Dungeon Diver: Stealing a Monster's Power

Chapter 182

I hear words echo through my brain from the figure at the back of the room loud and clear, but I'm not sure I can believe what I'm hearing.

It speaks.

"Visitors don't come here often... I never would have expected a Demon and a Dragon to show their faces in a place like this."

I stop walking forward and raise my sword.

The red cloud of mana-infused fog consolidates around what seems to be the being's head.

Standing on an elevated stage at the back of the room, it towers above me around 3 meters tall. It's wearing what looks like a black suit of armor. It's so dark that it looks like the shadow of a Knight in physical form.

The blood-red mana creates a sphere around the figure's head. It continues to speak.

"Have you come to challenge me? I thought I'd never see that day when Dungeon Masters went rogue. To think you'd attack a Labyrinth at a time like this! Defying our leader's rules before the great collapse? Could my eyes be playing tricks?"

The figure lifts one of its arms, pointing a finger at the wall to my right side.

I watch small threads of thin mana leave its jet-black fingers and shoot off toward piles of empty silver armor and wooden crates. The threads attach themselves to the piles of abandoned armor, then they begin to move...

I whisper under my breath while jumping backward to put a few rows of white tables between us.

"Mana Manipulation..."

That's how it worked before. That's why I was gaining no levels from defeating those guards. The Knights outside were just tools being controlled by this ominous figure's mana.

The armored suits begin to glow, then stand up on their own, covered in a dense layer of mana shielding. The shadow figure speaks up again.

"You may leave now, I'm not one to fight my own kind over a meaningless break-in."

I tighten my gaze, watching the Boss at the back of the room and keeping an eye on its new minions. It continues to speak through our link.

"Unfortunately for you, the Dungeon Master will be hearing of this, I must report all oddities."

The manipulated suits of armor stand guard and the shadowy figure doesn't move. I smirk, finally replying.

"You're... The Behemoth...?"

My smile turns into a chuckle.

"I thought you'd be a lot bigger..."

The clang of metal armor rings out in the room as the monster before me breaks its thin threads of mana that were previously keeping the guards upright.

It takes a mighty leap, jumping off the stage above to drop down in front of me.

My eyes are locked straight, and my sword is fully charged, but I continue to sidestep through the white tables keeping my distance of about 15 meters away.

It hits the ground with a loud thud, cracking the stone tiles and sending a shock wave through the ground.

Its deep voice rings out in my head as the monster moves closer. I can't see its face through the cloud of red fog, but I can feel a curious evil gaze.

I keep all my stat-boosting skills fully active, glowing red and gold while drinking a mana potion to re-up my MP bar.

The moment I raise the glass bottle, the anonymous figure speaks again with a lighter tone than before.