Chapter 610 - Floor 18
Riveting Night was extremely annoyed by this, cursing Evaterasu who favored flashy moves. Since when had she ever used this body for magic?
She was a born assassin meant to traverse the darkness to slay her foes!
Riveting Night's attack alerted the Strength Sentinel she was standing on and it tried to swat her. However, she simply teleported to its other shoulder and placed a hand on its lower jaw.
From her palm, a huge cannon of light was shot out, which due to its close proximity, blew through the jaw of the Strength Sentinel and exited from its left temple, disappearing far into the sky.
The Strength Sentinel staggered as it wanted to scream in pain, but its brain had been blown through. This was also a characteristic of Riveting Night over Evaterasu.
Whereas Evaterasu would prefer to slowly whittle down foes from distance or even summon her aides to fight, Riveting Night always chased after fatal moves and applications of her power that could one-shot foes.
The Strength Sentinel was losing HP quickly as its motor functions failed and it fell to the ground with a large thump. Not to mention, its brain had been ruptured, so its life was practically over.
Riveting Night casually teleported using this nifty Spacetime Regulation that Evaterasu had acquired, appearing near a ground of Agility Sentinels. She clapped her hands and froze them all, ignoring her nose that began to bleed.
She then condensed a great amount of her Light Energy, forming a huge ball that she fired towards the cluster of Agility Sentinels. It exploded just like that, erupting in a beautiful yet silent white light.
The light would blind anyone who looked at it, acting as a sort of flashbang. However, any being caught within would tell you that rather than brightened, the most notable effect was the piercing and eviscerating nature of the light.
When the light subsided, all that was left was a patch of scorched earth. Unlike fire that created shockwaves with its explosion and released intense heat and loud sounds, light released moderate heat but simply disintegrated everything within.
In that regard, Light Energy was similar to Destruction Energy, though not nearly as strong.
Riveting Night rubbed her temples with irritation and muttered: "No wonder that showy wench doesn't use this often. The Space one is pretty fine, but the Time one is really stressful."
After saying this, she glanced towards Draco who was casually floating in the air while confronting the Intelligence Sentinel. Both of them were surrounded by blue lights, staring at each other as a storm raged around them.
Riveting Night sneered at this sight, as she could see that Draco was not even using 20% of his power, while the Intelligence Sentinel was severely struggling to keep up.
It was about to be swallowed under the pressure they had generated from channeling their mental powers. A slight mistake was all it would take for it to be crushed into a pulp like a car at the junkyard.
Riveting Night smiled evilly. She raised a finger and exploded a ball of light in front of the Intelligence Sentinel that didn't deal damage, yet it had been enough to startle it.
That split-second distraction was enough for Draco to come out on top.
"NOOOO!! HOW CAN THIS BE?!?" The Intelligence Sentinel roared with fear, horror, and unwillingness as it was torn to shreds like it had been crushed in the palm of a much bigger giant.
Draco smiled and teleported beside Riveting Night. He smacked her curvy ass and squeezed it, which made Riveting Night moan.
"You evil minx, how could you be so cruel to the fellow? He could have survived that, you know?" Draco teased.
Riveting Night folded her arms and rolled her eyes. "Oh please, Draco, against anything at the same Rank, it only has a 0% chance to survive."
Draco laughed boisterously. "Hahaha, that's true! Against an absolute powerhouse like me, who can survive? Why, I'm sure that if I faced an Origin God right now, I could beat them to the point they would start calling me their Ancestral Great-Grandfather!"
Riveting Night's eyes curled as she smiled happily. Unlike Evaterasu who took damage from his shamelessness and OG Eva who would be embarrassed on his behalf, Riveting Night enjoyed seeing Draco act superior and didn't mind further stroking his ego.
The Evil Duo then saw Clarent who was easily dealing with some Sentinels on his own with his power, as well as Qiong Qi who had released a black could of rancid fart in the midst of some Agility Sentinels.
Seeing that the two could handle things here, Draco and Eva blasted forward as they made a beeline for the Sentinel's encampment. They were now in the Red Zone, the area that was swarming with Sentinels and had been thoroughly conquered by them.
At their current flight speed, it only took them a few minutes to reach the forward base of the Sentinels near the outskirts of the Red Zone, where they were likely being taken to.
It was a small outpost with only about 30 Sentinels, not much to write home about. When the Sentinels saw the Evil Duo appear above them so casually, they became alarmed.
Just as Draco and Riveting Night were about to begin their slaughter, they noticed that the floor began to recede on itself. Clearly, the tower didn't like their actions and closed the floor down seeing as they had already done far more than simply escape captivity, rendering the need to survive in prison pointless.
Riveting Night's eyes flashed with obscene murderous lights. "Fucking tower, you dare to stand in the way of my Draco? Very good, wash your bloody neck. When I, Riveting Night, reach the 99th floor, I will make sure whatever existence manages the tower will regret coming into existence!"
With that cold threat, the light in Eva's eyes dimmed as her aura changed. The familiar benevolent and aloof aura of a Goddess emerged from Eva's body as she groaned while gripping her head.
