Dungeon of Pride, Laplace

Looking up towards the sky where the mysterious voice came from, Dale's heart that was aching from the loss stopped beating at that very moment.

His eyes were glued to the person standing amidst the clouds and his entire mind became blank. He couldn't help but wonder how can there be such a beautiful woman in this world as great waves were tumbling inside his mind.

His mind only came back to himself when the exquisite features of the woman were hidden behind the clouds and he finally snapped back to reality.

A cold chill ran down his spine as he realised the immense might of the woman to have frozen his most powerful attack in a fraction of a second. Droplets of sweat rolled down his body and instantly became frozen beads after they dropped into the ground.

The brain cells in his head churned and he recalled the frozen village of forest spring spirits that was completely covered in a thick layer of ice and he couldn't help but tremble as realisation struck him.

It was all done by this woman. Recalling how this woman proudly standing above the clouds was able to completely freeze his powers without even him realising, he finally started to cower.

It finally dawned to him, it wasn't like those adventurers back at the village allowed the enemy to complete their advanced magic but were actually unable to stop the magic since it was cast in an instant.

Dale hurriedly tried to invoke the energy inside him so as to prevent repeating the same incident again, only to realise that he couldn't channel it anymore.

"T-this can't be'¦ how is this possible?" he was making a disbelieving face and was unable to accept the reality. No matter how much he tried to channel his energy, it remained still and refused to budge even a little.

It was as if the very mystical energy inside him was frozen. There was no way one can freeze other's energy if the gap between them wasn't big enough. One had to be in a completely different realm than their opponent to make them unable to even utilise the tiny bit of their powers.

Dale started laughing hysterically as such thoughts went through his mind "Hehehahahaha". He looked back all around the devastated forest since a while ago he wasn't able to hear the shouts of his subordinates and even their presence had disappeared altogether.

Only a desolate land destroyed by the aftermath of their battle remained behind. Dropping onto his knees, Dale made an anguished face, his irises were enlarged and trembling as he thought about what went wrong.

What kind of enemy were they fighting?... how can they be so powerful to the point where he felt like an ant before them. He couldn't help but laugh at their naïve thinking before coming to this battleground.

He must have been braindead to have offended an enemy of this level, even funny was that he and Laris deluded about defeating them. The enemy wasn't someone they could have afforded to offend and were now paying the price.

If he had known that the enemy was this strong he wouldn't have dared to provoke them. After all, who wanted to stir a hornet's nest. Thinking back, if only he didn't get swayed by the rewards Laris promised him, none of this would have ever happened.

That right! It was Laris's fault for dragging him together into this deep marsh. If only he didn't allow the Forest Spring Spirits to run away, the situation wouldn't have come to this. Thinking about the guild, Dale couldn't help but get infuriated by the wrong information they provided him.

What newly emerged dungeon? what perfect scapegoat? Everything that the guild told him was bullshit. They said that the enemy was weak'¦ snort, then how come there are such strong people amongst them? The demon before them who could defeat Laris one on one was one thing, but even those around it were abnormally strong.

Dale gazed at the distant battlefield that was razed to the ground by the flames and a silhouette of a demonic warhorse radiating an immense power that even suffocated him came into view.

Not to mention there was still her, the woman capable of freezing the mana within him showcasing the herculean gap in strength between them. He knew that the battle was already lost but he still felt unresigned to die here.

Dale was a person who sought power and authority from the moment he became an adventurer. He joined the Seven Swords guild only after he was defeated by the guild master Morgress in one of his adventures and was offered to join the guild. In return, he was promised power and authority to rule over thousands of men.

It was only because Dale saw prospects in the guild that he joined it. However, who could have guessed that after many years, the guild would push him onto a deep, dark well from which he could never return?

The guild master of the Seven Swords guild was powerful, but even he was unable to lock Dale's power and make him unable to even use a tiny bit of it.

This goes to show that the woman was much stronger than even their guild master. Then doesn't this mean that they have made an enemy that their entire guild couldn't dare to offend? The more he thought, the more depressed Dale became in his heart, the disparity in their strength was just too great.

Crestfallen, Dale looked on with daze as a small azure lotus silently bloomed in front of him. The lotus was mesmerising to look and the azure halo around it contained mysterious yet cold energy that seemed to relax his strained mind.

He let go of all his worries and felt like a great burden had been lifted off of him before a cold breeze soothing to the touch blew past before everything became serene.

CRACK'¦ CRACK'¦ frost gathered all over Dale's body and in a split second, he was frozen till the core. Extreme frost energy lingered around the surrounding before disappearing mysteriously leaving behind a frozen statue that was extremely lifelike.

Up amidst the clouds, Irene retracted her outstretched hand, her skin was pearly white and her fingers shapely. Even until the moment she froze Dale, she never spared a glance towards his direction.

Only occasionally did she look towards the place where Simon was. Although nobody present was able to detect her, she was present here from the very start of the battle and had seen how Simon struggled to achieve his victory.

Looking at his wound covered body, Irene did not know why but she felt a pang of pain in her heart. Her temperament was usually indifferent and her emotions were like a frozen lake unable to make any ripple. However, in the past few weeks, Simon made her look at him in a new light.

These past events made her indifferent self unable to remain impassive and even more so when dealing with Simon. Unknowingly, Simon had made his place in her heart regardless of how small. Although Irene herself was unaware of the changes in her heart.

"Hmph, truly a man that wouldn't let others be at ease" as she said that, she shifted her gaze away from Simon and turned towards the direction of the dungeon and silently left.

Simon faced the crawling Laris who was struggling to get away from this place. His eyes did not contain any pity and only a trace of cold killing intent flashed across them.

Silently, Simon walked towards Laris who was trying to claw his way out of here. A huge pressure bore down on Laris as his whole body shuddered due to intense fear. Fear of losing his life in this goddamn forest where nobody could even find his corpse.

Only a few moments ago, his eyes lighted up in delight when he saw the attack from Dale about to take the life of this hateful demon. But his hopes were shattered like a fragile piece of glass when he saw Dale's attack being frozen.

Dale who was his last hope in defeating the demon was now dead, frozen just like his attack. "Curses'¦ all of them are useless, every single one of them" Laris ground his toothless jaws and spat in anger.

He was left all alone on the battlefield, even the subordinates he brought along with him were all dead unable to defeat a single warhorse. Rage had already clouded his mind as he repeatedly cursed his incompetent subordinates