Dungeon of Pride, Laplace

Alarmend and Panicked, the Lightning draconic Serpent hurriedly shifted its eyes and only felt relieved when it felt the effects of whatever that thing was, dissipate.

Even though it was so far away and the pressure of the miasma that the finger released wasn't on him, the thing was so powerful that just by looking at it, it gave the illusion of being crushed under a mighty energy.

It wasn't only him that felt the abnormality of that thing by his lord, at this moment, whether it be beings who were the inhabitants of this dungeon or the intruders all felt a mighty pressure that bore down on all.

Simon who was flying in the air, made some peculiar hand gestures and circulated his mana in a way that evoked some peculiar runes to arrive on the giant grey finger suspended beside him.

The moment those runes arrived, they interlocked with each other and spread across the entire finger. Surprisingly enough, those exact same runes also appeared on the index finger of his right hand.

With the process completed, Simon very slowly lifted the index finger of his right hand and pointed it towards the barrage of incoming attacks dished out by the six humans.

Following his gesture, the huge greyish finger started moving. Although to the onlookers, it looked like the giant finger was moving at a very slow pace, in actuality it was moving at a speed so fast that their brains were unable to comprehend it.

It covered dozens of meters of space in a fraction of a second and tore the space around it wherever it went. A powerful miasma exuded out of it eroding away at the shattered space.

In just a few seconds, the finger was already in front of the onrushing storm of attacks dished put by the humans.

There was no need to even mention the difference in power level between the two. On one side was the combined power of the most powerful attacks of the seven swords whose level was around 480 and on the other, the finger of a being whose entire existence was an enigma, Ozymandias.

Ozymandias was so powerful that just with the simple movement of its hand, it was able to create a storm not to mention its powerful curse energy and the Armageddon like battle it had with Yela.

Even though what Simon was currently controlling, was just a finger from the hand that was culled by Yela, it was still something that belonged to a being that broke all concepts of the current power level.

Forget about these humans who had yet to breach level 500, even if it was someone above level 600, they would suffer a devastating defeat against it.

When two attacks of totally different calibre collided, there was no expected collision and a huge explosion thereafter. When the finger was just about to collide with the storm of magic and skills and when it seemed like an explosion was certain, everything got drowned out by the curse energy and thereafter shattered into tiny fragments from the force of the finger.

Like a stone that had shattered a mirror, the finger directly crushed everything in its path whether it be the space around it or the storm like combined attacks of the seven swords, nothing could stand in front of its might.

Naturally, the shock of seeing their attacks be crushed so one-sidedly had a deep impact on them however, before their mind could process what had actually transpired, the fierce backlash from having their attacks shattered like that and the curse energy that they were exposed to, made them fall on the ground and bleed from all of their orifices.

Their faces were pale, bodies continuously spasmed and they had a traumatised look on their face.

The finger stopped after destroying their attacks and retreated back towards Simon's side as per his will. The result of this battle had concluded with his overwhelming victory.

As he looked at the despair ridden face of the humans that tried to intrude on his home and take what belonged to him, Simon finally showed a content smile. With that last attack of his, he had finally and utterly broken any and all hopes harboured by these humans that tried to go against him.

He must admit that he very much liked the current expression these people were making, it gave him a sense of euphoria when he broke their hope and trampled them underneath.

Simon never thought that he would feel this good when oppressing others like that. Perhaps it was due to his demonic side that had brought these changes on him. Nevertheless, he did not care about it anymore since he had already embraced that side of himself.

Demon nobles are a race that acts true to their desires, in a way they can be said to be the very incarnation of desires. Having completed his desire to feast on their despair, Simon turned his focus towards the giant grey finger levitating beside him.

When he rejected the aid of his subordinates and decided to take all the humans on his own, he wasn't being conceited or anything. On the contrary, his confidence stemmed from his abilities and knowing what his current limit was.

That is why he decided to face the humans alone because he knew how powerful of a weapon sitting inside his inventory was.

"This technique imparted by Irene is quite profound" Simon muttered looking at his index finger which had the same runes as the giant grey finger.  As he looked at the mysterious runes, the image of Irene floated in his mind.

A few days ago near the pond of serenity, Simon had asked Irene's help with the gigantic finger that he had brought back from the trial. At that moment, she told him that it was not impossible to use the finger as a weapon.

"How much do you know about techniques?" Irene asked.

"Not much, but I do know that it's different from skills and magic and it's not something that can be displayed on a status," Simon said explaining whatever little knowledge he had about techniques.

Irene nodded her head, she was not amazed that he was unaware of it since Simon had already explained to her how his inherited memories were incomplete.

"Although you are not wrong in saying techniques are different from your skills and magic, you are not entirely right either. The reason why techniques are not shown in your status is because they are made up of your skills and magic which are already there in your status".

"A technique uses your magic and skills in a manner that creates a whole different effect than what was previously possible while using them individually. Obviously, the effect depends on the nature of the skills and magic and whether they are compatible and can be blended together".

"Techniques are a whole different branch in itself and require an equal amount of time and focus as in with the skills and magic" Irene clarified.

Simon pondered over her words for a while before asking a question "What about techniques that don't use your skills and magic?".

The Ancient Draconic Compel for example was a technique taught to him by Lucine. There was no need to even mention how mysterious and powerful the technique was which meant that the skills and magic needed to use it should be equally complex and powerful.

However, Simon neither had those skills or magic to create an effect capable of subjugating a member of the draconic race. This is why it raised a question in him when he heard her explanation.

Irene smiled in the face of his question and further explained. "Right, just like there are some techniques that need the usage of your skills and magic in a specific way to work, there are also techniques that work without you needing to have those specific skills and magic".

"For example, that [Ancient Draconic Compel] you used to subdue the Lightning Draconic Serpent. That kind of technique that can be passed down to others are called Legacy techniques and are more precious and powerful".

"A legacy technique is something that has been polished through the years until it reached the realm of perfection. The skills and magic to create that effect, get assimilated with the bloodline over time thus removing the requirements needed to cast the technique. Although one would need the bloodline of the being that created the legacy technique to cast such a technique".

"Usually, you wouldn't see the legacy technique being used unless you are facing a truly powerful enemy".

Simon nodded his head in understanding, he did receive a droplet of blood from Lucine when she passed him the technique.

"Are you saying that a technique is needed to use the finger?" Simon asked. There could only be one reason for Irene to initiate a conversation on technique right now and that was that they were relevant to using the finger.

"Right, if you use a technique called the [Dominator's Control], you should be able to use the finger as a weapon. [Dominator's Control] is a powerful technique that allows one to dominate and control things marked by them".

"Using this technique you can move things without having a need to touch them physically. Additionally, the technique is so powerful that its reach also extends to living beings. Though, you need to have a complete mastery over the technique to dominate something with a will of its own".

"Though the finger that you brought has its will separated from it, it still exudes a heavy curse energy that makes it impossible to dominate unless one can harness the curse energy".