Dungeon Corpse Stacker: I Absorb Everything to Become Ominous Monarch
Chapter 29: The Breach of the Gilded Fortress

Chapter 29: Chapter 29: The Breach of the Gilded Fortress

The subterranean vault chamber beneath Sector 2’s financial district was built to survive a nuclear strike.

Reinforced by six-foot-thick adamantine walls and anchored directly to the tectonic bedrock, the Gilded Vault Bank held ninety percent of Guild Apex’s illegal liquid wealth—billions in unrefined dragon cores, high-grade mana stones, and gold bullion stolen from suppressed minor guilds.

Protecting the central vault door was the Aegis Wall: a ten-foot-tall, glowing golden hexagonal barrier powered by three subterranean Class-S mana generators.

Standing behind the shimmering gold barrier were three high-ranking Association Directors sent directly from the Capital: Director Aris (Defense Specialist), Director Kross (Elemental Sorcerer), and Director Vane (Tactical Vanguard).

Behind them stood fifty elite S-Rank and A-Rank Association Enforcement Guards, clad in heavy white-and-gold composite armor, holding plasmahalberds that hummed with dangerously high voltage.

"Keep the mana generators at maximum output!" Director Aris screamed, sweat pouring down his pale face, soaking his high-collared Association uniform. "The Aegis Wall can withstand ten S-Rank spells simultaneously! No rogue Hunter can breach this barrier from the outside!"

"He isn’t just a rogue Hunter, Aris!" Director Kross, the elderly elemental sorcerer, shrieked, his hands trembling as he channeled blue lightning into his dragon-wood staff. "He slaughtered Director Vance and two S-Rank Executioners in Sector 3 in less than five minutes! The surveillance feeds showed him catching sixty tons with his bare hand!"

Director Vane, the tactical vanguard, drew his two-handed adamantine broadsword, his jaw clenched tight. "Maintain formation! If the barrier holds, the Capital military strike team will arrive in twenty minutes! We just need to hold the line!"

RUMBLE-RUMBLE-RUMBLE!

The entire subterranean cavern shook violently.

The six-foot-thick adamantine ceiling above the vault entrance split down the middle in a three-foot fissure. Heavy dust and pulverized stone rained down onto the polished marble floor.

BOOM!

The four-ton titanium reinforced vault doors were blown completely off their brass hinges, flying fifty yards across the vault floor like weightless cardboard, crashing into the stone pillars behind the guards.

Out from the settling dust and sulfur smoke walked Renan.

He walked alone, his midnight-black combat coat swaying gently against his boots. His posture was relaxed, his hands resting casually inside his coat pockets. Yet the passive radiance of his [3,050 Strength] and [4,880 Mana] made the light inside the vault dim, replaced by a suffocating, dark violet haze.

Behind him, emerging seamlessly from his shadow plane, stood Shadow General Ignis, Shadow Titan Gundyr, and Shadow Commanders Vance and Kael.

Renan stopped ten paces from the ten-foot golden Aegis Wall. His dark purple pupils glowed through the dust with an ice-cold, predatory radiance.

"Director Aris, Director Kross, Director Vane," Renan said softly. His quiet voice carried across the vast vault, vibrating straight into the eardrums of every soldier present. "Guild Master Richard locked his money behind three old men and a shiny piece of glass."

Director Aris sneered through the glowing gold barrier, flaring his S-Rank defensive mana. "Arrogant trash! This is the Aegis Wall! It is anchored to three Class-S mana generators! Your shadow tricks cannot scratch this gold!"

Renan slowly pulled his right hand from his coat pocket, making a simple, casual fist in the open air.

[Current Physical Attributes:] [Strength: 3,050 / Vitality: 3,310 / Mana: 4,880]

Dark violet lightning mixed with Marcus’s extracted blood-flame mana surged around Renan’s knuckles, warping the air around his arm into a visible, pitch-black gravitational sphere.

"A wall built on stolen gold," Renan whispered, "is just a monument waiting to shatter."

Renan threw a simple, straight punch into the center of the ten-foot golden barrier.

BOOM-CRASH!

The atmospheric pressure inside the subterranean chamber collapsed into a vacuum.

The straight punch delivered over seventy tons of concentrated kinetic force directly into the golden barrier.

The Class-S Aegis Wall didn’t just crack—it exploded into millions of golden glass shards that rained down over the marble floor like a shower of sharp metallic hail. The shockwave passed through the barrier, overloading the three subterranean Class-S mana generators, causing them to detonate in a series of muffled underground explosions that cut off all auxiliary power to the facility.

"MY BARRIER!" Director Aris shrieked, spatting out a fountain of dark blood as the mana backfire tore through his internal circuits, sending him crashing onto his knees.

Director Kross and Director Vane stumbled backward, their eyes wide with unadulterated, primal horror.

"His physical punch... destroyed a Class-S barrier in one hit?!" Vane stammered, his fingers slipping from the hilt of his broadsword. "He didn’t even use a weapon...!"

Renan stepped over the floating gold dust, walking into the center of the vault.

Fifty Association Enforcement Guards panicked, raising their plasma halberds and firing a barrage of fifty high-voltage energy bolts straight at Renan’s chest.

Renan didn’t dodge. He didn’t raise a shield.

CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG!

All fifty high-voltage plasma bolts struck Renan’s bare chest and arms—and dissipated instantly into harmless blue smoke against his [Sovereign’s Armor (Rank-EX)]. Not a single singe mark appeared on his black coat.

[Physical Check:] [Renan Vitality: 3,310] [Plasma Halberd Output: 320] [Result: Absolute Ineffectiveness.]

