Chapter 33: | A King Story
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My eyes gleamed with delight as I watched the massive stone doors crumble under the sheer force of my tentacles.
Finally.
The greatest hurdle to my fate had fallen.
I flexed my limbs, feeling the raw strength coiled within them, and allowed a rare moment of reflection.
Once...
I had been nothing but a nameless squid, drifting through the shallow waters of Radiant Harbor.
A mere morsel struggling to survive.
Now?
I stood on the precipice of perfection.
With a deafening boom, my tentacles slammed into the rubble, scattering it like dust.
Damned humans, I muttered, voice dripping with venom.
How dare you sever my future...
Chase me to the edge of extinction...
Forcing me to evolve.
My body trembled, not with anger, but anticipation.
Just you wait.
Once my preparations are complete, your doom shall come.
I couldn't help but let out a booming laugh.
Muahahahaha!
...before pausing mid-cackle.
...Wait.
Aren't, I too old for this?
A sly chuckle slipped past my beak.
Fufufu.
Perhaps.
But old or not, the game is already set in motion.
I recalled the whark from earlier, a foolish, reckless creature.
Had it lived...
Given one more time...
It might've ascended into an Emperor.
A pity.
It had met me instead, the one who shall transcend the class of kings, the one who shall seize a unique race upon evolving once more.
An overlord.
No, a being greater than any crowned beast.
A ripple of laughter echoed through the ruined chamber as I crawled deeper into the dungeon.
The atmosphere shifted instantly.
Mana thickened.
Currents stirred.
Ahead stretched a vast plain of tangled seaweed, and in its midst, a presence that stirred my instincts.
How intriguing.
A King-Class.
It glared at me, spines bristling along its monstrous body.
I tilted my head, amused.
Not worthy of my full strength, but interesting nonetheless.
Perhaps devouring it would yield some useful adaptations?
Its armored scales looked promising...
Especially for certain biological fusions I had planned.
Without warning, it lunged at me, faster than most, but.
Still slower than that whark.
I clicked my beak in irritation, side-stepping the charge.
Haaah... I should've devoured that whark.
I mused aloud.
Such a waste.
Perhaps some valuable traits had been lost forever.
Summoning a translucent hologram, I scanned the system feed.
No notifications.
So it survived, despite being bisected and torn asunder?
Fufufu.
Fate was playful, it seemed.
Given its aggression, it was only a matter of time before it threw itself at me again.
How amusing.
How...
Truly tempting.
An absurd thought crossed my mind, and I let out a strangled snort.
Aaaaaah.
I wonder...
would mating with a whark even be possible?
Imagine the offspring we will make if it ascended into an Emperor.
I allowed myself a moment of fantasy, savoring the ridiculous notion.
No matter.
Cecilia, my child, was more than enough for now.
There would be time for another.
now it was time for my evolution.
The time I seized true power...
For the rise of something the world had never seen before.
My tentacles lashed out in a frenzy, and with a sickening crunch, the sound of splintered bone echoed through the chamber.
Ahhh...
Such a melody.
I sighed, savoring it like a sommelier savoring wine.
My eyes narrowed into thin slits as a low chuckle rumbled from my beak.
Fufufu.
A faint chime echoed through the air.
Hmph.
A notification.
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[You have slain the Overseer of this floor]
• [King Brackish Grouper 5★.]
[Flawless Victory achieved.]
[You have gained 10 levels.]
[Access to the next floor unlocked.]
---
Interesting.
It seemed the rumors were true.
That a dungeon didn't reward anything but levels based on performance.
Truly, how wonderful.
Fufufu.
Reaching Tier 10 was merely a matter of time.
Without hesitation, I wrapped my tentacles around the twitching remains of the Overseer, pulling it closer.
Bit by bit, I devoured its corpse, savoring each morsel.
Ahhh.
how gracious of you, Dungeon, to leave my meal untouched.
I said with a mocking bow.
As I fed, small spikes began sprouting along my tentacles.
It was crude and ugly but functional.
For now, they would suffice.
Minutes bled away as I searched the lush plains, my patience thinning.
Finally, tucked away in the depths, I found it, the path downward.
I sighed.
Really, Dungeon?
Would it kill you to simply teleport me?
Instead, it demanded I navigate around these massive plains, destroy doors, and cull pitiful creatures that yielded no worthwhile gain.
Another sigh escaped me, heavy with mock disdain.
Such games.
My gaze fell upon the heavy stone door looming below.
Again.
Haaaa.
Must I shatter another of your precious gates?
I twitched a tentacle, cracking the ground beneath me.
And again after that?
And again after that?
I let out a low, amused chuckle.
Fufufu.
Very well, Dungeon.
If this is the price of meeting your Grand Overseer, I shall indulge your little fetish."
My voice grew colder, laced with predatory glee.
When I finally stand before you, O Grand Overseer...
your body shall be broken.
Your flesh shall be mine.
