Chapter 1014 - 1013: Just Because You Asked

Disbelief crossed Grand Elder Golden Tyrant’s face.

"You can’t tell us how you evolved your bloodlines?"

Simon nodded.

Ancestral Elder Cinder Queen frowned. Beside her, Ancestral Elder Wild Hunt’s expression hardened, but Simon continued calmly.

"I was fortunate enough to come across a method that could evolve my bloodline. That doesn’t mean I’m willing to give it away."

"Bloodline?" Grand Elder Night Widow asked. "Not bloodlines?"

Simon looked toward her.

She had caught the distinction immediately.

"What Lord Enigma witnessed was the evolution of one bloodline. My other bloodline had already awakened before that."

It wasn’t the whole truth.

His One-Tailed Byakko had become a Nine-Tailed Byakko under the Uruqath’s pressure. That change had helped make the tribulation far more dangerous.

But the ritual itself had been prepared for his horned bloodline. His demonic cat ancestry had first awakened without it.

Enigma turned toward him.

One bloodline?

He remembered the crimson lightning above Velmora and the crimson dragon. What sort of evolution could bring down something like that on its own?

The council looked less convinced.

"Are you saying you used two different methods?" Grand Elder Night Widow asked.

"Yes."

The veil shifted against Grand Elder Night Widow’s face. Her eyes curved with the smile beneath it.

"You have four of them, and now two ways to become a Daemon. You’ve been very fortunate, Blackmoon."

Simon felt no reassurance from her pleasant tone.

The jointed limbs behind Grand Elder Night Widow’s shoulders had unfolded slightly. He had the uncomfortable impression that her curiosity had become something much more dangerous.

"I wonder how you came across both," Grand Elder Night Widow added.

Simon gave a wry smile and sighed.

"When the old decide to bully the young, what chance do we have?"

Grand Elder Night Widow froze.

"Did you just call me old?"

Her voice was as sweet as before, but Enigma’s fingers tensed beside him.

Simon coughed into his fist.

"You must have misheard. I didn’t say that."

Ancestral Elder White Death laughed.

"Oh, I heard him perfectly, Grand Elder Night Widow."

Grand Elder Night Widow turned her head.

"Laugh again, Ancestral Elder White Death, and I’ll pull out your tongue."

Ancestral Elder White Death’s forked tongue briefly touched her lip.

"You’ve been threatening me with that for years but you still haven’t done anything to me, old woman."

She settled more comfortably upon her coiled tail, apparently untroubled at the glare of Grand Elder Night Widow.

"Enough."

Grand Elder Dread Crown hadn’t raised his voice, but Ancestral Elder White Death stopped laughing. Grand Elder Night Widow withdrew her gaze, folding her extra limbs behind her again.

The brief distraction had done nothing to lessen the attention on Simon.

"How did you find the two methods?" Grand Elder Dread Crown asked.

Simon shook his head.

"The first wasn’t something I found in a book or learned from someone. It was all due to luck."

Ancestral Elder White Death’s amusement faded.

"Before I awakened my Chaos Flame, I was forced to endure the suppression of a Basilisk’s bloodline," Simon continued. "My demonic cat bloodline began changing while I resisted it."

"Just from resisting?" Grand Elder Dread Crown asked.

"I was trying not to die. I didn’t know it would cause an evolution."

He said nothing about the extraction, the eyes he had seen, or how Fearless had kept his mind clear. Those details would only give them more to question him about.

Several elders frowned.

His explanation was brief enough to sound almost absurd. A weak demon endured a superior bloodline and came away with something better.

Had that been all it took, they wouldn’t have so few of their kind.

"There are records of it happening," Ancestral Elder Bone Prophet said.

His bony fingers rested across the closed book on his lap.

"Severe suppression can provoke a change in a suitable bloodline. But the descendant has to survive it first. Their Will matters, as does whether their body can endure the transformation."

Ancestral Elder Bone Prophet studied Simon.

"It isn’t something that can be reliably repeated. Another demon in the same situation might simply die."

"So the first was luck," Ancestral Elder Wild Hunt said.

"Yes," Ancestral Elder Bone Prophet replied. "Assuming what he said is the truth."

Simon let the elder’s words pass.

Ancestral Elder Bone Prophet continued.

