Dungeon of Pride, Laplace

BANG…

Jeeves felt a powerful force hit his hand making it completely numb. His astonished eyes looked at the white halo that had suddenly taken the form of a beast.

The creature formed from the silver-white halo, stood mightily in front of Cynthia like a guardian, its majestic aura overflowed around the surrounding giving it a kingly presence. Its ferocious eyes that could scare even some adults, were currently glaring at Jeeves.

It stood well above seven meters tall and looked just like a lion, the king of beasts. Although it looked illusory, it's mere presence was enough to warrant everyone's caution.

At this moment, the swift figure of Alvara rushed in between.

"King Leo thanks for saving the Mistress once again" She bowed towards the illusory beast called King Leo and hastily ran to support Cynthia who was gasping for breath.

"Thanks" supported by Alvara, the mistress of the serene Palace merchant guild stood on her feet.

"Un… I leave the rest to you, this king shall go back to preserve his strength".

Leo's majestic voice sounded out.  Mysteriously, the illusory body of the beast called King Leo, dissipated and went back inside the ring on Cynthia's finger. The white light emitting from the ring visibly dimmed down.

"Miss, you should get back. Let me deal with this ingrate first" Seeing that Cynthia was gently caressing the ring on her hand, she called out.

After her Miss backed down where she was comparatively safe, next the guard commander focused her gaze on the butler.

"What was that thing right now? Was it an artefact?" Jeeves asked peeved by the turn of the situation.

To his question, Alvara simply reiterated his previous words back at him "You are not privy to such information".

Simon who was about to take action, halted his steps. Thankfully the purple dress woman was not completely unarmed; there was something on her person that was able to repel her assailant at the last moment.

When the being that had helped Cynthia showed its appearance, even Simon was forced to give it a careful look, his eyes narrowed. That was because the illusory beast that had appeared, gave off a presence that even gave him a demon viscount a heavy pressure.

The moment it appeared, the chaotic battlefield all around, descended into a complete silence. Everyone stared with wide eyes at the beast that stood tall and mightily at around seven meters and released of majestic aura that seeped out at every corner of the place.

What was even more astonishing was that this beast who was referred to as King Leo by the guard commander, could speak the human language. That alone told everyone that the beast that had appeared out of nowhere, was extremely intelligent and sentient being.

"Hohh~ I didn't expect that woman to have such a thing around her. No wonder that ring kept on catching my attention, who knew this was a high class soul ring" Adalinda murmured silently.

<br/>From her words, Simon could feel some slight amusement and surprise.

"Do you know what that thing is?" he asked intrigued by the sudden appearance of the beast.

Seeing the interest in his eyes, the little girl couldn't help but snort.

"You don't have to feel that amazed, that thing there is nothing but a mere soul fragment that obstinately refuses to die. It might have been powerful once in its prime when it still retained its body but now it's just a soul without any of its former power that could die out any moment if not for the ring".

Simon's eyes twitched when he heard those words from Adalinda, a beast that could suppress even a Demon Viscount like him even without any of its former power, was nothing? Only a person like Adalinda who couldn't be judged by common sense could utter such sentence.

While it may be true that Simon was curious about the soul that Adalinda had mentioned, he was more interested in the ring that she had focused more on. A ring that is capable of preserving a soul, how valuable of a treasure that must be.

While it may be true that he was engrossed by the appearance of that mighty beast, he didn't neglect this chance when the bandits were distracted to swiftly throw multiple flame arrows.

BOOM…BOOM..BOOM…this time, even those powerful bandits weren't able to dodge in time and got hit squarely. Needless to say, an attack from Simon even though it wasn't thrown using his full strength was enough for these bandits with Normal classes to be fatally injured.

In a span of a few dozen minutes since the fight started, multiple notifications alerting him of his level up, rang inside his head.

"Let us assist you Sir Simon, we have recovered most of our mana" the mages that were sitting down behind him after recovering their expended mana, said casting their spells at the enemy one after the other.

Although the situation looked dire for them a few seconds ago, it seemed that they were still not without any cards remaining. A faint ray of hope lit within the hearts of these members of the convoy who were doing their best to fend off the bandits.

Just when Simon was thinking of reducing their number even more, one of the silver guards who was unable to stop the bandit's march, allowed some of them to slip through.

An attack that carried sharp blade light and killing intent flew towards Simon, at an extremely fast speed. Seeing that, other people who were close to the area, hurriedly shouted in warning towards the young adventurer mage whose presence was extremely crucial in determining the victor of this battle.

A mage class that focuses more on Magic stat, is highly vulnerable when faced with attacks in a close range. Unless they have a rare class or are above a certain level, most mages are weak to close combat.

This knowledge was something that was a common knowledge to all humans hence even though they knew the young man was strong, they couldn't help but worry when they saw an attack fly towards him from a sneaky angle.

Of course, Simon who had honed his battle senses in the extremely dangerous Ghastly Winding Forest, was able to perceive the attack even before it came near him. With a quick sidestep, he was able to easily dodge the attack with minimal movement that left no openings for his enemy to exploit.

After dodging the attack, his gaze landed on the assailant who was grinding his teeth in annoyance at his failed attack. The person bore a massive grudge against him.

Who could the Person be other than Bignosio? After failing to kill Simon with a surprise attack, he clicked his tongue before he and his team came charging towards the young man with their weapons drawn.

"You guys step back" Simon ordered the three mages behind to hurriedly retreat. Though they looked hesitant, they still did not refuse his command and obediently backed down.

On another part of the battle near the centre of the formation, Alvara was fiercely engaged in a battle with the butler after the guardian spirit retreated back into the ring.

Sword met fists and surprisingly made clanging noises like that of two metals colliding together. Intense spark generated and the swift attacks of the two made the audience hold their breath.

CLANG… after a loud exchange that even made the air around them burst apart, the two of them disengaged.

Huff...huff… Alvara took hurried breaths, before arranging her posture and stance, in contrast to her, the butler was smiling in delight as he felt the vast energy within him.

"Little girl, you are no match for the current me, give up" Jeeves laughed. His arrogant tone seemed to look down on her.

"Hmph, that is still yet to be decided. I won't lose to someone who is using a borrowed power" the guard commander remarked placing her long sword in front of her.

Jeeves brows twitched at that comment and his eyes held a violent fury. He was more than aware of the state of his body, the strength that he had been displaying until now, was not his own and could even be said as a borrowed power.

He knew his past self was just a weak old butler who had no power and battle experience. That is why after getting this strength and knowing the sweet taste of power, he absolutely hated it when others called it a borrowed power.

The attacks Jeeves erupted out in his fury, were ruthless and filled with killing intent. Each of his claw attacks and punches, were filled with enough power to fatally injure Alvara if it landed on any of her vital areas.

Fortunately, the butler was a beginner at fighting and thus allowed Alvara to have a breathing room. She was trying her best to exhaust her enemy when from the corner of her eyes she saw a group of people who were their former comrades on this trip attack the young man whose magic even astonished her.

'This is bad' the guard commander thought internally, this lapse in her concentration allowed Jeeves who was single-mindedly throwing his attacks to land a blow.

BANG… Alvara was pushed a few meters back when a punch landed on her guts. A line of blood trickled down her lovely face.

"Little girl, don't you know that you should focus on the enemy in front of you" Jeeves sneered.

The guard commander had no mind to pay attention to him, her eyes were focused on the young man who was currently being besieged by a group of seven people.

While inwardly thinking that she had to do something since they cannot afford to lose such a powerful mage at this point in time, the scene that occurred next, made her completely befuddled.