Strongest Incubus System

Xue Lian did not share his enthusiasm.

"Don’t touch it."

Damon looked at the black sphere.

"You just said that."

"I’m repeating it because I’ve known you long enough."

"You’ve known me for a few hours."

"You carried my memories for months."

"Then you know a contaminated version."

"It was enough."

Damon accepted that.

The Seed remained suspended inside the open trunk. The white line crossing its surface pulsed at slow intervals, almost like an eye that did not need to open in order to watch.

Return.

The intent did not appear again.

But it remained.

Damon could feel it.

"If this really is the origin of the authority," Xue Lian said, "returning it may be exactly what it wants."

"Yes."

"You said that like it isn’t a problem."

"It is a problem."

"It doesn’t sound like one."

Damon pointed at the sphere.

"Finding an address doesn’t mean I’m going to deliver the package without asking who lives there."

Xue Lian went silent.

"Better?"

"A little."

Damon approached only enough to observe the inside of the tree without entering the roots’ reach.

The opening in the trunk looked natural now.

That bothered him too.

There were no signs of breaking.

No irregular cracks.

The wood had simply reorganized itself to reveal the Seed.

Like a mouth opening.

"You said you saw this symbol in old records."

"Yes."

"What records?"

"Mine."

"From before the memories were erased."

"Yes."

"I want to see them."

"They aren’t here."

Damon looked at her.

"Where?"

"I destroyed them."

He closed his eyes for a moment.

"Of course."

"I didn’t know who I could trust."

"Not even yourself?"

"Especially myself."

That made Damon stop.

Xue Lian looked at the Seed.

"When I started noticing gaps in my memory, I left records. Then I started finding records I didn’t remember writing."

"So your master kept erasing them."

"Or altering them."

"How much?"

"I don’t know."

"Excellent."

Damon rested the sword against his shoulder.

"We have a woman with centuries of partially altered memories, a tree that chooses vessels, and a sphere telling us to return."

"That summarizes it."

"Your past is irritating."

"You’ve said that before."

The Seed pulsed again.

This time there was no word.

An image appeared in the white line.

Not in front of them.

Inside it.

Damon saw it for only an instant.

A mountain.

Then another.

A dark sky.

And something enormous buried inside the earth.

The image vanished.

Xue Lian became serious.

"You saw that?"

"Yes."

"What?"

"Mountains."

"Which ones?"

"I don’t know."

She moved one step closer.

The Seed reacted.

The white line grew brighter.

Xue Lian stopped.

Damon looked at her.

"It reacts when you get close."

"Because I carry the authority."

"Or because it recognizes you as a lost part."

"I don’t like that second possibility."

"Neither do I."

Damon thought for a few seconds.

Then looked at the blood still slowly leaking beneath the improvised cloth over her shoulder.

"Let’s test without touching it."

Xue Lian narrowed her eyes.

"How?"

"Your blood already caught the tree’s attention."

"Not the Seed’s."

"Yet."

Damon crouched and picked up the sword.

He ran the tip through the tiny trace of blood that remained on the floor before it was completely absorbed.

Almost nothing remained.

Enough.

Xue Lian noticed.

"Damon."

"If something bad happens, I’ll stop."

"That sentence has never reassured me."

"That’s because you have common sense."

He extended the sword.

Not to touch the sphere.

Only to bring the blood closer.

The reaction was immediate.

The white line inside the Seed opened.

Not physically.

It seemed to divide into hundreds of extremely thin branches.

Xue Lian lost all color.

Damon stopped moving.

"You felt it."

She brought one hand to her chest.

"Yes."

"How?"

"Like something found my name."

Damon pulled the sword back.

The lines diminished.

"Interesting."

"Stop saying that."

"It is interesting."

"It’s my body."

"That’s why I’m keeping my distance."

The Seed pulsed.

Another intent appeared.

Incomplete.

Damon went still.

Xue Lian heard it too.

"It’s talking about you," he said.

