A thundering boom echoed across the entire forest as the ground around him ruptured and multiple chasms stretched across the forest floor for hundreds of miles.

An entire section of forest that covered hundreds of square miles was thrown into upheaval as the ground continued to rupture.

Countless trees were ripped to shreds and the creatures using them as shelter did their best to flee.

The Orcs around Marcus on the other hand stood absolutely no chance; either being ripped apart by the sheer force of the explosion or swallowed up by the seemingly bottomless chasms.

Yet Marcus didn't seem to notice any of this as he stood in a daze, having entered a state of enlightenment. 

Golden-brown light poured out of his eyes and filled the surroundings. A similarly colored Divine Edict formed naturally beneath his feet, spreading outwards for hundreds of feet.

Golden-brown rays of light continuously flowed out of the depths of the earth and into the Divine Edict.

He stretched out his hand with his palm facing upwards.

Strands of light rushed out of his palm and gradually took the form of a seed the size of a peach pit.

Aura flames spread outwards from his body and his clothes were gradually burned away revealing golden tattoos that covered the entirety of his body.

A golden, diamond-shaped crystal was embedded in the center of his chest softly pulsating with light.

After the seed was fully formed the golden tattoos covering his upper body broke apart into countless runes that imprinted themselves onto the surface of the seed.

The seed then floated upwards before entering the sealed space located within the crystal embedded in his chest.

The moment it did the golden aura flames surrounding him suddenly flared upwards and reached hundreds of feet high.

He then began to yell in pain as his heartbeat echoed out in everyone's ears.

His muscles began to bulge as his body released popping sounds and the rays of light absorbed by the Divine Edict below his feet were channeled into his body.

He arched his back as he continued to yell in pain and his aura surged.

Sabrina and the others stood in the air high above, separated from the rest of the world by spheres of light.

They watched as this process unfolded with mixed expressions of worry and excitement.

"Not only is he advancing to the 4th Tier his Bloodline is finally undergoing a final evolution, turning him into a full-fledged Golden Titan. His stats will definitely experience a qualitative change making him an even more fearsome opponent. If I'm not wrong his defense will make it possible for him to survive a strike equal in strength to a nuclear blast with relative ease." Elizabeth spoke telepathically.

"I wonder whose defense would be higher his or Elana employing her strongest barrier? Either way, this is good for us." Alexander pondered.

"Very much so." Eric nodded his head.

"While his Bloodline evolution and Tier advancement are undoubtedly good things, that earlier explosion of power from [Earth Crushing Strike] in conjunction with his aura flames will definitely draw the ire of the higher Tiered beings in the depths of the forest." Sabrina's words doused them in cold water, making their expressions regain their solemnity.

They cast shadowy glances towards the depths of the forest where creatures they were far from being a match against in their current states resided.

"By the way Elizabeth, can you ascertain the situation of Carter and the others, did they survive the blast?" Sabrina suddenly asked as she gazed at the destroyed section of forest down below.

Elizabeth looked towards an area just south of their previous location on the ground and squinted her eyes.

After a while, she shook her head and said, "I don't see them."

***

POV Switch 

When David entered the grand hall located at the top of the mountain the first thing that entered his line of sight was the pale-faced beauty.

The azure-colored flames lining the walls of the hall perfectly accentuated her serene beauty.

He was slightly dazed for a moment before he gave an apologetic smile and said, "I'm sorry for staring. It's just that your beauty possesses a different flair when compared to the women I am usually around. Anyways my name is David and I seemed to have caused quite a ruckus on my way in. I hope I didn't offend you too badly."

"It's okay I have grown used to such gazes. My name is Erena Azzurra, and I am the creator of this Dungeon. In regards to you basically stealing my Dungeon I can only blame my own prior incompetence for placing myself in such a predicament in the first place." She spoke in a self-deprecating manner.

"You sound like you have an interesting story. Why don't you tell it to me." David walked over and sat on the ground across from her.

A helpless smile overtook Erena's face as she spoke ruefully, "It's not like I have much of a choice now do I?"

"Haha," David released a chuckle and have a carefree smile as he spoke, "I suppose that's right, but why think of it that way? Think of it as the beginning of a possible friendship. And who knows I might be able to help you out of your current predicament."

"It doesn't matter if you can help me, but I do hope that you can spare the rest of the Dungeon's citizens as well as Maya and Akame." Erena waved off his final statement with a disbelieving tone.

"So those are their names huh? Maya and Akane, very fitting," David thought aloud with a ponderous expression. He then focused his gaze on Erena and spoke in a reassuring if not admonishing tone, "You cannot give up on a possible solution when the opportunity presents itself. You must reach out to grasp every opportunity that comes your way, else you are damning yourself to eternal failure." 

