Dungeon of Pride, Laplace

Chapter 872- The Mirage (4)

"Call the Chloro Arsenalis back. Now that things have transpired the way they did, it would be useless to keep them there. And besides, its too soon for us to reveal all our cards. We need to reduce their numbers and pit more of the monsters against them. These Chloro Arsenalis who bring in the element of surprise will be crucial" Simon commanded.

The Chloro Aresenalis that he mentioned were none other than unique mutated plant type monsters that were a result of Prime and Coleus working together.

That's right not only do these mutated monsters have assimilated with mutation crystals and he stressed mutation crystals, but they were also equipped with high tech gears and weapons.

The thing that had been attacking the invaders and the seven kings in the darkness with the quantum blasters were none other than these highly stealthy Chloro Aresenalis. The reason why he was bringing them back was because they had shown plenty of their strength by actually killing a level 600 being.

Now even if they stayed there, the enemy who had become highly cautious wouldn't fall for the same thing again. It was better to bring them back and keep the element of surprise going rather than revealing them so soon.

"Yes"

Maya nodded. She took a few Dryads along with her and brought the Chloro Arsenalis back.

85th floor… Gil-Garna and the others exited the ruins. The place they were teleported to was a distant land that was far away from the ruins they were just in.

"It looks like we were teleported quite far" he commented.

Just as his words rang out, the ground beneath them trembled and along with displacing large swathes of sand, huge sandworms whose size could easily reach twenty meters, emerged from the ground.

Decked out in spikes all around their body and razor sharp hideous mouths, the creatures immediately attacked the three. In return, all that the seven kings did was snort and wave their hands.

Berserk mana erupted and quickly crushed the oncoming sandworms into bloody paste.

"Hmph, they forget their place"

Shasurna snorted. He seemed to be in a good mood after getting his hands on so many treasures when suddenly his expression fluctuated. It was not only him, Gil-Garna and Yverza by the side also felt their transmission conch buzz at this moment.

The former picked his transmission conch.

"Ah, it finally connected. Lord Gil-Garna are you alright?" A voice that contained part anxiety and part urgency came from the other side of the conch.

"Of course I am alright. What can happen to me? Anyways, why do you sound like that and what do you mean by you finally connected?"…

"About that, I have been trying to reach you for a while. However, every time I try, the transmission fails. It was for this reason that I thought that something might have happened…"

The person who spoke was none other than the right hand man of Gil-Garna, Gish-Bagh.

"I was inside a ruin, since you couldn't contact me, it must mean that something was interfering with the transmission inside the ruin. Anyways, why do you sound so urgent?"…

"That…" Gish-Bagh hesitated for a second before putting his words together "I think you need to see this Lord Gil-Garna. Surtana the Venomclaw has fallen. We found his corpse near one of the special areas of this floor, the mirage"…

"What?!!"

The king of the black ogres couldn't help but doubt his ears for a second and lost control of his voice as he heard those words.

What was the other party saying? Surtana fell? Gil-Garna was so shocked that he had difficulty believing the contents of his own subordinate's report.

.

.

It took them a while but the seven kings finally arrived at the scene.

BOOOMM… a sonic boom reverberated through the sky and a black streak could be seen zipping through at an extremely fast speed.

"Where is Surtana? There is no way he can fall. You guys are lying, I will cut off all of your tongues"

The sky darkened and powerful pressure descended onto the area along with the emergence of one of the seven kings who appeared here the fastest. Shasurna raged, one could imagine the pressure born from a being of above level 700 who was clearly enraged.

None of the people gathered in the area had the ability to look up at him and were pressured to the point where they even had difficulty standing.

"I believe I asked you all a question. Where is Surtana? Bring him out!!" Shasurna glared at everyone below but no one dared to reply or match his gaze.

BOOM… BOOM… at this moment two more streaks appeared from the sky at a supersonic speed.

"Shasurna calm down. Let's analyse the situation first" Gil-Garna spoke trying to reason. However, it seemed that the other party had lost his reasoning.

"Shut up!! How can I calm down in a situation like this? You can be all calm because it's not you who have lost a direct subordinate?".

The comment caused the ogre king's eyes to narrow.

"Hmph"

Shasurna snorted and descended down. The next second he furiously barged into one of the special areas of the floor, The Mirage. As one would expect of a trap that was no less trickier than the ruins they had been, the atmosphere and the monsters there were quite powerful.

However, in front of the pure power incarnate that was the seven kings, traps and such of this level meant nothing much. They absolutely or more like Shasurna absolutely steamrolled through the entire thing. A few meters behind him, Gil-garna and Yverza looked at the special area.

"So [The Mirage] is an illusion of a Safe Haven, a forest in the middle of the desert huh? Talk about using annoying means"

The ogre king clicked his tongue. The forest was an illusion created from the effects of a powerful array that messed with one mind. If one did not possess high level power or special skills that allowed them to see through simple deceptions, one would be thinking that the forest is real.

"This is an enormous quicksand. It is so huge that one cannot see its boundary at a glance. No wonder we didn't see it from the outside" Yverza commented feeling himself quickly getting pulled towards the centre of the pit.

"Right, but that is not all. There is something peculiar about this place, something that even I can pinpoint".

The seven kings were in fact right, the entire place was like a giant trap that made it difficult for one to leave once they entered, disguised as a forest in the middle of the desert or also known as The Mirage.

However, not everything was an illusion. A few things like the trees and plants in some areas of the quicksand were real. In fact, they were carnivorous plant type monsters that quietly waited in place for their unsuspecting prey to approach and take shade in them.

It was not only that, but there were also quite a few special trees planted in the area that produced a psychedelic effect that messed with one's mind, making the illusion even more real.

These trees were unique to dungeon Laplace and were items that were originally in the [Shop] of the Laplace menu. It was no wonder that Gil-Garna and Yverza were unable to recognise it.

Neverhtless, due to possessing a high level, they were innately able to resist it. Up ahead, Shasurna crushed everything in his path, whether it be carnivorous plants, psychedelic trees or monsters that came out of the quicksand, nothing could stop him.

And so just like this, they quickly arrived at the centre of this place. At the centre, a serene pond with clear deep water could be seen quietly shimmering with the wind, promising a moment of respite amidst the chaos of the dungeon.

Its surface was crystal clear, reflecting the azure hues of the sky above like a mirror. Of course, the scene was just an illusion for the unsuspecting crowd. To the discerning eyes of the seven kings, the truth was far more sinister.

The true nature of the pond was in actuality a dark enormous gaping maw, yawning wide like the jaws of a fiend. The edges of the monstrous mouth were jagged and uneven, Dark tendrils of shadow snaked around from their edges.

The sheer size of the maw was staggering, stretching wide for dozens of meters. It was so big that it could swallow a giant whole without so much as a second thought. n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

The dark gaping thing seemed to reach down into the very depths of the earth, disappearing into darkness so deep that not even the faintest glimmer of light could penetrate its depths.

The scene was enough to evoke fear and send chills down the spine of even the most bravest of the soul here. How many lives have been claimed by the voracious appetite of the creature that lay in wait below?

The sight was a stark reminder for even the likes of the seven kings that the place they entered, was not a garden in their backyard but a dungeon where danger lurked at every corner.

The body lying next to the maw served as a sobering testament to the unforgiving nature of the world they inhabited, where even the most innocent seeming facade could conceal a deadly trap.

"This can't be?!! Suratana?"

Shasurna quickly rushed towards the body. The body which was missing the entire lower half where the serpentine tail of a snakemen should be and was dotted with numerous gaping holes and injuries, was none other than the direct subordinate of Shasurna, Surtana.