The Broken Halo

Chapter 1013 - 1012: Four

The Ancestral Elders were still surprised that Grand Elder Dread Crown had asked the boy to introduce himself.

They all knew he possessed the Seed of Pride. During meetings like this, he usually let the others speak. Even a promising recruit seldom received more than a passing glance from him.

Yet he had interrupted Enigma to address Blackmoon himself, without the slightest disdain.

Ancestral Elder Bone Prophet looked toward the higher seat. He wasn’t the only one.

Grand Elder Dread Crown noticed their attention.

”The boy has it.”

Ancestral Elder White Death’s brows drew together. Then her eyes widened, and she turned back toward Simon.

The others understood a moment later.

”He has it?” Ancestral Elder Black Mountain asked.

Grand Elder Dread Crown gave a slight nod.

Before anyone could question him further, Grand Elder Golden Tyrant spoke.

”He has mine as well.”

”And mine,” Grand Elder Red Calamity added.

Ancestral Elder Bone Prophet’s fingers tightened around his book.

Three?

Grand Elder Endless Maw sat straighter. Beside him, Grand Elder Night Widow opened all four eyes fully, her earlier indifference gone.

”Didn’t the report say he’d only just become a Daemon?” Ancestral Elder Cinder Queen asked.

”It did,” Ancestral Elder Wild Hunt replied.

”Then how could he have three already?”

Simon watched their reactions without speaking.

He had felt his seeds responding to those three Grand Elders when he entered. Apparently, the reaction had told them something too.

However, he hadn’t expected them to announce it before the meeting had properly begun.

”There aren’t just three,” Grand Elder Dread Crown said.

The voices stopped.

”There’s a fourth one. I can’t identify the last one.”

Nobody answered.

Ancestral Elder Black Mountain’s finger, which had been tapping against his knee, remained still.

”Four?” Ancestral Elder White Death finally asked. ”Surely that isn’t possible.”

”A newly evolved Daemon,” Ancestral Elder Bone Prophet murmured. ”Still only a Greater Demon... and he has four?”

His five eyes remained fixed on Simon.

For a moment, Simon wondered whether the elder could see straight through his chest. He resisted the urge to cover it.

”Grand Elder Dread Crown,” Ancestral Elder Silent Plague said carefully. ”Could some of them be artificial?”

That drew several gazes back toward the crimson-robed elder.

An explanation like that would still leave questions, but it was easier to accept than the alternative.

”They’re natural,” Grand Elder Dread Crown replied.

”All four?” Ancestral Elder Silent Plague asked.

”Yes.”

Ancestral Elder Bone Prophet lowered the book onto his lap.

He looked at Simon again, this time examining him from his horns to the hands resting at his sides. The other Ancestral Elders were doing much the same.

Whatever he had sensed, Grand Elder Dread Crown was certain.

Grand Elder Night Widow chuckled.

The sound drew Simon’s attention so easily that he frowned. For a moment, listening to her seemed more important than watching anyone else in the room.

He felt his blood flow quicken, and even his dragon below was slowly rising at the sound of her chuckle.

However, he quickly steadied his thoughts.

’Lust?’

That might explain the unnatural charm in her voice. He couldn’t be certain, but he was careful not to let himself become distracted again.

”I came because we received a report about a young hybrid who had evolved into a Daemon,” Grand Elder Night Widow said. ”One who then survived a Bloodline Extinction Tribulation that should have destroyed him.”

She crossed her legs beneath her gown and rested her hands together.

”I imagine the rest of you were curious for much the same reason.”

Ancestral Elder Wild Hunt and the other Ancestral Elders nodded.

Grand Elder Night Widow looked down at Simon. The movement beneath her veil suggested a smile.

”I certainly didn’t expect you to have even one. And now we’re being told there are four.”

”Neither did I,” Grand Elder Golden Tyrant said.

One pair of her golden hands remained on the armrests. The other settled in her lap as she leaned forward.

”How did you obtain them, Blackmoon? And how did you evolve both your bloodlines into Royal Daemon bloodlines?”

The council quietened.

Simon could feel all twelve elders waiting for him to answer.

Beside him, Enigma was still trying to follow the conversation.

’Four what?’

He looked from Grand Elder Dread Crown to Grand Elder Golden Tyrant, then toward Simon.

Whatever the boy possessed had shocked beings who rarely found anything worth reacting to. Even the Ancestral Elders seemed unwilling to believe what they’d heard.

One. Three. Four.

Natural and artificial.

Why wouldn’t anyone say what they were talking about?

Enigma suddenly recalled the chair moving toward Simon during their earlier conversation. It hadn’t been carried by wind. He had been certain of that, but Simon had refused to explain.

Was that one of these four things?

He had witnessed what the boy could do against the God of War, yet apparently there was still something important he had failed to notice.

Enigma’s frown deepened.

Simon glanced at him before looking back toward the council.

They were avoiding the name because of Enigma.

Every elder appeared to understand, but none had explained it to the Fourth Abyss Lord standing beside him. Considering what Lilith had said about the danger of such knowledge, they were probably protecting him.

Simon would keep using their vague terms.

As for the questions themselves...

He hadn’t expected to avoid discussing his evolution. That didn’t mean he would tell them about Lilith, Devour, his Blessing, or everything he had done on the Bloodline Origin Path.

”I don’t really know how to explain it,” Simon said.

Grand Elder Golden Tyrant waited.

”They formed while I was undergoing my bloodline evolution and the tribulation.”

”You don’t know?” Grand Elder Golden Tyrant asked.

”Not well enough to tell you how someone else could do it.”

It was an incomplete answer, and he knew it.

He remembered consuming the tribulation’s power. He remembered what he had wanted when the first seeds began forming.

But knowing what had happened to him wasn’t the same as having a method he could give them. He wasn’t going to reveal the abilities that had made it possible either.

Ancestral Elder White Death narrowed her eyes.

”You expect us to believe they simply appeared?”

”That’s what happened,” Simon replied.

He left it there.

Above him, Grand Elder Red Calamity’s claw shifted against the armrest. Grand Elder Endless Maw watched without speaking, his thin lips pressed together.

Grand Elder Dread Crown tilted his head slightly.

”So you evolved your bloodlines, survived the tribulation, and formed four of them. Just like that?”

Simon heard the sarcasm.

He met the elder’s silver eyes without changing his expression.

”Not four at first.”

”How many?”

”Two. The other two came afterward, when that gaze appeared.”

The amusement left Grand Elder Dread Crown’s face.

Simon continued.

”I was going to die. His pressure alone nearly broke me. I was fortunate enough to form two more before He killed me.”

”Fortunate?” Ancestral Elder Black Mountain repeated.

”Yes,” Simon nodded.

Ancestral Elder Cinder Queen glanced toward Ancestral Elder Bone Prophet.

They understood desperation. None had reached their present strength without facing death.

That didn’t explain how this boy had achieved something so difficult twice in succession. If facing death were enough, they would have seen far more cases like his.

Simon could tell they didn’t believe he had given them the whole story.

They were right.

Grand Elder Golden Tyrant looked briefly at Grand Elder Dread Crown before addressing him again.

”Since you don’t want to explain how you formed the four, tell us about your bloodlines. How did you evolve them?”

Simon shook his head.

Grand Elder Golden Tyrant’s hands went still. Several Ancestral Elders narrowed their eyes, and even Enigma turned sharply toward him.

”I’m sorry,” Simon said calmly. ”But I can’t tell you how I evolved my bloodlines.”