Dungeon of Pride, Laplace



As Maybell walked towards the centre of the venue, all eyes turned towards her. Immediately afterwards, the audience became baffled.

Standing inside the barrier was Giga Minotaurus, a mutated beast worthy of [A] rank and someone who received a name. With its hulking frame that towers over the venue, bulging muscles that were forged from countless battles, it exuded an aura of primal ferocity.

Looking at it, the minotaur appeared to be the incarnation of brutality. Compared to that, the little lady walking forward although graceful and charming to look at, seemed just like a doll that was pampered and kept with much care and maintainance.

None of the demons could imagine such a doll having the slightest bit of chance against the incarnation of brutality that was the Giga Minotaur. On the contrary, they could only imagine this beauty getting destroyed by the beast in an instant.

"Is that Demon Earl serious? To send a subordinate like her, tch it's such a waste"…

"What else did you expect from a Demon Earl? I bet he does not even have the intention of fighting anymore. That is why, he is sending such a weak little girl forward for the Ritual of the Blades. Since he knows he will lose, he wants to cut his losses to a minimum".

The flow of conversation was heavily favoured towards the Giga Minotaur.

On one corner of the venue, a Demon Duke who seemed to be in a particularly bad mood, cursed.

"Dammit" He shattered the glass of wine in his hand, its content soiling his clothes. The attendants beside him hurriedly tried to clean his clothes. However… "Get away from me" he pushed the attendants in annoyance and continued to glare at the stage set for the Ritual of Blades.

"Curses to that Demon Earl for sending that little girl that I desired".

The ball of obesity writhing in frustration was none other than Demon Duke Famoon, who had a clash with Simon on the way to the Hexennacht.

At that time, he tried to forcefully take possession of the twins. However, his attempts were met with a failure as Oswell blocked his path and his two subordinates were defeated by the twins.

Not only that, he even lost his prized possession, the Eye of Enigma that he purchased from the auction to the Demon Earl. Given all of that, how could he be in a great mood?

"You are nothing but a mere ant in my path yet you dare to go against me?" Famoon cursed. Even after suffering such loss, the latter had yet to learn his lesson. If anything, the loss only seemed to have further strengthened his hatred for the Demon Earl.

It was clear from Famoon's behaviour that he was yet to give up on the twins.

"Why does it appear that lord Famoon is in a bad mood? You just won the territory you have been fighting for with your rival for decades. Shouldn't you be happy?"

During such a time, a demon noble of the rank Earl, came to him and initiated a conversation.

"Avrox huh?! Why have you come to me? Get lost, I have no mood to speak to a Demon Earl right now" Famoon who was in a bad mood, shooed the demon away.

However, Avrox did not move and instead continued to converse with the demon duke.

"Haha, don't be like that Lord Famoon. Not all of us Demon Earls are like that fool there. We know our place and would never offend a demon higher ranking than us since it would only spell our own doom. That fool there is a special case. Either he has a few screw loose or he is just too conceited and prideful".

Famoon was silent for a while before deciding to engage the other party in a conversation.

"Does it appear like that from your view? From my perspective, it appears that Oswell is using the Demon earl to plan something. Or else how would a mere Demon Earl get so much audacity to stand in front of us Demon Dukes? I'm sure of it, this has something to do with Oswell. He even protected the Demon Earl on the way to the Hexennacht".

"Lord Oswell did?  If it helps, I can listen to Lord Famoon's worries"

Avrox who stumbled upon some interesting piece of news, decided to lend an ear to Famoon who clearly seemed upset over something. The latter spilt everything in a bout of frustration.

"Hohh, so it's like that" Avrox eyes involuntarily shifted towards Simon in the distance as a cruel smile flashed on his face. This Hexennacht was going to be very interesting.

Over at the area where the stage had been set, Maybell nimbly and carefully stepped forward and entered the barrier. The moment she did, the battle had started.

ROOARR... with a piercing roar that shook the very place and strike terror in the hearts of many demons, the Giga Minotaur charged forward. Its massive hooves pounding against the ground, causing tremors to ripple through the arena.

