Dungeon of Pride, Laplace



Simon would like to ask the same question.

As he glanced at the door, he noticed Irene and the Valkyries standing near the gate. They seemed to be observing the thing.

"You are here. Quickly check out this letter, I found it stuck to the gate"

When Simon arrived before the gate, Irene passed him a letter.

Simon took the letter in his hand and observed it. The material of this letter seemed to be very unique and old. At the centre of the letter was an ancient seal that seemed to have been forged with blood.

The moment Simon touched the seal, it bit his finger and swallowed some of his blood. Right afterwards, the letter flew out of his hand and started shaking fiercely.

As Simon and the others looked on in astonishment, the letter turned itself into pieces before bursting out into flames. The ashes then composed themselves into the contents of the letter.

[???????? ???????????? ????????????????????????????????????????.

???? ???????????????????????????? ???????????????????????? ???????????? ???????????? ???????? ???????????? ???????????????? ???????????????????????????????????????????? ???????????????????? ???????? ???????????? ???????? ???????????? ????????????????????- ???????????? ???????????????????????????? ???????? ???????????? ????????????????????????. ???????? ???????????????? ???????????????? ???????? ???????????????????????????????? ???????????? ???????????????? ???????????????? ????????????, ???????? ???????????????? ???????????????? ???????? ???????????????????????? ???????? ????????????????.

???????????????????? ???????? ????????????????????????????, ???????????? ???????????????? ???????? ???????? ???????????????????????????????? ????????????????????????????????????. ???????????????? ????????????????, ???? ???????????????? ???????????????????????????? ???????????? ???????????? ???????????? ???????????????????????? ???????? ???????????????????????? ???????????????? ???????????? ???????????????????????????????????? ???????? ???????????????????????? ???????????? ???????????? ???????????????? ???????????????????????????? ???????? ???????????? ????????????????????????????????. ???????? ???????????????? ???????????????? ???????????? ???????????????????????????? ???????????????????????? ???????? ???????? ???????????? ???????????? ???????????????????????????????? ???????????????????????????? ???????????? ???????????????? ???????? ???????????????????? ???????? ????????????????????.

???????? ???????????????????????????????????????????? ???????? ???????????? ???????????????????????????? ???????????????????????? ???????????????? ???????????????????????????? ???????????? ???????????????????? ???????????????? ???????????????? ???????????????? ???????? ???????????? ???????????? ???????? ???????????? ????????????????????????????. ???????????????????????? ????????????????, ???????????????????? ???????????????????? ???????????? ???????????????? ???????????????????? ???? ???????????????????? ???????? ???????????? ???????????????????????? ???????????????? ????????????????. ???? ???????????????? ???????????????????????????? ???????? ???????????????????????? ???????????? ???????????? ???????? ???????????? ???????????????????????????? ???????? ???????????? ????????????????????????.

???????????????????? ????????????????????,

???????????????????????????????? ????????????????????????????].

The contents of the letter floated in front of them for a while before disappearing.

"This is…" the Valkyries looked lost, they did not know who this Grimvul was and what this auction was all about. However, how could it be possible for Simon to not know it? Being a true Demon Noble now, he was of course aware of who this Grimvul was.

"Merchant of the Damned, that's what the demon nobles call him" Simon opened his mouth and explained.

"He is a peculiar existence that is foreign to this world. He comes to Althaea every 101 years to sell his wares, artefacts and various miscellaneous things that he has collected over the years. This event is what we Demon Nobles call the Auction of the Damned".

The Valkyries nodded their heads.

"So how did this gate come here?" Annette asked.

"Merchant Grimvul is extremely secretive, no one knows where he lurks or where he holds his auctions at. Only one thing is known about him and that is many of the things he collects and sells are no doubt treasures beyond any treasures".

"You will never find anything ordinary there. Of course, the reputation of the merchant is not without reason, he is extremely scheming and if one is not careful they will find themselves completely scammed. Because of this reason, many high ranking demon nobles who had been picked clean by him, hate him and would no doubt try everything in their power to search for his location".

"That is why, nobody knows where the auction takes place, only that whoever is invited, will find this gate pop inside their dungeon that will lead them to the location of the auction" Simon answered.

Now that he had become a Demon Noble, he knew a lot of things about this world. But of course, he didn't know everything, he only knew what he knew.

"Are you planning to attend this auction?" Irene inquired from the side seemingly thinking something deeply.

Simon nodded his head "Of course, there is no reason for me to not attend. It is one of the most anticipated events that all demon nobles look forward to. From what I know of the Auction of the Damned, it brings out very unusual items that one cannot buy from the [Shop], every time it opens. It would be foolish of me to miss out on this opportunity".

