Dungeon of Pride, Laplace

The dragon clan weren't fools, they understood how much allure each part of their bodies held towards the member of other races. Regardless of that, how were they able to roam free across the world and establish themselves as one of the peak clans in this world?

It was because of their might. The powerful bloodline of the dragon clan bestowed them with a powerful body. Not only that, a dragon was one of the apex beings of this world who have already reached the peak of their evolution since their birth.

That is to say, they are born powerful and their bodies need not go through an evolution like the other beasts of this world to reach their ultimate stage. That is not all, due to their bloodline the skills and power of a dragon are not something that just any beast in this world can match.

Even though she knew that Simon had the backup of relying on that legacy technique and the dragon aura of that girl inside his body, she was still a little concerned. One cannot say how a battle would turn out, especially when one's opponent was a dragon.

"Alright, I will head out now".

Seeing that Irene wasn't saying anything, Simon was just about to walk past her when he felt a pair of cold hands that were soft yet delicate, gently grab his wrist.

Her shapely white hand felt smooth to the touch, her fingers and those well-maintained nails had an endless allure.

Simon turned around to face Irene when he felt her touch. This was the first time Irene had initiated a physical contact on her own.

A couple of seconds passed, the two gazed at each other when suddenly Irene realised her hand was still grabbing onto Simon, she quickly released it.

A turmoil of emotion faintly flashed in her eyes before it was frozen and suppressed once again.

"Take this with you" Irene extended her hand and plucked an azure blue strand of her hair from her head. She then extended her finger and that strand of hair immediately flew towards Simon and entwined around the index finger of his right hand.

This sudden action by Irene, took him by surprise, he looked at the index finger of his right hand and noticed that her hair coiled around his finger like a ring. This strand of hair other than having that rare azure blue colour appeared ordinary.

"Always keep that with you" Irene spoke and revealed a rare smile that was like a powerful spell that could enrapture the heart of any creature of this world.

Simon nodded his head and did not ask her about it. For some reason, Simon felt that she didn't want him to ask her about it. Thus he turned around, opened his main menu and teleported away.

The moment Simon disappeared, Irene's face which maintained a smile, paled immediately. Her body shivered intensely, blood streaked out from the corner of her mouth. Even her aura at this moment had become extremely frail.

A mysterious phoenix marking like a crown appeared on her forehead and suppressed the turmoil in her body. Nevertheless, each time that phoenix markings appeared, her eyes would become hollow and lost as if she was recollecting something that had been forgotten.

Counting the number of times the phoenix marking appeared on her forehead, it had already been two times. And each time the phoenix marking appeared, Irene's aura seemed to have increased significantly.

-----

Wind whistled by, the refreshing air of the early morning brushed past Simon's body. He flapped his wings and soared through the air. His speed was so fast that he was like a black streak cutting through the sky.

After experiencing that big jump in level, Simon felt he was much stronger than before, every cell, and every muscle in his body was brimming with energy. He was itching to try his powers on someone to see the current limit of his strength.

Other than that, there was also this mysterious feeling of approaching an invisible threshold. Simon's current rank was demon viscount, usually for a demon noble like him with an impure bloodline, that would be the ceiling of his growth.

That is to say, Simon was quickly approaching the peak of his current rank which was level 500. Most of the demon viscounts who were fortunate enough to grow to such heights, were stuck in this level for dozens of years or even centuries, unable to make any progress after that.

If somebody were to ask these people why were they unable to progress any further than this level, all of them would recount that they seemed to have arrived before an enormous wall that did not budge no matter what they did.

Simon who was hurriedly approaching that limit, could vaguely feel that wall ahead of him. The wall that was the barricade that barred him from going any further, the bloodline limit.

However, Simon wasn't worried about that limiting him, he had the [Main Menu] with him. This thing along with the fragment of pride was his biggest support and most deeply guarded secret that would help him to reach the sort of level and power, he desired.

While Simon was having these thoughts, he quickly approached the northern region of the forest. The landscape below him quickly changed and before long he had arrived near a familiar place.

Simon bitterly smiled as he recalled the incident that happened here more than a year ago. At that time Simon who had just reincarnated into this world, thought of himself as unbeatable and someone who could look down on all creatures.

The low level monsters around him further boosted that ego of his, he was just like a naïve young demon baring his fangs at everyone and anyone that he saw.

It was only after he met the Earth Shattering Lower Dragon and went to the Walpurgis, that he truly understood the vastness of the word and that he was just a frog looking at the world from inside a well.

As a matter of fact, that experience and everything that he had to go through up until now forged his character and wiped that naivety away from him. Simon understood that the Earth Shattering Lower Dragon represented the toughest challenge out of all the three overlords and would be a strong opponent to beat.

However, Simon too was a tough nut to crack. He had his own pride and he would not shy away from challenging the opponent he had once run away from.

The Earth Shattering Lower Dragon might be strong but it wasn't like he did not stand a chance. As long as that mysterious adult dragon did not intervene, Simon had the confidence to beat the Earth Shattering Lower Dragon even without the aid of curse energy.

As these thoughts ran inside his head, Simon fixed his gaze on the distant lonely mountain that stood tall and mightily in the middle of the forest. He then looked at the ground below him, if he proceeded a few more meters forward, he would be entering the territory of one of the three overlords of the northern region.

PHEW... Simon exhaled a deep breath and walked forward, the moment he stepped foot inside his territory, that guy had already perceived his presence. A heavy pressure like a hundred foot huge wave came barrelling at him from the distant mountain.

Nevertheless, it wasn't able to stop Simon as he simply walked forward. If it was before, he wouldn't have been able to sense its presence but now that he was swiftly approaching the peak of demon viscount, he could clearly feel it.

That enormous giant like aura that was resting inside that mountain. The sheer volume of that aura was so huge that it was enough to cause others to feel a heavy suppression.

"No wonder everyone was afraid of the dragon clan, what a ridiculous amount of mana this guy has" Simon muttered, being a race that was sensitive to mana, he could naturally tell that his opponent was one troublesome fellow.

"The pressure earlier should be a warning from that guy. Heh, did he really think that he can scare me with just that?" Simon continued to advance ignoring the warning.

Soon after, he was before that gigantic mountain that was much too familiar in his mind.

'It's coming!'

The gigantic mountain started to tremble causing the ground near to form numerous cracks. The cracks continued to become bigger and bigger until they formed a deep gully inside the earth.

Simon hurriedly braced himself and focused on the dark deep gully. Moments later, a thunderous roar that was enough to scare the monsters, resounded across this part of the forest.

TREMBLE... TREMBLE...

The trembling intensified and the thing hiding inside the earth, finally showed its appearance. An enormous claw decked with rugged stone scales clawed out, followed by a humungous body.

That body was easily bigger than a hundred meters, it had large spiky rocks like scales protruding from its gigantic body. Two draconic eyes that were filled with ancientness and profundity slowly opened.

The being raised its head and roared towards the heaven causing a small shockwave in the process. A wide jaw and spear-like teeth could be seen from the slight opening of its mouth.

Two sharp horns that looked like millennial old rocks protruded from its head. The top of its body is covered in rounded scales and a row of enormous spiky crystals run down its spine. Its bottom was covered in smooth skin and was coloured much lighter than the rest of its body.

Four thick limbs carried its oversized frame emanating an aura of a sturdy ancient mountain. Its large barbed tail was connected to a round spiky stone that looked like a flail. The being in front of him was none other than the Earth Shattering Lower Dragon from his memories.