Dungeon of Pride, Laplace

SPURT…

As the attacks met, there was seemingly no resistance. Like a hot knife cutting through butter, the sword swiftly sliced Gelgar's leg.

Blood sprayed like a fountain painting a beguiling picture.

What surprised Simon was that even after losing a foot and a hand; Gelgar showed no sign of pain or discomfort. Right after losing his foot, Gelgar swung his other remaining hand towards him.

Simon who was startled for a moment, hurriedly defended with his arms crossed. The fist that came flying had an enormous amount of energy poured into it.

BANG… Like a cannonball, Simon rocketed back and smashed into the marsh. The speed of his fall was so great that a huge column of water rose into the air showcasing the might behind the punch.

Though Gelgar paid a great price by losing his sanity, the strength he acquired was no joke. "Pfff..ugh… huff... huff... damn it. A level difference of 79 is no joke" Simon spurted out a mouthful of blood and his entire arm became numb after he received the impact from the punch.

It was like a ten-ton hammer had hit him on the hand. Fortunately, his rank had increased to a Demon Viscount, if he was still in his previous rank, even his bones would have been crushed by that blow.

Even if Simon used the weapons and other secondary items to temporarily boost his stats, in the end, he was still a level 212 Demon Viscount. Whereas Gelgar was at level 291, an all-out attack from him still shaved a marginal amount of his HP.

The weapon can boost his strength but it was ultimately a borrowed power and not his own. Feeling the difference in their strength, Simon was once again reminded how important strength was. If he wasn't lucky and upgraded a [A] rank weapon, he wouldn't have been Gelgar's match.

Collecting his thoughts with [Thought Processing], Simon fixated all his attention on his enemy. Currently, Gelgar had a menacing aura around him and a pressure so solid that it bore down on everyone flooded out of his body.

Even if his opponent outclassed him in levels, he could still bridge the difference with his weapon and his skills.

Simon inhaled a deep breath of air and focused. His mind became clear and all the unnecessary thoughts disappeared. "Body enhancement, sword mastery, super cutting enhancement, super piercing enhancement, super strength..haaaaaahhhh..".

His veins bulged, muscles trembled as a huge amount of energy that threatened to destroy his body circulated within him. No matter how overwhelming the energy was, Simon still resiliently endured it all with his immense willpower and charged towards Gelgar.

Activating these many skills at once took an immense toll on his body as blood started dripping from his nose and mouth. Since he didn't have enough Magic Points (MP) to dish out another attack of that level, he could only use the risky manner of activating all of his skills at once to bolster his prowess.

The enemy clearly had the intention of taking him out along with him. How can he go down just like that? There was no way Simon was willing to die here.

With a flap of his wide wings, he appeared a few meters above Gelgar and dished out the attack he once used to overpower and make swiss cheese out of the Killer Worker Bees.

"[Thousand Piercing Sword Storm] Haaaaaaaaaa" with an empowering shout, Simon hacked at Gelgar innumerable times with an immense speed that was impossible to see with naked eyes. Thousands of crimson blade shadows rained down on Gelgar like a storm.

The attack packed an enormous amount of might plus with the unparalleled sharpness of the Crimson Blazing Flame Sword, there was no defence that cannot be pierced.

Gelgar who was akin to a beast was unbothered by the onrushing storm of blades and charged towards Simon with a loud roar. "A beast that has no mind of its own is no longer threatening" Simon commented after he saw that Gelgar willingly jumped into the storm of attacks.

RIP... RIP... RIP... RIP...

The terrifying power behind each sword shadows easily surpassed any defence a Demon Viscount could put up and tore through Gelgar's body. Even before he could reach Simon, hundreds of sword shadows dotted his body full of holes.

"GUUuaarrgghh" a disturbingly loud roar of anguish finally came out of Gelgar's mouth as his life was swiftly being drained away amidst the rain.

The terrifying might behind the [Thousand Piercing Sword Storm] did not stop there, after piercing through Gelgar's body, they rained on the marsh with a momentum of a meteor shower.

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOOM… frightening sounds continuously echoed out across the whole floor for a while as the whole ninth floor trembled. The very topography of the floor changed as the skill devastated everywhere.

Simon was dumbfounded. he was trying to minimise the damage dealt to the floor, but he ended up dealing most of the damage himself. Amidst the wreckage and clouds of dust, a notification silently popped up in front of him.

[Ding] even without reading the message, Simon knew that it ringing indicated that all of this was over. He was able to save his dungeon, save his life. He had won the dungeon war. Just as the realisation hit him, the repercussions from activating all of the skills at once came flooding onto his body and he was barely able to stay conscious.

After the onrushing storms of attacks settled and clouds of dust blew away, a disfigured body appeared at the bottom of the marsh. The figure was completely indiscernible and was missing all of its limbs. Even if one examined the body carefully, no one would be able to link it with Gelgar.

Looking at the figure, Simon sighed in relief as a flood of exhaustion overtook him, and the strange feeling that overwhelmed him swiftly disappeared.

[Demon Viscount Gelgar died, acquired 8,250,000 DP]

"Huff..huff..huff… ugh" without any strength left to support his flight, his body rapidly fell below. But before he could hit the ground, he was swiftly caught by something.. Opening his heavy eyelids, Simon found himself on the back of his demonic warhorse before dizziness overwhelmed him and he passed out.