....


    "This is not even funny anymore."


    "That shouldn''t be possible, Amonroth! And you know that just as much as the rest of us!"


    All the Monster Emperors roared out with ear-splitting voices, as they were all in agreement on the impossibility of such an event actuallying to pass.


    Even the one who wasughing at Zargoroth''s misfortune previously had stopped his rauciousughter.


    But regardless of their opinions on the subject, Amonroth quietened them all down again as he bellowed, "It doesn''t matter what you guys think about the fate of Zargoroth! Just take a look at his life crystal, and you will understand the truth of the matter!"


    Following his thunderous voice, he grabbed arge city-sized crystal from an unknown space before he threw the crystal onto the hard surface of the table.


    BANG!


    Itnded with a loud crash as it rolled around on the table before it abruptly stopped in its tracks.


    And that was when everybody got a good look at the dpidated and shattered crystalyer out in front of them.


    "..." "..." "..."


    A deafening silence once again enveloped the air around the Monster Emperor''s as they all entered a deep state of contemtion.


    None of them even felt like cracking up a joke anymore, as a threat to all their lives was practically on their doorsteps.


    Although Zargoroth was not the strongest of all the Monster Emperor''s, he was still in the Top 4, and that was all the information that was needed for one to infer that all those weaker than him had an almost 100% guarantee of dying if the human somehow made his way to their locations.


    And it was such a daunting thought that put nearly all of them on edge.


    Even the Monster Emperor''s, who were stronger than Zargoroth, became a little agitated after hearing that he had died to an unknown human.


    The silence that consumed the seemingly endless skies abovested for nearly half a minute before Amonroth, the oldest and strongest of them all, spoke up once more.


    "Although we know next to nothing about this human invader, we were able to receive a transmission from a few High-Rank Monster Kings on the Neenth Floor, and through their transmissions, we were able to discern the approximate strength of this human."


    All the attention of the various Monster Emperors was focused on Amonroth, as they were fully invested in the words that he''d say next.


    And they weren''t left waiting for long, as Amonroth said, "The human has a strength around the Late Stage of the Fourth Cataclysm of the Tribtion Transcendence Realm, and it should''ve just been due to Amonroth''s underestimation that the human was able to y him."


    His gruff voice reverberated out as it entered the ears of all the Monster Emperor''s.


    "Is that really the case?" They all asked.


    Amonroth looked at all their doubtful expressions before he replied, "Yes, that is what I could deduce from the events that happened on the lower floors."


    Following his words, every other Monster Emperor in the room seemed to rx a little, as the previous tension from just a second ago had all but disappeared.


    And just as they were all about to leave the country-sized table, a sudden voice sounded out from one of therger of the Monster Emperor''s.


    "Does that mean we shouldmence the next step of the rehoming n on the cosmic asteroids?" He asked.


    "..." Amonroth thought the matter over for a second before he replied, "Yes, go through with step two and have the ships ready to take off within the next century."


    The Monster Emperor, who spoke up, heard the answer given by Amonroth as he mulled over the subject for a second.


    And after a few nanoseconds passed, he said, "Alright, that should be usible. But what should I do if that humanes and interrupts our ns?"


    "You don''t need to worry about that, Cockoff; I''ll personally take care of that human if he''s brazen enough to show his head on the Twenty First Floor," Amonroth said with a killing intent oozing out of his gnarly jaws.


    "...." Cockoff looked at the vicious expression on his face and opted to leave the ''human matter'' to him if he was so confident in his sess.


    After all, there was no point fretting over something that someone stronger than him already had his mind set on taking care of.


    After discussing a few more important topics, the Monster Emperorss exchanged a few pleasantries before they parted ways.


    All of them were headed back to their respective Empires scattered across all corners of the Twenty First Floor.


    -


    The Twenty-First Floor of the Luminous Grounds.


    It was a ce that could be seen as many different things, and to most of themoner monsters on the First through Twentieth Floor, it practically didn''t exist.


    But, for those who were born into the hellscapend, it was home, but it was also a never-ending torture that only came to a close once one was dead.


    You see, the Twenty First Floor was not like all the other Steps that made up the staircase-like Luminous Grounds.


    Well, that was almost the truth...


    There were simrities between the Twentieth Floor and the Twenty First Floor. The main one being that thend was a crimson shade, just like all the steps that came before. And there were also ''Hybrids'' that wandered the Twenty First Floor as well.


    However, that was just about where the simrities ended.


    In fact, the Twenty First Floor couldn''t even be considered a ''Step'' of the Luminous Grounds. It was more like an entirely different dimension that was stacked on top of the Twentieth Floor, with the only way in and out being the special ''gates'' that were littered across the Twentieth Floor.


    And yet, the ''Dimension'' was also akin to an extension or culmination of all the Floors that came before.


    The Laws that made up the ce were the same; the air was still dreadful; the blood-colorednds were all epassing; and the ''Monster Hybrid Experiments'' were still there.