of whom were either true believers in his deific might or were beginning to become genuine adherents of the faith he had been creating.
"Together... Let us point our weapons to the sky and devote ourselves to the creation of a new world! One free of the violence dungeons inflict on us, and that we must inflict on them in return. A world where we are unified and where we protect each other from violence, from harm, from evil!" Raul roared, his voice and aura coming together to fill his followers with a vision of a new world, one that he led, where life was unified and the world was utopian.
As Raul felt the devotion of his followers seep into his soul, his blade pointed towards the ceiling, he began to feel new things. New ambitions. His aura seeped into the people he had gathered, and it healed them on an intrinsic level. It also helped them visualize the world Raul was proposing, the utopian society that he wanted to found and lead. A world thoroughly seduced by his powers and nature as a maturing grand adonis devoted to life, free of social ills and inequalities. Raul's aura began to slowly seduce his followers, showing them visions of a world beyond their imagination, even as Raul's powers were bolstered and corrupted by the potent new energies still mixing into his soul.
"Today, in the depths of this dungeon... I promise to create a new world. A new order. A new pantheon. To free this world, and others, from evil. To free even dungeons from hate and rage. To embrace who I really am. To show the omniverse a new way, a new path. I am going to create a new empire, one grander and stronger than any that has ever come before it." Raul uttered, even as he felt more hearts turn towards him, opening themselves up to the love he radiated and was a god of.
His followers began to cheer, their voices raucously chanting his name over and over, even the more cynical followers of his like Riezel and Sofia. The god quietly closed his eyes and began to bask in the emotions that surged into him from his worshipers.
As I spoke I grew more and more confident. And as I spoke I realized that the best path forward, the best path that would allow me to help people and to gain the strength and resources needed to correct injustices was simple. I needed to create a new world. A new order. A new pantheon. A new empire.
As I felt the feelings of my followers surge into me and empower me, I accepted what I needed to. And what's more was that I felt joy in this acceptance. My new path was clear and that made me feel light-headed in sheer joy.
I was going to build an empire that unified all of existence. Articulating that ambition caused my followers to fall to their knees before me, and open themselves up to the idea of becoming the first citizens of this new empire, something I recognized even as I closed my eyes and began to bask in the emotions of the followers whose loyalties I had earned.
I was going to become an emperor. And the part of me that thoroughly embraced my new unholy and vampiric powers was thrilled at this development, causing me to grin proudly.
