Dungeon of Pride, Laplace

Just as the report said, he had indeed died inside one of the special areas of the dungeon.

Gil-Garna and Yverza looked at the wounds of the snakeman with a grave expression on their face. Why would they not? After all, if even a being like Surtana who was above level 600 and could match up to their own direct subordinate could die here, then who is to say their own subordinates wouldn't?

Heck, it meant that even they had a chance of dying no matter how low the possibility was. At this moment, the seven kings realised that they had underestimated the dungeon.

"Dammit, who did this to him? I will rip them apart"

Shasurna shouted in rage. The loss of a being above level 600 was not a simple matter. Surtana was not only his direct subordinate and strongest after him in the snake clan, but he was also the only snakemen who had the ability to reach level 600 from their clan.

Surtana's death was a huge blow for the snakemen something which they wouldn't be able to recover from even if they were given another hundred years.

"It's that thing isn't it? It's what killed him"

In his rage, the Emerald Viperlord unleashed a storm of attack on the enormous maw that was posing as a lake. Each of his attacks carried a catastrophic level of power capable of shaping the very topography of this floor.

At this moment, one of the seven kings the Emerald Viperlord had stopped holding back and displayed his true powers.

In the blink of an eye, the area was complexly devastated and held no semblance of the safe haven that the mirage was. However that said, no matter how much Shasurna attacked the being in the centre of this place, there was no point to it.

Before coming here, Gil-Garna and Yverza had already checked on the being and knew that it had no life remaining. Which is to say, it had already died. The numerous marks and injuries that covered its maw showed the signs of a fierce battle that had occurred here.

Although this creature managed to kill Surtana, the price it had to pay was its life. Yverza's expression was especially grave, it was not long before he had met a similar creature who wanted to kill him at the cost of its own.

If not because he had activated that skill timely, then perhaps even he would have been injured.

Such wits and prudence, it was impossible for a mere monsters to think like that. At first, he believed that it was just a coincidence; however, now that he was witnessing a similar scene, he couldn't help but wonder… the way these monsters were thinking was as if they possessed extreme intelligence.

.

.

BOOM… BOOM… BOOM…

Shasurna continued bombarding the creature with his attacks until not even its corpse remained intact, almost as if venting his anger.

When the creature's enormous body came out of the pit- in pieces, they were finally able to make out how it looked. A gigantic antlion larvae with unique features that separated it from the rest of its race.

Whoosh… finally as if having vented enough or perhaps there was nothing remaining for him to take his anger on, the Emerald Viperlord landed on the ground. His eyes stared at his fallen subordinate for a while before he shifted it.

"Where are you going?" Gil-Garna asked when he saw him turning away to leave.

"I am going where the allied clans are. I am going to command them to quickly find the exit"…

"Calm down, you are not the only one who has lost his subordinate. They are already searching the floor with all their might. Even if you command them to hurry up, other than increasing the rate of accidents, it will achieve nothing else. Calm down, I feel your anger, we shall make the demon pay for what he did".

On Gil-Garna's words, some reasoning finally returned to Shasurna's eyes. He hissed a couple of times before finally calming down.

"Fine, but you better tell them to hurry up. I can't wait to tear that demon with my own hands".

The black ogre's eyes narrowed at that comment "I already have. That aside, no matter how much you hate the demon, he is not yours to kill?".

"Why? It's because of his damn traps that I have lost my direct subordinate. How can I settle my anger if I don't tear him into a thousand pieces"…

"Has your anger inhibited your ability to think? If you kill the demon, the dungeon will also collapse. Our objective is not to destroy the dungeon but to subjugate it and use it for farming resources"

Gil-Garna spoke with a rare austere voice. He could ignore Shasurna's repeated offences towards him. However, this was the only point he wasn't willing to relent on.

The latter was taken aback, he didn't think that the ogre king would come at him this strong for something that he said out of anger.

Sparks erupted as the two kings glared at each other. For a second, the entire area around descended into a complete silence with the aura of the two kings spreading everywhere, pressuring and scaring everyone who was exposed to this aura.

In the distance, the black ogres following their king's intentions also glared at the tribe of Snakemen. The latter also did the same and it looked like a war between the two clans would break out any second if their leaders just gave the command.

"Why don't you two both cool your heads. We didn't enter all the way here just to fight among ourselves did we? And besides, if we do that, won't we just provide the perfect opportunity for that demon to attack us? What we must focus on is subjugating the dungeon. Once all of this is over, we can then try to kill each other"

At this moment, Yverza came in to intervene. Just like he said this was a partnership, they were only working with each other because their goal aligned. Once they have accomplished their goals, they can always go back to being enemies.

Doing so right now, when they had yet to achieve anything was extremely foolish.

"I understand" Shasurna shifted his eyes and retracted his aura. He was not a mindless beast and could see the bigger picture.

Gil-Garna having accomplished his goal, also backed away.

"By the way, have you looked at the injuries of your subordinate?"…

"What do you want to say?"

The atmosphere was still a little strained.

"If you have not noticed, the injuries on the body of your subordinate seem to be from a fierce struggle. The sign shows that, he was pierced and attacked by powerful heat spells numerous times. The antlion doesn't seem to be capable of such attacks as it is physically impossible. Which is to say, there were other enemies here".

A rational assessment, Shasurna couldn't find any faults with that. However, it was just that even if he knew about it right now, it made no difference as his subordinate was already dead.

....

After their kings calmed down, the exploration progressed as usual. Though this time, the allied clans were more cautious of the special areas and avoided them when they could. The teams had slight difficulty defeating the monsters thanks to the friction that appeared among the allied clans.

This affected their coordination which in turn led to more injuries. However, that said it wasn't to the point where the teams were unable to clear the floor.

.

.

Time passed by and soon a whole day was gone. The allied army and the seven kings were still stuck on the 85th floor.

"How is the progress?"

Sitting on top of a large construct that was located near the centre of this floor and worked as a landmark, were the three kings. Gil-Garna opened his eyes to question. A subordinate was currently kneeling on one knee in front of him. It was Gish-Bagh.

"Reporting to the Supreme Chief, we have almost explored the entire floor and have narrowed down the places where the entrance to the next floor could be. However, those places are near the special areas. As such, it is taking some time. But do not worry my lords, we will soon…"

the latter who was in the midst of a report, suddenly felt his transmission conch buzzing.

"Pick it up, it might be important"…

Gish-Bagh did not hesitate and quickly answered the call. As it turned out, while he was giving his reports to the kings, the allied clans found the entrance to the next floor.

"Hoh, although it took some time because of the vastness of the floor and those deceptive traps, this was easier than the previous floor. Are you sure that there are no formations or traps around the area where the exit is?" Gil-Garna questioned.

"None that we have found so far"…

"Good, then let us move. We have been here long enough. Pass my commands to the allied clans, they are to organise near the entrance as soon as possible".

Gish Bagh immediately left to carry out his orders. Not long afterwards, the entirety of the three clans that had been spread out on the floor, gathered near the north western region of the floor where the entrance to the next floor was.

As it turned out, the reason why it took them so much time to find the exit was because it was located inside one of the special areas.