Dungeon of Pride, Laplace

Defeating them ones did not mean that it would be easier the next time, especially when his strength was slowly going down and their numbers up. He forced his mind to calm down and used his [High Speed thought Processing] skill to think of a way out.

The enemy for some reason, can quickly detect his presence and surround him from all directions. This uncanny ability of their resembled the High orcs of the ghastly winding forest. However, unlike them, these Red Killer Orcas were clearly using something else.

'Is it because of the [Enhanced Sensitivity] or does it have something to do with the natural trait of theirs' Simon thought, it was not like he couldn't take a guess. After the last time he was pincered by four of them, he used the item Ice Phoenix's sigh to cover up his presence though.

But it seemed that the enemies were using something else to locate his position. Suddenly, he looked at his feet and that was when it struck him.

The ground, more accurately the glacier he was standing on can also be considered a water body that is floating on the surface of the sea. So if he walked on top of the glacier which was connected to the sea, there was bound to be some vibrations and if the orcas were using this, no wonder they could locate him so easily.

Simon made an ugly face at that realisation, though it was just an assumption, he knew this was much closer to the truth.  Making his decision, he hurriedly unfurled his wings to disengage with them and quickly opened up a distance.

If he were to believe his senses, his stats were already lowered by more than one fifth. Simon didn't want to tangle with them here, leaving aside whether he could win them with their numbers, it would severely deplete the limited amount of time he had before he ran out of strength.

Like a black streak cutting through a white dome, Simon flew using his full speed before coming to a stop. The flight skill had increased the rate of snowflakes accumulating on his body and thus shortening the amount of time left before he ran out of strength.

However, he did not directly drop onto the glacier below and kept his flight skill activate just enough so that he levitated a few centimetres above the ground. Just like he expected, this time the Red Killer Orcas did not come chasing after him because they couldn't feel the vibration caused by his footsteps.

The method that he had discovered, was a temporary one nonetheless, it gave him sufficient time to search for the mechanism.

Time flowed by endlessly and before long twelve ours had passed. By now Simon could feel that his power had gone down by more than half and he could feel that his stats was back to when he was still a Demon Baron.

Unable to support his flight, he landed on the ground and took hurried breaths. Other than depleting their strength, this endless colourless world also played with their mind and exhausted their mental fortitude.

Stranded in this place and unable to find a way out, you are bound to get a little paranoid and impatient. During this time, he had searched for the mechanism everywhere; however, he got nothing to show up for it.

Forget about finding any peculiarity, there was nothing out of place in this goddamn place. If not for the fact that he could still somewhat contact the other with the transmission conch, he would have thought that he was the only one alive here.

He was not worried about the boy since he knew he had his sword skills other than his flame magic to rely on. Even though that was the case, the effect of this place was the same for all of them and by now he should also be running on fumes.

Never in his wildest imagination would Simon have thought that in his pursuit of knowing the truth behind what the shattered dungeon cores were being used for, he would end up on this island.

Regret was a bitter pill to swallow, but Simon was already used to the absurdities of life. Although he was cursing out a lot, he was still keeping a rational mind.

"There is bound to be a mechanism that is creating this kind of effect. You only need to find and destroy that thing to get out of here" these were the words that Lucine had said before they all had parted their ways in hopes of covering a larger area.

There was no reason for her to lie to them, therefore it could only mean that even after searching for this long, they were overlooking something. Just as Simon was about to delve deeper into his thoughts, his face suddenly darkened.

That was because he could feel multiple presences hurriedly approaching him from below. There was no need to even ask who these presences were as the red Killer orcas swiftly surfaced from the sea boring a hole through the glacier.

"Jeez, can't you guys take a break or something?" Simon commented. From his looks it didn't seem like he was fazed by their appearance; however, internally he knew that the current him was not their opponent.

The only rational choice here was to run away again but Simon was tired of that. No matter how he saw it, even if he ran away now, he would only be delaying the inevitable.

He was gloomy though it did not mean that he had given up all hopes, even now he was thinking about how to clear this absurd trial. If there was one area that he didn't search, it would be that huge snowstorm brewing at the centre of this white world.

Simon had been instinctively avoiding that place because of the colossal amounts of berserk energy that it was releasing. The energy was so powerful and berserk that not even hundreds of him would be able to contend against this force of nature.

But now that he was left with no choice, he did find it weird. The snowstorm that was at the centre of this area twelve hours ago, was still sitting at the same place as if it has no intention of going anywhere.

It was at this moment when Simon was caught up in his thought that the group of red Killer Orcas maddened by the death of their brethren, charged. The twelve of them surrounded him from all sides and used their caudal fin like tails that were as sharp as a blade, to dish out multiple slash attacks.

The [Tail Axe] ability of theirs was not unknown to Simon and he displayed surprising level-headedness by dodging the attack before they even came. Call it a unique trait of his that he had built up while surviving inside the ghastly winding forest, but he had an ability that allowed him to predict the attack and behaviour of a group of enemies that he had already fought with once.

Perhaps because he had not fully understood this ability of his that it had not manifested itself as a skill on his status. Anyways, the point is that after fighting with them for so long, he could somewhat predict the attack pattern and behavioural traits of his enemies.

Though understanding your enemy is one thing and having enough strength to contend against them is another. Simon quickly utilised his flight skill, the only advantage he had over them before swiftly flying away.

However, unlike the previous times where he tried to throw them off with his speed, this time he allowed them to follow him. Matter of factly, the place that he was leading them in was also the most dangerous area on the land. 

The huge hurricane-like storm that seemed like it could devour anything was brewing at the centre of this land radiating terrible energy that struck fear onto anyone that gazed at it.

These Red Killer Orcas, that only had a little bit of intelligence to start off, gave chase the moment they saw their prey running away. While they were an aquatic tribe much more proficient and faster on water rather than on land, they still managed to keep up with Simon.

Of course, they were only able to do so because the latter had purposefully slowed his speed. Their [Slippery Body] came into handy as it allowed them to slide through the ice and use their body just like they did underwater.

The chase continued for a while, the red Killer Orcas were hell-bent on killing their prey apart and thus were hot on his tail. Only when they were a few kilometres away from the disastrous snowstorm, did they slow down their chase.

Fear apparent in their eyes, their body shuddered intensely before they bore through the ground and swiftly fled underwater.

Simon narrowed his eyes at their intense reaction; nevertheless, he did not stop his momentum.

"There is definitely something there, the possibility of the mechanism being inside that snowstorm is also very high" he mumbled trying to keep his quickly stiffening body straight.

  Even the slightest energy leak that came out of the storm, was enough to raise goosebumps on his body not to mention what he was trying to do was extremely suicidal.

Following his gut feeling, Simon utilised his flight skill and quickly approached closer to the storm. Being near it, he felt like an ant trying to survive through the storm, the hurricane like snowstorm was truly that colossal.

The moment he approached a hundred meters of what seemed like a speedily rotating wall of cloud, he felt like his body was grasped by some humongous entity that was quickly pulling him towards the storm.