The Emperor and the Empress

Sorry for the delay, here it is.

I'll be posting one more chapter after this one, and then, once I rest, two more, perhaps three if I can edit everything fast enough and at a decent quality.

And then, hopefully, three more again, and before this month ends, we'll be back to where we were 2 weeks ago... Sheesh.

Also, if you do read it, I'll post my second Novel's chapters as well, so uh...

Bye and enjoy!

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/CUT!/

/ROAAR!/

/SPLURGE!/

'A white flash suddenly breached the ground, a blade slicing through the wind, it hit right on his shoulder, cutting Silver's right arm cleanly!'

/CRACK!/

/BOOM!/

/A few seconds earlier.../

"..."

'I have the advantage...'

'I'm winning... I can do this.'

'A level 3 is winning in a direct confrontation against a Level 5 monster!'

/Tremble.../

/Crack!/

'White flames poured out like a volcano eruption, unexpectedly and without warning, blowing away the earth and the bodies of the monsters, making brilliant crystals fall from the sky like rain…'

'In the midst of this chaos, a white flash parted from within the chaotic flames, cutting the arm of the green humanoid creature that was clashing against the Tyrant!'

"?!"

'Retreating immediately, the humanoid creature vanished from its location, reappearing far away crouching on the ground to lick its wounds…'

…

/Rapid breathing…/

"Huff… Huff… BLERG!"

'Silver, after retreating from the fight with an instant teleportation, immediately kneeled on the ground tired, one hand clenching onto his now empty shoulder while he vomited something on the ground…'

'A mixture of blood and colorful potions… It was oddly artistic...'

"Damn…"

My luck finally decided to take its debt...

Things were going so well in these past few weeks, and of course, as per the law of lady luck, something would happen now of all times...

/BOOM/

'Staring at the chaos far away, Silver painfully covered his wounded shoulder as it closed up.'

First… I need to retreat and access the situation a bit… And deactivate this.

'The green flames that were surrounding his body vanished, leaving behind a bare, naked man in the middle of the forest.'

'Due to the flames, his previous clothes had already burned up, leaving his bottom friend free in the wind...'

'His horribly charred skin returned to its previous healthy look while his bright blue veins vanished, returning to how they were supposed to look.'

These flames won't be useful anymore…

I was using them to protect myself from the unending waves of monsters the Dungeon was throwing at me.

But now that they've all been pretty much exterminated, they serve no purpose apart from putting an extra strain on my already tired body.

'He touched his chest, nodding to himself.'

My dark skin was also a side effect of using these, just like when… Well, those are old times.

Now... I am someone else.

/Fwoo…/

'Silver's eyes darted around, immediately focusing on a small object falling in the air.'

"Found you, friend."

'His arm stretched outwards and the air twisted, the next moment, a burnt arm appeared on his hand.'

"Shit, it's worse than I thought." He said with a frown, biting his lips in regret

Those white flames completely vaporized my skin, and my muscles are charred… \

But it's manageable and recoverable... If I treat it soon enough.

"Still… Not now..."

'Realizing his arm was too damaged to be reattached to his body right now, Silver stored it inside his inventory after washing it with several potions.'

'It wouldn't do much, but it would make sure to heal it over time for sure, his arm was resilient, it wouldn't rot due to being in the open for a few minutes.'

'If he was scared of that, he would've frozen it.'

/Gulp... Gulp... Gulp.../

'He also drank a few more potions now that his stomach had a bit more space… And his headache recovered a bit.'

'His body was 'healed', and his resources had been somewhat replenished.'

"Haaa… Alright, I feel a bit better."

/BOOOM!/

/ROAAR!/

/RAAAAA!/

'Two distinct roars echoed in the forest, one deeper than the other…'

'He raised his head to look at the distance, he had no desire to flee, no fear in his eyes, he knew he had to defeat them, else, if he couldn't take a Level 5 monster, how would he take on a level 6 adventurer?'

'He had to take on constantly harder challenges if he wished to raise to higher Levels!'

"The Tyrant and his mate… One of the few forms of monster cooperation in the Dungeon."

Like in the middle floors, you have the Bloody Hive and those damn hornets.

