Dragon's Ascension
"Styx, it is time," Loreley stated before sheepishly leaning over and pecking him on the lips.
Styx left his throne room with all the dungeon wives and headed to the main temple in the dungeon city.
Today was the day of a grand event, one that was behind closed doors and only related believers who offered faith, and VIPs such as Styx and his dungeon wives, could attend.
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Inside the main temple, heavenly hymns sang through the corridors and the stained glass windows emitted far more light than there was outside, creating a truly ethereal yet sacred atmosphere.
Rows of angels silently led Styx and the dungeon wives into the main hall where they sat along the isles.
Not changing his character for even this event, Styx sneakily attacked the buttocks of more than one angel with his hands, breaking up the solemn atmosphere as they flustered about.
They always prevented him from taking advantage of their bodies too much ever since he corrupted Loreley, perhaps orders from above, but he could still keep trying so long as they were receiving his techniques to expand their mana networks.
More than one angel had their bust, or even more, fall into his grip in those vulnerable moments, but they unanimously had been refusing to give him their bodies. This irritated him greatly and led to Loreley bearing the brunt of his built up sexual frustration later.
Ursula, the white winged angel, had all but fallen into Styx's grasp though. Her sessions already often led to the removal of her clothes and countless shameful things.
Atop the podium in the main halls, Dragon stood with a lackadaisical posture.
There were no speeches, as none we necessary. This was just the farewell ceremony for Dragon, who had finally reached the required faith to go from
The speeches and welcoming would await Dragon for when he reached the divine plane.
At the moment of ascension though, a vast amount of divine energy, which was the manifestation of faith, would descend. This was an opportunity for anyone who was present, allowing them to get a feel for divine energy and learn how to touch and manipulate it long before they became gods.
Having it wash through one's body was also said to make an individual's mana network more flexible and malleable, raising their potential for future growth.
Styx looked up at Dragon and asked, "Dragon, what of your dungeon? Are you just going to leave it?"
The Monster Lord snorted and sarcastically stated, "It has been set to run and grow automatically. I recommend you send Third Step rankers there to test themselves. I have also left some treasures with the help of Heaven."
Styx wryly smiled, still unused to the disjunction between Dragon's expressions and tone, and what he was saying.
The moment finally came when the passage to the divine plane opened, flushing the church full of divine energy.
Styx's eyes widened in surprise as he felt it, not from his avatar, but his dungeon senses. It was a strange power that was completely unrelated to mana, yet seemed to function in a similar way.
His dungeon wives were equally surprised as they too could feel it, but their mana sight completely failed to perceive it.
Styx did his best to understand this power, even capture some of it, but it continued to slip through his grip like sand. No matter how hard he grabbed onto it, it kept draining away.
As if to give condolences, Therina smiled to the monster lord and asked, "Does this mean you are a heavenly dragon, now?"
Before he could respond those, his expression turned dark as Aura commented, "A heavenly lizard? Heavenly salamander."
The wolf girl had always known that irritated him, but she spoke it regardless. To her, she could never understand why he had been so adamant at discarding his old identity for all she could see as a fake one.
The ceremony ended almost as quickly as it came, Dragon's body fading as he gave Styx and the others one final look and a brief nod, it's meaning unknown, before completely vanishing.
The passage to the divine realm also closed at this moment, cutting off the supply of divine energy. What divine energy remained begun to evaporate and vanish, like a puddle of water in the sun.
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Atop Styx's bed was currently only a few of the dungeon wives. One of those was Aura, whose nude body tightly hugged his body and shared her body heat.
She stared at him without blinking before averting her eyes and asking, "If I ascend, will I be able to return?"
Styx's brows rose as he hadn't experienced her feeling worries or insecurities before.
"I know far too little about the divine realm to know. I do understand that deities can descend, but I don't even know if our connection can span across the two planes."
"What should we... I do?"
"You have just about broken through the final defense of the fallen realm, haven't you?"
Aura nodded her head as her tail contracted around Styx's waist fondly.
"More than one of the salvaged books from that fallen world have referenced the creation of a Tower of Babel, a canonical construction that was designed by man to reach the realm of the gods. If I can find out how one is made, I may be able to build a bridge between the dungeon and the heavenly realm. It would have to be secret though, as there is no way we could stop the invasion of gods, each of which is stronger than everyone in the dungeon together."
"…"
"Search the final area in the heart of the city. After all this time, we will finally find our answers there."