"Ackkk… That was so intense…" Eva complained as she came to.
She then looked around to see the decomposing floor and Draco who was smiling wryly beside her.
"Draco, you beastly fellow, are you trying to kill me?" Eva questioned as she remembered how she had been ravaged to the point where she was sure she would be sent to a third timeline.
Just thinking about it made her close her thighs as some fluid leaked and she bit her lip. Her now golden eyes gazed at Draco with blame and complaint.
Draco laughed and brought her into his embrace, caressing her cheek. "Well, my Little Goddess, how did it feel?"
Eva tried to wear a tough expression, but her flushed cheeks gave away her true thoughts. "It was… quite amazing."
Draco nodded. "There's more where that came from. Anyway, you should refresh yourself on what occurred when you were down and out."
Eva agreed as she closed her eyes. Since memories were shared between the three thoughtstreams, she easily saw all that had happened as her eyebrows raised.
When she opened her eyes, she too smiled wryly, rubbing her nose. "Riveting Night is fuming. A whole section of our mind is engulfed in darkness and hatred. This tower's actions have really provoked her to an insane degree."
Draco folded his arms with a smile. "I'm pretty sure it had provoked us all. We are usually benevolent, but I think it's time we amped things up, no?"
Eva smiled, but there was no mirth behind it, only coldness. "I totally agree."
At this time, the floor reward details came up.
｢Congratulations on completing: Tower of Babylon Seventeenth Floor
Time elapsed: 0:1:32
Objectives complete: All
Assessment: EX+
Reward:
21,000 Score Points
1 Treasure Selection Reward - Peak Bronze Grade｣
With this Draco's current score point tally had climbed to 219,350 score points on the leaderboard and 604,437 overall.
In terms of experience, they had slain a collective total of 9 Sentinels, Riveting Night alone having killed 7 by herself. This equated to 18,000% experience split four ways, meaning 4,500% for Eva and the same amount for Draco.
Draco invested his into the usual two equally.
｢Pair Dadeni – Crafting item
Rank: Legendary
Description: The cauldron initially belonged to… etc.
Further abilities can be unlocked by sacrificing experience points. 40,570-->42,820% of 100,000% needed to upgrade to Divine Rank｣
｢Mjolnir – Crafting item
Rank: Legendary
Description: In the history of the Gods, Mjolnir was the hammer of… etc.
Further abilities can be unlocked by sacrificing experience points. 40,569-->42,819% of 100,000% needed to upgrade to Divine Rank｣
As for Eva, she finally had enough to raise the Divine Symbol to the Divine Rank with exactly 2,408% experience leftover.
The moment she upgraded it, the glowing halo that always remained floating behind her, which enhanced her Divinity and Godly aura, began to shine even brighter.
It reached a shockingly level of brightness before the glowing color broke like shards, a seal seeming to have been removed from it as it integrated even deeper with Eva. Her eyes also shone with a white light, and she rose further into the air.
When the fanfare came to an end, Eva seemed different. More aloof and untouchable than ever before, like her mere presence in the mortal coil was a blessing to all.
｢Celestial Symbol – Halo
Rank: Divine
Durability: MAX
Effects:
Passive 1 – Divinity: All skills and techniques cast by the user are treated as Divine when calculating damage as well as during skill checks.
Passive 2 – Condensation: The user is able to condense Divine Crystals using ambient energy at will, with a slight penalty depending on the source and quality of energy used.
Active 1 – Coronation: The User is able to designate one person to become their Celestial follower. The Chosen One will automatically become a true Demi-god with a Divine Pseudo-Source Origin. Cooldown: 1 year.
Active 2 – Elevation: The user is able to raise their Combat Rank and Source Origin to the Divine tier for 1 minute, able to cast any and all skills as if they had infinite Divine Energy. Cooldown: 1 month.
Description: The Celestial Symbol is the true form of the Divine Symbol after merging with the bloodline of the Celestial Prime, Riveting Night. It's soul-bound and personalized for her use, able to efficiently enhance her special abilities.
It has reached the peak of its power and cannot be upgraded further.｣
The next moment, they re-appeared in the castle, Draco, Eva, Clarent, and Qiong Qi. The latter two especially were making a ruckus as they had still been indulging themselves in beating up some innocent Sentinels, so ended up ravaging the throne room before Draco beat them back down to earth.
When they checked the upgraded Divine Symbol, Eva's eyes shone. "The ability to condense Divine Crystals will be super useful. Even the Gods are sure to envy me for it."
Draco nodded. "We can use it to negotiate for some goods and materials of the Divine Realm that we cannot access yet. Now that we are Rank 3, on the cusp of Rank 4, the power of True Gods is not enough to scare us anymore."
It wasn't that they could kill True Gods, far from that. It was rather the case where True Gods could no longer one-shot them so fast that they would be killed back to level 1 helplessly.
They certainly could not trade blows with a True God even if they used their special forms, but they could now survive and flee from True Gods then come back later.
