Dungeon of Pride, Laplace



Death Knights, that's what the merchant called them. Beings with immeasurable strength who have been brought forth from the dead, their presence induced fear in everyone that beheld them.

Looking at the eyes of the Death Knight, Simon could tell that they were brutal warriors created with only one purpose. It would only take a single command for them to tear him apart immediately. 

In this special area where he cannot muster any mana, he wouldn't even last a second against them. Even if he fought them at his peak condition, against opponents like the Death Kngihts his only victory would be in running. They weren't beings he could take on at his current level.

Simon had to admit, if it was Grimvul who raised them from the dead, than this merchant was a true master of Necromancy. His powers might be similar or even equal to one of the twelve heroes from Laplace.

On Grimvul's order, the Death Knights stepped back. The merchant walked passed them and headed in, Simon followed behind.

.

.

"This is…" He couldn't help but mutter after seeing the sight in front of him. A large hall filled with numerous artefacts, items and various kinds of things that were neatly kept for display, greeted Simon as soon as he entered.

"Welcome to the Exhibition. ShiShiShi… This is where I keep all the precious treasures that I have collected over the years. Only a few VIPs are allowed inside this hall. I can see that you have amassed quite a bit of DP, why don't you go and look around, see if you fancy anything"

Grimvul explained. He then lightly bowed towards Simon as a formality before walking out of the hall saying that he had other guests to attend to.

Simon wanted to ask some more questions, but the merchant had already disappeared. Left with no other choice, he shifted his attention back to the hall in front of him. There were numerous items on display here, each one more mysterious than the others.

"So these are the items that are going to appear in the auction huh"

Simon deduced as he slowly observed the various items Grimvul collected. Since the merchant wanted him to look around, there could only be one reason for it.

He wanted to advertise his wares to his potential buyers. That way, when the auction starts, there would be a fierce bidding for every item.

[Gauntlets of Midas]-An item that was created by the god craftsman Midas. It is said that he cut his own arms to create this unique treasure and imbue it with his divine power.

Only a true warrior can display the true powers of these grieves which can pulverise mountains and destroy lands with a single blow. The Grieves of Midas has the ability to turn its wielder into a true champion.

Rank- [S]

Abilities-

1) Empower

2) Life Drain

3) Golden Destruction.

Simon used his evolved skill [Appraisal] to look at a pair of golden gauntlets.

"Another [S] rank item huh" He muttered with some surprise in his eyes. This was the fourth item that he came across which got evaluated as a [S] rank item by the [Appraisal].

It needs to be mentioned how incredibly rare finding a [S] rank item was. Even a high ranking demon had difficulty obtaining one. The same was so for Simon, he got his [S] rank Burnt Sword only after pillaging a sea of DP and artefacts in the [Armoury].

Whenever he thought about that moment, his stomach would turn green and he had the urge to vomit out blood. That was how rare a [S] rank item was, yet here they were lying around just like that.

Of course, Simon wasn't a fool to actually think that, he knew that even though the items looked like anybody could steal them, when in fact it was not. A powerful barrier was protecting these items and it would immediately retaliate at anyone foolish enough to try to steal them.

There was no way that Grimvul who was called as the Merchant of the Damned would leave his wares so openly like that.

The only reason he was displaying his items like that, was because he had the confidence that nobody would be able to steal them.

Simon looked at the Gauntlet of Midas for a while before moving onto the next one. He must admit that Grimvul had collected some truly peculiar items, some of them looked so bizarre that Simon had to wonder if his [Appraisal] was working properly or not.

For example, there was this gooey green substance that looked like a puke of some alien. However, when he used [Appraisal] it told him that it was an [S] rank item.

Yes, his appraisal was not lying, Simon had to rub his eyes a couple of times to believe that. Then there were also the voodoo dolls, brooms, sticks, bottles and various unconventional items that one wouldn't consider a treasure at first glance.

"Seriously, are these items for real?"

Simon crossed his arms and carefully observed a bottle. If he disregarded the description of the [Appraisal], it just looked like a normal bottle of a coke that one could find everywhere in his previous world.

"Hm?" He was just about to move on to observing the other items when he felt another presence approaching closer. It was another demon noble, a very high ranking one at that.

The air seemed to distort and a formidable pressure seemed to envelop the area from just the slightest aura that they released. BADUMP… Simon's heart stopped beating and his Demon Earl bloodline started boiling for some unknown reason.

"This was…" he immediately understood what was going on. This was no natural phenomenon but an effect that was triggered simply due to the enormously vast difference between them.

This was the bloodline suppression, that made all the demon nobles unable to defy the ones ranking above them.

TAK… TAK… the sound of something solid hitting the ground sounded out in fixed intervals followed by the appearance of a Demon Noble.

They were tall, easily breaching 200 cm. Their gait was straight, like a sword and they were dressed in a three piece suit that made them look extremely dignified and enigmatic.

The Demon Noble had long ash grey coloured hair that was neatly tied behind their back, penetrating white eyes, and carried an old shillelagh with them. That solid tapping noise that echoed out, was from that stick.

The Demon Noble was extremely handsome and at a glance they appeared to be young, but make no mistake, a high ranking demon of their level had lived for more than thousands of years. At their level, hardly any changes would be noticeable in their appearance.

Additionally, the demon noble had weird markings similar to Simon's Ancestral Symbol, covering half of their face that was not covered by the mask and going all the way down to their neck.

The moment Simon glanced at that demon noble, his breath halted and he found himself rooted to his place. A vision played out in his eyes, a vast expanse of a battlefield covered in an uncountable number of corpses and blood.

No matter where one gazed there was only destroyed buildings and corpses littering the place. Amidst that battlefield, a single demon noble, walked forward.

What was going on? Simon's eyes wandered before he hurriedly snapped out of it. The vision unfolding in front of his eyes disappeared as if it had never occurred in the first place.

'A Hallucination!!' he immediately came to a realisation. The scene that played out in his vision, was a hallucination that was brought forth by the appearance of that demon. It was not like the other party did something, that hallucination formed just from the powerful residual aura that their body released naturally.

If anything it served to further clarify the vast difference in strength between.

There was no need to even think any longer, just by that hallucination and the formless pressure the demon exuded, was enough to tell Simon that the demon in front of him stood at the highest echelons of the demon hierarchy, a Demon Archduke to say.

TAK… TAK… the Demon Archduke used his shillelagh and slowly walked forward. They appeared closer and closer to Simon and the next second, they simply walked past him.

From start to end, the eyes of the Demon Archduke looked straight without deviating a little. It seemed like they did not even sense Simon when walking past him. However, it could also be that they sensed the latter was not worth their notice, and as such did not even glance towards him.

Whatever the case may be, Simon released a deep breath that he had been holding for a while. Now that that Demon Archduke had disappeared, the formless pressure that they brought with them had also disappeared.

"The bloodline suppression… it's quite an annoying thing" Simon clicked his tongue.

If he was already in this state with them just passing by him, he wondered how big of a gap was between their strengths.

Demon Archdukes stood at the peak of the Demon Noble race. If one discounted aberrants like the Demon Lords, they were the highest rank and the desire of every demon noble.

A Demon Archduke is not only ancient having lived for thousands of years or more, they are cunning and possess an impossibly pure bloodline. They are beings of incalculable power and possess authority that is incomparable to any other demon nobles.

At their level, there are hardly any beings in this world that can pose a threat to them. They are whimsical, self-centred and are only motivated by their personal desires. They would stop at nothing to get what they want.