Strongest Incubus System

The tree remained waiting.

No pressure.

No demand.

Only that ancient presence keeping the question open.

Next function awaiting definition.

Xue Lian watched the Seed for several seconds.

"Why?"

Damon looked at her.

"Good."

The tree reacted.

Not with words immediately.

The lines spread across the walls began to change.

Heshan appeared first.

Then Arven.

Other regions emerged as small white points connected by extremely thin threads.

Some connections were strong.

Others barely existed.

At the center stood the tree.

But none of the lines ended there.

The tree functioned as a passage.

Not a destination.

Then the answer came.

Preserve paths.

Damon frowned.

"Which paths?"

Between roots.

"For what?"

A pause.

Balance.

Damon looked at Xue Lian.

"It still talks like an ancient ruin."

"Were you expecting casual conversation?"

"After you started swearing, my expectations went up."

She ignored him.

"Balance between what?"

The Seed took its time.

The lines on the walls changed again.

Damon saw regions where cold flowed into warmer territories.

Others where underground energy was diverted.

Mountains receiving pressure.

Rivers releasing excess.

It was an environmental network.

Not created to control territories.

Created to prevent isolated spiritual structures from accumulating too much energy.

Xue Lian went still.

"I reversed it."

Damon understood.

"You used the paths to command regions."

"When they were supposed to let the regions regulate one another."

"Yes."

She closed her eyes.

Damon said nothing.

The guilt was obvious.

It was also useless at that moment.

"Then we define the original function," he said.

Xue Lian opened her eyes.

"Preserve the paths without governing them."

The tree pulsed.

Definition accepted.

The walls stopped trembling.

The lines stabilized.

The entire Tomb seemed to release something it had been holding for centuries.

Damon took a deep breath.

"Done."

Xue Lian looked at him.

"Done?"

"For now."

"You really like that expression."

"It prevents problems."

"It prevents none."

"But it improves liability."

Xue Lian started laughing again, although more quietly.

Damon turned toward the door.

"Now let's get out before that thing asks for another function."

The tree remained silent.

He pointed at it.

"That."

Xue Lian tried to walk.

Her first step almost ended badly.

Her legs gave out.

Damon caught her by the arm.

This time, no root reacted.

"You're weak."

"I noticed."

"Is that what happens when someone spends centuries using an authority to compensate for their own body?"

"Probably."

"Then Ester is going to like you."

"Why?"

"She likes patients who make bad decisions."

"That doesn't sound true."

"She spends a lot of time with me."

Xue Lian managed to stand.

Damon kept one hand on her arm until he was sure she would not fall again.

That was when he felt a sharp pain in his own forearm.

He stopped.

Xue Lian noticed.

"What is it?"

Damon looked at his sleeve.

Vorn's mark.

He had almost forgotten about it during everything that had happened.

The dark lines were hidden beneath the fabric, still restrained by the containment measures Ester had placed.

Now they were burning.

"Shit."

"That looks bad."

"You're learning quickly."

Damon pulled up his sleeve.

The dark-blue lines had advanced again.

Not toward his neck.

This time they were not climbing.

They were rearranging themselves.

Small branches moved beneath his skin, drawing a pattern.

Xue Lian became completely serious.

"Don't move."

"You recognize it?"

"No."

"You answered too quickly for someone who doesn't."

"I recognize the shape."

Damon looked at his arm.

The design continued forming.

An incomplete circle.

Three lines crossing its center.

And small dots around it.

It looked like a distorted version of the tree's diagrams.

Damon raised his eyes.

"Vorn."

"Who?"

"A man who liked putting things inside other people far too much."

"That describes many people I've known."

"He worked with spiritual containment."

Xue Lian moved closer but did not touch him.

"That isn't containment."

"He said it was."

"He lied."

"That wouldn't be new either."

The tree pulsed behind them.

Damon turned his head.

One of the lines on the wall changed color.

White.

Gray.

Then dark blue.

The same shade as the mark.

Xue Lian went pale.

"No."

Damon looked back at her.

"That word usually comes with an explanation."

