Dungeon of Pride, Laplace

Chapter 962- Fighting a Demon Duke (2)

He hadn't expected that, a small part of him was amused by the human's boldness.

"Interesting, Not many humans would recognize a Demon Duke on sight. Much less stand before one and mock him outright. You have spirit, I'll give you that. A foolish spirit, but one I find... amusing. But did you know that foolish bravery can get you killed".

Vordanaz's voice was yet to fade when powerful winds engulfed the place. Winds howled, spiralling with such ferocity that they shredded the earth beneath them, uprooting trees and ripping boulders from the ground. n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Within moments, the swirling gusts coalesced into a massive tornado, a towering pillar of wind that stretched from the heavens to the earth, casting its shadow over Simon and the trembling mercenaries in the distance.

Vordanaz extended his hand with a lazy, almost dismissive wave, and the tempest surged toward Simon, tearing through the land in its path like a beast unleashed.

Within seconds, it quickly engulfed its target. Earth was torn asunder, pulverised rocks flew everywhere and dust covered the field. The sheer destructiveness of the spell was breathtaking.

In the distance, as he stood in the air, the Duke watched down with a wicked glint in his eyes.

"Still breathing, are we? Then how about this?"

 With a flick of his wrist, he conjured another spell, this time calling upon the earth itself. The ground around him rumbled ominously, fissures snaking out from his feet.

With a simple motion, Vordanaz brought his hands down, and the ground split open. Massive spires of rock burst forth, towering jagged pillars that shot up in erratic formations, hurtling toward Simon with the speed and force of battering rams.

The earth itself seemed to obey the Duke's will, attacking Simon in waves, each rock exploding on impact and sending debris into the air.

In the distance, the decoy force looked on, their faces pale as they watched the impossible display of strength. The mercenaries, who had once looked up to Simon as a leader, now felt a chilling helplessness sink into their bones.

This wasn't a battle—it was a massacre. Someone choked back a sob, while another let out a hollow laugh, already resigned to their fate.

"He is… dead," a soldier muttered, his voice empty "There's no way. No one could survive that."

Haha, The laughter grew until a few others joined in, it was the laughter of men who had abandoned all hope, the laughter of helplessness.

"Huh?"

Just when it started to look like a nightmare, someone noticed something. A shadow, indistinct and vague breaking out of the layers of dust.

Bruised, dirt-streaked, and breathing heavily, the figure looked worse for wear but nevertheless, it was alive.

"Still standing...?"

A flicker of surprise crossed Vordanaz's face before it was replaced with a glint of bemusement. The human was more resilient than he thought.

He could sense the latter's energy waning and even dodging took a great toll on them, yet they refused to fall.

'This is getting interesting, Most would have fallen after the first blow. But let's see... how much more you can endure' A chuckle escaped his lips.

The ground trembled once more, and Vordanaz raised his hand, his gaze alight with twisted pleasure.

He wasn't even close to exerting himself yet; it was beneath him to take a human seriously. But this one—he deserved a bit of fun.

With a flick of his fingers, he summoned the winds again, this time in a swirling vortex that surged with both wind and stone, a maelstrom of tempest and destruction.

The storm spun, gathering speed until it became gigantic whirling snakes that rushed towards his opponent with ruthless precision.

On the other hand, Simon darted and dodged, each movement narrowly evading the incoming snakes of destruction. From starting his eyes never left the Duke and they monitored each of his movements to the very last detail.

For Vordanaz, it was all as effortless as flicking a hand. The destruction was instantaneous and profound, and the magic a beguiling sight to behold. To him, these spells required no focus, no incantation. It was as if what he was throwing were simple and beginner magic.

However, make no mistake each and every magic that the Demon Duke threw his way was all high level advanced magic and even amalgamation magic that would usually require one a lenghty amount of concentration time and incantation.

Even with [Chant Shortening], [Shadow Chant] or other rare skills, it was practically difficult to imitate what the duke in front of him was doing.

BOOM… a tremor shook the earth beneath his feet. Cracks split open the ground, and storm snakes erupted from below, all locked in on him.

Vordanaz was relentless, hurling one spell after another as if testing his resilience, each attack more devastating than the last.

As he dodged all of the attacks, he couldn't help but wonder how the other party was doing that. How was he able to cast so many super high level spells so quickly and without any effort?

Simon had fought his way to the Demon Marquess rank and had even faced three of the Seven Kings. He'd thought he understood what a Demon Duke's strength would be, assuming their realms were similar in scope.

However, all of his perception was thrown awry now that he was actually locked in a fight against a Demon Duke.

All of his delusion was swept away when he realised the realm the Demon Duke in front of him stood. Whether it be level, skills, experience, or the usage of his abilities it was on a whole different realm than him.

Even if Simon wanted to, he could not imitate the action of the duke even with his skills that was said by Irene to be beyond his rank.

Vordanaz wasn't just casting spells; he was manipulating the very attributes of the world to his will, seamlessly weaving advanced Tempest and Tremor magic without any pause or incantation.

It was as natural to him as breathing.