NOVPUBChapter 376 -309: Searching for the Dungeon
Although he had only seen it on the map, the shape of that lake was very similar to Lamborado Lake, so the other side of the portal must be located at the palace of Cang Ye on Mother Mountain. That meant, as long as he crossed through this massive portal, Lancelot could return to Androlina.
But now was clearly not the time to leave; there was still a companion whose whereabouts were unknown.
He carefully observed the hall below, where six Succubi stood guard in different directions around the conspicuous portal, with other demons patrolling outside the hall. Obviously, the discipline of these enemies below was not too shabby; they hadn鈥檛 been lured away by the chaos above and were still steadfast at their posts.
Despite his confidence in his own strength, Lancelot was not so arrogant as to think he could handle six Succubi. He might be able to take out one with a surprise attack and then strain every nerve to kill another, but unless he could grow two more pairs of arms like a Serpent Demon, there was no way he could simultaneously deal with the remaining four enemies.
After all, the Succubi were over ten feet tall humanoid beasts, weighing up to five thousand pounds, not to mention a pair of pincers capable of snapping trees. Even though he was a Cultivator in the Foundation Establishment Stage, he had to be extremely cautious when facing such demons, aiming to take them down in one blow rather than two, essentially not giving the enemy a chance to counterattack.
He had been subjected to the Succubus鈥 command shock before; though he hadn鈥檛 suffered any real harm thanks to the protection of the small bamboo slip, he had no desire to experience that feeling of someone banging drums and gongs in his ear again.
...
Moreover, from this experience, the bamboo slip鈥檚 protection of the mind was not infallible. In the end, it was just an item for recording and passing on cultivation techniques, not some sort of defensive magical treasure. If he grew dependent on it, he would undoubtedly suffer a severe setback in the future.
He couldn鈥檛 always expect Tijana to swoop in and save the hero, could he? If that were the case, Lancelot might as well not bother trying to get by in the Abyss鈥攈e should just find a block of cheese to bump into and kill himself.
Lancelot hid in the shadows along the wall, beginning his search for the passageway to the dungeon. He was pleased to find a staircase leading downwards at the end of the corridor, with no one guarding it. His Spirit Perception told him that the staircase led to a very deep place, and if he wanted to go to the dungeon, this staircase would be a good option to try.
Lancelot moved quickly and quietly down the steps, like a shadow, making almost no sound, and soon reached the lobby on the first floor. There was a Succubus guarding the exit, but fortunately, it was vigilant in the direction of the portal and had no reaction to the human who slipped by behind it.
The hall with the portal was like a divide; the environment above it was still decent, but as you went further down, both the smell and the atmosphere took a turn for the worse. The air was filled with a nauseating stench, a combination of decaying corpses and the foul odor that only comes from demons like the Coward Devil and Berserk Demon bathing in manure pits; the material of the surrounding walls had also transitioned from stone to bone, with some areas even sprouting flesh, which looked both bizarre and disgusting.
There were no guard demons at the exit to the next level down. Lancelot cautiously peeked out and saw a huge cave, his position a small platform on the cave wall. There was a plethora of cluttered structures within the cave, some resembling enlarged anthills, others reminding him of the slums in Mogrondale inhabited by demons.
Clearly, this was a nest built by the Low Rank Demons for themselves and also served as the barracks of the fortress. Lancelot saw Berserk Demons, demons of the Brey tribe, and Arrow Demons, all elite soldiers that occupied the best positions and areas; he also saw Ghouls, Crafty Demons, and Aberrant Demons鈥攁 little better than cannon fodder, with their nests in the middle part of the cave; at the very bottom were the habitats of the Coward Devils and Prime Demons, which looked more like corralled livestock.
潡堭潣佛潣潣?co
Lancelot knew that, if Kalalin were here, they would be fascinated by the scene before them. The class differences within demon society were seldom displayed so clearly; high rank demons seemed to never consider low rank demons as their kind, but rather as slaves to be ordered around at will. Anywhere else, dumping so many different demons together would have already resulted in a fight, but in Cang Ye鈥檚 castle, things seemed to have taken an interesting turn.
Through Lancelot鈥檚 inexpert eyes, it appeared that the Mother of Demons had used significant differences in treatment to exchange for high rank demons鈥 tolerance of low rank demons, thus achieving a not so peaceful coexistence of different ranks of demons.
Lancelot committed the scene he witnessed to memory, then quietly withdrew. Perhaps once back in front of Hagrid Manor鈥檚 fireplace, Scholar might be able to interpret something special from this picture, but that wasn鈥檛 his concern at the moment.
The human knight continued down the steps, encountering an obstacle on a level near the cave floor. A group of Coward Devils blocked the stairway, seemingly waiting for something. The chaos Lancelot had just created didn鈥檛 seem to reach this point, and it was clearly not fitting to swagger through a crowd of Coward Devils while disguised as a succubus鈥攕uccubi have their limits, and this wasn鈥檛 a place they would visit.
鈥淏oss, what do we do? Want to just kill our way through?鈥 the skull鈥檚 voice rang out again in his mind, 鈥淭he number of enemies doesn鈥檛 seem large, and there鈥檚 only one narrow exit. I can take care to block that spot. There are just some low rank demons around here, making a bit of noise shouldn鈥檛 attract any attention.鈥
鈥淟et me try to blend in first,鈥 Lancelot soothed, 鈥淒on鈥檛 do anything unless I make a move first.鈥
鈥淥kay, but how do you plan to do that?鈥 Cromwell was somewhat puzzled, 鈥淏ecome a succubus? I鈥檓 worried that might actually cause the Coward Devils to attack you immediately鈥︹€ 𝔫𝖔𝔳𝖕𝖚𝔟.𝔠𝔬𝖒
鈥淐ome over here,鈥 Lancelot patted his own shoulder, 鈥減retend to be another head of mine.鈥
鈥淵ou want to pretend to be another creature?鈥 the skull settled beside the neck of the human knight as instructed, 鈥淭he Coward Devils may be dumb, but they can still tell apart the scent of ogres from humans.鈥
鈥淗ow about this then?鈥
With a light chuckle from Lancelot, the next instant, the skull felt as though it was standing on the shoulders of a Barlow Flame Demon, that distinct aura was too memorable.
鈥淥ops, didn鈥檛 control it well, used a bit too much force,鈥 Lancelot shrugged, he immediately retracted the abyssal aura he had emitted, but the Coward Devils below still let out strangled screams and scattered in all directions. The noise in the surrounding caves vanished in an instant; all the demons looked around with confusion on their faces, wondering if the fleeting presence of a Demon King had been just their imagination.
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