The Seed answered before she did.

External anchor detected.

Damon closed his eyes.

"Naturally."

Unauthorized structure.

Xue Lian walked toward the wall.

The blue line was not part of the restored network.

It was trying to enter it.

Like a false root searching for somewhere to attach itself.

"That's on my arm," Damon said.

"No."

He looked at her.

"I'm fairly sure it is."

"I'm saying it didn't begin on your arm."

Xue Lian pointed at the line.

"This structure originates outside you."

"Vorn."

"Maybe."

"He put the mark there."

"But he may have copied the method."

Damon went silent.

The mark burned again.

The tree responded.

A single word appeared.

Imitation.

Damon smiled without humor.

"That sounds fairly definitive."

Xue Lian kept studying the pattern.

"Who is this Vorn?"

"A doctor."

"No."

"A researcher."

"Not that either."

"A son of a bitch?"

"Probably."

Damon nodded.

"Now we're getting close."

Xue Lian pointed at the blue line.

"I'm asking where he came from."

"Arven."

"Family?"

"I don't know."

"Master?"

"Don't know that either."

"How did he learn containment?"

Damon went silent.

That was a good question.

Vorn knew too much.

Especially about structures no one should have known about.

He had treated roots, artificial circulation, sealing, and containment as parts of the same field.

At the time, Damon had simply assumed it was all part of his experiments.

Now it looked different.

"He may know this network."

Xue Lian shook her head.

"Not this one."

"Then what?"

"A version."

Damon looked at the tree.

"Copied."

"Or reconstructed."

The Seed pulsed.

The blue line advanced a few centimeters along the wall.

The white network reacted.

It did not attack.

It isolated.

Four lines closed around the false structure.

Damon felt the mark on his arm stop burning.

"It blocked it."

"Temporarily," Xue Lian replied.

"You learned that expression too?"

"Unfortunately."

Damon smiled.

Then became serious again.

"Vorn is imprisoned."

"Good."

"In Arven."

"Less good."

"I can interrogate him later."

Xue Lian stared at Damon.

"You just found a false structure trying to connect to an ancient network through your body, and your first reaction is 'later'?"

"Ester would be proud."

"I doubt it."

Damon lowered his sleeve.

"First we get out of here."

Xue Lian looked at the tree.

For centuries, it had been the center of her prison.

Now it was still there.

But it no longer called to her.

No longer demanded.

No longer recognized her existence as command.

"Are you ready?" Damon asked.

She took several seconds.

"No."

"Good."

Xue Lian looked at him.

"Good?"

"It means you're thinking."

She gave a short laugh.

The two began walking back.

Damon moved more slowly than he would have liked.

His body was still without the adaptations of the Heavenly Body, and the earlier running was taking its toll.

Xue Lian was worse.

She had to lean against the wall several times.

"You really can't use anything?"

"No."

"Not even ordinary ice?"

She raised one hand.

Nothing happened.

Xue Lian stared at her own fingers.

A strange expression appeared.

Damon waited.

"I don't remember the last time this happened."

"When you were a child?"

"Probably."

"How does it feel?"

She thought about it.

"Small."

Damon nodded.

"Better than dangerous."

Xue Lian looked at him.

Then smiled.

"Maybe."

When they reached the main staircase, they heard voices.

Ester.

"If that gate doesn't open in another ten minutes, I'm going in."

The guardian replied with something.

Damon could not hear it.

Aria came next.

"He said you can't."

"He also said monsters might appear."

"That's true."

"Then I'd rather be nearby."

Damon looked at Xue Lian.

"She really is going to try."

"I noticed."

"We should speed up."

They climbed.

The main gate was still open.

The guardian remained in front of it.

Jian Yue sat in the snow nearby, his sword resting across his knees.

Aria was writing.

Ester paced back and forth.

Then she saw Damon.

She stopped.

Her gaze immediately dropped to his arm.

Then moved to Xue Lian.

To the blood.

To the way she was leaning on Damon.

Her expression became dangerously calm.

"What happened?"

Damon raised a hand.

"Before you start—"

"What happened?"

