Dungeon Of Pride, Laplace

Stepping over the unconscious body of Dale, Simon jumped out of the crater. Fixing his gaze, he looked at the stunned adventurers who were so shocked by the sudden development that they were silent for quite a while.

"Leader…" one of the adventures from Dale's team hurriedly called out right after he snapped out of his daze. Following him, many of them came back to reality and started calling out towards Dale.

Dale's team of adventures didn't recognize the demon in front of them, but that wasn't true for Laris and his party.

At this moment Laris was glaring at Simon with bloodshot eyes while continuously grinding his teeth in hatred.

To Simon, his hatred filled gaze just felt like a passing glance not even able to faze him at all. Compared to that, he was the one who had a ton of grudge against them and an uncontrollable fury that was difficult for him to hold back.

Not only did they destroy the home of his little sister, they even hunted and enslaved them like animals only seeing them for their spirit orbs. Their inhuman and bestial conduct earned his ire and it could be said that he despised these people down to the marrow of his bones.

He was not trying to play some hero of justice but now that he took Cecilia as his little sister, all her pain and worries became his. That also goes for the people she hated.

He couldn't let them be after all they did to her village, parents, clansmen, and friends. They had viciously hunted her down and were the perpetrators behind the death of her mother and father.

Simon could still vividly remember the look in her eyes which desperately sought help and more so wanted to die. Remembering those scenes, brought cold fury inside him as he imagined the pain and wound they had inflicted upon the heart of a five-year-old girl.

If he didn't seek justice for her, how could he be worthy of calling himself her big brother? Though she didn't display it, he could still feel that her heart wasn't healed yet, not until the villains that had massacred her village were dead.

However, she didn't want her big brother who had saved her and her clansmen get hurt because of that and so she buried this desire deep in her heart.

Simon was a demon and especially sensitive to these negative emotions. Plus no matter how much she wanted to hide these emotions, there was no way she would be able to hide them from him.

Forest Spring Spirits are a peace-loving clan and he didn't want them to be harbouring such emotions, that is doubly true for Cecilia who was a Forest Spring Royal Spirit. And according to Irene, when she grows up, her abilities would be heaven-defying. If she harboured such emotions, she wouldn't be able to grow as she was meant to and it might even become her shackles.

Simon didn't want her to be bound by revenge or anything of sorts and live a carefree life inside his dungeon. And to do that, he must first clear these pests who had stained her pure heart and are continuously glaring at him.

Saving the two humans behind wasn't in his plan but since he was impressed by the strong will of the man and also because he didn't wasn't his enemies to have the sweet taste of victory anymore, he decided to step in and save them.

Simon was aware that it was uncharacteristic of a demon to save someone out of goodwill but maybe because he was a human once, consciously or subconsciously his decision had been affected by that and thus he decided to lend them a hand.

However, saving the two humans behind him didn't change what he was about to do. He was going to massacre the rest of the humans until not even their corpses can be identified and strangely enough he felt a sense of pleasure from it. His crimson eyes glowed with a brilliant light and a devious smile crept up to his face.

Right now Simon knew that he was giving in to his urges but that was alright, there is no need to play upright and just with these people.

Even if exacted a slaughter here, his actions would be completely justified. A thought that Simon would never have while he was still a human, started surfacing in the back of his mind. Nonetheless, it was still not time to act. 

Restraining these instincts that were about to break out of his control, Simon turned towards the pair that were behind him and pointed "Take that man and get out of here".

Just to make it so that he was not requesting and instead ordering them, he released his violent and overbearing Demon Viscount aura.

Lisa's face became pale when she felt his wild brutish aura and her body shuddered uncontrollably. She looked at the enemies in front and the unconscious man inside the crater before supporting the man in her embrace with all her strength before slowly walking out of here.

It seemed that releasing his aura had worked. Simon saw the woman turning around and silently leaving at his orders. It was for the best, the two of them were already severely injured and they would get in the way of the battle that would erupt soon.

-----

Everything seemed like a dream, they who were destined to die, didn't by some stroke of fate. To Lisa, It was laughable that their lives were accidentally saved by the demon who decided to jump into the fray.

As soon as the demon appeared, he immediately knocked one unconscious and turned the attention of all the enemies towards him.

Just when she felt like they had become the bystanders, the demon turned his attention towards and at that moment she felt all the blood inside her turn cold.

The relief she felt after dodging the jaw of death, was immediately broken and she felt that the feeling creep near once again. How could she be so naïve to believe that they were safe, the demon would be viewing all the humans as his enemies regardless of which side they were in.

At this moment the cold voice of the demon rang out. Hearing the contents, she immediately became flabbergasted. "Take that man and get out of here" the demon said as he looked at her with those crimson eyes of his.

Lisa's mind went blank and she stood still in a daze for a while. However, it didn't last long as the demon used his aura to pressure her. Sensing the fiendish and dark aura released by the demon, her whole body which was already very weak due to exhaustion shuddered intensely.

Even while trembling, she forced her body to move and supported the unconscious Chuck before turning and leaving. Though her mind was still reeling in shock, she was more than happy to comply with what the demon said as she didn't want to be on this battlefield anymore.

Though she hated the people who had ambushed and killed all of her comrades, her priority was now to take the unconscious Chuck back to the city.

Chuck was barely hanging to life and all the wounds he suffered were mostly due to him trying to save her. Therefore he immediately needed healing and she couldn't be bothered with anything else.

Although she felt that the demon was quite peculiar for allowing them to leave, she didn't think too much into it.

Just as she took a few steps, Laris's cold and unfeeling voice sounded out "Where do you think you are going. Didn't I tell you earlier that I'm not going to spare any of you, or did you already forget about it".

Laris's face was masked with irritation and impatience. After being repeatedly obstructed, anybody would lose their mind in frustration. The demon had repeatedly foiled his plan and even now he was messing around with the people he had to kill.

Without wasting time any further, and before the target could become aware, he used his [Hell Lightning Slash] which was a culmination of [Swift Slash] skill and [Lightning Magic Mastery] towards the enemy.

Before anybody could even blink, a piercing blue light erupted from the sword and flew towards them.. With a thundering sound, a thick bolt of piercing lightning taking a vague form of a sword flew towards the pair of Lisa and Chuck who had their backs turned towards him.