Dungeon of Pride, Laplace

"Big brother… what the matter?" Cecilia noticed that her big brother was lost in thought as he made a difficult expression.

Simon who was indulging in his thoughts snapped out of it after he was called out.

"It's nothing…" just when he was about to dismiss the issue, he thought about Cecilia's lineage and thought of a possibility that might help him enter the territory of the Ancient Treants. He believed that she might be able to aid him in that regard.

Although it was just a possibility, it was worth a try. Simon explained the situation and told her his idea of bringing the rest of her clansmen inside the dungeon.

Cecilia's eyes widened in surprise when she heard that Simon was planning to bring the other clansmen who have survived inside the dungeon. As far as she knew, some of her clansmen were able to escape since her mother paved the way for them by self-destructing her spirit orb.

She didn't know what happened to those who escaped inside the territory of Ancient Treants. Whether they successfully ran away from their pursuers… she couldn't tell since even her group of escapees which consisted of so many Forest Spring Spirits failed to escape.

Though the possibility was slim, Cecilia wanted to believe that some of her clansmen were successful in their escape and under the protection of the Ancient Treants. Thinking so Cecilia finally made her decision "Let me come along with you big brother".

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In one area of the western region of the Ghastly Winding Forest, humungous trees with branches so long that they even covered the very expanse of sky, densely packed the area.

The foliage was so thick that not even a ray of light could pass through. The only source of light was the mushrooms and moss growing in the area shining with multi-coloured lights.

Mysterious plants and herbs grew everywhere and not even a trace of monsters could be seen in the area.

Simon with Cecilia in tow passed through one area after another. The deeper he went, the stronger the foreboding feeling became. It was as if thousands of pairs of eyes were watching him from every corner. And to confirm his suspicions, they had been walking for quite a while and had not even encountered a single treant.

Simon's instinct told him that something was up; nonetheless, he continued marching forward. If worst comes to worst, he could just carry Cecilia and dash out of here.

Suddenly, the path ahead of them opened and a gigantic Ash-black tree blocked their path. "Big brother… that tree…" Cecilia who was beside him tugged his clothes and said in concern.

Even while just standing there, the humongous Ash-black tree emitted a heavy and sturdy pressure. However, even without her warning, he could tell that the gigantic tree ahead was no ordinary tree.

It was an Ancient Treant that had lived for quite a long time.

How could he tell? That was because the Analysis was barely able to show its race and level. A level 541 Ancient Treant was blocking his path.

From the surface, the tree just looked massively big with no other features to speak off. But to Simon, the tree seemed unmovable like a mountain. Its Ash-black bark seemed ancient and withered, but make no mistake its defence was so high that one look and Simon was aware that all the magic in his repertoire wouldn't even scratch it.

Suddenly the earth trembled and all the surrounding trees started swaying. The trunk of the humongous tree cracked open and two dark green eyes came into view.

The moment its eyes opened, a pressure so heavy that it suffocated Simon emanated out of the Ancient Treant. Cold sweat trickled down his body and all his sense were in full alert ready to make a move from the slightest disturbance.

As of now, there was still too wide a gap between them and Simon knew that if the Ancient Treant decided to become hostile, he would have no choice but to run away at full speed.

The eyes of the treant shined with a green light as they inspected the two of them. Even though he said two of them, the eyes of the Ancient Treant was only focused on Cecilia. Moments later, the trunk of the treant cracked open once again and a huge spiny mouth appeared.

"I am Balsa, one of the loyal servants of the Ancient Titan Treant. Young lady… we are ordered by our king to protect any Forest Spring Spirits coming here to seek help. Others from your race are already in our care. This is the territory of the Ancient Titan Treant, you need not fear anymore".

An old voice like a bell sounded out across the forest.

Cecilia immediately got excited when she heard what the Ancient Treant named Balsa said.

She was relieved that some of her clansmen managed to escape and were safe. With hopes lighting up in her eyes she pleaded.

"L-Lord Balsa can I see my clansmen who are under your care? After our village was massacred, those who managed to escape were pursued by humans. I don't know how many of them managed to survive. They must be worried about others, I wish to see and talk to them".

Simon was standing on the side, since he didn't want to intrude, he could just silently listen to their conversation.

The old voice of Balsa sounded once again "You don't need to add Lord. Since your Forest Spring Spirit clan is a friend of our king, you don't need to address me as such. Just Balsa is fine. As the loyal servant of my king I'm content with just that".

Right after saying that, the Ancient treant went silent for a while before the trees started mysteriously moving and creating a path. It appeared that Balsa was communicating with the surrounding trees.

However, the scene raised goosebumps all across Simon. His Analysis was continuously flaring, alerting him of the presence of multiple treants all around him.

The trees he thought ordinary, were actually treants that were hiding their presence. It was only now that he realised that they were being led towards Balsa. Even with his acute senses, he wasn't able to detect the presence of treants who were masking themselves as ordinary trees.

His body couldn't help but shudder when the realization struck him.

After what felt like a few minutes, a new path had been opened that led deeper towards the territory of the Ancient Treants.

"If you follow the path from here, you would be able to reach the place where your clansmen are young lady. It just so happens to be the safest place in the entire Ghastly Winding Forest since our king also resides there. Because your race has the favour of our king, all the treants in this forest will protect you. Even if we must lay our lives down in the process" Balsa said, his voice full of reverence whenever he talked about his king.

"Many thanks, elder. I will take my leave now and go meet with my clansmen. Our Forest spring spirit clan will never forget this favour" Cecilia said as she tugged Simon and followed the path that was created for them.

However, just when they took a few steps, the old voice of Balsa sounded once again.

"Stop".

Halting their steps, Simon and Cecilia turned towards the humungous Ancient Treant.

Cecilia asked respectfully "Is there something wrong elder?". She didn't know why the elder would stop them midway.

Balsa looked at Cecilia before his huge green eyes landed on Simon as he said, "You may pass, but the demon must go back".

Both Cecilia and Simon were stunned.

Creasing her delicate brows, Cecilia asked respectfully "I don't understand elder. This person is my big brother who has saved my life and is simply here to protect me. There shouldn't be any problem for him to meet my clansmen along with me".

Her tone even had a smear of anger as she insisted. However, The Ancient Treant named Balsa simply denied her.

"I cannot allow that. The king has only permitted the Forest Spring Spirit race to pass. The demon must go back. As for the matter of protection, you can be assured that as long as you are inside the ancient treants territory, nothing in this entire Ghastly Winding Forest can harm you. We treants are much more powerful than the likes of demon beside you".

The old voice of Balsa was filled with superiority that looked down on Simon. Why wouldn't he? The demon in front of him was just a weakling and he on the other hand was a level 541 Ancient Treant more than two thousand years old.

And more than that, he took pride in being one of the loyal servants under the Ancient Titan Treant.

Simon panicked for a second thinking that the odd feeling originating from his pride fragment whenever someone slighted him, would take control of his emotions once again. Fortunately, the fragment didn't trigger.

It seemed that comment of that level wasn't enough to activate the pride fragment. This on the contrary made Simon wonder what the bottom line was to trigger the fragment.

Although Simon wasn't affected by that remark, the same couldn't be said for Cecilia.. Anger flashed deep within her eyes when her big brother who had lent her a helping hand during her most desperate times and had been so nice to her and her clansmen, was looked down upon by someone they had just met.