Deadmeat Saga

At a raging storm-

A medium-sized vessel swayed and turned, and the crew operating the ship to avoid it from capsizing due to the massive waves, heavy winds, and thunderous clouds.

At this time, the faces of everyone on board turned to horror as they saw a tsunami hundreds of meters tall! In comparison, their boat was like an insignificant ant!

"All hands on deck! Lower the sails! Tie yourselves to the haul and brace for impact!" The boatswain cried out and ordered.

"Lower the sails!"

"Ropes!"

"The ocean gods protect us!"

The crew weathered the storm, working non-stop to prevent the ship from sinking and leading to their doom.

"How did this happen?! The weather was great just three hours ago, and now, this?! How did my luck get this crappy?!" Neo, who was on the deck, complained in his heart.

"Gerhart! What should we do?!" Mylo yelled out.

"The ship is going to drown!" Hazel also shouted.

Bertrand, Ariyana, and Tsusaki also looked anxious.

"Calm down! Change to Water-type Divine Bloodlines! We will use Water Manipulation to pass through it!" Neo yelled back, changing to a blue-colored Oni.

"Pass through it?! It is madness!" Mylo shouted back but did as told, changing to an Ocean Orc.

"If I will die again, I will die trying!" Hazel also shouted, changing to an Ocean Elf.

"It is worth a shot!" Tsusaki determinedly said, changing into a blue-furred nine-tailed fox.

"This sounds fun!" Ariyana Said without care, changing to a blue goblin.

"Sorry, I don't have Water Magic, but I will cheer you from here." Bertrand warily said, being the only one with the inferior Divine Black Dragon Bloodline.

Ignoring him, the group began manipulating the water around them, turning the ship to sail right into the tsunami.

What they didn't expect was that-

"Holy shit, it was that easy?!" Hazel widened her mouth, watching the water make way for them, forming a bubble around their ship as it safely sailed through it.

"We are peak Golden Nobles with Divine Ocean Bloodlines, so it is unsurprising." Mylo shrugged, splitting a tsunami that could swallow dozens of cities with mere Water Manipulation.

"Pretty..." Ariyana muttered as she looked around them with the occasional fish and seaweed dragged up the current.

"Don't lose focus, Ariyana," Tsusaki said, controlling the water flow.

Soon, they passed through the wave.

"We made it!"

"It's a miracle!"

"We are alive!"

"Cheers for our lord!"

"Hua!!!"

The crew loudly cheered, their eyes shining with a silverish glint.

"Seems like we were worried for nothing." Neo smiled.

"You made us too powerful. I doubt even one of those legendary sea leviathans can do anything to us." Mylo said.

"I would say you just jinxed us- But I think you are right on that." Hazel nodded.

The others also agreed. The blessings they received these few days were nothing short of insane. They all had many 8th-tier talents, and calling them legendary powerhouses was not an understatement.

"Hey! There is another tsunami coming!" Ariyana pointed out.

"Well, they rarely come alone," Tsusaki said.

"Then we will pass through them, too," Neo said without worries.

"Yes!" The others replied.

And so, they continued passing through a storm that would have destroyed any other ship fleet.

.

.

.

"Seems like I overreacted." Primo warily thought.

He was pretty startled when he saw them run into such a storm like this. But it seems like he underestimated the power he had.

"Oh, the main body is about to conquer the second tier 9 dungeon!" Primo thought.

.

.

.

"ROAR!"

A massive dragon let out a thunderous roar as a muscular Ant leaped at it, delivering a killer punch.

BAM*

THUD*

"Too easy," Gerhart muttered as he looked at the downed dragon that could destroy a town with one breath.

By now, he knew that he completely surpassed his masters. They were never this powerful.

Pshh*

The dragon's body soon converted into priceless items holding absolutely zero worth to Gerhart. He didn't even look at them, instead looking toward the real prize.

"Well done, Gerhart." Hope said, coming from the side.

"Meh. Anyone coming to disturb us?" Gerhart asked as he walked to the obelisk.

"No." Hope shook her head.

"Okay," Gerhart replied and started hacking the dungeon.

Moments later-

 

Congratulations on acquiring complete control over a Tier-9 Resource Extraction Core!

 

Gerhart then changed the settings and absorbed the astronomical energy inside the dungeon.

 

Energy: 5,152b -> 15,142b

 

At the same time, he also received feedback from Heaven Rewards the Righteous.

Immediately, Gerhart felt energy fill him. After some time, he opened his eyes, looking at his changes.

 

Race: Golden High Tyrant Human

 

After he conquered the previous dungeon, Gerhart evolved into a High Human, the advanced form of Noble Humans. It allowed him to develop his talents to tier 9. Among them, two talents already reached it.

 

Ancient Earth Dragon Power -> Divine Earth Dragon Power

Grand Mental Fortress -> Divine Mental Fortress

 

He was confident he could solo a tier 10 dungeon.

"Thank you for waiting, Hope," Gerhart said.

"It is okay, Gerhart. Let us leave and then plan our next destination." Hope replied.

Exiting the dungeon, they briefly sold any loot they got and left the Dungeon Explorers guild before heading to the palace where they stayed.

As for why the palace? It was because the Emperor of the empire they stayed in, the Batteux Empire that Gerhart's mother originated in, was a 3,000-year-old Ancient Echo. And no, he isn't Gerhart's ancestor. He only disguised himself as the new Emperor a dozen years ago. That was how she got spared from being a Dark Servant.

Speaking of Gerhart's mother, Gerhart did look for her when he visited the Osora Kingdom but didn't find a trace of her. He then asked Hope to divine it and got the ugly truth. "She is dead along with the child."

