Dungeon of Pride, Laplace

The number the adventurers did not even account for 5 per cent of the total numbers of the Andromedas. No matter how many times they swung their weapons and defeated these war machines, more and more would replace them.

In front of the absolute numbers, their individual strength meant nothing. They couldn't even make any waves. A few of the weakest teammates in their group had already died, their bodies torn apart by the Andromedas.

As time passed by they would only get weaker and the casualties on their side would increase. Additionally, and it was something that everybody had realised it by now, the golems showed no signs that they were being affected by the restriction that was placed on everyone when they arrived at the Sixth Trial.

That is to say, the level suppression of the falling snow had no effects on the Andromedas. They who were artificial beings created with a medium and possessed no soul, appear to be invulnerable in the sixth trial.

Everybody knew that, but no one wanted to acknowledge it. They also had the option of using the Transit Stones on them to escape from this place. Nevertheless, they did not choose so and continued to fight even if it meant dying at the hands of the golems.

The reason for their resilience was simple, it was Godwin. They had gone through thick and thin with him, they all felt that if it was him, he would get them out of this hellhole just like always.

Their optimism on Godwin bordered faith. After Raven's rallying cry, their spirits started to reignite once again.

However, their delight was short lived as when the next deafening noise resounded from the other side of the battlefield, they all saw the silhouette of a figure flying out from the dust at a great speed and crash into the ground, creating a long gorge in the process.

The figure that suffered a loss in that exchange was not the demon as they had expected, but the person who was their faith. The one that flew out was Godwin.

At that very moment, the expressions of the adventurers who were barely holding on against the assaults of the Andromedas, collapsed after watching that scene. Something improbable had actually occurred.

Godwin slowly picked himself up and looked ahead. Although he had suffered a loss in that exchange, it did not appear that he took much damage.

"What was that?" He narrowed his eyes recalling the power that pushed him back in that earlier exchange. However, before he could think any further, attacks came raining down on him, forcing him to defend and dodge.

"Hm? These are swords?" Godwin realised in the midst of defending. These sword shadows were not created through some technique or [Mana Armament] but were actual physical swords. Godwin tried to grab a sword; however, it pulsed with a light that repelled his hand.

After the swords failed to hit their target they obediently retreated back as if they had a mind of their own. Godwin looked in the direction of the retreating swords and realised that they were moving towards the demon who was slowly coming out of the crater.

At this moment, Simon carried a small trace of a smile at the corner of his lips and dragged a dilapidated burnt longsword in his hand. What's more, tens of hundreds of swords floated around him, like soldiers following their king. It gave him an awe-inspiring and overbearing look.

Looking at the demon surrounded by hundreds of swords, Godwin's eyes flickered for a moment. He could see that all of those swords weren't ordinary, each and every one of them were at least [C] tier.

There were many [B] tiers and even [A] in the midst. What was going on? Where did the demon get all these treasures from?

Godwin's first guess was that all these treasures were from the expedition team that had supposedly gone missing inside the dungeon. Immediately, he was overwhelmed by rage when he thought about how the demon killed all of those people.

Although Godwin was right, it was not entirely the case. Amongst the numerous swords floating around Simon, there were some that came from the adventurers of the expedition team, but the majority of the swords came from the daily draws from [Ga??????] and [Armoury].

As mentioned earlier, what Simon did not lack the most were treasures. Thanks to the long years of gacha draws from the [Ga??????] option, he had accumulated a mountain of items some of which were even burnt like oil to create higher grades weapons like the [A] tier and the [S] tier Burnt Sword.

Although Godwin's blood boiled with anger, he did not rush head first and calmly analysed the situation. He could tell that the demon's aura had changed somewhat now that he was holding that dilapidated sword.

The other floating swords aside, the one of the demon's hand gave him an intense feeling of heat and danger as if he would be burned into cinders the moment the sword so much as touched him.

'I don't know how many hits from that sword can my shield take, but one thing is certain. In terms of lethality, that sword is not inferior to my own sword which is made of Adamantine. I cannot allow that sword to graze me' Godwin noted while trying to come up with a strategy.

The sword on the hand of the demon wasn't the only thing he had to pay attention to, the other swords were also so. Although Godwin could also control the numerous swords with [Mana Armament], their numbers and degree of control wouldn't be as perfect as the one displayed by the demon right now.

Additionally, it would just burden his mind and mana consumption further. Even if one possessed a [Superior Mana Lines] and [Minimal Mana Consumption] this kind of performance was simply not practical.

It was like asking for one's mana to be depleted at an insane rate.

So how was the demon keeping it up? Godwin did not believe that the other party had an unlimited amount of mana, even if they were a demon noble they had to have a limit.

"Let's see how long you can keep this up".

The fight ensued once again. However, this time, Godwin was unable to suppress Simon as easily as before. With the presence of hundreds of swords that were protecting and acting like both offence and defence, it was difficult for Godwin to predict their movements even with his high tier [Intuition] skill.

He no longer had complete control over the fight and could only bide his time and wait for when the mana of the demon ran out. Unlike his opponent, Godwin had long reached the level 700 realm and had stepped into the world of the true powerhouses.

Those who reach this level, can absorb the mana from the surroundings to restore their expended mana and fight for a long period of time without worrying about their mana running out.

So in a way, it could be said that they had an endless amount of mana and the longer the fight dragged out, it would only be advantageous for them. The only thing he was worried about was his teammates.

Will they be able to hold on until he defeats the demon?

Simon's glanced at Godwin but he did not say anything. Their fight was intense with none of the parties bothering to speak anything, their sole focus was on their fight and they let their blades do the talking for them.

Simon had long seen through the other party's plan; however, instead of revealing it, he only smiled in contempt and continued to fight just like usual. Time passed by, numerous skills and magic were exchanged in split seconds.

Simon's and Godwin's battle had already become the centre of attention. Their fight was so fierce that the surging shockwaves from their collision was like waves of tsunamis sweeping everything away.

The battle between the adventurers and Andromedas was affected due to it. However, it was like a blessing for them who were about to be overwhelmed by the Andromedas.

The war machines also did not press them hard thus giving them the opportunity to witness the battle between the two leaders. Needless to say, it was a command given by Simon, he wanted these adventurers to witness the moment when their pillar of faith crumbles in front of them.

Just thinking about their terror stricken and desperation filled faces, was enough to send a current of exhilaration through Simon's body. He pressed on, fighting with all of his might.

All of his augmenting skills had already been activated and pushed to their extent except for [Ancestral Symbol Ignition]. Simon did not dare to use all of his trump cards at once. And besides, it did not seem like Godwin had revealed all of his cards yet, they were holding onto something.

Simon had to be careful. After a while, Godwin who was in the midst of deflecting numerous swords that came sweeping down on him from every angle, realised that something was wrong.

The mana of the demon did not show any trend of drastic drop. On the contrary, at the rate at which it was being expended, it did not seem like the other party would be running out of mana any time soon.

How was it possible?

Could it be that the other party was not using multiple skills to control all these swords? Then how was he able to use the various skills within each of the swords?