Dungeon of Pride, Laplace

"Your unit will be providing timely assistance and help carry the injured back up. Other than that, if we lack in numbers, your unit will be providing manpower. I hope everybody is clear on how we will proceed?".

The grey haired man paused, his eyes looked at various guild leaders seated around the table who showed no discontent on their faces.

Although they were all prideful and mighty guild leaders of their own guild, they still restrained acting like that in front of the grey haired man.

Also judging by the situation, the latter was much more suited to guide the guilds than any single one of them. Not only he had many years of experience tackling intermediate tier dungeons, he was also from the Mainland.

They all knew that the title expedition leader was just for show, the true leader of this coalition was this man. Because he couldn't be bothered with every single problem that arises within the expedition army comprised of several big guilds, they needed a leader to act as an intermediary who would solve these situations for him.

The group discussed various other issues in the meantime as they waited for the tertiary team to reach the 34th floor.

Dalton who was in attendance, saw the laid-back attitude of these guild leaders and spoke in caution.

"I know that all of you are confident in your abilities and I'm sure that you don't need me to remind it, but let me at least say this? The master of this dungeon and our opponent is a demon viscount who is extremely cunning. He is also the perpetrator behind the incident that occurred in the capital".

"Although he is not a threat right now, but given enough time, he will surely turn out to become one. However, our greatest opponent that we must be careful of, is not him but the rumoured disaster class beast under him".

The fact that there was a disaster class beast guarding the dungeon, was a well-known fact amongst the adventurers of the tower town. That beast had shown its face quite a few times in the lower middle floors and scared many of the adventurers away.

It wasn't unusual for these guild masters who have their own personal networks, to have information about it.

Seeing that nobody was overly concerned by this fact, he felt it was prudent for him to give them a heads up.

"I know what you all are thinking, a mere demon viscount or a disaster class is no match for us. However, it would be unwise to let our guard down and underestimate the demon or his dungeon".

The sea god's trident was much more knowledgeable about this demon and what the latter was capable of. They had used various means to probe the dungeon; nevertheless, they couldn't see the full extent of its power.

His guild leader, Benny Beckerman had cautioned him many times not to look down on the master of this dungeon. So much so that he had even roped in the grey haired man and the other top five guilds to remove this thorn from his path.

'If the guild leader's suspicions are correct, that demon should be in possession of an item from the forbidden grounds' Dalton mused internally. It was the only conclusion that they could reach which explained the unusualness of the demon and this dungeon. ƒ𝑟𝐞𝗲𝘄𝙚𝚋𝑛ｏ𝙫𝒆𝒍.𝒄𝘰𝓂

The forbidden grounds recorded in the ancient texts was a treasure trove of unparalleled treasures, it can transform even an ordinary human into a mighty overlord that looked down on this world. It wouldn't be unusual for a treasure from the forbidden grounds to completely transform a dungeon.

Dalton's involvement in this expedition was also due to this reason. His mission was to recover the item from the demon while the others were busy hoarding the treasures. For them who were tackling the forbidden grounds, the item was much more valuable than anything.

They who had borne a beautiful misconception that Simon was in possession of an item from the forbidden grounds would never in their wildest dreams believe that all of the change that had occurred to him and his dungeon, was because of his relentless efforts and the support of Cecilia and the other subordinates of his.

Although he brought forth a few items that could be considered to be unparalleled, like the Radiant Crown of Brillance and the finger of Ozymandias, none of them worked like the way the Sea god guild thought.

One was broken, while the other cannot be used by any inhabitant of this world. No one would even think of using the finger the way Simon did. However, the Sea God's Trident was unaware of it. In their pursuit for any item that could help them clear the forbidden grounds, they left no stones unturned. Even if it meant antagonising a demon viscount. Something that they would come to regret bitterly in the future.

