Book 2: Chapter 63
With one dungeon left Shaun wasted no time racing to get it done. Moving from one dungeon to the next was getting tiresome and he wanted to spend less time traveling and more time working on his craft which was seriously lacking behind his class. He also wanted to spend more time on skill training, the benefits that they brought could not be understated. Still, he knew he needed to get this dungeon finished so he could claim all of the E grade areas, combine them and then get his ward up and running.
He had tried to contact Eric while he searched for the final dungeon but he wasn’t able to connect to him. The only reason that would be the case would be if he was in a dungeon, which he probably was considering last they spoke he was going to fight robots. Or he was dead, which was highly unlikely unless he did something stupid and did the prime dungeon on max.
Rather than waste time checking in on Viv, which would delay him for at least a few days, he continued on with his search. When he finished this dungeon it would take 3 days at least to finish the terraforming, that was if he didn’t add anything extra. At this point he wasn’t exactly confident in being able to do a D grade dungeon, not yet.
It didn’t take as long as he expected to find the last dungeon, he had become much better at being able to move through the air and his echo skill was covering more and more area as it levelled up. Un like last time the sun wasn’t distracting him either, it had become overcast and looked like it may rain soon, not wanting to be caught outside when it happened, he pushed himself to get moving.
Like every other time the dungeon was located in a cave on the side of the mountain, not as far up as the previous ones but still a good distance towards the peak. He had to admit, if there was monsters located outside of dungeons life on Earth would be a lot harder for everyone, the constant fear of being attacked by not only other people but also a being that could be at a higher level than you would be a terrifying thought.
**Welcome to Claim the Throne (E grade) Dungeon**
This dungeon forms part of an unclaimed cluster. Current dungeons claimed in this cluster: F grade 15/15, E grade 4/5, D grade 0/1.
Note: to claim this dungeon you need a minimum of 2,000,000 TE. No rewards will be provided if dungeon claimed.
One participant located, would you like to enter the dungeon?
He was so close to being done that he could feel it in his bones. He had been going at this for over a month and he was ready to move on to other objectives. He enjoyed fighting, but he also enjoyed pushing himself in other ways too. There was also a war that would eventually start in full on Earth and an event that was going to be happening sooner rather than later. At this point he didn’t doubt he was probably the strongest person on Earth, but he was weak compared to a lot of people in the multiverse. Still, Shaun knew he had accomplished a lot compared to most people who had gone through an integration, that was something to be proud of. Accepting the prompt he got ready to finish this dungeon.
**Objectives of Claim the Throne dungeon**
King William Dronas has ruled the Kingdom of Paralias for over a century. A time of peace and prosperity for many in Paralias where no matter your station, your strength or your upbringing the citizens of this kingdom were safe, until recently. The king and his loyal guards have been corrupted and now all fear their once respected King.
To complete dungeon you must infiltrate the Kingdom of Paralias, make your way into the castle and claim the throne by any means necessary.
Note: You may leave the dungeon at any time by retreating back to the entry point. Dungeon difficulty set to max until dungeon is claimed.
Looking around at where he appeared, Shaun found that this dungeon started not that far outside of the kingdom, maybe an hour or so of walking. He was also next to what seemed to be the main road into the kingdom itself which had carts being pulled along by 6-legged horse like creatures.
There were probably multiple ways that one could complete this dungeon, the first being that you won the hearts of the people, caused a rebellion and claimed yourself King, or Queen, when you took out the current ruler. The second, and probably the most straight forward, would be storming the castle, killing everyone you found, including the king, and then sitting down on the throne.
He already knew which path he was going to take, he didn’t want to waste time in here if he didn’t have to. Taking to the air once again, it now being one of his go to moves for moving around quickly and unseen, he moved his way to the outer wall of the Kingdom. As he got closer he saw why the first step in this dungeon was infiltrating the kingdom, there was a gate that everyone was clearly moving through, each person and cart was being checked before either being let in or turned away. All along the walls there was soldiers with weapons drawn, continuously patrolling and looking for anything or anyone that tried to enter the Kingdom through any other means outside of the gate.
