The Broken Halo

Waking Lucien was an easy thing to do.

Simon just had to slap him... hard.

And when he did, the young prodigy woke up and instantly cursed all of Simon’s ancestors.

He wanted to continue, but the moment he saw the cube containing the Fleshwood’s heart resin on Simon’s palm, he froze.

Simon saw his reaction, and he asked.

”Is this what Caesar wants from you?”

Lucien shifted his gaze from the cube to Simon.

He remained silent for a moment, then he nodded slightly.

”Yes. This is it.”

Simon narrowed his eyes and perceived the fluctuations in Lucien’s mind.

He wanted to be certain that he was not been lied to, and after confirming that the Frostborn prodigy was telling him the truth, his expression went back to normal.

”Where did you get it from?” Simon asked.

Lucien glanced at the cube, then he answered with a slightly distant gaze.

”The Forest of the Black Witch.”

Simon narrowed his eyes.

He had never heard of such a place before.

”The Forest of the Black Witch?”

Lucien nodded while still looking at the slowly moving heart resin.

”Yes. It’s not a known place. I stumbled upon the place when I was in the south. It was completely an accident. My guards and I were chased by powerful beasts, and when we were trying to escape, we accidentally stumbled upon the Forest of the Black Witch.”

”Hmm.” Simon hummed as a thoughtful frown appeared on his face.

Lucien looked at Simon.

”The forest was completely strange. All the trees in the forest were either dried up and withered, black, filled with the faces of dead demons and beasts, and a lot more honestly.”

Lucien looked down and clenched his fists.

”There were strange beasts there, but more of my people died to the dangers of the environment compared to the beasts themselves.”

”Even the air itself was acidic.”

Simon hummed once again, then he asked a question.

”How did you get this thing?”

He shook the cube slightly.

”And how did you encounter Caesar.”

Lucien’s gaze suddenly sharpened at the mention of Caesar, and to Simon’s surprise, he saw a flash of killing intent in his eyes.

’Interesting.’

Lucien sighed deeply, then he responded.

”After many of us died and suffering for nearly two weeks in that damned forest, we got to the tallest and largest tree in the forest.”

”From the moment we arrived in the forest, we all saw the tree and since we didn’t know how to escape, we decided to go to the tree.”

Lucien paused, then he continued.

”The tree was strange. It looked like it was made out of dried flesh. It gave no signs of life unlike the other trees, so it was pretty concerning.”

[That’s a Fleshwood.] Lilith suddenly said.

And Simon nodded internally.

[But it seems it’s dead.]

[That’s wrong. It’s not dead.]

Simon’s eyes widened slightly in surprise.

When Lucien saw this, he thought Simon was surprised at his words.

[What do you mean it’s not dead?]

[Killing a Fleshwood is not an easy thing to accomplish. Don’t forget that I said they have a very terrifying regeneration ability and vitality.]

[Based on this kid’s description, the Fleshwood is not dead. It’s in a hibernation state because it doesn’t have enough food to eat.]

[What? Don’t tell me that the Fleshwood Lucien encountered is the same Fleshwood of your time?]

[It’s not. That Fleshwood was destroyed, but it spread its seeds, and well... I’ll tell you about it later.]

[Finish listening to that kid first... But we might have bigger problems on our hands if we’re not careful.]

Simon frowned, then he looked at Lucien who was looking at him without saying a word.

”Are you done thinking to yourself?” Lucien asked.

”Continue what you were saying?” Simon replied.

Lucien’s lips twitched, but he did as he was told.

”As I was saying, when we got close to the tree, we saw a house on one of the branches of the tree.”

”It was after we climbed the strange tree and got to the house that we realized that we were in the forest of the Black Witch.”

”We also discovered how to leave the forest, and that’s also when we found that strange thing in your hand.”

Lucien glanced at the cube, and Simon did the same.

”By the way, do you know what it is? I’ve tried asking around, but nobody knows what it is and there’s no record of such a thing in our family’s library.”

Simon shook his head slightly.

”I don’t.”

Lucien narrowed his eyes and looked at Simon with a suspicious look.

He didn’t believe Simon at all.

”You look like you know it.”

Simon rolled his eyes, then he changed the topic.

”How did you meet Caesar in the forest of the Black Witch?”

Lucien felt like giving Simon a good beating for ignoring his question. He was used to being respected, and Simon’s disrespect angered him.

However, he could do nothing but release a sigh of frustration.

”When my people and I were going through the Black Witch’s house, that was when Caesar and his dogs entered the building.”

”I remember how shocked we were because we never encountered another sane demon throughout the time we spent in the forest.”

”We talked for some time, and Caesar said he was surprised that we were in the forest. Apparently, the way we entered the forest shortened the distance we were to take to reach the center of the forest.”

”We continued talking until Caesar saw that cube in the hand of my personal guard, then he requested for it.”

He pointed at the Fleshwood’s heart resin.

”We obviously didn’t want to give him because it was obvious that it was unique, but Caesar threatened us.”

Lucien clenched his fists in anger as he recalled the scene of that day.

”Caesar had more numbers than us, and compared to us who were badly injured and poisoned, he and his dogs were much better.”

”What happened next was a battle I can never forget.”

”My people sacrificed themselves for me to escape Caesar and the forest, and I will never forgive Caesar for that.”