'It is a pity that our guild won't be able to enjoy the spirit orbs… alas, it couldn't be helped, clearing the forbidden grounds is paramount for our guild right now. if not for that, the guild leader wouldn't have disclosed the information about the forest spring spirits to that guy'.

Dalton sighed; however, he did not show it on his face.

"Haha, Dalton I think you are concerned over nothing. Haven't we all confirmed this fact already? The demon is no longer under the protection of that person who turned the capital upside down. Since that person is not here, conquering a [D] rank dungeon shouldn't pose any difficulty".

"On the contrary, I'm concerned that we have mobilised too much manpower and that not everybody would be able to get the chance to battle... Hahaha".

The one to speak out was Brutus. His words were filled with confidence that came from knowing one's strength. It was not only him, all of the guild masters felt like that.

The top twenty guilds and the best of the best adventurers from the kingdom of Ellesmere were currently gathered here. Forget about a [D] rank dungeon, it would not be impossible to even conquer a [C] rank dungeon.

Conquering a [D] rank dungeon with this number and level of adventurers was like butchering a chicken with an axe.

While everybody was filled with a confident aura, a slight change appeared in the eyes of the grey haired man when Brutus mentioned the affairs in the capital.

At the same time while the adventurers were plotting their own plans, the master of the dungeon was looking at everything with an eye of indifference.

----

Main floor, White palace, inside the hall.

Irene, Cecilia, Wisp, Valkyries, Bloodthorn Demonic Warhorse, [Helpers], all of the people close to Simon, were gathered together.

Seated near them, on a couch was a demon with pale white skin, crimson eyes and long black hair. Two horns protruded from his forehead and decorated his head like a crown. He was wearing simple black linen clothes embroidered with golden lines by the forest spring spirits themselves.

A small grin hung on the corner of the demon's lips as he watched the multiple windows hanging in front of him with cold indifferent eyes.

Displayed in those windows, were adventurers clearing the different floors. Some were fighting monsters, some were disarming traps, some were mapping out the floor while other were resting or sharpening their weapons.

Each adventurer was doing their own thing, a relaxed atmosphere surrounded them as if they were out on a stroll.

"Drunk on their power, Concieful, Underestimation. Haha, they are so full of themselves" An indifferent voice came out of Simon's mouth as he kept on observing the adventurers.

"Those bastards are looking down on our dungeon too much" Bea by the side remarked, slight traces of anger could be seen in her eyes.

It was not only her that was angry, all of the people present in the hall were so. Their home was being invaded upon, how would they not be angry?

"Master, when should we move? I cannot take that attitude of theirs any longer" Alice stated gritting her teeth. Her eyes observed a window where a group of adventurers wearing bright red robes and armours killing monsters as if it was some kind of sport.

"What's the hurry? A large bunch of strong adventurers just delivered themselves to our abode. Let them squander around a little more while we collect the rewards from their invasion in the meantime."

Simon's tone contained some slight delight as he watched the dungeon points in his menu skyrocket every hour.

This was the first time since the establishment of the dungeon that such a large group of people had entered at once. These people were not like the citizens of the tower town aboveground. Each and every one of them was strong, which meant that the DP that they generated was also higher than most of the adventurers of the tower town.

Especially the ones on the 20th floor. The DP that was being generated from them every hour was on a whole different level than anything he had accumulated up until now.

Although he couldn't spy inside some of the tents on that floor because of some kind of temperance that was applied to it, Simon could tell that they were the cream of the corpse of this expedition army.

"However my lord, I don't understand what they are trying to do by dividing their group and sending their weaker members to clear the floors. Are they being used as disposable perhaps?" the one to ask that question was Coleus, the leader of the [Helpers].

No matter how they saw it, they weren't able to understand what the adventurers were thinking sending separate teams of weaker members to clear the floors when the high levelled ones remained behind and lazed on the 20th floor.𝙛r𝚎𝐞𝑤𝚎𝗯𝗻𝗼𝐯e𝚕.𝒄𝐨𝓂