"We fixed it."

Ester looked at Xue Lian's bloody shoulder.

"This is 'fixed'?"

"Compared to before."

"I'm going to kill you."

"She wanted me to kill her too."

Xue Lian looked at him.

"You did not need to phrase it like that."

Aria slowly lowered her notebook.

"She wanted what?"

Damon realized his mistake.

"That conversation is for later."

"It is not," Ester replied.

The guardian, however, was not looking at Damon.

His gaze was fixed on Xue Lian.

She stopped.

The two remained silent.

Centuries.

A promise.

A door.

Finally open.

Xue Lian walked toward him.

The guardian seemed older in that moment.

"Master."

She closed her eyes.

"No."

Jian Yue raised his head.

So did the guardian.

Xue Lian smiled.

"Not anymore."

The man understood.

Slowly.

His hand released the hilt of the broken sword.

"Then it's over."

"Yes."

"You're free?"

Xue Lian looked at Damon.

"For now."

He pointed at himself.

"I taught her that."

The guardian let out something that might have been a laugh.

Then the broken sword in his hand vibrated.

Jian Yue felt the fragment he carried.

He immediately pulled it out.

Both pieces began to glow.

The fragment left his hand.

Flew.

Locked into the sword.

The crack vanished.

For the first time in centuries, the guardian's weapon was whole.

He studied the blade.

Then handed it to Jian Yue.

The man went still.

"I can't accept this."

"You can."

"It's yours."

"It was."

Jian Yue looked at Xue Lian.

She nodded.

"Take it."

He gripped the sword.

The guardian took a deep breath.

His armor began dissolving into tiny white particles.

Jian Yue's eyes widened.

"Wait."

"My promise is over."

"Does that mean you're going to die?"

"It means I should have died a very long time ago."

Jian Yue tightened his grip on the sword.

The guardian placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Do not turn my waiting into yours."

Jian Yue went still.

"Live."

That was all.

The body of the first Jian Yue disappeared.

No explosion.

No grand light.

Only snow.

Jian Yue remained holding the sword.

Aria did not write.

Damon noticed.

He said nothing.

Xue Lian watched the snow for several seconds.

Then she turned toward Damon.

"The way back should be open."

"Should?"

She raised an eyebrow.

"There is no plan anymore."

"I'm starting to regret celebrating that."

The gate behind them trembled.

The plain vanished.

Heshan appeared on the other side.

Xue Mei was waiting.

The instant she saw Xue Lian, she froze.

Damon released her arm.

"Mother."

Xue Lian did not answer immediately.

Then she crossed through.

Xue Mei ran.

She hugged her.

Xue Lian almost fell from the impact.

Ester moved forward on reflex.

Damon caught her shoulder.

"That part can wait."

Ester looked at him.

Then at the two women.

She accepted it.

Damon crossed through the gate.

The moment his feet touched Heshan, something returned.

First the memories.

Then the root.

Finally, the Heavenly Body.

Cold ran through his bones.

The muscle pain partially disappeared.

His breathing stabilized.

His body recognized its own state again.

Damon opened and closed his hand.

"Much better."

Ester pointed at him.

"Don't use it."

"I wasn't going to."

"Your face—"

"Don't start."

Aria started laughing.

Then the Heavenly Body found Vorn's mark.

Damon froze.

The dark-blue lines beneath his sleeve exploded with light.

The root inside him reacted.

Not with recognition.

With rejection.

Damon yanked his sleeve up.

The symbol had changed.

At the center of the mark, a small black opening had appeared.

Like the Seed.

But imperfect.

Crooked.

Artificial.

Xue Lian stopped hugging her daughter.

Her gaze dropped to Damon's arm.

This time, she recognized it.

"I've seen that before."

Damon became serious.

"Where?"

Xue Lian stared at the false Seed marked into his skin.

"In Shen Liang's laboratories."

The smile vanished from Damon's face.

Vorn had not invented it.

Not even close.

Someone was rebuilding work Xue Lian believed she had destroyed centuries ago.

And Damon was carrying a piece of it in his own arm.

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