Dungeon Of Pride, Laplace

This kind of absolute suppression, Simon only felt it from those peak ranked Demon Archdukes that were present during the Walpurgis.

Adalinda came near him before coyly tilting her head "Well I'm very much interested in how you a Demon Viscount managed to do that, but leaving it all aside, do you know the reason why I am here?".

Simon simply shook his head, how the hell was he supposed to know? He did try to guess her motive but he ultimately came up with nothing.

Adalinda pointed her index finger at Simon before continuing "It's because of you".

Her answer confounded both Irene and Simon who were intently watching her every action.

Ít was because of him? What does she mean by that? he had not even seen her before today so how come she said that she was here because of him?

Irene narrowed her crystal blue eyes and seemed to be thinking something.

"Me? I have never even met you, why would you be here for me?" Simon asked.

"Hm? Don't tell me you don't know or are you acting innocent?" Adalinda revealed a slight tinge of surprise in her voice as she casually conversed with Simon.

"Well it doesn't matter… I'll eventually squeeze every information out from you. Hehe, so Mr Demon Viscount the reason why I am here is because of a familiar draconic aura I'm sensing from you".

Simon was getting increasingly confounded, what did she mean by him releasing a draconic aura? He was a Demon Noble and the draconic aura can only be released by those that are actual dragon, have dragon bloodline or from dragon ancestry.

Simon having none of those, he wouldn't be able to release draconic aura exclusive to the dragon tribe.

On the contrary, Irene revealed an expression that seemed to show that she finally put the two and two together.

Adalinda who carefully observed every expression of Simon, frowned at his confusion before enlightenment dawned on her. 

"Hohh~ so that's how it is. Sigh… that girl, she deliberately did all of this to divert my focus somewhere else".

She then looked at Simon and dispelled his confusion "The reason why I am here is because of my disciple who you should have met a while ago. You see my disciple ran away from her home and I'm tracking her all across the continents and when I finally arrived near this place, I sensed a slight trace of something that led me all the way here".

Simon did not have to think hard to know who Adalinda was talking about, the mysterious woman that he had met back in the territory of the Diluvian High Orcs, perfectly fit her description.

He stared at the little girl in front of him with a weird look in his eyes. Why wouldn't he, the girl named Adalinda claimed to be the master of the mysterious woman when she herself looked no more than fourteen years old.

Nonetheless, the situation was solved and he no longer had to fret over the objective of Adalinda who somehow had barged on the main floor of his dungeon.

"As you can see your precious runaway disciple is nowhere to be seen.. so you should also make yourself scarce from here" Irene commented in a not so friendly tone.

Simon was also of the same notion, the girl appeared here uninvited not to mention on the floor which was the core of his dungeon. Even though they had an amiable conversation, there was no guarantee that Adalinda wouldn't turn hostile on them.

If possible, Simon wanted her to go away as soon as possible.

"She is right; your disciple is not here so there is no reason for you to be staying here any longer".

Listening to his words, Adalinda smiled widely and flashed her two pointy teeth "Hehe, It seems that I'm not welcomed here even after we shared such a delicious meal".

Her words immediately made Simon frown and his brows twitched increasingly. What share a meal? She was gulping down the food he had prepared for himself one-sidedly and even had the nerve to demand tea from him.

If not for her powers that he was cautious about, Simon would have thrown her out by now.

"Well it matters not because we are not done yet. Although my disciple was able to deceive me with that little trick of hers, it still holds true that she came in contact with you. The draconic aura lingering around you should be from the technique [Ancient Draconic Compel]".

"It is a powerful technique that I had created long ago which can subdue any monsters possessing dragon bloodline. The fact that she decided to bestow you with such a technique, you piqued my interest in various ways" Adalinda displayed a charming smile as she observed him.

When Simon felt her gaze on him, his whole body shuddered for an instant. In his mind though, he couldn't help but curse himself for falling for the trap of the mysterious woman.

He should have doubted her from the moment that woman decided to help him with no strings attached. However, at that time the situation was so that he had no choice but to accept her offer.

Now karma came back to bite him.

"Hehh~ it seems that you have already used the technique on someone. How was it, did you like my technique?" Adalinda asked drawing closer to him.

Simon's brain churned as he tried to estimate the level of this little girl whose age seem to deceive her powers. How much one's level and mastery over mystical energy should be to create a highly complex technique such as this?

The [Ancient draconic Compel] was so powerful that it can easily subdue the Lightning draconic Serpent with just a tiny droplet of its blood.

There was no denying it, the little girl in front of him was so powerful that she can even wipe out his entire dungeon without any difficulty.

Grinning mischievously, Adalinda continued "There is no point in keeping silent; I can see it through your eyes how shocked you are. Anyways, since you have benefited from something I had created once, it is only natural that you help me in return wouldn't you say?".

Simon arched his brows while the temperature around Irene dropped a notch. A faint symbol of phoenix silently appeared on her forehead before disappearing in an instant.

Pondering over his options, he fixed his gaze on her and asked "What if I refuse?".

SILENCEE~~

A dreadful silence descended onto the main floor. Adalinda's smile didn't falter from her pretty face; however, the mood in the place was no longer the same.

"Hehe, Mr Demon Viscount… I think it is better that I remind you early on, in this world only strength recognises strength. You who are at the bottom of the chain, have no right whatsoever in the first place to even refuse. There is always a sky above a sky, a power above your own. It would be for your own betterment that you learn this early".

The eerie silence disappeared as if it was never there.

A clear threat, her words did not contain any bit of consideration and reminded Simon of what his position was. Her words clearly suggests that he was in no place to deny her.

CREAK… CRACK…

It was at this moment, a bone-chilling cold that seemed to come from the deepest pits of hell, erupted out of Irene and started spreading across the floor.

FREEEZE… Instantly, the ice appeared to have travelled across the dimensions and approached near Adalinda when Simon suddenly roared "STOP".

WHOOSH… the moment he roared, the ice that was about to reach Adalinda, arched across her before spreading across the edges of the floor.

Irene's face held the same composure, but her crystal blue eyes that were staring at him, seemed to be asking 'why did he stop her?'.

Inhaling a deep breath of cold air, Simon turned around to face her.

"It's alright; I know that you are plenty strong but let me handle it this time" he said as he matched his gaze with her.

The two gazed at each other's eyes for a while before Irene suddenly shifted them away. Nonetheless, the aura around her didn't lessen a bit.

Sighing helplessly, Simon shook his head before turning towards Adalinda who still had that coquettish smile plastered on her face as if the previous outburst from Irene had never happened.

Honestly, even he was surprised when Irene suddenly took action when Adalinda finished putting her words. If it was the Irene from when he summoned, an obvious taunt such as that wouldn't even be able to faze her.

Her previous self would never act out like that especially when it was not even directed at her. It seemed that staying with Simon for the past few months have changed her drastically and she herself wasn't aware of that.

While Irene's haphazard action surprised him a bit, strangely there was a delight silently budding in his heart.

Simon did not know the depths of Irene's power and from what he knew, most.. No, it would be appropriate to say all of her powers were currently sealed for some reason.

Even if she had confidence that she wouldn't lose, he didn't want to put her at risk. There was no way as a man he would allow that, his pride wouldn't allow. Also, it was entirely his fault that they were in this disaster hence he should be the one to fix it.

As the Dungeon Master and also as a man there was no way he was going to shy away from his responsibility?