Dungeon of Pride, Laplace

"You two have the permission from my king to pass" after saying that, Balsa became motionless and did not dare block their path for the second time.

A path was cleared out by the surrounding treants and led to the depths of the Ancient Treant territory where the clansmen of Cecilia were currently taking refugee. Additionally, it was also the deepest place of the Ancient Treants territory where the Ancient Titan Treant resided.

"Hmph, you shouldn't have obstructed us in the first place. See how I tell your king about all your bad conduct" Cecila pointed at Balsa and released all her frustration. She was truly annoyed by the treant who not only slighter her big brother, but also tried to harm.

Unlike before, the ancient treant didn't dare to retort and just stood there silently enduring all her verbal abuse. Right after releasing all her frustration, Cecilia hurried Simon as they trod on the path that was opened for them.

Nobody dared to obstruct them and before long, the thick foliage of the forest ended and the brilliant light of the night sky came into view.

The three moons hung in the sky, brightening the place with their beautiful moonlight. Gigantic roots like a complex web protruded from the ground as far as the eye could see.

A large clearance with a small settlement made out of bamboo that looked like there were recently made came into view in the distance. There was no doubt, this was the place where the surviving members of the Forest Spring Spirits were living.

However, what stole Simon's sight was not the village of the forest spring spirits but the titanic tree that towered everything around it.

If the Ancient Treants were humongous with more than five hundred meters in height, then the tree in front of them dwarfed even them and was absolutely a towering presence in and itself.

The tree at the centre was more than three times taller than the likes of Balsa and its trunk was so wide that it cast a huge shadow across the forest for miles. The enormous roots that spread for dozens of miles or maybe across the entire Ancient Treants territory was from this titanic tree.

However, what felt odd was that the tree was starting to dry out and die. It had very few branches compared to the other ancient treants and most of its leaves had fallen out. A desolate aura seemed to radiate out of the tree.

This was the Ancient Titan Treant, the being which was able to make the likes of Balsa subservient to it? Though Simon had his doubts, there was nothing more striking than the tree near the surrounding.

"Big brother let's hurry... I can feel the presence of my clansmen there" Cecilia was so excited to find her people that she wanted to sprint there right now.

"Yeah" nodding his head, Simon hurried along.

The new settlemt of the Forest Spring Spirit was made from bamboo just like in their previous village. What was different was that there were very few houses and the atmosphere inside the place was quite solemn and gloomy.

The surviving Forest Spring Spirits no longer had their previous cheerful nature and their eyes were blank and aggrieved. Their race had suffered a huge calamity and lost many of their loved ones. They were distraught and didn't even know if there was anyone else who had survived from their clan. Although they were now under the protection of the Ancient Treants, they had already suffered a loss so great that it was difficult to fill.

The current lifestyle of the Forest Spring Spirits was devoid of any life and couldn't be said as living anymore.

Simon furrowed his brows and looked at the lustreless eyes of the remaining Forest Spring Spirits. Although one of his goals of searching for the adult forest spring spirits was achieved, he didn't know whether they would be able to educate the children as they are now. To him, they appeared just like dolls who had their strings cut.

Cecilia who saw her clansmen in this condition, couldn't stop the tears from pouring down her eyes. She ran towards the settlement while shouting "Uncle Agave, Aunt Daphne, Sister Aralia, Grandpa Fennel… everyone are you alright?"

Everyone who heard their names being suddenly called, turned their heads around from their seats and gazed towards the outskirts where the voice came from. Their lustreless eyes started to shine a little when the figure of Cecilia came into their vision.

"C-Cecilia is that you?" a middle-aged pretty lady whose face held a bit of resemblance to Cecilia ran towards her and hugged her tightly into her bosom.

When Cecilia felt the warmth that was being transmitted to her, she cried like a broken damn. Tears stained her clothes but the pretty lady didn't mind it and instead hugged her even tighter.

"Cecilia I'm so glad you survived… I'm so glad… so glad" tears glimmered in her eyes as she held the figure of Cecilia close to her.

"Where were you? Are you hurt? It must have been difficult to survive all alone in this dark forest" the pretty lady examined Cecilia, her voice full of worry and concern. "Un-uh I'm not hurt aunt Daphne" after hearing Cecilia, the lady named Daphne finally sighed relief.

It was also at this moment when the others also caught up to them as they bombarded her with questions. Their voice was full of worry and concern like Daphne.

"Cecilia so you had survived! I cannot thank heavens enough for this" An old man that seemed to be the eldest among here observed Cecilia, his aged eyes glimmered with relief. He was the one Cecilia called out as grandpa Fennel and was the only elder amongst the Forest Spring Spirits that managed to survive.

"Good… good it's good that you are back" He patted Cecilia's head and gave her a reassuring smile.

Gazing at the stars in the night sky, grandpa Fennel muttered "Patraich your soul can finally rest in peace now. Your beloved daughter has returned back to us. All of you who have died protecting these young ones, you can now peacefully continue your future journey. Our clan still has hope".

Aunt Daphne propped herself back before saying with a smile "You must be hungry? Have you eaten anything? Come insde aunt will make you a delicious meal and we can talk later… Eh?".

Her voice jolted the other as they hurriedly looked towards the direction where Daphne was staring. It was at this moment that they realised that there was someone else who was following behind Cecilia.

Looking at his appearance and his striking features, many of them were frightened solid. Unable to make any noise.

The person following Cecilia had eyes so crimson that they were piercing in the darkness of the night. Pale white skin, a devilishly handsome face and a pair of tattoos that looked like some ancient runes shining with a golden black radiance on his body.

His appearance was already conspicuous but the most striking part was the two jagged horns on his head. There was no doubt, the man was a demon noble through and through.

As soon as the forest spring spirits saw the demon, they became stunned before hurriedly raising their guard. To them, it didn't matter if it was a demon or a human. After suffering a tragedy where most of their clansmen were dead, these Forest Spring Spirit were guarded againts all the other species.

It was natural that they would look at Simon with unfriendly eyes. Nonetheless, Simon didn't mind it at all and on the contrary, approved of their behaviour. If only they were as guarded before, a tragedy like that wouldn't have happened.

Cecilia who saw her clansmen suddenly becoming unfriendly towards Simon hurriedly tried to stop them. "Everyone please rest assured big brother isn't someone who will hurt us" she explained.

"Big brother? Cecilia, what do you mean?" Fennel who was the only elder amongst them stepped out and ask.

Seeing that her clansmen were curious as to why she was calling him big brother, she explained further "It is like this…".

Cecilia told them everything about what happened after they left the village, how her father the patriarch sent her away using his skills and how she came to meet with Simon.

She excitedly told about the part where they grandly stormed into their village and saved her friends who were enslaved from the clutches of those evil adventurers.

"And you know with a bang, big brother instantly defeated those villains…" the villagers silently listened to her soliloquy, sometimes making a stunned expression, sometimes a trace of gratitude flashed in their eyes.

After she finished her childish explanation, all the villagers were looking at Simon in a different light. They had never imagined that Cecilia had gone through a lot in such a short time. Not to mention the demon who had treated and sheltered her even while knowing that she was being targeted.

His actions to save the children enslaved back in their village had won their hearts. The favour he had shown to them, couldn't be explained with just words. It didn't matter the person in front of them was a demon, it was exactly this person who had helped them in their most desperate of times.

The Forest Spring Spirits wanted to express their gratitude some more as they surrounded Simon.. At this time, grandpa Fennel stepped forward and said "Why are you all still not inviting the benefactor inside? Is this how our Forest Spring Spirit Clan shows their thanks?".