Chapter 952 - 951: Those Who Would Follow

"Can you help us become Daemons too?"

Simon studied Akaza for a moment.

He had expected that question. After everything they had seen and heard, he would have been disappointed if neither of them had asked.

In fact, he had already decided to help them.

However, that decision had little to do with trust.

He still did not trust them.

Sonya and Akaza had followed him for months. They had fought beside him, suffered with him, and remained when leaving might have been easier.

But his former companions had spent decades doing much the same.

Then they had betrayed him.

Why should less than a year with these two prove more than all those years had? He could appreciate what they had done without handing them the means to end him.

Even Elara’s sacrifice had not changed that.

It had shown him that such loyalty existed, but it had not promised he would receive it.

Simon’s gaze moved briefly toward Akaza’s stiff arm.

Trust aside, he needed them.

The God of War had escaped. Others would learn about the newborn Daemon who had humiliated him, and the enemies drawn toward Simon would not all stop at the level of gods.

There were older beings.

Greater beings.

And The One.

Simon still did not know what surviving that gaze meant to its owner. Four seeds of sin remained within his heart, and a single word from the departing presence hardly explained what might happen next.

Sure he was very talented and it would help, but it would not let him fight every enemy at once.

If he could raise armies of undead or command legions of summoned beasts, he might have considered travelling alone. However, he possessed no such force.

Every lesser opponent he had to kill himself cost attention and power. Enough of them could wear him down before the enemy he actually feared arrived.

Even an ant could bring down an elephant they said.

The ants just had to be many enough.

He needed people capable of handling those threats.

Eventually, he would need people who could do more than that.

Sonya and Akaza already possessed the talent. They had also shown him enough of how they fought to make them better choices than strangers offering promises.

So he would give them room to grow.

But not every single one of his secrets.

Not his unguarded back.

He intended to remain strong enough to face his followers even if they turned against him together. And if that became impossible, he would preserve a way to survive them.

He would not repeat his former life simply because he disliked remembering it.

Within his heart, Pride gave a quiet thrum.

The idea of powerful followers pleased it.

Simon could not pretend it displeased him either.

He had been a king once. He did not need praise to feel worthwhile, but having capable people carry out his decisions had its advantages.

And Sonya and Akaza would be far more useful standing beside him than struggling somewhere behind.

"Yes," he said.

Akaza’s shoulders straightened.

Sonya’s mouth began curving.

"But before you get excited, understand what you are asking."

The smile stopped growing.

Simon glanced around the ruined village, then returned his attention to them.

"The requirements I described belonged to my bloodline. I don’t know yet what yours would demand."

He had been born in a backwater tribe in the Wildlands. The Kingdom of Darkness had held no roots for him. The Two-Horned Demons he used in Velmora had been strangers.

For these two, the same approach might lead somewhere very different.

He knew little about their families. Little about what remained in the places they had left.

Slaughtering another city was one thing.

Recognising the faces inside it was another.

"If your evolution requires the same kind of sacrifice, you may have to obtain it from your own races. Your own clans."

Simon paused.

"Perhaps your relatives."

Akaza’s expression tightened.

Sonya’s did not soften.

"Don’t tell me you’re willing simply because you liked what my new body could do," Simon continued. "You need to decide what you’re prepared to destroy to obtain it."

"This Honourable does not have a good relationship with her clan."

Sonya’s voice was quieter than her usual boast.

"The people I would have hesitated for are already dead."

Simon watched her for a moment.

There was no joke waiting behind the words.

Akaza flexed his stiff fingers.

"I have things to settle with my clan too."

"What things?"

"Things I don’t intend to leave unsettled."

Simon accepted the answer with a slight nod. He was hardly in a position to demand every secret while keeping his own.

"But the ritual is only part of it," he said. "Becoming a Daemon will not merely give you stronger enemies of the same kind."

Both waited.

"Gods. And beings greater than gods. That is what may be waiting ahead, especially if you remain with me."

Akaza’s gaze flicked toward the direction in which the God of War had escaped.

Simon continued before he could speak.

"I won’t promise to protect you from everything. You may survive the evolution and still regret it."

"And staying weak prevents that?" Akaza asked.

"No."

"Then I want the chance."

His voice held no excitement now.

"I know I won’t become as strong as you just because my bloodline changes. But I’m not refusing a way to improve simply because it might kill me."

Sonya folded her arms.

"This Honourable has no intention of spending the rest of her life being left in your dust."

"You could choose a slower person to follow."

"Then who would annoy you?"

Simon chuckled.

But neither withdrew the request.

They had heard the warning. Whether they truly understood its weight remained to be seen, but he could hardly demand understanding of things they had never encountered.

"Fine. I’ll help. Just don’t mistake willingness for-"

[You may not need a ritual for either of them.]

Simon stopped.

For an instant, even the movement of his wings stilled.

[What?]

Lilith’s voice remained inside his mind.

[You can help them become Daemons without making them repeat what you did in Velmora.]

He stared at the space between Sonya and Akaza.

[How?]

[Your seeds of sin.]

His awareness immediately turned toward his heart.

Pride, Greed, Gluttony, Wrath.

He had barely begun learning what they could do to himself. Now she was telling him they could help transform someone else’s bloodline?

[How would I use them for that?]

[Decide whether you intend to do it. I will explain the method later.]

[I already intend to help them.]

[Then we will discuss it when you can give the matter your full attention.]

Simon wanted to ask again.

Which seed? Were there limits to this power? What would it take from him?

But Lilith had offered neither an explanation nor a promise that the alternative was easy.

He would not turn a few words into instructions she had never given.

"Little kitty."

Sonya’s voice drew him back.

"This Honourable is standing right here. What are you staring at?"

Simon blinked, then he cleared his throat.

"You two are lucky."

Akaza frowned.

"The being inside me just told me there is another way. You may not need a ritual. I can help you become Daemons without one."

Both went still.

"How?" Akaza asked immediately.

"I’ll need her to explain that properly."

Sonya’s head tilted.

"You tell us about slaughtering a city, then announce you can do it without the ritual?"

"I only learned that part just now."

"Little kitty, you’re becoming a very suspicious creature."

Simon shrugged.

"I thought we had established that."

But her expression remained serious. Moments earlier, becoming a Daemon had meant gathering things they might die trying to obtain.

Now Simon himself might provide another route.

He could almost see Akaza assembling his next questions.

However, footsteps reached the nearby rubble.

Simon looked past them.

Ammor and Virella had reached the edge of the ruined square, both breathing heavily.

"We’ll discuss the rest later," he said. "Ammor and Virella are here."