The Broken Halo

Chapter 1033 - 1032: Would It Be Enough?

Simon looked from the cracked surface to the loose chip beside it.

An egg?

He leaned closer, studying the curve beneath the dust. Now that Lilith had said it, he could make out the shape more clearly. But the waist-high object still looked like a black rock that had spent years beneath a merciless sun.

Deep cracks divided its dry surface. One side had sunk inward, and nothing moved within the darkness exposed by the fissures.

[That’s a dragon’s egg?]

[Yes.]

[An ordinary dragon’s, or a True Dragon’s? And how is a dead egg supposed to help me?]

[A True Dragon’s,] Lilith replied. [I’m quite certain nothing in this vault is meant for ordinary demons. If there is, I would be very disappointed in The Abyss.]

Simon glanced toward the passage.

This was their second-ranked treasury. Filling it with resources meant only for ordinary demons would indeed be strange.

His gaze returned to the egg.

[Then why did you bring me here? Is there a way to revive it?]

An interesting possibility occurred to him.

[Could I raise it as a pet? Or a mount?]

[No. There is no way for you to revive it. The dragon inside is dead.]

She paused.

[Now that I think about it, I find your thought rather disturbing.]

[Which one?] Simon raised a curious brow.

[Using a True Dragon as a mount. Do you intend to use me as one when I get my body back?]

Simon stopped.

Until she mentioned it, he hadn’t considered that.

He had seen how beautiful Lilith was, but he had no idea what her True Dragon form looked like. Whatever shape she took, he doubted it would be anything less than exceptional.

He imagined an immense dragon passing over mountains, her ancient power making the creatures below hesitate to look up.

And there he was, sitting comfortably on her back.

His Seed of Pride stirred.

[You bastard.]

Simon blinked.

[You’re actually thinking about making me your mount!]

[... Maybe.]

Simon shamelessly admitted.

[Try climbing onto my back in my True Dragon form, and I’ll burn your balls off and feed them to you.]

His lips twitched.

He wisely kept his answer to himself.

Unfortunately, silence did little to remove the image. The more he considered it, the more appealing it became.

He could certainly understand why his Pride liked it.

[You insufferable bastard. I can feel that seed stirring. Stop thinking about it!]

Simon coughed and looked down at the egg.

[You still haven’t explained why this would be useful to me.]

[Tch.]

He waited.

[The embryo is dead, but some of the egg’s essence remains preserved within the shell,] Lilith said at last. [That is most likely why they kept it here rather than disposing of it.]

Simon examined a deep crack near the top.

[There’s enough left to be useful?]

[Yes. You possess the Devourers’ power. Why not devour it and take what remains for yourself?]

His eyes sharpened.

[I watched you use that ability on the Shadow Monarch’s descendant,] she continued. [That Child of Shadows gave you abilities and traits related to the shadow element like shadow affinity and abilities like the Shadow Eyes you’ve used multiple times.]

[Then there was the Fleshwood’s Heart Resin.]

Simon slowly straightened from his crouch.

[You obtained its regenerative abilities. You did not become a Fleshwood. There is no reason this egg should be useless to you simply because the dragon died.]

Of course.

He had been looking at it as an egg that would never hatch. But he didn’t need a living creature for Devour to work.

His thoughts began moving quickly.

A True Dragon.

What could he obtain from one?

[Do you think I could acquire its bloodline?]

Lilith didn’t answer immediately.

Simon waited, his anticipation tempered by the silence.

[I don’t know exactly how the Devourers’ power works, or the full extent of what you can take with it,] she eventually said. [But my advice is that you do not attempt to obtain another bloodline.]

He frowned.

[Because of the two I already possess?]

[Yes. You finally have a balance between them. Introducing a third could destroy it.]

Simon looked at his hand.

[True Dragons are prideful, stubborn creatures,] Lilith continued. [Subduing one is not easy, and their bloodlines are no different. The Uruqaths have their pride too, but they are not as stubborn as we are.]

A strange expression crossed Simon’s face.

He thought of his Nine-Tailed Byakko bloodline during the evolution.

There had been no shortage of pride there either.

[I don’t think that’s limited to True Dragons and Uruqaths,] he said. [All Royal bloodlines should have their pride. They’re at the top of their races.]