"According to the growth of Dragorugio and Dragoira, our two sets, we should obtain a Divine Draconic Source Origin by Rank 5, meaning we should start to naturally produce Divine Energy within our bodies, just like Hikari. It will be useful if we can infuse them in our skills." Draco pointed out as he rubbed his chin.
Eva folded her arms with a smile. "In that case, all of our skills except the ones linked to our Divine Classes could be said to have no cooldown. With Divine Energy fueling them, we could spam them somewhat endlessly."
Eva frowned slightly. "However, our class skills and my two Divine skills of Element Regulation and Spacetime Regulation would not become infinite."
Draco laughed at Eva's dissatisfaction. "Not entirely. After all, with Divine Energy fueling divine skills, we can also use them indefinitely. The only problem is that they would drain us faster than if we let the system handle things."
Eva nodded. Like the way Riveting Night had suffered a nosebleed when freezing time for about 6 Agility Sentinels. She suffered like that because she was using mana for a Divine skill, so it put pressure on her mind.
If she were to use mana, it would drain her in mere second and not harm her as such, but she had her Rank 3 Angel's Determination which gave her infinite mana and stamina.
So the pressure then fell on her actual mind.
However, with Divine Energy, she could use it for days on end without suffering any stress to her person, only that there was no skill or power that could give Draco or Eva infinite Divine Energy.
Not that it didn't exist, but it was likely that the AI would rather shut down the game than let them have it, which was honestly fair seeing the various means they already had.
So they would have to generate and store a lot of energy beforehand.
This led one to ask, if this was the case, then how did True Gods fight? Well, the answer was already clear, wasn't it? Whoever had stockpiled more Divine Energy in their Source Origin would win, because they could spam their continent shattering attacks for longer.
That was it. Just that. Have more Divine Energy = insta-win.
Of course, Draco and Eva did not know this, otherwise, they would not dare to think of trading Divine Crystals with the Gods. After all, if one ran their Source Origin dry in battle, wasn't the fastest and most obvious way to replenish using Divine Crystals?
So this meant that more Divine Crystals = More Energy = More OP = More Dominance.
You can imagine why it would be hazardous.
Of course, the White-Haired Duo were going to run right into that unstoppable wall that would lead to disaster, but as we have all experienced from their story so far, they would probably crash through that wall, break it into pieces, and then make a bigger one to show how big their collective donger was.
Eventually, the White-Haired Duo decided to jump to the eighteenth floor.
Here, they were naturally still within the bounds of a confined area. It seemed like they were about to be moved again, as if the captors had decided that this place was not safe enough to keep them.
It was daytime, but Draco and Eva were in the same cell with Qiong Qi and Clarent. The White-Haired Duo cast their Void of Perfection outward to scan the area and saw that the camp outside was being sieged!
At this time, the floor details came up.
｢The Eighteenth Floor – Divine Quest
Description: You managed to survive for 7 days within the hands of the cruel Sentinels, who have tortured you day in, day out, in order to extract the secrets of the human race as well as the source of your power. Now that you are about to be moved to a new location for further torture, you notice that there is a commotion up above. Curious, you muster the last bits of your energy to check.
Escape the dungeons.
Limitation 1: Enemies are limited to within your Rank.
Limitation 2: You may retreat from the floor at any time, but upon re-entry, you would have to resume from the exact situation you were in at the time.
Provision 1: Every 5% of HP removed from the Sentinels allows you to gain one level regardless of your current Rank or experience requirements.
Provision 2: You have full use of all your powers and abilities in the same way as you would outside.
Rewards: Score Points, 1 Bronze-Tier Reward Selection.｣
Draco and Eva shared a look and rolled their eyes. They grabbed Clarent and Qiong, both of them easily apporting to the air above the encampment without even being sensed by anyone.
They overlooked the area and saw that the Sentinels were being sieged by… humans! Not just any humans too, but an endless horde of human warriors!
They flung catapults, arrows, magic, and all kinds of things at the Sentinels. While individually, these did next to nothing, but the sheer quality made up for the quantity as the Sentinels were being beaten back.
Draco and Eva noticed that facing an Intelligence Sentinel was the King and the various nobles who were battling ferociously, calling down divine magic of epic proportions to beat back the arrogant fellow.
Draco and Eva could not help but share a strange look once more. They wondered where these blokes that abandoned them got the guts to suddenly attack the enemy they feared most, and at the Red Zone too.
Before they could ask, the floor began decomposing on itself as they had already cleared the objective by escaping. Draco and Eva shook their heads as they observed the results screen casually.
｢Congratulations on completing: Tower of Babylon Eighteenth Floor
Time elapsed: 0:0:04
Objectives complete: All
Assessment: EX+
Reward:
22,000 Score Points
1 Treasure Selection Reward - Peak Bronze Grade｣
With this, Draco now had a total of 241,350 score points on the leaderboard and 626,437 overall.
At this point, the White-haired Duo were in a rush to get over with the Sentinel storyline for floor 11-20. As such, they directly jumped into the 19th floor with Qiong Qi and Clarent once more.
This time, they noticed that they were at the entrance of the dungeon, and there were hundreds of corpses around them.. A messenger, bruised and bloody, rushed over to them on his horse while waving his hands.