Dungeon of Pride, Laplace

Chapter 963- Fighting a Demon Duke (3)

That said, as much as Simon was tempted to throw everything he had into the fight, he held back, carefully hiding his true abilities. Revealing his full power, especially his rare skills and trump cards, would only draw unwanted attention—and could jeopardize his mission.

He wasn't here to win, after all. He just had to survive and hold the line. But a small part of him had to admit, he wanted to see more of what Vordanaz could do.

The Duke's skill, his ability—it was a rare opportunity, and Simon intended to observe it closely. Knowledge was power in itself and it's not every day one gets to see a Demon Duke in action.

"I see, you are quite good at running. Then how about this" Vordanaz snapped his fingers summoning magic of a scale and ferocity leagues beyond anything he'd thrown before.

 The ground trembled and air pulsated with a dark energy that clawed at one's senses. This spell wasn't for mere intimidation. The twisted mass of energy formed above Vordanaz's outstretched hands and at first glance, looked like an orb of violent, shifting earth and swirling winds.

Its mere presence seemed to warp the space around it, humming with the raw intent to annihilate anything in its path.

Simon's eyes widened feeling the gravity of the spell. One look and he instinctively knew that he needed to intercept that, if he didn't the entire camp behind him would be leveled in an instant.

The men he was supposed to protect, the entire decoy force—all of them would be wiped out like insects in a storm.

Without another thought, Simon summoned his swords and launched himself forward, making a beeline toward the Duke.

 Like an arrow loosed from a bow, he moved with precision and speed. But no matter how fast he was, without going all out, it wouldn't be enough to stop the Duke from casting his magic.

Before Simon could even close half the distance, Vordanaz smirked, his spell finally complete.

As he held what looked like a glob of mud and wind, his attitude seemed to be contemplating whether he should play with his prey a little more or finish it here.

Though the next second, he came to a decision. With a flick of his fingers, he released the spell, launching it directly at Simon.

The energy shot forward, an amalgamation spell of unknown origin, churning with overflowing destructive wind and violent, shifting earth. Simon tightened the grip on his sword as he prepared to face the attack.

Right at the instant of the impact, a vision flashed inside his head—a brief glimpse, an instinct refined through countless battles.

Without a second thought, he shifted his entire stance, pulling his weight low and angling his blade to deflect rather than absorb the impact head-on.

BANG!!!… The force was incomprehensible, as though the weight of an entire mountain range was bearing down on him.

The ground shook beneath his feet, and the sheer pressure made his vision go red as blood spurted from his nose, his ears, his mouth—his very bones felt like they were splintering.

A sickening crunch echoed in his shoulder as he felt the joint dislocate from the impact, pain searing through him. However, what was frightening was that this was just the initial impact, the true force of the spell still coiled within the swirling vortex of mud and wind.

Simon grit his teeth, he was fully aware that if he doesn't use his full strength, he won't be able to survive taking it head on.

Even though every nerve in his body screamed in protest, muscles quaked under the strain, he forced himself to keep steady. With all the precision, mastery and enlightenment he had gained on the sword, Simon angled his blade perfectly, redirecting the force.

The spell's energy shifted and the pressure veered off course. The redirected glob of wind and earth barreled past him, hurtling toward the wasteland behind.

As it made contact with the ground, the spell finally released its true power, exploding with a force that sent a shockwave ripping through the landscape. The ground split open, the earth caving in and collapsing in massive layers.

A canyon carved itself into the barren land, a jagged wound stretching for hundreds of meters, where the solid ground had been shredded and cast aside like paper.

The decoy force in the distance fell to the ground, colours drained from their faces. Their eyes widened in horror as they saw the devastating scale of Vordanaz's power.

The terrain which was once a flat wasteland, was now a canyon torn asunder by the Duke's single spell.

Huff… Huff… Simon gasped, his chest heaving up and down. Blood dripped down from his face, staining his collar.

That attack earlier was too close for comfort, if not for that vision, he could have been seriously injured.

Speaking of vision, what was that? It was far different from the intuition or enhanced six Senses that he had honed. The two skills allowed him to predict incoming attacks and sense their path and direction.

 However, this was different. It was not his intuition or Enahcned Six Senses, no, this was like actually seeing the future. Visualising the attack moments before it connected.

Something like that… even for Simon who had cultivated a rich battle history, an experience like that was a first time for him.

That aside… Simon turned his head to look at the camp. Fortunately, he was able to divert the magic from the Demon Duke just enough for the magic to miss the camp.

It was untouched, feeling relieved He turned to face Vordanaz. A chill crept into his heart, from the earlier exchange he knew that he couldn't look down on the demon duke in front of him. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Heck, he might die if he didn't use his full strength. Hiding his true identity? If he lost his life, it wouldn't matter anymore. The Duke's abilities far surpassed the seven kings he had faced.