Dungeon of Pride, Laplace

Brandishing his long sword, Dale activated all of his skills and channelled the power into his swing. Immediately, the sword took on a crimson hue and berserk power along with a fierce wind engulfed his whole body.

"Haaaaaa" With a great shout, all the channelled power that Dale erupted with engulfed his long sword, making it appear even more menacing.

The sword which was previously two meters long, expanded to the size of tens of meters and was still getting bigger. Influenced by the berserk nature of his power, every inch of the blade became a scarlet red exploding with tremendous power.

Even the air surrounding the ten-meter sword made up of Dale's berserk energy seemed to distort a little and a terrifying piercing intent emitted out.

"Guh'¦ hehehe, demon I guess you didn't expect to be killed by the ones you looked down upon. Huff'¦ huff'¦ die as you regret in hell for underestimating me [Scarlet Berserk Sword]" Dale's entire body was dripping with sweat as he used the maximum output of power and activated all of his skills to dish out the attack he was most confident of.

He did not dare to look down on the enemy after seeing the condition Laris was in and hence used all of his power to deliver a sneak attack the moment he had a chance. He did not know what would happen if he confronted the enemy head-on; after all, the demon was able to bring down Laris, someone who Dale considered to be his equal.

Thus he quietly bided his time after he became conscious of his surroundings and looked for an opportune time to end the demon. And luck had favoured him, his patience was rewarded as the demon was suddenly agitated and showed a small opening.

Immediately grasping the opportunity, he leapt towards the demon from behind before activating all of his skills to dish out his most powerful attack the [Scarlet Berserk Sword].

The air vibrated as the ten-meter scarlet sword took form. Grasping onto the air, Dale made a motion of throwing the sword. Simultaneously, the huge sword in the air trembled a little before flying towards the unguarded Simon.

SHIIIIIINGGG...

A scarlet streak of light would remain behind wherever the sword travelled and a swishing sound of air being pierced would echo out. The huge sword instantly covered the distance between them in a split second and was already upon Simon.

The might behind the sword was so great that Simon even while under the influence of the pride fragment felt threatened by it. However, earlier during when he found the forest spring spirit orbs inside Laris' ring, his emotions overwhelmed him and he was no longer calm.

It was also at that moment that he showed a slight opening that was instantly grasped by Dale. Even if he wanted to get out of the trajectory of the scarlet sword, he was still a step to late. The huge sword was already a few meters away from him and the piercing intent emitted by it stuck onto his body and made him unable to move.

Knowing that he wouldn't be able to avoid the attack in time, Simon chose to take on the attack. Since he was under the influence of the pride fragment, all his other emotions were being overwhelmed and suppressed, even fear.

Activating all of his skills, he tried to endure through the attack with his body alone. He heard the laughter of the two humans surrounding him right before the sword was about to hit him.

However, the sword never made contact and was still suspending a few inches away from Simon. It was also at this moment that the laughter of the two humans stopped unnaturally as they gazed at the sword that was unmoving and was only a few inches away from taking the life of the demon.

"Wha-what is happening?... why isn't my sword moving forward?" Dale who was convinced that he had won after releasing his sneak attack became dumbfounded when he saw that the [Scarlet Berserk Sword] that he put all of his might into becoming motionless midway.

No matter how he tried to force the sword to push forward, it wouldn't budge from its place. It was as if the sword was stuck mid-air unable to move forwards or backwards.

"What'¦ are you doing Dale? Finish this demon!" Laris roared as he saw the attack stopping right before it claimed the life of the hateful demon. Since he wasn't the one who dished out the attack, he didn't understand that Dale didn't choose to stop the attack mid-way instead, the attack that contained all of his might became motionless on its own right before it struck Simon.

To Laris or maybe anyone watching, it would seem like Dale stopped the attack before it could hit the demon. But nobody was more surprised than the attacker himself, Dale didn't understand why his attack would stop and not listen to his commands anymore.

Unable to think of any reason, He pointed at Simon and angrily inquired. "What is going on'¦What did you do demon?".

Simon did not reply to him and instead kept on staring at the sky dazedly. His eye were focused on a particular direction and it was as if he did not even hear Dale shouting.

At this moment, in the direction where Simon was looking at, stood a woman of ethereal beauty. Her mesmerizing figure was so brilliant that even the sky was outshined by her splendour.

Standing amongst the white clouds, her figure was awe-inspiring and every curve of her body looked perfect to the extreme. Her jade white legs seemed to be carved with the greatest of care and appeared to be delicate and soft.

The woman that could ensnare all the attention of the world, was none other than Irene. The moment she appeared, the entire forest for miles became icy cold. Soon after, the ten-meter huge scarlet sword that was inches away from piercing Simon, had a layer of frost accumulated on it.

WHOOSH'¦

[t didn't take long for the entire sword to get encased in ice as a frosty might enveloped the whole surrounding. CRACK'¦ small crisscrossing cracks appeared on the frozen sword before the entire thing shattered into tiny icy fragments. It didn't matter whether the scarlet sword contained all of Dale's power, it was frozen and shattered in an instant.

The ten-meter long sword burst into icy fragments and a bone piercing chill spread everywhere. The atmosphere became so cold that fog started appearing in the surrounding area.

"Hmph'¦ as I thought you are too prone to let your guard down," Irene said, her tone was cold as she snorted and shifted her beautiful crystal eyes from Simon.

Though her voice was indifferent and cold, Simon could still feel her concern through her voice. He smiled and faced Laris who was absolutely gobsmacked by the turn of events that he forgot to even close his open mouth that had no teeth.

Simon had to admit that the power contained within the scarlet sword was absolutely frightening and even with his physique, he might have been badly wounded and would have rendered unable to battle.

Fortunately, even before the attack could come a few inches near him, it was frozen solid by Irene.

Before coming here, Simon had asked Irene to stay inside the dungeon and protect the forest spring spirit children. But it seems that she did not listen to his request as she was too concerned about him. And she was right, Simon was this close to being defeated.

Now that Irene was here, Simon could focus on Laris without having to worry about being sneak attacked again.

Dale who was inwardly depressed that his attack had failed, gazed blankly at the frozen ice splinter that was scattered everywhere on the ground. He finally knew why his attack wasn't proceeding any further and was stuck in its place.

The Scarlet Berserk Sword was wrapped by a powerful energy until it was unable to move forward or backwards before being frozen till its core. The sword that he was using for so many years, was instantly smashed apart like a fragile piece of glass.

It was no ordinary sword, the material it was made of was Blackgold a material much stronger than Whitesilver and was even comparable to a [C] tier weapon.