***

  There was no shockwave, no flash of light, no visible indication at all when ETG’s territory connected to 21 other dungeons almost simultaneously. The moment after, it felt like the world held its breath. The moment continued to stretch, as if a single sound would break it apart. Slowly, the territories of all those dungeons that were now connected started to act more violently. The peace was broken, and a battle not yet seen in history began.

  The first thing the attacking dungeons did when they finally figured out what was going on and how to act with their freedom of choice. Hordes of monsters started to break apart the rock that separated them from ETG on the command of their dungeons.

  They pushed their way into another dungeon’s territory by force, feeling themselves weakened by the opposing dungeon’s will, but they stayed mighty and started to steal the environmental structure of the dungeon they were attacking so they could survive.

  Powerful diamond-ranked monsters destroyed rock as easily as a child would while playing with sand. They had only advanced about 500 meters when they felt their own dungeons starting to push ETG’s territory back.

  Pushing the territory of another dungeon forcefully was incredibly difficult, but what helped was the presence of that dungeon’s monsters inside the one they were trying to conquer. That shouldn’t have mattered that much because the dungeons attacking ETG were diamond-ranked, and many of them were close to reaching floor 100. Yet they found their progress difficult.

  The reason they couldn’t push ETG’s territory as fast as they expected was due to multiple factors. Firstly, they were quite far away from their own dungeons. Even if diamond-ranked dungeons could extend their territory to extreme distances, they still had limitations, as the world they were on was truly vast.

  The other big reason was ETG’s skill My World. It made everything that happened inside his territory much harder to influence by anyone else. Lastly, there was the amount of mana ETG was using.

  While the 21 other dungeons combined had about twice the mana generation of ETG, when those dungeons figured out that number, they felt true fear. What they also felt was jealousy. Before, they had prepared to destroy this dungeon because of their masters’ orders. Now, they wanted to destroy ETG because they feared him—and because they wanted to take his secrets.

  The monsters that were still rushing forward felt their maker’s mood shift. They grew more bloodthirsty, and on occasion, even attacked other dungeon monsters, as dungeons working together wasn’t really something that could work fully. As those monsters reached ever closer to their first obstacle, the battle for territory between the dungeons started to affect more than just the immediate area.

  So much mana was being used that the cycle of mana in the world started to be affected. Used-up mana, spent from its power, began to fall towards the planet’s core after being cycled through it—extremely similar to how a dungeon worked. It flowed upwards, reinvigorating the world as it passed by.

  Usually, those currents moved so slowly that you could barely tell they were there, but now, because one particular location was using so much mana, the flow toward the core continued to speed up.

  The otherwise gentle currents all around the world started to change their flows, all of them speeding up ever so slightly, and over time, slowly changing directions to flow toward one location. The planet’s core was strong enough that it had no problem handling the influx and continued to do its main job of revitalizing mana itself.

  Stolen story; please report.

  ETG was struggling to hold those territories back, but he needed to. If he failed to hold them back, their entire defensive plan would fail, and there would be no way to stop the vanguard of the 21 dungeons.

  Every unessential expenditure of mana was stopped. He even stopped respawning monsters in his dungeon rooms, and even the quest necklaces went into emergency mode. Everything was used to keep those dungeons back.

  One thing ETG found himself not fully utilizing was his minds. The My World skill helped him a lot, and even if he were to get more mana, he was now holding them back, and if things didn’t change, he could hold them off indefinitely.

  Yet, he needed to reach diamond rank as fast as possible. So, he started to use his mana-dense materials that he had been making to hold mana like a battery would. With that stored-up mana, he began expanding his 74th floor, getting ever closer to reaching diamond.

  The monsters of the enemy dungeons had finally reached stone they could not easily destroy. They had reached the first barrier. The dungeon stone here was not uniform. So, unknown to the attacking monsters who had just started to destroy the wall preventing them from moving forward, none of them knew that specific locations would break much easier than others.

  As some of those locations were broken through and monsters flooded in, others stopped attacking their walls and simply went with the flow of monsters moving forward, ever closer to the core of the dungeon they were attacking.

  They found themselves in a large cavern, and to their delight, at the end of that cavern, there was the enemy holding defensive positions. Spells started to be thrown out by the monsters who could, while they continued to race towards their enemies. The monsters were all combinations of other creatures, put together by dungeon minds so alien to other life.

  Towering monsters with multiple limbs that didn’t seem quite natural. Horns in places you wouldn’t expect. And of course, defensive features from truly powerful creatures that would make landing a killing blow nearly impossible.

  That’s not to mention their inner power—monsters with skills designed specifically for their bodies, talents that were truly synergistic to the purpose of killing. And, of course, the power of diamond- and platinum-ranked souls coursed through their bodies, making them into titans of destruction.

  Even before the first spells reached the force of this dungeon they were attacking, spells and projectiles reached them. Some pierced their powerful bodies, even when they were reinforced with skills. Yet a large portion of those attacks did nothing more than mess with their senses and ability to see their enemy.

  They did not care. They felt a lot of strength from their opponents, but they had so much more, and they already knew where their enemies were. So, monsters did what monsters did best—they rushed forward like a flood of never-ending destruction.

  ETG’s forces were ready, and even before their opponents broke through, ETG ordered everyone to start attacking. They sensed so much power that when the other dungeon’s monsters broke through, some of them took a nervous step back.

  They were facing an army of a few thousand diamond ranks at the minimum—and most likely many more to come. And, of course, every free spot was taken up by platinum ranks in numbers so high it was hard to fathom.

  Quickly, their sight was blocked by their own attacks, and the true diamond ranks amongst their midst were the only ones to truly do any damage. They could sense the horde getting closer and closer, their own end drawing near.

  Then, those monsters rushed over a certain line. The powerful diamond ranks that could tear anything apart stumbled out of nowhere. Only 10 to 20 meters after they had passed that line, they fell down dead, their bodies quickly disappearing.

  "Keep attacking! We need to keep them disoriented so they rush in!"

  All heard that command through their communication crystals. Most of them here were ants, but many others weren’t. They all needed a common way to communicate, and of course, it helped keep their orders a secret from their enemies. Those enemies kept rushing in, not seeing what was happening to the front lines. This was the defense ETG was so proud of, something he had come up with by himself.

  The line these monsters were crossing—and quickly dying afterward—was the end of dungeon territory. No monster, not even diamond ranks, could survive outside dungeon's territory.

  Usually, dungeons don’t leave empty spaces inside their own territory that they didn’t control, but that’s just what ETG had done. There were thousands of those empty pockets, ready to kill any dungeon monster that didn’t belong to ETG, as they couldn’t do anything to anyone inside those pockets. Even their attacking spells fizzled out almost immediately after leaving dungeon territory.

  While the monster horde continued to rush in, their dungeons did immediately learn what was happening. However, as they were taught, and as they were reminded again just moments ago, their masters told them what they needed to do.

  So now, since the masters knew what was going on, they asked once again what they should do. This, of course, took some time, which ended so many diamond ranks' lives—each death increasing ETG’s chances of survival.