"Or the authority."

"Probably both."

The white line narrowed again.

Damon spent a few seconds thinking.

"How many parts of your authority exist outside this place?"

"I don’t know."

"Estimate."

"Heshan had one main root. Arven contained another related structure. There are regions that became disconnected before I entered the Tomb."

"Dozens?"

"Maybe."

"Hundreds?"

Xue Lian took a moment.

"Possibly."

Damon sighed.

"Then returning only what’s inside you may not solve anything."

"I already told you my death wouldn’t be simple."

"No. You said we would destroy everything that could serve as a reference first."

"Yes."

"And how were you going to do that?"

Xue Lian did not answer immediately.

Damon noticed.

"You didn’t know."

"I had a method."

"What?"

"Sever all connections simultaneously."

"That sounds terrible."

"It would be."

"How many regions would suffer?"

Silence.

Damon became serious.

"Xue Lian."

"Many."

"How many people?"

"I don’t know."

Damon stared at her.

"You were going to solve the problem by causing another one."

"I believed it was better than allowing my authority to keep growing."

"That’s probably what Mu Qing used to say."

The words struck again.

Xue Lian looked away.

Damon did not soften.

"I’m not saying you’re the same."

"I know."

"But you keep using the same logic when you run out of options."

"A limited loss to prevent something greater."

"Exactly."

Xue Lian remained silent.

Damon pointed at the sphere.

"That’s why we’re not returning anything yet."

"Then what do we do?"

"We find out what incomplete means."

The answer came before Xue Lian could speak.

The Seed pulsed.

Gather.

Damon looked at it.

"That definitely sounds like a trap."

"We agree."

"Good. We’re making progress."

Xue Lian slowly approached the tree.

Damon raised one hand.

"No touching."

"I don’t intend to."

She observed the sphere.

"Gather what?"

Nothing.

"Authority?" Damon asked.

The white line flashed.

Both of them went still.

"That looks like confirmation," he said.

Xue Lian grew more concerned.

"If we gather everything in one place, we may recreate exactly the state I tried to prevent."

"Or discover the original structure."

"Or release it."

"That too."

"You seem far too comfortable with those possibilities."

"I’m not comfortable. I’m just separating possibilities from certainties."

Xue Lian looked at him.

"Do you always do that?"

"When I don’t want to die."

"So, often."

"More than I should."

The Seed went silent.

Damon began walking around the tree.

The chamber was small, but now that the roots had withdrawn, he could examine the crack where they entered the floor.

There were marks.

Not natural ones.

Symbols almost completely worn away.

"Xue Lian."

She approached.

"What?"

Damon pointed.

"This was carved."

She crouched.

Ran her fingers over the stone.

"I’ve never seen this."

"Maybe because the tree covered it."

"These symbols are ancient."

"Do you recognize them?"

"Some."

"Which?"

Xue Lian pointed to the first.

"Transfer."

The second.

"Continuity."

The third.

"Anchor."

Damon looked at the fourth.

It was different.

A circle interrupted by a vertical line.

"This one?"

Xue Lian went silent.

"I don’t know."

Damon studied the arrangement.

Four symbols around the tree.

Transfer.

Continuity.

Anchor.

Something unknown.

"This wasn’t a tree chosen at random."

"No."

"It was built as part of a system."

"Yes."

"Your master knew."

"Probably."

"Who was he?"

Xue Lian did not answer.

Damon waited.

"Name."

"Shen Liang."

"Is he dead?"

"I killed him."

Damon raised his eyes.

"That got interesting."

"It didn’t feel interesting at the time."

"Why?"

"Because I discovered he was using children."

Damon became serious.

"As vessels?"

"At the time, I thought they were spiritual-root experiments."

"Now?"

Xue Lian looked at the Seed.

"Now I don’t know."

Damon understood.

Maybe Xue Lian had not been unique.

Maybe she had only been the one who survived.

"How many?"

"Seven that I found."

"Did they survive?"