His words stuck a chord within her and her eyes began to tear up as she reaffirmed her own resolve.

"Also, you need not worry about anyone outside of this mountain, I no longer have any reason to attack them." David continued to speak after he noticed her eyes take on a light of determination.

Erena nodded her head in thanks and began to tell him her story.

She was born Erena Azzurra alongside her twin sister Ishtar Azzurra. Their father was Tatsuya Azzurra, the current head of the Azzurra Clan, the clan of Azure Dragons that served as the royal family for all dragons in Cornith.

Their mother was the Crown Princess of the Elves, Alazne Evergreen. 

Alazne was the daughter of the current Elven Empress and a former Crown Prince of the Sukah Empire.

Both of these races had been enemies for countless generations and as such their mother has been shunned by many Elves her(Alanze's) mother, the current Empress, had almost been brought up on charges of treason while her father was killed by his own brothers who used the incident in an attempt to steal his position.

Erena's mother was raised solely by the Empress in a homeland where many treated her poorly due to her father's identity.

As a result of being shunned, Alazne often left home for long periods to train alone in various Dungeons.

She met Tatsuya during one of these training periods in an SS-ranked Expansion Type Dungeon.

Their relationship was actually that of enemies in the beginning. This was mainly Tatsuya's fault.

When he had smelled the blood of a Sukah he had attacked her without question. The Suhka was a Race that was always at war with at least a few others because of their intrinsic desire to feed on the blood of beings with high-ranking Bloodlines.

At that time the Suhka were in a war with the Dragons and both sides were killing the others on sight. This led to a rapid dwindling of numbers on both sides, which in turn fueled the hatred of both sides.

Tatsuya and Alazne engaged in a battle that almost left both of them dead. When he found out that she has only a half-blood Suhka who possessed no allegiance to the Empire he apologized profusely. 

He then called over the Dragons who were supposed to oversee his training and protect him from threats above a certain level. He had them carry him and Alazne to the Royal Palace located in the depths of The Dividing Mountain Range as quickly as possible.

When his parents found out both, what had happened and Alanze's true identity as the Crown Princess of the Elves they almost killed Tatsuya in rage.

The Dragons were already engaged in a life-or-death war with the Suhka. How could they possess the strength to fight both Empires at once at a time were their species was already in decline due to countless Humans using their members as walking treasure chests?

They did their best to help Alanze recover as quickly as possible before ordering Tatsuya to make it up to her in any way possible, to prevent the ire of the Elves.

The relationship between the two progressed from there.

In the end, Alazne ended up marrying into the Azzurra Clan as both the Empress of the Dragon Race and Crown Princess of the Elves.

Erena and Ishtar were born a few thousand years later.

They were raised according to the practices of Dragons and sent out to train in countless Danger Zones so that one of them could inherit the throne.

Eventually, Erena grew tired of competing against her sister and ran away from home, changing her name to Erena Alazne.

Maya and Akane were the two Dragons initially tasked with overseeing her training in the outside world.

Initially, she didn't tell them of her plans to run away, only doing so after they had been gone for a while had gone by and her parents were sure to have found to find her goodbye letter.

She knew that by then it would have been too late for them to forcefully take her back as her mother just might kill them out of rage.

When the two found out they could only begrudgingly smile as they had already gained some inclination of her plans.

So the three of them traveled all across the five continents in search of interesting Danger Grounds. As they did, their strength progressed by generous amounts and the Ranks of their Bloodlines had gone up several times.

But as Erena attempted to fuse her Bloodlines together and reach the 8th Tier a problem suddenly arose.

Her Azure Dragon Bloodline suddenly split apart into two separate Bloodlines.

One that of the Azure True Dragon, and the other that of a Dungeon Master.

This caused both her body and Internal World to undergo abrupt transformations. Her Internal World became a Realm Tpye Dungeon and her body developed a Dungeon Core.

As these transformations took place both her Anima and Physique were severely injured leaving her in an immobile state where.

She was able to absorb the Origin Qi and Mana, and Divinity from fallen intruders, but it wouldn't heal her wounds as Her Dragonic and Dungeon Dungeon Master Bloodlines were in a constant struggle for supremacy.

It was like trying to fill a leaking cup, whatever solutions she thought up proved to be useless.

After she finished speaking Erena looked at David with a slightly hopeful gaze.

She wasn't quite sure why she believed he could possibly solve her problem. She herself had tried to do so enough times to find it impossible. But, something about his aura seemed to reassure her that it was in fact possible in his hands.

David on the other hand was staring at her intently with a grave expression, disappointment visible in the depths of his eyes.

He shook his head and released a deeply held sigh, as he spoke a single word, "Selfish."

She suddenly felt a severe aura push down on her as her expression turned to one of trepidation.