Dungeon of Pride, Laplace

Gil-Garna who was in the midst of speaking, suddenly arched his head as he looked up. Yverza also felt something and followed his gaze.

"Haha, Gil-Garna, to have invited me so deep into your territory. Aren't you afraid that I might attack your domain?"

A hearty laugh sounded out. Immediately, the sky over the ancient ruins darkened as storm clouds brewed over. Vaguely, they churned and agglomerated together to form a gigantic serpent of sorts that had its mouth open as if trying to devour the world.

"Emerald Viperlord, so you have finally come" Gil-Garna stood up from his seat and courteously greeted the new entrant.

There in the sky, where the mouth of the gigantic sinister serpent made of cloud was, a figure could be seen slowly emerging. Decked in sleek obsidian scales glistening with an oily sheen that formed an impenetrable armour of sorts around them, the figure commanded both awe and fear.

They possessed cold, merciless eyes as polished onyx and had a long slithery tongue that came out of their mouth every time they opened it to speak.

From their broad, muscular shoulders, twin serpentine arms extended, their scaly skin rippling with latent power. Razor-sharp claws adorn each hand, capable of rending flesh and bone with lethal precision.

Atop their fearsome visage, a crown of serrated horns juts forth, each tip coated in a venomous substance that drips like liquid malice. Unique to them, the figure possessed a predatory aura that made one intrinsically afraid just by looking at them.

"I can't possibly walk out on such an interesting event. Oh? The king of the wasteland is also here huh?!! ShaShaSha, Gil-Garna you cunning fellow you, you know how to manipulate others"

Saying that, the figure quickly dropped down. Given the way he was speaking to Gil-Garna, it was clear that he possessed a standing that was not any inferior to the latter. And it was indeed so, the figure that just arrived was Emerald Viperlord, ruler of the swamps and one of the seven kings of the forest.

"Haha, Shasurna you came at the right time. We were just in the midst of discussing an important matter" Gil-Garna spoke. His voice just sounded out when...

BOOM… a defeating noise breaking the speed of sound, reverberated across the sky above. RUMBLE… crimson thunder flashed and the huge snake that was formed formed from the clouds in the sky, was instantly torn and scattered apart.

That was not all, while one part of the sky was covered in a layer of dense crimson lightning, another part formed an infernal world. Columns of thick golden flames erupted out of the ground and rushed towards the sky in a brilliant display of fireworks.

The air around this part of the sky was extremely hot causing the flora and fauna to instantly die out.

TSK… seeing this scene, the Emerald Viperlord or also known as Shasurna, clicked his tongue.

"These two are as flashy as ever" His mood was sour now that his thunder was stolen with the arrival of more people. Novel Fire - novelfire.net

"Haha, Chimera Warlord, Gufardus and Ruler of the Lightning Peaks, Wind Lightning Draconic Falcon, Vesgard. You are all just in time" Gil-Garna quickly called out the names of the new entrants.

Up in the sky, the flames and thunder spread apart to reveal two figures. One of them had the head of a lion, the upper body of an ape, the lower body of a bull and a snake like tail. Their body was covered in stitches and rippled with raw destructive power. Just like their monicker, they were a chimaera through and through.

The other being had a humanoid figure with deep amethyst like eyes that sparked with thunder. He was holding a sceptre and had long unkempt hair and beak for mouth. the sharp talons that he had for legs, were so sharp that they could easily tear through most sturdiest of defence.

The wings that carried him airborne rumbled with the sound of thunder every time that they flapped.

When Gil-Garna called them out, they slowly descended from the sky and arrived at the table where the King of the wasteland, Ivory Terraquake Rhino- Yverza and Emerald Viperlord- Shasurna were already there.

"Would you look at that? Who would have known that the two most mysterious figures and recluse of our Ghastly Winding Forest would also arrive here? Did Gil-Garna's proposal woe you guys in too?"

Shasurna laughed, his words laced with venom.