A few floors above, you have the Merman and the slightly rarer Merman Leader to command them…

The Tyrant of the plains is a special monster that can only spawn once per week after several conditions have been achieved, but sometimes, a new creature may appear together…

"Out of 4 appearances, there is a chance his mate will appear as well…"

For a total of a 25% spawn rate...

The Empress.

/ROARR!/

/FUOM!/

'A white beam of light was suddenly released at the sky, illuminating the skies.'

/BOOM.../

'The energy cannon collided against the ceiling, making the entire floor tremble slightly.'

'And Silver immediately felt his stomach grow cold, if even for just a second.'

"!"

That… They can't be…

Are they trying to make the floor collapse to force me out of hiding?!

'He quickly denied his own thinking, a monster wouldn't be so self-destructive, damage to the Dungeon itself is often caused by mistake or in the middle of a fight, monster can and will often neglect Dungeon damage as you go deeper, but that is due to the Dungeon's tolerance for damage increasing.'

'Even if the damage may be enormous, it would be only a little tickling for the city-sized floors deep down.'

'Because of this, Silver shook his head.'

"Impossible, even with their combined might, it isn't enough to cause me any harm apart from tiring themselves…"

'Silver suddenly had an epiphany.'

Unless... I see.

The Empress' intelligence is higher than expected, but this should be within the realm of possibilities.

Overall, the Empress is outclassed by the Tyrant in every single way, power, speed, size, stamina, brutality, intimidation… And she is overall a Level 4 monster.

A party of well-coordinated Level 4 adventurers can take it down as long as they have at least 2 Level 4s doing the vanguard, giving they are offensive adventurers by nature, there is no point in sending 2 Level 4 mages...

They'll only get themselves killed unless they are irregular mage that knows a handful of combat and casting techniques.

Even so, that is incomparable to the Tyrant that needs at least 3 beginner Level 5 adventurers to get the job done, and there is a high chance one of them receives high damage of the likes I just received right now.

So they would have to have a decent party or be even stronger.

And albeit may lose in many aspects, she greatly outclasses the Tyrant in the lethality of her Magic and in Intelligence, to the point a Level 5 will surely die if they are hit by her magic.

Unless of course, it was one of those very situational adventurers that have high magic resistance and Constitution...

And yes, we're talking about the very Tyrant whose intelligence makes him smart enough to retreat and ambush others… She is a step above it.

Right now, her objective isn't to collapse the floor, a monster wouldn't think of that.

But instead to make the remaining monsters gather here, as shown by the already gathering monsters...

And at the same time, she probably wants to put some pressure on me as well…

"It's a bluff… A monster is bluffing…"

How… Weird.

I understand now why they say that the Tyrant is the gatekeeper of the Deep Floors, if you can't defeat it then you shouldn't even consider descending further.

As for her Magic, the white flames she creates aren't exactly hot, my arm may have been burnt, but that was because I wasn't ready for them.

The problem is how she can use her flames in different ways and not just breathe them out like the Tyrant.

This variety makes her one of the monsters with the highest Magic arsenal in the Dungeon, as on average each monster has 1 spell to use.

"She made her flames into a sharp line, and that focused line cut my arm, almost cutting my chest as well."

It makes me curious as to how she does it...

/Boom!/

'Seeing another fireball rise into the skies, this time a dark red one, Silver's thoughts were put to a halt as he said:'

"I'm sure of it, the Empress must've been created from the very start, but she instead remained underground, waiting, and the moment my fight with the big guy got into her range, she burst out to give me a fatal attack."

I avoided it, but at the cost of an arm, I was careless, I thought that after so long, there was no way she would appear… She was really sneaky as well, but that is merely an excuse, there is no place for that here where a mistake may cost your life.

A lesson is a lesson, I must take better care of my body, just because I can heal out of most situations, this doesn't mean I should just take it head-on.

"Still, it helps for my progression, so I'll keep it on the back of my mind."

/Phew…/

/BOOOOM!/

'Silver inhaled and exhaled while the Empress continued to bombard the ceiling.'

'His fight against the Tyrant was tense, not because it was strong, but because of the many monsters surrounding it, he had to try his best to avoid them all, and as such, his fighting style became centered around long distance, wide range attacks.'