"No."

"You killed Shen Liang after that?"

"Yes."

Damon remained silent for a few seconds.

"Did he say anything before he died?"

Xue Lian closed her eyes.

The memory seemed difficult.

"He said I didn’t understand what I was protecting."

"Classic."

"He also said destroying his work wouldn’t change what was already inside me."

"That sounds less classic."

"I thought it was arrogance."

"Maybe it was."

Damon looked at the unknown symbol.

"Or an instruction."

He stood.

"We need to know what this fourth symbol means."

"Without my complete memories, that may be impossible."

"Your guardian."

Xue Lian looked at him.

"Was he with you back then?"

"Not that early."

"Chen Mo?"

"Not then either."

"Mu Qing?"

"She was born much later."

Damon sighed.

"Then we have one witness."

Xue Lian frowned.

"Who?"

Damon pointed at the tree.

She went still.

"You want to ask."

"It’s already talking."

"We don’t know whether it’s the tree or the Seed."

"Then we ask both."

"Damon."

"Do you have a better suggestion?"

Xue Lian did not answer.

Damon approached again, keeping a safe distance.

"Hey."

Nothing.

"This is extremely ridiculous," Xue Lian commented.

"You talked to mountains."

"They answered better."

Damon ignored her.

He pointed at the unknown symbol.

"What does this mean?"

The Seed remained still.

Damon waited.

Nothing.

"Maybe it doesn’t work like that," Xue Lian said.

"Maybe it needs identity."

He looked at the blood on the sword.

Xue Lian immediately spoke.

"No."

"I was only going to bring it closer."

"No."

"You’re starting to sound like Ester."

"I’m beginning to understand her."

Damon gave a small smile.

But did not move the sword closer.

Instead, he ran a finger over the symbol.

The stone was warm.

Nothing happened.

He touched the circle.

Then the line.

When he reached the point where both met, he felt a small vibration.

Damon pulled his hand away.

"That reacted."

Xue Lian approached.

"To you?"

"Yes."

"You’re empty."

"We continue using that word in an offensive way."

He touched it again.

The vibration returned.

The Seed pulsed.

A word appeared.

Refusal.

Damon went still.

So did Xue Lian.

"Transfer," he said.

"Continuity."

"Anchor."

He looked at the fourth symbol.

"Refusal."

Xue Lian seemed to understand before he did.

"It’s an exit."

Damon turned toward her.

"Explain."

"If the vessel rejects continuity."

"It returns."

"Or searches for another."

"But there is a specific symbol for refusal."

"That means the system anticipated the possibility."

Damon slowly smiled.

"Then maybe your mother had a choice."

Xue Lian’s face hardened.

"She tried to run."

"In the image."

"Yes."

"And she was forced."

"Yes."

Damon looked at the Seed.

"You never chose either."

Xue Lian remained still.

Centuries of power.

Centuries of guilt.

Centuries of treating herself as the origin of something someone had placed inside her before she was even old enough to remember.

Damon pointed at the symbol.

"Maybe you don’t need to return it."

"Then?"

"Maybe you need to refuse it."

Xue Lian looked at him.

"If it were that simple—"

"You never knew you could."

She closed her mouth.

Damon continued.

"You tried to control it."

"Cut it."

"Contain it."

"Destroy it."

"But never refuse it."

Xue Lian looked down at her own hand.

The Seed pulsed.

For the first time, the intent did not come to Damon.

It came only to her.

He heard no words.

But he saw her reaction.

Xue Lian took one step back.

"What was it?"

She breathed slowly.

"It says I belong to it."

Damon became serious.

"And what did you answer?"

Xue Lian looked at the sphere.

For centuries, that woman had been treated as the center of an impossible authority.

Master.

Origin.

Prison.

Problem.

Now something older was finally claiming ownership over her.

Xue Lian raised her face.

"No."

The tree trembled.

Damon smiled.

"Good answer."

The Seed exploded in white light.

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