Pioneer of the Abyss - Book 3 - Chapter 14 (Patreon)

For those of you who are reading this on a website that is not Patreon, please stop. You're reading a pirated version. Instead, if you would be so kind, please click on the table of contents link below and go to my Patreon instead. Or even read it off of Royal Road, which is free.

Discord Invite

Table of Contents

Click the following link for the 1403 word chapter 14:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/13OyrGJpIzhglqJZXO2VJQXNHOALZgnM-bIoo_1hJed4/edit?usp=sharing

Or you can read the unformatted version below:

Aqua

The further I get from the temple, the higher the monsters’ levels reach. To the point that they reach the mid to late eight hundreds rather quickly.

Fortunately for me, I’ve got a newly improved army of abyssal servants to face them with. One I extracted from this very Special Dungeon.

So the higher level monsters aren’t quite as big of a problem as the chat likely assumed.

Especially since my level has been rising too.

Of course, the monsters are rising in level faster than I am. But that’s not too big of an issue. Considering that my stats grow faster than theirs with every level.

Thanks to that, I continue tearing my way through the monsters while keeping an eye on my level growth, which is slower than it was earlier. Likely due to these higher level monsters being further apart in the Special Dungeon. Leaving less of them for me to hunt and level off of.

[You have killed a level 811 Ilgarivoras. EXP has been substantially increased due to the level difference between the user and the monster. EXP has been granted accordingly.] x6

[You have killed a level 801 Blackwater Crustacean. EXP has been substantially increased due to the level difference between the user and the monster. EXP has been granted accordingly.] x3

[You have killed a level 842 Ripjaw Vlegare. EXP has been substantially increased due to the level difference between the user and the monster. EXP has been granted accordingly.] x5

…

[You have killed a level 861 Vilgean Blood. EXP has been substantially increased due to the level difference between the user and the monster. EXP has been granted accordingly.] x9

[You have killed a creature underwater. Apex Predator of the Depths has been activated, increasing your REGEN stat by one.] x101

[Congratulations! You have now reached level 789! As the current First Ranker of Dartric, your total free points have increased by three and your mana stat has increased by one hundred. Allocate the free points whenever you please.]

[Congratulations! You have now reached level 790! As the current First Ranker of Oceana, your total free points have increased by three, and your mana stat has increased by one hundred. Allocate the free points whenever you please.]

…

[Congratulations! You have now reached level 797! As the current First Ranker of Oceana, your total free points have increased by three and your mana stat has increased by one hundred. Allocate the free points whenever you please.]

…

[Congratulations! You have now reached level 800! As the current First Ranker of Oceana, your total free points have increased by three, and your mana stat has increased by one hundred. Allocate the free points whenever you please.]

Still. Progress is progress, and I quickly reach a nice level eight hundred.

By the time I leave this Special Dungeon, I should be a high enough level to easily fight against the strongest monsters on the planet Kana.

I smile at that thought, only to blink and frown when I arrive at a rather unexpected formation within the dungeon.

A vast whirlpool. One where all of the water is being drained downwards into a single hole, along with any monsters near it.

I narrow my eyes at the whirlpool, then at the large monsters being swept up in it.

Finally, I rush into the whirlpool myself while controlling the water around me to make sure it doesn’t just drag me around.

I make my way down to the hole to find a surprising sight on the other end of it.

Instead of some sort of cavern, I find a grand looking throne room. One filled with those armored monsters I found at the start of the Special Dungeon.

And the armored monsters are grabbing the large monsters sent in by the whirlpool, killing them, and turning them into dishes of a sort. Ones they’re placing in front of the grand throne, which has a large dining table next to it.

Overall, the sight is rather bizarre.

[Does that monster even need to cook food to eat…?]

[no idea]

[What is happening here?]

[The monster isn’t even eating, so why are they cooking so much?]

[More importantly, why are the monsters in the dungeon eating other monsters in the dungeon like they’re hunted prey cooked to perfection?]

[I don’t see any of them eating, do you?]

What’s even weirder is, as the chat says, none of the monsters are actually eating the other monsters. They’re just preparing them and placing them on the tables before the throne.

Even the monster wearing the fancy suit of armor on the throne isn’t eating them.

Its gaze just turns towards me as I float downwards into the throne room. With the other armored monsters joining suit.

After a brief pause, I identify the monsters in the throne room.

[Temple of the Deep Royal Sentinel – Level 857]

[Temple of the Deep Royal Sentinel – Level 854]

[Temple of the Deep Royal Sentinel – Level 861]

[Temple of the Deep Royal Sentinel – Level 858]

[Temple of the Deep Royal Sentinel – Level 858]

[Temple of the Deep High Sentinel – Level 908]

More sentinels? And a high sentinel too.

Come to think of it, temples are usually places of worship. And these dishes look kind of like offerings.

Not to the high sentinel on the throne, but probably for something else.

Whatever this temple worships.

Probably the Special Boss?

I slowly lower myself into the throne room on the opposite end as the high sentinel. Then I begin summoning numerous sentinels and monsters in the room in the form of abyssal servants.

A lot of the monsters above are too large to fit in here, but the other sentinels I’ve killed are easily small enough.

So I send them charging at the other sentinels in the throne room, all of whom finally react to my presence and charge. Leading to a battle between the two sides as I turn my gaze towards the high sentinel.

The high sentinel watches for a moment as the two sides clash before climbing up from his throne. Then he grabs the spear next to him and taps the butt of the spear on the ground. Making the ground begin to tremble in the throne room.

But the trembling doesn’t last long. Then the high sentinel suddenly rushes through the water at me.

I raise my trident to block the high sentinel’s spear as the other sentinels clash with my abyssal servants. Forming a scene that has the chat going wild with excitement.

The high sentinel and I repeatedly clash, sending shockwaves all throughout the throne room as my abyssal servants attack his sentinels. With the sentinels killing my abyssal servants over and over again, only for me to bring them back.

And our clash continues for several minutes while the sentinels’ numbers gradually decline.

At some point, I extract the copies of the sentinels my own abyssal servants slay before summoning them as abyssal servants of my own to fight against the high sentinel’s servants. But I find my fight against the high sentinel to be surprisingly difficult, considering its level.

Normally I wouldn’t struggle against something about a hundred levels above me. So it’s a little odd that he’s doing so well.

Then I finally notice something.

The food at the end of the throne room has a very faint trace of power to it, with what looks like a connection leading both to the ground and to the high sentinel.

Is it being empowered or something? Maybe by the Special Boss?

The battle within the throne room continues raging on for over half an hour before my abyssal servants finally finish off the other sentinels in the room. Leaving just me, my abyssal servants, and the high sentinel who barely takes damage from my direct attacks. At which point I change my target.

I have the abyssal servants charge the food offerings while I keep the high sentinel distracted.

And it looks like it’s the right call when the high sentinel suddenly turns towards the offerings in a panic, only for me to block him.

Or, at least, I assume it’s the right call.

Until my abyssal servants attack the offerings and find a massive tentacle with a mouth breaking through the ground to eat them and the damaged offerings.

I blink at the sight.

Uh, what?