If he was anyone else he would have had to make his way through the gate, figuring out how to do that either legitimately or by killing the guards and then starting the process of fighting your way to the castle and the King while everyone was on high alert. For him though, he just moved higher into the air, even shifting completely so no one could see him, and went straight over the wall.
When he had moved far enough away from the guards Shaun found an alley and reformed himself from the air. He could have just made his way all the way to the castle but he was curious as to what state the Kingdom was in, also he wanted to see if he could find anything that would either help or hinder him in breaching the castle.
Walking out of the Alley and into the streets, he was not impressed with what he saw. Sure, he was on the outer edge of the Kingdom, but the people here were living in complete poverty. They were mostly human, with a smattering of other beings, but the thing they all had in common was that they looked starved, dirty and like they had absolutely no hope left inside of them.
The more he saw the more angry he got, to the point where he had to actively keep his aura under control, slipping up around these people would push them right over the edge. He had always hated seeing people like this, homeless and alone with no one to help or care for them. He always tried to give what he could to the people that needed it where he lived before the integration, not because it made him feel good about himself but because he could have easily found himself in that exact same situation.
It had nearly happened a few times, when he first got moved into a group home he was nearly bullied out of it, to the point where he thought that running away and living on the streets would be better than what he was dealing with in the home. When he was desperate for money and didn’t have a job straight out of university he again nearly ended up homeless. He was lucky that he found a decent paying job and an apartment that was cheap enough that he could avoid ending up begging on the side of the road.
He knew that this dungeon wasn’t real but that didn’t make him any less furious at how any leader, especially a ruler of a Kingdom, could let this happen. As Shaun walked through the streets, continuing to take it all in, his mind shifted to what would happen with all of the people coming into his cluster. For the most part they had nothing, they couldn’t just go to the shops and buy food, they had lost all of their homes and the only safety to be had immediately was in the cluster. But even then, they were reliant on Viv to provide them a home and everything they needed to live.
So easily the cluster could end up just like this, with the outskirts of the F grade area being for those that couldn’t be given homes or food, where only the wealthy or well connected would be able to get real homes and have a way to earn coin. That was not even taking into consideration hat would eventually become of the E grade areas, or even the D grade.
Shaun’s anger started turning to guilt, somewhere along the way he had forgotten his past, what made him who he was, and pushed all the responsibility on Viv, all so he could focus on himself and no one else. He decided right then that when he was done with this dungeon Viv and him would be having a serious chat about exactly what her plan was in this regard, and he would be making sure that everyone got the chance to make something of themselves. Regardless of the deal they made, he was still the owner of the cluster, and it was his responsibility to make sure that his cluster didn’t turn into what this dungeon was showing him.
He continued to walk through the streets until he couldn’t take it anymore, he would finish this now and get the hell out of here, his priorities had just changed and he was in no mood to waste any more time.
Shifting back into the air he moved through the kingdom as fast as he could, no one could see him or stop him. It took about an hour until he reached the castle and even then, he refused to stop, heading in straight through an open window. The room he came into was empty but he felt through his echo that the castle was packed full of a decent amount of guards, the strongest centred around one specific area that was higher up in the castle.
Not bothered with taking his time and utilising stealth in this situation he left the room he was in and started walking through the hall without a care in the world. It didn’t take long before the first person appeared, and he got his first look at what he was up against.
**Royal Guard – Level 112**
As soon as the guard, who only had armour and a sword, got close Shaun unleashed his aura at full strength. The moment he did the guard collapsed into a heap on the ground, sobbing and begging for mercy. But there would be no mercy, not for the King or the guards. They were all in need of punishing.