The Grand Sovereign of the Lake of Dreadnought does not leave her meals unfinished.
I pressed a tentacle against the stone, feeling the vibrations thrumming within.
Fufufu.
I wonder, will you tremble in terror?
Will your last expression be one of despair?
No...
Perhaps terrified will do.
A wicked grin stretched across my face.
"Just entertain me like that whark."
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Days bled into each other, unnoticed, as my tentacles grappled, crushed, and shredded countless monsters throughout the dungeon.
I no longer bothered to count how many I'd devoured, nor how many mutations had etched themselves into my evolving flesh.
It had been so, so long since I'd tasted this kind of pleasure, the arousal of growth.
A shudder rippled through my body, and a low moan escaped me, thick with satisfaction.
Every breath, every pulse, every heartbeat was ecstasy.
At last, I had reached Tier 10.
At last.
Beyond the tenth floor, the world itself twisted, the endless plains of seagrass gave way to towering kelp forests, dense weeds, and twisted trunks.
Darkness and pressure filled the waters, heavy and alive.
Lightning-fast, my tentacles snapped again and again, striking with merciless rhythm.
My latest opponent, some hulking, armored spider, struggled to keep pace.
It was pathetic.
A fleeting gap opened near its hind legs.
Snap.
In an instant, my tentacles shredded through it, leaving gaping wounds.
The creature howled, a shrill, broken sound, as my newest mutation struck.
I glanced at the tip of my tentacle, where a spiraling, nightmarish maw gnashed and writhed.
I couldn't help but blush.
It was...
Beautiful.
This gift came from the Abyssal Worm, its grotesque spiral maw had once ripped through three of my limbs before I unleashed the Corrupted Lance, annihilating it in a burst of corrupted firepower.
I sighed wistfully.
Perhaps I should have savored that battle longer.
Perhaps...
Perhaps it might even have been worthy of me.
The thought made me flush hotter.
To mate with such a creature...
I caressed the sleek curve of my own form, shivering faintly.
How jealous I was of those fragile humans, with their ability to touch and mate so freely.
I, the Corrupted Matriarch Squid, Amara, could only dream for now.
But perhaps...
One day...
With evolution...
My gaze drifted lazily to the hovering hologram.
A wicked smirk curled my beak.
---
[You have slain the Overseer of this floor]
• [Queen Abyssal Matron Arachnid 5★.]
[Flawless Victory achieved.]
[You have gained 10 levels.]
[You have reached the maximum level and tier available for Stage 1.]
[Evolution is now possible.]
[Do you wish to evolve?]
[Yes] / [No]
[Access to the next floor unlocked.]
---
Fufufu.
The Dimensional Records truly adored me, it seemed.
I pondered for a moment as my tentacles began methodically devouring the defeated spider, savoring every fiber of its being.
A new organ, the spider's venomous gallbladder, appeared as an option to assimilate.
How tempting.
I knew now, my skill, the one that let me mimic the mutations of others, was far stronger than I thought.
It wasn't a bloodline.
It wasn't a unique skill, either.
But something told me it would grow stronger after this evolution.
Just like the abilities of Akarim Daylight, the fallen dragon of pride.
His strength grew after every battle.
Maybe mine will too.
And that truth...
Infuriated me.
Despite my beauty, despite my elegance, I was still weak.
So weak that mere worms, mere spiders, could wound me.
Could make me blush.
Could threaten me.
The world wasn't unfair.
I was simply not strong enough.
I could not, and would not, complain.
The weak were devoured by the strong.
That was the only truth worth living for.
And now...
Now, true strength lay before me.
Without hesitation, I chose:
Yes.
Them a violent jolt of pleasure wracked my body.
I gasped, my tentacles trembling uncontrollably, as a molten heat bloomed within me.
My limbs writhed, caressing my sleek flesh without thought, ahhh, each touch sending fresh waves crashing through my nerves.
It was intoxicating.
It felt...
Almost like what the humans described in their forbidden books.
The crushing, savage rhythm of a male ramming a female, overwhelmingly, erotic.
But I...
I had never mated.
I had been born perfect, a special breed needing no union to spawn new life.
Still, this pleasure...
It made my body shudder.
It made my core throb.
I moaned, helpless, as tremors built and built, shaking me to my very soul.
The surge of power inside me coiled tighter and tighter, hotter, brighter, until my vision blurred into blank whiteness.
Panting, drooling, my mind blanked.
I couldn't think.
I couldn't breathe.
I could only feel, feel the rush of evolution tearing through me, stretching me, remaking me into something greater.
Each pulse of power battered at my sanity, pushing me closer to the edge, closer to breaking.
Ahhh...
If it grew any stronger, I would shatter.
I would be broken.
And yet, how divine it would be to fall.
I clamped my tentacles around myself as pleasure exploded one final time, swallowing me whole in a sea of warmth, of ecstasy, of transcendence.
The world disappeared into blinding oblivion.
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