Dungeon of Pride, Laplace

The surprise in Irene's eyes quickly turned into joy, then after a few seconds those very eyes became angry and then changed into calm. The transition was fast and the cycle repeated for quite a while.

Simon could see Irene's lips moving, she was saying something but because his senses were still numb, he couldn't hear anything. Though that may be the case, it wasn't hard for him to make out what she was trying to say from the various expressions she was showing.

Simon looked at her for a while before he found his eyelids becoming heavier and drowsiness took hold of him, he fell asleep.

The next time he opened his eyes, he saw Annette sitting next to him, taking care of him. After Annette, it was Bea and then Emma, Bianca, and Alice.

The person taking care of him changed every time he opened his eyes but the scenery around him remained the same.

How long had passed? Simon could tell that he was recovering; however, the rate of his healing was so slow, that one could barely tell the difference.

From when he first regained consciousness till now, many days must have passed, yet he still felt that outlandish pain all over his body. Forget about moving his body, just twitching his fingers posed an enormous challenge.

He was still stuck in bed day and night. Simon could see the look of concern in the eyes of those close to him. Every time they visited him, they would either try to keep their emotions in check, try to liven up the mood by talking to him or cry beside his bed, bawling their eyes out.

Days passed by with him barely making any progress. If he had to explain his healing rate, it would be 0.0001% every day. If this goes on, who knew how long it would take him to recover completely?

It was not like Simon did not have concerns and worries of his own, there were still mountain loads of things that he needed to do. However, his body felt foreign, it did not listen to him at all.

He tried to will his body every day, tried to maintain a positive attitude, thinking that his many regeneration and recovery skills would surely heal him. But that was just his hopeful thinking, Simon himself knew what condition his body was in.

It was completely destroyed to the point of no return. It was a miracle that he was still alive even after that. His current condition was no different than a cripple, there was no mana inside him.

If he had to describe it, his glass that was the vessel, was cracked and half broken. Forget about being able to hold water i.e. the mana, even if he could gather it, it simply fell off. It was no wonder that his many regenerative skills were not working.

In his current state, Simon could hardly be called alive. The powerful body of a Demon viscount that was made of mana itself, was unable to hold it. From this, one could tell the degree of injury that Simon had suffered.

Days flew by and as the gravity of the situation dawned on him, his hollow eye became more and more blank by the day. He was starting to lose hope, an aura of despair emitted out of him.

He was taken care and visited by his subordinates every day who hoped he would get better and talked to him. But Simon was no longer looking at them. He was starting to hit his mental limits, his spirit was starting to waver.

What if he strayed like this forever? This state which was no different than a vegetative state was a torture far worse than dying.

Who knows how long will it take to heal? Would he even heal and even if he healed, would he go back to his former condition?

Simon was tormented by these thoughts of his. It was not like he didn't try anything, he tried to open [Main Menu] but even that didn't work. He was unable to move the muscles of his body nor utter any coherent sounds from his throat.

How would he be able to call the [Main Menu] out in his condition?

He also thought that he could fasten the rate of his healing by drinking a couple of healing elixirs but his subordinates have been doing just that all this time. The medicinal liquid he is been fed every day was in no way inferior to the elixirs from the [Shop].

Yet even then he was unable to recover.

Given all this, it was only natural that Simon fell into despair. He could see no hope of recovering; he was starting to give up all hope and even thinking about dying.

He was unable to call out the [Main Menu] which was his one and only hope out of this, made him despair more.

Until one day, while Simon lying on his bed. He couldn't tell if his eyes were open or closed because there was only darkness all around him both literally and metaphorically.

What was he supposed to do? Even if he survived like this, his future was nothing but bleak. It was not like he couldn't predict what would happen to a dungeon whose dungeon master was out of commission.

With time as more and more powerful enemies flooded in, the dungeon would soon reach a point where it would be unable to repel the invaders and before long it would be captured.

Worse, what would happen to his subordinates? The forest spring spirits living inside his dungeon.

The promises he made, the lofty goals he set for himself. Simon felt as if everything he had done and achieved up until now was breaking apart. The more he thought about it, the more it agonised him.

Why did the second fragment of pride bring him back in this condition? It could have said something or just let him die. It would have been far better if he had just let himself fade into that dream.

That way he wouldn't have to agonise every second like this.

Hold Up!... just as Simon was regretting over his choice, he remembered the words the second fragment of pride told him.

[I know what you want to ask me. Why did I show you that dream? The reason is simple, it is to test whether you are ready for what is to come. Possessing the fragments of pride is not as simple as you think. There will be many tribulations and disasters coming your way in the future, and an unbending and strong willpower is needed to overcome them].

Before the second fragment of pride sent his consciousness back to his body, these were the words it said to him.

Was his current condition one of the obstacles it was talking about? Even if it was, what did it want from him? It was not like he could do anything in his current state.

Even if he had an unbending and strong willpower, how was it going to help him in the condition he was in?

"All I want to tell you is that, you still have a chance to correct things, nothing is over yet. You can still overcome your regrets from both past and present lives" Simon also recalled what the demon told him.

Both of them subtly pointed out at something.

This was not the end, if it was, they wouldn't have told him all those things. Light slowly returned inside his hollow eyes that had given up all hope.

It was too soon to give up, he at least had to do everything in his power before thinking about dying. But what is it that he could still do in his current state? What was inside his body that could aid him at this moment?

When Simon's train of thought led him till here, he soon realised what it was that he haven't tried.

There was something inside his body, something that was no less mysterious and formidable than the [Main Menu] itself. He haven't given it any thought until now but wasn't there still the two fragments of pride inside him?

Although he didn't understand much about them being some part of a greater constellation, but if they were filled with Divinity and Spirituality, shouldn't they be able to somehow help him in his current situation?

Holding onto his last hope, Simon desperately reached out to the fragments of pride inside him. At that moment, his consciousness saw the two glowing stars in the formation glow brighter and brighter until the vast expanse of space was covered in their starlight.

At the same time, a powerful energy surged inside Simon's body. His veins, muscles and body started glowing with the same starlight and his critical injuries, even the most precarious ones that rendered him crippled, started healing at a rate that would leave all bystanders gawking.

His bones grew anew, his torn muscles regenerated, his ligaments strengthened and new veins destroying the old ones formed.

His outer skin wiggled and crawled as if it was some kind of unique life form, expanding and contracting again and again. This was no healing, the process could only be called as being reborn once again.

The rate at which Simon was transforming was visible to the naked eye. The person in question himself felt as if hundreds of millions of nano ants crawling on his body, biting and transforming him.

This phenomenon had occurred before too, specifically during the trials he faced in the Ancient Treants territory.

During his last step, when Simon lost consciousness, the fragment aided him and repaired his body just like how it was doing right now.