Chapter 1003 - 1002: Beyond His Memories

Simon looked from the fragment of his birth to the ring below.

’What the hell are you?’

And what the hell was this sea of consciousness?

He had followed his memories through two lives and reached the moment his human mother first held him. Surely there couldn’t be much left.

What else was he going to find? Himself in her womb? His parents talking outside? Them having sex?

He grimaced.

That was something he could happily live without remembering.

The pressure behind his eyes had grown worse while he lingered. His physical body was still sitting on the bed, but he could feel the strain on his brain.

Becoming a Daemon and a Greater Demon was helping him endure it, but that wasn’t all.

He could feel the four Seeds of Sin within his Daemon Heart. He hadn’t deliberately called on them, yet their power helped him withstand the pressure. He couldn’t explain exactly how, but he could feel the difference.

Without those four seeds and his two Royal Daemon bloodlines, he doubted he would have reached this depth.

’How deep does this thing go?’

The ring continued to glow with the same ivory-white light. From here, it looked small enough to hold between his fingers.

He had no idea whether that was its actual size.

Simon glanced around. Fragments drifted behind him, showing the first moments of a life he had once believed was his only one.

Ahead lay more darkness.

The pressure was uncomfortable, but he could still think clearly. He hadn’t reached his limit.

He turned downward and resumed swimming.

A fragment brushed past his shoulder.

There was no clear image inside it. As his attention touched it, he felt warmth, confinement, and a steady heartbeat that wasn’t his own.

Then he heard his mother’s voice.

Simon slowed down.

He couldn’t see her. Her words sounded muffled, as though they were coming through a wall, but he recognised her.

His father’s voice followed.

"What about Simon?"

There was a pause.

"Simon?"

"You don’t like it?"

"I didn’t say that. I’m thinking."

The exchange faded as the fragment drifted away.

Simon stared after it.

They had been choosing his name.

’I’m actually remembering being inside her womb.’

He had meant it as a ridiculous thought. Now he was listening to conversations that had taken place before he was born.

How had any of this remained inside him? He couldn’t have understood those words back then.

Another fragment passed nearby, carrying his mother’s complaint about something his father had forgotten to buy. In the next, they were arguing over how late he had returned home.

These were ordinary things. A few words spoken while going about their lives, with no reason for either of them to remember them afterward.

Yet Simon was finding them here.

Some fragments held only faint sounds. Others carried whole exchanges, interrupted whenever his attention moved to a different shard.

Then he encountered a private moment between his parents and immediately hurried past it.

’Yes. I could have done without that.’

He kept his attention on the ring.

As he descended, the fragments became less frequent. Voices gave way to indistinct noises and sensations he struggled to recognise.

One last piece drifted beside his hand.

He glanced at it, found nothing he could understand, and continued.

After a while, he realised there were no more.

Simon looked back.

The fragments had disappeared.

He turned slowly, searching the darkness around him. There wasn’t a single broken mirror left to mark his progress.

Only black water.

He could no longer tell how far he had travelled. Without the memories, the passing water offered little sense of movement. For several moments, he wasn’t even certain which way he had come.

The ring remained in front of him.

He fixed his eyes on it and swam.

The ache in his head grew gradually stronger. He slowed whenever it interfered with his concentration, then continued once he had adjusted.

Still no bottom.

The light had become clearer, but it remained impossible to judge how much closer he was. He had expected it to grow larger by now.

’Don’t tell me I’ve been swimming in circles.’

He suddenly extended one hand ahead of him and his palm struck something solid.

Simon stopped with his arm bent against the impact.

He stared at his hand. There was nothing in front of it.

He reached forward again. His fingers met a smooth surface, and when he pressed harder, a faint ripple spread from beneath them.

The ring shone beyond it.

"A barrier?"

He placed his other hand beside the first.

The resistance extended in both directions. He moved sideways, feeling along it, but found no edge. There were no visible markings, and he couldn’t tell how thick it was.

He pushed until his arms were straight.

The surface held.

Simon frowned.

This wasn’t the barrier around the outer reaches of his sea of consciousness. He had examined that before diving. Whatever this was, it lay far beneath the oldest memory he possessed.

’Why is there a barrier down here?’

He drew back his fist and punched.

Thud!

A ripple passed across the point of impact.

Simon waited, paying attention to the pressure in his head.

Nothing changed.

He struck it again, harder.

The barrier didn’t yield, but neither did he feel any pain in his head beyond the ache from his descent. He had expected some reaction from attacking something within his own mind.

There was none.

He opened his hand and tried pushing his mental energy through the surface. It gathered beneath his palm, unable to pass.

The ring remained visible.

He could see it, but even his perception stopped at the barrier.

Simon withdrew his hand.

’Let’s try this.’

The surrounding water stirred.

Black mental energy gathered in front of him, lengthening into a spear. He compressed it until its outline grew solid and its point sharpened.

Mind Spear

He kept the power restrained. His punches hadn’t hurt him, but he still didn’t know what this barrier was.

Simon sent the spear forward.

It struck directly in front of the ring.

Clang!

Shatter!

The tip of the spear shattered.

The rest of the shaft broke apart a moment later, scattering black fragments that dissolved into the surrounding water.

He watched the impact site.

Not even a scratch.

His frown deepened.

The attack hadn’t caused any backlash. Whatever held him here was tough, but so far it had done nothing except prevent him from going farther.

He approached and pressed his palm against the same spot.

It was still smooth.

"You really don’t want me getting through."

Simon pulled back and gathered more mental energy.

A second spear formed, slightly longer and thicker than the first. He tightened its structure, giving particular attention to the tip of the spear.

Then he made it rotate.

Slowly at first, before the movement quickened and the water around it began turning with it.

He steadied the shaft while increasing the speed.

Simply throwing a stronger spear might leave him with the same result. This one needed to keep working against the same spot instead of breaking at the first impact.

The rotating outline blurred.

Simon aimed at the place he had struck before.

"Go."

The spear shot forward.

Its tip hit the barrier with a dull crash.

This time, it held.

Black water twisted around the shaft as the spear continued rotating, grinding against the surface like a drill. Ripples spread from the contact point and passed beneath Simon’s outstretched hand.

He watched closely.

The tip wore down, then sharpened again as more of the power stored within the spear moved forward.

A pale mark appeared beneath it.

Simon leaned closer.

The spear trembled, but he kept its direction steady. Its shaft had begun thinning as the attack consumed its reserves.

For several seconds, nothing else happened.

Then...

Crack!

A fracture opened beneath the tip.

The rotating spear drove into it.

More cracks spread outward, and the shaft rapidly shortened. Its remaining power gathered at the tip, forcing it through the damaged section.

The spear dissipated.

Simon lowered his hand.

A hole remained.

It was only about the size of his fist, with fine cracks spreading around its edge, but it went through.

He moved closer, relief briefly easing his expression.

’Finally.’

The opening wasn’t large enough for him to pass through. He raised his hand again, drawing the nearby mental energy together for another rotating spear.

Then he noticed something through the hole.

Simon froze.

The gathering energy slipped from his control and dispersed.

He stared through the opening, his eyes widening.

"No way."