[And?]

[I doubt any of them would willingly share their home with another Royal bloodline. It’s like asking a king to share his kingdom with another king.]

[Exactly. Which is why adding a third would be foolish right now.]

Lilith let that settle before continuing.

[Take your two kings. Say each has half the kingdom. They may dislike sharing it, but they have reached an arrangement they can tolerate.]

Simon listened.

[Now bring in a third king who expects an equal share. The kingdom hasn’t grown. The first two must surrender part of what they already possess, and the newcomer may not be satisfied with what they offer.]

[So the arrangement falls apart.]

[And they start fighting over it. In your case, they would be fighting inside your body.]

His gaze lowered toward his chest.

[Your bloodlines aren’t literally dividing land,] she added. [But a new one would demand changes to the same body the other two already inhabit. They may resist it, or it may try to suppress them. Either way, you would have to survive the conflict.]

Simon understood.

He had endured enough during his evolution to know what that could mean. Having survived it once did not make repeating the experience sensible.

Especially when the new bloodline would be as powerful as the ones already within him.

[There may come a time when you can take another bloodline, perhaps more than one,] Lilith said. [Wait until you truly need it, until you find something extraordinary enough to justify the risk, or until you are far stronger than you are now.]

[Then I should leave this one’s bloodline alone.]

[That would be wise. Besides, if you encounter a stronger True Dragon with a purer bloodline, it’ll. W better for you. And you may not need it to obtain what you want.]

She sounded less irritated now.

[Whenever you use that power of the Devourers, you grow stronger. Sometimes you gain an ability from what you consume. Why insist on taking an entire bloodline when you may obtain its benefits without disturbing the two you have?]

Simon considered the black stars within him.

His blessing had already done exactly that.

Even Devour itself had come from blood essence without giving him the bloodline of a Devourer. There was no reason to risk the balance of his body merely because a True Dragon’s blood sounded impressive.

[Consider the cursed energy you’re currently keeping contained in your body,] Lilith continued.

His attention shifted inward.

The power taken from Joren remained isolated from his own demonic energy. He still had to keep it from spreading into places where it could harm him.

[You obtained that without becoming a Heart Daemon. Once you have somewhere quiet to meditate and examine it properly, you may find a way to make that kind of power your own.]

[And produce it myself?]

[Possibly. You will have to find out. Holding someone else’s cursed energy is not the same as being able to use it safely.]

Simon nodded slightly.

He had already noticed something unusual about the energy. The thought of investigating it had remained with him through the elders’ questions and the journey to the vault.

He simply hadn’t had the chance to sit down and concentrate on it.

[The egg is worth taking for the same reason,] Lilith said. [You should gain strength from what remains, and perhaps some of the dragon’s abilities. That is enough. You don’t need to force another bloodline into yourself.]

Simon inwardly agreed.

He looked at the object beside the wall again.

It hadn’t changed. The shell was still cracked, the surface dull, and the dust remained lodged within its fissures.

But he was no longer wondering why Lilith had brought him to a piece of rubbish.

What would he gain when he devoured it?

An ability? An affinity? Something he hadn’t considered?

There was only one way to find out.

He bent and carefully used a current of wind beneath the egg, supporting its weight across the base rather than pulling against its damaged sides.

It lifted from the floor.

This would be his first selection.

His hand moved toward his spatial ring, then stopped.

The guard’s instructions returned to him.

Registration first.

There was no reason to make his first selection look like theft.

With the egg supported beside him, Simon retraced his steps through the passage and followed the ramps back toward the entrance.

He brought it to the registration point without crossing out of the vault. Only after it had been recorded as the first of his five selections did he place it in his spatial ring.

He would devour it after leaving.

For now, four choices remained.

Simon turned back toward the hall.

The column of pale light stretched through terraces both above and below him. Beyond the nearest aisles were more galleries, with rows of cabinets disappearing behind pillars and ramps leading toward sections he hadn’t even glimpsed.

He had walked past enough treasures to fill a smaller treasury without reading a single description.

”This is going to take a while,” he muttered.

He looked toward the books, then down at the lower levels.

Would twenty-four hours really be enough to go through all of this and choose only four more items?