Generating a storm of flames and thunder in its wake, the Giga Minotaur jumped, crashing down at the area where Maybell was like a meteor.

BOOOM… A large depression formed on the ground and tremors spread across the venue. The observing audience gasped, leaning forward.

This was the might of the giga minotaur, it could shake the entire venue with just its jump. How could the little girl fight such a beast? No, she might already be done for.

All the eyes patiently observed the crater formed by the Giaga Minotaur. When the dust settled and they could find the corpse of the little girl anywhere, they all wore a frown of consternation on their faces.

Suddenly, their eyes traced a black and red shadow and there they saw her. Standing perfectly fine a few distances away from the Giga minotaur was the little girl assumed to have been squashed under the hooves of the Giga Minotaur.

Dressed in her black and red gothic dress, she stood there without any scratch or dirt on her clothes.

When did she move there? Many demon nobles had the same question. The demon dukes frowned in confusion while the Demon Archdukes seated in the distance silently watching the whole spectacle, narrowed their eyes sensing something.

Inside the barrier, recognising that its attacks had failed, the Giga Minotaurus fixed its eyes on the enemy. Its mighty fists raised the giant axe in the air and slammed it down on the ground with a devastating power.

[Earth Splitting Wave]... one of the powerful skills of the Giga Minotaur capable of splitting mountains. The destructive force that the axe sent forth rushed forward while splitting the ground in its wake.

Anything that is caught in its trajectory would be split in half. The destructive force spread from one corner of the stage to another, before slamming into the barrier and coming to a stop.

But that was not all, from the depth of the crack formed from the Earth Splitting Wave, fires and lightning imploded forth like a volcano. A single swing from the Giga Minotaur is able to pulverize solid barriers and send shockwaves reverberating through the battlefield.

Under the abuse of that skill, even the barrier created by Demon Lord himself barely stood standing. So one could imagine what would happen to the little girl who was the target of this destructive skill.

She was sure to have been killed by now. Or so were the thoughts of the onlooker. However, just like before there was no trace of that girl inside that crack instead, she had already moved to a different place.

She was so swift that no one could catch a glimpse of her movements other than a few Archdukes.

SNARL… the Giga Minotaurus after two failed attempts, snarled hot breaths of fire and lightning from its nostril and just like a bull it scrapped its legs on the ground ready to charge.

[Colossal Charge]… with raw destructive power, the Giga Minotaur charged forward with its powerful hindlegs that seemed like they could even support the weight of a mountain, stomped forward.

The skill [Colossal Charge] had tremendous speed and force behind it and was in no way weaker than the Bloodthorn Demonic Warhorse's [Hunderd Mountain's Charge]. It might even be even more powerful given that the Giga Minotuarus was not only an [A] rank beast, but also a mutated one at that.

The entire venue trembled with every step that the Giga Minotaur took and like a storm, it appeared before the girl in a rapid and swift fashion.

The latter just like usual dodge the charge at the very last second. Though this time, the Giga Minotaurus did not stop after a single attack, it channelled its charge into a [Rapid Spin], [Mighty Cleave], [Ground Pound].

One after the other, the legendary [A] rank beast displayed its unparalleled brute strength and raw power. It was like the embodiment of fury and primal ferocity with its gigantic battle axe capable of decimating anything with a single swing.

That was not all, the Giga Minotaurus' thick hide served as a formidable natural armor, crackling with flames and lightning and capable of withstanding even the most punishing of attacks.

Compared to that, the girl who dodged its attacks, embodied grace, agility, and a myriad of supernatural abilities. She possessed the speed and reflexes beyond their comprehension. Each of her movements was executed with a fluidity that defied all laws, allowing her to effortlessly dodge and weave through the air, avoiding the Minotaurus's thunderous strikes.

It was as if her preternatural senses granted her an uncanny awareness of her surroundings, enabling her to anticipate the minotaurs' moves with unerring accuracy.