Gerhart was saddened at this, deprived of meeting the woman who gave birth to him and sacrificed herself to make sure her son lived. Not even his decoy was spared.

Heading to the palace, Gerhart and Hope received a warm welcome, eating, drinking, and doing whatever they wanted. Meanwhile, Laverne was chatting with her senior, who was ten times as old as her.

"So, you are pregnant again, hah? Sure is nice being young." The Batteux Emperor, disguised as a young man, gently smiled.

"You don't seem to be lacking women here, though?" Laverne tilted her head.

"But Laverne, these are just some worthless blood sacks, puppets! They are so dull." The 3,000-year-old monster sighed. "When you reach my age, you will find that most worldly pleasures lose their color and taste. When I lay with a woman, I have the time to count the cracks on the wall. It is a miracle I can even release under these conditions! You have it easier being a woman. At least you don't need to worry about ED."

"But I do need to carry a child for ten months?" Laverne argued.

"But that is part of the beauty of life, Laverne! Everything is a stimulus. Gender becomes meaningless. The last time I got excited was in the blood orgy I had with that weird witch coven summoning demons on a blood moon. Now, those hags are wild ones." The Batteux Emperor reminisced.

"... No, you are just weird." Thought the 300-year-old woman who brainwashed entire families into sex slaves.

"So, what are your plans now, young one?" The three-millennia-old Ancient asked.

"I plan to travel a bit longer. Maybe visit the other empires and see old faces. I think I will also sire a few more children. The stud I acquired this time is very high quality." Laverne gave a relaxed smile.

"Whatever makes you happy. Say, what do you think of those Otherworlders? Do you think they would do as much damage as last time?" The Batteux Emperor asked.

The last time Otherworlders got summoned, over a dozen Echos perished. They were mostly the young ones, but two Ancient and one Truly Ancient died in the aftermath. It was an effective blow to the Echos.

"I am unsure, but I will stay on the safe side and stay low for now. It would give me more time to raise my children to be loyal and strong." Laverne calmly replied.

"True. Those of us who were less active did survive. Perhaps you should indeed lay low for now." The Batteux Emperor nodded.

"And what about you?" Laverne asked.

"I will see how things go. At most, I will flee. I still have a few thousand years on me." The Batteux Emperor shrugged.

The two continued chatting before Laverne took her leave. The ancient Echo never suspected for a second that he spoke to a turncoat.

.

.

.

In the following days, Gerhart and his group continued advancing, conquering dungeons without being impeded by anyone. Soon, they reached one of the three major powers, the Atasheborg Magocracy.

The ones who held power in this kingdom were the Archmages. Each archmage had one tower, such as the White Tower or Pale Tower, and they essentially dominated the magical world.

Gerhart and his group chose this place first to avoid contact with the Chosen. Furthermore, with Laverne, they had the White Tower Master on their side, so it was the optimal place to start. Moreover, one of the only three tier-10 dungeons was in the Magocracy. They had to visit it one day or another, so they chose to do it immediately.

Without being bothered, they arrived at the capital, the White City, ruled by the White Tower. Laverne took her leave, visiting the White Master with Deadmeat Junior while Gerhart dived into the tier-10 Dungeon with Hope.

Gerhart reached the 100th floor two days later and challenged the final boss. The dungeon was a light-element one, and the monsters were light elementals. The final boss was a Radiant Seraph, surrounded by holy white flames.

Such a boss was an SSS-rank boss, able to make even Deadmeat's SSS-rank masters almost get wiped. But-

BAM*

"... I am too strong now." Gerhart warily said, blowing off the Seraph's holy head with a punch.

"Well, you have a tier 9 talent and a Golden Evolution. That Seraph barely had a few regular tier-8 talents." Hope commented.

That was indeed the case. Gerhart was already too powerful for these dungeons.

"Oh well. At least I can get this over with quickly." Gerhart shook his head and started hacking the tier-10 dungeon.

 

Congratulations on acquiring complete control over a Tier-10 Resource Extraction Core!

 

He then changed the settings and absorbed the energy, which brought him to lvl 100.

 

Energy: 15,142b -> 115.131b

 

And again, he received feedback from the Universe.

 

Grand Rampage -> Divine Rampage

Grand Berserker -> Divine Berserker

Grand Warrior -> Divine Warrior

Intermediate Endless Vitality -> Advanced Endless Vitality

Intermediate Ultimate Defense -> Advanced Ultimate Defense(70.6%)

 

"Well, I think I am already a Divine Rank powerhouse now." Gerhart warily said and checked the advancement requirements for the next Ascension.

 

Stage 4 Ascension Requirements:

1,000b points(In possession)
100 Bannerholders(Complete)
Divine Rank Strength(Complete)
Conquer a tier 10 Dungeon(Complete)
Kill And Absorb or Subdue an Echo(Complete)

Conditions met. Would you like to proceed with stage 4 Ascension?

 

"Well, that was too easy. Almost too easy." Gerhart muttered.

Of course, he knew that the real challenge was the Echo, but he had luck and completed it first.

"What will you do now, Gerhart? Do you plan to Ascend here?" Hope asked.

"I suppose I will," Gerhart replied and controlled the dungeon settings, manually activating the 100th-floor boss room again, causing the doors to close.

As a new 100th-floor dungeon boss, a Light Phoenix, manifested, Gerhart gave it a side-eye and said, "Remain there. I will be using this room."

"As you wish." The 100th-floor final boss replied, resting on the floor.

And then, Gerhart initiated the long-awaited Stage 4 Ascension.