The Broken Halo

The expressions of Sonya and Akaza changed.

Akaza’s raised hands lowered by a few inches. The defensive tension in his shoulders did not disappear completely, but his stance weakened.

Sonya’s pale eyes remained fixed on Simon, and Simon could feel that the tension beneath his feet reduced slightly.

The floor no longer felt like an enormous jaw waiting to close around Simon, and the pressure suppressing his new earth affinity receded. It did not vanish entirely. Sonya was still suspicious, but she was listening now.

"The ancient being?" Akaza repeated.

Simon nodded.

"After the Furnaceback Centipede swallowed me, it started gathering fire throughout its body. I knew I would die if I allowed the attack to form, so I used a mental technique against it from the inside."

That part was true.

"The attack forced it to abandon the battlefield and burrow underground. But its body began focusing entirely on me afterward. Its throat tried to crush me, burning liquid kept pouring over me, and the heat continued increasing."

Simon glanced at the burns covering his arm.

"I held on for as long as I could. When my defence was about to collapse, the ancient being took control again."

Akaza’s expression became solemn, and he remembered what Simon had looked like the last time that happened.

"What did she do?" he asked.

"I do not remember everything clearly," Simon replied. "Only fragments. She moved through the centipede’s body, reached something vital, and killed it from within."

He deliberately kept the explanation simple. Too many details created places where a lie could break.

"When the beast died, she absorbed it."

Sonya’s brows drew together into a baffled frown.

"Absorbed it?"

"The Furnaceback Centipede’s demonic energy, physical essence, and part of its elemental nature." Simon placed one hand over his chest. "Some of what she took entered my body. That pushed my Infernal Heart through the Prime and Superior stages and into the Supreme stage."

His hand lowered.

"The earth affinity came from the centipede as well."

Silence filled the room.

Akaza stared at Simon as if the explanation had answered one impossible question by replacing it with another.

Sonya’s expression was even more doubtful.

"Why would she absorb the Furnaceback Centipede?" she asked. "What exactly is her race? And who is she?"

Three questions delivered without pause, and Simon had expected all of them.

"She is recovering."

Sonya tilted her head.

"The strength she used in the Shadowgrave Clan was not her full strength. Whenever she consumes a powerful beast or demon, she can recover part of what she has lost."

Simon allowed a moment to pass before continuing.

"Because she exists inside me, my body receives a small portion of whatever she absorbs. Demonic energy. Physical strength. Sometimes even an affinity, if the target possesses one worth taking."

Akaza slowly rubbed one hand over his chin.

"So while she becomes stronger, you become stronger too."

"Yes."

"You lucky son of a bitch," Akaza muttered.

Simon’s lips almost curved into a smile. However, Sonya did not share Akaza’s amazement.

"You did not answer the other questions."

"I cannot tell you her identity or race."

Her expression immediately hardened againm, and Simon quickly raised one hand before the earth could follow her mood.

"Not because I do not trust you."

"Then why?"

"Because some knowledge can be harmful."

His voice became more serious.

"Names, bloodlines, and races connected to beings at her level can carry consequences. Knowing too much before you possess the strength to protect that knowledge can place both of you in danger."

Akaza narrowed his eyes.

"How strong do we need to become?"

"Demon Lords, at the very least."

Sonya stared at him.

"At that point, I can tell you a portion," Simon said. "Before then, knowing would give you nothing except another danger you cannot control."

Neither demon looked satisfied, but both had witnessed Lilith’s power.

They had seen enough to understand that the ancient being inside Simon did not belong to any ordinary race or rank. His warning therefore sounded less like an excuse than it otherwise would have.

Simon added calmly, "Black Horn does not know this. I gave Korran another explanation. Do not contradict it."

Akaza gave him a flat look.

"So you lied to them."

"Obviously."

Before Akaza could comment, Sonya narrowed her eyes.

"One more question."

Simon looked at her.

"What does our master love the most?"

Akaza’s expression became strange, and Simon smiled.

"Women, breasts, breast milk, and sex."

He paused briefly.

"Not necessarily in that order though."

Sonya’s pale eyes flickered, and the final traces of hostility vanished from her heart.

More importantly, the earth relaxed completely and a smile slowly appeared on her lips.

"You are definitely little kitty."

Akaza looked between them.

"That is what convinced you?"

"He mentioned breasts and breast milk," Sonya replied as though the answer were obvious. "A fake would remember women and sex. Only someone who truly suffered beneath that shameless old demon would remember the rest."

Simon could not argue with that reasoning.

Sonya walked toward him.

Because of the difference in their height, her hand landed against his lower back instead of his shoulder.

BAM!

BAM!

Her palm struck with enough force to make the floor beneath Simon’s boots crack lightly.

"Welcome back," she said with a broad smile. "This Honourable always believed you would return in one piece."

Akaza slowly turned toward her in shock.

"You spent the last-"

Sonya’s heel moved.

A piece of stone much larger than the previous one tore free from the floor and shot toward Akaza’s head at a fast speed.

"Damn it!"

Akaza ducked with widened eyes.

The stone passed over him and smashed into the wall.

BOOM!

Dust burst into the room, and a fresh hole appeared in the stone.

Simon’s lips twitched and he could hear the curses of a few demons on the street below.

He looked at Sonya.

And she faced him with the most shameless and innocent expression she could manage.

Simon stared at her for several seconds, then shook his head.

"You will have to explain why both of you were waiting inside my room."

Sonya folded her arms.

"We were waiting for you."

"You both have your own rooms."

"This is the room you would return to," she replied. "So this Honourable chose the efficient option."

Simon glanced at the damaged floor and the hole in his wall, then he released a tired sigh.

At that exact moment, Lilith finally spoke from inside him.

[Are you finally done using my name to lie?]

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