"My turn," Renan whispered.

He raised both palms into the open air above his head.

[SKILL ACTIVATED: MONARCH’S DOMAIN (RANK-S)]

BOOM!

A hundred-foot-wide dome of dark violet shadow energy expanded across the vault floor, pinning all fifty elite guards and the three directors onto the marble floor under a ten-ton gravitational press.

CRACK-SHATTER-THUD!

The fifty elite guards fell onto their knees simultaneously, their adamantine armor creaking under the sudden, immense gravitational weight.

"Ignis, Gundyr, Vance, Kael," Renan commanded, his voice cold and echoing through the vault.

"Command us, my Sovereign!" the four Shadow Leaders boomed in unison, bowing their heads.

"Clear the guards," Renan ordered coldly. "Leave the three directors to me."

FWHOOSH!

The four Shadow Leaders lunged forward like black lightning.

Shadow General Ignis swung its eight-foot broadsword in a massive arc, slicing through ten armored guards in a single strike. Shadow Titan Gundyr slammed its adamantine fists into the floorboards, crushing five guards under a shockwave of kinetic force. Vance and Kael blurred through the backlines, their dark blades executing guard after guard with terrifying, surgical precision.

In less than two minutes, all fifty elite Association guards were laid broken and dying across the bloody marble floor.

Renan walked toward the three pinned Directors—Aris, Kross, and Vane—who thrashed helpless under the gravitational domain inside the central crater.

Director Kross, the elderly elemental sorcerer, whimpered, raising his hands in desperate plea. "Renan... please! I have a vault filled with Class-S elemental staffs in the Capital... I can transfer ownership to you... just spare my life!"

Renan stood over them, dark violet lightning beginning to crackle around his fingertips as he opened his system extraction menu.

"Your staffs mean nothing to me, Kross," Renan said softly, looking down at the three directors with eyes devoid of a single grain of warmth. "Your attributes, however, will serve my vanguard well."

Renan extended his palms over the three directors and the fifty dying enforcement guards.

DING!

A crimson system panel flared over the entire blood-stained vault:

[Skill Activated: Shadow Puppet Creation (Rank-S)] [Targeting: 3 Association Directors & 50 Elite Enforcement Guards] [Initiating Forced Mass Extraction & Shadow Conversion...]

THRUSSH-THRUSSH-THRUSSH!

Fifty-three thick, pitch-black shadow tendrils erupted simultaneously from Renan’s palms, impaling the shadows beneath the dying men.

"GAAAAAAAH!"

A synchronized shriek of absolute agony tore through the subterranean vault, echoing out into the cavern corridors of Sector 2.

The extraction was swift and absolute. The living mana, physical strength, and combat techniques of thirty elite A-Rank guards, twenty S-Rank officers, and the three Directors were violently drained into Renan’s core. Their bodies shriveled into thin, leathery husks before crumbling into piles of gray ash on the marble floor.

DING! DING! DING! DING!

[Forced Mass Extraction Successful!] [Target: 3 Directors & 50 Elite Guards Extracted!] [Attributes Extracted Summary:]

Strength +420

Agility +380

Vitality +450

Mana +610

BOOM!

Fifty-three massive dark pillars of smoke erupted simultaneously from the ash piles on the floor, forging fifty-three tall Shadow Knights clad in obsidian adamantine plate armor with glowing purple visors.

Among them stood three distinct Shadow Commanders—the dark silhouettes of Directors Aris, Kross, and Vane—holding dark obsidian shields, staffs, and broadswords.

They turned around in perfect, terrifying military formation, dropping onto one knee before Renan.

[MILESTONE ACHIEVED: SHADOW ARMY EXPANSION COMPLETE!] [Current Shadow Army Capacity: 50 / 50 Shadow Knights (Fully Maxed Out at Tier-2)] [Shadow Leaders: 1 General (Ignis), 1 Titan (Gundyr), 5 Commanders (Vance, Kael, Aris, Kross, Vane)]

Renan flexed his fingers as the massive influx of attributes settled into his circulatory system.

[UPDATED STATUS PROFILE]

Name: Renan

Class: Ominous Monarch (Tier-2 Sovereign - Peak)

Strength: 3,470

Agility: 3,280

Vitality: 3,760

Mana: 5,490

Renan walked past the fifty-three kneeling shadow soldiers into the inner vault chamber of the Gilded Vault Bank.

Inside were thousands of iron chests filled with glowing Class-S dragon cores, high-grade mana stones, and property deeds worth billions of credits.

Boss Victor stepped into the vault from the shattered doorway, holding his data slate with shaking hands, his eyes wide as saucers as he looked at the kneeling army of fifty Shadow Knights and the mountain of gold.

"L-Lord Renan!" Victor stammered, bowing deeply. "The Gilded Vault Bank is completely ours! Guild Apex’s financial reserves have been wiped out!"

Renan picked up a glowing Class-S dragon core from a chest, letting the blue mana hum in his palm.

"Convert every single resource in this bank into high-grade monster carcasses, Victor," Renan commanded, his voice cold, calm, and echoing through the vault. "Store them in the Sector 1 master vault. We are moving to the final phase."

Victor looked up, his voice trembling with excitement. "The final phase...?"

Renan turned his head slightly, his dark purple pupils burning with an unholy radiance through the dim room.

"It is time to march on Sector 1," Renan whispered.

"It is time to execute Guild Master Richard."

In the fifty-story penthouse of Guild Apex Headquarters in Sector 1, Guild Master Richard slammed his golden broadsword onto his mahogany desk as his personal terminal flashed red: "The Gilded Vault has fallen. Renan is coming for your head."