The Broken Halo

Simon decided to listen to Lilith before consuming the Fleshwood’s heart resin, so he placed it on the frozen ground and listened.

[Before the first Fleshwood produced its first Heart Resin, many Daemons decided to leave the Fleshwood alone after realizing that the Fleshwood got stronger whenever a Daemon died in the Corpse Abyss.]

[To many Daemons, there was no point risking their lives to obtain a portion of the Fleshwood’s body since it was similar to a top grade healing elixir.]

[Instead of risking their life to get a healing elixir, they could just buy it.]

Simon raised a curious brow, but he said nothing and continued listening.

[But that all changed when the Fleshwood produced its first heart resin.]

[Like I said earlier, a large percentage of the Daemons realized that the heart resin of the Fleshwood could grant them the ability to heal their injuries, recover their mental energy without having to rest for a long period of time, and most importantly... heal the soul.]

[When many Daemons realized this, they all tried to obtain it by whatever means necessary.]

[Another terrible war happened as a result of this, and Daemons were not the only ones involved in this war.]

Simon was baffled.

”What do you mean?”

[Just think of a war happening in the current demon realm, and the gods you know of decide to involve themselves.]

Simon furrowed his brows, then Lilith continued.

[As the war raged on in Corpse Abyss, many Daemons began realizing that the Fleshwood was becoming stronger.]

[They suddenly realized that the Fleshwood had tricked many of them and had used its heart resin to draw all of them to the Corpse Abyss in order to use them as nutrients.]

[Once a Fleshwood bleeds its heart resin, it gets weaker, but the Fleshwood needed more food to survive because the number of Daemons that were coming to the Corpse Abyss reduced drastically.]

Simon’s eyes flickered with a light of realization.

”The Fleshwood’s heart resin was bait, and many Daemons fell for it.”

[Exactly. The Fleshwood is actually smart, and when it realized that the Daemons in the Corpse Abyss had realized what its plan was, it killed a lot of them.]

[It was after it did this that many Daemons came to the realization that the Fleshwood had gotten more powerful and it could become a threat.]

[But the strongest among the Daemons were not concerned about the Fleshwood since it wasn’t a threat to them... until they found out that the Fleshwood was secretly spreading its roots across the foundation of the realm.]

Simon frowned with a confused expression.

”What do you mean?”

[It’s just as I said, the Fleshwood was no longer satisfied with the Corpse Abyss as its home. It wanted more since it realized that there were more nutrients in other parts of the realm.]

[It had spread its seeds all over the realm, and by the time we got to know about the goals of the first Fleshwood, it was a little bit too late.]

[Fleshwoods were all over the realm, and they ate Daemons and Daemon Beasts alike.]

[During this time, we sometimes referred to the first Fleshwood as Mother Fleshwood or the First Fleshwood.]

Simon changed his posture to be more comfortable. His expression was one of interest, and deep in his heart, he was surprised that Lilith was telling him so much about something that happened in a past that has long been forgotten, maybe even by time itself.

[The vitality and power of the newly born Fleshwoods could not be compared to their mother, but they were still a pain in the ass to destroy.]

[A Fleshwood has a heart like you and like that monkey. However, depending on the power of the Fleshwood, it can have up to nine hearts.]

[The First Fleshwood had nine hearts.]

”Nine hearts?”

Simon’s eyes could not help but widen, and if not for his self control, he would have exclaimed loudly.

[Yes. Nine.]

”What in the world?” Simon muttered underneath his breath.

The more Lilith told him about the Fleshwoods, the more he realized just how terrifying they were.

And this led to even more questions.

’Just how powerful were the Daemons of old? How powerful was Lilith? How powerful is her father, Hell’s Sword Daemon? Is the God Realm that I know of probably just the beginning of true power?’

’Was my world view of power truly that low?’

’And what about my Patron God? The Nameless One? Just how powerful is he?’

Simon had so many questions, and he was looking forward to the attaining the peak of power in his second life.

Lilith continued speaking.

[To truly kill a Fleshwood, one has to completely destroy their physical bodies and their hearts. You should now know why I said killing the First Fleshwood is like trying to kill a billion gods.]

Simon nodded slightly, then his eyes suddenly flashed with a light of realization.

”Wait. You said that we might have bigger problems on our hands, does that mean that the Fleshwood Lucien encountered might have spread its seeds across the demon realm? Is it safe for me to consume its heart resin? Would I be controlled by the Fleshwood or would I turn into a tree?”

Lilith scoffed.

[You always ask too many questions. You should be a girl instead of a boy.]

”Just answer my questions, Lilith.”

[First of all, I don’t know how powerful the Fleshwood that kid encountered is, and I don’t know its current state, so I can’t say anything about it spreading its seeds.]

[But, it’s concerning that a Fleshwood is still alive since we, well, I thought that all the Fleshwoods were wiped out from existence.]

Simon frowned.

”So if there’s one Fleshwood, there might be other Fleshwoods... And they might be in hibernation like the one Lucien encountered.”

[Exactly.]

Simon looked at the Fleshwood’s heart resin in front of him.

”And this heart resin?”

[If the Fleshwood that produced this heart resin is truly dead, you can consume it without any fear.]

Simon narrowed his eyes.

”So, let me guess. If the Fleshwood is still alive, I might have to face being controlled by it or being used by it as an ingredient?”

[Something like that.]

”I see.”

Simon’s lips curled into a smile, then he grabbed the Fleshwood’s heart resin.

His hand glowed with an emerald-orange demonic light, then he clenched his fist and shattered the cube that was storing the Fleshwood’s heart resin.

The thick, viscous liquid curled around his hand and fingers like a living thing, and Simon’s smile widened slightly.

”Good thing I don’t need to worry about that then.”

”Devour.”