The Broken Halo

Chapter 30: Corpses

”Can you tell me the clan that paid you to look for the Devourer’s blood essence?”

Zaglur looked at Simon with a raised brow, and he could not help but shake his head.

”Kid, there are some things you should not know.”

Simon furrowed his brows.

”Why can’t you tell me?”

Zaglur scoffed. ”Hmm. I don’t know. Maybe it’s because the clan wants to become a kingdom, which would shake the entire demon realm, or maybe it’s because the clan is trying to revive the most terrifying ancient demon race.”

”Tell me, Blackmoon, in all your wiseness and calmness, should a kid from the slums of the Wildlands know the clan that’s about to send immense waves throughout the entire demon realm and beyond? What good will come out from that?”

’I’ll be able to know what clan I should avoid in the future... That is if I’m able to escape though.’

Although Simon had this thought, he didn’t dare to say it out loud. He only looked at Zaglur with a neutral expression.

”Have you heard of the saying that the less you know, the better. Well, that saying applies here. The less you know, the better. It’s for your own good.”

Zaglur said, and Simon scoffed.

”That’s a lie. It’s most likely for your own good for whatever reason. Stop acting like you care about my well-being.”

Zaglur chuckled softly with a smile. His lips parted open to speak, but he froze on the spot, and his smile slowly receded.

Simon was the same, and his expression was one of immense gravity.

Some meters in front of them was a scene of carnage.

Over a dozen corpses could be seen on the floor, and these corpses were of demons and demon beasts.

Simon’s cat eyes scanned every single thing, and his brows were furrowed in contemplation.

’Fourteen have weapons and armors, they might be guards, hunters, or warriors. Four seem to be scouts, and there are three demon beasts.’

’Three demonic beasts that have the appearance of a rhino and a steed mixed together. It also has demonic scales, six legs, and glowing hooves... Gloomsteeds.’

’A broken carriage and some boxes. Was this a transport group or...’

Simon suddenly looked at Zaglur. ”Are these the others you were talking about back then?”

When he asked this question, he could not help himself from speaking with a bit of sarcasm and schadenfreude.

”Shut up, kid.” Zaglur said coldly and with a dark gaze, and Simon scoffed, but he said nothing.

He continued his observation of the corpses.

’They were not killed by beasts, but by other demons. The slits on their throats and the stabs to their hearts signify that they were ambushed from behind. It was quick and so sudden... Maybe an assassin? Or assassins?’

’From what I can also see, the Gloomsteeds tried to run, but they were stopped by one of the demons. Their instincts warned them that something was wrong, but the others couldn’t sense it or were too late to react.’

’Unfortunately, I’m not certain of their levels because I’ve not awakened my Demonic Heart, but if I’m not wrong... They should all be Archfiends?’

’No.’

’The aura two demons are emitting is stronger than the rest combined, so those two might be Greater Demons?’

’Damn it. I really need to awaken my Demonic Heart so that I can accurately sense the levels of others. I can’t keep on depending on my experience.’

Simon clicked his tongue in frustration, then he looked around, but he saw nothing.

’I don’t see any sign of somebody waiting to ambush us. But this is concerning...’

Simon’s frown deepened.

’If a group attacked the guards of a Daegrin, then that means the group does not fear the Daegrin or they have a way to ensure that the Daegrins as a whole don’t find out that they killed a Daegrin.’

’Or... they want to rob him.’

He glanced at Zaglur, who was biting the nail on his thumb with extremely cold eyes.

’But a Daegrin would definitely take revenge if they were robbed. And Daegrins are treasure finders, they can get rich easily. So, for somebody to do this, they most likely want to kill the Daegrin... They most likely want to kill Zaglur.’

’But who would do such a thing? A kingdom that knows about Zaglur possessing the Devourer’s blood essence? Or another clan?’

”There should be one more.”

Zaglur suddenly said softly, and Simon looked at him.

”What?”

”There should be one more corpse. I hired thirty mercenaries to help me get the blood essence, half of them died. But I can only see fourteen of them. One of them is missing.”

Simon frowned. ”There are more than fourteen demons over there. Aren’t you wrong?”

Simon made sure to not call the others scouts since a kid his age should not know the difference between warriors and scouts. It would just deepen the suspicions of Zaglur.

”The others are scouts. I hired those scouts separately.”

Zaglur took a step forward and began approaching the corpses and broken carriage.

”Damn it. These bastards were one of the reasons I became broke. How could they die like this?”

Simon frowned, then he followed Zaglur.

He couldn’t stay too far from Zaglur because the sad truth is that he needed Zaglur to live.

If there were enemies watching them, only Zaglur could protect him.

He was still weak, and anybody that could kill these mercenaries could surely kill him with ease.

’I still don’t sense anything. Maybe they’ve gone?’

Simon looked around one more time with a frown, then he looked at Zaglur, who was walking around the corpses.

’Seems he’s looking for the last demon.’

Simon also approached the corpses, then he went to the corpse that emitted the strongest aura.

The demon was thrice the size of Zaglur, and it had two long horns. He was wearing a bronze armor that covered his entire body, so Simon could not see his body, but he recognized what type of demon this demon was.

’A Horned Giant.’

Simon stared at the demon, who was most likely the captain of the mercenary group, and his mind drifted to a thought.

’Can I devour him?’

The light in Simon’s eyes was intense, but before he could even come to a decision, a jolt ran through his entire body, and he instantly jumped back with cat-like agility and speed.

Whoosh!

A dagger swiped through where he stood.