The auction of the Damned came every 101 years, if he missed this opportunity, he would have to wait another 101 years for the merchant Grimvul to visit Althaea once again.

Besides, Simon wanted to see for himself what this hype about the auction was all about and at the same time purchase a thing or two that fancied him.

Over the years, Dungeon Lapalce had produced a lot of DP. Of course, a significant amount of that went into upgrading and expanding the dungeon and some into the [Ga??????].

Nevertheless, with more and more adventurers flooding into his dungeon from the surrounding countries, the DP that his dungeon generated every day was still quite a lot.

If he compared the DP income of Laplace, it would be around that of a High ranking dungeon. The master of a dungeon of that rank, is usually a Demon Duke or higher. As such, it could be said that the DP Simon possessed, was comparable to that of a Demon Duke.

With that much amount he should be able to purchase a couple of things.

"You said that it is an event that is looked forward to by all the Demon nobles? Then doesn't it mean that all of them would be in attendance for that event? Wouldn't it be dangerous?" It looked like Irene was concerned over the safety of Simon.

A high ranking demon was still a high ranking demon, even if Simon had grown a lot in the past few years, they were demons who had lived for hundreds or even thousnads of years.

When Irene mentioned that, the Valkyries too showed various faces of concern. Seeing them worry for him, Simon couldn't help but feel moved. He took a deep breath and dispersed their concerns.

"You guys need not be too worried, in the Auction the demon nobles would be too busy by the event to pay any attention to me. Besides, I do not have any grudge against any demon nobles, if I just keep a low key, nobody should bother with me".

Simon was reminded of the time when he first attended the Walpurgis that was initiated by the Demon Archdukes. At that time, he had ended up making enemies with a Demon Viscount.

But that was largely to the latter's attitude and him being an impulsive demon who newly arrived in this world and was unaware of its vastness. Simon felt like he had grown out of that shell of his, unless the opponent struck a nerve and activated his Pride Fragments, he should be good.

Moreover, the Auction of the Damned was different than the Walpurgis in that…

"Everyone would be in disguise in the event. As I told you before, many of the High ranking Demon Nobles hate Merchant Grimvul. As such, the auction will be a place where one has to come in disguise".

"Plus the arena where the auction would be held is a special place that was created by Grimvul, the demon nobles would have some sort of restriction placed over them".

That is to say, as long as he kept his distance from the others, he should be fine. Even though he explained so much, his subordinates still looked worried. To ease them up, he told them that he wouldn't be going alone.

Each invitee is allowed to bring two guests with them, as such Simon was going to bring his subordinates with him to the auction.

That being said, a new question popped up. Which two subordinates was he going to bring with him? As there was still one week left for the auction to start, Simon did not rush to come to an answer.

He went back to his normal day to day activities. In any case, they had determined that the emergence of the gate was due to the upcoming auction. He stationed a few revenant Crows to monitor the gate while he went back to attend to his work.

One day passed by just like that. On the second day, while Simon was busily training his magic control, he received a level 1 communication, a Mental Transmission from Jarred saying that the demihumans were starting to act unusually.

The six demihumans barely showed any emotions when he found them so why did they start acting unusually now?

Simon decided to go there and find it for himself. He was already on the [Training Floor], so the prison was not very far from him.

After going through an underground tunnel, Simon arrived in front of a large cavern that was divided by numerous bars and cells.

Walking towards the area where he felt the presence of the [helpers], he saw the demihumans in one of the cells. They were quietly huddled in one corner and barely moved, just like when he found them.

"You told me they are behaving unusually? I don't see any different" Simon commented looking at the demihumans.

"My lord, while I was monitoring them a while ago, I heard one of them clearly mutter something" Jarred explained pointing at one of the Weretigers.

Simon shifted his eyes to that demihuman, and pondered something for a while before heading inside the cell.

The bodies of the demihumans smelled probably because they haven't taken care of themselves in a long while. Though this did not bother Simon, he looked at all of them and crouched near the weretiger who was the only one among the group whose eyes flashed with some lucidity.

Make no mistake, the Weretiger too looked like the rest of the demihumans, soulless and broken. However, there seemed to be some kind of light flashing at the depth of his eyes.

That light although very bleak, seemed to be still struggling and fighting.

Looking at the hollow eyes of that weretiger, Simon for some reason felt like the spirit of this demihuman was still alive. 

"Hey were you the one who said something earlier? Tell me, what should I do with you guys? I can liberate you from all your misery, it will be quick and painless death. Or do you still want to live?"

Simon spoke staring at the eyes of the weretiger.

The latter must have perceived something because for the first time in a while, there was some movements in those eyes.