Dungeon of Pride, Laplace

"Master" the Valkyries and the other subordinates ran towards Simon but were shocked the next second after seeing how bad his condition was.

Tears welled up in the eyes of the Valkyries as they hurriedly carried his body and teleported to the main floor.

The battle had ended, and the dungeon defence was successful. It was an overwhelming victory on the side of the dungeon Laplace and so all the hidden conditions were fulfilled. Every inhabitant of the dungeon Laplace heard a voice inside their heads at this moment.

[All conditions achieved… the dungeon will now undergo rank increase. All [Roles] will be bestowed a gift. Time until transformation finishes:- three days].

All the monsters and inhabitants of the dungeon raised their heads towards the ceiling, many of them started glowing and undergoing evolution.

It was not only the people inside the dungeon that felt the change, those above ground, namely the people of the tower town also felt the change. The buildings started shaking and the ground beneath them trembled.

Those that were outside, witnessed a massive amount of mana rush out from the dungeon and shoot towards the sky painting it with beautiful polar lights.

These Auroras could be seen from far and wide, the city of Mountmend, the Great Sphinx Desert, the Tall Alps of the Snow Valley and even the depths of the western region of the Ghastly winding forest bore witness to this phenomenon.

To those knowledgeable ones, this was not a sight that they were unaware of. In fact, this was a unique phenomenon that only occurred during certain times and those times were when a dungeon underwent a rank up.

The Auroras are the natural phenomenon that appears in the sky when a vast amount of mana is released out of the dungeon during the transformation. That was not all, even the tower of the dungeon Laplace was covered in that light as it slowly grew taller and bigger.

The phenomenon disappeared after a day but the commotions it caused around the surrounding lands lasted for a while.

Days passed by, and soon a month ended and another came by yet before the first commotions could die down, another big piece of news that shook the people of the kingdom of Ellesmere to its very core, came from the tower town.

The expedition force which was made of the twenty best guilds of the kingdom and led by the guild leaders themselves, was wiped out inside the dungeon. There was not even a single survivor to tell the tale.

The kind of storm this news generated, could be imagined. Many influential factions and families had their eyes on the expedition force and the dungeon that appeared in the ghastly winding forest.

Yet even after more than a month, there was no movement. Forget about any activities, there were not even any signs of anyone from the twenty guilds coming out. The reports that their spy gathered from the headquarters of these guilds that strangely closed their borders further strengthened these suspicions of theirs.

Many adventurers of the tower town dived inside the dungeon to look for the expedition force yet each and every one of them came out empty-handed.

Finally, after having no choice and under the instigation of many forces, the Adventure's Association branch of the Tower Town released two pieces of news.

The first was the revelation of the defeat of the expedition force and the second was the emergence of an intermediate tier dungeon.

The news swept the kingdom and the surrounding countries like a storm, bringing about a new and unforeseen change. Many factions, guilds and countries became aware of the dungeon that appeared out of nowhere and rose like a phoenix.

The dungeon Laplace which was only known around the kingdom was now infamous among many countries of the north-western region. The tower town in particular, soon boomed with many people from different walks of life and country, arriving.

Adventurers, guilds, merchants and such who want to try their strength on the dungeon and make it rich, started setting up their base here.

The fact that twenty guilds from the kingdom were wiped out did not daunt them, instead, it made them even bolder. With the arrival of more adventurers, the influx of human traffic inside the dungeon increased even further.

Further north of the Ghastly winding forest, located in the demon continent was the Great Sphinx Desert. A vast barren landscape that spanned for as far as the eyes can see. The place was hostile to any life form and was perpetually assaulted by sandstorms and violent gales.

In terms of landmass, the Great Sphinx Desert was ten times bigger than the Ghastly Winding Forest. As it was located in the demon continent, it was home to many dungeons and demon nobles.

Near the southern region of the Great Sphinx Desert bordering the Ghastly winding forest, was a ruin of a pyramid half of which was buried underneath the sand.

In its heyday, the place would have been a landmark around this parts; however, now it was laid to waste by sandstorms and was home to many wild monsters.

BOOM…

The land around the pyramid suddenly trembled and a huge sandworm with a spiky exterior and menacing appearance, showed its face.

Desert Dune, a common monster around this part of the desert and a great source of trouble. Due to them preying on both animate and inanimate things, they are also called as dungeon eaters around these parts.

It is said that a Desert Dune becomes larger as it evolves reaching up to a size of thirty meters. And looking at the size of this Desert Dune, it could easily be inferred that it has gone through multiple evolutions to be more than 24 meters.

Its level was around level 400 and even when placed inside the ghastly winding forest, it would be quite high up in the food chain. However, at this moment the body of the desert dune made some peculiar movements before bursting apart like an inflated balloon.

"Seriously, these things are so annoying"

A couple of figures came out of its body covered in fluids. The woman leading them, commented in frustration as she cleaned herself with tempest magic. She was donned in a revealing red dress that emphasized her fiery curves as well as her slender waist.

Her eyes that were of unusual peach colour and her fine black hair which was casually bounded by a hairpin, gave her a demonic charm.

A pair of bat like wings protruding from her back was holding her airborne.  Two horns decorated her head, her cherry red lips hid sharp fangs that occasionally peeked out whenever she spoke.

"Miss Delphyne, we found the core but It looks like the dungeon was really destroyed" a being that looked like an ogre, reported.

"Hnn~ it doesn't look like the dungeon was captured as there are no traces of battle. The core was in its place and wasn't taken away which meant that it wasn't the doing of adventurers. So the only likely possibility was that the dungeon master was killed".

"Sigh~ my dear brother after not seeing you for a couple of years, I find your dungeon in ruins. What sort of trouble did you get into that got you killed?" the woman named Delphyne muttered to herself as she looked at the ruins below her.

"What should we do Miss Delphyne?" the figures around her asked, they were all sentient humanoid monsters.

"What else can we do? I need to report this to father, so investigate this place thoroughly. There has to be some clues that would lead us to his actions before he got killed" Delphyne replied in a sour mood.

The whip on her hand made a crisp noise and immediately the monsters around her got to work. They dived inside the pyramid looking for any clues or signs.

'Even if he was an outcast, he was still a part of the family. Father wouldn't be too happy with this. Dammit… it had to happen just when that auction is about to open' Delphyne mused internally.

It might be obvious looking at her appearance but she was a Demon Noble. Rank wise, she was a Demon Earl and she was also the elder sister of Gelgar the Demon Viscount that Simon had killed when the former declared a dungeon war on him.

Currently, Delphyne was investigating the ruins of Gelgar's dungeon. She had come here on orders from her father to bring the outcast back because their father had some use for him.

However, when she came here all she found here was a ruin of a dungeon, a shattered dungeon core and a couple of Desert Dunes eating the ruins.

The brother she was supposed to bring back with her had gone ahead and died. Knowing the temperament of their father, Delphyne knew that she couldn't go back without thoroughly investigating this matter.

Thankfully, it didn't look like it was too long ago that her brother had died. Finding clues to his demise shouldn't pose too much of a problem.

'I wonder what kind of being you are to have laid your hands on a Demon Duke's family' Delphyne narrowed her peach coloured eyes.

-----

At the same time, deep inside the western region of the Ghastly winding forest, inside the territory of the Black Ogres that was hidden by a dense layer of mystical mist, a dreadful scene was currently playing out.

Hundreds of Diluvian High Orcs were captured and made to kneel on the ground. At the forefront of this group were two orcs with distinctive features.

They were none other than Belrock and Belmond, the two orc generals who refused to bow under Simon's rule.