Dungeon of Pride, Laplace

"Who knows, why should I even tell you that? An ant has its own way of defending itself. Don't tell me that the high and mighty king from the dragon clan is afraid? Kehehe... prepare yourself, earlier it was just the crystals on top of your body, my attacks won't stop until you kneel in front of me".

What a joke, the dragon was arrogant in front of him? Simon's words showed the latter who was the real ant.

He was not the same person he was when he faced the Earth Shattering Lower Dragon for the first time. He had ranked up, gone through multiple life and death battles that slowly filled his battle experience and forged his character.

It was a huge mistake on the part of the Earth Shattering Lower Dragon to underestimate him. Ultimately it allowed Simon to pull the rug out from underneath him.

The Earth Shattering Lower Dragon, was astonished, furious hearing the cold and condescending words of the demon. It was the overlord of the northern region of the forest, a dragon from the dragon clan.

Who out there would dare to look down on him? Even those incredibly strong beings living inside deep inside the forest, did not dare to. The demon was the first.

Kneel down? This type of humiliation was greater than killing itself for the Earth Shattering Lower Dragon. It was so furious that it could no longer think straight.

"Just because you managed to break my crystallised energy, doesn't mean that you have won? I shall see how long you are able to keep that smirk on your face demon. Those augmenting skills should soon be showing their repercussions. Let's see who has the last laugh after the effects of those skills wear out".

The Earth Shattering Lower Dragon was angered. However, it did not mean that all the reason flew out of his head. Just like how Simon was observing him, he too was observing Simon. His intelligent eyes allowed it to identify the sudden energy raise of his opponent was due to the superimposition of various augmenting skills altogether.

Given its intelligence, it understood the kind of backlash and strain that one has to go through for doing something as ridiculous as that. It was clearly counting on the time, waiting for the skill that buffed the demon to wear out.

At that time, he would be the final victor. The demon had made him suffer a huge loss, that crystal like rock on its body took dozens of years of accumulation deep underneath the ground to form. Now that it was broken, its power took a sharp drop.

Not only that, it has also pushed back his chances of moving up the class by dozens of years. It won't be able to quench this anger if he did not tear the demon apart with its very own claws.

Simon had a solemn look on his face, the dragon was indeed nothing like the other opponents he had faced. The other guy too knew his weakness. After activating all those augmenting skills, his body was under an enormous pressure, the berserk amount of mana surging within him threatened to burst out of his body.

This kind of forceful raise in strength had a timer and was a great detriment to his body. It would definitely leave some hidden sequelae behind. But so what? As long as he can make this concieted, arrogant dragon bow to him, it would all be worth it.

[Your emotions stirred the fragment of pride]

[The Fragment of Pride has been activated, all other emotions would be suppressed at this moment].

Simon felt his weary and giddy mind, suddenly clear up. Even the pain that he has been enduring all this while, swiftly faded. Make no mistake, his injuries and exhaustion did not heal up, it was just that under the influence of the fragment of pride all other things were suppressed and forgotten.

Of course, all of them would have their effects and rebound back once the effects of the fragment of pride disappeared. Nevertheless, for now Simon felt no longer restrained by that great increase in power.

Immediately, he conjured multiple magic of Infernal, Lightning and Gale elements and barraged the Earth Shattering Lower Dragon with it. He wanted to see how many scales on its body the dragon was ready to lose before it bowed its head in submission.

A wild clash where both parties were unwilling to back down against the other, erupted. While all this was happening, around a hundred kilometres away, there was a person in pale yellow clothes, seated on a rock on top of the mountain range.

He was a middle aged man, his eyes were closed, and he was in a meditative position like an unmoving boulder. Space fluctuated around him with every breath that he took and an aura like a calm sea, emitted out of him.

That person who had some peculiar yellowish scales protruding out from the corner of his eyes, arched his brows at this moment.

"Alder… if you have something to say, just say it. There is no reason for you to sneak up behind me like that is there?" he muttered without opening his eyes.

"Haha… dear me, it looks like I'm getting old. Even a junior like you can sense me approaching now" strangely that voice came from one of the towering trees behind the middle aged man.

A gentle breeze blew and all the trees around immediately became active. An emerald green light erupted out and the tree in the front wiggled before taking on a humanoid shape.

If Simon was here, he would immediately be able to tell that the shape of that humanoid tree resembled Aldebaran, the king of the ancient treants.

Finally, the middle aged man opened his eyes revealing two pairs of deep yellowish draconic eyes. When the eyes of the middle aged man opened, his aura which was like a calm sea, disappeared. "

Haha… it's been a long time since I last saw you, Valdris. That naïve brat from back then became strong" Aldebaran laughed and slowly approached the middle aged man named Valdris.

"That was more than a thousand years ago, stop treating me like a brat all the time, you old ghost" Valdris remarked, his face remained impassive. His body did not turn around nor did his eyes which were gazing at a particular place far into the distance.

The way his eyes were watching that place without moving was as if his eyes could penetrate through the space and can look far into the distance.

Aldebaran did not comment anything seeing his attitude, his old green eyes fixed on the same place the other person was watching.

TREMBLE… a small aftershock passed through the ground, disturbing the flora and fauna around this part. That aftershock wasn't the only one, numerous aftershocks travelled from the direction where two pairs of eyes were deeply fixed.

"What do you think?" Aldebaran suddenly asked, he did not provide any more context yet it was enough for Valdris to understand what the old ghost was talking about.

"He is capable; however, if he thinks that he would be able to subdue that fellow with force, then he is mistaken. If necessary, a dragon will choose death instead of submitting and living a life of shame".

Valdris opened his mouth to comment. His voice was resolute and unbendable as if he could tell what the outcome would be already.

"Haha… we don't know that yet. Miracles can happen anytime. I won't be surprised if something out of your expectation were to happen" Aldebaran's laughter rang out, he seemed to be much more positive about the situation.

"Hmph, a miracle is called a miracle because it does not occur often. I cannot see this situation going any other way. That junior of mine might be only in the middle of its juvenile stage but he is from our dragon clan nonetheless".

"Even if that demon is a little unique, he does not stand a chance. Once the buff from the numerous augmenting skills he has superimposed on himself wears out, it would be all too easy for a member of my tribe to deal with him".

Valdirs who was looking into the distance finally tore his eyes away from the scene and focused on the being that appeared beside him. The old ghost that refuses to die even after thousands of years goes with another name around this part of the land.

"You seem to be enjoying that title quite a bit. Don't tell me you are raising those upstarts who call themselves the seven kings of the forest?" .

Valdris smirked, there was condescension and ridicule in his eyes when he mentioned that title. From his point of view, this title of seven kings was all bullshit. It was like some kids playing with a title and trying to appear intimidating in the eyes of the adult.

"Hmm… you are not wrong. Although I do not like this title, I'm indeed raising those fellows. I believe they have some potential" Aldebaran gave his usual smile, he was not offended by the other party's ridicule.

Seeing that his comment didn't manage to faze Aldebaran even a bit, Valdris immediately lost interest. His eyes shifted back to that same place far into that distance.

"Although I do not know why you would be raising those troublesome fellows, I do not care. However, if they dare to covet the bloodline of a member of my tribe again, I wouldn't mind deposing some of those kings of yours from their thrones".

From his words, one could tell that Valdris had already engaged with some of the seven kings of the forest.

"Do whatever you like. It's not like I can control them or they listen to me anyways" Aldebaran was non-committal.