Dungeon of Pride, Laplace

"Why did you call me here? What do you need from me?... I know it was you who called me here, who are you?" His voice echoes out everywhere and just like before, there was complete silence.

Nobody answered his question and just when Simon was starting to think that this was all just a dream, the ringing sound in his head stopped before sounding out once again.

The noise was intermittent and was not as sharp as before. It was as if the noise was trying to tell him something but unfortunately, he did not speak the language of [TEEEEEEE]. There was little to nothing he could understand from it.

Simon could only try and guess what its intentions were for trying to call him here.

"Do you need something from me?" He asked and the answer he got was yet another [TEEEEE]. Taking that as a yes, he asked another question

"Were you the one who called me here?".

[TEEEE]…

"I see" It was quite a peculiar scene seeing Simon converse with a sound that was as monotonous as ever. But what was more astounding was that he was having a decent conversation with it. One might even wonder if Simon really did speak the language of [TEEEEEE].

"So you are telling that you were the one who brought me here?... So that's how it is. Huh! Go forward? Is there something there?".

Simon started walking as per the request of the sound. After what felt like a long while, Simon arrived near a place that was shrouded in a mysterious light. He couldn't make out the object that was there nor its shape.

But what he was sure about was that it was no ordinary object.

Ba-dump… Ba-dump… Ba-dump… the object pulsed as if alive and it was emitting an energy so pure that Simon had never felt something like that. The object was shining with a dull golden light that was so hot that it felt just like the core of the sun. the heat was so great that Simon felt that his body would melt if he approached any closer.

The moment he saw the object at the centre of this mysterious white space, for some reason the heart in his chest, started pounding at an insane rate.

Simon did not know why but for some unknown reason, the object felt very familiar to him. Even though he had never seen this object before now. It was also at this moment, the ringing noise in his head disappeared.

Simon did not know why that noise wanted to show him something like that nor did he knew its intention for bringing him here.

"What is that thing?" pointing at the object, he asked. However, unlike before there was no longer any sound in his head that was trying to communicate with him. He tried to call it a few more times but to no avail.

It was as if right after arriving in this place, that ringing noise mysteriously disappeared. Now left all alone, he did not know what to do, neither did he did not know how to get out of this peculiar space.

Simon couldn't help but worry about what might be happening outside at this moment while he was still stuck here. Would they think that he had failed right before completing the last step? Or was the trial still going on? He did not know how long had passed since he came to this mysterious space, but according to his estimates, more than three days might have passed since he was stuck here.

During these three days, all the injuries on his body had healed and he was back to his peak form. Although it was just his astral body that was here. His physical body was still out there. Three days was a long time, by now even if he was unresigned to lose in such a way, he had no other choice.

The trial set by Aldebaran would have been long over by now.

"Dammit… Just one step. If only I was not stuck in this goddamn place I would have willed all of my power to finish the last step even if I had to break every bone in my body in the process" Simon lamented. "Will I be going back to my dungeon without bringing Cecilia with me? Damn… if only I had enough strength… damn… damn…"

He punched at the space below but his power wasn't even able to create a single ripple. The space here was even more profound and mysterious than the land near the Ancient Titan Treant. Without enough strength, he can't even get out of here.

Strength… Strength… Strength, if only he had strength, then all this would have not happened. Just as he was getting more and more frustrated, the dull golden light coming from the object at the centre of the white space, shined upon him.

His whole body felt as if he was bathing in an energy so pure that every pore in his body rejoiced in excitement. Just as he was rejoicing in this feeling, the mysterious white space disappeared and his senses returned to his body.

Right after Simon fell down and lost his consciousness, Aldebaran and Fennel who were observing him with their taut gazes sighed in regret.

He was so close to victory, if only Simon could take another step, he would have won the wager between him and Aldebaran. But it seemed that taking the tenth step was asking far too much from someone of his level.

Aldebaran felt a pang of guilt seeing that the man had succumbed under the pressure of the tenth step. He had finally found a genius that had been chosen by one of the fragments plus with a character like that his future potential was unlimited.

He regretted his choice of setting the trial so that even a peak rank Demon Earl would have difficulty taking the last step. Truth be told, Aldebaran quite liked the character of Simon after the repeated display of his incredible willpower and determination. Along with the fact that his master the current reincarnation of Forest Spring Royal Spirit was the one who chose Simon, there was no way his nature would be evil.

Seeing that Simon was not waking up even after five whole minutes have passed, Aldebaran wondered if he should have relented when the young man was being so resolute about protecting Cecilia and the forest Spring Spirit clan.

Cecilia's tears finally burst out of her dam after she saw that her big brother's body became unmoving after the ninth step.

"Just one more step… big brother you can do it" she desperately prayed. But no matter how long she prayed, Simon body that had fallen unconscious, refused to wake up. She saw how badly hurt his body was and couldn't help but get out of the barrier erected by Aldebaran and dash towards Simon.

He was hurt once again because of her. As these thoughts ran inside her head, she couldn't help but blame herself once again. Due to her lacking strength, it was always her big brother that got hurt because of it.

She had enough of watching Simon get hurt because of her. She wanted her powers to quickly awaken so that she could be of help to her brother instead of just observing from the sidelines. The seven-coloured tiny speckles of light surrounding her brightened a little as if following her wish.

The minute changes was so inconspicuous that it went unnoticed, even from the Ancient Titan Tree.

Just as Cecilia was about to reach Simon's unconscious body, a wave of energy so pure that it even gave them chills, burst out of him. The magnitude and purity of the energy was so profound that it wasn't something a body of Demon viscount could hold.

The burst energy generated a great storm as thick dark clouds suddenly loomed over the sky.

"Not good," Aldebaran said as he hurriedly shielded Cecilia with his powers right before the storm hit her.

BOOOOM… dozens of kilometres of land instantly cracked. The land which was hundreds of times sturdier cracked from the energy which simply passed by, showcasing its immense might.

Aldebaran was trembling, the titanic body of the Ancient Titan Treant was trembling. He was not shocked by the might of the energy, but by its aura. After all, he was very familiar with the aura that burst out of Simon.

"How can this be?... No this is impossible, I must have sensed it wrongly. There is no way the fragment that chose this young man is the fragment of pride" Aldebaran exclaimed, his voice quivering.

He tried sensing the pure energy that burst out of the young man once again. But no matter how many times he repeated the process, there was no hiding the truth.

Aldebaran went silent as myriads of thoughts ran inside his head. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. He never expected the fragment that the young man possessed was actually the fragment of pride. The very same fragment which his lord used to possess and disappeared along with him.

In his thousands of years of life, Aldebaran had seen many demons possessing the fragments to become the next Demon Lord. He had seen the fragments changing owner when the previous one died.

But never from the ancient times was there a new holder of the pride fragment nor was there any news about it. That was until now.. The young man in front of him definitely possessed the Fragment of Pride, he was not mistaken.