Without even stopping he cut through the guard with his sword and continued to move to the stairs that would take him up to where the king was. It didn’t take long for more guards to appear, the moment he killed the first it was as if an alert went through the castle that an intruder was present. He didn’t mind though, more guards just meant that he would get to kill more of them before he got to the King.
He didn’t use his summons, nor did he use his mirror skill, he wanted to kill them using his own sword, so he could feel it. His mind and sword joined with a singular purpose, and just like before in the second dungeon he went into he felt himself sink into that killing calm, he was one with his sword.
What followed after this was nothing short of a bloody slaughter, the entire time he pushed his aura out around him and proceeded to kill everyone that came close to him as he moved, leaving a trail of bodies in his wake. This was only the second time he had managed to slip into this state, although he was much more aware this time than he was the last. What he found most interesting was that not once did he faulter in his movement, his heart never speeding up, he felt calm, with only the purpose of killing filling his mind.
It didn’t take long for him to reach the doors of the throne room, when he did he kicked down the doors and entered to a room full of elite guards and the King. Still, he didn’t use any affinity or elemental magic. His aura made them all hesitate to attack him, inducing fear at what was to come in all of those in the room, and he capitalised on that moment and went in for the attack.
Fighting a group of elite guards who seemed to be well trained in how to use their weapons and work as a team was different that fighting the normal guards outside of the room, but even at a higher level than him they were no match for his own skill and speed. One by one he cut them down, he got cut a few times, but nothing enough for him to consider changing up his tactics. If anything it added determination to push himself even harder to take them down.
After the last of the elite guards fell he looked around himself at the bodies and blood scattered around the throne room. The King had just sat on his throne and watched the entire fight, not bothering to get up and join in the battle, not until the last of his guards were dead.
**King William Dronas – Level 124**
“So you have come to steal my throne, after everything I have done for my Kingdom.” The King picked up his own sword and stood from the throne, taking slow steps towards him.
“I do this, not to be King, but for all the people you have left to rot. All those you have let starve, those who live and beg on the streets. You have failed as a King.” He did know that this wasn’t real, but saying those words felt good.
No more words were exchanged between the two, the moment he was done saying his piece Shaun launched himself at the King with all the speed he could muster and aimed to deliver a killing blow. To His surprise, the King was able to move quicker than he expected, easily blocking the first attack and the second. Shaun didn’t let up though, pushing his skill to the limit of what he was capable of.
If he was to guess, based purely off of sword skill the King was his equal, if barely, but when it came to strength and speed his own stats were higher. Not once was the King able to go on the offensive, the entire fight he was forced to do nothing but defend against his own attacks.
It didn’t take long for the King to slip up and Shaun took full advantage of the opening, cutting into his leg, causing him to faulter further. The moment that occurred the fight ended. With not one bit of hesitation Shaun cut through the Kings shoulder and removed both arm and sword form the failure of a King, leaving him hurt and defenceless on the ground.
A small part of Shaun wanted to drag this out, make the King really hurt for what he had done, but a larger part of him knew that some lines should never be crossed, even in a dungeon. Taking a deep breath to keep control of himself he cut off the man’s head.
Shaun expected this to be the end of the dungeon, but when no messages appeared he realised there was still one thing left to do. Walking past the body of the old King he moved up to the throne and sat down on it, proclaiming himself King.
**You have defeated a (Royal Guard – Level 112). Bonus experience for killing an opponent above your level gained.**
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**You have defeated a (Elite Royal Guard – Level 117). Bonus experience for killing an opponent above your level gained.**
**You have defeated a (King William Dronas – Level 124). Bonus experience for killing an opponent above your level gained.**
**Class: Elemental Blade Slinger has levelled up by +3 levels. [Advanced] Elemental Blade Slinger has reached Level 118. +9 Str, +6 Dex, +9 End, +3 Vit, +12 Soul gained**
**Race: Human has levelled up by +2 levels. Human (E) has reached Level 88. +32 Ap gained**
**Claim the Throne dungeon completed. Dungeon will automatically eject successful participants in 1 minutes.**