Dungeon of Pride, Laplace

"So Kemper is the one leading the charge huh. Good, assign him the adventurers he needs. Our top priority right now is to explore as many trials and pave the way for those two. I'm pretty sure, the one that the forbidden ground is waiting for is Godwin. After all, he was the only one who managed to activate the coordinator".

Benny Beckerman said envisioning a bright future for their guild.

​ "It will be done as per your command" the assistant bowed similarly thrilled at those words.

"Ah right, I'll be staying in the capital in the meantime, arrange for a meeting with 'Them'".

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STEP… STEP… hearing sounds of faint footsteps approaching closer, it raised its head and glanced outside. The Lightning draconic Serpent who peeked its head out of the cave from the top of the mountain, was delighted to find its master walking towards it.

"My lord, you are here does that mean that the Deep Sea Alligator King has been subdued?".

"Yeah, because of the information that you provided, subduing the Deep Sea Alligator king went much more smoothly, you have my thanks," Simon replied standing on the mountaintop of the now forty-seventh floor.

"My lord I don't deserve words of appreciation from you for something so trivial. If anything, I'm grateful to be of use" The Lightning Draconic Serpent fidgeted in panic and hurriedly stopped his lord from bowing his head.

"Even if you say that, your advice did seem to have saved my life quite a few times. Let me at least thank you for that".

Even though he was addressed as Lord, Master and other various forms of respect, Simon never saw himself as some kind of ruler. Counting his previous and the present life, he was only an ordinary person.

Even if his circumstances have now changed, it did not mean that he had become accustomed to being someone who was used to sitting at the top. After thanking the Lightning Draconic Serpent, he asked the latter a question he had been meaning to ask for a long time.

"By the way, Lightning Draconic Serpent. I'm sure you know by now but your change in attitude towards me is something that was induced by the technique that I used on you. I don't know how you feel about that?".

It wouldn't be wrong to say that the loyalty and the favourable attitude the Lightning Draconic Serpent showed towards him, was all due to the effects of the [Ancient Draconic Compel].

The eyes of the Lightning Draconic Serpent glowed a brilliant purple as it glanced towards the phosphorescence lit ceiling. It looked in a daze at seemingly nothing before shaking its head and saying—

"My Lord might be right, this favourable attitude might be because of that technique. However, now that I think about it, that statement is not entirely true. My devotion and loyalty isn't just because I'm affected by that technique but because I myself hold that ideology now".

"To be honest, when you subdued me using such means, I was utterly upset and even thought of ways of how to escape from this binding. However, when I was brought into this dungeon and saw how narrow my thoughts were, I realised it might not be a bad thing to be subordinated by you. Additionally, thanks to the blessing that my lord had bestowed upon me, I was able to step into level 500 threshold and become a true disaster class being".

"Is that so…" Simon sighed in relief hearing the words of the Lightning Draconic Serpent. He thought that the latter might now have a good impression of him who forcibly subdued it and even forced it to work inside his dungeon.

Even though Simon knew that as long as it was bound by the technique it won't be able to rebel and stay forever loyal to him, it still bothered him. Nevertheless, now that the Lightning Draconic Serpent had confessed that it had accepted being his subordinate, Simon was relieved in some way or other.

He did not know what brought that change or what kind of blessing it was talking about, but he was glad to hear the true thoughts of his subordinate.

"My lord, now that you have subdued two out of the three overlords of the north, are you looking forwards to the last one?" the Lightning Draconic Serpent asked. It remembered the declaration that Simon had made about subduing all of the overlords of the north before claiming the entirety of this forest as his own.

As farfetched and absurd it sounded, the Lightning Draconic Serpent had witnessed the miracles brought forth by his lord himself. It believed that if it was his lord, it might be possible to even subdue those insanely strong being residing deep inside the western region of the forest.

"Yeah, this was also one of my reasons for visiting you. I was hoping if you know some information about the Earth Shattering Lower Dragon" Simon asked, his eyes reminiscing the events from the past.

During the first few months after he was reincarnated into this world, he was like an ignorant demon with incomplete memories. He viewed the world like a frog inside a well unaware of its vastness.

It was only after he was chased inside the territory of the Deep Sea Alligator king by those Killer worker Bees and later forced to confront the Earth Shattering Lower Dragon, that he knew that he wasn't the top predator in this food chain.

All of the conceitful thoughts that he held about him being the strongest in this world were thrown out of his head. His reincarnation wasn't like the protagonist from those s who are born or reincarnated into a different world with cheat-like abilities that made them insanely strong from the start.

Yes, Simon did have something similar, the Menu of Laplace that transmigrated with him. However, it was still not something that could make him powerful early on. If he wanted to become strong in this world he had to endure and go through each and every trails and tribulation that fate threw at his way.

The incident where he was forced to run from the Earth Shattering Ground Dragon made him realise that he cannot underestimate his enemies, the world was much more vast than he had thought.

"My lord, please forgive me if I sound insolent but I think it would be best not for my lord not to confront it right now. That is before you become more powerful" The Lightning Draconic Serpent said choosing his words very carefully.

Seeing that the latter was hesitant to speak freely, Simon asked him not to worry and speak his mind. In any case, he came here with the intention to know what the Lightning Draconic Serpent had to say about this.

"My lord, amongst the three overlords of the north, the Earth Shattering Lower Dragon was someone who joined us latter. In fact, the three overlords were initially just two overlords, me and the Deep Sea Alligator king who were chased out by the other powerful inhabitants of the western region of the forest".

"The Earth Shattering Lower Dragon showed up all of a sudden in the northern region of the forest and in a few years rose up to become one of its overlords. My lord, if I may be blunt, out the three of us, the Earth Shattering lower Dragon represents the highest level of danger to you".

"Even though it is just a lower dragon, it is from the dragon clan nonetheless. The bloodline it contains is much purer than mine. In fact, I once coveted its dragon bloodline and tried to bring it under me. However, in the end, even though its level was so much below me, the me at that time wasn't able to deal it much damage".

"If I had to compare, its defence is much higher than the likes of Deep Sea Alligator King. Even now, after becoming a genuine disaster class beast, I still do not have the confidence to fight it".

Listening to the Lightning Draconic Serepent's recollection, Simon remembered the time when he stumbled upon the territory of the Earth Shattering Lower Dragon. At that time its level was around 370, which is to say that even though the Lightning Draconic Serpent had such a large gap in levels, it was still not able to win against it.

This fact alone was enough to tell Simon how powerful the Earth Shattering Dragon was. Unlike all the enemies he had faced up until now, the latter was in a league of its own. Even if it is a lower dragon, it is from the dragon clan nonetheless.

Now after a year, the earth Shattering Lower Dragon was bound to be more powerful than before. Even the lord of the Ancient Treants warned him to be careful of that one. It told him not to underestimate its strength.

"My lord, I have lived most of my life inside the Ghastly Winding forest, that is why I can assuredly tell you that it is a foreign entity to this forest. My guess is that it was sent here by someone or something. Even though it is just a lower Dragon, its power... if it is allowed to grow like this in the future would be enough to match some of the Seven Kings. A dragon is a dragon, their bloodline is much purer than any other beasts here".

The Lightning Draconic Serpent said a little embarrassed thinking how it was foolish enough to challenge such a being in the past.

Simon took a deep breath and nodded his head.

"You don't have to worry, I don't plan to challenge it right now. I still have a couple of months before the end of the agreement draws. It is plenty of time to raise my strength" No matter how powerful the earth Shattering Lower Dragon was, Simon had to confront it one day.