Dungeon of Pride, Laplace

The scar faced man thought. From the moment he met the tall man, he felt like he had seen his face somewhere. He racked his brain to recall the information and that's when it suddenly dawned onto him.

A month ago, his faction sent him a poster of a person… well, saying it was a person was wrong, after all, it was the human appearance of the being that wreaked havoc in the capital, Laplace.

The scar faced man silently took out a transmission conch from his hand and was just about to contact someone through it, when suddenly the tall man who was about to exit out, stopped in front of the entrance.

"Ah I forgot to say something," the latter said.

"W-what is it?" The scar faced man asked, hiding the conch behind him.

"Nothing much, it's just that you should try to maintain a poker face when you are thinking something since your face was a giveaway to all your thoughts".

As soon those words fell, the scar faced man stood up from his seat and was just about to dash out from a hidden exit when suddenly, a flame blade bringing along an infernal amount of heat, materialised who knows when and stabbed him right at his heart.

<strong>THUD…</strong> the scar faced man fell on the floor and vomited blood, his agonising scream did not echo out from the room as the place was soundproof to begin with. After a while, the tall man exited the room and silently disappeared among the masses.

Simon who got the information that he wanted, couldn't help but worry about his dungeon. It had been a long time since he left the dungeon and he was not starting to miss it a little. Of course, he was also missing the ones who were waiting for him there.

Thus, he swiftly exited the Black Town and travelled through the forest before arriving in front of a vast foliage of trees and stopping in his place.

Why was he stopping here when he must make haste? Well, the reason for that was simple, a group of people were closely following him from a distance. Their presence were so low that if Simon wasn't being particularly alert, he would have missed them entirely.

After stopping in a place, he conjured a small fireball in his hand and sent it flying towards a tree in a particular direction. Immediately, that tree got on fire but thanks to it, a couple of figures landed down from it.

"Hehh, it seems that you are quite skilful to have sensed us. but did you really think this level of magic can kill us?".

The person who said that, was a woman who was dressed in tight black leather grab meant to showcase some features of her body. Behind her, were a few more figures dressed in light leather garbs.

Simon glanced at the people who just showed themselves before shifting his gaze to their right and asking "Is the ones over there not going to show themself?".

"Hahaha, to have detected the presence of all of us, you are indeed not bad. Zena, there is no point in me continue hiding when he has already spotted us is there?" A man dressed as an assassin slowly manifested himself out of thin air as he addressed the woman in black leather garb.

"There are always some fool who think too highly of their powers and mess with those that they cannot dare to often. Did you really think you can just kill a member of our organisation and just leave?" the woman named Zena criticized him in a condescending tone.

Simon did not reply, his face was the very definition of calm. From this conversation, he at least knew that the other party wasn't aware of his identity and was only here to avenge the guy he had killed not so long ago.

The trinket of Grimlock, although a powerful artefact, also had its own shortcomings. To state a few, it could be said that it was an artefact that was heavily dependent on a steady supply of mana. If you are out of mana, it naturally means that the effect of the artefact would also dissipate.

Additionally, skills such as [Disruption] which induces the mana in the surroundings to become turbulent, can also dissipate the effect of the skill. He was painfully made aware of that when the Royal Court Magician, Vouves used the skill against him.

The other shortcomings of the artefact would be that once you have chosen your transformation, you cannot change it again. That is to say, Simon who had decided on his transformation as a human, cannot change it again.

In this forte, the trinket of Grimlock was a far cry against his Elixir of Metamorphosis. Each had its own shortcomings. Nevertheless, the trinket of Grimlock allowed him to fight even while under metamorphosis which made it a better choice to use than his elixir whose effects dissipated the moment he took damage or attacked.

So even if his face was known, as long as he hid it with a robe or hat, he would still be able to pass through some of the cities without a problem. But it seemed that he had underestimated the events that had happened in the capital, his face seemed to have become widespread everywhere.

Although he hates the chain of events that started because of it, Simon doesn't regret killing the information broker from before, after all, he was done with people who wanted to backstab him.

Seeing that the black robed man was unfazed even when outnumbered and surrounded Zena was a little alerted. She wasn't an amateur who had lived in the Black town all those years for nothing.

Usually, a person would only remain calm in this situation if they were a truly strong person or a madman whose overinflated ego got the better of him. When she conversed with the black robed man, he did not strike her as someone who would do something reckless unless he had confidence in his abilities.

'Which is it?' Zena pondered internally before looking towards the man who was recently hired as a hitman by their organisation, Levin.

"How about we work together and share the credits this time?" Zena asked. The assassin Levin thought over the proposal before nodding his head.

He did not know what his chances were against the black robed man, but from the aura that was naturally released by him, he could tell that the other party wasn't an easy opponent to pick.

"Alright" Levin said taking out his [C] rank shortsword buckled on his belt and rushing towards Simon. He was a level 389 [Night Killer] with a rare assassin class, it was only natural for him to believe that he could test the other party's skills without using his full power.

Seeing Levin rush towards the black robed man, Zena ordered her subordinates to provide backup and block all the escape routes of their opponent. However, before she could complete giving out orders, she heard a spurt sound and a dull noise of something falling on the ground.

When she shifted her gaze back towards the place where the black robed man was, her eyes widened to their limits and her body started shuddering nonstop.

The reason for it was because of the scene that lay in front of her. The Black robed man was still standing where he was without moving even a step. However, what was different about him was the head that he was holding in his hand.

The head belonged to none other than the now dead Levin whose body laid on the ground, blood spurting out from his neck.

'What happened?!' her brain couldn't comprehend what had happened in the few seconds she shifted her eyes from the front. She wanted somebody to tell her what exactly had happened but just like her, her subordinates too were frozen in fear.

Yes, the feeling that was spreading all across their body, straining their nerves and making their blood run cold, was none other than fear.

The balck robed man in front of them took out Levin, someone who had made a name for himself in the black town. His strength was beyond an ordinary adventurer and he would be recognised as an elite no matter which region or guild he wanted to join.

Even their faction leader was extremely careful when dealing with him. However, now that very person was lying on the ground dead. The shock these people got at that instant, could only be imagined.

Simon tossed the head in his hand before throwing it away as if it was some worthless rock. After that, his crimson eyes below his bamboo hat, set their sights on the people in front of him.

The moment he did, those people shuddered intensely. He might not have realised it, but after the mental and physical transformation he had gone through in these couple of months he spent inside the trial, his body now carried a ruthless blood thirst so dense and distressing that it was capable of demoralising a person just from getting exposed to it.

Feeling that vast demonic aura coming from that black robed person, Zena immediately realised which of the earlier two categories he belonged two.

This was a huge mistake, they had made a terrible mistake by coming after him. the moment she realised this, it was already too late. Before she knew it, at some unknown point in time dozens of flame spears and lighting spears had manifested in the air.

BOOOM… BOOOM…

Simon extended his index finger and pointed it down. Immediately, a rain of flames and lightning started dropping from the sky wreaking havoc in this part of the forest.

There was no need to even ask what happened to the pursuers that were following after him. After that attack from him, not even their ashes would be left behind.