"Aren't you here too? If a two faced snake like you can come here then what's wrong for us to come and see what all this commotion is about" Gufardus spoke offhandedly. Not mixing any words and sparing no face for the other.

This caused the green snake like face of Shasurna to turn even green. However, Gufardus paid no attention to him and simply took his seat as if he owned the place.

"Gil-Garna I am here as per your invitation. However, if your words fail to catch my attention, do not blame me for leaving abruptly"

The one to speak was Vesgard. His words were short, cold and precise, telling everyone one that he was a man of few words.

"Haha, there is nothing restraining anyone. I'm already grateful that all of you responded to my invite in the first. If you do not like the proposal I am going to make next, you are free to leave any second"

Gil-Garna spoke, acting as the host. He was quite tactful and knew that it was impossible for all the seven kings to band together. As such, he made it open that anyone could leave if they did not like his idea.

Well, in any case, he wouldn't be able to restrain them and there was no meaning for them being here if they weren't going to be a part of his plan.

Vesgard nodded before finding a seat too. Seeing that almost all of the seats were filled, a smile appeared on Gil-Garna's face. A scene like this where all the Seven Kings gathered, well almost all, was an extremely rare scene.

It was so rare that other than a couple of times, it hadn't occurred any further. At least as far as Gil-Garna knew, they hadn't gathered like that for a couple of decades now. And every time that they did, it was due to the summon from that being, the most ancient of them all.

However, today he managed to achieve something similar, how could he not be happy?

'One day, I'll make it so that all of them follow me just like today. No, not one day. After I capture that dungeon, I'll use its resources to grow even stronger. At that time, even that ancient monster won't be able to stop me'

Gil-Garna thought inside his head, fantasizing about a beautiful future. After he saw that everybody had taken their seat, he began his explanation.

"As I have already told you, my plan is to wad out this growing bud of concern in the forest before it grows too strong. As such, I have invited you all to discuss some matters I have thought of to solve it"

While Gil-Garna spoke, the others quietly listened. This was especially true for the Black Ogres and the Terraquake Rhinos who were standing there while sweating profusely.

With a room full of Seven kings, the greatest and most powerful beings present in the entire Ghastly Winding Forest, one could imagine the kind of pressure the place was engulfed in.

Usually, for subordinates like them, it was already rare for them to encounter a Seven King or two. Much less see them gather all together like this. The scene in front of them could be said to be legendary.

Even for subordinates the likes of Gish-Bagh and Gish-Bor, the scene was much too striking. Gil-Garna continued speaking, he started by explaining how the dungeon represented a significant threat and how it could destabilise the delicate balance maintained by the seven kings.

"Already, we have seen signs of its growing power. The demon that resides within its depths is becoming more aggressive and bolder day by day. If left unchecked, it will soon become a force to be reckoned with, one that could disrupt the delicate hierarchy in the ghastly winding forest."

He paused, allowing his words to sink in before continuing "It's not like you guys haven't seen the effect of its influence, the worldly phenomenon that erupted from the eastern skies a few months ago that could be seen throughout the entire forest. I do not even need to explain as to what it represents"

"The rate at which the dungeon is growing makes it by the far the most abnormal and the greatest concern we must address before it is too late".

The seven kings were all silent as they listened to Gil-garna. It was not like they didn't understand what he said and it was not like whatever was said did not concern them. They had all seen and witnessed the phenomena that occurred in the eastern skies a couple of months ago.

The fact that the dungeon was rising fast in rank, was a fact that they all knew. In fact, this point bugged all of them; however, they were not as enthusiastic as Gil-Garna to do something about it.

Seeing the fluctuating faces of the seven kings, he knew that the iron was hot. Now was the time to strike.

"The dungeon's presence has stirred unrest among the inhabitants of the forest, if we don't do anything…"

He went on, just as his voice grew a notch more intense, his sentence got stuck in his throat. The next instant, his eyes immediately scanned his surroundings.