Dungeon of Pride, Laplace

Their destination, the dungeon they were headed for was called the Desert Gorge. Thinking about the dungeon, made Raven squint his eyes and he involuntarily put his hands on the two short swords he always carried on his waist.

It wasn't like it was their first time tackling it, but every time they did they would have to retreat back multiple times and could only progress in a snail's pace.

The Desert Gorge was also the place where multiple adventurers from their guild had died exploring thus paving paths for the other members of their guild.

Their guild, the Sea God's Trident was considered one of the top five guilds both in terms of numbers and strength across the Kingdom of Ellesmere but even they were nothing in front of the [B] rank dungeon.

However, all of this was before Godwin and Raven joined them and climbed the ranks of their guild. It wasn't guaranteed that their current exploration would ensue like all their previous ones.

Since his face was covered with a mask, nobody knew what Raven was thinking.

"Let's go" from inside the arc, came Godwin's solemn voice.

The space around the arc started distorting and a loud combusting noise started coming off from the engine of the arc. However, what was peculiar was that even though the arc made such a loud sound, no noise ensued out on the area a few hundred meters around it.

The space soon distorted and the huge back arc that was there a few moments ago, was nowhere to be seen. It was as if the arc was never there in the first place.

                                                                    ------

WOOOSH… Diving through the dimensional tear, Simon found himself high above in the sky in front of a vast field that spanned for thousands of kilometres.

The land here was lush green with trees and grass growing all over. However, unlike the Ghastly Winding Forest, the land here had a very thin density of mana.

"Where are we?" was the first thought that came to his mind as he observed the distant few mountain ranges.

"Hmm? You don't know the place? This land here is the one adjacent to the place where you have built your dungeon. We are at the north-western borders of the Central Continent that connects with the Ghastly Winding Forest of the Demon Continent more specifically we are at the outskirts of the Kingdom of Ellesmere" Adalinda replied casually.

The moment Simon heard what she said, he couldn't help widen his eyes in amazement. This would be his second time coming on a land that was not inside the Ghastly Winding Forest, the First time being the Walpurgis held at the farthest reach of the Demon Continent.

Unlike the demon continent, the land here was lush and fertile, suitable for all kinds of cultivation. Also from Adalinda, Simon learned that the lands here belonged to the kingdom of Ellesmere which was just one of the thousands of kingdoms and empires flourishing on the central continent.<br/><script>ChapterMid();</script>

The Kingdom of Ellesmere was not very influential and was one of the many bottom tier kingdoms out there on the central continent.

"Well even though I say weak, it is still not an opponent that you can look down upon," Adalinda said drawing peculiar ruins in the air. The ruins intermingled and circled around each other and pulsed with a mysterious light.

Even without her deliberately saying it, Simon was already aware of it. There was no way he was going to look down upon a kingdom whose strength was still unknown to him.

Suddenly, the ruins she carved out, started giving some response and Adalinda squinted her eyes.

"Alright hop in" ripping the space apart with her fingernails once again, she beckoned at Simon before delving inside the tear.

Simon too followed behind and arrived at a new destination. They were still high up in the sky, but the land below them was no longer lush green and empty. Instead, there was a city down below.

Tall ramparts that went as high as thirty meters, surrounded the city from all sides. The city was neither nor small and can be said to be average. The buildings dotting the place were of varying heights and the roads could be said wide and big.

"Why are we here?" looking at the city, Simon couldn't help but ask.

"Hmm? My readings show that my disciple must have stopped by here. Although I can't sense any of her lingering aura, I cannot be wrong" Adalinda mused.

It seemed that her disciple had come to this city and thus they were here.

Simon patiently waited for Adalinda to complete whatever she was doing. It was not like he could go anywhere else since he agreed with her request of finding her disciple nor could he understand what she was doing.

"Hehe, if you think you can outsmart me, then you have underestimated your master too much" finally after a while, Adalinda muttered puffing her chest proudly.

Looking at her behaviour, Simon commented "Did you find something?".

Adalinda did not comment and instead looked at him with a wide smile "What do you think? If it was so easy to find her, would I even need your help? She is my disciple after all; but she forgot one thing and that is I'm her master. I know every skill and technique that she can use, there is no way she can hide from me for long".

"Is that so" For some reason, Simon felt his skin tingling and he wanted to end the conversation there. However, how could Adalinda allow him to do so.

"It is time you displayed your usefulness. You will come down with me to the city and search for any tracks or clues she might have left behind mistakenly".

The moment he heard her words, Simon couldn't help but become stunned for a while.

"Huhh? What do you mean come down with you? It's a human city for crying out loud. There is no telling how they will react if a demon noble like me descends on their town".

The city down below was occupied by humans, there was no way they would just casually greet him who was a Demon Noble no less.

The humans and demons have gone to war many a times during their history, there was already so much bad blood between the two species that it was extremely difficult to make peace. If not for the non-aggression treaty signed by both the representatives of the species, there would still be war all around.

There would be dire consequences if he was to be found roaming around a human city. Simon had inherited all of these memories when he was reincarnated as a Demon Baron so he was more or less slightly aware of what went down in their long history.

Plus he was not like Adalinda whose appearance wasn't any different from a human girl of her age. If not for that insane amount of aura she occasionally released, she would appear any different than a human girl to the average human of the city.

"It is impossible no matter how you see it. A Demon Viscount like me would plunge the city in panic the moment I'm spotted".

Simon was not lying, his pale appearance, horns, crimson eyes, all these features that was extremely noticeable, would give him away as a member of a Demon Noble no matter how he tried to hide it.

While it is true that he can use the Elixir of Metamorphosis to transform himself to look like any human, there was no need for him to show his cards here.

Even after listening to his dilemmas, Adalinda didn't appear to be fazed at all and appeared as relaxed as ever. With a swift motion, she fished out something from her ring and passed it onto Simon.

"Have you ever heard of ancient artifacts that are able to change one's appearance to their desire? As long as you have that locket with you, you will be able to change your appearance and mingle with the humans. With this, you can enter the city and as long as you do not wander near a high levelled being, they wouldn't be able to see through the transformation" Adalinda explained.

Catching the item in his hand, Simon quickly inspected it with his Analysis.

Trinket of Grimlock- [A] grade item. The detail of the item was as Adalinda had explained and can change one's appearance to their desire.

On that note, the item was extremely similar to his Elixir but unlike the limitations of his elixir which fades away when he attacks or when being attacked, the Trinket of Grimlock had no such limitations.

That is to say, the effects of the Trinket wouldn't dispel even if he engaged in battle and would only do so if he willingly dispels it.

The item on his hands was so amazing that it can truly be called an ancient artefact. Simon was not amazed that Adalinda had something like this in her possession but what surprised him was her attitude of casually tossing it to him.

"Now then I assume you have no more complaints right? If so then let us go down" Adalinda gestured while looking at the bustling city down below.

Without giving him any time to react, the invisible foothold that he was standing on disappeared and his body plummeted below.

WOOOSH… wind rustled past him and his entire body was in a state of free fall. Simon had the skill [High Speed Flight] but whenever he used it, his wide pair of bat-like wings would come out of his shoulder blades.