'But now, he has a chance…'

"I'll end you two before your reinforcements arrive!"

/Fwoosh!/

'Silver vanished from his location, going right to where the fun was brewing…'

…

'In the middle of a valley full of red grass, with many sections of it overturned and full of monsters' corpses, a tall Dinassour lifted its head, aiming towards the skies, white flames gathering within its jaws as it opened them, revealing a spiraling white vortex…'

/RAAR!/

'The flames gushed out like a geyser, a fireball turning the heavens aflame...'

"HAAA!"

/BOOOM!/

/RAOR!/

'But at the moment the Empress spat out the fireball, something happened!'

'A small creature just the size of its nail kicked the ground nearby, creating a tremor as it flew like a rocket towards it.'

"!"

'The Tyrant tried to stop it, but the flames on its mouth prevented it from acting well, as it feared burning up its partner…'

'But this was calculated, Silver wanted to be there at the right time when the monsters were the most vulnerable!'

'The Empress was indeed bluffing, but she didn't account for Silver's ability to come in and out of any situation, so by showing such an opening, he took the opportunity instantly!'

"Huuu... HA!"

/Smash!/

'His two feet smashed against the lower jaw of the Empress, sending her head recoiling backward as she wailed in pain, her teeth shattering as blood splattered all around.'

'It was an on-point dropkick… Risingkick? Because it was coming from below?'

/FLASH!/

'Brimming with anger, the Tyrant released its flames without restraint!'

/Grin…/

'Silver smiled, he was waiting for this.'

/CRACK!/

*Gravity Reversal*

(I'll be trying this from now on to explain a bit better)

'Time seemed to slow down as Silver turned his face to see the Tyrant looking at him with his bloodshot eyes and its burning mouth.'

'It may think that he was an easy target because he was in the air, but it couldn't be more wrong.'

'Silver's left hand turned purple and dark as his skin started to peel off, collapsing into the center of his palm as a dark sphere started to form…'

'At the same time, the ground around him started to rise, including the two dinosaurs that suddenly lost their footing!'

'His face red due to the effort he was putting in, he lifted his hand, pointing it at the skies.'

"Rise!"

/FWOOSH!/

/ROAR/

/BEAMM!/

'At the last second, Silver flashed away, and the beam of fire passed through the area he was previously in… Crashing against a tall tree in the horizon, burning it to ash.'

'But as the Tyrant spun in the air, the flames followed its mouth, wreaking havoc in the world around it, burning everything on its way to cinders!'

"First! I'll take this!"

An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth...

A right arm for a right...

/CUT!/

/SPLAT!/

"ROARRR!"

'His Halberd carved the monster's skin as its edge cut a trench right across its right eye!'

'As the Tyrant screamed, Silver disappeared once more, he had to make the most damage as possible while everything was still in the air...'

"Urg... !!!"

'He suddenly felt lightheaded, and everything that was falling started to fall back down to the surface.'

'His nose bled slightly, and as he wiped his nose, he shook his head so he could refocus.'

I pushed myself too hard, too much Mind at once to try and lift those humongous creatures.

'He gritted his teeth.'

"This is little, nothing I can't handle."

"Hup!"

'Silver reappeared on top of the Empress with a fierce expression.'

'She could do little to stop him as he placed his left hand on her forehead.'

"HAA!"

/SPLAT!/

'His hand suddenly accelerated forward, becoming an afterimage as it dug inside her flesh, passing through her protective scales… But not through her bones.'

"RAAAAR!"

'Now was the time, the Empress shook her head fiercely as she fell from the skies, trying to shake him off.'

"Too late, I have already touched your forehead..."

/Burst!/

'Red light flashed from within her wound, something was happening on the tip of his arms…'

/BOOOM!/

'An explosion of enormous proportions took place in the skies, and soon after, something massive clad in dark smoke fell from the cloud before crashing against the ground…'

/Gasp!/

'A sudden breath was heard from within the smoking hot object and something walked out from within the black smoke…'

"Cough!"

"Haa…"

'It was a half-naked man with one arm… His skin was red, but by the second, it recovered its original colour...'

"One down."

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Notes