Dungeon of Pride, Laplace

They were no longer in the mountainous region surrounding the capital and were inside what looked like a basement of some building. The place was dark with very less lighting, instruments, artifacts and books strewn around the surrounding messily.

The place was quite big but most of it was occupied by things that Simon had never seen before.

"Woah, what is all that" Denzel glanced all around him excitedly.

Looking at the enthusiasm of the boy Simon couldn't help but smile bitterly, he too had the same reaction.

"You guys shouldn't have come here. Now not only you guys are destined to die, but even I'll die because of you" As if to dampen their mood, the gloomy voice of the man sounded out.

Simon did not ignore the warning of the man and kept it in the back of his mind. If worse comes to worst, he will use the man to teleport themselves back again. Since the man could go back to the cabin, that must mean that the teleportation formation below their feet worked both ways.

In a way, it was just like the gate he had installed in his dungeon. Simon first knocked the man unconscious so that he couldn't run away before investigating the place.

There was still one other person who had used the teleportation formation along with the man. That grey-robed guy that was giving him an uneasy feeling at the restaurant. He wanted to know why that person had given him such a look.

"Is it because he is involved with that Demon earl that he was able to recognise me?" Simon who had heard the whole details from the mouth of Eleven contemplated.

According to the man, they went there to take something from the demon as for that what that item was, he had no clue since he was not higher up in the rankings yet. Something that the humans wanted from a Demon Noble... what could it be?

As he roamed around and observed his surroundings, he soon came in front of a huge mechanical thing that was in the shape of a pot. It had many tubes, gauges and meters connected to it and was the most eyes catching thing out of all the artifacts in this basement.

His thoughts were also shared by the boy who was also staring at this peculiar artwork with amazed eyes.

As Simon observed the thing, he noticed that it had a big radar protruding out from its top and in the centre of its body, it had a place which meant to insert something.

90% out of curiosity and 10% because he felt like he knew the item that was placed at the centre of the mechanic, Simon extended his head to peek only to stand gobsmacked in place.

Seeing the peculiar behaviour of the mister, Denzel too peeked at the thing that was placed inside only to get confused. He did not understand what the thing that looked like the remains of a broken dark black orb was.

Though the boy did not know, how was it possible for Simon a Demon Viscount to not know what that item was? After all, he too has one of those sitting in the basement of the white palace of his dungeon.

Yes, the thing that was placed inside the mechanic was none other than the shattered fragments of a dungeon core. As absurd as it sounded, Simon couldn't be mistaken about it since he felt a sense of familiarity with it.

Only after staring at it for a while and organising his disorganised mind, did he tear his eyes away from the thing.

'What was going on, what is that thing doing here?' he thought internally. His thoughts was answered by no one; however, he soon arrived at the answer himself.

From his inherited memories, he knew that the reason behind humans diving inside the dungeons created by Demon Nobles was to gather resources and riches. However, the fuel driving their motivation was not these small benefits but the dungeon core, the highly guarded and the life of the dungeon itself.

Simon cursed his incomplete memories again. He did not know why but for some reason unknown, powerful kingdoms and empires seek these dungeon cores and even go to such lengths as to provide immense benefits to those humans who are able to conquer one and bring the shattered core back.

They must have a compelling reason, a motive that had enough enticement to throw away lavish rewards and destroy an entire dungeon just to get the remains of its shattered dungeon core.

'Did that Demon Earl Avrox give them this shattered dungeon core? Is this machine related to that objective of theirs? If so then what did it do and how did it work' thoughts like a stream were constantly running inside his head.

Simon now had one more reason that he must investigate for coming here.

"What are you doing?" Seeing Simon look so interested and spent on the machine, Denzel couldn't help ask.

Although the machine at the corner of the basement was the most eyes catching of all, it wasn't like it was the only thing around here. There was many other peculiar things stored inside here that ordinary people couldn't even come in contact with it their entire life.

Simon did not answer him and kept on examining the artefact which should have a use and a way to activate that he didn't know.

                                                                        -----

In a spacious room that was filled with many training dummies and cracked walls, a middle-aged man with his upper body bare, could be seen standing still.  His body had many scars reminiscent of the battles he had gone through and the aura he was releasing was as sharp and ferocious as a tiger.

His face had slight wrinkles and his long black hair was mixed with some white in between. At this moment, a man in grey robes walked inside through the door and hurriedly bowed towards the man.

"My lord everything has been prepared. The machine has been set up and as a sign of goodwill for us working together, we even got you that item". Eight stated, his face was covered with a mask so there was no way to tell what his expression was.

"Hmph, you dogs of Cerberus only know how to wag their tails in front of clients you deem important. Did you really think I would believe you all that easily?" the man opened his eyes and a palpable pressure descended onto the room.

Eight was accustomed to being exposed to this kind of pressure, simply laughed and did his best to sound sincere.

"What is lord saying? We will not dare to trick the guild master of one of the top five guilds of this kingdom or should I say the number one guild of this country. We simply speak the truth, the dungeon core has been acquired and the machine is installed in the basement of your headquarters as per our agreement".

Eight asserted with an aura of confidence.

Perhaps the so called guild leader of one of the top five guilds of this country was affected by this news or maybe because the thing eight mentioned held too much enticement, the man revealed a shocked expression.

"Leaving aside the coordinator prototype, how did you get your hands on the dungeon core?".

"Hehe, please forgive this one for not being able to answer your question. As you know, in our line of business, we do need to maintain some secrecy and identity of our clients" Eight replied sounding a little troubled by that question.

The guild leader simply snorted and dropped the practice sword on his hands. He then reached out for his shirt kept on the table and walked towards the exit at the other end of the room.

Eight who followed behind, remarked, "Please don't forget our conditions. Our leader would be quite sad if you failed to hold the other side of your bargain and in that case, the higher officials from Cerberus will give you a visit".

The guild leader who was walking at the front, stopped and turned around his head to face the grey-robed man "Are you threatening me?".

Eight did not cower at this display of strength and simply stood still as if saying he was just simply stating the truth.

The guild leader of one of the top five guilds made a scowling face before turning around to leave the floor. Walking out of the training room, they followed a corridor before taking the stairs down.

The building had a total of five floors, hence they had to walk down a couple of stairs to reach the basement. Just as they were about to reach their destination, a loud rumble that shook the entire building generated from the basement followed by a burst of extremely wild and chaotic mix of energy.

The shockwave that burst out of the ground floor, was so terrible that it completely wrecked the building and forced the guild master and Eight to use their powers to hurriedly guard themselves.

However, even after all that they were blown back like a ragdoll and smashed into the walls. When the disturbing energy and the smoke settled, the guild leader and Eight looked at each other with shocked expressions before hurrying towards the basement only to find that everything was a mess.

The place looked just like an area where a disaster had stricken.

Eight looked around and only sighed in relief when he saw the coordinator was safe and sound but the next second his face became ugly.

Eleven, his comrade from Cerberus, who should have gone back to the city, was lying down on the floor unconscious.

"What happened here?" the guild leader asked knitting his brows. He could see many members of his guild lying on the floor, some knocked unconscious on the floor, some buried by the debris.