Dungeon of Pride, Laplace



The seven kins each had their own agendas and territory they ruled. Of course, since their power was so great, they kept each other in check. No one was willing to fight the other and abdicate their throne.

Because of this, a unique equilibrium has formed among the seven kings. But that was before the alliance, the balance was thrown out of the window with the king of the black ogres and the queen of harpies making contact.

"Master, it looks like we are being surrounded once again. The queen must be planning to exhaust us by besieging us with their numbers" Annette reported landing beside him.

Simon nodded his head, he could already see the hordes of monsters encircling them from the Revenant crows who were acting as his eyes. As this place was the territory of the harpies, they had the territorial advantage. 

Not to mention being one of the king clans, they have many subsidiary clans under them. Trying to cut through their sheer numbers while trying to reach their queen who was probably sitting  at the centre of their territory, would be quite tough.

If they tried, they might be able to reach her; however, doing so would not only leave them exhausted, but it would also reveal their cards to their enemies. 

Right now, the advantage they had over their enemies, was that they are unaware of their exact strength. The queen of the harpies sending hordes of her subordinates towards him, was also to measure his strength. There was no way Simon was going to feed that information to her.

As such, their only option right now was to... "Clear our path behind, we will retreat for now. Once their numbers spread thin, we will mount the pressure again" Simon ordered. 

The Andromedas and the Valkyries immediately started clearing the monsters that were trying to encircle them from behind. Once they were out of the encirclement, they discreetly entered the Ancient Treants territory. 

The ruler of the Ancient Treants was an ally of Simon and after he passed the first trial of Aldebaran, he had been declared the friend of the ancient treants and given free reign to enter and exit their territory as he wished.

As such, when the Ancient Treants saw who the invader was, they did not make things difficult for him. And taking leverage of their ample presence, Simon and his party was easily able to hide from their pursuers.

Although the Ancient Treants led a slow ascetic life, they were nonetheless a dominant race and if placed in the food chain of the western region of the ghastly winding forest, they would rank at the very top.

There weren't many races that could shake their position. Because of this, the other king clans usually avoided the ancient treants territory. 

Additionally, situated in an advantageous location, there couldn't be any place for Simon and his party to avoid the eyes of one of the seven kings. The territory of the Ancien Treants was located in the middle of the western region which connected with the territories of all the other clans.

That is to say, he who could enter and exit the ancient treants territory as he wished, can traverse to the territory of the other seven kings without much trouble. 

Can there be any more advantageous position than this? Of course, as a form of courtesy for letting him do as he wants, Simon did not forget to visit the Ancient Titan Treant to thank the latter for his assistance during the incident with Valdris. And also to ask him what he thought about this whole alliance situation.

Aldebaran simply laughed at his concern and told him not to worry about it too much. The ogre king's alliance was nothing but a joke. many of the seven kings did not have a good relationship with the Ogre king as such. Hence it was foolish of him if he thought that he can pull the other seven kings into his banner.

"Oh?! The Queen of the Harpies accepted the invitation? Hmm, it is difficult to predict what that woman is thinking. Melinda was always a frivolous and calculating woman. I'm sure she has her own motive behind joining the alliance or is scheming something" Aldebaran murmured. 

Hearing his musings, Simon couldn't help but recall the information he gathered from the Revenant Crows.

"Could the King of the Black Ogres have something that the Queen of the Harpies desired?"

"Something that Gil-Garna possessed? Could it be the Six Nether's Flower? Hmm.. if there is anything that could entice that woman to move at this point, it would definitely be that flower. But that's odd, I felt the pulse of that flower going out a few months ago which other means the flower was absorbed or destroyed. so how is he planning to... interesting..."

Aldebaran who was muttering some stuff suddenly came to a realisation and made an amused face. His eyes then moved towards the demon as he made a crafty smile.

"If it's as you said, then listen carefully. This piece of information will definitely help you to break their alliance"

Simon locked his brows and carefully listened to Aldebaran's words. After a while, his frown loosened and a similar crafty smile crept to his face. 

"This is really an excellent piece of news. I thank Alder for the information" Simon thanked Aldebaran and passed him a space ring.

"This is?"

"I heard from Elder Fennel that Alder likes booze. The space ring is filled with various kinds of alcoholic drinks from my dungeon... a small gesture of thanks on my part" Simon replied. 

Aldebaran did not reject the gift and manner of factly opened it and started drinking. Seeing him already getting busy while muttering 'A nice gift', Simon turned around to leave.

He didn't know that this old treant was very fond of drinks. Fennel's advice to bring some booze for the Ancient Titan Treant when setting out on his journey proved to be quite helpful.

Simon was just about to leave the area when an old ancient voice rang beside him.

"If you are going after Melinda first, let me give you a piece of advice. Never let your back down around her. She is a very scheming person, so stay on your guard until you seal the contract. Also, avoid looking at her eyes at all costs".

"She might be the weakest of the seven kings when it comes to pure combat. All of her strength lay in her eyes. You might have already guessed what I'm trying to hint at yes? She is an Evil Eyes user and is well versed in ocular powers and seducing her prey to do her bidding" 

"Stay careful. That is all from me, I wish you all the best" Aldebaran gave him a few piece of advice before he left. Looking at his departing figure, the old treant gave a satisfied smile.

"He is a Demon  Earl already. Haha, he is growing at an unprecedented rate. Not to mention he has already gathered some powerful subordinates by his side. I can finally see why he was chosen, I believe it wouldn't be long before he steps into the Demon Duke rank. At that time, it would finally be the time to open that realm".

Aldebaran's eyes which were on the demon, shifted towards his original body standing at the centre of the territory. Although the tree looked majestic and grand, like a pillar connecting the heaven and earth at first glance, it was in fact slowly withering away.

There were no leaves on its branches and a part of its trunk was cracked.

"Lord Samael, Master… I now know how you guys felt at that time. Just like you have done for me, I shall do the same and support this young shoot who is yet to grow. Let me carve his path ahead so that he can inherit everything. This is the least I can do before my life comes to an end".

Haha... Aldebaran laughed as he drank the bottle of liquors that Simon gave him.

  -----

"Master you are back"

Once Simon was back the Valkyries immediately surrounded him and started observing his body for any scratch or wounds.

"I told you, the Ancient Titan Treant is an ally. He will not try to harm me".

It was because of this very reason that Simon had to order his subordinates to stay here while he visited Aldebaran alone. The Valkyries who had seen him go through the trial set by Aldebaran from that unique realm, were showing faint hostility towards the latter.

Even when he tried to tell them that he was an ally, they weren't convinced. Thus he had no choice but to make this trip alone.

"If you say so"

Annette breathed a sigh of relief after seeing there was not a single scratch on his body. Knowing that the Valkyries were concerned on his behalf, Simon could only smile helplessly and change the subject.

He relayed the information he got from Aldebaran and prepared plans on how to better deal with the queen of harpies.

"So we have to make sure that we don't look at her eyes?"…

"That's right, according to Aldebaran she is able to manipulate her prey. It would make things unnecessarily difficult if one of us were to fall prey to her eyes and gets controlled. So let's avoid that"

"Other than that, it is also unknown what other kind of Evil Eyes she has. Make sure you guys use your skill to read the enemy's movements instead of looking at them" Simon cautioned.

Having information on your enemy even before they clashed, put them at an advantage. Simon did not want to lose that edge over a mistake.

That being said, the value of such information couldn't even be measured.