Chapter 691: Fastest

A deme-ranker was someone who could conquer B-rank dungeons and participate in A-rank dungeons with Astra-rankers. Therefore, a C-rank dungeon was nothing in the face of the overwhelming power of gravity, mana bullets, and clones.

Arthur was gauging their powers and ranking them. As expected, no one can match Li, who can control gravity to 'reave the stars.'

That was the name of the spirit Arthur helped him obtain, but it might have been different in this timeline. Arthur wasn't the person who helped Li, but the one who appeared in his Epiphany to guide him toward the sword.

This was why Li considered Arthur his benefactor and lord, even though Arthur never met him in this timeline. Arthur made a mental note to talk to the man more to understand what drives him forward.

The second strongest was Alan, whose overpowered clones matched his strength. It was common to have clones in the world of awakeners, but these each had the powers of a deme-ranker. Therefore, if Alan became an Astra-ranker, he would be multiple times stronger than a normal one.

The third strongest was Yuran. Arthur admitted that the mana blasts were powerful and fast, but he could also feel Yuran was growing weaker with each one. Abilities were the most cost-effective mana usage, and Yuran didn't have that.

'I can make them stronger.' Arthur thought to himself as they approached the giant gates of the underwater temple. Li slashed the gates apart and revealed the dark interior of the palace.

"A single enemy?" muttered Yuran with confusion. "The boss of this dungeon shouldn't appear too easily, so it might be a powerful foe. Arthur?"

"It's an epic-tier monster," said Arthur. "However, I can tell that it's about to evolve. We might have ruined its peaceful harnessing until now since no one has disturbed it all these years."

The air bubble entered the palace, and the monster opened its eyes. It was a humanoid-looking merman who had scales and a tail. However, its jaws were lined with sharp teeth, and his back had a giant fin like a shark.

"It looks pissed," said Alan while scratching his head. The air bubble took them closer, and the merman rose from his throne. Its eyes held deep contempt, and their red light seemed dangerous.

"Just a little more… and I would have evolved," said the merman as he raised his hand. His fingers were glued together in soft skin, and water began to condense above it. "There is no worry. This might be the feast that would push me forward."

"He is attacking," said Arthur, and the merman launched his water ball toward them. It traveled like a bullet, shaking space as it left his hands. The water ball grew bigger until it was as big as the air bubble carrying them.

"I got it," said Yuran as he raised his gun. His mana entered the gun and morphed it, turning it into a bigger one with a giant muzzle. Yuran pulled the trigger toward the massive water attack, and mana spread in a bigger range than before.

The condensed mana vaporized the water around them and the attack. Arthur was surprised he could control his gun like that but pleased nonetheless. The next one to attack was Alan, whose clones appeared in the water. Arthur was then surprised that these looked like the merman, with tails and fins.

"Impudent," said the merman, and he raised its arms upward. Then, he pulled the water toward him, resulting in two underwater gashes traveling toward the clones. However, the two dodged the attacks and launched two slashes with their swords.

The merman diffused the underwater slashes, and Arthur realized they had already taken too long. He turned toward Li, and the man met his gaze before nodding.

Li stepped out of the air bubble and disappeared. He was in front of the merman the moment he reappeared. The two were of an incomparable size, as the merman was almost five meters long. The Dungeon's Boss raised its arm to summon a spear, but Li was already taking his stance.

"Stars Reaver," muttered the deep voice of Li, and Arthur seemed to be the only one who managed to hear it. The water worked to isolate the sound, but Li's gravity pushed the water back. "Nova."

Li was holding into thin air before a broken sword materialized in his hand. Then, he slashed, and the world froze. The merman was frozen in space before it was split in two. However, that was not all.

Arthur watched the walls of the palace slide over each other after Li had slashed the palace in half. The other two deme-rankers gulped down at the demonstration of absolute strength, unable to believe their eyes.

"The dungeon has been cleared, and it will collapse soon." A voice said from Arthur's pocket. It was the device that he got from Glory List that would measure the minute changes in space. After Li had defeated the boss, the dungeon collapsed.

"Are you sure that man is not an Astra-ranker?" asked Yuran with shock. Arthur smiled but did not say anything. Li was the handpicked member of Mistletoe, so of course, he would be strong.

"The dungeon will collapse soon. Let us take the boss and get out of here," Arthur said before he guided the air bubble toward the monster. "Good job, everyone."

As he touched the corpse, Arthur absorbed its stats. The Party Function allowed him to absorb it even if he was not the one to give the finishing blow. A notification that pleased Arthur appeared.

[You have absorbed 5 Mana Stat Points.]

Arthur could feel strength entering his body, and he kept the two halves of the monster in his subspace. Then, they left the dungeon as space started to crumble.

***

The world nervously waited for the countdown to end on the website of the famous guild, Ascent. It would be another test for whether Ascent is worth joining. If they made a fool out of themselves, then they would be forever ridiculed.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, the countdown has reached zero!" a streamer with over ten million viewers announced. He was one of the best dungeon analytics in the world, and he used that knowledge to gain fame. "However, there is yet to be an update on Glory List!"

The comments section was growing wild. Half of them expressed disappointment—the other half ridiculed. A minute passed with nothing appearing on the site, and the streamer was wearing a smug smile.

Jay Oz was the most famous dungeon-related streamer in the world. His streams quickly reached over ten million, and his judgment never missed. Most of his viewers relied on his insights to gamble on dungeons and guilds, making them his loyal fans.

Earlier that day, Jay finished analyzing the chances of Ascent clearing the dungeon with their current strength. Arthur Silvera was the sole abnormal factor, but he calculated his strength and performance in battle.

Then, he announced that Ascent might have some potential, but their chances of clearing this dungeon without the White Fairy's combination with Arthur were almost zero. After all, a C-rank dungeon should have epic-rank monsters, and Arthur Silvera was barely estimated to be a Vetus-ranker.

For the reasons above, Jay was gleeful when the countdown ended, and there was no update on Glory List. The number of viewers was increasing, and his stream reached fifteen million. The stream's title changed to "The Expected Downfall of Ascent."

"As I have expected before, most awakeners overestimate their powers. This is the iron rule in analysis: always underestimate! This is because strength blinds a person's judgment, but we are the impartial judges! Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Jay Oz, and I never misjudge an awakener!"

It was at that moment that his viewers suddenly stopped commenting. Jay Oz was confused about why, and his eyes glanced toward his crew. Then, one of them changed his screen to Glory List.

Jay Oz gulped down as he saw the golden letters on the screen. The ranking for the fastest dungeons was cleared based on their rank. In the fastest cleared dungeon of the C-rank, the first name suddenly changed. It was written in golden letters: Ascent.

"Even if they did clear it… they were late on their promise…." Jay tried to justify it, but the time of the cleared dungeon was precisely the date Ascent announced it would be. The delay must have been from Glory List making the changes.

The comments section suddenly blew up with citizens and awakeners unable to believe their eyes. The viewers' count soon became twenty million, but Jay was in shock. However, he soon recovered from his failure and turned a new leaf.

"Ladies and gentlemen," said Jay Oz with trembling lips. "My incompetence in realizing the abilities of Ascent is of no importance. I will issue an apology later on. However, history has just been made. Ascent has just beaten every C-rank guild in the world!"

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