Dungeon of Pride, Laplace

That was not all, as soon as they arrived on this floor, the three clans as well as Gil-Garna and the others received a notification that appeared before them.

[Afflictions are in effect on this floor. You are afflicted by Prickly Heat, You are afflicted with Smouldering Heat]

[Prickly Heat— Damage caused by Magic and Skills that are of fire attribute are increased by 150 %. Damages caused by all other attributes are suppressed by 20%]. [Smouldering Heat— Every invader of this floor will periodically take flame damage. Can be negated through superior tier skill Flame Resistance].

Two Afflictions at once, the floor imposed two afflictions both of the fire attribute that made it quite hard on the ones clearing the floor.

"This is impossible"

Gil-Garna and the other two seven kings muttered in disbelief. Two Afflictions, given that the previous floors only imposed one Affliction on its invaders, it was only natural for the seven kings to be shocked.

However, the reason why they were looking with wide eyes was not due to the Affliction Stacking but due to the uniqueness of this floor. Their eyes which had been staring like an owl at the ceiling; no, more accurately at the sky, contained pure disbelief.

Why would it not? After all, this floor unlike the previous floors which had a high ceiling illuminated by numerous phosphorescence crystals, had a wide open sky with its own sun and clouds.

"False environment… but how could that be?"

Yverza couldn't help but mutter out loud. It was not like he had never seen a clear sky with the sun blazing over his head before. Even if many areas of the western region of the Ghastly Winding Forest was covered with its own unique environment, there were still places where one could see a clear sky.

However, this and that was different. One needed to know that they were inside the dungeon right now. A place inside a special dimension, there shouldn't be any concept of sly here.

It might not have been as shocking had they witnessed another rocky ceiling covered with phosphorescence crystals for illumination. However, a clear blue sky was still a little; no, completely baffling.

"What is going on? How can this dungeon have a false environment?"

Shasurna questioned. As confused as they were, they were still aware of some things about the dungeon such as the False Environment.

False Environment is a feature like no other, it is one of the things that makes the dungeon so mysterious and special. A phenomenon with the ability to temper with the laws of the world.

There are many records of dungeons suddenly shedding their darkness, giving way to a soft ethereal glow that bathes the floor in a gentle light. The rocky ceiling of the dungeon melts away, revealing a vast expanse of clear blue sky, dotted with fluffy white clouds that drift lazily on an unseen breeze.

The effect is breathtaking, almost surreal—a perfect illusion of the world above, brought to life in the depths of the dungeon. There are all kinds of false environments recorded to be inside the dungeon.

However, one thing common among all of them was that the feature was exclusive to high ranking and legendary dungeons.. ie.. [A] and [S] tier dungeon. Dungeons whose depths have never been plumbed by mortal hands and still remain a mystery to this day.

Having the memories of the world from the ancient beasts, Gil-Garna and the others understood this point very well.

Existing for hundreds of years and even millenniums, these hallowed paces contained unimaginable treasures, and are guarded by creatures of unimaginable strength and cunning—the mighty Demon Dukes and Archdukes whose every move affected the world on a large scale.

It is only natural for such a dungeon which has countless years of accumulation to be able to create a phenomenon such as the False Environment. However, the dungeon they were in right now was no high ranking or legendary one.

Forge about existing for hundreds of years, it was a newly emerged dungeon not even a decade year old. It was unprecedented for a newly emerged dungeon to be able to create these kinds of phenomena inside its floors.

"This should be some kind of trick, right? I mean it's just not possible for a newly emerged dungeon to be able to have a false environment"

Yverza rubbed his eyes. However, no matter how he tried to pass it off as a trick or didn't believe it, the proof lay right in front of him.

"It doesn't matter if it is a trick or not, our objective still remains the same. Rather we should be happy that the dungeon surpassed all our expectations. Truthfully, ever since I witnessed the worldly phenomenon brought forth by the dungeon, I haven't dared to underestimate it. However, even after all that preparation, it appears that I have still been looking down on it"

Gil-Garna spoke calming the situation down. Although he looked calm on the surface inwardly he was anything but that. The dungeon has given him far too many surprises for him to be able to calm down.

The high ranking formation was one thing but now even this!! A sense of foreboding couldn't help but well up in his heart. Perhaps the dungeon might surpass his… just as those thoughts appeared in his mind, he quickly discarded them.

No matter what kind of tricks or unusualness the dungeon displayed, what really mattered in the end was strength and he had undoubted belief in his strength. There was no way with all the preparedness that he was still going to lose.

"Yeah, you are right, it does not matter what kind of tricks the demon is trying to use against us. Once we conquer it, it will mean nothing" Yverza nodded agreeing with him.

"Is it really just that?" Though Shasurna was a little sceptical, he still nonetheless acquiesced.

"What are you all staring at? Spread out and start clearing the dungeon. You are to report to your seniors once you find any abnormality or the entrance to the next floor"

He hurriedly gave out orders and just like with the previous floors, the three clans fanned out to clear the floor.

Given their large numbers, they formed numerous teams, each team comprising of members from all the three clans, making it quite a formidable and balanced group. Every team had a leader who reported to their commander who in return reported to the direct subordinates of the seven kings.

As for the Seven Kings themselves, they couldn't be bothered to fight such enemies and only observed the whole thing from the sky, occasionally giving out orders every now and then.

.

.

Hours passed by, and in the blink of an eye before anyone knew it more than twelve hours had passed yet the combined alliance of the three clans were yet to even explore half of the floors.

"It looks like the many teams that went south also encountered that monster. Dammit, how could such a monster appear in a dungeon like this? I have never even heard of their existence before"

Yverza clicked his tongue as he read the report sent by one of the subordinates.

"It's not only the teams who went south who encountered these monsters, the others did too. It is weird if you ask me, such monsters even if their level aren't a threat to the combined power of our clans, their constitution and skills are too strange to just discard them as no threat. What's more, only members who are at the late stages of level 400 can handle them" Shasurna added reading another report.

"There is no need to fret, we expected the dungeon to resist. Casualties are bound to occur when trying to achieve something grand. You two don't have to worry, I have already informed Gish-Bagh, he will lead the other level 600 members of your clans to provide support wherever it is needed"

Gil-Garna spoke. His mannerism told others that he was a heartless and cold leader who would not bat an eye even at the deaths of his subordinates.

But that was to be expected, no matter how human like he looked, he was an ogre at the end. A warring race with a callous nature, death was just second nature for them.

The other two didn't have any problems with that attitude of his, in fact far from it, they seemed to be perfectly fine with it. They were after beasts who had gone through their fair share of bloodshed and had reached the stage they were because they had committed uncountable atrocities.

If it was for their goal, it didn't matter even if it cost them their clansmen's lives.

After saying what he needed to say, Gil-Garna turned his eyes back up. His hands reached out and touched something solid, even though there was an empty sky right in front of him.

"As I thought so, it really resembles False Environment. We are still inside the dungeon, as a proof you can feel the ceiling right above us".

After he mentioned that, the other two also extended their hand above where it was stopped by something solid that felt like a wall. He was right, there was a ceiling right above them.

"Truly impressive, I don't know what kind of illusion or trick the demon used but he perfectly managed to recreate the phenomenon that one can only find on the lower floors of some high ranking and legendary dungeons"

Gil-Garna muttered as he waved his hand, a fireball flew off and crashed into the sky.