Chapter 253: Morning Light
Damon and Selene lay tangled together on her bed, their breathing slow and even.
Selene’s head rested on his chest, her platinum-white hair spread across his skin like silk. Her fingers traced lazy patterns on his stomach.
"You know," she said, her voice quiet, "I never thought I’d be here."
"Where?"
"In bed with a man half my age. Feeling... happy."
He chuckled, his hand stroking her hair.
"Age doesn’t matter. What matters is how you feel."
She lifted her head and looked at him.
"And how do you feel?"
He met her gaze.
"Like I have everything I need."
She smiled, a soft, genuine smile, and laid her head back down.
They stayed like that for a long moment, the silence comfortable, the warmth of their bodies mingling.
Then she spoke again.
"The tournament," she murmured, her fingertip pausing its lazy trail across his stomach.
"You’re truly ready for it?"
He didn’t hesitate, his golden eyes finding the shadowed ceiling with calm certainty.
"I’m always ready."
She laughed — a genuine, quiet sound, low and warm in the stillness of the room, nothing like the cold, clipped composure she wore for the rest of the world.
"Arrogant," she said, the single word carrying more fondness than accusation.
"Confident," he corrected, the corner of his mouth curling upward.
She tilted her head just enough to press a slow, deliberate kiss against his chest, her lips warm against his skin.
"Same thing," she murmured against him.
He said nothing to that, one hand continuing its unhurried passage through the silk of her platinum-white hair.
He didn’t argue, because deep down, he suspected she wasn’t entirely wrong — and deeper still, he didn’t particularly care to be.
****
Morning light filtered through the windows of Selene’s mansion.
Damon woke to find Selene already gone from the bed. He sat up, stretching, his muscles loose and relaxed.
The door opened.
Selene walked in, fully dressed in her elder robes, her hair tied back, her expression composed.
But her eyes softened when she saw him.
"Breakfast is ready. The others are waiting."
He nodded and got up.
*****
In the main hall, Ariel, Mio, Mia, Seraphina, Alena, Flare, and Neko sat around the table.
Neko was in human form, her cat ears twitching as she ate a bowl of porridge.
Ariel looked up as Damon entered.
"Good morning."
"Morning."
He sat down beside her.
Selene took her seat at the head of the table.
"We leave for Solaris City at noon," she said. "The Sky Cutter is being prepared. Mei will join us at the dock."
Mio leaned forward across the table, her deep purple ponytail swinging over one shoulder, bright eyes sweeping across the gathered faces with barely contained energy.
"Are we ready for this?"
Selene, seated at the head of the table with her elder’s composure intact, let her cool gaze drift sideways toward Damon — unhurried, almost imperious, though the faintest trace of warmth lived somewhere behind the frost.
"You would have to ask him," she said evenly. "He seems to think we are."
Damon, already reaching for a steamed bun, simply grinned — the easy, unhurried grin of a man who had already calculated the outcome and found it entirely to his satisfaction.
"I don’t think," he said. "I know."
From across the table, Mia let out a quiet, long-suffering exhale through her nose, her deep purple hair framing the small, resigned curl of her lips.
"Here we go," she muttered, barely audible, though the slight colour in her cheeks suggested she didn’t entirely mind.
Flare, leaning back in her chair with her arms folded beneath the crimson of her robes, gave a short, dismissive snort — yet the sharp line of her mouth tightened in a way that was closer to satisfaction than mockery.
"He’s not wrong," she conceded, her orange eyes carrying a flat, matter-of-fact certainty.
"Say what you want about his methods — I’ve never felt this strong. Not once in my life."
Alena, seated neatly with her wooden staff resting against the back of her chair, gave a measured nod, her forest-green eyes thoughtful as she turned the assessment over in her precise, methodical mind.
"The pills and the cultivation sessions have pushed every one of us past our previous ceilings," she said, composing her words with the same careful deliberation she applied to a refining formula.
"Collectively? I would say we are more than ready."
Seraphina, sitting straight-backed with her lime-green hair gathered in its high ponytail, rested her fingers lightly against the table and closed her eyes for just a moment — as though quietly listening to something moving beneath her own skin.
"The Azure Dragon Bloodline has fully settled," she said at last, her voice calm and low, carrying that particular quality of someone who had thoroughly catalogued every inch of their own power. "I can feel the difference. It isn’t subtle."
Damon set down his cup and looked around the table slowly, letting his golden gaze move from face to face.
His women.
His harem.
His strength.
"Then let’s eat. We have a tournament to win."
The meal was lively.
Neko asked questions about Solaris City. Ariel described the capital’s grand architecture. Mio and Mia argued about who would fight first. Flare remained quiet but listened. Alena discussed potential herbs to find at the market.
Selene watched it all with a faint smile.
When the meal ended, they gathered their belongings.
Damon packed the Chaos Devourer into his storage ring along with spare robes and pills.
He checked his status window one last time.
[Name: Damon Arcknight]
[Age: 18]
[Cultivation: Heavenly Spirit Realm - First Level]
[True Cultivation: King Spirit Realm - First Level]
[Affinities: Fire: 95, Water: 175, Ice: 215, Wind: 215, Earth: 115, Lightning: 445, Nature: 95, Light: 95, Dark: 235, Space: 50, Time: 50, Sword: 115]
[Spiritual Roots: Elemental Spiritual Roots] [Saint Grade - Peak]
[Bloodline: Blood of Incubus Dragon Lord] [Heaven Grade - Mid]
[Physique: Body of Incubus Dragon Lord] [Heaven Grade - Mid]
[Lust points: 21,047,200]
[Harem Members: Ariel Aquaria, Mio Nightrider, Mia Nightrider, Selene Frostborn, Seraphina, Flare]
[Beasts Bonds: Neko [Heavenly White Tiger]]
[Ability: Incubus Touch, Incubus Aura, Incubus Celestial Eyes, Incubus Fluid, Incubus Dream, Polymorph, Dragon Transformation, Incubus Transformation]
It was time.