Down in the Lower Realm, on the human world, in the outer edges of the Crimson City, deep within a canyon filled with the highest quality dungeons in the Dark Continent, a Demon and Dragon stand before a containment case holding enough mana to bring this Labyrinth to a collapsing point.
A ping in the Demon's ear arrives not long after he sent his request, and it comes from Bri, the woman who gave him this task in the first place.
"The Rising Emperor has granted you permission to move on to the next stage. You will soon return to the Demonic Realm, but we need a few more days to take advantage of the power-leveling opportunity at such a high floored Labyrinth. So, consume the mana in small bursts and wait for another confirmation to push it over the edge to create the final floor."
Pluto smiles at these words and looks his True Cored Dragon in the eyes.
Thanks to the Rising Emperor before leaving, Pluto was granted an earth summoning skill—normally reserved for a small subset of 2nd Class monsters and an extremely small percentage of humans and other intelligent 3rd Class mana-based lifeforms.
Demons cannot naturally gain such a skill, and as a result of this, the Labyrinth Guardian has awakened quite the unique True Core skill that will certainly set him apart from any other.
Even considering the fact that many of the strongest demons, even some nobles, do not have their true cores compressed after completing their trials, it is very common for this stage of training to be conducted in the Demonic Realm.
Pluto does not come from any of the 5 Great Families' bloodlines, nor did he come from a powerful demonic world to give him a 3rd, 2nd, or 1st Class Bloodline Transformation.
He is a commoner of the Demonic Race. This fact puts him on edge, so despite the good news that he won't be a part of the 99.99% of Demons that die in their off-world Labyrinth Trials and never return, he is still unsure if he stacks up against the Demons of Royalty.
Living outside of the main Kingdom walls, even the red Cored Demonic Knights of the Vermillion family are worshiped like gods by the commoners.
"Do you really believe this will work...?" he asks his earth dragon.
The dark brown eyes of his soul-bound partner hold many memories behind them that only it can know. Any that are shared with its bonded partner will be burned away by the Fallen One's curse.
However, the dragon replies, understanding that to a common demon this all may seem too good to be true, but the fact that they are linked to the Rising Emperor's system means that this mission they've been given is far more important than he could ever know.
"It will work. Considering the Vermillion Family has just lost a Noble Demon and a strong squad from their Lower Realm Forces, they will be searching for as much fresh talent as they can. It is not common for a demon to return with a True Core already compressed; there is certainly an open slot you can fill."
In the Upper Realm, fractured memories of Andras Vermillion's time on the grand citadel, and even more blurred and fuzzy images from various sources of the Demonic Beasts I've killed, come to the surface of my mind.
However, the most important parts are missing.
I know the Citadel is massive, multiple times larger than the one I stand on now, but for some reason the large-scale imagery and exact location of this place is a blur in every memory I recall.
There are vague visions of time inside the core of the Citadel, where the family head stays. However, they are all inside, and I have no memories of how to reach this place. Many other strange corridors and massive rooms full of storage and secure meeting and training rooms are fuzzy in my mind too.
The strongest memories are all associated with the fighting events that even Zashen has mentioned, where the strongest demons, berserkers, and other powerful lords show off to be recruited for jobs.
Andras Participated in these events in the past, but only for fun or for show. It is more so an event for 2nd and 1st Class Lords holding many worlds, yet are spread far apart in the galaxy below.
It has been tradition to link the Realms, even before the Demons took over. Now, it is more commonly used for the training and testing grounds for new Demons and their experiments.
However, finding others to make alliances or carry out jobs in the Lower Realm is a common occurrence, even here in Ellipsia. So, despite my fuzzy memories, this is true in the Grand citadel still as well.
The disappointing part is that many memories of that Citadel are wiped, replaced by nothing but overwhelming fear and obedience toward a tall, long-horned demon.
For me to carry out my part of the plan, I know exactly where I need to go, but it is still a mystery how exactly to get there.
Andras Vermillion relied solely on the Citadel systems and pre-built ether commands in his custom avatar, so trying to reverse engineer any of the simple commands he activated in the past when entering the surveillance zone of the citadel is pointless.
I reply to Ava, as she's already deduced my thoughts.
"Yes, I need to scope out the Grand Citadel. Ember and the Warlords have a plan to secure the fortress, and all of my memories of the Mensa Citadel are still intact. Securing these will not be a problem."
"Then let's go. I haven't had a chance to use my instincts with this new avatar upgrade. If there is anything that needs to be found, that would normally be trapped away, I'll be able to find it."
I think of the danger of bringing Ava with me, as she does not have the power of a high noble sealed within her.
There is knowledge of one other Noble here in the Green Zone, other than the family head. But the number of mutations and experimental Nobles like the demonic cyclops that still exist in this vast Realm are unknown to me.
It's a risk, but the gaze Ava sends me is full of seriousness, calmness, and curiosity. She's committed to help and witnessed both my kills of Andras and the guardian. It's clear there are stronger beasts lurking out there, but she wants to come.
I accept this fact and am about to voice an entirely different concern, but Ember's voice echoes in both of our inner ears before I do.
"Do not worry about the tower. I'll guard your generals and make sure nothing goes wrong here. Both of you visiting the Grand Citadel is an excellent idea, just do not speak out loud so casually like you are here... The surveillance system is far more extensive and harder to fool."
My neck swivels, looking back in the direction of the High Orc Tower, half expecting Ember to be floating nearby, but he is truly on the other edge of the citadel and easily eavesdropped from that distance.
"Point taken..." I reply through our mental link, then turn to Ava and begin weaving a few more ether commands.
"If I can sense whatever that energy is coming off of you, the Vermillion Family Head can too..."
The adjustments I made to all of the Warlords' and Ava's avatars earlier are not as strong as the commands and pseudo-seals I'm creating now.
They're made of pure low-quality ether but rest below the surface layer of her skin. Just the same as her connection with the Ellipsia Citadel, she can deactivate it anytime.
Her thin smile grows to a wide one as she steps up from the ledge of the tower and looks down at her hands.
"You could really sense my instincts...?"
I nod, wondering why she's called that aura her instincts while looking back toward the Grand Citadel.
"Yes, just barely. Once I have a better idea of this surveillance system Ember is talking about, we'll see if we can safely undo this blocker. While I can sense them, I still have no idea how they work..."
Nor do I have any idea what the difference is between her strange aura or any of the other generals' forming aura paths of their own. I don't even know the difference between my own Noble Vibrations and these, but Ember's voice butts in again.
"I would come with you, but I must stay and tend to Zashen until he wakes. I can be your eyes and ears here while you're out of range."
A spectate window pops up, and I instantly accept it, showing me only a purely visual view of the sleeping berserker inside the High Orc Tower. Plain outlines of the entire citadel, like a barely rendered version of my ether senses, come through too.
I can fill in the gaps and see the citadel for what it really is, but no additional sensory data is shared. All I'm receiving is a very basic version of what Ember sees.
"Perfect." I reply back, not wanting to question why he doesn't give me full access to his senses right now when I have better things to worry about.
Then, I open up my ether panel and select one of the basic Citadel commands that I gained access to when I linked my fake identity as a 5th Class human Lord to this system.
I select a one-way [Fast Travel] command and add Ava, the 3rd Class Goblin Queen, to the ride.
A dense orb of translucent white light forms around us and begins to calculate the estimated distance and travel time to the Grand Citadel.