Dungeon of Pride, Laplace



These bloody pupils possessed a weird charm that made one unable to look away from them. When the Drow took a step forward, all the shadows seemed to have become agitated. They danced and slithered like a snake.

SHAA… what was even more strange was the disturbing noises that continuously came from the shadows like some kind of a chant.

"What is going on?" Zerul who had never faced a true vampire before, made a slightly confused face as he witnessed the strange phenomenon.

The mannerism in which the dark elf woman appeared and those blood red pupils, was giving him an ominous feeling for some reason. However, he didn't have the time to ponder about it because the woman suddenly sprang into action and rushed towards him.

She manifested two daggers out of blood and came hacking at him with them.

"Hmph, you think such low level skills can even touch me?" Zerul mocked, he immediately conjured a few Tempest Scythes and hurled them towards the dark elf woman.

As a Demon Earl, his aptitude towards magic was extremely high. The Tempest Scythe that he conjured, was an advanced tier magic of the tempest attribute. Each of these scythes possessed an extreme sharpness that could easily slice through sturdy metals like Blackgold and such.

Even Mythril would have a tough time stopping these scythes. As such, Zerul was very much assured that the Dark Elf woman wouldn't be able to close the distance.

From what he could see, she was a close combatant. Compared to her, he who fought using long distance magic, had an edge over her as long as he maintained this distance.

As if to prove him right, the dark elf woman was forced to change her direction and dodge in the face of his magic.

"Hahaha… let's see how well you can dance. After I kill you, it would be that demon's turn" Zerul gave a loud laugh and started conjuring tempest magic faster and faster.

Numerous tempest scythes with deadly sharpness targeted Drow, making it impossible for her to close the distance.

"Tch…" After she deflected a tempest scythe with her blood daggers, Drow clicked her tongue and muttered something under her breath "Shadow Snare".

Immediately, the shadows in the surroundings started rippling just like a water in a pond and she dived into it, dodging all the incoming attacks.

"What?! Where did she go?" Zerul rubbed his eyes in disbelief and looked all around him.

The dark elf woman disappeared too abruptly, hence he was unable to see how she did it. He could only look around for her trace and maintain his vigilance. However, what he didn't expect was for the dark elf woman to appear from under his shadow.

Oblivious to Zerul, his shadow started rippling and Drow materialised from beneath it.

STAB… the next second, a fierce pain assaulted his right hand and something dropped to the ground with a dull thud.

When Zerul turned his head towards the noise, to his horror he realised that the thing that dropped on the ground was none other than an arm. It was his arm which has been chopped off by the opponent.

"AAaaarggghhhh!!" Grabbing his shoulder which was dripping blood, Zerul gave a blood curdling wail and immediately unfurled his wings to gain some distance from the dark elf woman.

SLICE… SLICE… SLICE… Numerous tempest scythes like a storm of blades, were manifested and besieged Drow from all sides. However, just like the previous time, she easily escaped the bombardment by diving inside the shadows.

This time, Zerul was clearly able to see how the woman had escaped his attacks. That said, being able to see it and respond to it in time was two different matters.

STAB… fierce pain assaulted him once again and to his surprise, he found two blood daggers deeply inserted into his shoulders.

Where did they come from? Zerul glanced behind him and saw the dark elf woman disappearing inside a nearby shadow.

She appeared and disappeared within the shadows just like that and stabbed him in his blind spot every time she showed her face. Soon, Zerul's back was decorated with numerous blood daggers inserted into him and he looked just like a porcupine.

"GUaaahhh!!!" in his anger, Zerul destroyed every object in his surrounding. However, how could anyone stop shadows from emerging?

Drow threw her daggers even from the tiniest shadow like an expert marksman and opened numerous holes on the demon.

"Dammit, stop fighting like a coward and face me up front" Unable to even catch a glimpse of his opponent, all Zerul could do was taunt her in frustration. If not for the Mana Armour protecting his vitals, he would have been lying dead by now from all the injuries.

Even the [Super Regeneration] of a Demon Earl was unable to keep up with the rate at which he was suffering an injury. If this went on for long, Zerul was sure that he would lose.

He had already lost favour from Famoon after the last time he failed to get the twins. If he lost this fight, he would be discarded by his master. In the demon society, the fate of a Demon Earl, who had been discarded by his master, was far worse than death.

Therefore Zerul couldn't let this happen no matter what.

After that taunt from him, it was as if all the sound had disappeared from the world, the place had turned completely silent. The shadow cast by a nearby tree in front of him rippled and the dark elf woman slowly emerged from it and stood in front of him.

To his surprise, the taunt had worked, his opponent was finally within his sight. This was his chance, Zerul willed his body, activated numerous augmenting skills and reached towards Drow as if he was trying to grab a doll.

Thanks to numerous skills buffing him up, Zerul's body inflated like a balloon. He became so huge that he looked like a small mountain. Compared to him, Drow appeared more like a delicate doll made of glass that would shatter just from a little force.

It was obvious that when it came to pure physical strength Zerul was far superior to the dark elf woman. That is, if you only look at it from the surface. The reality was far different from what the demon had imagined.

His burly hand which could easily enclose her entire body within it, was stopped by a small delicate hand. Yes, the delicate and fragile doll that looked like they would crumble at the slightest of force, easily stopped the attack of a demon dozens of times bigger than her.

Had it been any other dark elf, Zerul might have been able to overwhelm them. However, Drow was different. She was no longer an ordinary dark elf, but someone who was bestowed the power of a Vecna, and turned into a true vampire.

Forget about Zerul, if Drow completely assimilated with the power of Vecna within her, then even his master, the Demon Duke would be no match for her. It was for this reason that Drow did not even deem to dodge the attack.

She casually extended her hand and stopped those burly hands from touching her. She then gave it a slight twist and seamlessly bent it out of shape.

CRACK… there was a loud noise of bones cracking and in front of the stunned eyes of Zerul, his last remaining hand was also broken by the dark elf.

"Aaaargghhh!!" Zerul dropped to the ground wailing. With one hand severed, one hand broken and numerous wounds on his body, he made a sorry sight.

A pool of blood quickly formed underneath him all the while, Drow silently observed him with her cold emotionless eyes. Suddenly, she opened her mouth and broke her silence for the first time.

"Get up, it's time for round two. I still have many more skills and abilities I haven't tried on you yet. This is the perfect opportunity, I want to get used to my powers as soon as possible. With this, I can finally get my revenge, so get up".

Her voice was icy and flat as if what she was saying, wasn't just some words, but orders.

What was she talking about? He had lost, shouldn't she just kill him? instead of that, what was this woman going on about?

Confused, Zerul raised his head up only to realise that he was standing on his feet, all his wounds and injuries had healed. Even his arm that was severed had grown back. What's more, all the devastation that had spread in the surrounding from their battle had returned back to normal.

No, it would be more appropriate to say that it was turned back to normal. His wounds, his right arm, the trees and the surroundings, everything was placed back to where it was in its original place and condition as if someone had pushed the rewind button.

Even the place he was standing currently at, was where the fight had initially started.

What was going on? How did everything change in a span of an instant?

Zerul looked all around him in askance. It was also now that he realised that everyone was gone. There was no one here other than them. Because he was too focused on their fight earlier, he failed to realise that something was wrong with the world they were in.

What was wrong? He didn't know. All he knew was that he was being toyed with from the start.