"That could explain your first awakening. It doesn’t explain the method you used for the other one."

"I didn’t say it did."

"Then why won’t you tell us about it?"

"Because I don’t know any of you guys."

Ancestral Elder Bone Prophet’s fingers raised a brow.

Grand Elder Golden Tyrant lifted her chin. Around the gallery, several expressions changed as the answer sank in.

Simon looked from one seat to another.

"This is my first visit to The Abyss. Lord Enigma has told me about your ranks and some of what you’ve built here. I know this is an organisation of Daemons."

"And that is why you were brought here," Ancestral Elder Bone Prophet said.

"Yes. To discuss joining."

Simon allowed a moment for the distinction.

"I haven’t joined yet. I haven’t agreed to anything. I’m grateful that Lord Enigma brought me and my companions here, but The Abyss doesn’t mean to me what it means to you."

Enigma watched him with an expression that was conflicted and also filled with disbelief.

The boy wasn’t shouting or behaving as though he wanted a fight. If anything, that made the words harder to interrupt.

’But how is he able to talk back to them so calmly?’ Enigma wondered.

"I know how valuable a method of bloodline evolution is," Simon continued. "You wouldn’t be asking me about it otherwise."

Grand Elder Golden Tyrant’s golden claws curled against her palm.

They had invited him into their home. They were offering him a chance to stand among Daemons whose knowledge could change his entire future.

Yet he spoke as though that gave them no claim upon his secrets.

Simon met her gaze.

"So why should I give you the method? Just because you asked?"

The silence that followed was different from the one before.

Ancestral Elder Cinder Queen’s lips tightened. The red cracks across her hands brightened, while Ancestral Elder Wild Hunt lowered his chin and stared directly at Simon.

Few visitors needed reminding of where they stood. A glance from a single elder was usually enough to make them answer carefully and offer whatever was requested.

Membership had never mattered much in that regard.

Their power was reason enough.

Here were twelve of them, and a Greater Demon was asking what gave them the right to ask for one of his things.

Enigma’s jaw tightened.

He understood wanting to keep a valuable method. He was far less certain that Blackmoon understood how dangerous it was to challenge the council this openly.

"Watch your tone, boy."

Ancestral Elder Black Tide leaned forward. His pupil-less eyes settled on Simon, and the gills along his neck opened slightly.

"You aren’t speaking to your peers."

Simon turned toward him.

"You think refusing means we can’t make you talk?" Ancestral Elder Black Tide asked.

A cold weight settled over the centre of the hall.

Enigma felt it immediately. It was only a trace of the elder’s power, but enough to warn a Demon King to choose his next words carefully.

Simon’s skin tightened beneath his shirt.

He knew exactly how great the difference between them was. Nothing he had achieved in Velmora had changed that.

However, Fearless kept his thoughts clear.

"There are many ways to get that method out of you," Ancestral Elder Black Tide said. "If we use them, you’ll be begging us to kill you before we’re finished."

Enigma looked toward Simon.

A refusal was one thing. He had hoped the boy would offer to negotiate, perhaps demand something extravagant enough to give the council a reason to bargain.

But Simon’s expression had lost even its earlier courtesy.

He had been willing to accept rules and obligations. He had come here expecting to discuss what each side could offer.

He knew the difference between a request and a threat.

"Then do it."

Enigma’s breath caught.

Simon hadn’t raised his voice. His hands hung at his sides, and his gaze remained on Ancestral Elder Black Tide.

"But make sure you kill me."

The Seed of Pride stirred within his heart.

A faint shudder passed through the air. The demonic energy surrounding Simon drew inward, gathering close enough to lift the edges of his sleeves and his long white hair.

It pushed against the pressure descending from the gallery.

Ancestral Elder Black Tide could have crushed that resistance with almost no effort. Yet it was there, coming from a Daemon who should have been struggling merely to speak.

Grand Elder Dread Crown’s lips curled into a smile.

Grand Elder Red Calamity’s claw lifted from the armrest. Even Grand Elder Night Widow’s eyes widened slightly at what she was seeing.

Simon looked across the occupied seats.

"Because if I leave this hall alive, I’ll spend every day getting stronger until I can come back and kill everyone who laid a hand on me."