Dungeon of Pride, Laplace

"Do not be impatient, a Demon Earl isn't a rank that you could challenge yet. If we strictly talk about demon lineage, a demon earl is in the truest sense a true noble. Whereas, Demon Baron and Demon viscount are only considered false nobles. The reason being that a Demon earl's bloodline is very pure, their potential and strength are also very high. Many a times in demon hierarchy, you would find them as a closed subordinate or a butler of a superior ranking demon noble".

"If we talk in terms of strength, not even a dozen peak levelled Demon Viscount would be able to defeat or injure a Demon earl. You should know by now how hard it is to cross each hundred-level barrier. A Demon earl is someone who has breached level 500 and is on a realm far higher than you. I can tell you now, even if you used, that [A] rank sword of yours and even ignite the ancestral symbol at the risk of exposing it, you still won't be its opponent".

Adalinda stared him in the eye and reminded.

Simon kept his calm and did not say anything even after being made aware of the vast disparity between the ranks of a demon viscount and a Demon Earl. He knew that he wasn't a match for the demon earl; however that was only true so for right now, he believed that the disparity between them wouldn't remain the same in the future.

After resting for a while they decided to move. Now that Adalinda had found her disciple, there was no reason for her to keep staying on the central continent and since Simon had fulfilled his obligation he was free to return back.

"You sure you don't want me to return back to your dungeon?" Adalinda asked.

Simon shook his head and rejected her help, he already owed her a big favour for rescuing him from that situation, his pride won't allow him to keep being reliant on her. Plus after that display from Adalinda, he was sure that no one would come following him.

And since he knows the general direction for the way back to the city of Mountmend, he can just make the trip himself.

Lucine observed Simon and read his thoughts like an open book, she wanted to tell him something; however, when she thought that it would be good for him to realise it himself, she restrained herself back.

"Since you believe so, allow master to at least create a spatial tear for you. This way, you would be far away from the capital and out of reach of any possible pursuers and those two old fogies. Just take this favour from master and return it some other time, you don't want them to capture you again right? Using the spatial tear, you will be able to easily outrun them".

Hearing Lucine say all that, Simon finally decided to rely on their help one last time. He did not believe that someone who valued their life would come after him knowing that he had a powerful backer like Adalinda.

Then again, he did not want to meet those two humans over level 700, especially when his most powerful skill and trump card was in cool down.

Adalinda swiped her finger and created a spatial tear that covered dozens of kilometres. With this much distance between him and his pursuers, he was sure to be fine.

Just as he was about to jump into the tear, Lucine's soft words rang in his ears.

"Remember the humiliation you had to suffer today and use it as a driving force to become strong. If you want to strength, you might want to risk your life clearing the forbidden trial ground. I'm sure we will meet again, mister future demon lord".

When Simon turned back, the both of them were already gone. thousands of meters above the sky, the figure of Adlaidna and Lucine came into view once again.

"You sure you don't want to tell that simpleton of demon? from what I can tell he is taking the situation very lightly" Adalinda commented.

Hearing that, Lucine was surprised for a moment before saying in a flustered manner.

"H-Huh?! Why should I tell him all that, it is all that demon's fault for making light of his situation in the first place. Anyways, that demon isn't someone who will drop dead that easily. This might be a good wake-up call for him to realise his mistakes".

-----

After taking a deep breath, Simon dived inside the tear "Alright now, its time to go back".

A vast field of grassland with small and big mountains here and there, lay in front of him. There was also a few small town and villages spread over the area. Simon flapped his wings and decided to avoid them.

He opened his [Mental Map] skill which he used to chart the places on his way to the capital. Now he can use the same path to navigate his way back.

Utilising his [High-speed flight] Simon covered dozens of meters of land in a few hours and just like that, he kept on flying for half a day. He did stop in between to restore his mana.

Right now, he was resting on a small hilltop overlooking a river.

"I'm still yet to get out from the territory directly governed by the royal family. If I keep on going north, I should soon enter the fortress city Volkan. Once I passed through there, I would be out of the central area of this kingdom".

Simon said looking at his mental map. At this moment, his [Detect Presence] skill suddenly detected a few presences that were hurriedly approaching him from distance. Immediately becoming alert, Simon concealed his aura using the Ice phoenix's Sigh and hid behind a nearby boulder.

Even after a while, Simon couldn't see anyone, the area was completely devoid of any person. Though he couldn't see anyone, Simon knew better than to ignore his skill which was alerting him like crazy.

He did not release his concealment and waited for some time, when he moved his gaze towards the sky following his flaring instincts, he was finally able to notice some peculiarities. A few thousand meters up in the sky was something that was travelling at a very fast speed. But since it was hidden by some mechanism at work, the thing couldn't be seen.

"Air Engine?!" Simon immediately recognised what the thing chasing after him was, it also made him realise why he couldn't see them and how they were able to chase after him so fast.

Unlike the one he had travelled in, which was owned by duke Montford, the air engine in front of him was much larger and grand.

The Air Engine landed in the field not far away from the small hill Simon was hiding, before continuing on its path. A group of no less than twenty people got down from it and started investigating and searching the area.

From their aura and the garbs they were wearing, they were definitely adventurers. At that instant, Simon understood what was happening, these people were definitely out for him and searching for any tracks or clues he might have left behind.

The worst possibility that he thought had a negligible chance of occurring finally came true. There really were pursuers after him. But why?

"Didn't those two not give up yet even after receiving an attack from Adalinda?" Simon wondered as he saw them approaching the small hill he was hiding in.

When they were only a few meters away from him, Simon jumped up from his hiding place and rushed towards them. Using his [Analysis], he was able to tell that this group consisted of people whose average level was around 250.

The moment he acted, he was spotted by the group of people and they immediately took out their weapons to engage with him.

"He is here, quickly notify the other groups," the warrior donning on a sturdy-looking armour said to his teammates at the backline who took out something that looked like a transmission conch from their space ring.

"Flame Magic Mastery- [Flame Spear Barrage]" Simon decided to take them out with his magic.

Flame arrows that packed enough power to level the entire place rained down on the screaming adventurers who couldn't muster up any defence in front of a super-fast magic. Before long, they were sprawled on the ground with many wounded and dead.

Simon did not care to control his strength since these people were his enemies. After cleaning them up in a matter of a minute, he looked at the insignia these people were wearing. It was trident, a blue trident that looked majestic and powerful.

"Sea God's Trident" the name of the guild the insignia belonged to, immediately pooped up in his head. At the same time, he became confused as to why this guild was after him.

It was true that he was a demon noble and can be considered their enemy; however, it was still not a definite reason to chase after him with all their strength.

Simon unfurled his wings and hurriedly left the area, his detect presence skill was warning him of multiple presences that were quickly approaching this place. He had underestimated the tenacity and the number of his enemies, they were everywhere.

Simon was starting to get a little annoyed, he had wiped out multiple groups that came chasing after him but no matter how many he cleaned up they would still be coming after him in hordes.

He could tell that something was wrong, the Sea God's Trident guild was deploying all of its members to chase after him for some reason. There was no prior grudge between them nor did the reason that they were doing all of this just because he was a demon, was right.