Dungeon of Pride, Laplace

He dispersed the monster and observed the Fire demon Ape once again. This was the first time something like that had happened and Simon had no idea what led to this.

How and why was this being able to resist the control of a dungeon master which should have otherwise been impossible?

Was it because of the mutation? But that shouldn't be since all the other mutated ones no matter the race, had submitted to him. Then were the demonic ape race a special case or the one in front of him was just an abnormality?

There were so many questions floating up in his mind, no matter what he had to find the answer for all of them lest it became a major problem later.

Beckoning the [helpers] to stay behind, Simon strode forward and approached Alice and the Fire Demon Ape who were just until now locked in a battle.

"Master, what is your command?" Alice asked tilting her head.

She could see that her master was frowning for some reason looking at the monster in front of her. Thinking that it had displeased her master, she was just about to dispose it off when her master extended his hands and stopped her.

"Wait, I want to try out something on it. Step back and protect the helpers" saying that, her master casually waltzed towards the monster who had fully recovered from its injuries.

Alice did not know what her master was planning, even if she was an [Administrator] she was new to the dungeon and had yet to understand all of the functions of the [main menu]. She obeyed Simon's command and jumped back towards where the [Helpers] were.

"Miss Alice" the forest spring spirits bowed towards her. As she was a direct subordinate of their lord and someone higher in the hierarchy than them, it was only natural that they showed their respect.

Alice wasn't particularly bothered by their manner of address and casually greeted them. Her eyes that were glued on her master, never left him.

Seeing that he was extending his hands and mumbling something in front of the beast, she became even more confused. Suddenly, her eyes widen when she saw the fire demon ape raise its four arms and bring it down in an attempt to smash her master.

"Master watch out!!!"….

<strong>BOOOM…</strong> her voice came a second too late and was drowned out by the booming noise. The attack of the fire demon Ape was powerful enough to break the ground that was made of rocks and created a mini earthquake.

After smashing the one that was inducing a massive headache from it for some reason, the fire demon ape looked at the cloud of dust to affirm its victory. From the time, it had woken up from that agonising pain that threatened to burst its body apart, everything around it was shrouded in a colour of red and a will to destroy everything was splitting apart its head.

It knew nothing other than to obey that command and so it did. It first ate the corpses that were lying around it to satiate its hunger and then started rampaging all around.

It did not know how it knew that, but it was aware of the exit that would lead it up and out of this place. It obeyed its instincts and exited the cave where it was only to be obstructed by a tiny entity that was shrouded by a mist of red.

Everything around it was covered in that colour but the entity was just too glaring red. It blinked and rubbed its eyes still the red colour refused to fade away making it angry.

<strong> RAWRR…</strong> the will to rampage took over its mind and it started flinging its arm in an attempt to destroy whatever that thing was. However, like a slippery loach, that tiny thing always managed to avoid its attacks.

What was more annoying was that the other party's attack was hitting him while its own failed to connect.

<strong>BAM… BAM… BAM…</strong> something hit it on its ankles, knees and thighs making it fall down on the ground.

<strong>RAWRR…</strong> although the damage wasn't much, for some reason it felt more painful. As it was reeling in frustration and pain, another one of them came.

Just like the one it was fighting, that being was also shrouded by a glaring red colour in its eyes. However, for some reason the headache it was having intensified by a few proportions when that new being came.

"!@#$% %^^&*( %$^*$#?><:" it seemed like the new entrant was saying something. But to the fire demon ape it sounded nothing more than gibberish and only served to strengthen its headache and will to destroy even more.

<strong>RAWR…</strong> now that its wounds were healed, it brought its four arms and smashed them towards the being creating a cloud of dust in the process.

Whoosh… a black figure could be seen jumping out of the cloud of dust and standing on top of a boulder. The figure was none other than Simon and other than his clothes being a little dirty, he was completely unharmed.

"Master are you alright?" Alice asked from the distance.

Simon nodded his head, at this moment his eyes were looking at the fire demon ape with a peculiar look. The mutated monster was not only resisting him, the authority of the dungeon master, but also perceiving him as an enemy.

Simon did not know why it was acting as such? Earlier when he tried to communicate with the being thinking that his words might have an effect, it snapped and even attacked him.

Simon could see that for some reason the monster was clutching its head in pain as if it was having a severe headache. Its hostile behaviour indicated that it looked at them as its enemies.

He checked the [Archive] fuction of the main menu and confirmed that its name was registered inside the dungeon. Heck, it was not even providing any DP which could only mean that the dungeon perceived the monster as a part of it which made its current hostile behaviour towards him all the more confusing.

Simon had done many experiments with many monsters using the mutation crystals, but this was the first time that something like this has ever occurred.

'No, when I summoned the Demon Ape, they were very obedient, it was only after the mutation that it changed. Could it be because of a skill?' Simon thought internally. As he was thinking all that, the prompt from the dungeon finally came.

<strong>DING…</strong>

[An aberrant is born, Dungeon is unable to exert control over it].

Reading the prompt Simon was stunned. So it was not because of some glitch or bug in the [Main Menu] but because it was an Aberrant?

What was an aberrant in the first place, Simon wanted more information.

This was one of the times that he cursed his incomplete memories. Nonetheless, with this information from the dungeon, he at least understood that it was impossible to control this creature.

In that case, there was only one thing left to do. Simon jumped to the side and easily dodged the punch from the Fire Demon Ape which was currently going on a rampage.

From its aura, Simon reckoned that it was more powerful than the attacker zombie (Not buffed by Curse energy) he faced in the last horde of the tomb of depraved. And given its numerous strong skills and the size of the floor, if he let the being go wild, the [helpers] behind him will get caught in it.

Thus the sooner he takes care of it, the better.

"Alice, help me take it down" Simon said. It was not like he cannot take the fire demon ape down alone but for that, he would have to use the crimson blazing flame blade or resort to using his [Ancestral Symbol Ignition] which has just come off cooldown.

Simon was level 405 after the battle that occurred on the thirty-sixth floor and after killing those adventurers and taking their experience. The fire Demon Ape was level 423, it was not a gap that he couldn't cover.

Simon was confident that he could beat it but it would take some time and might even destroy the entire floor in the process. That is why, he asked the help of Alice whose abilities made her the bane of melee opponents.

"Of course, leave it to me master. I'll destroy it in one fell swoop" Alice answered patting her chest.

Delighted that her master needs her help, she was just about to go for a big one when…

"Wait… wait, if I let you do this alone, you would be the one to end up destroying the floor. Aim your attack up when I send this guy there" Simon said pointing up.

He then conjured dozens of flame and lightning spears that rained on the fire demon ape to keep it busy and rushed towards it.

<strong>BOOOM… BOOOM…</strong>

<strong>RAWR…</strong> Due to its giant frame or perhaps because it was still not used to its new abilities, the fire demon ape was unable to dodge the attacks as some of them even managed to pierce its weak spots.

Roaring in pain, it tried to regenerate its wounds using its [High-speed Regeneration] skill. But how could Simon give it the time to regenerate from its wounds? He rushed towards it and started pummelling the giant body of the fire demon ape with his bare fists.

In response, the mutated monster also used its four arms and [Demonic Strength] to send a wild flurry of attacks. However, Simon easily avoided these simple attacks from his opponent that had no depth.

In just a few seconds, Simon gained the edge over his opponent and activating the [Super Enhanced Strength] skill, he sent the fire demon ape into the air. His fist smashed squarely at the unguarded chest of the fire demon ape and sent it airborne.

"Now!" Simon shouted.